Home in Saint-Cast is a private residence designed by Feld Architecture. It is located in Saint-Cast-le-Guildo, France. Photos courtesy of Feld Architecture
Supreme Sport Village / LAD
© Simone Lanaro, Michelangelo Sabuzi Giuliani
- Architects: LAD
- Location: Viale Giorgio Morandi, Rome, Italy
- Patners In Charge: Francesco Napolitano (Architecture), Simone Lanaro (Interior Design)
- Design Team: Michelangelo Sabuzi Giuliani, Maria Carla Lini, Marcello Amalfitano
- Area: 2000.0 sqm
- Project Year: 2016
- Photographs: Simone Lanaro, Michelangelo Sabuzi Giuliani
- Client: Tor Sapienza 2008 S.R.L
- Program: 1700 M² Sport+ 300 M² Commercial
© Simone Lanaro, Michelangelo Sabuzi Giuliani
The “Supreme Sport Village” is a sports center located in Rome, in a suburb called Tor Sapienza, close to the eastern border of the city between Via Collatina and Via Prenestina.
© Simone Lanaro, Michelangelo Sabuzi Giuliani
The project is situated in the green spaces along Viale Giorgio Morandi and is placed in the center of the area, therefore the architectural volume works as a filter between the parking lot and the sports fields.
© Simone Lanaro, Michelangelo Sabuzi Giuliani
Plan
© Simone Lanaro, Michelangelo Sabuzi Giuliani
The building is made up of three units: the first two blocks have a single level and a flat roof, while the main unit has a gabled roof and a double height space inside.
Details
The first block, aligned parallel to Viale Giorgio Morandi, is detached from the other two: this detachment creates a long entry hall that directly connects the car park to the sports fields.
© Simone Lanaro, Michelangelo Sabuzi Giuliani
The reception and the circulation paths to the rest of the structure are organized inside the lobby. Stairs are placed symmetrically to the hall’s axis, close to the south entrance. The two stairscases are meant to differentiate the primary circulation paths: the one in the first block is used by visitors and patrons of commercial spaces and catering, while the one in the main block is exclusively used by athletes. All locker rooms, separated into those for swimming and those for fitness activities, are located in the basement.
© Simone Lanaro, Michelangelo Sabuzi Giuliani
The first one-storey unit contains commercial spaces and a resturant; every space is accessible both from outside and from the hall. The second block, which is also single-storey, is served by a corridor, and contains guests toilets, administration offices, a space for children and a physiotherapy center. Similar to the first block, here all the functional spaces have two entrances as well. The main unit holds two swimming pools and a gym. The inner pools enjoy a direct visual communication with the outside pool.
© Simone Lanaro, Michelangelo Sabuzi Giuliani
The size of the hall is higher at the south entrance, generating a volume that works as a connection to the roof of the first block and to the double height space of the main unit. This mezzanine level contains a path reserved for guests and a fitness area, accessible from the main unit’s staircase, in order to separate visitor paths from those of the athletes. All sports areas are connected by a large elevator, which can easily and safely transport a wounded athlete and bring him or her to the first aid area.
© Simone Lanaro, Michelangelo Sabuzi Giuliani
A Contemporary Apartment Accented in Blue
Skyline Apartment is a private residence located in Kharkov, Ukraine. It was designed by SVOYA Studio. Photos by: Alexander Angelovski
Neri&Hu designs rounded rectangle Hanger coat stand for Offecct
Studio Alexander Fehre Designs a Chic Apartment in London
Apartment Filippo is a private residence located in London, England. The home was designed by the German firm Studio Alexander Fehre. Apartment Filippo by Studio Alexander Fehre: “Can you even talk about spaciousness and comfort with such a small floorplan? In London’s over-valued property market you hear a lot about large, exclusive flats that symbolise the constant struggle to find affordable housing close to the city’s centre. Smaller flats however..
Hangzhou Zhongshuge Bookstore / XL-MUSE
© Shao Feng
- Architects: XL-MUSE
- Location: Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Design Director: Li Xiang
- Design Team: Liu Huan, Fan Chen, Zhang Xiao, Tong Ni-Na
- Area: 1000.0 sqm
- Photographs: Shao Feng
© Shao Feng
From the architect. After years of growth, Hangzhou Zhongshuge is always adhering to its initial desire to emerge as the most beautiful bookstore for readers, and constantly strives to work on the most culturally artistic bookstore, from learning how to walk, to live, to brave and to persevere.
© Shao Feng
Zhongsuhge-Hangzhou store is located within the bustling commercial center of Star Avenue, Binjiang District, adjacent to Qiantang River. Walking from Star Avenue Phase I to the forest gallery of Phase II, you can see the wholly transparent glass curtain wall fully covered with texts. Looking through the glass curtain, a pure white space consisting of circular bookshelf pillars escape the shackles of the surrounding environment. These white pillars carrying books rise up straight to the sky. Under the reflection of ceiling mirror, they seem to have a conversation beyond time. Additionally, the wall mirror doubles the transverse dimension to enable the whole book spaces to seem unbounded as the real nature. Upon exposure to the forest of books, we intend to acknowledge readers the awareness of knowledge as indispensable as oxygen from trees in our lives. These tree-like pillars stand tall, and emit the light of knowledge to indulge every soul comes here. The ceiling is decorated with small lights that are dancing joyfully as the elves guarding the forest. The ground-stationed desks are mingled with the forest, flexibly as creek to allow people to read by sitting on or standing beside. Tirelessly, they help us to acquire the strength granted by the texts.
