BILT BLOG

LEGO PMD / Rosan Bosch & Rune Fjord

BiltBlog — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:29:07 +0000

Architects: Rosan Bosch & Rune Fjord
Location: Billund, Denmark
Project Year: 2010
Project Area: 2000 sqm
Photography: Anders Sune Berg

via Archaily

LEGO’s designers are the luckiest in the world – they get to play with LEGO all day long! Now, the designers of LEGO’s development department, LEGO PMD, has a physical working environment that corresponds to its playful content – a working environment where fun, play and creativity are paramount and where the physical design gives the adults a chance to be part of children’s play. With the values ’fun’, ’unity’, ’creativity & innovation’, ’imagination’ and ’sustainability’ as basis for the design, LEGO PMD has become a unique development department where the designers can become part of the children’s fantasy world. LEGO doesn’t just create fun for others – at LEGO PMD working is fun!

Plan

In order to create a design that corresponds to the focus on play, innovation and creativity, imagination has been given free rein. Across the room, an existing walkway has been transformed into an oversized sitting environment, where a light-blue padding turns the walkway into a light and soft cloud. The cloud unfolds and expands into sofas, sitting space and a slide that connects the two floors in a fun and playful way. The idea of scale is challenged with design elements such as huge grass wall graphics and a giant LEGO man and tables with built-in bonsai gardens, thus playing with perception and scale – who is big and who is small? Where does work stop and imagination start? Through the physical design, the children’s fantasy worlds become part of the everyday, creating the setting for the creation of new design for new games and play.

Furthermore, the design of LEGO PMD makes it possible for the designers to work closer together. At ground floor, the open space at the centre of the room creates a dynamic flow where informal meeting pla- ces create a setting for social interaction and exchange of information. Towards the sides, there is room for concentrated work, and specially designed means of exhibition such as the show-off podiums and the model towers give the designers a chance to display their work to each other, facilitating the sharing of knowledge and ideas across the department.

On the first floor, an expansion of the balcony has made room for five small and three large meeting rooms in each their own colour with glass facades and a view of the large, open space. A Fun Zone with a yellow table bar creates room for relaxation and social interaction, where a number of building tables for children make it possible for LEGO’s youngest employees to test the newest models and products. The new LEGO PMD is the children’s universe where imagination reins free – for children and designer alike!

: © Anders Sune Berg

: © Anders Sune Berg

: © Anders Sune Berg

: © Anders Sune Berg

: © Anders Sune Berg

: © Anders Sune Berg

: © Anders Sune Berg

: © Anders Sune Berg

: © Anders Sune Berg

: © Anders Sune Berg

: © Anders Sune Berg

: © Anders Sune Berg

: © Anders Sune Berg

: © Anders Sune Berg

: © Anders Sune Berg

: © Anders Sune Berg

: © Anders Sune Berg

: © Anders Sune Berg

: © Anders Sune Berg

: Sketch

: Sketch

: Plan

Filed under: architecture, design Tagged: anders sune berg, billund, Denmark, lego, office, rosan bosch, rune fjord

Alma Hotel Residence Winning Proposal / Kouvo & Partanen

BiltBlog — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:16:00 +0000

Kouvo & Partanen was recently announced as the winners of design competition for the AlmaHotel Residence in the Atacama Observatory and Research Center in the desert of northernChile. The aim of the competition was to find the best solution on a fixed design fee and construction price for the building that offers the astronomers, engineers, and other staff working at the observatory accommodation, restaurant and office services and recreational spaces. via Archdaily

main hall in main building

Alma is one of the largest ground-based astronomy projects of the next decade. Alma is a global partnership between Europe, North America (USA and Canada) and East Asia (Taiwan and Japan), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. At the altitude of 5000 meters on the Chajnantor plateau Alma telescope consisting 66 radio antennas will be at one of the highest altitudes in the world. The Research Center, where the new Hotel Residence will be located, is at 2900 above sea level. The building complex comprises of dormitories providing 120 accommodation rooms, and of the main building that locates common rooms such as restaurants, offices and recreational areas. The total floor area is about 5900m.

