Green Design

Architecture Monday

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These large buildings were built just before 1900, able to hold 12 million cubic feet (360 thousand cubic meters) of coal gas.  Perhaps needless to say, coal gas isn’t in use anymore, so what to do with their ornate and richly detailed brick-ness?

Can we just pause here for a moment and admire that ornateness?  These are, after all, “only” industrial and utilitarian structures.  But it was understood that these were civic buildings, and that our surroundings influence our experience and quality of life.  So it wasn’t a stretch to ensure that such prominent hunks would be worthy of those who had to view them and as such given a well designed exterior.

Returning to that question, it’s likely no surprise (if you’ve seen anything I’ve posted here before) that the answer is one of adaptive reuse.  Much like the Battersea Power Station, these four gasometers have been re-imagined into a mixed use neighbourhood.  The domed steel structures were transformed into giant atriums for new construction that rings along the exterior, acting like a giant indoor garden for the new units.  Each building was redone by a different architect, and as such each has a different design within.  It’s as cool as it sounds.

The Vienna Gasometers, re-envisioned by Jean Nouvel, Coop Himmelblau, Manfred Wedhorn, and Wilhelm Holzbauer.

Architecture Monday

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There’s lots to love about this school in India, not the least of which is the tantalizing oval form, made of local limestone blocks that blend so seamlessly into the landscape on which it sits.  Add to that the beautiful basket weave pattern of brick that tops it off to create a large rooftop patio – sweet in its own right but if you look carefully you’ll see that the screen isn’t level all the way around, subtly sweeping upward to great effect.  And the blue tile of that roof patio is a fun little touch.

The brick weave also does double duty by accelerating the wind through the venturi effect, helping to cool the courtyard in the extremely hot locale.  Likewise, the thick limestone and mortar do their duty in this regard by creating a thermal mass that absorbs the heat throughout the day and keeping temperatures within the classrooms manageable without need of mechanical support.  Rounding out the trifecta, the clerestory windows along the back do their own double duty to illuminate without glare as well as let the hot air rise and escape.

This is an architecture of a place, for a place, and that makes it top notch work.

Rajkumari Ratnavati Girl’s School by Diana Kellogg Architects

Architecture Monday

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There’s a couple of reasons to love this former power plant in the heart of London.  The first is the building itself, majestic, assertive, and positively iconic in all of its art deco glory (especially so from its use on the cover of a Pink Floyd album).

Sweet design with sweet detailing, and a great reminder that even industrial buildings warrant great design for those who both work within and live around it.

The second is the amazing mixed-use adaptive reuse of the building that was recently completed.  Retail and office spaces use most of the space within, including the cavernous turbine and boiler halls, while residential lines the periphery and, with a remarkable flair, as new glass and steel boxes set delicately atop the existing brick base.  Well-proportioned and taking cues from the existing conditions, the new apartments compliment the original design very well.  A trio of linear gardens join also the residences atop the building.

Even the old control rooms were given a chance to join in the fun, handsomely restored to their glory.

Reading up on the history, after the station was decommissioned there were some unfortunate twists and turns and false starts that resulted in a long dormancy and the whole thing falling into disrepair.  It’s fortunate and great to see this new form come to fruition, restoring the landmark design while also providing a great mixed-use addition to the neighborhood.  And it’s adaptive reuse, so you know I have to love it.  Great stuff.

The Battersea Power Station, originally by Giles Gilbert Scott, and one of the largest brick buildings in the world.  He also designed the Bankside power station, also the site of an amazing adaptive reuse into the Tate Modern art gallery!  Adaptive reuse design led by WilkinsonEyre (more pictures, videos, and historical photos at their site — and check out the jaw-droppingly interesting Chimney Lift, an elevating glass room the size of the inside of the chimney that emerges to give 360 views, wow).

Architecture Monday

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Very excited that Francis Kéré won the Pritzker prize this year!  I’ve spoken about their work on here before (here and here — including one of the very first Architecture Mondays!) and everything I said then I am still enamored with today, especially the creation of great space and design with what many might term “limited resources.”  Because terming it such can be a death knell to the spirit.  As Kéré himself says, “It’s not because you are limited in resources that you should accept mediocrity. No, I never accept that! I try to do things I feel proud of.”

I ought to do some deep dives into more of his works, but for the moment enjoy this smattering of photos from his firm’s work:

“Simplicity doesn’t mean banality, it doesn’t mean something is not rich. It can be really rich.”

Absolutely!  Great work.  A big congrats to Francis Kéré for the well deserved win.  Check out the Pritzker’s announcement here, and the Kéré Architecture firm here.

