Hawthorn Residence

Hawthorn Residence by Canny

The initial client brief was to create a home that would allow independent living zones for the needs of the growing family. With three teenage boys the home allows ample breakout spaces for the children to be active and yet still enjoy the togetherness of combined family areas. The clients required a new home with a traditional façade to the compliment the streetscape, yet a more contemporary feel as one moved through to the rear of the home. The front rooms took on a traditional feel, whilst the rear presented more modern attributes.

The rear of the home showcases a distinctive curved pool house with expansive pool outlook. Dual outdoor entertaining areas with canopy skylights and recessed alfresco heaters allow for continuous enjoyment throughout all seasons. All of these elements were carefully integrated and designed with the landscape.

The highly detailed cellar is perhaps the standout feature of this residence. Complete with 2,000 unit wine storage, Vintec wine fridge, tasting bench, sink and luxe wooden joinery, the room carries an understated opulence and serves as a unique entertaining area for intimate dinner parties and tastings.

Source canny.com.au

Armandale House

Armandale House by Jackson Clements Burrows

Armandale House by Jackson Clements Burrows:

“This project involved alterations and additions to an existing Victorian house in Armadale that had been renovated in the late 1980s.

The scope of work included a complete refurbishment of the existing Victorian House and a new upper level extension separated into two private zones for parents and children.”

Armandale House by RT Edgar:

“The house features high ceilings, floor to ceiling glass windows, pool, separate self-contained accommodation/gym and sits on a 2,032m2 (21,872 sq ft) lot.

Comprising: formal lounge, separate dining, kitchen/meals and informal sitting room, games room, 2nd informal sitting room, twin study, 6 generous bedrooms (all with ensuites), off street parking for 6 cars, security, air conditioning and heating.”

Source: homedsgn.com

The Water Cube

The National Aquatics Center, a major venue for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, also called the Water Cube, was completed on the morning of January 28, 2009.

The Beijing National Aquatics Center (simplified Chinese: 北京国家游泳中心; traditional Chinese: 北京國家游泳中心), also officially known as the National Aquatics Center, and colloquially known as the Water Cube (Chinese: 水立方), is an aquatics center that was built alongside Beijing National Stadium in the Olympic Green for the swimming competitions of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Despite its nickname, the building is not an actual cube, but a cuboid (a rectangular box). Ground was broken on December 24, 2003, and the Center was completed and handed over for use on January 28, 2008. Swimmers at the Water Cube broke 25 world records during the 2008 Olympics.

After the Olympics, the building underwent a 200 million Yuan revamp to turn half of its interior into a water park. The building officially reopened on August 8, 2010.

In July 2003, the Water Cube design was chosen from 10 proposals in an international architectural competition for the aquatic center project. The Water Cube was specially designed and built by a consortium made up of PTW Architects (an Australian architecture firm), Arupinternational engineering group, CSCEC (China State Construction Engineering Corporation), and CCDI (China Construction Design International) of Shanghai. The Water Cube's design was initiated by a team effort: the Chinese partners felt a square was more symbolic to Chinese culture and its relationship to the Bird's Nest stadium, while the Sydney based partners came up with the idea of covering the 'cube' with bubbles, symbolising water. Contextually the cube symbolises earth whilst the circle (represented by the stadium) represents heaven. Hence symbolically the water cube references Chinese symbolic architecture.

Comprising a steel space frame, it is the largest ETFE clad structure in the world with over 100,000 m² of ETFE pillows that are only 0.2 mm (1/125 of an inch) in total thickness. The ETFE cladding allows more light and heat penetration than traditional glass, resulting in a 30% decrease in energy costs.

The outer wall is based on the Weaire–Phelan structure, a structure devised from the natural pattern of bubbles in soap lather. In the true Weaire-Phelan structure the edge of each cell is curved in order to maintain 109.5 degree angles at each vertex (satisfying Plateau's rules), but of course as a structural support system each beam was required to be straight so as to better resist axial compression. The complex Weaire–Phelan pattern was developed by slicing through bubbles in soap foam, resulting in more irregular, organic patterns than foam bubble structures proposed earlier by the scientist Kelvin. Using the Weaire–Phelan geometry, the Water Cube's exterior cladding is made of 4,000 ETFE bubbles, some as large as 9.14 metres (30.0 ft) across, with seven different sizes for the roof and 15 for the walls.

