Hasta La Ideas

This multi-storey car park for Copenhagen by local firm JAJA Architects will feature a plant-covered facade to hide the cars inside and grand external staircases leading to a landscaped park on the roof (+ slideshow).

The Park ‘n’ Play car park concept by JAJA Architects won a competition organised by the Copenhagen Port and City Development for a site in the emerging Nordhavn area. It will provide locals and visitors with a new public plaza and play area.

“This project is based on a standard, pre-defined concrete structure,” said the architects. “As a second layer, our proposal becomes the active filter on top of a generic, multi-level car park.”

The car park’s functional concrete frame is used as the basis for a staggered pattern of planting boxes that wrap around the building and contain greenery to shield the parking spaces from view.

“Instead of concealing the parking structure, we propose a concept that enhances the beauty of the structural grid while breaking up the scale of the massive facade,” the architects explained.

Many of the harbour buildings in the former port region are constructed from red brick, so the architects specified that the car park should be built from concrete that has been tinted a similar shade.

Influenced by the staircases on the outside of the iconic Centre Pompidou in Paris, stairs rise from the ground floor across the long sections on the north and south sides of the car park.

The walls behind these staircases will be decorated with a frieze created by Copenhagen visual designers RAMA Studio, which will depict the area’s industrial history.

A handrail will follow the staircase as it ascends across the facade and then continue when it reaches the roof, transforming into an architectural feature that unites the various leisure spaces and play areas.

“From street level, the railing literally takes the visitors by the hand, inviting them on a trip to the rooftop landscape and amazing view of the Copenhagen harbour,” said the architects.

As well as connecting playgrounds featuring swings and climbing structures, the rooftop railing will incorporate fences and plants to help provide sheltered spaces for relaxing.

Construction is due to begin later this year, becoming the latest in a string of unusual car parks around the world. Examples include a car park in Bordeaux with housing on its roof, another in Austria with colourful parking spaces surrounded by criss-crossing concrete columns, and Herzog & de Meuron’s multipurpose car park building in Miami.

Here’s a project description from JAJA Architects:

Park ‘n’ Play

Parking houses should be an integral part of the city. But how can we challenge the mono-functional use of the conventional parking house? How do we create a functional parking structure, which is also an attractive public space? And how do we create a large parking house that respects the scale, history and future urban culture of the new development area Nordhavn in Copenhagen?

The site

The new parking house will be situated in Århusgadekvarteret, which is the first phase of a major development plan for Nordhavn. It is currently under development and will in the near future host a mix of new and existing buildings. Today, the area is known as the Red Neighbourhood because of the historical and characteristic red brick harbour buildings. The future development will build upon this historical trait and merge existing characteristics into new interpretations.

The project

The starting point for the competition project was a conventional parking house structure. The task was to create an attractive green façade and a concept that would encourage people to use the rooftop. Instead of concealing the parking structure, we propose a concept that enhances the beauty of the structural grid while breaking up the scale of the massive façade. A system of plant boxes is placed in a rhythm relating to the grid, which introduces a new scale while also distributing the greenery across the entire façade.

The grid of plant boxes on the facade is then penetrated by two large public stairs, which have a continuous railing that becomes a fantastic playground on the rooftop. From being a mere railing it transforms to becoming swings, ball cages, jungle gyms and more. From street level, the railing literally takes the visitors by the hand; invite them on a trip to the rooftop landscape and amazing view of the Copenhagen Harbour.

Structure

This project is based on a standard, pre-defined concrete structure. As a second layer, our proposal becomes the active filter on top of a generic, multi level car park. The structure has a rational and industrial crudeness, which suits the area’s spirit and history; however, the traditional concrete parking structure can appear cold and hard. As a natural continuation of the area’s red brick identity, we propose a red colouring of the concrete structure. With this simple measure, the grey frame is transformed into a unique building structure, which radiates warmth and intimacy through its materiality and surface, in harmony with the surroundings that are dominated by red roof tiles and bricks.

The green façade

The building will be a large volume in a compact, urban setting, and because of its proximity to the surrounding urban spaces, the parking house will predominately be seen from close-up. To provide scale to the large building, we propose planted façades where a green structure interacts with the building behind. The green façade is made up of a plant “shelving system”, which emphasises the parking structure and interacts with the rhythm of columns behind. Plant boxes introduce scale and depth, and provide rhythm to the façade.

