Giant paintbrushes hold up the splattered ceiling of this conceptual restaurant by Polish designer Karina Wiciak (+ slideshow).
Wiciak, of design studio Wamhouse, created the fantasy interior as the tenth of 12 bars and restaurants that each have a different theme.
Titled Pracownia, meaning workshop in Polish, this design is modelled on a painter’s studio and includes surfaces and furniture decorated with paint splashes.
The structural columns look like oversized paintbrushes, plus glass table tops and pendant lights are shaped like palettes.
Table bases, lamps and seats are formed from buckets, with lounge chairs created from large upturned pales and bar stools made from smaller ones. A bucket is also used as the bowl of a toilet.
Pracownia is the tenth project of the collection XII, designed entirely by Karina Wiciak
The restaurant is called “Pracownia” (which in Polish means “workshop”), because it was designed as a light pastiche of a painter’s studio. The most characteristic features of the interior are colourful blobs, because almost the entire interior of the “Papiernia” has been splashed with paint, from floor through furniture to the ceiling. It was not designed to be youth interior in the pop-art style, but to be modern, elegant restaurant. That is why, beyond the blots, the white and silver metal finish dominates.
To the topic of painting studio, some other design elements have been matched. Structural columns resemble enlarged paint brushes. Glass, pendant lamps and table tops have a shape of palette.
A bucket (of course a paint bucket) is present both in the design of tables, chairs and pendant lamps. Brush ends (sticking out of a bucket placed in the table) are used instead of the usual candles or table lamps.
Since the whole interior is designed like a painter’s studio, also the toilets cannot deviate from the topic. Therefore, the design of compact toilet bowl and sink also uses a form of bucket, and the counter top and mirror are mounted on a large easel.
A black steel staircase links the six storeys of this townhouse in Tel Aviv by Israeli architect Pitsou Kedem (+ slideshow).
Pitsou Kedem designed the house for a family and added a private terrace and swimming pool on the rooftop.
“The owners wanted to create the experience of life in a private residence, but within the city,” said architect Pitsou Kedem. “The authentic urban skyline reveals Tel Aviv’s rooftops to those in the courtyard and thus realises the urban experience that the owners wanted to achieve.”
All but one of the house’s floors opens out onto a balcony or terrace.
A penthouse with sliding glass doors leads out to the roof deck and swimming pool, which are encased behind a clear glass balustrade.
The fourth floor contains a study, small living space and a spa. A combined kitchen and living room occupies the floor below and is surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows.
The parents of the family have an entire floor to themselves, with an en-suite bathroom and extensive closet space, while two more bedrooms and bathrooms are located on the level below, and belong to the children.
A guest suite consisting of a bedroom, bathroom and living space can be found on the ground floor and opens out to a small enclosed terrace.
The black steel staircase ascends through the rear corner of the house, beside a grey silicate-block wall. Exposed timber floors and wooden panelling also feature throughout.
A 270 square metre plot was used as the foundation for a Tel Aviv town house consisting of a basement and an additional 6 floors. The owners wanted to create the experience of life in a private residence but within the city.
The architect Pitsou Kedem designed an urban style courtyard on the roof and, as a result, reversed the usually, permanent, order of things. The authentic, urban skyline reveals to those in the courtyard, Tel Aviv’s rooftops and thus realises the urban experience that the owners wanted to achieve.
The architectural design was based on a cross section of the structure whilst creating a physical and visual relationship between all the floors. Each floor encompasses an area of some 100 square meters with every floor being used for a different purpose. This enables the house’s residents to create common meeting spaces alongside separated spaces that, together, maximise the usage off the space and maximise the privacy that day to day life in a home requires.
Thus, the design incorporates a separate floor for the parents living area which includes a large library, a floor devoted to children’s rooms, a common living floor and the upper floor for the pool. Wooden paneling is used around openings on the ground floor and is also used to disguise the entrance hall and a separate living unit.
The home’s internal stairwell is designed as a dramatic, vertical line. In contrast to the stairwell common in most apartment buildings which is usually designed to be hidden from view, in this design the stairwell is open and runs along a wall covered with grey silicate blocks.
