ArchtRoom

 

Bregman + Hamann Architects is working with Studio Daniel Libeskind in joint venture partnership on the Royal Ontario Museum's ambitious $270 million transformation project which will ensure its vital growth and development locally, nationally and globally. Libeskind's sculptural Michael Lee-Chin Crystal addition transforms the ROM experience, creating a new landmark entrance along Bloor Street and providing dynamic gallery space. Renaissance ROM creates bold new architecture, retrieves the best of the historic architecture, and improves visitor circulation and public amenities. It will result in more than 388,000 square feet of new and renovated gallery and public space overall. Ten renovated galleries opened in the historic buildings on December 26, 2005; the architectural opening of the Lee-Chin Crystal took place on June 2, 2007, and ten more renovated galleries will open in the historic buildings by early 2009.




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The commission to expand and renovate the Natick Mall in Massachusetts, one of the first enclosed shopping centers built east of the Mississippi River, presented Beyer Blinder Belle with the opportunity to reinvigorate this building type with a new energy. The architects’ approach to remaking this drab suburban mall was to introduce a high standard of design typically found in upscale urban shopping environments. The architects covered the existing mall with a luminous undulating clerestory that runs the length of the building and introduced fine art and high end finishes like wood floors and porcelain tiles throughout. This upscale upgrade together with the developer’s decision to bring in tony retailers like Louis Vuitton, Tiffany’s and Neiman Marcus is intended to draw shoppers who typically shop in major metropolitan areas to the suburbs. In addition to the 500,000 square foot renovation and expansion of the mall, the redevelopment of the 60- acre site calls for a luxury residential condominium building, an outdoor lifestyle center, parking area and a future luxury hotel. The project opened to the public in September ‘07.





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UK based Zaha Hadid’s new civil courts building in Madrid is set to become the focal point of the new urban complex which includes designs from fellow UK architects Foster + Partners. So as to create a better collective experience, the design for the Civil Courts of Justice inserts public space in its core - integrating it by connecting it with the campus’s public circulation. As a result, the Civil Court of Justice design shifts from being a component of the overall system to becoming its pivoting point, helping to organise the entire urban masterplan complex. The envelope of the 74,500sqm building is composed of a double-ventilated façade. The exterior layer of the facade is composed of metallic panels which respond to environmental and program conditions. These panels shift from open to closed and from flat to extended depending on the circumstances affecting them. It is also envisaged for the metallic panels on the rooftop incorporate photovoltaic cells. Inside the building, a spiralling semi-circular atrium is developed around the courtyard where all public space evolves. The project is due for completion in 2010




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With his design for the Tower Verre, Jean Nouvel proposes to take the strict respect of the zoning envelope to the point where its shape becomes the tower itself. Governed by its legal envelope and the steel framing needed to withstand the wind loads, this structure is as unique and singular as the parcel it stands on. From close up, its receding stealth geometry makes it surprisingly discrete and unobtrusive for its height. Seen from Central Park, the bridges and most locations on the river banks, its triangular silhouette stands out and is very recognizable in the Manhattan skyline, inscribing the MoMA unmistakably as one of New York’s most famous and successful cultural institutions. The façades of the tower are a structural glazing in standard glass dimensions and the bracing structure follows the simplest and most economical geometry. Living inside this building feels like inhabiting a power fully present and reassuring structure, similar to that of a large tree. The tower draws its shape from the desire for more daylight in the streets and the same daylight feeds its solar panels with energy. Its character is the structural expression of the wind bracing and the same wind moves its Aeolian turbines. The solar panels and wind turbines fill the narrow triangular top section, putting its unusually thin silhouette to a reasonable use. This tower is a monument to the rules of shadow and light, and to the forces of the wind.





