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News: Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron have designed a 56-storey cylindrical skyscraper as part of a nine-hectare masterplan proposed for London’s Canary Wharf.

The residential tower is one of five new buildings proposed at Wood Wharf, the eastern end of Canary Wharf, in the first phase of a major mixed-used development submitted for planning approval today by London architecture firm Allies and Morrison.

Herzog & de Meuron and London studio Stanton Williams are working on the three residential buildings of the proposal, providing a total of 884 homes, while Allies and Morrison has designed two office blocks targeted at creative media, technology and telecommunications companies.

Later phases of the masterplan aim to surround the new buildings with a network of public squares and parks, as well as over 100 shops, restaurants and cafes at street level. Additional buildings will accommodate education and healthcare facilities, while more residential accommodation will bring the total of new homes up to 3100.

George Iacobescu of property developer Canary Wharf Group commented: “This is an exciting new project for Canary Wharf Group which represents the continued redevelopment of east London almost 30 years after the original transformation of Canary Wharf began.”

“The revised masterplan will create a strong and complementary mix of uses, and provide new homes, offices and retail spaces set within a network of streets and public spaces, designed to support the social life of new residents, employees and the surrounding community,” he added.

If planning approval is granted, construction of the phase one buildings is set to commence next year, with completion scheduled for 2017.

Here’s the full press release from Canary Wharf Group:

Canary Wharf Group submits new Planning Application for Mixed Use Urban Neighbourhood on Canary Wharf’s Eastern Edge

» Revised masterplan by Allies and Morrison will broaden Canary Wharf’s appeal as a working and living urban district

» New Wood Wharf neighbourhood will be defined by a network of high quality parks and public squares with a kilometre of dock-edge walkways

» The new neighbourhood will offer a range of homes from park-side townhouses and affordable housing to luxury penthouses in some of London’s tallest residential buildings designed by world-class architects

» New offices will appeal to a range of tenants but with a focus on creative media, technology and telecommunications

» Over 100 new shops, restaurants and cafes are planned at street level that will attract a range of new concepts and products

» The Masterplan provides for:
– 3,100 residential units
– 240,000 sqm (2.57 million sq.ft.) (GIA) of commercial offices
– 31,000 sqm (340,000 sq.ft.) (GIA) of shops, cafes and restaurants
– 3.6 hectares (8.9 acres) of interconnected public spaces

» Illustrative design information for Phase I to include 884 residential units in 3 buildings designed by Herzog & de Meuron and Stanton Williams totalling 100,379 sq. m (1,080,179 sq ft) (GIA); and 2 office buildings totalling over 20,000 sq. m (216,000 sq.ft.) (GIA) designed by Allies and Morrison. All three architectural practices are internationally acclaimed and award winning firms of the highest calibre (see notes below).

– Planning application submitted today to London Borough of Tower Hamlets
– Extensive public consultation has been undertaken over the last 12 months
– Details can be found at www.shapingwoodwharf.com
– New images of development released alongside revised plans

Continuing the redevelopment of East London

Canary Wharf Group plc (“Canary Wharf Group”) today announces that it has submitted planning applications for, a new 9.23 hectares (22.8 acres) mixed-use urban neighbourhood immediately east of Canary Wharf in central London. The new masterplan proposes the development of more than 3,000 homes and over 240,000 sq. m (2.57 million sq.ft.) (GIA) of commercial offices offering a range of floor plates that will appeal to a wide array of occupiers including the fast expanding TMT sector.

Commenting on the plans, Sir George Iacobescu, Chairman and Chief Executive of Canary Wharf Group plc, said:

“This is an exciting new project for Canary Wharf Group which represents the continued redevelopment of East London almost 30 years after the original transformation of Canary Wharf began. The revised masterplan will create a strong and complementary mix of uses, and provide new homes, offices and retail spaces set within a network of streets and public spaces, designed to support the social life of new residents, employees and the surrounding community. It is a reflection of the demand we are seeing in the market, and is an opportunity for us to further expand the appeal of Canary Wharf by creating a new and exciting mixed use neighbourhood at Wood Wharf which will offer greater diversity and amenity and a richer urban fabric for the fast emerging City Centre of Canary Wharf.”

