Courtesy of MAD Architects

MAD Architects has conceived a new design center for international fashion group Xinhee in the coastal Chinese city of Xiamen. Designed as six petals growing from a central atrium, the 61,000 square meter building will sit on a 15,000 square meter site, and will serve as the home of Xinhee and its six subsidiary brands.  

“We envision it as a building with skin-and-bones,” reveals MAD founding principal Ma Yansong, “the correspondence of clothing and architecture is they both explore the relationship between the interior and the exterior.”

Courtesy of MAD Architects

The plan of the complex takes the shape of a six-pointed star, mixing office and garden spaces along each of the “organically-formed arms.” Vertical gardens run up the height of the arms, veiled by a PTFE envelope, which acts as a sun-shade to diffuse light and provide ventilation to the building during the hot season. The lightweight skin also gives the building an elegant, floating appearance, like “a piece of delicate, thin, soft skin covering the “bone” structure of the building body.”

Ma Yansong elaborates, “It’s interesting for a building with such an intrinsically logical structure to look floating and free.”

Courtesy of MAD Architects

One wing of the building is designated to each of Xinhee’s brands to foster office efficiency, while the layout creates flexible spaces that allow the different departments to freely interact and communicate. The radial plan allows the building to be highly efficient, while still providing natural light, ventilation and immediate access to landscape. The atrium is open to both staff and visitors, and includes a footbridge which provides air circulation and doubles as a runway for fashion events.

Courtesy of MAD Architects

Courtesy of MAD Architects

The design center has been designed for maximum environmental awareness by adapting to the local climate. The first floor consists of public garden and water features to help provide ventilation to the structure, which has been lifted to reduce the first floor footprint by two-thirds. In the summer months, cool air is circulated through the atrium; in the winter, the glass room transforms into a solar greenhouse to keep the building warm. A translucent coating on the exterior glazing will decrease solar radiation, and an array of solar panels will line the rooftop to provide electricity for daily operations.

Sectional Model. Image Courtesy of MAD Architects

Sustainability Diagram. Image Courtesy of MAD Architects

Xinhee design center is currently under construction and is expected to be completed by 2017.

Courtesy of MAD Architects

Courtesy of MAD Architects

• Architects: MAD Architects
• Location: Xiamen, Fujian, China
• Directors: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano
• Design Team: J Travis Russett, Flora Lee, Liu Huiying, Fu Changrui, Xu Chen, Julian Sattler, Jei Kim, Jakob Beer, Younjin Park, Liu Ling, Sear Nee, Zhu Jinglu, Liang Zhongyi
• Area: 61535.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2017
• Photographs: Courtesy of MAD Architects

http://ift.tt/2bfL6oF

© Pablo Blanco

• Architects: DX Arquitectos , DEL SANTE Arquitectos
• Location: Paine, Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile
• Author Architects: Germán Rodríguez Olivos, Jose Luis del Sante
• Area: 12475.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photography: Pablo Blanco

• Client: Exportadora Licanray, Raimundo Garces, Luis Gallardo
• Builder: Tecnolam
• Structural Calculation: Mario Rojas
• Plot Surface: 12.475 m2
• Constructed Offices Area: 535 m2
• Sheds Constructed Area: 2.037 m2
• Predominant Materiality: Madera laminada, Vidrio

© Pablo Blanco

From the architect. The assignment was to place 2 prefabricated warehouses of 1000 m2 on a plot of 10000 m2, and design an office building of 500 m2 that would give the corporative image to the Licanray company.

© Pablo Blanco

© Pablo Blanco

The first decision was to concentrate the design and budget efforts into the office building and its showroom.

Plan 1

Plan 2

The building is placed like a strip of 8m deep and 30m long on the east–west axis, parallel to the access road, and located at the narrow forefront. In this sense the building is placed like a visible face to the road, having 2 important open large façades, namely the north and south ones, and 2 blind façades, East and west façades.

© Pablo Blanco

The warehouses are arranged behind this building in the north-south direction, leaving a distance that would allow for the loading and unloading of the trucks.

© Pablo Blanco

For the structure of the main building, the use of laminated pine wood was proposed. Its construction was based on diagonal pillars in an ‘X’ form that configure the main façades, and by joining with the horizontal beams assemble the floors and roof.

© Pablo Blanco

The main program of the office is elevated a floor so that it could capture the views, liberating the ground floor for accesses of building and the showroom. 

Details

Details

The expression of building is defined primarily by its structure. The enclosing elements, windows and walls, remain behind the structure, leaving it exposed.

© Pablo Blanco

The roof fulfills the fundamental role of protecting the wooden structure, and its overhang on the north façade also keeps direct sunlight out of the offices.

© Pablo Blanco

http://ift.tt/2bfL6oO

© Nelson Kon

This article is part of our new “Material Focus” series, which asks architects to elaborate on the thought process behind their material choices and sheds light on the steps required to get buildings actually built.

The Mipibu House, designed by Brazilian firm Terra e Tuma Arquitetos Associados, measures 170 square meters, and uses exposed concrete blocks to complement an expansive layout. Located in an unusually sized site in Brazil, a key element of the architects’ design involved the consideration of the possible – or rather the inevitable – verticalization of nearby buildings. In response to this challenge, they designed a compact, complex design that answers the needs of their customer with creativity in the selection and use of materials. We talked with architect Danilo Terra to learn more about the choices of materials and the challenges of the project.

© Nelson Kon

What were the main materials used in the project in question?

DT: Concrete blocks, cement, aluminum frames, and glass.

© Nelson Kon

What were your main sources of inspiration and influence when choosing the materials used in the project?

DT: Benefits to the structural system as well as lighting and ventilation from the environment.

© Nelson Kon

How did you research suppliers and builders suitable for the materials used in the project?

DT: Being materials that are not often considered relevant, since they typically provide a base or framework for other projects, we sought suppliers that were able to meet the demand, with quality materials and installation. The same went for the construction team, who would need to be used to working with these materials and have a reasonable construction speed. This last item, time, is still very underestimated by architects and should be considered as a part of the decision making in materials, not just their unit value. 

© Nelson Kon

Describe how decisions on materials influenced the design of the project.

DT: They allow or limit certain projective aspects such as size, the number of floors, openings and closures.

© Nelson Kon

What were the advantages that these materials offered for the construction of the project?

DT: The possibility of facing a lean budget to invest in more relevant areas of the project, like larger sizes, larger openings. The space and its indoor / outdoor relationship were also very beneficial. 

© Nelson Kon

Did the choice of materials impose any kind of challenge to the project?

DT: Yes modulation and high structural performance.

© Nelson Kon

Did you ever consider other possibilities of materials?

DT: No.

© Nelson Kon

http://ift.tt/2aLh21C