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Ratoath College is the first significant public institution in the community and accommodates 850 second level pupils. The site is in a landscape of partially completed housing estates and has two points of access. The articulation of the form defines entrances, social areas, external spaces and responds to the presence of two clusters of mature trees on site – one cluster now contained within the south facing garden and the second fixing the south west corner of the building. The articulation is in both plan and section and produces a silhouette, that establishes an appropriate scale contrasting with the neighbouring landscape of two-storey houses. Indentations or cut-outs into the brick form are in exposed charcoal blockwork. Windows are timber. Although non-orthogonal in form, the building provides the standard Department of Education and Science room layouts and uses the circulation and socials space to resolve geometries. The central entrance leads into the GP area – the heart of the school and the focus of the circulation systems on both floors. The GP area is a south facing volume looking into the enclosed garden. There are significant volumes within the building where the overall form reads – the volumes are critical as counterpoints to the horizontal organisation and provide vertical and diagonal visual connections. Materials are used as found – exposed blockwork reinforced concrete piers and sofffits, rendered planes of colour, exposed steel balustrades and benches, precast concrete external seats, exposed pipework etc.. The brickwork is recessed in areas to give depth and filter light (to the PE hall and staircases). Internally colour is used deliberately – against a general background of stained blockwork colour is used for accent, contrast, orientation, and identification. Critical locations for colours are the liners to the glazed screens between classroom and corridor and the coloured rooflights. The building has been constructed within the normal Department of Education and Science costs limits for second level buildings. Floor area is 8,020 sqm, design commenced 2004, construction November 2005 and Practical Completion August 2007.





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Address: Ørestad Boulevard/Arne Jacobsens Allé, Copenhagen
Client: Copenhagen Municipality
Award: 1. prize in invited competition 2003
Completion: 2006
Size: 12.000 m2
Budget: DKK 200 mio. / € 27 mio / $ 32.5 mio
Architect: 3XNielsen Kim Herforth Nielsen, Bo Boje Larsen, Kim Christiansen
Engineer: Søren Jensen A/S
Adviser: Helle Mathiasen, cand. pæd. ph.d.
Acoustics: Frederik Wiuff
Photo: Adam Mørk

Ørestad College is a new educational building in Copenhagen, Denmark, designed by 3XN architects.The Ørestad College will be the first in Denmark to fulfil new educational visions regarding subjects, organisation and teaching systems.Communication, interaction and synergy has been key issues. The project displays a visionary interpretation of openness and flexibility regarding team sizes, varying from the individual over groups to classes and assemblies, and reflects international tendencies aiming at achieving a more dynamic and life-like studying environment and introducing IT as a main tool. The intention is also to enforce the students’ abilities gradually to take responsibility for own learning, being able to work in teams as well as working individually.The college is interconnected vertically and horizontally. Four boomerang shaped floor plans are rotated to create the powerful super structure which forms the overall frame of the building – simple and highly flexible. Four study zones occupy one floor plan each. Avoiding level changes makes the organisational flexibility as high as possible, and enables the different teaching and learning spaces tooverlap and interact with no distinct borders.The rotation opens a part of each floor to the vertical tall central atrium and forms a zone that provides community and expresses the college’s ambition for interdisciplinary education.





ADJAYE

The location for the new headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt’s Ostend district has the potential of adding a new landmark to the Frankfurt skyline that will be visible at great distances. The starting point for the design of the towers was the urban perspectives of the city of Frankfurt. At a height of around 185 metres, the double tower, with its polygonal shape and east-west orientation, has a striking profile that is visible from all important reference points in Frankfurt’s city centre, as well as from the river Main. Thanks to its form and presence, the double tower will become a characteristic feature of the Frankfurt skyline. The atrium between the office towers becomes a “vertical city”. Through platforms we are creating spaces, plazas and pathways between the towers, just as they exist in a city. The connecting and transferring levels divide the atrium horizontally into three sections of different sizes, with heights ranging from around 45 to 60 metres. These connecting platforms, bridges, ramps and stairs form a network of links between the office towers. They create short paths between the individual office floors in each tower and thus enable larger, interconnected usable office spaces on one or more floors in both towers, thereby also promoting informal communication. This new typology supports a dynamic development of form and enables differentiated office spaces with different panoramic perspectives. 





