LRS Architects designed this home for a family in Genolier, Switzerland.
Project description
This single family house built in an area with strong zoning ordinances, diverts the vernacular language of the typical chalet into a playful and contemporary architecture.
The topographical insertion, in a «plug-in» way, inverts the interior walk and the superposition of the functions. Reachable from the upper side of the plot, the living spaces evolves underneath the roof, facing the magnificient landscape of the Alps and Lake Geneva. The intermediate floor with the parent and the children bedrooms offers a terrace.
From the garden, the groundfloor is accessible with the innerpool and the workshop. So to speak, this single family house get immersed into the topography and let us play with the perceptions and the variation of scales.
The relation between the inhabitant and the distant landscape (the lake and the Alps) and the nearby context (so are the garden, the terrace and the porche) is a central theme of the project. The utilisation of the larch gives a strong contrast with the mineral parts and the tiled roof introducing the stacking lecture.
Bohlin Cywinsky Jackson and Eckersley O’Callagha, both longstanding collaborators of Apple’s flagship stores, has been commissioned to transform a 93-year-old former United States Mortgage and Trust Company building on Madison Avenue into the chain’s next New York City store. Though little has been released about the design, the store’s grand opening is planned for 2015. More information can be found here.
Meet the challenge of integrating Building Information Modeling and sustainability with this in-depth guide, which pairs these two revolutionary movements to create environmentally friendly design through a streamlined process. Written by an award-winning team that has gone beyond theory to lead the implementation of Green BIM projects, this comprehensive reference features practical strategies, techniques, and real-world expertise so that you can create sustainable BIM projects, no matter what their scale.
The architects of NRJA have been chosen to curate Latvia’s participation at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale. Based on the assertion that “there is (no) modernism in Lativa,” the pavilion’s exhibitionUnwritten will confront the lack of research and evaluation of Lativan post-war modernist architecture.
As the curators describe, the insufficient acknowledgment of Lativan post-war modernist architecture is the result of a tricky situation. On one hand, “there is an aversion to anything that occurred during the period of Soviet occupation,” while on the other “there is wave of uncritical nostalgia for the country’s youth and childhood, as well as the superficial hipster joy at the exotic Soviet heritage.”
Though many of these structures would have already achieved “monument” status in other countries, there has been no evaluation of their importance to Latvia’s architectural heritage. At the threat of demolition, these post-war buildings risk never being researched, leaving a period of Latvia’s architectural history unrecorded.
Thus the curators of Unwritten plan to highlight the modernism in Lativa and spark a global discussion that will hopefully result in the largest-ever database for post-war Latvian modernist architecture.
Effective building performance simulation can reduce the environmental impact of the built environment, improve indoor quality and productivity, and facilitate future innovation and technological progress in construction. It draws on many disciplines, including physics, mathematics, material science, biophysics and human behavioural, environmental and computational sciences. The discipline itself is continuously evolving and maturing, and improvements in model robustness and fidelity are constantly being made. This has sparked a new agenda focusing on the effectiveness of simulation in building life-cycle processes.
Building Performance Simulation for Design and Operation begins with an introduction to the concepts of performance indicators and targets, followed by a discussion on the role of building simulation in performance-based building design and operation. This sets the ground for in-depth discussion of performance prediction for energy demand, indoor environmental quality (including thermal, visual, indoor air quality and moisture phenomena), HVAC and renewable system performance, urban level modelling, building operational optimization and automation.
Produced in cooperation with the International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA), and featuring contributions from fourteen internationally recognised experts in this field, this book provides a unique and comprehensive overview of building performance simulation for the complete building life-cycle from conception to demolition. It is primarily intended for advanced students in building services engineering, and in architectural, environmental or mechanical engineering; and will be useful for building and systems designers and operators.
