© Tamás Bujnovszky

• Architects: 3h architecture, Váncza Muvek Studio
• Location: Szeged, Dóm tér 6, 6720 Hungary
• Architect In Charge: Katalin Csillag, Zsolt Gunther (3h architecture), László Váncza (Váncza Művek Studio)
• Area: 6655.71 sqm
• Project Year: 2015
• Photographs: Tamás Bujnovszky, Balázs Danyi

• Project Architects: Tamás Békesi, Zsuzsanna Kolláth, Orsolya Pataj
• Project Team: Dorottya Garay-Kiss, Anna Sára Kiss, Zsombor Fehér, Zoltán Lang, Márk Váncza
• Structural Engineer: Balázs Puskás (TERRAPLAN’97 Mérnökiroda Kft.)
• Sanitary Engineering: János Bukovics (G&B Plan Kft. Épületgépész Mérnökiroda)
• Electrical Engineering: Gábor Kun (Hungaroproject Mérnökiroda Kft.)
• Fire Protection Engeneering: Béla Nagy (Tűzterv Bt.)
• Construction Details: Gergely Dobszay dr, László Kakassy dr (Kakassy és Társa Mérnöki Kft.)
• Acoustics: Andor Fürjes (aQrate Kft.)
• Landscape Architecture: Enikő Kapás (Departer Kft.)
• Preliminary Work (Art History): Ferenc Bor
• Main Diagnostician Coordinator: Csaba Németh (3C Kft.)
• Soil Mechanics: Endre Kelemen Ács (3C Kft.)
• Structural Diagnostics: János Laczkovics (3C Kft.)
• Building Structures: Gergely Dobszay dr, László Kakassy dr (Kakassy és Társa Mérnöki Kft.)
• Picture–Restorer And Glass Mosaic Diagnostics: Mária Brutyó, Kornélia Forrai, Ildikó Jeszeniczky
• Main Contractor: West Hungária Bau Építő Kft. Kalotherm Zrt. konzorcium
• Archeology: Orsolya Lajkó, József Szarka (Museum Móra Ferenc, Szeged)
• Picture Restorer: Dóra Verebes, András Seres (MentArtis Kft.)
• Lead Glass Restorer: László Hefter, Brúnó Hefter (Hefter Üveggaléria és Stúdió Kft.)
• Glass Mosaic Restorer: Flóra Verebes, Ferdinánd Horváth (MentArtis Kft.)
• Metal Restorer: Attila Páhi (Cellin-Art Kft.)
• Wood Restorer: Mihály Győri (Framart Kft.)
• Stone Restorer: Attila Kovács (Ancien Bt.)
• Silicate Restorer: Klára Csáki (Csáki és Társa Bt.)

© Balázs Danyi

From the architect. In the international discourse on contemporary architecture it seems to be evident that intervention into historic buildings is always a sensitive issue. This is particularly the case when the project is not only a simple renovation, but there are alterations or additions to the original building – it is always difficult to find the balance between past and present, between the attitude of sheer preservation of a monument and the voice of contemporary architecture. Additions copying eariler times and contemporary impacts that ignore their context are the two extremities to avoid – the desireable solution lies somewhere in between. There is no ultimate recipe, the questions need to be asked and answered in every particular case. 3H architercture has refurbished the Cathedral of Szeged in southeastern Hungary and managed to find solutions worthy of note.

© Balázs Danyi

Ground Floor Plan

© Tamás Bujnovszky

The city of Szeged is located in flooded area and underwent many reconstructions during its history. The challenge was to explore the borders in the historically densely layered urban structure and bring new spirit to the long-used spaces. Being built at the dawn of modernism, the church is an interesting mixture of historical and modern structures, styles, and construction methods – the current architectural concept has made an attempt to clarify the relationship between the original building and the additional layers. Besides restoring the original conditions, the architects considered the building as an open artefact consisting of layers of different eras, to which they added the contemporary layer as equivalent in value. As a result, one can sense a gentle progress in the case of the alterations of the already excisting parts, while the newly constructed elements bear a strong contemporary touch, nonetheless relate to their context.