The placement of plant boxes follows the grid of the parking house, and there is a box placed in a staggered rhythm for every second column, in the full height of the building. The system of plant boxes brings depth and dynamic to the façade, while also matching the neighbouring buildings’ proportions and detailing. The plant structure covers all four façades, and provides coherence and identity to the whole building. The green façade is planned into a time perspective, to provide for the quickest possible plant growth against the tinted concrete. The expression of the façades is based on an interaction between structure and nature, the structural vs. the organic, and provides an exciting interdependence between the two.

The staircase and the roof

The basic principle of an active parking house is the idea of an accessible and recreational roof offered to local inhabitants and visitors alike. Visibility and accessibility are therefore essential when creating a living roof. A staircase towards the open square provides a diagonal connection between street and roof level, and invites people to ascend along the façade. The course of the staircase follows the building’s structural rhythm, and each landing provides a view across the surrounding urban spaces and at the top, a view to the roofs of Copenhagen.

The staircase has references to Centre Pompidou, where the movement along the façade is an experience in itself. Along the back wall of the staircase, we work with our friends at RAMA Studio to create a graphical frieze, which, in an abstract, figurative form conveys the history of the area. The narrative can be seen from street level, and followed more closely when the visitor ascends along the staircase. Along here, we also establish alternative access points to the parking levels. The frieze tells a story of past and future, and becomes a modern tale of the area’s industrial history and its future as Copenhagen’s new development by the harbour. The two flights of stairs on the Northern and Southern façades stand out as vertical passages through the greenery, and clearly mark the connection between street level and the active roof.

The red thread

The red thread is a physical guide through the parking structure’s public spaces, which leads the visitor from street level, where the guide is introduced as a handrail on the staircase. As a sculptural guide it almost literally takes the visitor by the hand, and leads along the stairs to the top and through the activity landscape on the roof. Here, it becomes a sculpture and offers experiences, resting spaces, play areas and spatial diversity. Activities along the red thread could be traditional such as swings, climbing sculptures etc., but also more architectural elements such as fencing and plants, which can emphasise or establish spaces while providing shelter from the weather.

The elevated activity sculpture above the roof provides great flexibility, and makes the exciting activities visible from street level. The sculpture’s journey across the roof continues uninterrupted, before leading back along the second staircase towards the street. Combined the stairs through the green façade and the active roof make up a living, urban landscape that invites for both rest, fun and excitement.

As such the structure becomes a red thread through the project, and connects the façade, the stairs and the activities on the roof as one single element. Copenhagen’s new parking house will be a social meeting ground and an active part of its local environment – as an urban bonus for locals, athletes and visitors alike.

Project description: Park ‘n’ Play
Program: parking structure
Architect: JAJA Architects, Copenhagen
Client: Copenhagen Port & City Development
Year: 2014 (completion 2015)
Size: +20.000M2

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to feature planted facade and rooftop park appeared first on Dezeen.

A square wall covered in plants announces the presence of this concrete housing block in São Paulo by Brazilian architecture studio TACOA (photos by Leonardo Finotti + slideshow).

Entitled Vila Aspicuelta, the terrace of eight compact houses sits perpendicular to the adjacent street, but its north-facing end wall provides a growing area for a variety of bushy plants and shrubs.

Rodrigo Cerviño Lopez and Fernando Falcon of TACOA chose to plan the building as a series of maisonettes rather than as a simple housing block, meaning that each residence would have more than one floor and its own private access.

“The eight houses that compose Vila Aphins challenge the logic of vertical buildings: the different units are disposed side by side horizontally, and function vertically,” said the architects.

The building is raised off the ground to create parking spaces at ground level. Eight separate concrete staircases lead up to each of the residences, creating a zigzagging volume along the western edge of the block.

The first floor of every house is a living area with a kitchen counter and enough space for a dining table.

A second row of staircases leads up to bedrooms and bathrooms on the next level up, while a third set of stairs ascends to private gardens on the roof.

Wooden screens cover a wall of windows in the bedroom and bathroom of each home, but fold back to reveal a row of balconies at the rear.

The east-facing orientation of these windows ensures that the houses are filled with sunlight in the mornings but are shaded during hot afternoons.

Photography is by Leonardo Finotti.

Here’s some extra information from TACOA:

Vila Aspicuelta

The eight houses that compose Vila Aphins challenge the logic of vertical buildings: the different units are disposed side by side horizontally, and function vertically.