Architects: Pitsou Kedem Architects Design team: Pitsou Kedem, Hagar Tzvi, Hila Sela Location: Tel Aviv Size: 610 square metres Plot size: 260 sqm Total floor area: 450 sqm Design & build : 2009-2012 Program: Single family house
A hotel comprising four prefabricated fibreglass tubes has opened near the top of Europe’s highest peak (+ slideshow).
Named LEAPrus 3912, the complex is designed by LEAPfactory, a team of Italian architects who specialise in designing accommodation for extreme environments and who previously constructed a survival unit atop a mountain in the Alps.
The hotel is located on the southern side of Mount Elbrus, a dormant volcano with an altitude of 5642 metres in Caucasus, Russia, and it offers accommodation for up to 49 mountain climbers.
Communal bedrooms and lounge areas are contained within two of the tubes, while a third houses a restaurant and staff accommodation. Toilets and showers are located within a smaller fourth block.
All four bunkers were prefabricated in Italy using a composite sandwich of resin and fibreglass. They were then airlifted to the site in pieces and assembled by a team of technicians.
The architects integrated various technologies into the structures to make efficient use of energy and to recycle available resources.
These include a system that melts snow to supply water for sanitation, a hybrid system that produces electricity and a sewage treatment plant.
“The activity of LEAPfactory is centred on the continued search for and the realisation of innovative solutions in response to the problems of creating infrastructures in the natural environment,” said the designers.
The hotel opened to the public in September and is operated by the North Caucasus Mountain Club. It is the first phase in a series of planned projects intended to encourage tourism in the region.
Photography is by the architects.
Here’s a project description from LEAPfactory:
LEAPrus 3912 is the name of the new Eco-Hotel located on the southern side of Mount Elbrus, at 4.000 metres in altitude: completed by Italian firm LEAPfactory in September 2013 it is now already open to the public.
Mount Elbrus is the highest peak in Europe, and is one of the Seven Summits, the circuit of the highest mountains in each of the seven continents. It is located at the centre of the Northern range in the Russian Caucasus, halfway between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Mt Elbrus is a dormant volcano, characterised by twin summits of 5642 and 5621 metres, dominating all the mountains in the area, the lowest of which is at least 1000 metres. Its environmental and climatic conditions are known for their extreme severity.
The installation of LEAPrus 3912 was developed on behalf of the North Caucasus Mountain Club, a Russian company which is responsible for the development of tourism of the mountainous region in the North of the Russian Caucasus; LEAPrus 3912 is the first stage in the complete reorganisation of hospitality on Mount Elbrus. The entire region has a great potential for tourism: the vastness of the unique natural landscapes and the ancient troubled history of its peoples are the centrepiece of a great potential interest.
The complex is situated on the normal ascent route of the mountain, on the immense southern glacier, a few hundred metres from the historic refuge Priut 11, destroyed by fire in the 1990s and never rebuilt.
The new station accommodation is structured with four completely prefabricated buildings. The modular structures were designed and manufactured in Italy by LEAPfactory, and then transported to Russia. The installation on the slopes of the Mount Elbrus took place in a few days in July; the modules were transported by helicopter and assembled by a team of highly trained technicians from the company.
In the first days of September, after the final set-up of the technological systems the Eco-Hotel has been opened for activities.
LEAPrus 3912 in brief » altitude: 4.000 metres above sea level » 49 beds, living area, restaurant with kitchen, toilets, reception and staff accommodation » 3 separate LEAPs1 units, with synthetic composite shells » 2 newly designed s2 type units, with natural composite shells, in which the toilets, the biological depurifier and the sophisticated technological systems are housed » timing for the project realisation: 10 months in total, just 20 days after positioning “in situ” before the opening to the public
The structures of the new alpine station are made with durable materials of the highest quality, using cutting-edge technologies in the field of environmental sustainability.
Getting the best possible performance in terms of energy efficiency and home comfort was the main goal along with the achievement of maximum self-sufficiency of the new settlement on the highest mountain in Europe.