site plan 01

The complex has been integrated into the surrounding landscape by means of scale and local materials and colors. The main features of the scenery are the vibrant colors and sweeping horizontal views of the Atacama Desert, the snow capped Andean mountains, the active volcanoes and the Salar of Atacama salt lake and Cordillera de Domeyko mountains in the west. The Atacama Desert is one of the most arid places in the World.

site plan 02

The building is designed as a curving terraced structure following the natural slope of the landscape and forming sheltered inner courtyards. The materials are local stones, copper, volcanic rock and weatherproof steel. The solar aspects have been addressed by designing various shading structures made of local materials and canvas canopies to shelter from high ultraviolet radiation. The accommodation rooms are located in separate dormitories, that have interior and exterior connections to the main building along the terraces. The design also allows 24h workshifts and disabilities. All the spaces have direct outdoor accesses via courtyards or balconies.

west facade

The heart of the main building is the restaurant, lounge and meeting rooms that have open vistas westwards to the salt lake and desert scenery. The reception and the offices, and recreational spaces such as the spa and swimming pools are located in the lower level. The roof of the main building is an inclined landscaped terrace; the highest point being an observation plateau with an amateur telescope. The roof terrace has open views to all directions – The Andes, the volcanoes Liancabur and Lascar and The Atacama Desert.

south facade

The complex is design according to strict ecological principles. The structural design is demanding due to big and rapid thermal changes, sand storms and earthquakes. Energy efficiency is highly important also because of the remote location – therefore heat and cooling circulation, reusable water consumption systems and solar energy are key issues in the technical design. Thermal insulation and landscaped roofing support the low energy consumption aims.

north facade

The designing of the complex has started in the beginning of 2012 and the construction is expected to be completed in 2014.

: view towards main building

: main hall in main building

: site plan 01

: site plan 02

: west facade

: south facade

: north facade

: section of main building

: section of dormitories

Filed under: architecture Tagged: alma hotel, atacama, Chile, competition, kouvo & partanen, proposal, winner

Vernon’s Vectors: Designing a New City

BiltBlog — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:30:26 +0000

It is understood that cities and buildings are largely shaped by a dynamic flow of interrelated cultural, social, political and economic forces – the nature of possible interfaces between architecture and its various settings within the contemporary city. Rather, Vernon’s Vectors is a re-interpretation conceived by Daniel Cheng Lee and Jae Hwan Lee of how a building may deal with architecture on an urban scale. Rather than relying on the surrounding context of the city to begin addressing the project’s behavior, a singular yet versatile design system is implemented to influence the surrounding context to create an iconic image for the city – an inside out approach to urban systems. via eVolo

From an initial urban analysis of Vernon, California, the notion of the curve is extracted, abstracted, and injected back onto the city as a generative component. The spline is then exploited to create a tower and museum with intelligence gained from the high-rise and medium building studies. Specifically, The programmatic spaces found within the tower and museum are parametrically generated by means of controlled rotational repulsion that are extruded in the Z axis to create three dimensional space. The tower vertically tackles issues of the blend between interior space vs. exterior envelope, structural feasibility, figure-ground relationship and scale through coalescence and dispersion. The museum, on the other hand, uses the curve to address atmospheric effect and scale via a fiber optic lighting system in which the shapes of the extruded profile faces are determined by gallery spaces and circulation. These processes are threaded together in hopes of creating an iconic figure for the city of Vernon.

Filed under: architecture, planning Tagged: daniel cheng lee, designing a new city, evolo, jae hwan lee, planning, vernon's vectors

10,000+

BiltBlog — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 01:20:00 +0000

Thank you on behalf of myself and all of those involved with Bilt Blog. I hope you have enjoyed checking in as much as I’ve enjoyed dishing out.