The street continues through the villa, partially covered by the building, and gives access to the staircase of each individual unit. The parking lot, gardens and common areas are also placed on this street.

On the first floor of every house, one single area provides space for the kitchen, dining and living. The second floor was conceptualised as a private area, a bedroom with a balcony and garden and a bathroom. Finally, on the rooftop, an open air plaza is set, with individual spaces.

The eastern orientation of the villa enables the houses to enjoy sunny mornings, shady afternoons and crossed ventilation. The western facade hosts the access stairs of the houses and unifies all the units, providing the vila its wavy project identity.

Architect: TACOA Arquitetos – Rodrigo Cerviño Lopez and Fernando Falcon
Collaborator: Eloá Augusto Gonçalves

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housing block by TACOA appeared first on Dezeen.

A layer of grasses, herbs and flowers blankets the roof of this hump-shaped house near Reims, France, by architect Patrick Nadeau (+ slideshow).

Named La Maison-vague, which translates as Wave House, Patrick Nadeau‘s project is one 63 experimental houses being built in the commune of Sillery, near Reims, and was designed with an arching profile to resemble the shape of a mound or hill.

Plants wrap around the east and west facades, primarily to provide thermal insulation but also to allow the house to fit in with its rural surroundings.

“The traditional relationship between house and garden is changed, disturbed even; the project encompasses both in the same construction,” said Nadeau.

The architect worked alongside Pierre Georgel of landscape design firm Ecovégétal to design a planting scheme that encompasses herbs such as thyme and lavender alongside sedums, grasses and various other perennials.

“The plants were selected for their aesthetic qualities and their ability to adapt to the environment,” he said. ” The technical challenge lay primarily in the steep slope that required the development of innovative systems for the maintenance of land and water retention.”

An automatic watering system is integrated into the structure but is only intended for use during severe drought conditions.

Timber was used for the entire structure of the house. An arching wooden frame creates the curved profile, while a raised deck lifts the building off the ground and creates an outdoor seating area.

The north and south elevations are clad with transparent polycarbonate, which screens a mixture of clear glass windows and opaque timber panels.

The front entrance leads directly into an L-shaped living and dining space that occupies most of the ground floor of the house. A kitchen and bathroom are tucked into one corner, while a spiral staircase leads up to a pair of bedrooms on a mezzanine floor above.

Here’s a project description from Patrick Nadeau:

La Maison-vague / Patrick Nadeau

The project context is based on experimentation, and initiated by the public housing council of Reims (HLM – l’Effort Rémois) – in a subdivision of 63 lots with heavy economic constraints.

La Maison-vague uses vegetation for its architectural and environmental qualities, particularly in terms of thermal insulation. A fully vegetated shell protects the interior from summer heat and winter cold. The basic form is to encapsulate within a single mat of vegetation that undulates and floats above the ground, at sitting height (the rim surrounding the wooden shelf is kind of a big bench). The traditional relationship between house and garden is changed, disturbed even, the project encompasses both in the same construction.

Inside, the volumes are also very simple. The ground floor, living room, kitchen and multimedia space can be opened by sliding walls. Upstairs, two bedrooms are separated by a bathroom, which is accessed by a mezzanine.

Particular attention is paid to interior and exterior relationships. The terrace at the back of the house extends to the areas of the ground floor, for example, to dry in the sun after bathing.

Upstairs shower space is enclosed by a bay window opening onto a panorama of nature. A sectional view that shows the inner and outer volumes does not exactly follow the same form. The inner space is drawn, at the top, by a semicylindrical shell and, on the ground floor by large cabinets restoring vertical walls, which includes a wardrobe, library, media storage and kitchen furniture.

The house is built entirely of wood (structure, hull and facades gears). Only the foundation is concrete. The thermal performance is ensured by the north-south orientation, the vegetation of the hull and double wall facades. The outer walls are made of polycarbonate and the inner walls of glass and wood. A small wood stove in the living room provides heating for the entire space.

The vegetation has been designed with Pierre Georgel (Ecovégétal). The house is covered with soil that mimics that of a natural slope. The technical challenge lay primarily in the steep slope that required the development of innovative systems for the maintenance of land and water retention.

The plants were selected for their aesthetic qualities and their ability to adapt to the environment (resistance over time and minimal maintenance). It is a mix of sedums, grasses, thyme, lavender and other perennials and small aromatic herbs that are distributed according to the inclination of the hull. An automatic watering system is provided but it is only reserved for periods of very severe drought.

