What’s the difference between a “road”, a “drive” and a “way”? Or between a “street”, a “boulevard” and an “avenue”? The naming conventions that we attribute to the networks that we use to move about are, in fact, a little more complex than you might imagine. In this film by Phil Edwards for Vox, the intricate world of road classification and definition is given a (long overdue) explanation – and one which might help you think a little deeper about urban mobility.

Film via Vox.

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© Jack Hobhouse

• Architects: ACME
• Location: Leeds, United Kingdom
• Architect In Charge: Stefano Dal Piva, Friedrich Ludewig
• Area: 26000.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Jack Hobhouse

• Other Participants: Hammerson, Thorp pre-cast, Techcrete,

© Jack Hobhouse

From the architect. The brief for the Victoria Gate masterplan was to design a new, vibrant, key urban block in Leeds city centre which provided retail and leisure uses anchored by a department store, with an associated car park.  The visibility and identity of the department store was an important part of the brief.

© Jack Hobhouse

The scheme needed to be designed as an extension of the Headrow, the city’s main civic axis, and Hammerson’s brief right from the beginning was that the scheme should not be a ‘mall’ but more a 21st century extension of the existing Victorian arcades for which Leeds is famous. 

Combined Ground Floor Plan

Combined 1st Floor Plan

Victoria Gate,in the East of Leeds city centre, forms a natural extension of Victoria Quarter and Leeds’s retail district. The scheme includes a new John Lewis department store, multi storey car parking and two arcades with a mix of shops, restaurants and leisure facilities.

© Jack Hobhouse

The buildings appear as three distinct elements with individual identities that relate to each other and the vernacular of Leeds.

The new John Lewis store anchors the scheme. Placed on the extension of the Headrow, the city’s main civic axis, the store forms a visible gateway into the city centre.

© Jack Hobhouse

The materiality of the building draws on the history of terracotta façades in Leeds, often produced by the local Burmantoffs Terracotta works, providing a modern interpretation of a traditional material. The façade order is also influenced by the textile history of Leeds as well as John Lewis, and is designed as a layered terracotta skin reminiscent of woven fabric. The diagrid is the ordering element that repeats along the perimeter of the building ; the resulting diamonds contain infill panels which respond to the internal layout of the store and the immediate context, providing transparency and ornamentation to the building.

© Jack Hobhouse

The Victoria Gate multi-storey car-park [MSCP] is visible from all main urban approaches. From the outset the intention was to separate John Lewis from the car-park, but to acknowledge their shared purpose and relationship to the façade.

© Jack Hobhouse

© Jack Hobhouse

Twisted aluminium fin cladding creates a diagrid pattern, emphasised by the shadows generated, which relates to the John Lewis façade. The façade efficiently provides vehicular restraint, daylight and natural ventilation.

© Jack Hobhouse

The Arcades building is designed as a two storey, twin arcade with a complex glazed roofscape continuing the grand history of Leeds’s 19th century arcades. A large casino sits above the arcade, partially over-sailing it and creating a four storey civic frontage on Eastgate.

© Jack Hobhouse

The exterior of the building evolves from the 19th and 20th century language of the surrounding Blomfield and Victorian brick and terracotta buildings, with sculpturally pleated brick elevations – brick-faced pre-cast concrete panels-  changing in rhythm and scale responding to the context of the site.

© Jack Hobhouse

© Jack Hobhouse

The interiors of the arcades are inspired by the Victorian tradition through the use of curved glass and patterned stone floors, based on Leeds’s woolen herringbone cloth. 

© Jack Hobhouse

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© Pedro Pegenaute

• Architects: Josep Ferrando
• Location: 17162 Bescanó, Girona, Spain
• Architects In Charge: Josep Ferrando, Pere Joan Ravetllat, Carme Ribas
• Project Area: 400.0 m2
• Project Year: 2010
• Photographs: Pedro Pegenaute

• Constructor: Promonord 23 SA
• Technical Architect: Alfonso Villarreal
• Structural Engineer: NB-35 Barcelona
• Collaborators: Marc Nadal, Jordi Queralt, Xavi Cornejo, Ferran Laguna
• Client: Mike and Natalia
• Budget: 600.000 €

© Pedro Pegenaute

From the architect. The position of the house on a topographic gap generates different relationships with its immediate environment. On one hand, the treetops are at the height of a handrail, on the other, the network of branches is a filter through which the living room overlooks. The basalt roof frames and highlights in black the views that reach different depths of field offering a range of situations for the dweller.

