Hasta La Ideas

Landscape architecture firm Martha Schwartz Partners references Bedouin carpets and sand dunes in teardrop-shaped landscaping for a green retreat in the centre of an Abu Dhabi business district (+ slideshow).

Martha Schwartz Partners designed Sowwah Square for a site at the heart of Abu Dhabi’s new central business district on Al Maryah Island, formerly known as Sowwah Island.

The 2.6 hectare public plaza features colourfully patterned granite paving and an assortment of plant-covered mounds. There are also granite seating elements, garden beds, sculpted hedges and rows of Indian fig trees.

“The inspiration for the square was derived from the nature and culture inherent to the Arabian Peninsula: dunes, traditional irrigation systems (falaj), oases, bedouin textiles and the popular use of formal clipped hedges in the United Arab Emirates, drawing connections with the French baroque château gardens,” said the architects.

Green mounds, a typical feature in the Al Maryah, feature patches of plants of different colours and textures. Species such as the Golden Ice Plant Lampranthus, which has bright orange flowers, are planted next to the Purple Lady Iresine, which features small purple foliage.

“All the plant species used in the project were selected for their hardiness, low maintenance and drought and heat tolerance,” the architects said.

The teardrop-shaped mounds are dotted through the square. Some form centrepieces to the granite benches, acting as wind shelters.

The polished grey-granite benches encircle the mounds and have grooves carved into their surfaces, allowing bubbling streams of water to run across them to offer visitors relief from the heat.

The benches come in six variations. Some have extended seats, while others have high backs or wider leaning space. At night, the base of each benches is illuminated.

The pavement is set with patterned sections of honed, flamed and polished granite, and extend outwards in layers to emphasise the teardrop shapes.

Sculpted hedges line the edges of low garden beds, with native grasses planted in the centre to sway in the wind.

Martha Schwartz is based in London. Her studio also recently completed a landscaped park in Chongqing, China, filled with faceted metal structures.

Here’s a project description from Martha Schwartz Partners:

Sowwah Square

Sowwah Square is the first development within the larger Sowwah Island master plan in Abu Dhabi and is intended to be the centre piece of the island development, providing a green retreat at the centre of the new commercial hub.

On the southern edge of Sowwah Island, the main urban space is located on top of a two-level retail podium and creates a landscape setting for the Sowwah Square complex. Future phases of the project will include a 5 star Business Hotel, serviced apartments, and additional retail complexes adjacent to Sowwah Square.

The inspiration for the square was derived from the nature and culture inherent to the Arabian Peninsula: dunes, traditional irrigation systems (Falaj), oasis, Bedouin textiles and the popular use of formal clipped hedges in United Arab Emirates, drawing connections with the French baroque château gardens. This merging of ideas is represented in a contemporary responsive design created a sustainable, cool and protected micro climate for users and a dynamic kaleidoscope of planting and patterned paving on the ground and viewed from the surrounding towers.

The Public Realm has been designed so that these future developments can be integrated into the landscape scheme. The podium landscape as a whole has been designed as one large plaza space, with each of the areas having a different character and function.

Sculptural mounds provide micro-climate environments as wind protection and cooling to the local surroundings. They also add a spatial intimacy, framing outdoor rooms, which mitigate the impact of the mega-scale skyscrapers in the site.

The structure of the square uses large constructed vegetated mounds that orchestrate outdoor rooms to shelter pedestrians from the Shamal, a strong north-westerly wind blowing over Persian Gulf and to provide intimate spaces amongst the towering buildings. Linking the mounds together, the decorative pattern like that of a traditional rug, weaves through the square.

To soothe people from the heat, water features are incorporated into long stone benches that wrap the mounds, providing playful and tactile experience. The surface texture is finished with ornate grooves creating a dynamic rippling effect. In order to maximise this limited resource, and reduce evaporation, the water is contained in narrow Falaj like channels as used in ancient irrigation system found throughout the Middle East. At night, the benches come to life with integrated lighting at the base that silhouettes the mounds and highlights the polished surfaces.

Innovative sustainable design has been instrumental in the project which has been awarded a LEED Gold certification. The steep angulated mounds contribute 1.45 times more green space than level planters and water consumption is reduced due to the vertical planting maximising 100% irrigation moisture.

