© Vincent Monthiers

• Architects: Guiraud-Manenc
• Location: 64600 Anglet, France
• Architect In Charge: Guiraud-Manenc
• Area: 1799.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Vincent Monthiers

• Construction Economist: BETIKO
• Landscaping: Trouillot & Hermel
• Ergonome: Anteis,
• Structural And Envelope Consultants: TERRELL
• Hqe Design Office: AI environnement
• Hvac Fluids, Electricity: Atlantic Map
• Vrd Office: IMS
• Opc : Rodolphe Guérin
• Client: Agglomération Côte-Basque-Adour

© Vincent Monthiers

From the architect. Located on the Landes de Juzan campus in Anglet, the Activity Generator proposed by the Côte-Basque-Adour Agglomeration is a place where innovative young companies can be found, encouraging interdisciplinary cross-fertilization between academic research and industrial knowledge.

© Vincent Monthiers

This business hotel is set in an urban wasteland, open on a wood and a protected estey in the heart of the Basque coast Adour. The building is a reflection of the dialogue between this landscaped site and the program.

Site Plan

To answer the environmental challenges of the program: dual certification and the BEPOS objective, the idea is to make architecture the vector of these performances, playing with the assets of the context and appealing to the common sense of the users.

© Vincent Monthiers

 Creating an interior landscape built in echo to the natural landscape, the building is manifested in its implementation by making perceptible the structural forces, the innervating networks and the envelope of the building as architectural elements in full participating in the Identity of the place. The atmospheres are qualified by precise assemblages of raw and durable materials such as concrete, wood and metal, providing a sensitive touch at the spaces.

© Vincent Monthiers

The architecture of the generator is revealed with subtlety in order to create, at the heart of the effervescence of the agglomeration, a privileged environment, calm and conducive to work, a way to inhabit this place. The limits between the exterior and the interior are intentionally blurred in order to benefit from the vitality of the environment, with the concern to integrate in the heart of the building the presence of natural light and its variations.

© Vincent Monthiers

In the West side, in an urban connection, the experimental hall exposes itself in a panorama on Mirambeau street, by a large horizontal incise, as a signal announcing the research and development work housed in the generator.

© Vincent Monthiers

To the east, echoing the landscape of the Estey, the facade of the offices opens generously on nature. External walkways let you enjoy the softness of the site and encourage informal meetings by extending outside the workspaces.

At the heart of the generator, the bioclimatic atrium brings together these workspaces as a forum open to debates of ideas.

Section

It also gathers the vertical and horizontal circulations treated in rhythmical route, revealing the activities, letting enjoy natural light and offering framing on the trees landscape.

Each one is no longer the inhabitant of a floor, an office, but a place of work in which are shared knowledge, tools, dedicated spaces and services.

Evolutive, the building is designed to shape, adapt to the demand, suspended to future societal, technical and energy evolutions. Leaning on the structure as a pivot, the envelope is an interchangeable and recyclable skin. The interior is designed as flexible and reversible, it remains ductile to the uses.

The generator will live at the tempo of the young companies that will invest it, appropriating it and making it evolve.

© Vincent Monthiers

Product Description:

-A structural logic inseparable from architecture:

The innovative companies hotel is based on three interacting strata that make up its structural architecture.

The telluric grip:

The cascading earthworks anchor the building in the site. The reinforced concrete structures partition the plateaus of the terraces and initiate the verticalities, in an atmosphere of mineral landscape.

© Vincent Monthiers

The structure adapted to spaces:

The main structure in reinforced concrete is designed without the fall of a beam, by a principle of posts / slabs “mushroom” favoring the modularity of the partitioning. Exposed in raw way, sails and concrete floors participate in the passive design of the building by their large capacity of inertia. The structure and framework of the technichal hall (volume without intermediate support point) are composed of glued laminated pine douglas elements and metal connectors.

© Vincent Monthiers

An efficient envelope:

This structure is protected by a technical wrap adapted to the uses and orientations. This wrap of glued laminated timber casing douglas pine presents various qualities according to the needs: opaque, transparent, translucent, waterproof, porous, filtering, insulating …

The facades of the offices are designed on a modular principle in plug on the regular weaving of the structure. This system is designed to allow a simple and quick modification of the façades while guaranteeing air and water waterprooffing and sound and thermal insulation.