Architecture Monday

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Presidential libraries are an… interesting conceit.  This new design for the upcoming Teddy Roosevelt library caught my eye however, for the way it tries hard to not catch the eye.  Trying to capture his love of landscape, the library nestles itself into a landform.  It’s not trying to pretend it’s a natural hill, but rather complement them while providing porches and perches to view the so-called “badlands” of nearby Teddy Roosevelt National Park.

The whole project really needs to be seen in terms of context of its site plan, with paths and follies that dot the landscape, connected to trails and sweeping elevated boardwalks.  Not to mention the green roof which becomes a path in its own right, and the material palette of engineered wood and lovely rammed earth.

Perhaps it’s not surprising that I would love this, given how much I’ve gushed in the past about its architects, Snøhetta.  Who are no strangers to libraries both epic (Library of Alexandria) and integral (Calgary Library), nor strangers to working to engage the wonders of the site around them (such as with their cabins or the theatrical Under).

Sweet work.  The Teddy Roosevelt Presidential Library, by Snøhetta.

Architecture Monday

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While shipping container architecture has become a bit of a thing (I’ve highlighted a few here in the past – I still love this train station), this one takes a different approach to using the ubiquitous containers:  as inhabitable roof structure.

A design for a warehouse, the 12 containers are spaced out along the length, each supported by a pair of v-columns and the spaces between spanned by frosted glass.  This makes for a surprisingly light and airy grand hall that appears more at home as a gallery or ballroom than a warehouse. Which isn’t too far off the mark – the abundant amount of light not only makes for a low-energy operation of a warehouse, but the space is enjoyed by gymnasts and skaters that the sports company sponsors.  (Which explains why the photoshoot is full of performers!)

A long catwalk gives access to the containers so they can still be used, and the whole thing leads to a combined office area where the more conventional roof is held in place by nifty giant letters that spell out the company’s name of Amaya.

I dig it.  Think warehouse, and you’re probably not thinking of something you’d like to spend time in.  But why not?  Here’s a working building that uses “working” materials (concrete block, steel, shipping containers) to create a delightful space to work.  Rock on.

Amaya Headquarters by RuizEsquiroz

Architecture Monday

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It’s not quite a hobbit hole… but it is an underground house.  One that, with its sunken courtyard, perhaps has an even more dramatic entry than a simple round door in the side of a hill.

How this came to be is kind of fun:  the owners enjoy hang gliding and from that vantage point gave a lot of thought of how the house would appear from the air.  Also, they didn’t want to cut down too many of the avocado trees on the property, and who could blame them?  Avocadoes are awesome.  Hence, the buried house.

Now, it’s not 100% buried, for one façade does indeed get exposed, with a slope partially carved away to reveal the house just like that hobbit hole front door.  Between that face and the entry sub-subterranean courtyard, coupled with its narrow and linear layout and a few choice skylights, there’s plenty of light despite its buried nature.  If the slope wasn’t there, I think it would’ve worked equally well (and I might even have preferred it this way) with two sunken courtyards.  Definitively very cool how the very green roof is an extension of the field, littered with wildflower bushes and, of course, those avocado trees!

Very nice, a way of inhabiting the field rather than perching on it, living in the soil just as the nature around it.

Aguacates House by Francisco Pardo Arquitecto

Architecture Monday

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They say California is in love with their cars… which leaves lots of extra car and road bits around… so why not get playful and use them into your architecture?

Road signs for fences and railings and siding, hatchback glass for awnings, station wagon tails for a a gate, plus repurposed sheet metal and more!

Something fun by Leger Wanaselja Architecture

 

 

Architecture Monday

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I like this, a building ‘rescued’ from it’s intended undifferentiated glass box origins, taking the raw concrete frame and building something that is more in tune with its context and the environment in which it sits.  With colour, pattern, and plenty of greenery, it is at once nicer to look at, nicer to be in, and nicer to the planet.

The whole idea is quite clever in a rather logical way.  The side of the building that sees the most sun in this hot and humid environment houses the stair core and other utility elements, creating a buffer to keep heat and glare out.  The other two sunny sides are surrounded by open-air balconies, two of which are encased in a colorful set of scrim, shifting in geometric patterns to create openings out of which plants poke their leaves towards the sun.  The other two levels are protected by the overhang and more potted plants.

Heat and glare are kept out, and you’re working next to a little garden oasis.  Even more so when you open the sliding doors and let the breeze flow through.  As a supreme bonus, check out the little reading nook, nestled into the walls throughout!

Sweet work.  A building that could have been a pillbox that instead found life as a nifty object that’s lush and creates a wonderful space inside, all while needing less energy to run.  That’s what it’s all about.

MGB Headquarters by Spacefiction Studio