Situés dans le sud de San Francisco, les bureaux de la société AirBnB sont situés dans un ancien batiment industriel datant de 1917 réaménagé par le cabinet d’architecture Gensler. Des locaux magnifiques, avec notamment un espace central de toute beauté avec un mur de végétation. Plus dans la suite.
News: the topping-out ceremony for the Gensler-designed Shanghai Tower, the world’s second-tallest building, takes place in Shanghai tomorrow (Saturday).
The 632 metre-high tower has now reached its full height and is second only to the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai, which measures 828 metres.
The topping-out ceremony, to be held at the construction site in the Lujiazui development zone in Shanghai, will be attended by Gensler founder Art Gensler and senior figures from the Chinese government.
The twisting form of the tower is the result of wind-tunnel tests and is designed to reduce wind load by 24% during typhoons.
The 121-storey tower will be divided into nine vertical zones, with retail at the bottom and hotels, cultural facilities and observation decks at the top. The zones in between will contain offices.
Shanghai Tower is due to open in 2014. It forms the centrepiece of the emerging Lujiazui high-rise district in Pudong, which is located on a bend of the Huangpu river opposite downtown Shanghai.
The building already towers over neighbouring buildings including the 421 metre-high, pagoda-shaped Jin Mao Tower by SOM, and the 492 metre-high Shanghai World Financial Center by Kohn Pedersen Fox.
Last summer, research by the Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitats found that nine of the twenty tallest buildings under construction in the world were in China.
Work briefly started earlier this month on what would be the tallest building on earth – the 838 metre-high Sky City in Changsha in central China, which its developers believe they can build in just seven months. However construction was abruptly postponed due to issues with safety certificates and building permits.
Here’s some text about Shanghai Tower from Gensler:
Shanghai Tower will anchor the city’s Lujiazui district, which has emerged as one of East Asia’s leading financial centers. Designed by a local team of Gensler architects to embody Shanghai’s rich culture, the 632-meter-high mixed-use building will complete the city’s super-highrise precinct. It is the most forward-looking of the three towers symbolizing Shanghai’s past, present, and future. The new tower takes inspiration from Shanghai’s tradition of parks and neighborhoods. Its curved façade and spiraling form symbolize the dynamic emergence of modern China. By incorporating sustainable best practices, Shanghai Tower is at the forefront of a new generation of super-highrise towers, achieving the highest level of performance and offering unprecedented community access.
Gensler’s vision for Shanghai Tower has taken tangible form after completion of the immense foundation. Soil conditions in Shanghai—a clay-based mixture typical of a river delta—meant supporting the tower on 831 rein- forced concrete bore piles sunk deep into the ground. For three days, a small army of workers assembled to complete the marathon, 60-hour continuous concrete pour. When the job was finished, more than 61,000 cubic meters of concrete had been used to create the six-meter-thick mat foundation.
The tower’s scale and complexity have created so many “firsts” for China’s construction industry that more than 100 expert panels have been established to analyze every aspect of the design. Workers are busy building forms for the concrete core and erecting the gigantic composite supercolumns—measuring 5 x 4 meters at the base and reinforced with steel plates that weigh 145 metric tons each—that will provide structural support for the tower. To carry the load of the trans- parent glass skin, Gensler designed an innovative curtain wall that is suspended from the mechanical floors above and stabilized by a system of hoop rings and struts. And the strategic division of the tower into nine vertical zones will supply the lifeblood of the building’s heating, cooling, water, and power throughout with less energy and at lower cost.
Gensler won the Shanghai Tower project in an invited multi-stage competition among leading international architects. What secured the win were the tower’s design and performance, and Gensler’s commitment to China. To refine the tower’s shape, Gensler’s team used a series of wind tunnel tests to simulate the region’s greatest natural force, the typhoon. Results produced a structure and shape that reduce wind loads by 24 percent—ultimately yielding a savings of $58 million in construction costs. A simple structure, public spaces within the double façade, and sky gardens based on Shanghai’s traditional open courtyards will make Shanghai Tower an unrivaled asset for the Lujiazui district.
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News: new office technologies and a move towards collaborative, open-plan offices are leading to declining performance among workers, according to a new workplace design study by architects Gensler.
The 2013 US Workplace Survey found that workplace effectiveness in America has fallen by 6% since 2008, when the firm carried out its first survey.
“Extended workdays, new distractions, and downward pressure on real estate costs are compromising the effectiveness of the U.S. workplace,” says the survey. “Strategies to improve collaboration proved ineffective if the ability to focus was not also considered.”
Distracting noise and visual stimulus in open-plan offices is one reason for the drop, according to Matthew Kobylar, regional workplace practice area leader at Gensler.
