From the architect. British architects Studio Andrew Todd have completed France’s first permanent Elizabethan theatre. Building started in September 2014 and concluded in May 2016.
The 388-seat auditorium is built in the grounds of the spectacular Chateau d’Hardelot near Calais, once the haunt of Charles Dickens and now home to the Centre Culturel de l’Entente Cordial, which hosts a major annual summer festival celebrating cultural ties with Britain.
Plan
Built (above ground) amost entirely of wood and bamboo, and naturally ventilated — a first in France for a complex cultural building— it is also revolutionary in its exceptionally low energy consumption, using less power than one average French person per year.
This building will not only be France’s first permanent Elizabethan-style theatre, but the only one in the country with a full thrust stage -a form which is widespread in Britain and North America. It will also convert into a small opera house with an orchestra pit and proscenium.
Studio Andrew Todd had not only to come up with a warm and magical space, but one that had to work with the chateau and the beautiful coastal parkland in which it is set. Their solution was a pure cylinder of wood surrounded by a shimmering cage of 12-metre bamboo poles.
A Globe for our times… “It’s designed to vibrate with its natural surroundings rather than be a stand-alone, attention-seeking, alien object,” said Andrew Todd. “And we have carried this through to the interior: the circular wooden auditorium is naturally lit and ventilated, the building’s crown acting as a giant chimney to create a gentle current of air for the audience.”
“It is appropriate to consider the original metaphor of Shakeaspeare’s Globe -thought of as a society and a universe in miniature- in the light of our current global environmental crisis: what better than to make a building of healthy, sustainable materials, and needing minimal energy to function?”
“The presence of familiar, timeless materials -like the spruce structural panels and larch cladding- gives the building a universal character, relevant today or hundreds of years in the past or the future. The 12 metre-high bamboo stalks surrounding the building -imported specially from Bali- introduce for the first time in France this magical material in a major building. They also serve to remind us that ecology is a global question, and perhaps remind us that Shakespeare’s universality should not comfort us in our local identities: he explored far a eld geographically and opened up new depths to the human psyche. I hope this building is both familar and challenging.”
Section
“From an objective standpoint, making this building of wood has served to capture 100 tonnes of carbon; this easily offsets the 200 kilogrammes needed to bring the bamboo across the world.”
Paris-based Todd — who was named Chevalier des Arts et Lettres by the French government in 2011 — said: “I’m a sort of one-man Entente Cordial, and this project feels like a homecoming, condensing so many areas of passionate interest to me: the productive tensions between France and Britain, radical ecology and the abundant possibility for theatrical creation. I hope this project will demonstrate that we can live fully, joyously and also lightly: theatre is a concentration of life and a worthy analogy for living more closely together, more economically, in mutual awareness and respect.”
Todd has a particular interest and expertise in circular spaces, having worked with the legendary director Peter Brook on the book The Open Circle: Peter Brook’s Theatre Environments (Faber, 2003). “Circles have been largely banished from French theatre because of their association with bourgeois, hierarchical spaces where the poor were further away and couldn’t see the stage,” he said.
“I hope this project will show — like Peter Brook’s Bouffes du Nord theatre in Paris — the great social and dramatic potential of more convivial spaces. As France’s first permanent Elizabethan theatre it will certainly stimulate creative cross-pollination over the Channel,” said Todd.
Chateau d’Hardelot — on the Côte d’Opale between Le Touquet and Boulogne — dates from the 13th century and was transformed into a Tudor style manor in the mid- 19th century by Sir John Hare, a friend of Charles Dickens, who was a frequent visitor to the house.
In 2007 the chateau and its 880 hectare park became the home of the Centre Culturel de l’Entente Cordial, dedicated to strengthening cultural ties between France and Britain through exhibitions, conferences, theatre and music. The centre’s Midsummer Festival has taken place in a demountable Elizabethan-style theatre for several years. With growing success, and the ambition to provide year-round programming, the Département du Pas de Calais launched a restricted architectural competition in March to design a permanent, 400-seat building. Studio Andrew Todd won the competition against Alain-Charles Perrot and K-Architectures.
The Anglo-French design team includes Paris-based LM Ingénieur (structure and M+E), British theatre consultants Charcoalblue (behind the recent construction of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s new home), who are advising on lighting, stage engineering and acoustics and Cost Consultants Bureau Michel Forgue, based near Lyon.