» the high efficiency structural shells contribute to the dramatic reduction of the energy requirement which supplies lighting, heating and indoor air treatment, hot water and a system for monitoring and remote management of all devices » a stand-alone hybrid system for the production of energy, with high efficiency and integration of the various sources used, with an innovative park for the ecological accumulation of sodium » a specific internal air circulation system with heat recovery » LED lighting » underfloor heating designed to work at very low outdoor temperatures » a system for melting of snow for the supply of water to the sanitation services » a sewage treatment plant (LEAPecoR) specifically designed to work at high altitude that permits the centre to almost completely overcome the dispersion of organic pollutants into the environment » the whole system is regulated and controlled, also remotely via satellite, facilitating effective management of the structure throughout the year
The interiors and the architectural design of the units are unique in the panorama of buildings at high altitude: there is a close visual relationship with the surrounding landscape, they have elegance, functionality and durability – and are carefully designed to provide users with real comfort. The Italian company that designs and manufactures modular prefabricated buildings with minimal environmental impact, LEAPfactory has realised already the successful of Nuova Capanna Gervasutti (Mont Blanc, Courmayeur, 2011). The activity of LEAPfactory is centred on the continued search for and the realisation of innovative solutions in response to the problems of creating infrastructures in the natural environment.
Main Technical Partners: ACTIS, CICLES, CLEAF, FIAMM, GEMAP, GERFLOR, GIOCOsolution, GP Tecno, GVM arreda, HOVAL, LCM group, NAYLcomposite, NDA nova design automazioni, NORDCOMPENSATI, SALT, VABER
Leap on site equipe: Alberto Altavilla, Gabriele Basile, Saverio Crocco, Emanuele Foglia, Giorgio Garzena, Luciano Pisu, Stefano Quaranta, Andrea Sasso, Paolo Sasso, Alessandro Simeoni, Roberto Toffanin, Luca Tomatis
Walls of weathered stone and timber surround this gabled family retreat by British studio McLean Quinlan Architects on the Devon coastline in south-west England (+ slideshow).
McLean Quinlan Architects located the building against a slope, in a position that offers views of both the surrounding countryside and the ocean.
Wooden panels clad the long sides of the building, while the gabled ends are constructed from stone and the pitched roof is covered with grey slate.
The architects intended this materials palette to reference the aesthetic of American summer houses. “The clients had in mind initially elements of a New England beach house, and so external materials of green oak boarding were used together with the local stone,” said architect Kate Quinlan.
A protruding stone wall marks the house’s entrance, leading through a heavy wooden door to a “mud room” used for drying wetsuits and storing wet-weather clothing such as overcoats and wellington boots.
An open-plan kitchen, living room and dining area occupies most of the ground level, and includes a children’s play area, a large larder for storing food and a laundry space.
A staircase spans the width of the house, leading up to a first floor containing five bedrooms and three bathrooms – offering plenty of space for guests. A second staircase is hidden amongst the closets, ascending to an attic with two extra bedrooms.
The house in located a small village on the North Devon Coast. It was built as a holiday home for the family, and designed to maximise the number of bedrooms and open living space.
The site is accessed down a long drive and the building is tucked up against the slope of the site to make the most of the long views down to the sea from the upper levels.
A stone gable end is the first glimpse you get of this building with a dark industrial chimney dark against grey stone.
The clients had in mind initially elements of a New England beach house, and so external materials of green oak boarding was used together with the local stone.
The resulting building is simple in form. A neat pitched volume coupled with a generous entrance porch.
This provides a formal entrance and provides direct access to a large mud room for drying wetsuits wet from days out surfing, and drying out muddy boots from walking the costal paths.
The building is split down the centre by a central stair. On entering the hall opens up to a double height space with views of the garden.
The main living space is open plan, with a separate games space for the kids and the practical necessities of a large larder and laundry.
Up the open tread stairs, on the first floor the spit volumes separate the master bedroom suite from the main bedroom wing.
Here there is a long corridor with a single pane window at the far end leads to 4 double bedrooms.
Half way along is a ‘secret stair, tucked amongst the linen cupboards, which winds up to take you to to two further attic bedrooms above.
A woodland landscape scene is hidden within a pattern of coloured polka dots on the exterior of this house extension in Moers, Germany, by Düsseldorf studio MCKNHM Architects (+ slideshow).