Have fun, stay inspired, and look for the new biltblog.com in 2012!

much love from Brooklyn,

Michael Archer

Filed under: admin

Lucasfilm’s Singapore Headquarters / Aedas

BiltBlog — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:01:49 +0000

Lucasfilm’s Singapore Headquarters is a narrow V-shaped building, enveloped by a glass skin that resonates with mythological aesthetics of the famous movie franchise. The sleek elevations facing the streets shelter a lush garden space situated at the center of the site. The public garden reveals the building’s inside as a vibrant environment, with its terraces overgrown with foliage, the timber and natural stone paving. Architects at Aedas designed an office building that will also assume the appearance of a movie inspired ecosystem. via eVolo

The new facility will hold offices for nearly every division of Lucasfilm, including the movie studio itself, video game developer LucasArts, Lucasfilm Animation, and Lucasfilm Television. It’s an eight-storey complex that will house a state-of-the-art theater, which can be used for screenings, premieres or other events. Next to the theater will be a conference wing for use by LucasFilm or other offices.

The envelope structure comprises a low-iron glass layer and a second metallic-frit dot layer underneath, achieving a high degree of reflectivity, while allowing for daylight to reach into the offices without soaking up solar heat gain. The interior courtyard is more private and uses clear low-iron glass for a maximum utilization of natural lighting.

Filed under: architecture Tagged: aedas, lucasfilm, office, renderings, singapore

Conference Center “Green Solution House” Takes Sustainability to a New Level / 3XN

BiltBlog — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:33:47 +0000

Danish practice 3XN is the architect behind a new experimental conference center and hotel where everything is adapted to the circulation of nature and where guests will get an idea of how it feels to live in a world without waste. via eVolo

No waste
The Green Solution House conference center on the Danish island of Bornholm is designed and developed in accordance with the principles of Cradle 2 Cradle®. This means that all materials used in the building are either fully recyclable or biodegradable. Hence, the building design takes on the ambition to eliminate the concept of waste.

The project is managed by Kasper Guldager Jørgensen, head of 3XN’s innovation unit, GXN: In Denmark, the construction industry alone is responsible for 30% of all waste generated. Waste that puts an enormous burden on the environment, but with Green Solution House we demonstrate that this is a problem, which we can actually solve.

Eliminating waste means that everything must be part of a circulation. Thus, the building is designed for disassembly and constructed of defined recyclable materials. Solar energy produces the energy consumed in the building, rain water is collected and water used is biologically cleaned and reused. Integrated green houses produce organic fruits and vegetables for the hotel restaurant. Further, the daily material flows from running the center is either recycled or composted.

High ambitions
For Kasper Guldager Jørgensen it is part of his everyday work to investigate how fungus can be used as isolation material or how algae can be used in solar screening. This is why he is excited that the Green Solution house is a building in continuous development. It will be a dynamic building, a showroom that we will keep enhancing in order to demonstrate the most cutting edge solutions within sustainable building, and it will give the guests an inspirational and unusual experience.

The Island of Bornholm is already a popular travel destination and surveys made among professional conference organizers show that the Green Solution House will attract even more visitors to the small scenic island. Bornholm has a clear vision to become one of the most ambitious European communities within sustainable living and the Green Solution House is a core element of this vision.

Filed under: architecture, green design Tagged: 3xn, bronholm, conference center, Denmark, green solution house, kasper guldager Jørgensen

Suspended Night Club in Hong Kong / Urbanplunger

BiltBlog — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:31:51 +0000

The project by the young architectural studio Urbanplunger has been recently awarded the third prize in the Night Club Hotel in Hong Kong international competition. The main idea is to create a suspended building structure to comply with the extremely compact planning in Hong Kong. The whole structure is elevated above the ground by leaning on the nearby buildings. via eVolo

The nature of the design allows for a green square underneath the building and increases the area of the existing recreation zone. The visual and functional aspects of the building consist of three main parts: 1. Nightclubs. The lowest part of the building. 2. Public mid levels with lobby and security access to the hotel. A Spa centre with a semi-Olympic sized swimming pool along with a business centre, store, restaurant etc. makes up the central part of the building. 3. Hotel. The upper part of the building. All the floor slabs have the same depth and size but the structure tapers inwards towards the top. This allows for balconies in single and double rooms and terraces in suites, aerial villas and the presidential suite.