A range of house types are proposed for 3,100 residential units, including town houses and mid and high-rise apartment buildings. Housing tenure will include private housing for sale and rent and intermediate and affordable housing for rent. The planned offices will be capable of accommodating a wide range of company sizes and types, in line with the mixture of demand we anticipate including the expanding TMT sector in East London. This vibrant, new development is expected to create over 17,000 new jobs, of which we expect around 3,500 will be taken by local residents.

Building a Community

The broad range of public spaces, homes, offices and shops is designed to offer a rich and diverse working and living environment. This diversity is a key element of the new Masterplan. The shops and restaurants will include a range of names new to London to further expand Canary Wharf’s broad retail offer. The Masterplan provides for two hotels and serviced apartments. The scheme also includes 3.6 hectares of interconnected public spaces with two squares and two parks, one based on a typical London square, the other lining the southern dock edge of Wood Wharf with 1km of dockside boardwalks.

Plans for Wood Wharf include a two-form entry primary school, a multi-purpose sports hall and a healthcare facility. The highly successful Arts and Events Programme at Canary Wharf will be expanded and will offer a range of cultural activities and events in new venues and the planned public spaces at Wood Wharf.

Transport considerations include the installation of London Cycle Hire bicycles, a new bus route through the site and improved pedestrian connectivity to London Underground, DLR & Crossrail. Two car clubs are planned along with parking for 1,100 spaces.

On the importance of public space, Robert Maguire, Project Director for Wood Wharf said:

“With an extensive new network of public spaces and water’s edge boardwalks, the Wood Wharf masterplan places high quality public space at the heart of the design process. The principle achievement of the masterplan – the ‘glue’ which holds the neighbourhood together – will always be its well-considered network of streetscapes, squares, parks and water spaces. We are building a community that will both support, and be supported by, the success of Canary Wharf and the 110,000 people that work and visit Canary Wharf each day.”

Next Steps

Herzog & de Meuron and Stanton Williams have been appointed to work alongside Allies and Morrison in designing the first phase buildings within Wood Wharf. If planning permission is granted, construction is expected to start in Q4 2014 with the first buildings to be completed in 2017.

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skyscraper for east London appeared first on Dezeen.

Red brick buildings wrap around an elevated piazza at this education centre in Rwanda by German office Dominikus Stark Architekten (+ slideshow).

Dominikus Stark Architekten used over half a million handmade clay bricks to build the walls, floors and columns of the Education Centre Nyanza, which is located on a road between the towns of Kigali and Butare.

The original brief called for a sheltered forecourt to extend a small existing building. The programme later expanded to encompass various educational projects, forming a self-contained complex where teaching rooms are clustered around a courtyard.

Comparing the design to local agrarian architecture, Dominikus Stark explained: “The complex, in analogy to local building tradition, is set like a boulder in the landscape.”

There are no openings in the outer walls of the complex, as all windows face inwards towards the central piazza. An internet cafe at the southern entrance to the site is the only space that opens to the surroundings.

Narrow patios and brick columns create intermediate spaces between the courtyard and the surrounding rooms, which include a library, a language lab, three classrooms and an administration block.

Ceilings are made from thin sheets of papyrus, while wicker doors and gates were constructed by local basket makers.

“Local craftsmanship gives the building a simple elegance and combines the various elements of the complex to form a robust, clear unit,” said Stark.

A dining hall with one glazed wall allows a variety of different activities – such as talks, parties or even weddings – to spill out into the courtyard.

Gaps in the brickwork facilitate natural ventilation, plus mono-pitched roofs are angled inwards to allow rainwater to be collected and recycled.

Photography is by Florian Holzherr.

Here’s a project description from Dominikus Stark Architekten:

Education Centre Nyanza, Rwanda

The Central African State of Rwanda, commonly known as the “land of a thousand hills”, is rarely the focus of West European interests. On a private initiative, on the road in Nyanza connecting the country’s most important towns Kigali and Butare, a new IT Centre has been built. While the initial order was to design a new roof over a forecourt, after first discussions the idea was born to build a training centre with lighthouse character, with a future-oriented curriculum and training options.