© Tamás Bujnovszky

The main contradiction that needed to be cleared was between modern and historical architecture’s relationship to ornament and decoration. The densely decorated interior of the cathedral stands in direct contrast with the modernist aesthethics, which got rid of any decoration and finds beauty in clearly visible structures and in the material itself. Although contemporary architecture does not stick rigidly to these century-old principles, applied decoration of the past is still alien to it. The main advantage of the current changes is that they did not ignore decoration entirely, but rather keep them under control: the additions in the liturgical space all fit into the context, show, however, a gentle shift towards a sleeker style – they bring a bit of relief into the thickness of the space. In case of the new furniture, the ornament is integrated into the material.

© Tamás Bujnovszky

Section

© Balázs Danyi

In other spaces, like in the crypt an inverse solution comes into effect: the formerly abandoned spaces were given a new quality. The heavy pillars received unified white plastering and rhythmical illumination, the alteration of light and shadow gives contemporary aesthetics to the old space.

© Tamás Bujnovszky

© Balázs Danyi

These solutions shape the spaces in an organic way toward the needs articulated in the present – the refurbishment did not dissolve the building into fragments, but rather managed to develop it continually, adding meaning and functions relevant to contemporary users.

© Balázs Danyi

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© Engin Gerçek – Ahmet Kazu

• Architects: Collective Architects
• Location: Lüleburgaz, Kırklareli, Turkey
• Area: 1200.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Engin Gerçek – Ahmet Kazu

• Interior Design: Dicle Hökenek Architecture
• Totem Design: Caner Bilgin
• Client: Municipality of Lüleburgaz

© Engin Gerçek – Ahmet Kazu

From the architect. Transportation building is the entrance point of the city. Thus, it should has not only symbolic value but also memorizable and unique. Our purpose is to design a functional and social transportation complex in Lüleburgaz by using the potential of land and realize that its nature as a landmark.

© Engin Gerçek – Ahmet Kazu

The land of the building is on the Edirne-Istanbul mainroad that is between Murat Hüdavendigar St. and İstiklal St. which is placed the old bus station. By using the same enter-exit point with the old one, different circulation route is desgined in the land. Also, the building is located on east-west axis which gives an opportunity to be seen directly the building from the mainroad.

Site Plan

Intercity bus platforms are located at the south side of the building, although regional bus platforms are located in north side. The seperation between those platforms is been provided by building itself.

© Engin Gerçek – Ahmet Kazu

The main idea of interior design is getting one place without any separation between departure and arrival areas, so ticket sales offices and shops are placed between waiting lounges.  That idea provides transformation of the building in future.

© Engin Gerçek – Ahmet Kazu

West point of the building ,the access point from the city, canopy is designed as an effective public front space with different sloped roof system. Restaurant, cafe and commercial spaces are located at that part not only for passengers but also public use.

Detail

Consequently, the design aim is to integrated waiting areas within public spaces and create a landmark for Lüleburgaz.

© Engin Gerçek – Ahmet Kazu

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© Peter Dixie

• Architects: The Swimming Pool Studio
• Location: Shanghai, China
• Chief Designer: Jeremy Li
• Area: 130.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Peter Dixie

• Interior Designer: The Swimming Pool Studio
• Lighting: The Swimming Pool Studio

© Peter Dixie

From the architect. Located in the Hongqiao Vanke Center in Shanghai, the Paras Cafe is an attracting and fancy place which providing a leisure space to the working stuff and residents around.

© Peter Dixie

© Peter Dixie

The design inspiration came from the amazing scene of the Mediterranean Sea where the  blue sea and the white sands make people feel relaxing and fresh. The designer integrated the clear feature with modern design philosophy and keep a perfect balance by creating a series of changes and connections. Under the modern style with blue and white tone，a variety of geometrical elements  line out the simple and clear shapes, bringing the space a unique sense of future.