The information gathered during the pedestrian, vehicular, and program site studies has been used to inform the landscape design strategy. The straight line pedestrian linkages and vehicular movements are used to structure the public realm and the design concepts have been used to infill the public realm structure.

Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Client: Mubadala Development Company
Architect: Goettsch Partners and Gensler Architects
Engineer: Oger International
Size: 2.6 Hectares
Status: Completed 2012
Environmental Rating: LEED Gold CS
Design Team: Martha Schwartz, Peter Piet, Matthew Getch, Nigel Koch, Christabel Lee, Thomas Griffiths, Liangjun Zhou, Rebecca Orr, Marti Fooks, Emily Lin, Christine Wahba, Hung-Hao Teng, Thomas Sudhoff

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features teardrop-shaped landscaping appeared first on Dezeen.

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.

Interior designer Olena Yudina used a monochrome colour palette for the redesign of this apartment in Kiev, adding glazed brick walls to every room and a recurring bird motif to bring the owners good luck (+ slideshow).

Olena Yudina remodelled the interior of an apartment in a multi-storey residential complex to create the home for her friend’s young family.

White masonry with contrasting dark grouting provides a consistent element throughout the interior, which has a minimal colour palette of white, black, grey tones and warm wood.

Yudina told Dezeen that the birds, which appear in a sculpture, on cushions and as suspended decorations, were included because she believes that “birds bring luck and a feeling of freedom”.

The apartment is divided into private and guest areas, with the bathroom, dressing room, a laundry room and a spare bedroom located off a small corridor.

The rest of the interior is arranged as an interconnected series of rooms that maximises the available space by avoiding the need for further hallways.

Additional glazing between the living room and two balconies was installed in place of solid walls to increase the amount of daylight reaching the interior.

Tall radiators in a graphite grey contrast with the white walls they’re mounted on, helping to enhance the height of the living area.

Wood was used for flooring, furniture and fitted cabinetry to add colour and texture to the simple scheme, while pot plants in the living room provide a natural element with a green accent.

Much of the furniture is freestanding to avoid reducing the available floor and wall space of the rooms. “Though this furniture looks more massive, at the same time it is roomier and gives more usable space to store things,” said Yudina.

The bathroom is entirely clad in grey stone tiles with black details such as the window frame, sink unit structure and a suspended towel rail complementing the taps and bath fittings.

Photography is by Andrey Avdeenko.

The designer sent us this project description:

Apartment with the Birds

From the entrance, apartment divided into two parts: private and guest. In a small corridor are symmetrically situated auxiliary rooms: guest bathroom (closer to the living room), extra dressing room (closer to the bedroom) and compact laundry.

Rest of the space was set aside for the residential room: living room, cabinet, bedroom with dressing and another bathroom. Rooms in an apartment arranged in a circle, one room passes into another; thereby we have avoided lots of small corridors, and living room can be extended by the space of cabinet. We dismantled walls of two balconies and glazed them to make more space and to bring more light to the rooms.

The monochrome range of the apartment – this is on what you firstly pay attention, and perhaps, wins over by its evenness and emphasis this apartment. The main colors we used in interior are black, perfect white, gradation of grey and rare speckles of green – wooden texture looks great in such an environment (variation on the theme of eco).

Fragmentary, there is brickwork in every room, which can be controversial as an idea, but in whole it connects all the rooms in one space. Also we made graphite radiators on the white background – looks very effective, by such contrasting verticals we wanted visually to extend the space, for the same reason we have overstated doorways. The furniture is minimized and looks extremely simple.

The apartment looks very clean, restrained and minimalistic, there are not lots of details, but it still not rid of them – everything is pertinently. Together with foreign furniture manufactures there are represented Ukrainian brands: Zuccheti/KOS, Meridiani, Arbonia, La Lampe Gras, Odesd2 (Kiev), LoveMosaic (Kiev), SwetaYaremko(Kiev), Gizmo(Lviv).

Location: Ukraine, Kiev
Total area: 124 sq.m.

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Kiev apartment by Olena Yudina appeared first on Dezeen.

Home rental website Airbnb has opened an office in Dublin with a reception area modelled on an Irish pub designed by local architects Heneghan Peng (+ slideshow).

Heneghan Peng were given a brief by Airbnb to create a series of open and collaborative workspaces similar to the company’s San Francisco headquarters.

