AGA Architects have designed a new mixed-use development which is currently under construction in the Hong Xing district of Changsha, China. The project is set to become the first prototype of a combined leisure park and shopping mall in the country. A mix of retail, office, residential and hotel space is interspersed with “joyful” elements such as a sky walking corridor, 360-degree restaurant and a sky pool which overlooks the complex. Integrated landscape and a focus on sustainability transform the center into what the architects call a “green park mall.”
Courtesy of AGA
The masterplan is built up on a 300,000 square meterssite, which is split across one large block (A) and a smaller adjacent block (B). The internal courtyard spans both blocks and carves away at the volumes at ground level to create alleyways through the precinct. These “lifestyle streets” keep the ground floor of the precinct highly active, and feature green elements throughout.
Courtesy of AGA
Fronting the street of Block A is a six-story retail building hosting large LED screens which will present art and advertisements. Balancing on the edge of this facade is a large sculptural piece, an organically shaped disc supported by a central column. The brightly colored underside of the disc creates an energetic entrance to the shopping park.
Courtesy of AGA
Three towers enable the necessary density for the scheme; an office tower, a high end residential tower and a 5-star hotel tower. A supermarket at the first basement level acts as the anchor store for the precinct, and high-end retail is distributed throughout the complex. The architects expect for the superstructure to be complete mid-2017, and the mall to be open to the public in 2018.
Design Team, : Jimmy Xie, Ryan Iiu, Tim McCann, Vivi Feng, Walon Chen, Sabrina Xie, Wish Xu, Kevin Li, Richard Iiu, Hongbo Gao, Geng Zhang, Ping Zhu, Lian Xiao, Tian Qui
Landscape Architects: Design TM Ltd
Executive Architects: Hunan Provincial Architecture Design Institute
Construction Company: China Construction Second Engineering Bureau Ltd
Home ownership is set to become a thing of the past, according to the entrepreneur behind London co-living start-up The Collective, because socially liberated millennials are more likely to choose “living as a service”. (more…)
Located in the heart of Oslo, Stranden 1 represents as a new corporate standard within building renovation and stands as a re-branding flagship for the new Aker Brygge Masterplan, a revitalization design-strategy which is now under completion.
Four major upgrades were coordinated to address the spatial deficiencies of the existing building, deleting programmatic inadequacies and significantly improving environmental performance.
1-Commercial Street: The two double-height public entrances on ground level mark the beginning of a new covered street, “the diagonal”, a commercial passage that cuts clean through the first 3 existing buildings of Aker Brygge. This shopping path connects the main Aker Brygge square with the city hall plaza and performs as a pedestrian shortcut between the residential areas on the west and the city center.
2-Atrium: The existing central space is transformed from a narrow light shaft to a brand new public space. A meeting point that is re-configured to become wider in all directions, allowing for proper distribution of zenithal light into the offices and commercial areas through an ETFE skylight. Its sculptural geometry becomes the portal to Aker Brygge and a prominent arena for corporate art, the installation “Sundial for Spatial Echoes”, by artist Thomás Saraceno, is mounted permanently at the heart of the building.
Plan
3-Facade: Designed as a modular-system for fast assemblage on site, this floor to ceiling clear-glass skin provides abundant natural light into the working spaces, generous views from the inside and substantial increase on energy efficiency and noise protection.
4-Penthouse: All HVAC equipment originally installed on the top floor is re-located to the basement, liberating in full the most attractive and profitable area of the building. The new penthouse on the 8th floor provides breathtaking views of the Oslo bay.
Private Villa in Khandala is a private home located in Khandala Valley, India. It was designed by GA design. Private Villa in Khandala by GA design: “The plot is located facing the stunning view of the Khandala valley located 120 kms (74 mi) from Mumbai, India. The bungalow itself is spread over a plot area of 22,000 sft, and has a built up area of about 12,000 sft. The villa..
From the architect. Lambeth Marsh House had been left unoccupied for over 10 years and is a two storey listed house situated within the Roupell Street Conservation area in central London. The conservation area designation was first developed by John Palmer Roupell in the 1820’s. Roupell, a gold refiner, lived with his family at 16 Meymott Street, which was at that time known as ‘Cross Street’. Roupell developed the land for artisan workers – in the form of modest, brick built, two storey terraced houses fronting conventional streets.
Our concept and challenge was to breathe new life into all floors whilst respecting the heritage of this listed building and restoring some of the lost historic detailing.
The run down fabric of the existing building required extensive refurbishment with a sensitive approach. Restoring the panelled replaces, wood panelling to walls, architraves and skirting to their original condition celebrates the history of this building.
The addition of a contemporary rear and side extension compliments these features and updates the building. A large open plan living space creates a new light airy space whilst a new glass roof extension feeds light into the plan of the building.
Throughout the traditional settings modern furniture updates the traditional spaces. Many antique chairs were refurbished and re-upholstered and minimalist light fittings compliment the sympathetic interior. Materiality was very important to help produce a sensitive contemporary design, whilst assisting our conservationist approach.
FA House is a private home located in Eastern Townships, Quebec, Canada. It was designed by Jean Verville architecte FA House by Jean Verville architecte: “Nestled in the privacy of a hemlock forest, FAHOUSE presents an amazing building that seems to emerge from a children’s story. Exploiting the contrasts between opacity and light, the architect Jean Verville develops a graphic assemblage, which rises like two giant conifers, intensifying the dreamlike..
From the architect. Allies and Morrison was commissioned to develop design proposals for the reconstruction of the historic Eid ground in Doha located on a prominent site across from the Al Koot Fort, immediately south of the new National Archive building and adjacent to the Jassim Bin Mohammed heritage house to the west.