© Peter Dixie

Tiles, metal meshes and plain cement are selected as the main materials by doing which control the cost. The reception table made up by marble integrated into the environment perfectly and enhance the overall quality of the space.

© Peter Dixie

© Peter Dixie

It’s worth mentioning that the round mirrors hung on the wall add the interests to the cafe while making the space more variable.

© Peter Dixie

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© Montse Zamorano

• Architects: Jorge Almazán , Keio University Almazán Lab
• Location: Ichikawamisato, Nishiyatsushiro District, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japón
• Design Team: Jorge Almazán, Gaku Inoue, Shota Takayama, Nozomi Shimizu, Tomoya Tsuji, Maho Sugiyama, Moe Kusano, Rieka Hara
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Montse Zamorano, Cortesía de Keio University Almazán Lab

Courtesy of Keio University Almazán Lab

From the architect. This project is a conversion of a kura, a traditional Japanese warehouse, into a community space. In cooperation with a local community group, we restored and renovated this building with the broader goal of contributing to the revitalization of the area. Located in Ichikawamisatocho, a Japanese provincial town in Yamanashi prefecture, the warehouse is part of a former sake brewery compound. The main building of the compound faces the shopping street, and the warehouse faces a back alley. The restored structure is the only remaining of a longer warehouse that existed along the back alley. Due to its state of decay, the owner decided to partly demolish it, leaving only a portion of the warehouse. The walls of this remaining part of the warehouse were nevertheless severely damaged, and the resulting urban space after the demolition left an unstructured urban void without character. We proposed to re-use the remaining warehouse and the surrounding space, conceiving the whole as a public space open for the local community.

© Montse Zamorano

© Montse Zamorano

As a result of several months of brainstorming sessions with the local community group, we proposed to introduce new public uses into the sake warehouse, to convert it into a multi-purpose community space for exhibitions, meetings, conferences, and performances. Our goal was not only preserving the old warehouse, but giving it a new life while keeping its historical and architectural character. For this purpose, in our design we use a Japanese traditional repertoire of materials and elements, but giving them new forms and uses.

We restored all walls, fixed the openings, and repaired the roof, trying to keep as much as possible the original roof tiles. We introduced a new wooden wainscot, a traditional element found in many kura warehouses, to protect the lower part of the walls. Besides these restorations works, our intervention in the warehouse was focused on providing character and use to the main urban void left on the western side of the site. We conceived this void as a small plaza with a stage emerging from the warehouse.

The stage is two-sided, connecting the interior and the exterior of the warehouse, enabling the celebration of indoor and outdoor events. In order to integrate it with the warehouse, we designed this new stage with the same wood and height as the surrounding wainscot. The wainscot seems to change its dimensions and become naturally a platform for performances.

We also intervened in the interior of the warehouse to accommodate exhibitions. We installed new lighting fixtures, such as lighting rails for spotlights, and brackets to illuminates the roof structure at night.

© Montse Zamorano

As for the surrounding space, we designed a new public circulation connecting the main shopping street to the back alley, offering the public the opportunity to enjoy the garden surrounding the warehouse. The new public circulation is facilitated by another traditional element, often found in Japanese gardens: stepping stones. This time, however, the stones are artificial: custom-made in poured concrete. We introduced diverse sizes and shapes of “stones”: small ones to mark paths, giant stones to mark staying places in front of the stage. We examined on-site and in real size each shape and size, and we built the formwork with curved veneer wood. As real natural stones, each one has a different shape and size. Their position, size and shape was designed to subtly reinforce activities and movement in the garden.