Shortlist (Culture): Messner Mountain Museum Corones / Zaha Hadid Architects. Image via World Architecture Festival
The World Architecture Festival have announced the shortlist for their 2016 awards, featuring 343 projects from 58 countries across 32 categories. As the world’s largest architectural awards program, the shortlist contains completed projects from every corner of the globe.
All finalists will be invited to present their project live at the festival in November at the Arena Berlin in Germany to a “super jury” that will include Kai-Uwe Bergmann (BIG), Louisa Hutton (Sauerbruch Hutton), David Chipperfield, Ole Scheeren, and ArchDaily’s co-founder and Editor-in-Chief David Basulto. A winner for each of the awards’ 32 categories will be selected. From this, an overarching World Building or Future Project of the Year award will be selected. Tickets for the festival can be booked here.
You can explore all 343 projects on the shortlist, here.
Some of the projects featured in last year's article
It’s graduation time. As universities around the globe – or at least most in the Northern hemisphere, where over 80% of the world’s universities are located – come to the end of the academic year, many university architecture studios have recently closed out the construction of pavilions, installations and other small educational projects. Last year at ArchDaily, with the help of our readers, we were able to round up some of the best pavilions, installations and experimental structures created by students from all over the world. The resulting article was among our most popular of the year, demonstrating people’s huge appetite to see the work of the next generation of young architects.
That’s why we’re once again teaming up with allofArchDailyen Español,ArchDaily Brasil, and ArchDaily China, asking our readers to submit their projects, so that we can present the best work from graduating students worldwide. Read on to find out how you can take part.
Please use the form below to submit a Google Drive Folder containing images and a brief description of your project. Submissions close on Monday, July 18th at 12:00pm ET.
Rules:
Projects must be real-life construction projects (no unbuilt proposals).
Projects must have involved the work of students, and have been undertaken for educational purposes.
Projects must have been completed in the most recent graduation period for your country.
Submissions should be through Google Drive only.
Please set the permissions of the Google Drive Folder to “Anyone with the link can edit”
Images should be in jpeg or png format, and text in a Google Doc or Microsoft Word.
Please do not upload zipped files. We would like to be able to review your work online, without downloading.
Submissions that do not conform to these rules will not be considered for publication.
Tips:
Individual images of your project are preferable to presentation boards.
We expect a high volume of submissions, so please make your written explanation as concise as possible.
Unless stated otherwise, we will attribute images as “courtesy of” the submitter. If your images should be attributed otherwise, please include a contact sheet in the folder with the necessary copyright details.
House 1 is a residential project completed by Alexis Dornier in 2015. It is located in Ubud, Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia. House 1 by Alexis Dornier: “Designed around three historic ‘centerpieces’ of traditional Javanese ‘joglo’ building style, the steel structure becomes the contemporary continuation of the structure. Skylights and a floating mezzanine level highlight respect the 3 artifacts as ‘objet trouvé’. The person can explore these artifacts like an archaeologist, from..
Studio Loft is a private residence renovated by Gasparbonta. It is located in Budapest, Hungary and was completed in 2016. Studio Loft by Gasparbonta: “STUDIO LOFT is a delicate flat in downtown Budapest. Originally a studio of a well-known Hungarian painter, this flat has all the right features to be a contemporary loft home. The huge central space which contains the kitchen and the living room is accompanied by two..
Before starting the design process, the most important thing is to understand how the kitchen is going to be used. This is a basic approach that any architect must take. A kitchen can’t be just a leftover space or a space to be defined at the end of a project. Designers must understand that a kitchen has various flows and different work areas that need to be integrated throughout the entire project.
Beyond the style or design requested by the client, it’s important to define a module to optimize performance and minimize the manufacturing costs of the different pieces. This way, measurements of all the components of a kitchen are set before defining the space that will house them.
Workspaces and Flow
There are a number of studies that have defined 5 general areas in a kitchen:
Preparation area: ideally a large counter space to work on
Cooking area: stove and oven.
The pantry, sink, preparation and cooking areas are permanently combined and related to the process of preparing a meal in the most efficient way possible. The sink, preparation and cooking areas produce a narrow triangular work area, which leads to different types of kitchens.
Courtesy of Arauco
Types of Kitchen
This is related to the space that the design is intended for. The most commonly used types include:
Linear (or two parallel lines)
L-shaped
U-shaped
In relation to these configurations, it is important to understand how the different flows of movement work. The “work triangle” should be kept smooth, avoiding crossing movements when more than one person is working. At this point it is always good to ask yourself “How would I like to use my own kitchen?” or “What do I like or dislike the most about my current kitchen?” This way we can design our spaces with more sense.