 The glazed parts are all accessible on one level or by external gallery for easy maintenance and without nacelle or special equipment. Similarly the roofs all have direct access from the floors.

© Vincent Monthiers

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Courtesy of Factory Manchester

OMA’s first major public building in the UK has been granted planning approval. Known as “Factory,” the groundbreaking new cultural center will serve as a the new home of the Manchester International Festival (MIF) and as a year-round concert and arts venue.

Courtesy of Factory Manchester

OMA was selected for the project following an international competition in 2015, beating out proposals from firms including Rafael Viñoly Architects, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Zaha Hadid Architects and Mecanoo. The project is being led by partners Ellen van Loon and Rem Koolhaas.

Courtesy of Factory Manchester

Courtesy of Factory Manchester

“Much of my professional life has been spent undoing limitations of the traditional typologies,” said van Loon. “From classical opera and ballet to large scale performances and experimental productions, Factory in Manchester provides the perfect opportunity to create the ultimate versatile space in which art, theatre and music come together: a platform for a new cultural scene.”

Courtesy of Factory Manchester

Courtesy of Factory Manchester

Courtesy of Factory Manchester

The £110 million venue will be located in the new St. John’s neighborhood of Manchester on the site of the former Granada TV Studios, and will be developed in partnership with developer Allied London. Economic impact of the project is estimated to create almost 1,500 full-time jobs and add £1.1 billion to the city’s economy in a 10-year period.

Courtesy of Factory Manchester

Courtesy of Factory Manchester

Construction is scheduled to begin in Spring of 2017.

News via OMA.

OMA Selected to Design Manchester’s ‘Factory’, Their First Public Project in the UK
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© Bates Masi Architects

• Architects: Bates Masi Architects
• Location: Amagansett, NY, United States
• Architects In Charge: Paul Masi, Danielle Caylor
• Area: 2300.0 ft2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Bates Masi Architects

• Structural Engineer: Steven L. Maresca
• Contractor: K. Romeo, Inc.

© Bates Masi Architects

From the architect. Across the street from the property, in the low dunes near the Atlantic Ocean, a historic Life Saving Station serves as a cherished reminder of the maritime, military and architectural history of this coastal landscape.  Built over a century ago, the station is part of a network of structures used to provide rescue and relief for shipwrecked sailors, and it was from this station that a guard once discovered Nazi invaders coming ashore during World War II.  Designed with lookout towers, weather-protected cupolas and elevated decks, the stations offered many views for the crews to survey the horizon through all seasons.  Inside, large, open storage rooms often featured boats, oars and other useful items hung from exposed beams for easy access.  Taking cues from this structure, the design of the new residence strikes a dialogue with the landmark to enrich the experience of the new home and celebrate the local history.

© Bates Masi Architects

The principal strategy for the home stems from the utilitarian practice of hanging boats and other items from the station’s wooden post and beam structure. In a modern reinterpretation, the residence features an exposed steel structure which defines the main living spaces and forms a framework onto which other functions can be hung: the main stair is strung from beams above, and the rods used to support each tread serve as guardrail for the stair; a wood burning stove sits on a suspended steel shelf; light fixtures are fastened to the flanges using standard beam clamps; a swinging chair hangs from the cantilevered living area above.     

© Bates Masi Architects

On the exterior, a system of bronze bars was developed to hang the thick cedar siding boards in place without fastening through the wood, allowing the boards to expand and contract naturally with changes of temperature and humidity. Like the weathered cedar shingles on the Station across the street, each material—cedar, bronze, and weathering steel—was chosen for its proven durability in the coastal climate.  As each material weathers over time, the appearance of the siding will record the cycles of rain, sun, freeze and thaw: cedar will lighten from the sun; bronze bars will patina to dark brown and eventually turn green; weathering steel will develop a deep rusted texture on the surface which protects it from further corrosion by the salty air.  The weathering steel around the base of the building marks the height the home was raised above the flood plain. To minimize the impact of the footprint on the sensitive ecological environment, the main living area is stacked above the bedrooms, and, like the lookout towers of the stations, an even higher roof deck provides elevated views of ocean.    

