On November 21 OMA finally marked the completion of De Rotterdam, mixed-use vertical city on the river Maas. Efficiency has been very important or even central design parameter from day one, as they stated in OMA. The extreme market play directed the course of the project, but that has been far from a design constraint and in fact has reinforces the original concept. The overall result is a dense, vibrant building for the city, in words of Ellen van Loon, partner in charge. With the completion of the building, a critical mass has been established on the Kop van Zuid, realizing the long-established vision of a second city center south of the Maas.

The building – De Rotterdam – is named after one of the ships on the Holland America Line, which transported emigrants from Europe to New York from the Wilhelmina Pier, next to which the building is located.

The high-rise is composed of the three stacked and interconnecting towers, 44 floors high and with a width of over 100 meters. The building is highly compact, and program mix is organized into distinct, overlapping blocks of commercial office space, residential apartments, hotel and conference facilities, restaurants and cafes. Office employees, residents and hotel guests are brought together in conference, sport and restaurant facilities. The building’s shared plinth is the location of the lobbies to each of the towers, creating a public hub by means of a common hall. Read the rest of this entry »

Surya represents a solution for Dallas – an option which didn’t require changing the construction of Museum Tower or the Nasher, due to intense “hot spot” caused by the tower’s very reflective skin. Designed by New York based practices REX and Front, this 400-foot sun-responsive proposal shields Nasher from the Museum Tower. The dynamic, ever-changing structure carefully tracks the daily reflections caused by the Museum and generates unique compositions, therefore presenting an icon, an identifying symbol for the Dallas Arts District.

In order to precisely determine the intervention’s extents, the harmful reflections for the Museum Tower were mapped at each time of day, every day for one year, on a vertical plane which separated Museum from the Nasher. As a result, analyses gave the rough shape of the 343 feet tall and 168 feet wide silhouette which would act as a perfect shield. Read the rest of this entry »

3xLP by Christopher Romano and Nicholas Bruscia has finally been announced as the winner of SKIN – the international digital fabrication competition, organized by TEX-FAB Digital Fabrication Alliance. Regarding the jury, TEX-FAB invited five leading figures in the world of digital fabrication and parametric design to jury the competition with a global understanding and presence within the digital design and fabrication communities. Their goal was to enable the role of digital fabrication and parametric design at the speculative level.

The competition began with 68 entries from 14 countries and the first round ended in July. It seems it was no hard task for the jury back then – the entry was selected without much deliberation and with just few comments on how small undulations or changing panels can have dramatic impact from the viewing standpoint moving around the building, boldness of the prototype and super clean design. The jury was impressed by the depth of their engagement with the primary concepts and the way they have engaged with the manufacturer in order to test and investigate those ideas. Read the rest of this entry »

BBK Bank Headquarters in Bilbao, Spain, by Zaha Hadid Architects is under construction. This 25,000 square meter tower represents the future headquarters for a socially-conscious savings bank and it will be sited at the south-eastern end point of Zorrotzaurre peninsula, facing central Bilbao, offering wide views onto the river and the famous Guggenheim Museum. At Zaha Hadid Architects, they consider this project eventual continuation of what they have started while ago with their master plan for Zorrotzaurre.

The tower will contain office support spaces – shared meeting rooms and seminar rooms, amenities, charitable activities space and an auditorium, in addition to their own office facilities. As the site called for strong architectural statement, the proposal set out very sculptural form derived from two star-shaped plans rotated 45 degrees from each other, at the top and the bottom of the tower. The outcome of their merger is the profile that changes as the view angle changes.

The very visible structural exo-skeleton serves both as primary structure and the sub-structure for the curtain wall. Together with structural core it acts as the only structure needed – interior columns are completely eliminated. Read the rest of this entry »

The “Pure Tension” Volvo Pavilion is a joint venture of Synthesis Design + Architecture, Buro Happold and Fabric Images. This tensile structure is a lightweight, rapidly deployable, free-standing membrane, a portable charging station, commissioned by Volvo Car Italia. The membrane is an experiment, developed through a process of rigorous research that investigated methods of associative modeling, dynamic mesh relaxation, paneling, geometric rationalization and pure material performance. It illustrates the dialogue between design, engineering and fabrication. Read the rest of this entry »

Billard Leece Partnership recently completed the La Trobe University Wodonga campus student accommodation which provides residential support for students studying in rural and regional areas in order to access ongoing studies. A dining room of 175 seats supports new student accommodation for 200 students in Bendigo. The Center caters for all residential students, provides a commercial kitchen to undertake wider campus and off-site catering and generally provides greater campus amenity for students and staff enhancing the Bendigo campus collegiate atmosphere.