“As you squeeze more people in, the chances of being distracted by noise and visual distractions increases,” Kobylar told Dezeen.
Employers have moved towards open-plan offices over the last ten years to reduce real-estate costs, as they can fit more people into the same amount of space.
Firms have justified this by claiming open-plan offices increase opportunities for collaboration, Kobylar said, but he added: “Cramming people in does have an impact on effectiveness. Just because you can see your colleagues doesn’t mean you’re going to collaborate with them.”
To counter this, workplace designers should provide a variety of “secondary” workspaces where workers can concentrate on individual or group tasks, away from distractions – and to prevent them from creating distractions themselves.
“Open plan is quite effective as a general space but there are times when you need to focus on collaboration, and it fails to support that,” Kobylar said.
Quiet areas, spaces or booths for quick meetings and workspaces with views can all help create a balanced, and more effective, office environment, according to Kobylar.
“It allows them to get away from the distraction,” he said. “We’re telling our clients, don’t give up on open plan but acknowledge that people need balance.”
Writing about the reports finding on the company’s blog, Gensler principal Janet Pogue said the research does not mean that open-plan offices don’t work. “Our research shows that effective work can happen in both open and enclosed environments,” she wrote. “Even private offices are not as effective as they were in 2008.”
Instead, the decline in worker effectiveness is down to changing work patterns, including an increase in multitasking and in particular the introduction of always-on technologies such as email, mobile phones and virtual conferencing.
“The world has changed in the last five years, shifting the way we work,” Pogue wrote. “We have more distractions and interruptions, including 24-hour technology demands. Most of us have more on our plates and have to multi-task to get everything done. Collaborating with virtual colleagues takes tremendous concentration and effort. And if effectiveness is declining across the board, open plan offices aren’t at fault.”
In their survey, Gensler found that companies that offered a “balanced workplace” with a variety of different workspaces for different tasks outperformed those offering just one option.
“Achieving balance in a workplace is a delicate process,” Pogue explained. “The first priority is to optimize the functionality of primary workspaces. Design elements must mitigate noise and provide access to colleagues while minimizing distractions. It’s also important to design a pleasing space where people actually want to be. A balanced workplace also provides a healthy dose of alternative workspaces where groups of one to four people can seamlessly transition from individual work to group work or a person can simply go into an enclosed room and shut the door to concentrate or take a call.”
To compile the report, Gensler surveyed 2,035 “knowledge workers” in firms across the USA. They found that only one in four operate in optimal workplace environments. “The rest are struggling to work effectively, resulting in lost productivity, innovation and worker engagement,” the report says.
“Our survey findings demonstrate that focus and collaboration are complementary work modes. One cannot be sacrificed in the workplace without directly impacting the other,” says Diane Hoskins, Gensler co-chief executive officer. “We know that both focus and collaboration are crucial to the success of any organization in today’s economy.”
“Balanced workplaces where employees have the autonomy to choose their work space based on the task or project at hand are more effective and higher performing,” she added.
Kobylar said that as well as increasing pressure on workers, technology could help increase effectiveness if used properly. Tablet computers, smartphones and wifi – technologies that didn’t exist when Gensler carried out there first workplace survey in 2008 – allow staff to move between different work environments according to the tasks they are working on.
“Technology has moved on a lot in the last five years,” he said. “You can be mobile in the office. You can pick up your kit and go.”
Pogue said that employees should create “secondary spaces” where noisy activities such as meetings and conference calls can take place, adding that spaces that allow between two and four people to hold meetings are the most in demand.
“The availability of secondary workspaces is particularly important for creating a balanced workplace,” she wrote “The proximity and availability of secondary work environments can bring balance to a workspace and help occupants work more effectively, both by providing the spaces they need to perform a variety of activities and moving noise and distraction-creating activities away from desks and into more appropriate spaces.”
She concluded: “To really drive performance, companies must create work environments where workers can shift between various work modes and feel comfortable working privately or collaborating with colleagues.”
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are “struggling to work effectively” appeared first on Dezeen.
A wave-like wooden ceiling undulates above the heads of students at this chapel by architects Gensler in the basement of a Los Angeles university.
Despite being located within the rectangular confines of an old classroom, the chapel has curved walls and not a single corner.
Architect David Herjeczki explains how he was inspired by the thick black outlines of poché-style plans. “The design is conceived as a ‘heavy’ space deliberately set apart from, but fully formed within, the host classroom building,” he said.
Recycled strips of timber were mixed with wood harvested from olive trees around the campus to create the uneven finish of the chapel’s timber ceiling.
“The choice of such recycled wood is consistent with the poor and primitive sensibility of the chapel, but materially it provides a rich contrast to the fundamental nature of the space,” said Herjeczki.