© Bates Masi Architects

By taking cues from the historic lifesaving station, the home responds to the environmental and historical context.  In so doing, it honors the local heritage and enriches the present day experience.

© Bates Masi Architects

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© Pixabay user Unsplash. Licensed under CC0 Public Domain

The Eiffel Tower is set to undergo a massive renovation project: a 15-year, €300 Million endeavor that will preserve the attraction for decades to come.

Built 128 years ago as a temporary structure for 1889 Universal Exhibition in Paris, the tower has since grown into a global icon, attracting nearly 7 million visitors per year and serving as an important symbol of French unity during times of both celebration and tragedy.

© Pixabay user nuno_lopez. Licensed under CC0 Public Domain

The project will encompass a full structural analysis, replacement of the tower’s lighting systems and an overhaul of the tower’s elevators, which still use some of Eiffel’s original workings. Additional improvements will include a modernization of security technology and an enhanced visitor experience to reduce wait times and shelter tourist from harsh weather conditions.

“There could be one or more places for the public to wait that are sheltered. Today, they are queueing in the rain and snow, and that’s not the best welcome for our foreign tourists,” said Jean-François Martins, the deputy mayor of Paris.

The announcement was made as Paris bids for the 2024 Olympic Games and the Universal Exhibition in 2025.

The project will break down into a €20 million per year investment, a 45% increase from the €13.7 million already spent each year on maintenance. The tower is fully repainted every seven years, a process which requires 66 tons of paint and 20 months to complete.

The last major renovation to the tower took place just 3 years ago, when the first floor reopened following two years of work. Previous to that, the last large-scale renovation occurred in 1986.

The project proposal will be presented to the Paris council for approval at the end of January.

News via The Guardian.

AD Classics: Eiffel Tower / Gustave Eiffel
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© Marc Faasse

• Architects: BETA office for architecture and the city, Elisabeth Boersma
• Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Area: 3000.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Marc Faasse

• Client: Stichting Samen Ondernemen
• Landscape Architects: Rob van Dijk
• Engineer: Huibers Constructieadvies

© Marc Faasse

In the early 2000s, the Ru Paré School was emblematic of the social problems facing the Amsterdam borough of Slotervaart. The Ru Paré is now the neighborhood’s living room and accommodates an extraordinary social experiment.

A New kid on the Block 

In response to austerity measures in the Dutch economy, a social entrepreneur developed a model for solidarity in challenging neighborhoods. Inhabitants are offered tax advice, computing or language classes in return for community service; at the building level receding funding is supplemented with profitable start-ups.

© Marc Faasse

By the end of 2013 BETA and Elisabeth Boersma were asked to test this concept in a former school. A series of events was organized which not only led to useful input for the building’s transformation, it also led to the establishment of a neighborhood enterprise. The KlusLAB would later take up renovation work both in the school and the surrounding neighborhood, stimulating the local economy.

Render Section

A so-called urban-mining project was initiated with students of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. A catalogue of materials from housing corporation Eigen Haard’s nearby demolition project was drawn up. Demolition company Oranje would secure the materials, after which the KlusLAB would install them in the Ru Paré. This supply chain served to reduce waste and building costs.

© Marc Faasse

Turning A Liability into an Opportunity 

With its many classrooms surrounding a generous hallway, the school was great at accommodating different organizations. The school’s gymnasium was a different story altogether. Comprising more than 10% of the building’s floor area, this space represented a significant liability for the project’s fragile cash flow. It could serve as a foyer, but its position far away from the original entrance cancels this advantage. Relocating the entrance to the gymnasium proved to be a bold, cost-efficient and spatially convincing move in recoding the building.

© Marc Faasse

A Concentrated Intervention with Effect

Several ambitions were realized with this pirouette. The cash flow was reinforced by generating more small scale units with a greater marketability. By employing the economically less viable, but spatially extraordinary gymnasium as a foyer, accessibility and visibility were increased whilst forming an attractive public interior. Simultaneously on the sunny side of the building, the sunny schoolyard could now be reinvented, transforming from an undefined transit space into a functioning public courtyard.