The architects designed a horseshoe-shaped bar in dark wood to mimic the interior of traditional pubs found across the city.

The bar is complete with bottles around the top, candelabras at both ends and a suit of armour that is posed to be having a drink between the stools.

Tables and chairs in the adjacent presentation space are also modelled on typical pub furniture, and the ceiling and flooring echo the decor of drinking venues from different eras.

Continuing the local theme, a pair of green and beige Irish telephone boxes form booths for private phone calls.

Heneghan Peng also included the 12-metre-long bench it designed for Ireland’s Venice Biennale pavilion in 2012, which dips and rises as users sit on different sections.

Throughout the office are a series of meeting pods made from oriented strand board, with interiors designed to look like apartments listed on Airbnb from cities across the world.

These rooms are glazed on opposite walls and the name of the city that the design is based upon is written on the side.

Some have seating set into the outside walls for employees to sit and chat in, designed to look like different spaces from the same apartment.

Other larger pods are hinged at the centre so they can be rolled apart to split them into two meeting rooms.

Giant wooden steps are scattered with cushions to create an informal meeting area or workspace.

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Dublin offices by Heneghan Peng appeared first on Dezeen.

Cedar shingles typical to New England houses have gradually faded from warm beige to a soft greyish brown on the walls of this residence in Maine by Los Angeles office Bruce Norelius Studio (+ slideshow).

Bruce Norelius Studio completed House on Punkinville Road in 2008 for a couple looking for a change of lifestyle as well as a new residence. Five years on, the pair say the best quality of the house is its adaptability to the changing seasons.

“During a snowstorm, we don’t watch the storm, we’re inside the storm,” said the client. “The amount of glass and the way the glass is placed takes every advantage of the site. And the sun is a constant presence.”

He continued: “As the light changes from hour to hour, from room to room, from season to season, it changes the rooms. The living area is not the same room at sunset as it was at sunrise, nor is it the same in winter as it is in the spring.”

Located several kilometres inland from Smelt Cove, the house sits on an elevated site surrounded by juniper trees and blackberry bushes. A concrete base grounds the structure into the landscape, while the main walls are all clad with the humble cedar shingles.

“It’s gratifying to know the clients are enjoying life here, even during the harsh Maine winters,” said the architects. “The facades are simple, confident and holding true, telling their time naturally, which is a narrative we continue to embrace in our work.”

The building is primarily made up of two rectilinear volumes stacked over one another to create an L-shaped plan. This creates a sheltered driveway at ground level and a generous roof terrace on the first floor.

Proportions were based around a prefabricated window module, which is used throughout. Combined with a specification for a simple timber structure, this design concept allowed the architects to deliver the project on a low budget.

The interior layout was also kept as simple as possible, with a pair of bedrooms and bathrooms on the ground floor and an open-plan living, dining and kitchen space above.

Photography is by Sandy Agrafiotis, apart from where otherwise indicated.

Here’s a project description from Bruce Norelius Studio:

House on Punkinville Road

The genesis of this project came from the clients, a couple who had lived many years in a treasured 19th century cape, and who sought a significant change in lifestyle. Their deep appreciation of that cape and its particular relationship with its site made them realise that their new site – a spectacular inland promontory on ledge, juniper and blueberries with extensive views – required a very different architectural solution.

The concept that evolved was a perpendicular stacking of two simple volumes. This allowed a relatively small footprint on a pristine site, and also created useful negative space – a carport below, and an expansive deck above. Furthermore, it guaranteed that the house took advantage of the entire site, ensuring each space its own particular, appropriate relationship to sun, passive solar gain, and views.

The plan is simple and rigorous, based on the module of a single prefabricated window unit that is used throughout. The entirely-wood structural system was edited and refined to allow speed and clarity in the construction process.

The sober expression of the house responds intentionally to the climatic demands of the site, and is clad humbly in white cedar shingles, the most traditional of New England building materials, and exactly what was used on that cape built a century and a half ago.

The priority on the interior was to create calm spaces deeply influenced by the seasons and weather. A remarkably low construction cost was achieved because of the clients’ ability to prioritise goals, the design team’s search for simplicity in both aesthetics and construction techniques, and the builder’s ability to propose alternative, less expensive solutions for aspects of the building.

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reveals its age with a fading cedar facade appeared first on Dezeen.