A narrow skylight creates a band of light across the ceiling at one end and illuminated glass blocks create brightly coloured windows in the curved interior walls, but offer no views to the rooms beyond.
Other chapels we’ve featured include one in a school for friars in Portugal and one constructed by students in Istanbul.
3D diagrams – click above for larger image
See more stories about chapels »
Building plan – click above for larger image and key
Photography is by Ryan Gobuty, Gensler.
Floor plan and alternative layout
Project details:
Client: Biola University, La Mirada, CA USA
Design: David Herjeczki, Gensler Los Angeles
Conceptual section
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by Gensler appeared first on Dezeen.
Architecture firm Gensler have released a conceptual proposal for a new floating airport for London, located in the Thames Estuary with terminals connected by underwater tunnels.
Unlike previous concepts for a new London airport, including last year’s proposal by Foster + Partners, Gensler’s plans do not involve pouring earth into the river for land reclamation. Instead, “we’re going to float the scheme on giant platforms,” explains Ian Mulcahey, the firm’s global head of planning.
The proposal comes as the UK government looks at ways to increase airport capacity in south-east England. Called London Britannia Airport, it would comprise four floating runways tethered to the seabed and departure concourses leading to underwater rail tunnels, which would connect passengers to central London as well as European rail networks.
Passengers coming by car would travel to three land-based terminals – two located north and south of the estuary and a third proposed between Canary Wharf and the Olympic Park. The proposal also includes plans to transform Heathrow Airport into an eco city providing homes for 300,000 people.
Above image shows sketch for Heathrow Eco City
Talking to Dezeen about the possibility of a third runway at Heathrow, Mulcahey said that would “only be a sticking plaster.” Instead of wasting time on a short-term solution, he thinks it would be better to start again properly: “The scheme totally rethinks how the airport of the future will operate.”
See more stories about airports here.
Here’s some more information from Gensler:
Global design firm Gensler reveals its concept for a new London aviation hub. London Britannia Airport (LBA) would position the capital as the global gateway for Europe in what would be the world’s most innovative infrastructure development this century, while reducing environmental impact, cost and disruption to London.
Providing a further endorsement to the Thames Estuary as the preferred location for London’s new airport, Gensler have designed a unique solution creating an entirely new approach to modern airport design and construction with a clear focus on convenience and accessibility.
The proposals also envisage a new future for Heathrow as the largest urban expansion project in Europe with the development of an eco city – Heathrow Gardens – on the former airfield that can utilise the existing infrastructure to provide additional homes for 300,000 people and employment for over 200,000.
Chris Johnson, Gensler managing principal and the creative director for the airport said: “This is a once in a century project that will build on the capital’s reputation for innovation and creativity and provide a new symbol of national pride. This is a fantastic opportunity to rethink the problems created by a redundant 20th century airport model and provide a genuine 21st century airport that creates a new standard for the world, minimising nuisance and maximising environmental benefits.”
Ian Mulcahey, Project Director: “This will be a ‘national’ infrastructure project that can inject new pace and dynamism into our economy. The airport can be quickly manufactured in the ship yards and steel works across the UK and can be floated by sea and positioned in the Estuary. This isn’t a London Airport, it is a Global Airport, designed, manufactured and built in the UK.”
Environmental Benefits
The relocation of a UK hub airport to the Thames Estuary will provide a state of the art facility that will transform the quality of life for millions of Londoners and will provide London with the space and infrastructure to grow and thrive over the next century. The marine location not only minimises noise disruption to existing communities whilst enabling 24 hour passenger arrival and departure, but it also avoids any demolition of homes.
Building upon the UK’s capability as a world leader in marine construction, London Britannia Airport includes four five-kilometre floating runways. To minimise environmental disruption the runways are tethered to the sea bed and to the final departure concourse which provides access to the marine rail tunnels that connect directly to central London and the European High Speed Rail Networks.
The design’s inherent flexibility creates a platform whereby runways can be floated in as required and taken away for maintenance in the future. The concept allows for future expansion to accommodate 6 runways when required.
By floating the runway and its associated hard standing it is possible to avoid the negative effects of land reclamation in the sensitive estuarine waters of the Thames. The location of the airport can then be optimised to avoid the key feeding and migration areas between high and low water.
London Britannia will have a sustainable access strategy with unparalleled accessibility to the UK and Europe through a combination of rail, ferry and jetfoil connections. Vehicular access will be dispersed to three new land based Departure/Arrival terminals, two located north and south of the estuary, and a third Central London terminal proposed between Canary Wharf and the Olympic Park.
The airport has also been designed to generate much of its own power from marine turbines situated within, and adjacent to the floating runways.
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