Courtesy of Arauco
Modulation
At the beginning of the design and development of the floor plans, you should remember that the kitchen is not just a random binding of a series of furniture and appliances, but is made up of modules that must follow a manufacturing logic. If the design is not clear or doesn’t follow certain reasonable building parameters, it can generate conflict between the architect and the furniture manufacturer.
Therefore, the floor plan must be directly related to the upper areas of the room, and any appliances that are incorporated into the project must match the modulation.
A module consists of the following elements:
Lower Module: 1 bottom / 1 back / 2 sides / 1 shelf / 1 or 2 door / base / frame bars
Upper Module: 1 bottom / 1 back / 2 sides / 1 top / 1 shelf / 1 or 2 doors / frame bars
Tower Module 1 bottom / 1 back / 2 sides / 1 top / series of shelves and doors / base
Courtesy of Arauco
To avoid problems, modulation should be a design condition that way no appliances can be placed incorrectly. The appliances must be fitted into a single module, to avoid placing them between two different modules. For example, you can’t put a dishwasher, an oven or cooktop in between two modules. If this is done, you won’t have anywhere else to place them (since there wouldn’t be support), and that makes installing other elements like plumbing and electrical conduits more difficult.
Courtesy of Arauco
One of the biggest mistakes during the designing process happens while looking for symmetry. For example, when designing a base cabinet architects tend to draw vertical lines to indicate a separation of a module and its doors. Different sized parts are left between them in order to find symmetry.
It is essential to understand that the more times you repeat the exact measurement of the module, the easier it will be to construct and install the cabinets. The standardization of measurements is 100% related to the cost that the final project will have and is the difference between a project that’s doable and one that isn’t.
Standard Dimensions
Measurements are always related to the appliances and, in some cases, with the hardware available on the market with measurements that were already designed to fit kitchen furniture.
Width
The standard widths of a module are variable and depend on the use that each module has. Usually, they tend to work in round measurements 30cm, 45cm, 50cm, 60cm, 75cm, 80cm, 90cm, 100cm — all measures are considered to be from outer edge to outer edge of the module.
When thinking about the appliances, the modules are generally 60cm and 90cm for microwave ovens, cooktops, and exhausts. An oven, for example, measures a little less than 60cm and is designed to fit neatly into a 60cm gap including the sides. In the case of the sink, it depends on the drilling that you need to do on the counter and if you’re going to mount the sink above or below the countertop. There are models of sinks ranging from 30cm to 90cm wide. The gap between the module and the appliance must be a few extra centimeters. It doesn’t matter if the strain-board section of the sink is supported by one or more modules if it is mounted above the countertop.
The hardware you wish to use will also have an impact on the width of a module. Hinges are used mostly on modules with doors while drawers require drawer slides. The hinges can really impact the module width. In the case of drawers, the hardware also defines the width of the drawer. Traditional drawer slides are made for drawers in sizes of 40cm, 50cm or 60cm, while more advanced drawer slides allow for drawers up to 120cm in width. It is important to understand that the more advanced drawer slides, like soft close ones, cost more so it’s recommended to use the longest ones possible. There are other types of accessories that can make a kitchen appear more stylish, like spice racks (15cm to 20cm), organizers (40cm to 60cm), dish racks (hanging units 40cm to 85cm) etc.
Depth
Base modules have a standard depth of 60cm. This measurement takes into consideration that the sides have a width of 58cm and adds another 1.8cm for the width of the door. The countertop should always exceed the measure of the depth of the module so that if something is spilled on the counter, the liquid does not drip directly onto the wood. The depth of the module may decrease for spaces that don’t include appliances. However, we do not recommend decreasing depth as it generally applies to kitchen solutions that weren’t well thought out to begin with.
In the case of upper modules there are two different sizes to work with: 30cm or 35cm, both serve different intended purposes. When using a built-in microwave design it is important to remember that the bottom should be at least 35cm, in order to leave some extra room. In the case of a module using a depth of 30cm for the microwave, the bottom should extend at least 5cm.
For towers, it is recommended to use the same depth of the base, ideally 60cm. When considering an oven within the tower, it must be exactly 60cm deep. It is important to keep in mind that the oven needs a space of about 10cm going all the way up to the ceiling to allow for the heat to be released in the back. Currently, there are ovens that do not require this opening so it is always important to check the specifications of each device before considering the design of the module.