© Montse Zamorano

This project, realized in close collaboration with a local community group, creates in an inner-city derelict site a new public space. It gives people the opportunity to gather in this town where public life is almost extinguished due to urban sprawl and the hollowing of the built-up areas. By reinterpreting traditional architectural elements, like the stepping stones and the wooden wainscot, and incorporating new uses, we integrated the new and the old. Beyond the positive impact on this local community, we hope that this project will become an inspiring model to re-inject new life into many neglected traditional warehouses found in provincial Japanese cities.

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© Su Shengliang

• Architects: GAD work
• Location: Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
• Design Team: GAD (Zhejiang Greentown Architectural Design Co., Ltd.)
• Area: 80345.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Su Shengliang

© Su Shengliang

From the architect. Xixi International, located on the periphery of the traditional business area in the west of Hangzhou city, is only 0.5km away from the Xixi Wetland. It is designed to extend the sight-gallery of the wetland to the north hoping to put the central axis of the garden together in a coherent manner via introversive type and ecological architectural language so as to build the garden into a compatible and open landscape garden.

Before

The garden type office concept we want to express is actually an exploration of humanized office mode which pays attention to integration of office and scenes of life. The transparent facade design blurs the boundary line of interior and exterior space and integrates the buildings and landscape into one in an invisible manner. Therefore, we can feel the freshness and coziness of the nature even when handling business affairs in the office. 

© Su Shengliang

In the project practice, we complete the integrated design from planning to building, interior and landscape for the first time. Based on deep mining of potential demands of users, we expect to create a quiet, elegant, modest and humble atmosphere in the garden. In design, we make a perfect explanation of the idea of architectural and ecological development from different levels through laying emphasis on the openness and public character of bottom elevated corridor and providing perfect supporting facilities. It is the fully integrated design mode that enables our design concept to penetrate into everywhere of the garden, which brings about hard-won integrality of the final completion effects. 

Site Plan

The road system of semi-separation of man from vehicle is integrated with the landscape axis into one, which is considerate and convenient for users. 

Six main buildings distributed in a scattered manner, mix together with the central courtyard to form a spatial pattern rich in hierarchies. 

© Su Shengliang

Simple and transparent facade design blurs the interior and exterior boundary line. You can enjoy the green scene even when handling business affairs in the office. 

The design of elevated connective corridor of the first floor puts all functional groups together in a coherent manner to form a continuous visual corridor in the garden. 

© Su Shengliang

© Su Shengliang

The open and shared courtyard design provides people with ramble touring experience. 

The entrance full-height atrium design creates infinite possibilities of visual collision and communication.

© Su Shengliang

Based on integral architectural view, gad adopts the integrative design mode from beginning to end of building of Xixi International and finally realize the idea of garden type office. In various designs of us, high-level residences or commercial office buildings, we always make efforts to create more significant works for the city in our own way. 

© Su Shengliang

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© Shimizu Ken

• Architects: 2001
• Location: Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
• Construction : Roovice
• Area: 43.06 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Shimizu Ken

© Shimizu Ken

From the architect. The project is a renovation of a house for rent. The 50-year-old wooden house had been left to lie in ruin. The roofs had fallen down, the exterior walls had broken, and the floors, walls and ceilings had dismantled of those concept. In the circumstances, the house had been tolerated the invasion of animals and plants from outside and it seemed as if the house had been turning into feral; however, we could found out that the feral house involved a kind of aesthetics and potentiality.

© Shimizu Ken

Plan

© Shimizu Ken

These are openness, which tolerate all other existence as well as homogeneity of Japanese traditional house which structure, interior and exterior finishing, and fittings, all of those are comprised of just one single material, wood.

© Shimizu Ken

And then, we planned the space with intent to cause expansive usage with privacy and functionality, we raised existing elements up individually and formed an intermediate space that connect inside / outside by gradation. Moreover, we designed new things that put in the space without a decorativeness to adapt oneself to circumstances.

© Shimizu Ken

© Shimizu Ken

When the light steal in but dimly a kind of homogeneous space through the wooden fittings, those add dramas, and shows the scenery of the four seasons. In the feral house, there are aesthetics and inherent homogeneity of Japanese traditional wooden house. We tried to find a new way of openness while handling those carefully.

