Issue#02—2015
Issue#02—2015

Issue#02—2015

The provision of public buildings designed and engineered to the highest standards has always been an objective that we strive for. Sometimes these ambitions are not realised, not through lack of effort, but circumstance. A bus station, school and new civic office highlight what can be achieved.

In Aarau, Switzerland, a bus station forecourt has transformed a windswept empty square into a space that locals take pride in proclaiming to be their ‘cloud’. The use of a galvanized facade to provide a tactile finish by the ingenious placement of perforations within the steel has created the building block for a school in Denmark. Its design philosophy has earned it a LEED Gold rating.

A new civic office in Rochdale has created a sustainable and modern working environment by bringing together a series of disjointed offices. A new sense of community and transparency has been engendered.

All these projects help to enhance the interplay between ourselves and the buildings that help us function on a daily basis.

Aarau municipal bus station

The world’s largest air-supported membrane cushion dominates the newly designed forecourt of the train station in Aarau. Its organic shape creates a welcoming and open environment for travellers through the new transport hub. The centre of Aarau serves as a…

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CitizenM Bankside, London

‘A collection of innovative concepts, citizenM is a hotel driven by one desire: to create affordable luxury for the people.’ citizenM, Bankside, is a six-storey modular hotel built over a single storey traditional steelwork podium. The design included offices, a…

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Formosa – Amphibious House

In many ways the house designed by Baca Architects and Techniker is ordinary – triumphantly ordinary. It’s an elegant ordinary house with a pitched roof structure and concrete basement. The industrial weatherscreen skin of zinc shingles wraps the glazed facade…

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Frei Otto, Pritzker Prizewinner 2015

The two news reports came in quick succession. On 9th March, 2015, the architect Frei Otto died at the age of 89. One day later, the Pritzker Prize committee announced that the visionary had been awarded the Pritzker Prize for…

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Galvanizing Delight

RIVA 1, a new office and private apartment complex at Phoenix lake in Dortmund offers luxurious living along a lakeside setting. Architects Schamp and Schmaloer have created simple, elegant cubic forms to characterise what will be an expanding district. Artist…

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North Star School, Denmark

The Nordstjerneskolen (North Star School) in the Danish town of Frederikshavn is a Public-Private Partnership Project. The durability of the materials, the minimizing of energy use and the importance of flexible design, which could also cope with the demands of…

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Number One Riverside, Rochdale

After a successful design competition, FaulknerBrowns Architects were commissioned by Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council to design a new civic office to help achieve three strategic objectives: rationalisation of their estate from thirty-three buildings into one; provision of an environment which…

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Visitor Centre of Chateau Gruaud-Larose

Château Gruaud-Larose in the Saint Julien appellation of Bordeaux has been producing Grand Cru wines since the 18th century. Four families have passed on their tradition and success in cultivating the 82 hectare vineyard to produce wine of the highest…

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