In the agrarian structure, the complex – in analogy to local building tradition – is set like a boulder in the landscape. New buildings grouped around a central piazza integrate the existing building into the new layout. The individual buildings have no outward-facing openings, but are oriented to and open up to the centre. Only the publicly accessible internet cafe with copy shop opens up to the outside and forms the forecourt and entrance to the facility.

Inner courtyards and rows of columns form a filter between the buildings and the central piazza in the middle. The resulting refuge options permit parallel usage. Only the dining hall, which is also used for weddings and movie evenings, opens directly onto the main piazza and resolves the spatial boundary to the exterior. The buildings’ language of colour and form makes reference to local materials. Clay, the traditional building material, manually processed to form fired clay bricks, has been used for the whole complex. The reduction to three basic materials – bricks, steel, and wickerwork – as construction, protection, surfacing or decoration with function, recurs throughout the entire building.

A simple ventilation concept in combination with the thermal storage capacity of the solid brick walls provides a comfortable indoor climate. The way the roof structure is oriented to the inner courtyard also has a functional background: the gathering of rainwater, which is so precious in these latitudes. Because of the shortage of wood, it is not used for building purposes. Local craftsmanship such as the papyrus ceiling linings or the wickerwork of the restaurant doors and courtyard gates made by local basket makers gives the building a simple elegance and combines the various elements of the complex to form a robust, clear unit. The involvement of local craftsmen and others promotes acceptance and contributes to economic and architectural sustainability.

Project: Education Centre
Location: Nyanza, Rwanda
Architect: Dominikus Stark Architekten
Project Area: 5500 m²
Civil Contractors: Stanbuild

Functions: administration, classrooms, language laboratory, library, kitchen, dining room, internet cafe and copy shop
Area of facility: 2400 sqm
Effective area: 1000 sqm
Numbers of bricks: 575,000 bricks
Visible length of joints: 150,000 m
Length of papyrus: 24.000 lfm
Weight of chimney: 52.000 kg
Brick manufacturers: local one-man-companies, burned in a cooperative
Brick size: 200 x 100 x 62mm

Members of staff: Markus Seifert, Adi Wiesenhofer
Consultant structural engineer: Marcel Enzweiler
Materials used: Handmade bricks; steel, wicker, papyrus

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and wicker by Dominikus Stark Architekten appeared first on Dezeen.

This concrete house in Tokyo was designed by Japanese firm Apollo Architects & Associates for a family that regularly accommodates foreign exchange students (+ slideshow).

As well as two bedrooms and a large family living room for the house’s main occupants, Apollo Architects & Associates included a pair of guest bedrooms that open out to a private terrace at the front of the house.

“One of the key design concepts is to respect the privacy of the family and guests to achieve comfortable and relaxing lifestyles,” said studio principal Satoshi Kurosaki.

The terrace is invisible to people passing on the street because it is hidden behind stainless steel louvres, which interrupt the raw concrete that otherwise dominates the house’s exterior walls.

“The authentic and solid materiality of concrete is contrasted by sharp stainless steel louvres and this facade gives a touch of elegance to the streetscape of the neighbourhood,” added Kurosaki.

Named Calm, the three-storey residence is located in Bunkyo, just north of central Tokyo.

Rooms are arranged around a courtyard in the south-east corner of the building. On the ground floor, it sits adjacent to a music room and a traditional Japanese room that can also function as a spare bedroom.

Sliding doors allow all three spaces to open out to one another, as well as to the entrance hall and dining room behind.

“The floor can be used as a large open space welcoming many guests on occasions such as lectures, parties and more,” said the architect.

Balconies overlook the courtyard from the first and second floors above, plus a steel staircase connects it with a terrace on the roof of the building.

The living and dining room occupies the majority of the second floor, creating a space big enough to host a large group. A kitchen lined with mosaic tiles runs alongside and is lit from above by a narrow rectangular skylight.

Guests also have access to a separate bathroom, which is located on the ground floor.

Photography is by Masao Nishikawa.