MCKNHM Architects made three separate additions to the single-storey family home, adding a second storey on the rooftop, a sauna and guesthouse in the garden, plus a combined workshop and garage at the site’s entrance.
The architects named the project CMYK House as a reference to the colour model used to create the dotty facade of the roof extension and guesthouse.
The mixture of cyan, magenta, yellow and black dots give the walls a halftone pattern. At close range, the dots can be made out individually, while from a short distance they blend together in a camouflage pattern and further away they form an image of a deer in a forest.
“The colour scheme of the pixilated image is intentionally reflected by the landscaping, consisting of wildflower meadows,” said the architects. “From a middle distance, the human eye interpolates the colours and a shaded and textured surface of brown and green seems to appear, leading to a camouflage effect.”
The architects chose to conceal an image of a deer within the facade, as a reference to hunting trophies that were once displayed inside the house.
“The father of the client was a hunter and the house was filled with stuffed animals at the time the son took it over,” explained the architects.
The original house was built without any views of the nearby lake, so the combined sauna and guesthouse was positioned to face onto the water and opens out to a generous terrace.
The rooftop extension accommodates a small office and lounge, also with views of the lake.
A timber-clad garage and workshop was the final addition.
When the father of the client bought the plot of land besides an open gravel pit south of Moers, Germany in the late fifties, it was still unclear if the mine would be converted into a landfill of garbage or a lake. Luckily, the family ended up with a villa at an idyllic lake that is surrounded by a forest.
Because of the possible landfill at the time of construction, the house was orientated away from this now beautiful nature reserve: An existing garage was blocking the view towards the lake. The extensive paved driveway was situated between the house and the fantastic nature setting. Inside the house, none of the spaces provides a view of the lake.
Context
The new addition is set to solve these problems. The approach towards the site places three pavilions onto the park-like property. They are positioned in a way to achieve new spatial qualities in-between the old building and new additions, helping to connect the lake with the existing house.
At the same time the old house with its white plaster façade and its black double pitched roof, that evoked a sense of melancholy and displays a certain stuffiness in its German fifties zeitgeist needed a more fresh addition. Therefore, the extension is also supposed to add a friendlier and playful atmosphere.
Three pavilions
The workshop and garage is moved and situated as an autonomous pavilion towards the entrance of the site. A second pavilion accommodates a sauna and guesthouse, which is assigned to the existing house and directly orientated to the lake through an open terrace. A third pavilion is situated on top of the roof of the old house, extending the existing attic into a workspace and lounge with a beautiful lake-view.
Concept diagram
Façade
All new additions are clad with a special façade, made up from a building textile that features a colourful but also camouflaging print that was developed through a very close and intensive design process with the client. The print fulfils a number of tasks: It is an image that is very roughly pixilated by a halftone pattern, which is exaggerated in a way, that by close distance the façade only displays big dots in the Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Kay colour realm.
Concept diagram
These dots create a pattern, which is also a reminiscent to the petticoats of the fifties, adding a playful colour palette and graphic to the existing situation. The colour scheme of the pixilated image is intentionally reflected by the landscaping, consisting of wild flower meadows.
From a middle distance, the human eye interpolates the colours a shaded and textured surface of brown and green seems to appear, leading to a camouflage effect. The additions seem to blend within the colour palette of the site.
Only from far distance at the lake, the image will appear: A forest landscape with a deer, a classic and conservative German motive giving an ironic touch to the existing building and a reference to its history, as the father of the client was a hunter and the house was filled with stuffed animals at the time the son took it over.
The interior spaces are highly flexible the pavilions feature a ‘multi-wall’ that is designed as a ‘hollow’ 1,20m thick wall or woodblock, which functions as a storage that is accessible from both inside and outside. The sauna-pavilion has a ‘multi-cube’ that houses the actual sauna and also a space for technical equipment, a wardrobe and bathroom fixtures on the outside. Through these interventions, the space becomes highly flexible and also open, the space is one continuum, there are no doors separating the bathroom from the Sauna.
The concept of the building is creating a new experience on the site and adding something very playful and friendly. At the same time the building is blending into its natural environment. In this sense the addition mediates the genius loci of the existing building and the natural environment the architecture is not an alien anymore it becomes more natural.