© Pedro Pegenaute

Model

© Pedro Pegenaute

Model

At some points, the inclination of the slabs points towards the horizon to blend the skyline of the building with that of the mountains in the background. At others, the wavy ledge frames the domestic courtyard.

Plan

The proliferation of offset walls enhances diagonal relations between spaces. The extension of the walls and the roof slabs allows the design of the interior space to the outside, while trapping the framed landscape by creating lines that link the building to the site. Thus, the house appropriates the exterior space.

© Pedro Pegenaute

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© Uzi Porat

• Architects: Setter Architects
• Location: Ra’anana, Israel
• Architect In Charge: Shirli Zamir
• Area: 2.8 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Uzi Porat

• Contractor: TIDHAR
• Project Manager: Margolin Bros. Engineering & Consulting Ltd.

© Uzi Porat

Algotec is a high-tech company engaged in information development and processing in the sphere of medical imaging. Its corporate offices are located in Ra'anana and extend over three floors. In the new interior planning, we linked all three floors with a private interior staircase, used solely by Algotec’s employees.

© Uzi Porat

During the design process, our planning ideas drew on the company’s content world – the human body and its components. The inspiration for the interior planning and design came from images of the human body’s elements, like cells, molecules, tissue, and the spinal column. Together, all these elements formed the basis for a unique design language that drew together the interior planning and design concepts.

© Uzi Porat

As the design team, our challenge was to use imaging from human anatomy and translate it into a fresh architectural vocabulary. We did this by processing anatomical images through filters of scale, materials, prints, and textures. The result was a distinctive design vocabulary that in turn generated a set of design ideas and solutions. Accordingly, the conference room is covered with a construction of wood strips simulating the layering of human tissue; the textures and graphics covering the partitions replicate cell patterns in large-scale; the wall coverings and floorings simulate the structure of the ribcage; and the suspended lighting fixtures are inspired by human tissue and cells.

© Uzi Porat

Assisted by that special vocabulary, all these imaging and design elements create a warm and inspiring workspace. It’s a ‘home’ that encourages shared productive efforts, and preserves the fine balance between closed private spaces and open spaces for social meetings and gatherings.  

© Uzi Porat

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© Ruijing Photo

• Architects: B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio
• Location: Dengshikou, DongDan, Dongcheng Qu, China, 100005
• Design Team: Shuhei Aoyama, Yoko Fujii, Lingzi Liu
• Area: 43.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Ruijing Photo

© Ruijing Photo

From the architect. Located in a hutong near the historical centre in Beijing, the L-shaped house is sandwiched between the old hutong wall and a two floor building. The renovation aimed to transform the dated 43 m² residence into a convenient, functional modern living space for a family of six people .

Diagram

The first floor is consisted of a number of wooden boxes that functioned as living room, dining room, bedroom, study room and bathroom, creating a continuous open space that offers opportunities for communication between family members, at the same time ensuring each individual have a independent living space. The size of each box is decided according to the height of people’s activities in different functional areas. The open space on the 2nd floor is the kid’s bedroom and playground. SoJ materials such as rugs and nets are used in order to make sure the kid’s safety and also to create a warm and intimate atmosphere .

© Ruijing Photo

The shared corridor on one side of the house is not only connected to all the interior areas but also connected to outdoor public spaces, like a extension of the Hutong. With a long skylight that goes through the entire house, sufficient natural light streams in, creating a sense of being in the outdoor space. The facade facing the backyard is made of wooden frame and transparent glass, which can be opened as a huge door. Thus the interior living space and the backyard are bridged together, diffusing the boundary between the indoor and outdoor space.

© Ruijing Photo

Section

© Ruijing Photo

The design took the inspiration of public sharing spaces in traditional Beijing Hutong, conveys the vision that a home can be a open space as a part of the public urban spaces and what defines a home is the relationships of the people who live inside and the relationships between people and the environment. 

© Ruijing Photo

Ground Floor Plan

© Ruijing Photo

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© Iwan Baan

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) have revealed the Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología (UTEC), located in Lima and designed by Dublin-based practice Grafton Architects, as the winner of the inaugural RIBA International Prize. A longlist of thirty projects, published in May of this year, was narrowed down to six in October before a grand jury—chaired by Richard Rogers—selected the scheme as “an exceptional example of civil architecture.”

The project, which sits on the border of two residential districts in the Peruvian capital, perches on the edge of a natural inner-city ravine. It is conceived as a piece of geology, mirroring the organic curve of the landscape and accommodating itself in the city. “To its close neighbours,” the RIBA have suggested, it appears as “a series of landscaped terraces with clefts, overhangs and grottos – a modern day Machu Picchu.”

