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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 .
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Shenzhen Airport Satellite Concourse, China, by Aedas. Image Courtesy of Aedas
Aedas have recently won two international competitions to design international airport buildings: the ShenzhenAirport Satellite Concourse and Hong Kong International Airport Third Runway Passenger Building.
In recent years, Aedas have emerged as a leader in airport design, as they are also currently working on the Hong Kong International Airport Terminal 2 Expansion, and have previously worked on Hong Kong International Airport Midfield Concourse and North Satellite Concourse. With the two newly-won projects, Aedas hopes to reinforce their strength and growing influence in airport design.
Shenzhen Airport Satellite Concourse, China, by Aedas. Image Courtesy of Aedas
From the architects: As an international team consisting of GDAD as the local design institute/terminal planners, Landrum & Brown as aviation planners, and Aedas as Lead Design Architect, we have been awarded the design and construction of the new ShenzhenAirport Satellite Concourse in China. Passengers arrive in the heart of the Concourse from the Auto People Mover (APM) station which allows light filled views up to the roof over. The multi-level retail and food & beverage areas provide a rich variety of environments and areas for passengers, guiding them intuitively towards the departure gates. The roof form over, inspired by the gently curving rivers of the region, further reinforces the flow of the passengers through the Concourse. Arriving passengers are orientated to the perimeter of the building allowing them to experience natural diffused daylight as they move toward the APM and onwards to the main terminal.
HKIA Third Runway Passenger Building
HKIA Midfield Concourse, Hong Kong, by Aedas. Image Courtesy of Aedas
From the architects: Again as the Lead Design Architect, along with AECOM as Lead Consultant and Engineer, and OTC as Aviation Planners, is part of the successful team appointed for the New HKIA Third Runway Passenger Building Design Consultancy. The new 280,000 square-metre building is located directly north of the existing Terminal 1 and south of the new third runway and is connected back to the expanded Terminal 2 by an underground APM system. The Third Runway Passenger Building, together with the expanded Terminal 2, can serve an additional 30 million passengers annually.
Enniskillen Castle, which dates from the 16th century, sits on the banks of the River Erne in the centre of the Co Fermanagh town in Northern Ireland. This scenic backdrop is the setting for a landmark redevelopment by Hamilton Architects which has transformed a myriad of historic buildings into a cohesive heritage Gateway to the County.
Ground Floor Plan
The site holds historical significance due to its location on the river bank and its role in guarding one of the main passes into Ulster. Over the centuries, its strategic importance has remained a pivotal factor, with the addition of various buildings as the site evolved from a garrison fort into a military barracks and, more recently, into a Heritage Centre.
Several significant components define the historical assemblage, including The Keep, Watergate, Curved Range, Magazine, Shift House, Northern Barrack Block, Barrack Coach House. The Health Centre and Heritage Centre were much more recent additions. The site is encompassed by a perimeter wall enclosing the Castle Yard and a Rifle Range. The Keep and Watergate are monuments in State Care, while the Curved Range and the Northern Barrack Block are Listed buildings.
The redevelopment has revealed the significance of the site from a historical, operation and audience perspective, enabling Fermanagh County Museum to increase access to collections of local, national and international importance and to become the first port of call for learning about the county’s heritage from the Drumclay Crannog to the G8 Summit.
First Floor Plan
Four buildings within the complex – Magazine, Shift House, Barrack Coach House and Heritage Centre – were restored and refurbished to pool museum, tourism and genealogy resources and create new visitor spaces.
The Health Centre was demolished to create space for a new Visitors Centre with History Hub, Genealogy Centre, Castle Viewing area, Café and Shop. The refurbishment of the Barrack Coach House accommodates four new galleries, while a link building between the Visitors Centre and Barrack Coach House allows visitors glimpses of the original castle wall. A walkway on the roof of the link building offers views of the castle site and of Enniskillen town.
Elevation
The design was challenging in that guidelines for the historic footprint had to be met while providing facilities appropriate to the needs of a modern museum and visitor facility. The external envelope was clad with Irish blue (flamed finish) limestone to complement the original fabric of the adjacent historic buildings. An exterior courtyard populated with giant umbrellas provides an attractive and flexible all-weather event space.
Product Description.The principal material used for the external façade of the new visitor centre and armoury building was Irish Blue Limestone (flamed finish and blue/grey in colour). This limestone walling gives a light, textured finish and is built in random coursed and sized ashlar which follows the precedent of the other historic buildings within the complex.
Intimidating to design a Design Museum for designers? No, because what you’re doing is working with the challenges of the existing space.
In this new video from NOWNESS, the audience is treated to a viewing of the new Design Museum in London, courtesy of its interior architect John Pawson. Part interview and part guided tour, NOWNESS uses the unorthodox technique of giving the building’s designer his own camera, making parts of the video an intriguing insight into how Pawson sees his own work.
Designed in collaboration with OMA and Allies and Morrison, the project is a thorough renovation of the former Commonwealth Institute building, a 1962 structure by Robert Matthew, a founding partner of RMJM. Pawson dwells on the experience of working with their dramatic hyperbolic paraboloid roof, the materials used in the design, and the challenges of working on such a sensitive project.
An iconic new home for the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, the new Jackman Law building designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects and B+H Architects, ushers in a new era for the school’s law students.
Courtesy of B+H Architects
Situated next to the university’s famed Philosopher’s Walk and overlooking Queen’s Park Crescent, a dramatic new façade comprised of glass and nickel fins bend along the curve of the street, distinguishing themselves as the most identifiable feature of this landmark new building.
Courtesy of B+H Architects
In total the renewal project introduces an additional 66,000 square feet, consolidating the previously dispersed faculty into one building, while also providing a new 210-student lecture hall, several seminar halls, new commons lounge and forum space, offices and food service space.
Site Plan
The Osler Hoskin and Harcourt Atrium emerges as the new heart of the school. It features a three storey fireplace and large seating area that acts as a social hub, embracing a collaborative environment.
Courtesy of B+H Architects
The renovation of the outmoded and dark Bora Laskin Law Library into a luminous pavilion–naturally lit on three sides—with the stunning 2-storey Torys Hall reading room at its centre takes the notion of collaboration one step further. Gone are the days of the library so quiet you can hear a pin drop. Modern study spaces have opened up to facilitate discussion and interaction, better reflecting the conditions of today’s workplace.
Courtesy of B+H Architects
University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law Building won the Canadian Architect Award of Excellence in 2013 and was completed in the Fall of 2016.
Sig Nordal 