WorldArchitectureNews

 

Slovenian architects Ofis have completed Tetris Apartments, a social housing development in Ljubljana.A little bit of text from the architects:“The building stands on the edge of the 650 apartments development which was finished year ago. By urban rules the block is 3 floors high and 65 meters long. Since the orientation of the apartments is towards the car road the apartment areas together with balconies are orientated to the quieter south side.” 




OFIS

 

Architect Jean Nouvel has restarted work on The Landmark, a large mixed-use development in central Beirut, Lebanon.The project features a 42-storey tower containing a hotel and apartments a horizontal commercial and leisure block with a raised pedestrian street.Nouvel won the project through an international competition in 2004 but the project was later put on hold. Nouvel has now revised his designs.

 


Ateliers Jean Nouvel

program Faculty Offices and Graduate Student Offices, Seminar Rooms, Periodicals Library and Lounge with a Ground Floor 120-seat Auditorium.
client New York University
size 30,000 sf
status completed
completion date Sept. 1, 2007 

The Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences and a committee of Philosophy Professors collaborated in the selection of Steven Holl Architects to design the complete interior renovation of a 1890 corner building at 5 Washington Place for the consolidation of the NYU Department or Philosophy within a concept which organizes the new spaces around light and phenomenal properties of materials. A new stair shaft below a new skylight joins the 6-level building vertically with a shifting porosity of light and shadow that change seasonally. The Ground level, utilized by the entire University, contains a new curvilinear wooden auditorium on a cork floor. The upper level floors contain Faculty Offices and Seminar Rooms which are done in different shades and textures of black & white, according to the texts in Ludwig Wittgenstein’s book “Remarks on Colour”. 




Steven Holl Architects

This science building for teaching of biological, health, sports and GIS science contributes to the dialogue of an institutional subtropical architecture in its reinterpretation of the collegiate colonnade and vernacular verandah. 

A two-storey colonnade suspends bridges linking battened rooms as entry lobbies to large flexible labs. The externalisation of the circulation brings student activation of the university central mall and a strong sense of connection with the campus urban landscape. Controlled clerestory lighting animates sculptured ceilings whilst allowing glare control in the audiovisual intense labs. 

Ground floor labs gather around a two-storey foyer space whilst a Sports Motion lab appends the building as a magnetic field free structure in recycled timber.





WorldArchitectureNews

Ground preparatory work on Mossessian & Partners’ scheme for Merchant Square at Paddington Basin has begun. This major scheme by Michel Mossessian, former Design Lead at SOM London and his first since starting his own practice, forms the commercial element of phase one of European Land’s development plans for the site and is due to complete in November 2009. Design principal Michel Mossessian said; “We are delighted that our first major scheme in London forms part of the prestigious Merchant Square development. This marks a significant milestone in the ongoing regeneration at Paddington Basin and in the development of our practice.”Building E, Merchant Square is a slender, elegant and sculptural building comprising 260,000 sq ft of office space, with public lobby areas, retail on the ground floor and a health club in the basement. mossessian & partners led the design with Perkins + Will as executive architects. Composed of three contrasting triangular elements, its dynamic form presents an animated façade on all sides, enlivening the canal frontage, addressing the existing office buildings to the west. The building envelope features varied textures and patterns, including bold use of colour, to emphasise lightness and improve energy efficiency. mossessian & partners have also designed an adjacent building at Merchant Square - a residential scheme of 226,000 sq ft which also has planning approval. 

The Merchant Square development comprises six architecturally diverse buildings in total, accommodating a mix of retail, restaurant, leisure, commercial and residential functions spread over a total area of 1.8 million sq ft. The scheme includes 559 residential units, 30% of which will be social housing. The buildings are set within a high quality public realm with a major new canal side square as its focal point.