The structure had a capacity of 17,000 during the games that is being reduced to 7,000. It also has a total land surface of 65,000 square meters and will cover a total of 32,000 square metres (7.9 acres). Although called the Water Cube, the aquatic center is really a rectangular box (cuboid) 178 metres (584 ft) square and 31 metres (102 ft) high.

It cost £75 million (10.2 billion yuan). The facade of the water cube became so popular that there is now a one-to-one copy near the ferry terminal in Macau – the Casino Oceanus by Paul Steelman.

Source: wikipedia.org

Origami Office Building

Origami Office Building by Manuelle Gautrand

The project was implemented in two parts: the main building on a 20 meter-wide stripe on the avenue, and an extension in the rear, between two courtyard gardens. At the ground floor level, the lobby plays on transparency between the street front and the main garden. The building in the rear of the lot is more private, and it is there that the cafeteria and meeting rooms are laid out, with garden space on both sides. 

The unusual location of the site led us to design a project that would embrace and take advantage of the view and immerse into the natural light. An emblematic showcase of the building – the main façade is mostly glass, partially covered with a second-skin of screen-printed marble pattern. 

The rendered effect is a tremendous origami and the view of this delicate folded marble can be enjoyed both from exterior and interior of the building. 

The panels are composite, a film of marble mounted on a twin layer of glass. The symmetrical panels that are folded and assembled by two form an “open-book” pattern and thus highlight the design of the veins of the marble. 

This second skin is translucent and acts as a breast wall to ensure privacy as well as filter daylight, creating a soft interior atmosphere.

Marble folds create a vibration along the 30 meter-long front. At both ends, in continuity with the façades of neighboring buildings, the origami becomes calmer and flattens out. But in the central part it forms a delicate bas-relief.

The project then develops into the depth of the site with the same objective of clarity while adding a strong presents of plants. The offices roofed with large lawns weave around the two courtyard gardens. 

The lobby functions as a meeting point of these two atmospheres – the urban and sophisticated of the main façade, and the more private and verdant of the other side of the building. The interior spaces were designed in a contemporary spirit, highlighting the luminous atmosphere with light-colored and soft materials. 

Thecnical description - programme for the operation: 

Luxurious high level offices, lobby, relaxation area / cafeteria and 6 meeting rooms; courtyard garden and gardened roof with an open access. Computer rooms, technical premises, archives and parking lot (85 car places) on the existing 4-level underground area. 

- environmental approach environnementale:

The project is certified “HQE” - High Environmental Quality - ("NF bâtiments tertiaires - Démarche HQE®”: “French High Environmental quality standard for office buildings”). 
The criteria of 14 points have been distributed as following:

Highly efficient: Construction site with minimal environmental nuisance 
Management of waste disposal 
Maintenance services management 
Acoustic comfort 
Efficient: Choice of products and construction methods
Energy management 
Hygrothermal comfort 
Air quality 
Good: Harmonious relationship of the building with its immediate environment 
Water management 
Visual comfort 
Olfactory comfort 
Sanitary quality of spaces 
Sanitary quality of water 

Source: archilovers.com

Wuxi Grand Theatre

Wuxi Grand Theatre by PES-Architects
(Source: archinect.com)

Wuxi Grand Theatre is a one of the key cultural projects in Wuxi, China. Wuxi Grand Theater stands on the south bank of Taihu Lake and covers a total area of more than 70,000 square meters. The building is designed by Finnish architect Pekka Salminen.

The main idea of Wuxi Grand Theatre is based on its location. The manmade peninsula on the northern shore area of Taihu Lake and the highway bridge nearby make this location comparable to that of Sydney Opera House. Due to this location the building is an impressive landmark, rising up to a total height of 50 meters like a big sculpture from the terraced base. Its eight gigantic roof wings stretch far over the facades, giving the building a character of a butterfly, while protecting the building from the heat of the sun.