Here’s a project description from Apollo Architects:

Calm

This three-story residence is designed to function not only as a house but as a guesthouse that occasionally accommodates foreign guests and exchange students. It is made of concrete using wood formworks composed of 40mm-wide cedar.

The authentic and solid materiality of concrete is contrasted by sharp stainless steel louvres covering the second floor window, and this facade gives a touch of elegance to the streetscape of the neighbourhood. Louvres effectively provide security and privacy at the same time.

On the first floor, a Japanese-style room, which is used as guest room, is located in the back. It is attached to a courtyard enveloped in exposed concrete walls with inscribed horizontal patterns of cedar formworks. By opening the sliding doors, it is seamlessly connected to open space facing the street.

The first floor can be used as a large open space welcoming many guests on occasions such as lectures, parties and more. Toilets and bathrooms for guests are located next to the entrance hall. A soundproof music studio is located at the end of the entrance hall. It is illuminated with soft natural light from the courtyard filtering through the translucent glass facade.

On the second floor, main bedroom and child’s room are located adjacent to the courtyard. Each room has a private courtyard and individual or common bathroom attached. One of the key design concepts is to respect privacy of the family and guests to achieve comfortable and relaxing life styles.

Spacious family room with an attached bathroom is provided on the third floor. By fully opening up wide stainless steel windows, the interior space is integrated with the courtyard of exposed concrete. One can access the roof balcony by exterior stairs from the third floor.

Our goal is to create an ultimate space for relaxation, like a hotel lobby or a salon, where one can feel free to enjoy himself/herself and appreciate elegant Joseon Dynasty-style furniture and art works that are placed here and there.

The interior and the exterior merge into each other at intermediate zones, and the host and the guests gather in harmony. This very atmosphere represents the warm welcoming hospitality of the Japanese culture.

Architecture: Satoshi Kurosaki/APOLLO Architects & Associates
Location: Bunkyo ward, Tokyo
Date of Completion: April 2013
Principal Use: Private Housing

Structure: Reinforced Concrete
Site Area: 125.81 sqm
Building Area: 88.05 sqm
Total Floor Area: 225.67 sqm (70.55 sqm/1F, 74.53 sqm/2F, 73.67 sqm/3F, 6.92 sqm/PHF)

Structure Engineers: Masaki Structure (Kenta Masaki)
Facility Engineers: Shimada Architects (Zenei Shimada)
Construction: Maekawa Construction
Exterior Finish: Exposed Concrete
Floor: Ash Black Oil Flooring
Wall: Stucco
Ceiling: Stucco

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designed to accommodate exchange students appeared first on Dezeen.

News: John Pawson has become the latest designer of a holiday home for Alain de Botton’s Living Architecture project with his proposal for a black brick lodge in the Welsh countryside (+ slideshow).

Named Life House, which translates as Tŷ Bywyd in Welsh, the single-storey residence was designed by John Pawson Architects for an isolated site on the lower slopes of a valley near the small town of Llanbister.

It will become the eighth residence in the Living Architecture series, which was initiated by author and philosopher Alain de Botton to promote modern architecture by offering members of the public a chance to stay in new architect-designed houses.

Pawson’s design features a cross-shaped plan where rooms are set along the edges of two intersecting corridors. Large rooms described as “contemplative spaces” will be positioned at the ends of each corridor, including two set into the hillside and two facing out across the landscape.

Handmade Dutch bricks will be used to construct the building, creating an all-black facade and a contrasting white interior. These will be complemented by terrazzo flooring and oak ceilings.

The house will be available to rent from 2015 and will offer three bedroom suites for guests.

Other Living Architecture projects due to open in the next two years are the Peter Zumthor-designed Secular Retreat in Devon and a house inspired by fairytales by FAT and Grayson Perry for Essex. The first completed house in the series was MVRDV’s Balancing Barn, which cantilevers over a hillside in Suffolk.

Here’s a project description from Living Architecture:

Life House/ Tŷ Bywyd

In mid Wales, near the small town of Llanbister, amidst a landscape of rolling hills, Living Architecture has invited the architect John Pawson to create a timeless house of simplicity and beauty – Life House/ Tŷ Bywyd.