Plan 3

A New Face For The Neighborhood 

Spatial interventions are concentrated to maximize their effect. A mezzanine with five thematic greenhouses was introduced, offering complementary space to both the foyer and the traditional classrooms. The previously introverted gymnasium is opened up by installing full-height overhead doors. With the flick of a switch the former gymnasium can be transformed from a generous foyer to an airy public interior. This rich spatial experience extends outwards onto the adjacent balcony overlooking the immediate surroundings.

© Marc Faasse

Product Description. The garage style sectional overhead doors amplify the spatial relationship between the newfound foyer space (the former gymnasium) and the public garden (the former schoolyard). In the summer, the interior of the gymnasium transforms into an airy public interior with the flick of a switch. During the winter, all internal activity is communicated to the neighborhood.

© Marc Faasse

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Courtesy of The Scarcity and Creativity Studio

• Architects: The Scarcity and Creativity Studio
• Location: Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, Ecuador
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Courtesy of The Scarcity and Creativity Studio

• Student Team: Åsmund Amandus Steinsholm, Cecilia Sundt, Guro Langemyhr, Jan Kazimierz Godzimirski, Magdalena Georgieva Alfredova, Magnus Hermstad, Synnøve Solberg, Jørgen Joacim Høy, Therese Andrea Nygaard, Torunn Oland Stjern, Vilde Vanberg, Viola Ulrika Kristin Svens, Wilma Hiemstra, Yaohan Yu
• Teachers: Christian Hermansen Cordua, Solveig Sandness, Joseph Kennedy
• Collaborators: Torgeir Blaalid, Finn-Erik Nilsen
• Sponsors: Lund & Slaatto, Nordic, MAD, 4b arkitekter as, økaw arkitekter, Byggindustrien, Astrup og Hellern, LPO, Lund Hagem, Flakk
• Client: Municipality of San Cristobal, Galapagos

Courtesy of The Scarcity and Creativity Studio

The Municipality of San Cristobal, Galapagos, asked The Scarcity and Creativity Studio to build a shade shelter with showers as part of the municipal project to refurbish and build new facilities in the main beach of Baquerizo Moreno Port. The project was designed and build in a period of slightly more than two weeks. The reasons for the short design/build period are explained below. 

Courtesy of The Scarcity and Creativity Studio

Having arrived is Galapagos to find that the project we were prepared to build had to be cancelled (see: http://ift.tt/2iDvPPG), the SCS team had financing, four weeks in Galapagos, and no project. We then approached several local institutions with a view to obtaining a commission to design and build a project. Four possible projects emerged from this initiative: 1. A bridge over a causeway in a new park the Municipality of San Cristobal was building. 2. A building for yoga training in the highlands 3. A police tower to catch cattle thieves. 4. A shade shelter in Playa Man. 

Floor Plan

Elevation

The SCS studio decided to opt for the shade shelter project in Playa Man. As time was now at a premium, SCS organised a three days internal architectural competition, starting with individual projects, choosing the ideas with most potential to develop further, until the final project was chosen. As we had purchased the bamboo for the previously cancelled project this mad to be the main building material. The project was built in two weeks, many of the details previously developed for the cancelled Scouts Centre project were used. The project provides shade to users of Playa Man as well as providing three open air showers.

Courtesy of The Scarcity and Creativity Studio

Courtesy of The Scarcity and Creativity Studio

Courtesy of The Scarcity and Creativity Studio

Bamboo grows locally and it is ready to be used in construction after only four years. However in Galapagos it is considered a ‘poor persons’ building material and thus seldom used. The SCS team was pleasantly surprised at how many locals praised the use of bamboo and hope that the Playa Man project will have some influence in the reconsideration of this strong and sustainable building material.