© Iwan Baan

Speaking about the building, the jury said:

Grafton Architects have created a new way to think about a university campus, with a distinctive ‘vertical campus’ structure responding to the temperate climatic conditions and referencing Peru’s terrain and heritage.

They continued: “UTEC has been designed to encourage its students to interact in a unique way with the building. The vertical structure provides open circulation and meeting spaces in a succession of platforms that compose the ‘frame’ of the building; teaching rooms, laboratories and offices are enclosed, inserted into and suspended from the exposed concrete structure. The frame is a device providing shade, a place of rich spatial exuberance and a platform from which to view the life of the city. The entire life of this vertical campus is on full display to the people of Lima.”

UTEC is the culmination of years of experimentation by Grafton Architects. In this building they show the mastery of their craft, gifting Lima with a bold yet considerate contribution to the city and a visionary, world-class building.

The campus building, designed in collaboration with Shell Arquitectos, is part of Lima’s specialist engineering university which was established to give young Peruvians access to qualifications, professional opportunities and to encourage social mobility.

© Iwan Baan

The grand jury included:

• Lord Rogers of Riverside (Chair)
• Billie Tsien, founding partner of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners based in New York City
• Kunlé Adeyemi, founder and principal of NLÉ
• Marilyn Jordan Taylor FAIA, the Dean of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Fine Arts
• Philip Gumuchdjian, founder of Gumuchdjian Architects and Chair of RIBA Awards

UTEC was selected as the winner of the 2016 RIBA International Prize from the following shortlisted entries:

• Arquipelago Contemporary Arts Centre / Menos é Mais, Arquitectos Associados with João Mendes Ribeiro Arquitecto, Lda
• Heydar Aliyev Centre / Zaha Hadid Architects with DiA Holding
• Museo Jumex / David Chipperfield Architects with Taller Abierto de Arquitectura y Urbanismo (TAAU)
• Stormen Concert Hall, Theatre and Public Library / DRDH Architects
• The Ring of Remembrance, International WWI Memorial of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette / Agence d’architecture Philippe Prost (AAPP)

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© Arch-Exist

• Architects: Tianhua Architecture Planning & Engineering Ltd.
• Location: Waigaoqiao New Town, Shanghai, China
• Conceptual Design: Huang Xiangming, Nie Xin, Xu Xiaojuan, Chen Haitao
• Schematic Design: Wu Xu, Chen Yang
• Area: 20740.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Arch-Exist

• Client: Shanghai Waigaoqiao New Town Development Management Co.,Ltd.
• Interior Design: Shanghai XianDai Architectural & Landscape Design Research Institute Co.,Ltd.
• Acoustics Consultant: Shanghai Acoustical Society
• Structural Design: Deng Zhiyong, Wang Xiangjie
• Mechanical And Electrical Design: Yu Hui, Zhao Xiangying, Yang Jun
• Site Area: 12,000 m2
• Green Ratio: 40%

© Arch-Exist

Shanghai Waigaoqiao Cultural & Art Centre is located on the E-03 Plot at the center of Waigaoqiao New Town, adjacent to North Zhangyang Road to its east, just 100 meters from Zhouhai Road to its north, near the Zhouhai Road station along the Metro Line 6. 

© Arch-Exist

Tianhua Architecture Planning & Engineering Co,. Ltd. won the bidding for Shanghai Waigaoqiao Cultural & Art Centre in 2006, ushering in a new journey that would later last one decade. 

1F plan

The authorities emphasizes in its master plan for the New Town that it expects the site to become a central business district with office blocks, hotels, business centres, conference centres and so forth. 

© Arch-Exist

The project is expected to create a multi-purpose cultural and art centre to host literary and art performances, conferences, film screenings, art exhibitions, cultural, science education, reading and other public activities. 

© Arch-Exist

Located near the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone, the Centre is 6 kilometers away from the Waigaoqiao Port. Given that the Port is home to shipping containers, financial and trade businesses, the architects involved anticipate the Centre to become an extension of the global image of this area that mirrors its cultural life. 

© Arch-Exist

The architects employed simple approaches to highlight the building’s characteristics under the geographic context. Based on the “container culture” typical of such ports, they created a juxtaposition of distinct volumes with glass and metal to enhance the visual effects while ensuring the building functions in an energy-efficient manner. Meanwhile a series of indoor and outdoor spaces are designed to prompt more public activities. 

© Arch-Exist

The huge “box” for exhibitions is raised on other volumes to establish a dialogue with the outside world. Its exterior space enclosed by glass ribs provides views of its surroundings, such as the light rail trains in movement where passengers can also spot the box, getting first impression of the area. 