© Shimizu Ken

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In November 2014,  a volcano on Fogo Island, Cape Verde, erupted, spewing forth massive amounts of lava and destroying the homes of hundreds of people from the nearby village of Chã das Caldeiras. One of the buildings in the volcano’s wake was the National Park Cultural and Administration Center – a sleek, dark building designed by OTO Architects and winner of the 2015 ArchDaily Building of the Year Award for Cultural Architecture.

Captivated by the lunar landscape and the sudden destruction of architecture, architect Adrian Kasperski has designed three new speculative projects that respond to the events and culture of the island: A Volcanism and Culture Centre, a Vineyard and Hotel, and a New village to replace the leveled Chã das Caldeiras.

© Adrian Kasperski

Volcanism and Culture Center

Designed to replace OTO’s Park Headquarters, this building is located on the border of two entirely different landscapes. Cutting into the ridge of the caldera, the program elements have all been placed below ground level, making the building disappear from a distance. A public square in the center of the building serves as the entrance, as well as a flexible space of respite. The glazed surfaces of the structure curve towards the center of the ridge, creating a perfectly framed view of the nearby volcano.

© Adrian Kasperski

“Noticing the unusual nature contrast has awakened my imagination and became the starting point for the designed architecture,” says Kasperski. “The project was treated as an opportunity to create a “connection” between the inside and outside of the island.”

Vineyard and Hotel

© Adrian Kasperski

The next project element is a facility that attempts to activate the area through alternative tourism sources – a hotel and vineyard. Ramps extending off of the park trail lead people to an observation deck offering panoramic views of the caldera, the volcano and the water.

© Adrian Kasperski

“The whole refers to the terrain form – the view results from the topography, where the facility is located. On one hand the form is slightly raised above the ground level, forming a horizontal block, on the other hand, it is embedded in the rocky slope of the rising caldera. The central part was designed to be a generally accessible square. This solution allowed the consistent combination of the two functions,” say Kasperski.

New Village

© Adrian Kasperski

The last intervention would be to construct a new village to which the displaced community could return. The village would be located near the new northern road to the caldera, and would contain important town facilities such as a school, a market and a church. To match the natural terrain, individual buildings would cascade along the hillside, linked together through a network of alleys, irrigation canals and pavilions. Interstitial spaces could be used as orchards or vegetable gardens to provide food for the community.

© Adrian Kasperski

Other important elements would include an extension of the road to the caldera to create a loop of circulation, allowing for new distributions of traffic that could provide resources for additional new constructions of the island.

© Adrian Kasperski

© Adrian Kasperski

© Adrian Kasperski

Hoping to see Fogo Island gain recognition for its unique beauty, Kasperski sees alternative tourism sources as the perfect solution to helping the island redevelop in a sustainable manner.

“The vision of the development of the Fogo island along with the active volcano caldera is a very complex project, because it combines the cultural issues, social issues, nature and architecture. The aim was not to create the building itself, but analysing the relations and processes of the human environment and interpreting it into the language of architecture.”

Fogo Natural Park Venue by OTO, Before being destroyed by the volcano. Image © Fernando Guerra | FG + SG

© Adrian Kasperski

© Adrian Kasperski

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© Helene Binet

• Architects: Zaha Hadid Architects
• Location: Antwerp, Belgium
• Design: Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher
• Area: 12800.0 sqm
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Helene Binet, Hufton+Crow, Tim Fischer

• Zha Project Director: Joris Pauwels
• Zha Project Architect: Jinmi Lee
• Zha Project Team: Florian Goscheff, Monica Noguero, Kristof Crolla, Naomi Fritz, Sandra Riess, Muriel Boselli, Susanne Lettau
• Zha Competition Team: Kristof Crolla, Sebastien Delagrange, Paulo Flores, Jimena Araiza, Sofia Daniilidou, Andres Schenker, Evan Erlebacher, Lulu Aldihani
• Executive Architect: Bureau Bouwtechniek
• Structural Engineers: Studieburo Mouton Bvba
• Services Engineers: Ingenium Nv
• Acoustic Engineers: Daidalos Peutz
• Restoration Consultants: Origin
• Fire Protection: Fpc

© Hufton+Crow

From the architect. The new Port House in Antwerp repurposes, renovates and extends a derelict fire station into a new headquarters for the port – bringing together the port’s 500 staff that previously worked in separate buildings around the city. 