Courtesy of The Scarcity and Creativity Studio

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© Sharon Lam

Architecture, as a profession and discipline, has come a long way since Vitruvius. It continues to evolve alongside culture and technology, reflecting new developments and shifting values in society. Some changes are conscious and originate within the field of architecture itself, made as acts of disciplinary or professional progress; others changes are uncontrollable, arising from architecture’s role in the wider world that is also changing. Below are just some of the changes that have taken place in recent decades:

1. Drawing vs. Software

© Sharon Lam, using images via Wikimedia user <a href='http://ift.tt/2jqDkdH Rutten</a> licensed under <a href='http://ift.tt/2aA6y58 BY-SA 3.0</a>

Whether you like it or not, drawing boards have given way to computer screens, with CAD and parametric software now common architectural tools. However, the age old adage of being able to impress a client with a freehand sketch still stands true.

2. Lone Genius vs. Teamwork

© Sharon Lam

The historic image of the architect was a lone genius, whipping up sculptural forms instantaneously from their minds. Today, architects are more often seen working collaboratively and to great success, such as the Turner Prize-winning group Assemble, or Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, who finally won an AIA Gold Medal in 2015 after a rule change that allowed the prize to be awarded to pairs.

3. Learning Classical Design Rules vs. Learning to Design Creatively

© Sharon Lam

Rules of symmetry, proportion and types of column only make appearances in architecture school these days in relation to history. Long gone are the days of strict design ordinances and in their place is an era of open, creative problem solving.

4. A Lot of Old White Men vs. Slightly Less Old White Men

© Sharon Lam, using images via Flickr user <a href='http://ift.tt/2grM3XO;, Wikimedia user <a href='http://ift.tt/2jqAntx; licensed under <a href='http://ift.tt/2d3G0ZW BY-SA 2.0</a>, and © United Press International

Though architectural history has been dominated by old white men, this is slowly changing. Women and people of color are starting to be recognized in architecture—recently the AIA Gold Medal went to its first black recipient. However, gender pay gaps and other imbalances mean that there is still progress to be made.

5. Media-less vs. Media-ness

© Sharon Lam, using an <a href='http://ift.tt/2jqJeeX by Iwan Baan</a>

As media in society has become increasingly prominent, so too has its relationship with architecture. Because our understanding and treatment of architecture is tied to its representation, this is a change that is both complex and important.

6. Exclusivity vs. Inclusivity

© Sharon Lam, using image via screenshot from <a href='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPFcZ-Ux4Lg&t=73s'>YouTube</a&gt; and <a href='http://ift.tt/2jB3rMM; >TED</a>

Increasing media exposure has also increased the inclusivity of architectural appreciation, with TV shows like Grand Designs, podcasts like 99% Invisible, and websites (like this one!) making architecture accessible to many more people than just those who work or study in the field.

7. Sufficiency vs. Sustainability

© Sharon Lam

Consideration of a building’s environmental impact has become a much more active driver of design in recent years, becoming the entire ethos of a firm in some cases. This is both due to greater awareness of increasingly pressing environmental concerns, as well as advances in technology making sustainability easier to implement.

8. Local vs. Global

© Sharon Lam

Unlike many historic building styles, it can be difficult to tell the location of new buildings through their design alone. Collaboration across cultures and international competitions and commissions now allow for design to transcend geographic boundaries—Foster + Partners alone have 15 different offices working on projects across 40 countries.

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© David Frutos

• Architects: Jaime Sepulcre Bernad
• Location: Murcia, Spain
• Area: 225.0 m2
• Project Year: 2012
• Photographs: David Frutos

© David Frutos

From the architect. On a perfectly square diaphanous room -15 x 15 m- with four central pillars, the project proposes the structuring of the future clinic in three programmatic bands of very similar proportions:

Sections

Waiting Area:

The first band is the most public, which is accessed and basically contains the reception and a large waiting room. All this generous space of reception and waiting opens its views towards an outer square through the great circles that make up the facade. The reception, organized in a circular piece of furniture, becomes the centerpiece of this first space and from it is controlled its operation. After the reception, there is a small administration office and a small relaxation room.

© David Frutos

Dental Space:

The most intimate and protected part of the clinic is the properly clinical band that appears alongside the back facade facing a boulevard. This dental care space is composed of a battery of five cabinets connected to each other visually. In this band also appears a secondary access for exclusive use of the personnel.