The architectural concept is unique: inside the steel wings are thousands of LED lights, which make it possible to change the colour of the wings according to the character of the performances. This is possible, because the underside of the wings is covered by perforated aluminium panels. Another special feature is the “forest” of 50 light columns, each 9 meter high, which start from the main entrance square, support the roof of the central lobby and continue outside of the lakeside entrance into the lake.

A strong Chinese feature that runs throughout the whole building is the large scale use of bamboo, both a traditional and a modern Chinese material. Recently new methods for the production and use of bamboo have made it possible to cover the Main Theatre Auditorium with over fifteen thousand solid bamboo blocks, all individually shaped according to acoustic needs and architectural image. The Main Auditorium counts 1680 seats split up in main stalls and two balconies. The horseshoe shape and compact volume combined with variable acoustics creates a flexible venue which can host traditional western style operas, Chinese operas, theatre performances, classical concerts, and even conferences. The main auditorium is combined with a smaller 700 seat auditorium which is designed as a multifunctional black box theatre with retractable seats and multiple options for seating layout.

(Source: wikipedia.org)

Tower House

Tower House by Gluck+
(Source: dezeen.com)

As a vacation home, the Tower House is used during a few weekends in the winter and most weekends in the summer. The design imperative was to develop a sustainable, energy efficient solution with minimal operating costs and maintenance for a house occupied part-time. The stacked north-facing bedrooms take advantage of light and views with floor to ceiling glass. In order to optimise energy savings for heating and cooling in this part-time residence, a two part sustainable strategy was employed to reduce the heating footprint of the house in the winter and to avoid the need for air conditioning in the summer.

While the house is heated conventionally, by compressing and stacking all of the wet zones of the house into an insulated central core, much of the house can be "turned off" in the winter when not in use. When not in use, only 700 square feet of the 2,545 square foot house is heated. By closing the building down to only the insulated core, there is a 49% reduction in energy use. In the summertime, the house feels comfortable without air conditioning. Cool air is drawn in and through the house using the stack effect. South-facing glass throughout the stairwell creates a solar chimney and as the heated air rises, it is exhausted out the top, drawing in fresh air through the house from the cooler north side.

Architecture and Construction: GLUCK+ (Peter L. Gluck, Thomas Gluck, David Hecht, Marisa Kolodny, A.B. Moburg-Davis)
Structural Engineer: Robert Silman Associates P.C.
Mechanical Engineer: Rosini Engineering P.C.
Façade: Bill Young
Environmental Engineer: IBC Engineering
Lighting: Lux Populi

(Source: dezeen.com)

Kunsthaus Graz

Kunsthaus Graz by Sir Peter Cook and Colin Fournier

The Kunsthaus was built in order to celebrate Graz’s designation as the Cultural Capital of Europe for 2003, on a budget that is comparatively small for similarly focal cultural venues in large(ish) cities. Graz is the second largest city in Austria, a sprawl that can be appreciated from atop the castle in the center of town. From this location the Kunsthaus stands out like a rather blue, sore thumb. It is difficult to pass judgment on the aesthetic qualities of such a building; it definitely is there, and it definitely is blue and blob-shaped, but it also seems very much a part of the city.

You want to hate it, because of what it is: a symbol of the new modernism which has been pioneered by these architects since the 1960s and recently by the likes of architects Future Systems in Birmingham. But it is impossible to ignore how well the building works as a space to display art; and besides which, when up close, or even inside, the building becomes cute and actually quite lovable. Indeed, it has been nick-named ‘the Friendly Alien’. Built primarily of reinforced concrete and covered in translucent warm-blue plastic panelling with white plaster and metal mesh on the interior, the Kunsthaus feels very well constructed despite the low budget.

(Source: galinsky.com

The Kunsthaus provides 2,500 square meters of generously arranged space for changing contemporary art exhibitions, functions, and events. The amorphous form of the blue bubble blends in the heritage-protected part of the building 1,288 semitransparent acrylic glass panels have been used to create the bubble. While the glazed outer skin takes an important mediating role, it also generates power through integrated photovoltaic units. The Berlin designers realities:united used 930 computer­con­ trolled light sources located under the acrylic skin to create a display forty­five meters wide and twenty meters high that enables the museum to communicate with its environment. 

(Source: ignant.de)