© Helene Binet

With 12 km of docks, Antwerp is Europe’s second largest shipping port, serving 15,000 sea trade ships and 60,000 inland barges each year.

© Hufton+Crow

 Antwerp handles 26% of Europe’s container shipping, transporting more than 200 million tonnes of goods via the ocean-going vessels that call at the port and providing direct employment for over 60,000 people, including more than 8,000 port workers. Indirectly, the Port of Antwerp ensures about 150,000 jobs and has ambitious targets for future expansion to meet the continent’s growth and development over the next century.

© Hufton+Crow

 In 2007, when the former 1990s offices of the Port of Antwerp had become too small, the port determined that relocation would enable its technical and administrative services to be housed together, providing new accommodation for about 500 staff. The port required a sustainable and future-proof workplace for its employees, representing its ethos and values in an ever-expanding local and international arena.

© Tim Fischer

 As the threshold between the city and its vast port, Mexico Island in Antwerp’s Kattendijk dock on Quay 63 was selected as the site for the new head office. The waterside site also offered significant sustainable construction benefits, allowing materials and building components to be transported by water, an important requirement to meet the port’s ecological targets.

© Hufton+Crow

Following the construction of a new fire station with facilities needed to service the expanding port, the old fire station on the Mexico Island site – a listed replica of a Hanseatic residence – became redundant and relied on a change of use to ensure its preservation.  This disused fire station had to be integrated into the new project. The Flemish government’s department of architecture, together with the City and Port authorities organized the architectural competition for the new headquarters.

© Hufton+Crow

Zaha Hadid Architects’ design is informed by detailed historical research and a thorough analysis of both the site and the existing building.

Long Section

Marc Van Peel, president of the Port of Antwerp, said: “There was only one rule laid down in the architectural competition, namely that the original building had to be preserved. There were no other requirements imposed for the positioning of the new building. The jury was therefore pleasantly surprised when the five shortlisted candidates all opted for a modern structure above the original building. They all combined the new with the old, but the design by Zaha Hadid Architects was the most brilliant.”

© Hufton+Crow

Working with Origin, leading heritage consultants in the restoration and renovation of historic monuments, ZHA’s studies of the site’s history and heritage are the foundations of the design which firstly emphasises the north-south site axis parallel with the Kattendijkdok linking the city centre to the port. Secondly, due to its location surrounded by water, the building’s four elevations are considered of equal importance with no principal facade.  ZHA’s design is an elevated extension, rather than a neighbouring volume which would have concealed at least one of the existing facades. ZHA and Origin’s historic analysis of the old fire station also highlighted the role of its originally intended tower – a grand, imposing component of the fire station’s Hanseatic design. Its bold vertical statement, intended to crown the imposing volume of the building below, was never realised.

Level 0 Floor Plan

These three key principles define the design’s composition of new and old: a new volume that ‘floats’ above the old building, respecting each of the old facades and completing the verticality of the original design’s unrealised tower.

© Hufton+Crow

Like the bow of a ship, the new extension points towards the Scheldt, connecting the building with the river on which Antwerp was founded.

© Tim Fischer

Surrounded by water, the new extension’s façade is a glazed surface that ripples like waves and reflects the changing tones and colours of the city’s sky. Triangular facets allow the apparently smooth curves at either end of the building to be formed with flat sheets of glass. They also facilitate the gradual transition from a flat façade at the south end of the building to a rippling surface at the north.