© Arch-Exist

Section c-c

© Arch-Exist

The theatre is designed to mainly host literary and art performances and major conferences, occasionally film screenings. 

© Arch-Exist

The second floor which is accessible from the square connecting the out-door stair , accommodates a children’s wonderland , a multi-media corner ，a reading room and a centre for the elderly. Space on this floor brings together the activities for both children and adults, and it’s featured by a huge bay window for the children’s wonderland there.

2F plan

The fifth floor is where spaces for entrepreneurs’ club, an exhibition hall，a wine bar and other training classrooms are located.

Exhibition. Image © Arch-Exist

5F Plan

platform on the 4th floor. Image © Arch-Exist

Construction on the Centre had to grind to a halt in 2009 for various reasons. No doubt it is an inspiration to the architects and the client that Waigaoqiao Cultural & Art Centre is eventually completed in 2016.

Urban Environment . Image © Arch-Exist

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© Winquist Photography

• Architects: Chen + Suchart Studio
• Location: Phoenix, AZ, United States
• Architect In Charge: Chen + Suchart Studio
• Team: Patricia Chen Suchart and Thamarit Suchart
• Area: 63.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Winquist Photography

• Project Manager & Project Designer: Aaron Bass
• Construction Company: Verge Design, Joby Dutton, Contractor, Justin Novak
• Structural Engineering: BDA Engineers – Greg Brickey, P.E.
• New Construction Area: 7.2 sqm livable
• Renovated Construction Area: 55.8 sqm

© Winquist Photography

Sited in the 1930’s era neighborhood known as F.Q. Story, the Escobar Renovation represents the character and flavor of one of very few areas in the young city of Phoenix, Arizona that can be called historic.  The majority of the 602 homes that comprise this neighborhood still retain the varying architectural styles that make this district unique.  Homes in this area are distinctly smaller than today’s average homes.   

© Winquist Photography

The Escobar Renovation is a renovation to an existing home whose architectural style can be categorized as having an English Tudor style.  With the exception of a small storage closet, this home has largely remained untouched for nearly 100 years.  As a result, the spaces of the home served a very different need indicative of that era.  The existing 1,100 square foot (SF) house was separated into many different spaces each being closed off from one another.  Codes and guidelines mandated by the City of Phoenix required that any new work to the exterior maintain the character of the historic qualities of this home and neighborhood.  

© Winquist Photography

Section

© Winquist Photography

Our proposal for the renovation and addition to the existing home is deeply rooted in an architecture that is aesthetically and functionally of our client’s needs in today’s era.  In the main space of the public area, the decision was made to make the same footprint feel more expansive both in plan and in section.  All the walls of the existing public areas were removed to promote one larger space where the living room, kitchen and dining area became one unified space.  This unification of space was further expanded upon by taking advantage of the existing attic space as well, allowing for a vaulted area over the living room while returning to the original ceiling height for the kitchen and dining area.  This space further expanded outwards to the backyard area where the interior and exterior spaces merge as one space joined by operable sliding glass doors.  The continuous sinuous move in the ceiling plane serves to expand the sense of the space where the existing space could be perceived as something much larger.  

© Winquist Photography

The addition of a master bedroom and bathroom occur within the construction of the new 400 SF addition.  Fundamentally, connection with the historic home needed to engage in a dialogue with the existing home’s language without being a facsimile of a different era.  Typologically, the addition is sympathetic to the existing home while distinguishing itself as something distinctly new, as an open ended gabled form.  Full height glazing and operable glass sliding doors lead out to an enclosed patio within the extrusion of this form.  A cantilevered concrete patio and walkway unify the new covered patio with a covered patio of a similar language located adjacent to the dining and kitchen area.  This addition also contains the new master bathroom where the gabled space expands skyward to a skylight while retaining privacy.  The addition is clad with a standard 22ga standing seam metal system with a charcoal kynar500 finish.  The panels continue vertically from wall surface to become the roofing surface as one unified materiality for the addition.  The configuration of the end of this metal gable further reconceptualizes the iconography of the gabled form.   

© Winquist Photography

How does one interact with the language of a much different era within the context of the current time period, and can it be modern?  The Escobar Renovation proposes questions about language and iconography within the context of a 1930’s era home.  The proposition of an architecture which is rooted in an era nearly 100 years later became the challenge of this project.  Our renovation sought to work within the confines of the existing language while establishing a distinctly different language.  This dialogue being engaged unifies both the existing and current languages of the home, the spatial qualities and as a result, engages the perceptions of the iconography of both the modern and traditional home.  

© Winquist Photography

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