The house is alive, changing its appearance, colour and odour with the seasons. New plants can be brought by the wind, insects or birds and gives the building a certain character or even a fallow ground-wave, hence the name La Maison-vague, which could equally and poetically signify an ocean wave or an open field (terrain vague).

Surface area: 110 m2
Place of construction: the commune of Sillery near Reims

Client: Effort Rémois
Project management: Patrick Nadeau
Technical Consultant: AD & Services
Vegetation (experimental): Ecovégétal

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by Patrick Nadeau appeared first on Dezeen.

Patrick Blanc, the inventor of living walls, has completed his latest vertical garden, covering the side of a five-storey Parisian block with waves of 7600 plants (+ slideshow).

L’Oasis D’Aboukir (the Oasis of Aboukir) is a 25-metre-high green wall by botanist and researcher Patrick Blanc, which covers a building facade in the second arrondissement of the city.

The wall features plants from 237 different species and appears to grow up the facade in diagonal waves. It was planted in the spring and covers the previously raw concrete facade on the corner of Aboukir Street and Petits Carreaux street.

“I am very happy to contribute to the welfare and environmental consciousness of the inhabitants of a historic district in the heart of Paris,” said Blanc, who has been creating green walls for more than 30 years.

The installation will be officially opened on Tuesday to coincide with Paris Design Week, which runs from 9 to 15 September.

Other living walls we’ve featured recently include London’s largest green wall in Victoria that the designers said will combat flooding and a family house that conceals a wall of plants behind its slate-clad facade.

See more green walls »
See more sustainable design »

Photographs are by Yann Monel.

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by Patrick Blanc appeared first on Dezeen.

This family house in Mexico City by local architect Paul Cremoux conceals a three-storey wall of plants behind its slate-clad facade.

Concerned about the lack of sustainable construction in the country, Paul Cremoux Studio designed a building that uses plants to moderate its own internal temperature, whilst giving residents an indoor garden.

“Making sustainable eco-effective design in Mexico is pretty hard. Many clients do not yet realise the importance of changing the design strategy,” says architect Paul Cremoux.

He explains: “We would like to think about vegetation not only as a practical temperature-humidity comfort control device, or as a beautiful energetic view, but also as an element that acts like a light curtain.”

The green wall flanks a courtyard terrace, which occupies the middle floor and is open to the sky on one side. Meanwhile, most the rooms of the house are positioned on the levels above and below.

A driveway for two cars is located beneath the terrace and leads through to the dining and kitchen areas. A living room and three bedrooms occupy the second floor and can be accessed via a staircase tucked away in the corner.

The dark slate panels that clad the exterior also line some of the walls around the courtyard, contrasting with the light wood finishes applied elsewhere.

Other houses we’ve featured with indoor green walls include a residence in the Netherlands inside a timber-clad box and a house in Brazil clad with perforated golden metal. See more green walls on Dezeen.

Photography is by Héctor Armanado Herrera and PCW.

Here’s a project description from Paul Cremoux studio:

Casa CorManca

On a 12 metres by 13 metres (39ft by 42ft) plot of land, a monolithic volume is transformed in order to attain luminous indoor spaces. Slate stone at the exterior facades is contrasted with the soft beech-like wood finish, achieving great definition and space discovery.

Built in a small plot of land 176 m2, (1894 sqft), the construction rises looking south to the vertical vegetation garden wall. It is a three-storey-high assembly where the main terrace is to be found at the second level, follow by a small lecture studio.

This area is intent to transform radically the notion of “open patio garden” since there is not really space to ensure a ground courtyard, the main terrace plays a social definitive roll.

Recyclable content materials, VOC paint, cross ventilations highly used and passive energy-temperature control strategies are bound into the core design. Three heat exhaustion chimney work as main devices to control hot temperature at bedrooms areas.

Vertical garden is a mayor air quality and humidity creator, where before there was any plant, now we have planted over 4000.

Design Architect: Paul Cremoux W.
Project Team: Anna Giribets Martin
Structural Engineering: Arch. Ricardo Camacho
Equipment Engineering, Sustainability Consultant and vertical garden: Ing. José Antonio Lino Mina, DIA
General Contractor: Fermín Espinosa, Alfredo Galván, Factor Eficiencia

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Paul Cremoux Studio appeared first on Dezeen.