Circulation strategy
The building is linked to the ground by lifts that go up to the lobby through the nightclub zone which is open to the public. From the lobby customers are able to gain access to the hotel, spa centre etc. The structure is an architectural parasite that leans on its neighboring buildings and uses their internal infrastructure.

Construction
The entire load of the construction is transferred onto the buildings it leans on via the load-bearing frames that form the “wings” of the building. This allows for the vertical and horizontal structures to be made from light and strong composite materials.

Filed under: architecture Tagged: competition, evolo, high rise, hong kong, hospitality, night club, renderings, urbanplunger

Passing Cloud Reinvents Traveling / Tiago Barros

BiltBlog — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:04:02 +0000

Passing Cloud is a project by Tiago Barros for the international ideas competition: “Life at the Speed of Rail”, organized by the Van Alen Institute in New York City. It reveals a strong conceptual approach on new ways of traveling based on the old Zeppelins. via eVolo

Nowadays, traveling is achieved with this idea of having a fixed destination and an estimated time of arrival. Passing Cloud completely inverts this system. A floating device is introduced that travels around the entire USA territory according to current predominant winds. It has no fixed time of arrival or place for arrival. The journey becomes the essence.

This project envisions a distinct approach towards moving around the United States being also a revival of the act of traveling. Why traveling at high speed? Why having the final destiny always defined? And why always departing and arriving on a tight schedule? Nowadays, everything is set and everyone is always running around.

Passing Cloud is an innovative and environmentally friendly method of transportation that doesn’t require expensive steel tracks or concrete highways. It is made of a series of spherical balloons that form the shape of a cloud. Its inner stainless steel structure is covered with heavy weight tensile nylon fabric. During the journey, It moves according to prevailing winds speed and direction at the time of travel. Since it moves with the wind, no wind is ever felt during the trip, offering the passengers a full “floating sensation”.

Filed under: architecture, art, design Tagged: competition, design, international ideas competition, New York, theory, tiago barros, transit

Parcel D Urban Greenscape Housing/ Oppenheim Architecture + Design

BiltBlog — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:00:10 +0000

A revisioning of topography and building design, Parcel D will add a vibrant green space and housing for San Juan, Puerto Rico. Oppenheim Architecture + Design’s program is an attempt to integrate the privacy and open space of single family homes with urban density and convenience. The copious use of vegetated surfaces blurs the building’s structure and provides more intimate environments. 165 units will share a large central courtyard which acts as both the heart and lungs of the project. The interior greenscape is a micro-climate driven by evapotranspiration and cross breezes that reduces airborne pollution and cools the residences while providing a contemporary gardens and a pool immediately available to the residences. Rain water collection and storage will help supplement water consumption of the foliage. via eVolo

The residence will share the space with a gym, ground level retail, restaurant and café. Tucked under parking reduces hardscape and allows more pedestrian oriented egress throughout the complex. By designing housing with many operable windows and bookended with balconies front and back wrapped in greenery, Oppenheim hopes to recreate the quality of a single family residence. The urban density of the units and mixed use program of the lower floors provides a useful template for the burgeoning urbanization of Puerto Rico.

Filed under: architecture Tagged: housing, landscape, Oppenheim Architecture + Design, parcel d, puerto rico, san juan

Kimball Art Center | Brooks + Scarpa

BiltBlog — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:57:48 +0000

BILT BLOG – Jan. 11, 2012 by Michael Archer

When something becomes greater than the sum of its parts it is instantly imbibed with an amount of energy willingly poised for release into its immediate context. When an architecture office receives the AIA National Firm Award, sees consistent publications, makes relevant and progressive contributions to meaningful topics like cultural pressure and sustainability, and captivates the imagination of the public at large with their proposals they are evidence of just such a phenomenon. If you haven’t seen them in print recently (Eco-Structure August 2011) then a quick visit to the website of Brooks + Scarpa will reveal their impressive publicized track record.