© David Frutos

Server Area:

Finally, between the most extrovert and the more introverted space appears an intermediate band that makes of filter and that contains all the uses properly servants. This servant band is carried out by the sterilization room around which the functioning of the dental offices gravitates. In this band are also the ray room, the laboratory, the engine room, the staff room, the wardrobe, the office of the doctor and the toilets for patients.

© David Frutos

Three materials:

Three material ideas formalize this space with vocation of continuous space – constant height 2.70 m-:

1 / The idea of ​​achieving maximum transparency through the use of “glass”; 2 / The idea that the only pieces that appear loose are the three boxes that make up the intermediate band and that materialize like metal boxes, of “aluminum”; And 3 / the idea that the whole plane of the ground is a single material, continuous, and warm, human, “wood” – which is finally a good laminate-. And the rest, white.

© David Frutos

Urban Logo:

The idea for the facade was to take a fragment of the logo of the clinic and expand it to scale city. The new facade therefore relies on a corporate image that was already consolidated and now acquires an urban scene size.

© David Frutos

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© Simon Kennedy Photography

• Architects: MawsonKerr Architects
• Location: Penrith, United Kingdom
• Architect In Charge: Will Mawson
• Area: 600.0 m2
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Simon Kennedy Photography

• Client: Sunbeams Music Trust
• Main Contractor: Thomas Armstrong Construction Ltd
• Structural Engineer: JS Engineering
• Cost Consultant : Johnstons
• Acoustic Consultant: DACS
• Service Engineers: JH Partners

© Simon Kennedy Photography

Completion of the £2.0 million Sunbeams Music Centre marks a significant milestone in an extraordinary journey for Sunbeams Music Trust and Newcastle based MawsonKerr Architects.

© Simon Kennedy Photography

This journey began 12 years ago as a university thesis project for MawsonKerr director Will Mawson then studying the charity for his final year project at Newcastle University; in an unusual turn of events this became a live project following unanimous approval by the board of trustees.

Pencil Render

Established in 1992, Sunbeams Music Trust deliver their ‘Music For Life’ programme to tens of thousands of needing members of society each year and were eager for a home. 

© Simon Kennedy Photography

A green field site with transformational therapeutic qualities was generously donated overlooking Ullswater Valley near Penrith following which a lengthy fund raising period began for the centre including a number of sponsored “endurance challenges” by MawsonKerr and friends of the charity such as a Forrest Gump style 24 hour coast to coast run. 

Floor Plan

MawsonKerr’s resultant building is designed to embody musical qualities of rhythm, timbre and melody within the landscape; shaped along the curved natural contours it grows with a crescendo at the canopy to the eastern main entrance. Inserted along the rhythmical elevation are a series of playful introverted volumes housing key activities.

© Simon Kennedy Photography

The architecture is intended to reflect synthesis between the natural context, a contemporary vernacular and musical union; housing several unique functions it is also importantly an outward facing advert for the charity. 

© Simon Kennedy Photography

External envelope materials are primarily slate stone clad spine walls with an oak façade to the main curved elevation, a series of lozenge shaped cedar shingle clad volumes all topped with an extensive green roof; many of these materials continue internally to create a rich interior texture. Radially spanning glulam beams run with a rhythm throughout the building creating the projecting eaves and entrance canopy. 

© Simon Kennedy Photography

The primary function of the centre is providing music therapy, in acoustically treated spaces specifically designed for group sessions or one on one. Secondly the important administrative requirement for a growing charity like Sunbeams Music Trust and thirdly the centre allows promotion of Sunbeams work throughout with exhibitions open to the public and music concerts generating funds for the programmes they run.

© Simon Kennedy Photography

There is a strong sustainable agenda to the design based on first principles; the six hundred square metre Sunbeams Music Centre is predominantly naturally ventilated, naturally lit and the heating provided by ground source heat pump. U-values are to passivhaus standards with a large amount of locally sourced sheep wool and carefully designed south facing elevation to limit overheating. All materials are sustainably sourced and from as local a source as possible.

Section

Integrated into the centre are a host of bespoke designed elements, such as the reception desk formed around the music signature of a harp, green walls, musically derived ironmongery, tiling incorporating imagery of the fund raising challenges and the main Glassical Hall (named after Philip Glass one of the patrons) whose oak clad walls are design to create an optimum acoustic performance. 