Some measures were taken to not only blend the house visually into its context but also to provide a tactile sense of dematerialisation that is reflected in the actual construction. All building details aim to hide the physical thickness of the construction and create a very light to paper thin appearance quality. The parapet flashing is set behind the façade, visible doors and windows are encased in a metal siding which peaks to a millimetre thick tip that hides the real wall thickness, the textile façade is wrapped around the corners and has a very minimal aluminium frame.
Product news: this daybed by design studio Outofstock is shaped to reference landscape elements (+ slideshow).
Outofstock‘s Landscape daybed has a backrest designed to look like a mountain peak, which joins to a flat cushioned surface. This cushion includes three pleated pockets that resemble waves breaking on a beach.
“Landscape is a daybed inspired by land topography elements,” said the designers. “Its form and pleated details is derived from our observational study of various sitting and lounging postures.”
With legs outstretched or tucked up, users can chose which pocket to warm their feet in.
The daybed is produced by Danish brand Bolia and it comes in three different colours with matching bolster cushions.
This boutique interior by Brazilian architect Guilherme de Vasconcelos features a red faceted wall that references the angular qualities of polished gems (+ slideshow).
Vasconcelos of GUIV Arquitetura designed the interior of the Las Chicas womenswear boutique that stocks Brazilian brands in Belo Horizonte.
The faceted wall houses a small illuminated shelf for products. Made of triangular MDF polygons, it is finished in a red lacquer. “The project strategy is inspired by the process of lapping and polishing gems, which transforms raw elements of nature in precious jewellery with angular faces and bright colours,” said the architect.
Large full-height mirrored doors hide two dressing rooms.
The white counter follows a similar triangular shape to the faceted wall and sits in front of a wall patterned with hexagons.
Women’s garments are hung from tubular stainless steel supports.
Las Chicas Boutique intends to be a reference space for fashion in Belo Horizonte and seeks to enhance the Brazilian design offering clothing and accessories of consecrated national brands to the female audience. Located at the traditional neighborhood of Lourdes, in a street with high pedestrian flow and moderated commerce, the Las Chicas Boutique also promotes periodically vernissages and meetings for professionals and connoisseurs of the fashion world.
The project strategy is inspired by the process of lapping and polishing gems which transforms raw elements of nature in precious jewellery with angular faces and bright colours. The objective was to integrate a large ambient, clear and enlightened and impactful elements with angular faces and well-defined lines, to capture the attention of pedestrians passing through the region.
In that sense, the faceted panel is the key piece of the store, not only for its scale, but also due to the function it takes as space articulator. Made by triangular polygons in MDF, each one different from another, and finishing in pink matte lacquer, the panel continues to the back of the store and hides two dressing rooms behind the mirrors.The counter uses the same language, with faceted geometry and offers space for two people to work comfortably.
The clothing exhibition is made by four tubular stainless steel supports. Accessories are exposed on the bench just below the plow, at the sideboard and in panel niche. The layout adopted allows the non-linear flow of customers, which can freely explore the space of the store, and on events days enables the rapid reconfiguration of the environment.
Architect: Guilherme de Vasconcelos (GUIV Arquitetura) Photos: Gabriel Castro Start of project: September 2012 Building Completion: March 2013 Built area: 130m² Building Company: Gilberto Lacerda & Cia. Woodworking: Marcenaria Monte Santo
A combined car park and terrace covers the roof of this hillside house in Los Angeles by Californian studio Anonymous Architects (+ slideshow).
Anonymous Architects designed the single-storey home for an actor. It is situated on the edge of a steep slope, so the floors are arranged from top to bottom, with an entrance on the roof and rooms on the level below.
“The added benefit of providing the parking and the house as the same structure is to eliminate the need for additional foundations and walls for a garage,” said architect Simon Storey.
“The inversion moves the typical ground floor of the house up on the roof, and makes the simple act of arriving home and driving onto the roof of the house a surprise every time,” he added.
Supported by chunky concrete columns, the house appears to be thrusting away from the edge of the slope. A recessed balcony offers views of the San Gabriel Mountains to the north east of the city.
A kitchen sits at the centre of the plan and forms the corner of an open-plan living room, while three bedrooms and two bathrooms are positioned around the other side of the house.