© Hufton+Crow

While most of the triangular facets are transparent, some are opaque. This calibrated mix ensures sufficient sunlight within the building, while also controlling solar load to guarantee optimal working conditions. At the same time, the alternation of transparent and opaque facade panels breaks down the volume of the new extension, giving panoramic views of the Scheldt, the city and the Port as well as providing enclosure.

© Helene Binet

The façade’s rippling quality is generated with flat facets to the south that gradually become more three-dimensional towards to the north. This perception of a transparent volume, cut to give the new building its sparkling appearance, reinterprets Antwerp’s moniker as the city of diamonds. The new extension appears as a carefully cut form which changes its appearance with the shifting intensity of daylight. Like the ripples on the surface of the water in the surrounding port, the new façade reflects changing light conditions.

© Hufton+Crow

The old fire station’s central courtyard has been enclosed with a glass roof and is transformed into the main reception area for the new Port House. From this central atrium, visitors access the historic public reading room and library within the disused fire truck hall which has been carefully restored and preserved. Panoramic lifts provide direct access to the new extension with an external bridge between the existing building and new extension giving panoramic views of the city and port.

© Tim Fischer

The client requirements for an ‘activity based office’ are integrated within the design, with related areas such as the restaurant, meeting rooms and auditorium located at the centre of the upper levels of the existing building and the bottom floors of the new extension. The remaining floors more remote from the centre, comprise open plan offices.

Level 6 Floor Plan

Collaborating with services consultant Ingenium, ZHA developed a sustainable and energy-efficient design reaching a ‘Very Good’ BREEAM environmental rating. Despite the challenges of integrating with a protected historic building, high standards in sustainable design were achieved by implementing effective strategies at each stage of construction. A borehole energy system pumps water to a depth of 80m below grade in over 100 locations around the building to provide heating and cooling. In the existing building, this system uses chilled beams. In the new extension, it uses chilled ceilings. Waterless lavatory fittings and motion detectors minimise water consumption while building automation and optimal daylight controls minimise artificial lighting.

© Hufton+Crow

© Tim Fischer

With constant references to the Scheldt, the city of Antwerp and the dynamics of its port, married with the successful renovation and reuse of a redundant fire station – integrating it as a fully-fledged part of its headquarters – the new Port House will serve the port well through its planned expansion over future generations.

© Tim Fischer

Marc Van Peel said: “The architectural style of the original building, a replica of the former Hansa House, recalls the 16th century, Antwerp’s “golden century.” But now above this original, a contemporary structure in shining glass has been built, which I am sure, represents a new golden century for Antwerp.”

© Helene Binet

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via PABTcompetition.com

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has revealed the five finalists teams in competition to redesign the Port Authority bus terminal in west Manhattan: Arcadis of New York, Archilier Architecture Consortium, Hudson Terminal Center Collaborative, Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, and Perkins Eastman.

The Port Authority Bus Terminal International Design + Deliverability Competition challenged architects to reimagine the current terminal building, built in 1950 and expanded in 1979, for the demands of modernday ridership. The terminal currently accommodates approximately 220,000 passenger trips and more than 7,000 bus movements on an average weekday, with demand projected to increase to 270,000 daily peak-hour passengers by 2020, and as many as 337,000 daily peak-hour passengers by 2040.

Continue reading to see each of the designs.

Arcadis of New York

The proposed design solution considers four themes in response to the interests of multiple constituencies for the Port Authority Bus Terminal: Purposeful Design, Certainty of Results, Encompassing Vision and Regional Connectivity. These themes establish a basis that challenges conventional assumptions about the Bus Terminal in order to enhance terminal operations while mitigating any potential negative impact on the community.