© Simon Kennedy Photography

Product Description. Burlington Slate Wall – One of the key drivers to the design is in creating a beautiful aesthetic of natural materials that are resilient and locally sourced. We were able to have great buy in by local quarry Burlington who were the source of all the amazing stone which runs radially throughout the building internally and externally.

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© Tim Van De Velde

• Architects: Govaert & Vanhoutte Architects
• Location: Veurne, Belgium
• Architect In Charge: Benny Govaert, Damiaan Vanhoutte
• Area: 6974.0 m2
• Project Year: 2014
• Photographs: Tim Van De Velde

© Tim Van De Velde

From the architect. Enjoy Concrete produces and installs architectural prefabricated concrete elements. The brief for their new corporate building was to combine a production hanger together with offices, while integrating their own product within the building. Being on a strategic point in between an industrial estate and a green canal, they wanted to be seen by the passing traffic, as well as to become a transition from green to industrial.

© Tim Van De Velde

The design for the headquarters for Enjoy Concrete became a true showcase for their own capabilities, being constructed entirely out of prefabricated concrete elements. Its facade are made out of concrete slabs of 6 by 3 meters. All windows share these same proportions. 

© Tim Van De Velde

The building mainly consists out of a hall for production and storage. The office spaces are in front of the building, spread over 4 levels, allowing light and visibility onto the main road. A cantilevered volume (12m50 in total) containing the board room is located at the top corner of the building. This box also shares the same 6×3 meters proportion. The long volume was made out of a lighter steel structure, allowing large windows on the south west façade. The steel structure is internally anchored into the concrete staircase, creating a counter weight for the long cantilever. Inside the boardroom a solid steel table stands only on 2 legs, having an over span of 7m50.

© Tim Van De Velde

The facade is further characterized by a pattern image, of the beautiful treeline along the canal “Damse Vaart” on the prefab slabs through the application of the “Graphic Concrete” procedure. The digital image was broken down into big dots, making the total picture become clear only from a distance. The facade creates an interesting interaction between the building and its surroundings, as the building reflects the nature across the street and canal. 

Section Detail

In essence the HQ for enjoy concrete is one big concrete block. The floating boardroom functions as an eye catcher for the approaching traffic, and also breaks the simple volume. The print of the treeline blends the concrete mass into the green surroundings. 

© Tim Van De Velde

Product Description. –  Enjoy Concrete produces and installs architectural prefabricated concrete elements. The brief for their new corporate building was to combine a production hanger together with offices, while integrating their own product within the building. Being on a strategic point in between an industrial estate and a green canal, they wanted to be seen by the passing traffic, as well as to become a transition from green to industrial.

© Tim Van De Velde

The design for the headquarters for Enjoy Concrete became a true showcase for their own capabilities, being constructed entirely out of prefabricated concrete elements. Its facade are made out of concrete slabs of 6 by 3 meters. All windows share these same proportions. 

© Tim Van De Velde

The building mainly consists out of a hall for production and storage. The office spaces are in front of the building, spread over 4 levels, allowing light and visibility onto the main road. A cantilevered volume (12m50 in total) containing the board room is located at the top corner of the building. This box also shares the same 6×3 meters proportion. The long volume was made out of a lighter steel structure, allowing large windows on the south west façade. The steel structure is internally anchored into the concrete staircase, creating a counter weight for the long cantilever. Inside the boardroom a solid steel table stands only on 2 legs, having an over span of 7m50.

Section Detail

The facade is further characterized by a pattern image, of the beautiful treeline along the canal “Damse Vaart” on the prefab slabs through the application of the “Graphic Concrete” procedure. The digital image was broken down into big dots, making the total picture become clear only from a distance. The facade creates an interesting interaction between the building and its surroundings, as the building reflects the nature across the street and canal. 

© Tim Van De Velde

In essence the HQ for enjoy concrete is one big concrete block. The floating boardroom functions as an eye catcher for the approaching traffic, and also breaks the simple volume. The print of the treeline blends the concrete mass into the green surroundings.

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