Courtesy of Arauco
Height
For the base modules, the height is generally 90cm from the floor to the countertop. The modules must never have direct contact with the floor due to moisture, with the allotted space being between 10cm and 15cm. There are series of adjustable legs on the market that allow adjustments for floors that are not 100% level. These can ultimately be closed with a baseboard, which tends to be a piece of chipboard or plywood covered with formic. The baseboard must have a recess of at least 7.5cm from the edge of the doors. There is the option of leaving the legs in full sight but it isn’t recommended because that tends to be a place where dust accumulates.
In the case of the upper modules, these are anchored to the wall and must be placed at a height of 1.40 – 1.50 meters from the floor. This measurement is 100% related to the depth of the base module. The lower the depth of the base, the greater the recommended height of the upper modules. This creates a workspace where the top module is not an obstacle. It is important to consider the recommendations of the air exhaust using it in the project, as each one has a specified volume of air extraction that is dependent on its distance from the counter.
Courtesy of Arauco
Materials
Like the appliances, all products and materials have a standard size and this is essential for getting the best possible performance out of them.
Shelving and Doors
Melamina VESTO is the main material used for the construction of kitchen cabinets and it is also used to make shelves and doors. It is a very efficient material, as its estimated lifetime is longer than that of the kitchen itself, ranging from 10 to 15 years. A cabinet structure can be manufactured using melamine 15mm thick, while for doors the recommended measurement is 18mm thick. This thickness works better when making holes for the hinges. If you want to prolong the life of a kitchen, you can make a design that allows for change only to the doors while keeping the structures. This way you can update the look of the kitchen at a lower cost.
Courtesy of Arauco
Countertops
There are several types of materials for countertops. The most commonly used are:
Laminate: the bare counter is covered with a sheet of high-pressure laminate
Stone: the most commonly used types are quartz, granite and marble
Other: materials generally derived from a compound such as acrylic
Current trends point to making countertops as thin as possible so stones and acrylic products like Staron have shown to be very popular since they have a thickness ranging from 0.8cm to 1.5cm.
Courtesy of Arauco
Baseboards
In this part of the cabinet, it’s best to have a product with increased resistance to moisture, like laminate covered plywood. Another option is to add metal or plastic accessories made by hardware companies.
When you have a kitchen cabinet set between two walls, you have to leave extra room. This is because construction never ever ends up being the same size as the plan. These clearance spaces can be taken care of by using adjustable pieces ranging from 5cm to 10cm.
The use of these types of replacements can be avoided depending on how the kitchen has been designed from the beginning. For example, when designing a kitchen, the location of the refrigerator or dining area can help avoid these adjustable pieces, by just adding 5cm to 10cm to the space defined for the refrigerator or table. In this case instead of giving 70cm of space for a refrigerator, we leave 75cm.
Courtesy of Arauco
There are other cases where one is forced to use a fitting piece, like in an L-shaped kitchen. To avoid this it’s possible to develop a fair adjustment module in the corner. The module is left separated from the side wall by about 20cm and so after built, if it is less than projected, it will be only those 20cm of clearance that make up the difference. Don’t forget that these empty spaces will be hidden by the countertops.
Courtesy of Arauco
Trends
There are countless options available for kitchen finishes. The combination of colors and shapes are available in any desired material (melamine, ceramic, handles, appliances, etc.). Thanks to that, it isn’t possible to have an unattractive kitchen, just a poorly made or planned one. Therefore, in terms of taste, it is important to listen and understand the customer in order to identify which style and image is the one that’s best for their kitchen.
Additionally, there are also small details that can make the difference between a modern and a traditional kitchen:
Thin countertops: this trend is repeated more and more at international design fairs that show cabinet thickness
Inset Handles: these make the doors look polished by avoiding the use of traditional handles. One option is the use of straight handles that are located on the edge of the door or automatic systems that open the door when pressed
New technologies: drawers 1 meter wide with hardware that holds the weight, or installing spice racks and visible dish racks are good examples of new technology. There are more and more kitchen accessories that allow for customization making each kitchen unique
Lighting: the use of LED lights incorporated into the cabinets for an integral solution
Design: Different Melaminas VESTO laminate designs allow for styling and personalization of each piece. Through the new Nordic Contemporary line, it is possible to have a completely unique style through wood designs. With streaks, textures and natural wood-like appearance, a variety of colors from rustic to designs with a more Scandinavian feel, or the new unicolor that are able to match one another perfectly, for example. Likewise, a way to deliver greater value to a cabinet is to replace the traditional white for one of these new colors that highlight what is stored inside, like the dishes.
