© Patrick Reynolds

• Architects: Archimedia
• Location: Hekerua Rd, Oneroa, Auckland 1081, New Zealand
• Architect In Charge: Lindsay Mackie
• Area: 390.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2014
• Photographs: Patrick Reynolds

• Other Participants: Lindsay Mackie, Surya Fullerton, Canam Construction, Jonathan Boersen, Ormiston Associates, Boffa Miskell, Green Group Ltd, eCubed Building Workshop

© Patrick Reynolds

The site is an elevated promontory above a rocky cove at the western entrance to a double bay on Waiheke Island in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf.  The site slopes north-east toward a reef and sandy beaches opposite.

Site Plan

The house is a collaboration with the Client, an engineer with meticulous attention to detail, who owns a winery on the island. His sensibility for materials is directed by his Cypriot heritage and the sensory experiences founded in his Mediterranean culture. His brief was a single line instruction to enhance the experience of the occupants. 

© Patrick Reynolds

As a structural engineer he has an affinity with concrete and in situ concrete was defined as the core material for the structure.  The Client sourced travertine, remembered from his childhood that matched the colour of the beaches across the bay and the clay-coloured sandstone of nearby island cliffs. 

Floor Plan

Section

The curved concrete forms resonate with the early 20th century gun emplacements that dot the margins of the Hauraki Gulf – rudimentary, part buried, part exposed, partly anchored, partly projecting from the land.

From these four posits – a specific material sensibility, an engineered concrete shell structure, the inclined topography of the place and the forms of the old concrete buildings nearby – the house emerged. 

© Patrick Reynolds

The site is rebuilt as a series of platforms for living, aligned with the oblique contour, with a cubist pool of water part embedded, part exposed on the west edge. 

The master suite, a reading room, a second guest suite and a studio are suspended above these platforms. Between them they create a stage for human interaction. This stage opens and closes to the exterior entirely, combining with the terraces and the pool to create a continuous surface bridging inside and out.

© Patrick Reynolds

The east and west elevations most clearly articulate the separation between site and superstructure and the single continuous line that traverses the outer edges of the concrete shells. 

© Patrick Reynolds

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Courtesy of Wuhan HUST

• Architects: Wuhan HUST architecture and urban planning design institute
• Location: Qinglong Mountain National Geological Park, China
• Architect In Charge: Baofeng Li, Jianmin Ding, Changshun Xu
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Courtesy of Wuhan HUST

• Structural Design: Wuhan HUST architecture and urban planning design institute
• Engineer: Haizhong Chen

Master Plan

From the architect. Yunxian situates in the mountain area in central China, at 32°40′N, 110°37′E. It is in the “Hot-summer and Cold-winter climate zone”. The museum design adopts all local material, local teams and local construction techniques. It strives to create least disruption with most locally-sourced design input.

Cast-in-place concrete, reinforced concrete system, local construction team and local materials are used as much as possible.

Courtesy of Wuhan HUST

Floor Plan

The design used locally fast-grown bamboo as concrete molds, it also used old tiles from deserted local earth houses as the 2nd layer of roof. It also helps keep interior temperature in good condition for hot summer climate region. Without any decoration for inside and outside facade, only using some chimney-shaped light well in order to draw in natural daylight as spotlights for the dinosaur eggs.

Following the passive design principle, the Museum does not need to use any air condition and other artificial ventilation facilities.

Axonometric

Aside from design philosophy, another benefit of the local material and construction team/technique is the economic budget. The site condition including its topography and accessibility is rather complicated, which also results in a building form complicated to construct. Using local material and local construction technique also helps to ensure a modest construction budget while keeping a high-quality contextual design. The Design team also made very frequent trips to the construction site to deliver quality-controlled project within a friendly budget.

Courtesy of Wuhan HUST

The morphology of the design roots in spatial distribution of the dinosaur eggs and vertical variation of the on-site topography. The site remained least disturbed, with the minimally- designed walking bridge gently floating above to hug around the site of the eggs, which further determines the direction and form of the architecture that serves as a silent backdrop for the site. It is a building that is modest to the site, honest to the history and respectful to the archaeological excavation.

Courtesy of Wuhan HUST

Old material + New construction technique:

– The fast-growing local bamboo was chosen as a low-budget sustainable material. However the conventional material is used with innovation: the bamboo was used mostly to make molds that provides concrete a unique, rough and textual finishing.
– The old tiles from deserted earth houses nearby were also recycled in an innovative way: They are used to constructed second layer of the roof. Two layers of roof enables the circulation of air in between, therefore minimizing heat from entering the building during the summer.
– “The Chimneys of Light” are used to provide simple and pure “natural spotlight” for the dinosaur eggs, the only item on exhibition in the entire museum. “The Chimneys of Light” also construct a mysterious atmosphere for the exhibition.

Elevation

Innovative “wind-transparent but light-blocking” window system, solving conflicts between dark visual indoor environment and well-natural-ventilated exhibition sensual environment. 

The project collects and piles big rocks from rivers and creeks nearby to protect the foundation of architecture. The unaltered natural grass-field and 800-year-old ancient trees are the main landscape feature, which echoes the natural and minimalistic design principles from the architecture.