Archilier Architecture Consortium

In our design proposal for a new midtown bus terminal, Archilier Architecture and its team have created a new civic landmark that urbanistically knits together historic Hell’s Kitchen and the emerging Hudson Yards district, replacing what is now a ‘no-man’s-land’ with a vibrant multi-faceted public facility as part of a long-range master plan that heals what has been an open scar on the face of New York’s west side. This terminal will be New York’s “Next Great Place”.

Hudson Terminal Center Collaborative

The Hudson Terminal Center (HTC) Collaborative has developed an extraordinary approach for reinventing the Port Authority Bus Terminal (PABT), one that can bring about a transformative impact on the quality of life in Midtown West. Our innovative concept places a new terminal directly below the PABT site – as an underground facility – with seamless, naturally lit connections to adjacent city streets and subways. This innovative scheme will provide the potential for private equity development on the PABT site, as well as on nearby PANYNJ parcels that are currently occupied by the terminal’s existing bus and private auto ramp infrastructure.

Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects

Welcome to Times Square West, a new district that redefines the southern edge of Clinton and connects the emerging neighborhood of Hudson Yards with the iconic office, cultural and tourist destination of Times Square. Designed around a new Transit Center west of 9th Avenue, Times Square West marks the next phase in the area’s evolution from a maritime community to a vibrant residential, cultural and commercial one. By relocating and downsizing the bus terminal and repairing the urban fabric severed by its ramps and tunnel approaches, Times Square West reintroduces mobility and human scale to this midtown neighborhood after a half century without them.

Perkins Eastman

The “Convergence” design vision for the new Port Authority Bus Terminal (PABT) leverages every single aspect of transit infrastructure, above and below ground, in order to create an iconic place in the City where people will want to live, work and visit, regardless of whether they are using any form of transit.

Key features of the Convergence design plan include:

• Transform Jacob Javits Convention Center into the ideal site locale
• Buses, trucks and ramps are removed entirely from the local street network, allowing greater permeability of surface streets for cars and pedestrians
• Integrate the Terminal with new Number 7 Hudson Yards station for direct access
• Introduce resilient transit infrastructure that doubles as a new public waterfront park
• No eminent domain and a flexible “as-of-right” process
• Keep normal operations going throughout the construction process

For more information on the competition and the five finalists, visit the competition site, here.

News via The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

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© Tim Hursley

• Architects: deMx architecture
• Location: Fayetteville, AR, USA
• Area: 2756.0 ft2
• Project Year: 2007
• Photographs: Tim Hursley

• Landscape: Stewart Fulbright
• Structural: James Burke
• General Contractor : Ira Schwartzman

© Tim Hursley

Referencing local precedents, the Bowtie House fuses modernist ideals with vernacular strategies, making use of a linearly organized plan to respond to the Ozark context.  

Sketch

Sketch

Located by Fayetteville in Arkansas, this house for a couple frequently visited by their family is near the Ozark Mountains.  Situated on a heavily wooded site, the 23’ wide house is oriented with its 94’ length running roughly northwest to southeast.  This orientation allows tree-filtered light into the house during the mornings and late afternoons.

© Tim Hursley

Sitting on a sloping terrain between two draws, the house’s program is distributed on three levels at the northwest end, with the main floor extending continuously to the southeast and minimizing the house’s foot print.  The primary public spaces and the master bedroom are on the entry level to accommodate wheelchair access.  The public program consists of the kitchen, dining and living areas.  These areas operate as defined zones within one continuous space, opening vertically toward the southeast end of the structure where the living area seemingly continues to the outdoors as a porch.  The living space is defined by the surrounding tree canopies rather than by the window walls, thus creating a rich ambiguity between inside and outside.  In winter, the defoliated tree conditions allow filtered views of the distant Ozark Plateau horizon.

© Tim Hursley

Section

© Tim Hursley

The exterior is clad in a shell of standing seam Galvalume panels on a stucco and wood board and batten system over a native stone base.  The interior is finished out with extensive maple floors, trim, and cabinetry, with large custom maple and cherry doors. 

© Tim Hursley

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