Courtesy of Fatma Al Sehlawi
The ground is a roughly rectilinear plot of approximately 4000sqm. Part of the Msheireb Downtown Doha Masterplan, the project was occasioned by the construction beneath the site of one of the developments central cooling plants. The new structure incorporates vents and escape stairs from the below ground infrastructure. The above ground construction includes not only the prayer ground itself, and the associated Qibla wall, but screening walls, sun screens and amenities such as public conveniences and drinking fountains.
Courtesy of Allies and Morrison
Allies and Morrison’s design concept is based on the resolution of site geometries and the pure geometries and specific orientation of the sacred ground. The sacred space of the Eid ground is a perfectly level platform set slightly above the sloping ground plane, and a pure rectangle set within the irregular rectangle of the site. The interstitial spaces between the site boundary and prayer ground plan house the infrastructure requirements as well as the prayer ground amenities. Retractable shading devices will provide protection for the northern and southern parts of the Eid ground.
The idea for moving landscape germinated from stumbling upon a stone, Bidasar Forest, that possesses an impression, as if, of tropical arid landscape fossilized within itself. Its polished surfaces against the native verdure of the Ahmedabad region made for the perfect setting, blurring the lines between reality and illusion.
The nations booming economy in the last decade has made individual houses accessible to a larger section of society. Coupled with the demand for an independence that protects individuality, the age old tradition of joint family living has disintegrated into small nuclear families. Despite this change of cultural attitude in the present Indian context, a large number of families, bound by family business and obliged by traditional ingrained values, still choose to live together. Whilst this allows them to benefit from shared responsibility across generations, it often leads to the creation of autonomous suites within a house that isolates families even under the same roof. The challenge therefore lies in simultaneously integrating the requirements of these opposing lifestyles – making it equally imperative to provide opportunities for communal collision, while providing privacy.
Situated on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, the house is meant to accommodate one of the city’s most prolific real-estate developers and his wife, along with his two sons’ families and extended visiting members. The client also shares the grounds with his two other brothers’ houses and their joint families in a large 20000 m2 plot.
The plan of the house is interpreted as a linear pavilion, ensuring that every space in the house is lined with glass on the facing sides – the first enclosure. The rest of the structure is in 200mm thin walls in concrete, eliminating the need for any beams and columns and making for cleanest interior volumes. Additionally, this saves constructed dead space by about 3% and for the 18,000 total covered area, this equals to 540 sq.ft or the size of an average sized room.
This pavilion is oriented around the margin of the site as three wings. The flanks holds the house’s private spaces with suites for each of the sons’ families, while the central one hosts the living space for all communal activities. The residual corner voids by the turning of the blocks, are snugly protected by tall circular walls to form smaller sheltered spaces – while one cradles the houses’ utility space, the other acts as a court distant from the joint families gaze. These also carry the staircases and lift, rendering outer spaces clear of all encumbrances for the Bidasar drama to unfold. The composition as a whole footprint defines a large multi family courtyard at the heart of the site.
The second enclosure is a layer of massive 15’ high, 9’ wide and 1’6”mm thick Bidaser stone walls along the entire perimeter – an impregnable shell. Akin to the amethysts hard exterior cracking open to reveal its crystalline heart, at the push of a button, this imposingly heavy stone wall cracks open, as it becomes an array of panels spinning gently about their centres or sliding away to reveal a transparent cocooned interior. Can be employed at will whenever desired and dissolved when not.
Plan / Elevation
This layer of stone panels help create a buffer between the inside and the outside, protecting the inner layer shell of concrete and glass from intense sun light and 45o heat, thereby reducing the total heat gain on the air-conditioning. Moreover, this space doubles up as passages, verandahs, entrance vestibule and circulation space, and also as protection from rain, eliminating the need for air-conditioning in 8000sq.ft out of a total of 18000 habitable space. This saving is substituted with enhanced living and direct contact with nature in what we term as value architecture.
Savings from the air-conditioning and sealing the house, is then channelled into making inhouse custom designed motorized pivots and giant sliding systems. Architecturally and structurally both, this entire layer is kept completely detached from the inside structure, almost as a heat buffer, and is only supported on hidden structures within in the sliding and pivoting systems, making for the awe in having thick concrete slabs floating on moving stones.
Lights are machined out of alabaster stone providing for the most natural ambience. Most furniture is bought out from various design houses in Italy and a sole bar table is one custom designed by the Architects. It is a 3 dimensional mobius strip in stainless steel, locally fabricated, that can be subject of discussion and intellectual discourse after a couple of drinks. Lights and water under the moving walls light the water to make the heavy stones appear floating on water.
Toilets too open on opposite ends and the water closet, the shower and the basin, all three are positioned on 3 side of the duct, the fourth side left for easy service access and ventilation to the duct from outside.To carry on with the material & weight amazement further the thick concrete basin counter is cantilevered from the floor to ceiling mirror. In line with the same philosophy of the easy maintenance and serviceblity AC units have been kept on the roof with just holes cut in slab for blower. This approach of integrating the services and interiors in construction itself doesn’t only make it easy to service; it also saved a lot of time off construction. The entire building was ready in 18 months time from start to furnish.
Resonating with the harshest aspects of nature, in motion, these walls intermingle with the glass inside and the wild landscape outside, the third enclosure, to sometimes allow a glimse of the outdoors, sometimes reflect it and sometimes reflecting themselves. It is in this layering of space and screen, the houses’ entire envelope becomes an interface to mediate between the artifice of the inside and verdant site outside.
The houses environs look deep inside their interior, as the house merges into an illusion of landscape constantly moving that we sometimes catch ourselves reflecting amongst, reflecting on the nature both within us and outside of us. The epitome of their experience is to be found at the entrance passage of the house, where all of these reflections find the surface of water to make the landscape a truly moving one.
