Concrete facade

Unique ‘Arts and Crafts’ facade for residential tower De Verkenner A new residential tower completed on Churchilllaan in Kanaleneiland, Utrecht, will give a big impetus to the development of this typical post-war reconstruction district. The new 50-metre-tall building, designed by Mei architects and planners, acts as a gatekeeper to Kanaleneiland. The tower contains a mixed programme of housing: 71 private sector rental dwellings in the upper portion, 15 dwellings for autistic youths, and 9 live-work units in the base of the building. ‘Slow made’ facade gives De Verkenner identity The design for the facade responds to the concrete gallery-access blocks of flats in Kanaleneiland. In contrast to the horizontal articulation of these f... More

The Elmer A. Henderson: A Johns Hopkins Partnership School and the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Early Childhood Center, together called Henderson-Hopkins, is the first new Baltimore public school built in more than 20 years. Envisioned to catalyze the revitalization of East Baltimore, the project integrates innovative educational facilities with community and recreational resources and reflects the neighborhood’s urban fabric. ARCHITECTURE OF ITS PLACE Henderson-Hopkins is a cluster of containers for learning inspired by East Baltimore’s row houses, stoops and social civic spaces. Its campus is a microcosm of the city: students are grouped by age in small-scale Houses that are bisected by main streets and side streets. LEARNING LABOR... More

Work nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture, Mies van Der Rohe Award 2017. The location, on a small hill, is privileged. The longitudinal field is open to the south and the view of mountain Youhtas. How can a linear residence deal with the intense cretan light? The house necessarily unfolds along the south side, the side of the sun: through a double curvature the building is bend by the power of the sun’s path from east to west. The house is located in a quiet new neighborhood of the Mediterranean city of Heraklion, not far form the city’s center. The flat, elevated corner plot offers views of the city and has a southern orientation. This family house was designed for the needs of a young couple and its t... More

The headquarters of the West German Radio (WDR) mediagroup is prominently located in the city center of Cologne, not far from the Cathedral. The post-modern administrative building was already showing its age and has not only struggled with the physical fragility of its construction. Moreover, strived to maintain its representation in a high-quality architectural neighborhood. One of the immediate neighboring building is the Diocesan Museum established by Peter Zumthor of the Archbishopric Kolumba. Against this background the planners of SSP AG developed a refurbishment concept in the framework of a feasibility study, which in addition to optimizing the floor space and operations, also focuses on recreating the visual representation of t... More

Hotel Indigo Boulevard is located in a historical boulevard in central Helsinki where the surrounding buildings have their origins from the the beginning of the 1800-­‐1900s. The task was to transform the former office building into a modern hotel that would fit into the historical environment. The building went through an extensive renovation and only the concrete frame, built in the 60s, was preserved. The old pre-­‐fabricated concrete facade was replaced with a new light construction wall. The boulevard facing facade was clad with multidimensional zinc plating. The facade with its new insulaton makes the building very energy-­‐saving, consequently the hotel has been LEED-­‐ classified. Finnish design and local craftmanship was used in ho... More

The villa is situated not far from the Belgian Coast near the French border, in an area plenty of dunes and trees. The site itself embodies a big natural dune that ascends towards the main street. A secondary road descends on the left side of the terrain, up till the entrance of the house. The site is entered on the left upper side of the dune, along a closed concrete façade. The level of the house is the same as the entry point. By consequence this implies that the rest of the house floats above the natural dune, towards the lower part of the terrain. All rooms are on the same level. The house is entered underneath a concrete canopy through the wooden front door. The front door & garage gate are perceived as an abstract wooden plan... More

Faena District Located on a majestic stretch of beach in the heart of Miami Beach, Faena District encompasses both sides of Collins Avenue from 32nd to 35th Streets, with direct waterfront views of the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Creek. Faena District will provide the city of Miami Beach with a neighborhood integrating dynamic cultural, residential, hotel, retail, culinary and public environments with a dynamic combination of art, culture, and design as their foundation. OMA has designed three buildings for Faena District—Faena Forum, Faena Bazaar and Park. These distinct structures are linked by a sequence of public areas including an entry plaza on Collins Avenue and an open courtyard within the Faena Bazaar. Philippe Ruault Fae... More