A bridge connects the roof with the street, providing an entrance for both cars and pedestrians.
Starting with a vacant lot with a very steep down-slope from the street, the design of the house places the carport on the roof with the residence below. In addition to being a dramatic shift of expectations, it is also a logical response to the building code which requires parking for two vehicles.
This inversion moves the typical ground floor of the house up on the roof and makes the simple act of arriving home – and driving onto the roof of the house – a surprise every time. The roof is also usable as deck space and has unobstructed views of the San Gabriel Mountains, which are to the Northeast of Los Angeles.
Because of the steep terrain the house is designed to float over the hillside. This reduces the amount of foundation required and also means that the only way to access the house is over the bridge – so it is truly a floating structure.
The added benefit of providing the parking and the house as the same structure is to eliminate the need for additional foundations and walls for a garage.
Date of completion: August 2013 Location: Echo Park, Los Angeles, California Clients: Hal Ozsan/ Judson Williams Architect: Simon Storey/ Anonymous Architects, Los Angeles Lot Area: 8,477 sq.ft Building Area: 1,405 sq.ft Building footprint: 1,405 sq.ft – single level dwelling with roof deck/ parking. 3 bedroom & 2 bathrooms. Method of construction: Concrete pile foundation with concrete pilasters above grade; steel (primary floor structure – cantilevers); wood floor, walls and roof
London architect Zaha Hadid has designed a family of superyachts for German shipbuilders Blohm+Voss (+ slideshow).
Concept for 128-metre yacht
Zaha Hadid created a concept for a 128-metre yacht, which informed the design of five smaller vessels engineered by Blohm+Voss.
Concept for 128-metre yacht
The upper structure of the design is formed from sinuous shapes connecting the different decks. This conceptual language has been pared down and applied to a series of 90-metre-long Unique Circle Yachts, refined so the vessels meet the technical specifications for ocean crossings.
Concept for 128-metre yacht
“As a dynamic object that moves in dynamic environments, the design of a yacht must incorporate additional parameters beyond those for architecture – which all become much more extreme on water,” said Hadid. “Each yacht is an engineered platform that integrates specific hydrodynamic and structural demands together with the highest levels of comfort, spatial quality and safety.”
Concept for 128-metre yacht
The JAZZ yacht, the first of five in the range, has a sharp solid prow and becomes more open towards the back. The other four boats will be customised to meet the requirements of their owners.
JAZZ yacht (left) next to the 128-metre concept yacht
Keep reading for more details from the design team:
Zaha Hadid designs Superyacht for Blohm+Voss
Pritzker prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid has collaborated with the renowned Hamburg-based shipbuilders Blohm+Voss to design a new superyacht.
The design concept, launched at the latest exhibition of Zaha Hadid’s work at the David Gill Gallery in London, is based around the sculptural form of a master prototype conceived for a 128m yacht. In addition, The Unique Circle Yachts by Zaha Hadid Architects for Blohm+Voss is a family of five individual 90-metre yachts that creatively explore the design philosophies of the master prototype within the technical requirements of a fully-engineered yacht design.
JAZZ yacht
The overall design is informed by fluid dynamics and underwater ecosystems, with hydrodynamic research informing the design of the hull. The exoskeleton structure of the upper section is an interwoven network of supports that vary in thickness and lend a natural aesthetic to the yacht’s external appearance; evoking the organic structural systems found in natural marine formations. This exoskeleton connects the various levels and decks of the ship seamlessly via expressive diagonals. Whereas traditional yacht designs adhere to a strict horizontal order, Hadid has created an intense connectivity between the various decks and elements of the design. The fluid design language of the master prototype has been applied to subsequent variations of the Unique Circle Yachts 90-metre yacht concepts, creating a coherent design with the highest correlation between the various design options.
The 90m JAZZ yacht is the first of the five Unique Circle Yachts that has been technically specified and detailed by the naval architects at Blohm+Voss. Its lineage from the 128-metre master prototype is evident, with further technical refinements to address the specifications required for ocean crossings.
JAZZ yacht
In addition to JAZZ, four further 90-metre yachts have been designed to fulfil the different requirements and individual requests of their designated owners. Each design will vary in layout according to the owner’s preferences.