Courtesy of Arauco
Recommendations:
1. Use screw protectors. These can be hidden with the use of wooden dowels. The process is slower and more expensive but leaves a better appearance.
2. Distancing the counter top from the cabinet is a trend. However, when doing this you should leave a large enough space (ideally 30cm or more) so that it is easy to clean. Tight spaces mean more wear and tear on the furniture from using wipes or a broom.
3. The baseboards must be made of more resistant materials. It is recommended not to use the same melamine as the cabinets since you won’t get the same lifetime use at floor level.
Courtesy of Arauco
4. The quality of the hardware is essential when creating quality furniture. Its life is measured in cycles and there are substantial variations between hardware of low and high quality. A good hinge determines whether or not the cabinet door will fall off.
5. When designing handleless furniture you have to use a certain logical order for opening the doors. Ideally, use double door modules and if there is a space for a module with a single door, put it in the corner.
Courtesy of Arauco
6. When using doors above appliances (oven, microwave) leave enough space for your hand.
Courtesy of Arauco
More details and related materials in the following link.
** Guide Developed by ArchDaily Guide and Arauco Specifications Area.
Located in the upscale moshav, or private neighborhood, of Beit Yehoshua north of Tel Aviv, the Shitufim – Zionism2000 campus is the second phase in the realization of a campus dedicated to non-profit organizations concerned with Israel’s civil society.
Designed and completed by Gottesman-Szelcman Architecture in 2009, the 2,000-square-meter public building serves as a conference center and the home of several additional NPO’s that focus on aspects of Israel’s society. With the completion of Shitufim, the western section of the campus is complete and fully operational.
The design of the building is oriented towards public gardens to the east and frame a courtyard on three-sides. A simple rectilinear module defines the rhythm of the spaces with the materiality of the external façade being determined by the quality of the external views. Thus, each rectangle is either glazed or clad with Ipe wood planks creating a haphazard patter that conforms to a clearly defined matrix.
As part of ArchDaily’s coverage of the 2016 Venice Biennale, we are presenting a series of articles written by the curators of the exhibitions and installations on show.
The title relates to the processes of architecture, which can be slow to come to fruition and therefore one also refers to architecture and patience, and to the meaningful sustained existence of buildings in their fragile environments.
The installation is a glass labyrinth, which one crosses to reach an internal landscape. The glass is clear – therefore it is an alternate take on the architectural manifestation of the ‘labyrinth’: an age-old space of intrigue and discovery. It refers to the idea that although one is sure of one’s intentions – has a clear vision – the path to achieving that may not be straightforward but rather quite ‘labyrinthine’, in the economies and climatic zones that the architect operates in. That is, one can see clearly but cannot progress easily.
As one passes through the labyrinth one encounters terracotta tiles with etchings of historic sites and buildings – a call from deep recesses of memory.
In the internalized space are four groups of ‘plants’ – referring again to the patience and perseverance that is required of the architect and the slow raising of buildings much like plants growing from a seed. Three of the four projects on display are directly related to natural disasters and climate change.
1. Raised Settlements – to protect an entire settlement rather than individual houses from catastrophic nature of floods in remote northern Bangladesh.
2. Cyclone Shelter – In the south, close to the Bay of Bengal. To provide shelter and protection to people in cyclone prone areas where, during cyclones, tidal surges can reach heights of 20 feet or more and wind speeds in excess of 230 km/h.
3. Friendship Centre – a meeting and training Centre constructed in a flood zone with an inexpensive but lost solution to protect from flood: a mini-embankment around the project built on low land. This facility is used for health, education, social justice and other programs for some of the poorest of the poor living in remote inaccessible areas in the Jamuna-Brahmaputra river network. With restricted budget, the architect could only give them the luxury of light and shadows.
4. Satkhira Hospital – a low cost 80-bed full function hospital in the remote south, maximizing natural ventilation and rainwater harvest.
All these projects are with one client: the non-government development organization ‘Friendship’. Projects span over the past 10 years, two without fee, all out of tight budgets, using local materials and workmen. Without innovating (Raised Settlements), re-imagining (Friendship Centre, Hospital) and re-casting (Cyclone Shelter) through architectural solutions, these buildings and projects would not serve their function nor ever see the light of day considering their difficult birth.