WorldArchitectureNews

FC Barcelona’s Camp Nou Stadium, one of the world’s greatest football venues, is to be extensively remodelled. Following an international competition, Foster + Partners have been selected as the architects for this renewal of the stadium, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. 

The stadium, already the largest in Europe, will be enlarged to accommodate over 106,000 fans, together with extensive new facilities including hospitality and public areas. A new roof will also be created to shelter the fans. The stadium will be enclosed by a brightly coloured mosaic outer skin that wraps around the building and continues over a new roof. The multi-coloured enclosure comprises overlapping translucent tiles in the club colours. The myriad of tiles can be seen as symbolising the loyalty and devotion of FC Barcelona’s fans worldwide. 

The remodelled stadium retains the essential elements of the original Camp Nou, designed by architects Francesc Mitjans-Miró, García Barbon and Soteras Mauri, which was inaugurated in 1957. 

On match nights, the stadium will glow, providing a new architectural icon for the city. In the same way that FC Barcelona is ‘more than a club’, the new Camp Nou will be much more than a stadium.




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Asymptote’s design for the PGCC complex is centered on the idea of creating a new and powerful image for the city of Penang and the new initatives associated with the development of the Northern Corridor of Malaysia. The design achieves its elegance and stature through the simultaneous embrace of natural landscapes and contemporary urbanism. The PGCC will become a vital new precinct that complements and enhances the unique characteristics that typify Penang as a remarkable island metropolis. The design of the iconic towers in particular draws inspiration from not only the lushness and drama of the surrounding mountains and seascapes, but also from the rich and diverse cultural heritage that makes up the Malaysian nation and Penang in particular. The forms of the two towers are comprised of both horizontal and vertical elements: sculpted horizontal components move across the plinth, rise up and transform into articulated vertical structures. Set against the backdrop of the nature reserve of Penang Hill, the twisting, glass façades of the towers “perform” various surface effects—reflecting, refracting and distorting views of Penang, the surrounding landscape and the seascape beyond. The vast, cascading plinth, which functions as a public plaza with multiple gathering spaces, are venues for the performing arts center, convention center and various facilities for residential, office and urban life.





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The Capricorn House Medienhafen Düsseldorf forms the new entrance at the southern point of Düsseldorf harbour. The special feature of this eye-catching new building with its red glass panels is the so-called i-modulFassade, which was designed by GATERMANN + SCHOSSIG. The building’s location, greatly subject to sound pollution, lead to the devel-opment of a multi-functional facade module that contains the necessary technology for controlling the building’s temperature and air quality. It is fitted with an air-conditioning system for cooling, heating, ventilation and heat recovery. The facade panel also has integrated lighting, sound absorption and room acoustics elements. The decentralised concept eliminates the need for traditional technology, which leaves greater scope for interior architectural design. As a result, a more flexible floor plan allows the implementation of all office shapes. 





WorldArchitectureNews

The Foster + Partners and URS team has won an international competition to build the first private spaceport in the world - The New Mexico Spaceport Authority Building. The sinuous shape of the building in the landscape and its interior spaces seek to capture the drama and mystery of space flight itself, articulating the thrill of space travel for the first space tourists. Making a minimal impact on the environment, the scheme will be the first facility of its kind and a model for the future. The Spaceport lies low within the desert-like landscape of the site in New Mexico. The astronauts’ areas and visitor spaces are fully integrated with the rest of the building to convey the thrill of space travel. The more sensitive zones - such as the control room - are visible, but have limited access. Visitors and astronauts enter the building via a deep channel cut into the landscape. The retaining walls form an exhibition space that documents the history of the region and its settlers, alongside a history of space exploration. The strong linear axis continues on a galleried level to the ‘superhangar’ - which houses the spacecraft and the simulation room – through to the terminal building. Designed to have minimal embodied carbon and few additional energy requirements, the scheme has been designed to achieve the prestigious LEED Platinum accreditation. The low-lying form is dug into the landscape to exploit the thermal mass, which buffers the building from the extremes of the New Mexico climate as well as catching the westerly winds for ventilation. Natural light enters via skylights, with a glazed façade reserved for the terminal building, establishing a platform for the coveted views onto the runway.