The design process was very much a collaborative one, with Blohm+Voss and ZHA working together to address the practical challenges of designing a yacht while remaining true to the strong iterative design language of the master prototype. The resulting designs are the synergy of Hadid’s design vision and the technical expertise of Blohm+Voss, allowing a flexibility and customisation in the eventual design of the yacht.
JAZZ yacht
“As a dynamic object that moves in dynamic environments, the design of a yacht must incorporate additional parameters beyond those for architecture – which all become much more extreme on water. Each yacht is an engineered platform that integrates specific hydrodynamic and structural demands together with the highest levels of comfort, spatial quality and safety,” explained Zaha Hadid.
Blohm+Voss has the proven experience, the in-house technical expertise, and the capacities to offer tailor-made solutions for the most demanding buyers in the superyacht market. The naval architects of Blohm+Voss are forever pushing the boundaries of technology and innovation. In recent years Blohm+Voss has built many of the world’s most prestigious mega yachts. These include the groundbreaking 394-foot “A” designed by Philippe Starck and the “Eclipse”, designed by Terence Disdale, which at 533 feet (162.5 metres), is the world’s second largest private yacht. Other Blohm+Voss superyacht projects include, the “Mayan Queen IV” and the “Palladium”.
JAZZ yacht
Dr. Herbert Aly, CEO and Managing Partner of Blohm+Voss says: “On an aesthetic level a superyacht is a great design task as everything is customised down to the last detail. A superyacht is by definition an exercise in total design, where every detail is looked at with attention and refinement. In the past, in the era of steam liners, there has been an attempt of utilising ship building elements in architecture. Zaha Hadid and her team have taken this ethos and created a bold new vision and a new benchmark in the design of superyachts.
“The idea of the Unique Circle Yachts allows for variation of a genotype and its phenotypes, offering a range of possible solutions based on an cognate platform. As a result Zaha Hadid’s design is malleable to suit the very individual wishes and needs of a potential customer which lies at the heart of Blohm+Voss’ approach to yacht design. The strength of the design lies not just in its functionality and form, but also its effortless adaptability.”
Zaha Hadid Architects and Blohm+Voss have transformed yacht design; creating an innovative concept and developing this vision into a fully seaworthy design that offers dynamic new possibilities for naval architecture.
Precast concrete lintels with oozing courses of grout create a distinct facade on this house near Brussels by Belgian studio And’rol (+ slideshow).
Named Wall House, the three-story family home is located near to a former stronghold, so And’rol designed a grey-brick facade with concrete lintels to reference the crumbling stone walls of the old fortress.
“The relief of the bulging grout reinforces its rough character,” said the architects.
A low wall surrounding the plot is constructed from the same materials, while the three remaining elevations of the house are clad with dark grey fibre-cement panels.
Square windows are scattered across all four elevations. Some are recessed, while others sit flush with the walls and some are screened behind horizontal concrete bars.
The house is located on the top of a steep hill and contains a split-level interior that negotiates a change in level across the site.
An asymmetric roof creates the necessary head height for the uppermost floor, which features a deep-set window facing out to the south.
The kitchen worktop is constructed from a stack of concrete slabs, referencing the building’s exterior. Other interior details include a wooden staircase with integrated seating, low-hanging pendant lights and a selection of brightly coloured furniture.
The plot’s particularities are on the one hand its perturbing position close to a steep rock slope, and on the other hand its small depth and its unusual longitudinal orientation parallel to the street.
Starting point for the young Belgian architects were traces of a nearby former stronghold. The main design element consists of an enclosing wall with a recessed rising part, to which the modest and sober main house nestles and adapts.
A second shallow volume that houses a large number of storage spaces is also located behind the wall.
The architects chose precast concrete lintels as a reinterpretation of the old fortress walls of rubble stone. The relief of the bulging grout reinforces its rough character.
Inside, a split-level organisation responds to the plot’s sloping ground, intensifies the open space concept and gives the compact building a generous and spacious character.
The used materials are deliberately kept simple and easy; the bare prestressed concrete slabs, the polished concrete flooring and the concrete bar refer to the enclosing wall.
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