The site lies on the lower slopes of a small and intimate Welsh valley, remote and away from any near neighbours. The house has been designed to reflect the surrounding undulating landscape. Carefully placed to take advantage of the distant Welsh views, it is a series of ‘rooms’ set along two long corridors, at right angles to one another. Each corridor leads to two separate spaces of contemplation, one semi-submerged in the ground, the other set in the wider landscape. Three bedroom suites are individually created for the experience of music, reading and bathing.

The house will be constructed of Dutch handmade bricks; black for the exterior and white for the interior. As would be expected in such a finely detailed John Pawson designed house, the polished terrazzo floor, set against the white brick, and light oak timber ceilings, will create a peaceful and life calming space to spend time in.

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Alain de Botton’s Living Architecture project appeared first on Dezeen.

This combined dental clinic and beauty salon in Takashima, Japan, by Osaka designer Ryutaro Matsuura features a plain white facade that conceals windows and patios behind perforated metal screens (+ slideshow).

Ryutaro Matsuura designed the two storey building to accommodate the White Essence Takashima dental surgery on its lower level, while the first floor houses Salon de M, a beauty clinic offering non-surgical procedures such as hair removal and slimming treatments.

To break down the scale of the building, the volume was conceived as a cluster of four structures surrounding a central courtyard. “We thought of making four small buildings and uniting them like a ring,” said the architect.

Treatment rooms and reception areas are contained within the four perimeter blocks, while the space between becomes a double-height atrium with a glass ceiling, used as a patient waiting room by both businesses.

Windows line the perimeter of the dentist’s treatment rooms but are fronted by “buffer zones” comprising enclosed double-height patios. Perforated metal screens are positioned in front to allow daylight to enter without compromising privacy for patients.

“This made cozy treatment spaces with soft daylight and patients’ privacy,” said Matsuura.

A mixture of square and rectangular windows perforate the walls of the beauty clinic, creating views both into the courtyard and out to the external patios.

Each of the four blocks has a mono-pitched roof designed to allow snow to fall away during the winter season.

A low concrete wall surrounds the site and integrates benches that Matsuura hopes will encourage activity around the building.

“We hope that this building will endear itself to the town’s people and be nurtured by them as a new landmark of the town,” he added.

Photography is by Nacasa & Partners.

Here’s a project description from Ryutaro Matsuura:

White Essence Takashima and Salon de M

We planned to build a facility comprised of the aesthetic dental clinic “White Essence Takashima” on the first floor and the aesthetic salon “Salon de M” on the second floor, which is owned by one dentist and located in a residential area of the northwestern part of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. What the client requested to us was “The building can give neighbourhood a sense of affinity and good impressions as a symbolic object in the town”.

We thought that putting together the necessary functions into one square-shaped ‘box’ should be avoided because the town’s people would not heart such a dominating building. So, we thought of making four small buildings and uniting them like a ring.

We also gave them shed roofs in order to slide the accumulated snow off the surface considering their heavy winter snowfalls. That is how we created a community-friendly shape bundling the slanted roofed boxes which are snuggling up to each other.

In regard to the interior space, we made the space enclosed by four buildings into a void space with a top light. It was turned into a comfortable place with varied natural light. We fixed perforated metal screens on the outside of the windows of the first floor treatment rooms to set up buffer spaces bridging the inside and the outside. This made the cozy treatment spaces with soft daylight and patients’ privacy.

The fence around the premises is punctuated by partial 350 mm setbacks that can be used as benches by any pedestrians. This design should alleviate a sense of rejection.

We hope that this building will endear itself to the town’s people and be nurtured by them as a new landmark of the town.

Project name: White Essence Takashima, Salon de M
Use: aesthetic dental clinic (1F), aesthetic salon (2F)
Location: Shin’asahi-cho, Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture, Japan

Site area: 1536.76 square metres
Floor area: 364.87 square metres
Date of competition: November, 2013
Client: Uehara Dental Clinic
Design: Ryutaro Matsuura

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with concealed windows and patios appeared first on Dezeen.