The structure of a dining room is conceived as a veranda or treetops space. The dining hall takes advantage of a northerly aspect and has views across the campus, to the city and into bush land. The views out at both ends are framed by, or through, tree canopies. Established trees form an outdoor eating area at the entry.

The dining room building is wrapped in faceted aluminum mesh pyramid-like cells, providing aesthetic quality, shading and sense of privacy, while it actually offers hidden space for outdoor vertical communications. Read the rest of this entry »

In recent years high-rise residential towers is Asia have undergone a significant transformation. No longer only mass replicated tower blocks dot the skyline of most Asian cities, a new generation of bespoke towers now provide aesthetic, singular silhouettes and incorporate comfortable living spaces, attractive landscaped gardens and an array of amenities for residents.

The Ardmore Residence at 7 Ardmore Park in Singapore is one of this new breed of residential towers. Located in a prime location close to the Orchard Road luxury shopping district the Ardmore Residence enjoys both expansive views of the panoramic cityscape of Singapore City and the vast green areas of its immediate western and eastern surroundings.

Living landscape
The primary concept for the design of the 36 storey, 17.178 m² residential tower is a multi-layered architectural response to the natural landscape inherent to the ‘Garden City’ of Singapore. This landscape concept is integrated into the design by means of four large details: the articulation of the facade, which through its detailing creates various organic textures and patterns; expansive views across the city made possible by large glazed areas, bay windows and double-height balconies; the interior ‘living landscape’ concept adopted for the design of the two apartment types and the introduction of transparency and connectivity to the ground level gardens by means of a raised structure supported by an open framework.

Textured facade
The facade of the Ardmore Residence is derived from micro-design features which interweave structural elements, such as bay windows and balconies into one continuous line. The façade pattern is repeated for every four storeys of the building, whilst rounded glass creates column-free corners, visually merging the internal spaces with the external balconies. Intertwining lines and surfaces wrap the apartments, seamlessly incorporating sun screening, whilst also ensuring that the inner qualities of the apartments and the outer appearance of the building together form a unified whole. Read the rest of this entry »

Volcano is a B.Arch thesis project by Joakim Wadenholt, done at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. This proposal investigates how to make the opera in Stockholm popular again by making a new opera house. With different stages, concerts halls and music events –this proposal will reach a much wider target group. Hopefully this mix of music shows and stages attracts more people and makes the opera show more popular as well.

Directions from the surrounding streets and views made the split of the form into the five separate buildings with different context. It is important to give all the different parts of the building the space they deserve. The surrounding park is supposed to be a place where people can meet and listen to music in the summer and spring. The shape of the opera house is inspired from a volcano: a symbol for great power and drama –just like an opera show or concert. When the night has come and it’s time for the show, the building will look like a great volcano with all the lights. Read the rest of this entry »

Shell & Shadow by Zaha Hadid Architects, a project for Nordpark Railway Stations in Innsbuck, Austria, is a unique architectural statement which is inspired, in its fluidity, by natural ice formations. The roof structures are lightweight and organic in its form, as they float on concrete plinths forming a soft artificial landscape that aims to describe the movement and circulation within. The brief required the design of four stations leading to Innsbruck’s chain of mountains and the team thoughtfully studied natural phenomena as glacial moraines and ice movements in order to develop a language fluid enough, like a frozen stream.

As each station in the chain has its unique context, topography and altitude, it was necessary to adapt to these specific site conditions, while still maintaining a unifying overall architectural language. High degree of flexibility was required in order to adjust the shell structures to the variable parameters of each station. Read the rest of this entry »

The Ballart Regional Integrated Cancer Center by Billard Leece Partnership is ambulatory facility that supports a multidisciplinary collaborative approach to patient care. The addition – new glazed tower changes character through the day and with the seasons. Profiled aluminum fins cast shadows across the glass surface façade which reflects the clouds, sky, and trees around the facility. The medical center tower is one of the tallest buildings in the city and its distinctive profile and surface patterning project an image of state-of-the-art care for the people of Ballarat and the region.

The Center provides the latest technology for cancer treatment supported by a radiotherapy facility, Medical Oncology Unit, a satellite pharmacy ensuring immediate access to medication and treatments and a multidisciplinary consultation suite supporting the concept of a ‘one stop shop’ for patients and their families. Education and administrative spaces encourage collaboration and support research with a clinical trials unit closely aligned to treatment spaces. A Wellness Center is included where all those involved in the patient journey can access amenities that offer a break from routine clinical spaces Read the rest of this entry »