Courtesy of Wuhan HUST

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© Ben Hosking

• Architects: Lachlan Shepherd Architects
• Location: Torquay VIC 3228, Australia
• Architect In Charge: Lachlan Shepherd, James Donaldson, Kang Gao
• Area: 350.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Ben Hosking

• Builder: Torquay Homes Pty Ltd
• Engineer: Andrew Cherubin and Associates
• Interior Designer : Sweden Interiors

© Ben Hosking

Floor Plan 01

In the first briefing meeting with our clients Angie, Vic and their Dalmatian Pirate, Angie’s main brief requirement was that she wanted people to walk in and say/think “holy f***”…

It was conceived as a place for entertaining, whereby the owners regularly have guests stay including family and friends from within Australia and abroad. Thus, the house had to function firstly as a home to its two full-time occupants (and their Dalmatian) and secondly as a luxury hotel; each guest bedroom is provided with its own ensuite and robe areas, so essentially their guests can “check-in” to their own space before moving into the main living zones of the house.

© Ben Hosking

The planning responds to the site surrounds by turning its back on the one adjacent neighbour and opening up to the beautiful golf course views to the south and east. Large expanses of glazing work to draw the rolling golf greens and sound dunes beyond into the home, blurring the distinction between outside and inside.

© Ben Hosking

The main kitchen and living zones are also tied to an integrated plunge pool, which is heated year-round, providing a practical, usable pool and doubling as a water feature which is viewed from all living zones. There are no walls diving the lounge, kitchen, dining, and sitting zones but they are separated visually and spatially by the sunken lounge area.

© Ben Hosking

© Ben Hosking

The building, whilst highly detailed and technical in its design/construction, also represents an honest, low-maintenance and warm home.

Sections

Product Description:
The shade factor external blinds were utilized to provide full sun-control to the northern façade of the building, allowing for solar passive gain as required, along with allowing for privacy for guests as required at the street interface.

© Ben Hosking

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via POL

Swedish mega-retailer IKEA is taking action to combat the destitute living conditions faced by Syrian refugees.

Partnering with the Norwegian Red Cross and advertising agency POL, IKEA has installed a replica of refugee house in Damascus, Syria at their store in Slependen, Norway.

Just 25 square meters in area, the structure represents the actual home of a woman named Rana and her nine family members. Presented in stark contrast to the nearby IKEA room displays, the room’s concrete block walls and sparse furnishings highlight the everyday struggles of Syrian citizens.

“When we had to flee to this area to find safety, we did not have enough money to rent a better place. We have no money to buy mattresses and blankets, or clothes for the children,” Rana told the Norwegian Red Cross.

via POL

via POL

Items throughout the model home feature the iconic IKEA tags, but instead of price and dimensions, they list stories about the Syrian family’s daily life in the face of war and the crippling shortages of the basic needs like food, water, and medical supplies. Most importantly, each tag also provides information about how customers can help.

via POL

Meanwhile, in London, the Design Museum has installed one of IKEA’s flat-pack refugee shelters, “the Better Shelter,” outside the South Kensington Underground station, just steps away from the institution’s new home within a 1960s structure renovated by a team including OMA and John Pawson.

The occasion marks the Better Shelter’s first public exhibit in the UK, and will be on display up until the museum’s reopening on November 24th.

Nominated for the Design Museum’s Beazley Designs of the Year Award 2016, the Better Shelter was designed by the IKEA Foundation in collaboration with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Refugee Housing Unit in 2013 to provide a high-quality temporary accommodation that could replace the tents currently used in refugee camps all over the world.

Thousands of the structures have since been deployed worldwide, serving as a longer term solution for housing and other needs.

News via TV-aksjonen, Norwegian Red Cross, the Design Museum. H/T Bored Panda, Dezeen.

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© Artem Ivanov

• Architects: buro5
• Location: Moscow, Russia
• Lead Architects: Boris Denisyuk
• Area: 105.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Artem Ivanov

The basis for the creation of the interior served as a non-standard original layout of the house and the customer’s wishes.

The apartment is located in a 40-storey high-rise building, in which there are no open windows due to strong gusts of wind. Instead, ventilation is provided through the front grille, located on the balcony. There’s also the place to set the air conditioner was provided. Balcony area was 25 m2

© Artem Ivanov

The client wanted to make part of the balcony of the living space, which is not contrary to the design of the house. To do this, we had to first solve three major problems:

– Preserve the free flow of fresh air
– Place the air conditioner
– To increase the heating power

© Artem Ivanov

These problems we have decided due to:

– The installation of double glazing
– Create a small room for air conditioners
– Installation of powerful radiators.

© Artem Ivanov

In addition, the Client has set the task to make the most spacious room with a minimum of interior items.

All these factors will affect the future of the interior aesthetics – we chose the style of Urban.
The general mood of the interior is transmitted through the use of dark tones in the interior and unusual for a residential materials: facade tiles, stucco, a large number of front windows, which we closed with black shutters, black huge radiators that resemble urban pipes and even black garage shutters, behind which hidden lockers.

© Artem Ivanov

Final Touch overall style added views – the house is located on the banks of the Moscow River with views of the industrial landscapes.

Before Plan

After Plan

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Want to know how BIG’s VIA 57 West was designed? Let Bjarke Ingels explain it you himself in this new 360 degree video from creative production house Squint/Opera.

Shot in incredible 4K video, the video uses motion graphics and CGI overlays to take you through the building’s construction while Ingels provides commentary on the design of the”courtscraper,” winner of the 2016 International Highrise Award.

And for the full immersive experience, the video can be viewed through a VR headset using the youtube app on your smartphone.

For more by Squint/Opera, check out their latest video on BIG’s design for Hyperloop One, the new autonomous transportation system that will connect downtown Dubai to downtown Abu Dhabi in just twelve minutes.

Via Squint/Opera.

VIΛ 57 West / BIG
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