Plan
Walking on the central axis of the forest zone and walking through a doorway as guided by the lights to the border of light and shade, we transit from the lightness to the profound main hall of Zhongshuge – an oncoming quiet reading corridor. Here, the entire bookshelf extends endlessly to the side. The darker and lighter-colored shelves are orderly advanced or retreated, as changing mountains or unattainable ladders or fortitude upright spines to silently convey the power of knowledge to us. The chandeliers floating in the ceiling mirror softens the entire space like a firefly. People under the lights, recollect the aromatic coffee or mediate in the world of books.
© Shao Feng
Cross the corridor is the stair reading area. The circular skylight pours down from the ceiling mirror, and the encircling bookshelves look like the swirling lamp belt. Here is a theater to unfold an outstanding drama, and the characters are book lovers sitting on the soft couch or standing beside the bookshelves. In the stair study, people can read or hold the reading party for book lovers to sit around.
© Shao Feng
In the Hangzhou Zhongshuge, there is a children pavilion, which is a book playground. The designer arts bookshelves as playground facilities including merry-go-round, roller coaster, hot air balloons and pirate ships to give children a happy reading experience as if playing in the playground, while the floor of galaxy maps not only inspires the imagination of children and also interestingly educate them the knowledge of galaxy.
© Shao Feng
The famous British novelist Somerset Maugham once said, to acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life. Hangzhou store of Zhongshuge blends the definitions of books into every space by upholding the usual respect for books and knowledge, and infuses the minds of readers with the sacred books by way of design. In today’s distracting and harassing context, you still can find a place to rest your soul.
© Shao Feng
Dezeen’s new Pinterest board features the best of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016
Our latest Pinterest board collects together the most popular exhibitions and installations from this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale, including the British Pavilion that proposes sharing technologies as the solution to the housing crisis and Switzerland’s cavernous cloud-like structure.
Follow Dezeen on Pinterest | See all our Venice Architecture Biennale 2016 coverage
The University of Queensland Oral Health Centre / Cox Rayner Architects + Hames Sharley
© Christopher Frederick Jones
- Architects: Cox Rayner Architects , Hames Sharley
- Location: Herston QLD 4006, Australia
- Area: 28550.0 sqm
- Project Year: 2015
- Photographs: Christopher Frederick Jones
© Christopher Frederick Jones
From the architect. The UQ Oral Health Centre is sited in the University of Queensland’s medical campus adjoining the Royal Brisbane Hospital. The site forms a flank to a formal park that fronts the campus’s historic Mayne Medical Building, with the building restoring the symmetry of the space.
© Christopher Frederick Jones
The Centre unites all of the university’s oral health disciplines including general and paediatric dentistry, oral medicine and rehabilitation, oral radiology, orthodontics, periodontics and endodontics. It provides services to public patients linked with facilities in the hospital.
© Christopher Frederick Jones
A heritage constraint was that the building should not rise above the dome of the Mayne Building. This condition caused the building levels to step its lower levels down the slope, facilitating multiple points of engagement with the park. The park relationship is further enhanced by wrapping the building circulation around the edge, opening out to terraces. The main portion of the park façade is a system of timber louvres inside the glazing, enabling the circulation corridors to be naturally ventilated.
Plan 1
Toward the top of the slope the building opens up to form a full height atrium. This space coincides with the movement path from the medical campus to the hospital, and acts as a new campus heart. It is activated by a bookshop, library and café which connect the building into the historic medical building. A large auditorium opens off atrium on the other side.
© Christopher Frederick Jones
Most of the volume of the building is occupied by clinical simulation rooms, pre-clinical laboratories, research laboratories and lecture/seminar rooms. Our intent was to offset the necessarily systematic layout of these facilities by wrapping the exterior in organic spaces and forms, indented in parts to retain existing trees and projecting in others to create social spaces overlooking the park.
© Christopher Frederick Jones
An ulterior purpose in contrasting rigid and organic form was to embody both the discipline and craft of dentistry. The latter is further accentuated by the materiality, texture and detail of the elements in and around the circulation spaces, the lights for example being designed as abstractions of metalwork in the historic medical school. Several of these elements convey metaphoric interpretations related to dentistry, extending out to the external forms.
Elevation
Although it is a large – approximately 30,000m2 – institutional building, the Oral Health Centre epitomises our core design principles of structure, craft, art and nature. These principles demonstrably translate into a tangibly humanistic architecture, inevitably organic, and inextricable from its context.
© Christopher Frederick Jones
Turnbull Griffin Haesloop creates white barn-like house on a California ranch
San Francisco studio Turnbull Griffin Haesloop Architects took cues from traditional barns to create this contemporary dwelling in a northern California farming valley (+ slideshow). (more…)
April ABI Marks Continued Increase of Positive Conditions in All Regions
via AIA
Although the year began with a decline, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) has shown three consecutive months of increasing demand for design activity at architecture firms. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the April ABI score was 50.6. Although down from March’s score of 51.9, this score still reflects an increase in design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). The new projects inquiry index was 56.9, down from 58.1 in the previous month.
“Architects continue to report a wide range of business conditions, with unusually high variation in design activity across the major building categories,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, PhD. “The strong growth in design contracts – the strongest score for this indicator since last summer — certainly suggests that firms will be reporting growth in billings over the next several months.”
Regional averages:
- South (52.2)
- Northeast (51.5)
- West (50.8)
- Midwest (50.8)
Sector Index Breakdown:
- Multi-Family Residential (53.7)
- Commercial / Industrial (52.0)
- Mixed Practice (50.0)
- Institutional (49.0)
Key April ABI highlights:
- Project inquiries index: 56.9
- Design contracts index: 54.3
As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lead time between architecture billings and construction spending. Regional and sector categories are calculated as a 3-month moving average, whereas the index and inquiries are monthly numbers.
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