Architects: Tamás Nagy
Location: Gödöllő, Hungary
Area: 1,340 sqm
Year: 2007
Photographs: József Hajdú
Collaborators: Tamás Lévai, Ildikó Bujdosó, Anna Meditz
From the architect. The three elements of the building – the church, the parish and the community house – surround a regular quadrat-shaped courtyard. The courtyard will be soon a garden with trees and flowers and with a fountain in the middle. As long ago in the monasteries.
Because the model comes from there. The difference is that this courtyard is opened in its fourth side – it is bordered only by a tracery fence – and this is an important message to the World: come in, we are open. If once the park is finished as well, the water of the fountain will flow as a vein to there and swell into a lake. This movement strengthens the previous idea: the connection between inside and outside is relevant.
The system of the service seems emblematic: the glassed corridors lead along the courtyard and broaden to a forefront in front of the community area. The certain functions as the resident and office part of the parish, the rooms of the community house and the space of the church are strung into this „U” shaped system.
The central space of the church is oriented to the apse. As the three building wings surround the courtyard, so the „U”-shaped gallery does surround the apse, the main central point of the building. The apse, the only arc in the house differs not only by its form from the other elements, but by its colour as well.
The 63 colour glass window contain a hidden message. As the result of the dutch componist Alexander Skrjabin’s research he created a matrix, in which every single note matches to a single colour. Applied this note-colour code I wrote the gregorian tune of our prayer Kyrie eleison to the windows of the arc wall. It is a non-designed surprise that the colour glass windows are even burning when the sun does not shine outside.
The colour world of the church – perhaps too pure and strange for some – is to strengthen this exaltation. Depending on the time of the day the space of the church is swimming in light stream or dawning in dusk, but the place of the eucharisty remains at the centre of our attention.
The chapel next to the church is purposely simpler, with its transparent windows I tried to support one’s inside-turning. It will be hopefully a space of the calm prayer. And at the end about the tower. Building a church without a tower was stylish in the modern sacral architecture of the 20th century. I think the church should be a sign at the beginning of the 21st century in Hungary, in Europe, where the evangelism seems to be needed. I hope that the seven-storeyed tower of the Roman Catholic Church of Gödöll will be the symbol of the presence.
Co Contractors: Dumez-construction, Energelio-BET HQE Passif, Séchaud Bossuyt-BET Fluide
Characteristics: PassivHaus Conso Less than 15 KWHep / m² shon / year
Graphic Design, Signage, Colometry: Jessica BIDAULT
Client: City of Roubaix
Surface Utile: 2,140 sqm
Surface Plancher: 2 814 sqm
Cost: 6.8 M€ HT
From the architect. The concept of the building volume has a free form referring to the bag of balls for children. The covering, is a porous and vegetated layer and the beads are the program elements that come together to give shape to the project. The corners are rounded and the roofs are folded in order to generate an architecture that offers a gentle settling in the neighborhood. This effect is being reinforced by the white tone that catches light in the near and far vision. White is the color of the beginning. The white wooden facades combined with vegetation play as an indicator in an area where the brick dominates.
The spatial organization of this program presents an optimal performance in terms of accessibility, readability and fluidity of space, in order to create a learning “tool” where children are at the heart of their concerns.
The functional program which is divided into four volumes, reinforces the spatial visibility of the school. Two high volumes turn out to the city: one, containing classrooms in two levels, forms the corner of the streets, which is visible from distance; the other volume contains common functions, which is placed on the forecourt, acting as an urban label (marker), it offers a dual purpose: it shows the school entrances and the linear park trail. The third volume that occupies the center of the plot is the restaurant. It separates the two courts and connects the playgrounds.
By its small size, It also preserves the views between the future linear park and the rue du Luxembourg. The fourth volume settles in the border of the parcel in transition between maternal playground and the access to the court of delivery of the dairy. It is accessible from the Luxembourg Street and gathers technical areas of the school. Thus, the access to different parts of programs has been clearly identified and disposed at opposite sides of the plot to ensure the safety of children. Optimizing the circulations is the recurring theme in the spatial organization of the project. Storage spaces are located close to related classes, thereby helping to avoid unnecessary travel.