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Work has recently completed on a £6.9 million, mixed tenure residential scheme on Barking Road, Canning Town, which combines the latest high-quality design and materials technology with more traditional techniques. Architects and urban designers, Stock Woolstencroft, designed the scheme for One Housing Group, and it is the first part of a multi-phase project. The building is designed as three distinct cubic structures: one as a transparent form, one as a gold ‘box’ and one as a ‘cast’ box. A protected London plane tree became a key design driver, helping to separate out and distinguish the cubic forms and contrasting finishes. The striking modern design brings together a palette of rich materials, including glass and aluminium panels finished in deep bronze, silver and gold. The first and second layers use progressive alpolic rain screen cladding, whilst rendered block work is used on the third. Balconies are set within, whilst a staggered frame gives an identity. The result is a highly individualistic, essentially twenty-first century design, which demonstrates a successful combination of high quality urban housing and contemporary, dynamic architecture. The scheme, on a former unused petrol station site, dovetails with the Canning Town and Custom House Masterplan and is a precursor to the area’s wider regeneration, making a strong statement about its future vibrancy and success. The exciting, innovative development brings forward a truly unique mixture of social and intermediate rent, New Build HomeBuy and private units, all within one building. Additionally, the development of a new, active commercial frontage will contribute to the vitality and diversity of the area and complement regeneration plans for the market area and shopping parade.





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A major new performing venue is planned for the French capital. The Philharmonic Society of Paris, with the associated support from the State and the Town of Paris will construct this stunning 2400 seat concert hall in the Park Villette in Paris. Mainly devoted to the reception of great symphonic formations, the Philharmonic society of Paris will present other forms of musical expression, in particular calling upon wiring for sound, the such jazz or the musics of the world. Located at the north-eastern entry of the capital in a district in change, registered in a park with cultural, visible vocation since the periphery of Paris, this equipment will be been useful by a innovating architecture. On the acoustic level, the concert hall will meet the international standards most demanding. It will dissociate strictly frontal models and will privilege an envelopment of the scene by the public in order to reinforce the feeling of intimacy between the interpreters and their audience. True house of the orchestras, carrying a teaching and cultural project extremely, the Philharmonic society of Paris will accomodate several musical formations in permanent or temporary residence. The equipment will develop on a surface of approximately 20 000 square meters useful. It will include/understand, in addition to the large concert hall, its hearths and its spaces of repetition, of the administrative buildings for several orchestras, an educational pole, spaces of exposure, a restaurant, as well as the infrastructures necessary to logistics and the technical equipment and a car park. Specimen on the control of the environmental stakes, construction will fall under a step of recognized certification. The delivery is envisaged in 2012.




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The town of Yusuhara in Kochi Prefecture, known for its urban development using “Japanese Cedar”, has a new starting point for its community with the “Kino-machi Hall” (Town Hall), the largest scaled “Wooden” town hall in Japan. Considering the snowing weather conditions, a large atrium is inserted, and an indoor plaza was created to connote facilities necessary by town members in everyday life such as bank, the Agricultural Cooperative Society, and the Chamber of Commerce. This atrium also functions as a space for traditional performances and festivals. Local Japanese cedar has been used fully to the regulations, which made possible to create a double lattice girder structure with an 18 meter long span. While making possible to visualize how cedar structural parts sustain the structure, this building aims to build an architecture capable of making people reconfirm the excellence of Japanese wooden structures. The indoor plaza and exterior plaza, separated by a large sliding door used for hangars, becomes one only space which is used during spring festivals.





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