The concept behind Art’otel combines “exceptional architecture and art-inspired interiors” to offer their guest a unique hotel experience. Needless to say, that all interior materials are put under strict and demanding design requirements. From the functional side, the task for the suspended ceilings in the conference and common areas was to conceal the necessary installations and provide high quality room acoustics. From the aesthetic point of view, the ceiling design had to be discreet and in line with the overall design concept. The optimal solution to the functional and aesthetic demands was found in Contur Globe. With its concealed grid and round perforations, Contur Globe creates a subtle and soft expression that blends in wit... More

Thanks to its completely prefabricated white concrete facade with undulating balconies, Lofts by the Amstel is undoubtedly an eye-catcher by the waterside in Amstelkwartier, Amsterdam. Each of the building’s six private owners designed their ideal apartment, which occupies one entire floor. This collective of owners and the team –Studioninedots/OntwerpJeWoning/VinkBouw– are incredibly proud of the result. Amstelkwartier is a new mixed-use residential/commercial district in Amsterdam Oost. This 12-hectare site is currently being developed with 1,100 dwellings and 30,000 m2 commercial space. Amstelkwartier released four plots of land to accommodate the increasing popularity for people to design their own homes in an urban context. On plot... More

Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects completes renovation for Hi-Tech start-up incubator space in Shanghai Schmidt Hammer Lassen architects has completed an overhual of an existing office building in Shanghai into an innovation incubator for Hi-Tech start-up companies. Located at the CaoHeJing Hi-Tech Park, in aim to support and nurture local start-up companies, the incubator is a pilot project of a series of shared office developments in the area by the client. Commissioned by CaoHeJing in 2014, Schmidt Hammer Lassen architects' proposal was to overclad and unify the existing rendered concrete facade utilising a corrugated and perforated polyester powder coated aluminium skin. The facade concept allows for a simple and clean expres... More

The newly build multifunctional accommodation (MFA) Zichtwei is the closing piece of the education campus in Barendrecht (just South of Rotterdam). The term MFA is commonly used in The Netherlands for a combination of occupants sharing one multi-functional building. In the MFA Zichtwei two schools are sharing the available class rooms, a sports hall is included and a youth centre occupies offices and an event space. The sports hall is daily occupied by the school and can also be used by neighbourhood associations during evenings as a separate entrance is designed. The Design of MFA Zichtwei has solved many advanced problems of the new urban district Lagewei. These included the urban integration in both the campus and the adjacent reside... More

This project is the first of a series of desert dwelling prototypes that comprise an ongoing body of research into off-grid living in a relatively extreme climate. All three research sites are located in the remote community of Los Zacatitos, in Baja California Sur, Mexico. The project's four detached buildings and their related exterior spaces are carefully arranged around the contours of a natural bowl on the four-acre site so as to catch prevailing breezes, allow seasonal arroyos to flow freely, and in response to existing granite outcrops and desert flora. Two smaller villas with sleeping accommodation flank the principal living space with a garage / utility structure placed behind these buildings forming an entry court. Each vi... More

The Learning Hub, designed by Heatherwick Studio and executed by lead architect CPG Consultants, is a new educational building in Singapore and part of Nanyang Technological University’s campus re-development plan. The structure is a multi-use teaching building for 33,000 students. The project called for the design of a new university environment more relevant to contemporary forms of learning, and to support the development of new teaching methods. With digital technology making access to information possible almost anywhere, the new building is meant to offer a different kind of learning experience, unavailable on the internet. Instead of miles of corridors and box-like lecture rooms, the structure interweaves social and learning spaces... More

As a result of the restoration of the Skjern River basin in 2002, a vast and rich natural area has arisen, becoming an attractive visitor destination. A framework for the new life of the area has been provided with the rebuilding and extension of three pump stations, in the form of exhibition spaces, indoor and outdoor viewpoints to look out over the landscape, rooms for the organisation of events, and better accessibility. The extensions and the new interior building elements are mainly simple wooden constructions and reiterate the dimensions and rhythm of the original pump stations’ concrete relief. This creates a direct link between the old structure and the new, while adding a new material and another texture that is pleasing to the... More