The classes are settled on both sides of the program. Educational gardens, planted courtyards, vegetated terraces are all the elements that contribute to stretch the ecological corridor atmosphere projected along the railway embankment to the Luxembourg street and vice versa.
The architecture amazes and surprises, it challenges the space and the sense, it generates bright and spacious paths, able to ensure the best reception and secure conditions for children, «a porous cocoon.» The volume is rich in its spatial form which is reinforced by the game of light and shadow. It is the white color that dominates ; it catches the light, plays with color variation brought by the presence of plants, the recently planted trees and the green roof terraces. The dominant monochrome is ruptured by the entrances and playgrounds level to bring this honey color, which tries to color the natural light.
The wood is used for the whole façade of the program. The outer shell is made of fixed wooden louvers arranged parallel to the façade or changing direction gradually to animate the facade. Some parts of them are colored using with shades ranging from yellow to orange in covered areas (courtyard entrance).
The building is compact and also thermally efficient without harming the functional quality of the program. The pebble shaped volumes give a high index of compactness, which limits heat loss. The materials and the construction components fulfill all the criteria of environmental protection inducing a limited variety. The design of dual concrete wall consists of a 200 mm inner structural web isolated by a rigid insulator (JACKODUR) of 280 mm, which is protected by 150mm facade supporting elements in wood and aluminum. The wooden slats fit into the laser cutting aluminum tubes anodized by bronze color.
The school anticipates the future developments in Mackelerie neighborhood, South promenade park and the Roubaix railway station district.
Beginning with a quick start tutorial which will get you up and running with SketchUp 2013 quickly, you will move on to learning the key skills you will need to wow your clients with stunning visualizations through a series practical steps, tips and tricks.
This book is suitable for all levels of SketchUp users, from amateurs right through to architectural technicians, professional architects, and designers who want to take their 3D designs to the next level of presentation. SketchUp 2013 for Architectural Visualization is also particularly suitable as a companion to any architectural design or multimedia course, and is accessible to anyone who has learned the basics of SketchUp.
Contractor: WS Britland
Consulting Structural Engineer : Jane Wernick Associates
Consulting Environmental Engineer : Atelier Ten
Quantity Surveyors : Fanshawe
Access : Jane Earnscliffe
From the architect. Kew Garden’s Tree Top Walkway opened on 24th May 2008, Kew’s Year of the Tree, to over 9,000 visitors. The Walkway is a thrilling experience, taking visitors 18m high into the tree canopies for a birds-eye view of Kew, providing insights into the special role of trees in our breathing planet and the intimate views of a deciduous woodland and its inhabitants from within the tranquillity of the leaves. Inspiration for the walkway was drawn from the ancient Fibonacci sequence found repeatedly in nature.
In conjunction with the Walkway, an underground ‘Rhizotron’ exhibition space is attached and which explores various themes associated with tree root biology, climate change and the relationship between tree roots and microorganisms. Its appearance is inspired by a natural cracking within the earth to reveal a dark and dynamic space rich with exciting and educational content.
Marks Barfield Architects designed the walkway to be a visually light, discreet presence, at ease in its natural surroundings; while at the same time being unashamedly man-made. They decided to integrate the structure with the handrail support and drew on the Fibonacci sequence, which underlies many growth patterns in nature. By using the progressive series of numbers associated with the sequence (1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34, etc), we were able to work to create a ‘Fibonacci grid’ along a typical walkway truss, resulting in a higher density of elements near the trussends where the vertical loads are highest.
A major challenge was to strike a balance between enabling visitors to get as close as possible to the tree canopies and being mindful of the complex tree root system below ground. A radar survey was undertaken to understand the extent of tree root activity at the proposed pylon and pile foundation locations. This enabled strategic positioning of the 12-18m long concrete piles between the major roots ensuring safety and longevity for the tress and walkway.