This time around it is with a breathtaking gesture and confident whimsy that the LA-based firm reveals their proposal for the Kimball Art Center in Park City, UT. Dubbed “The Kimball Cloud,” their design situates itself as an iconic fixture, ever-changing based on the vantage of the witness. Their proposal, aside from being incredibly thorough and thoughtful, is conceptually poised to bring a valuable addition to the built environment of Park City. The nature of the atmosphere’s effect on the human condition in the western part of the United States is seemingly well-understood by the office and evidenced in the firm’s work (Brooks + Scarpa). The firm has graciously described their project below with refreshing clarity and sensitivity:

The design concept for the new Kimball Art Center is to perceptually bring the mesmerizing and seemingly endless deep blue Park City sky directly into the space of the city. Despite the time of year or weather conditions, the sky always seems to quickly return to its infinite and hypnotic clarity, with rarely a cloud in the sky. It provokes a kind of indelible wonder; a dreamlike state of mind that engages the viewer, heightens their sense of awareness, and brings a sense of vitality to the place. The Kimball “Cloud” delivers a new experience and expands art into the broader Park City community, creating a new social space for the 21st century.

The building’s façade creates a visual icon, a glowing beacon that can be seen and experienced from a distance and immediately adjacent. The upper floors are composed of a conventional glazing system that is covered by a rain screen made from a translucent honeycomb material. This translucent, faceted skin is not only aesthetic, but also plays a role in the building’s thermal performance. Below this envelope, the new ground level façade is constructed of very transparent glass and opens directly to the street, while delicately connecting and weaving into the heavy mass of the existing historic Kimball building. Spatially, the lower floor is absorbed into the adjacent existing building and the city, while the upper floors overhang the more transparent level below. The new ‘cloud’ building appears to levitate above the site, while the historic structure feels solid and grounded to the earth. This illusion enhances the buildings, giving them a collective strength that neither building could possess individually.

Interior spaces delicately knit together passive and active uses, allowing the community to view and/or participate in the artistic experience. Rather than simply displaying art for view, the new design reveals to the community the very process by which art is created. Every feature of the building is multivalent and rich with meaning—performing several roles for functional, formal and experiential effect.

At the corner of Main Street and Heber Ave, the creation of a large exterior court links directly to the 20-foot high metal-smithing, welding and glass studios that would use this court daily as their outdoor workspace. The façade between the exterior court and studio is visually clear, opening the Art Center to public view. Large sliding panel doors open and connect the exterior and interior together, so artist and students can use the court seamlessly from inside to out. This court, located midway between the existing Kimball ground floor and basement levels, is connected directly to the street, and allows most of the working studio spaces to be visually linked to the street corner. These spaces flow from the court deep into the building linking the new structure with the existing building. In this configuration, the existing basement is opened up and connected to Main Street along with the existing Kimball ground floor and the new structure. Creating this split-level design at the street level on Main Street and Heber Avenue, serves several other important purposes: it allows for great flexibility, affording the Art Center the ability to easily divide and use the ground level for a variety of purposes and functions, both large and small, while still remaining visually open and not feeling like separated smaller rooms.

The heart of the Art Center, the process by which art is made, is connected to the street corner. Passerby can see deep into the building, viewing people working throughout several studio spaces, the main exhibition space and the many other spaces that are visually linked together. Rather than simply displaying art to the community, the process itself is on display.

[ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT BROOKS + SCARPA ARCHITECTS]

About Brooks + Scarpa Architects (http://www.brooksscarpa.com)

Over the past 10 years, Brooks + Scarpa has won 18 national AIA awards, including the 2010 Architecture Firm Award and four AIA COTE Top Ten Green Building Awards. The firm has also received more than 60 state and local AIA awards. In 2008, Pugh + Scarpa received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Interior Design.

About The Kimball Art Center (http://www.kimballartcenter.org/)

The Kimball Art Center is the heart of Park City’s historic and vibrant arts community. Kimball is a non-profit center for the arts, committed to engaging individuals of all ages in diverse and inspiring experiences through education, exhibitions and events.

Filed under: architecture