Hasta La Ideas

Winblok is a South African construction innovation by inventor Al Stratford, former president of the South African Institute of Architects. Intended to be used in buildings constructed with masonry, it’s essentially a modular, pre-cast concrete window frame that negates the need for sills, reveals and the like; you just brick right up against it (and over it) and you’re done. A reveal on one edge is fitted for a window, and the architect specs out which way the Winbloks face, providing options for having the window flush with the inside wall or the outside wall. A variety of different window styles are designed to fit within the system, as well as louvres and burglar bars.

Winbloks are made in different heights for reasons of passive solar management. By cross-referencing the latitude of the building site, the architect can choose the appropriately-sized Winblok to create a “solar cut-off angle,” blocking direct sunlight while allowing in the ambient light. This is to lower cooling costs and obviate the need for additional shades and overhangs.

I’m not sure why these haven’t gained much traction outside of South Africa; any practicing architects want to chime in? While it’s designed for masonry construction and not, say, the dimension lumber platform-frame construction prevalent in much of the U.S., there’s plenty of places that use masonry construction in the American Southwest, so I’d imagine I’d have heard of this system before. Because it definitely isn’t new—Stratford used it to build his own house shortly after prototyping it, and that was back in 1980. Winblok hit the marketplace in 1985, and today Stratford’s company, Wintec Innovation, is still a successful venture.

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This mirror-clad visitor centre by Australian firm Charles Wright Architects was designed to be invisible amongst the surrounding trees of the Cairns Botanic Gardens in Queensland.

Comprising two buildings and a dividing promenade, the visitor centre was designed as a gateway to the gardens, which contain a selection of tropical plants from northern Australian rainforests as well as from across Southeast Asia.

Charles Wright Architects drew inspiration from the suit worn by the alien-hunter in the 1987 movie Predator to give both buildings a reflective outer coating that would play down their impact on the park landscape. “We proposed a design which literally reflects the gardens as camouflage for the building,” explain the architects.

Rather than cover the surfaces with a single polished plane of metal, the architects added a series of flat panels that break the facade down into facets. Each one sits at an incrementally different angle and helps to muddle the reflected images.

The pedestrian promenade runs across the site from east to west. To the north, one building contains a cafe and exhibition area for visitors, with a multi-purpose hall and a courtyard amphitheatre, while to the south a second block accommodates staff offices that open out to a long and narrow terrace.

Both buildings have non-linear shapes, generated by the routes of predefined pathways and locations of mature trees. They also have to nestle against the landscape at one end where the ground starts to climb upwards around them.

Charles Wright Architects have offices in Melbourne and Shanghai. The firm also recently completed a house that can withstand powerful cyclones. See more architecture in Australia.

See more stories about mirrors on Dezeen, including a polished steel pavilion by Foster + Partners and a playground pavilion in Copenhagen.

Photography is by Patrick Bingham Hall.

Here’s a project description from Charles Wright Architects:

Cairns Botanic Gardens Visitors Centre

Conceptual framework

We set-out to design a “green” building which represents a paradigm shift for Cairns, moving away from the conventional building vernaculars toward new and progressive solutions that can be applied anywhere on a tropical latitude. There was a collective desire to attract both national and international attention, which would also aid in creating new opportunities and connections to existing facilities, communities and groups.

Public and cultural benefits

A new, iconic gateway into the botanic gardens and tanks arts centre precinct – “a democratic public space under-cover” – a challenging new architecture for the tropics which will act as an attractor to assist Cairns in its mission to be seen as a progressive city nationally and globally significant.

Relationship of built form to context

Council called for the building to be long, low and blending seamlessly with the surrounding environment (ideally invisible). We proposed a design which literally reflects the gardens as camouflage for the building with visual effect similar to the suit as worn by the alien hunter in the original 1987 Predator film. We sited the new building to straddle and activate the pedestrian promenade linking the gardens with the Arts Centre, acting as an open and flexible conduit into the interpretive and performative spaces.

Program resolution

The functional brief was very tight for the allotted site and constrained by existing paths, roads, easements, mature trees and a gradient that made the delivery of universal access particularly challenging.

The northern block contains the café terrace and opens to the major interpretation display and information space.

The southern block is an office building for council staff with a naturally ventilated corridor serving a linear sequence of cellular office spaces that all open out to the shared staff terrace on the south. This thin plan configuration encourages maximum use of passive cross-ventilation, augmented by efficient ceiling fans. Individual AC control when combined with an insulated internal thermal mass helps to minimise annual energy use through a mixed mode operation.

Above: site plan – click for larger image

Integration of allied disciplines

The project team had a collective desire to develop a world-class ESD, flexible office and mixed use public facility which wasn’t reliant on complex technological solutions or costly maintenance. We collaborated closely with council’s public artist to incorporate art glass within the glazed promenade facades.

Cost/value outcome

The client engaged in the choice of costed design strategies for the planning and form. There were significant mutual benefits such as the non-briefed inclusion of the informal amphitheatre as an alternative to excessively high retaining systems. The project was delivered under budget.

Above: sections – click for larger image

Sustainability

ESD initiatives include solar panels for feedback into the energy grid, stormwater harvesting tanks, mixed mode air-conditioning systems, low energy light fittings throughout, low water usage fittings, long life cycle efficiency materials and construction, solar treatment to all windows, naturally ventilated circulation corridors and shaded exposed thermal mass internally.

Response to client and user needs

Cairns Regional Council sought fresh and challenging ideas to create a memorable piece of tropical architecture, which has unquestionably been achieved. The Visitors Centre has already become a new landmark for the city.

Above: elevations – click for larger image

Principal architect: Charles Wright Architects
Project team: Charles Wright, Richard Blight, Justine Wright, Katja Tsychkova
Project manager/s Charles Wright Architects / Cairns Regional Council / Aecom
Builder: Hansen Yuncken

Structural & Civil consultant: ARUP Pty Ltd
Hydraulics consultant: CMRP Pty Ltd
Electrical & Mechanical consultant: WSP Lincolne Scott Australia Pty Ltd
Quantity surveyor: Turner & Townsend
Landscape architect: JNP Pawsey & Prowse
ESD / Energy Efficiency consultant: Brad Pinches Consulting

Size: GFA 1415m2, cost $4.7 M
Time to complete: 4 months Design & Documentation, 10 months construction
Council: Cairns Regional Council
Client: Cairns Regional Council
Design software used: Autodesk AutoCad & Revit

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by Charles Wright Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Construction is now underway on a Zaha Hadid-designed cultural complex on the edge of a lake in Changsha, China (+ movie).

The project, which broke ground in October, features an 1800-seat theatre, a contemporary art museum and a smaller multi-purpose venue. Each building is planned as a grouping of petal-shaped volumes that curve around one another to create a central plaza and a series of connecting lawns, terraces and pathways.

Zaha Hadid Architects won a competition in 2011 to masterplan the site, which sits opposite Festival Island on the edge of Meixi Lake. As part of the project, the architects will add two pedestrian bridges leading over to the island.

The Grand Theatre will be the largest of the three buildings and will positioned at the entrance to the site, while the smaller 500-seat venue is to be positioned opposite and will open out to a sunken courtyard lined with shops and restaurants.

The museum is planned for the edge of Meixihu Road and will feature a central atrium that separates to form three wings. On one side, the gallery will lead out to an external plaza for use as a sculpture exhibition area or as a temporary event space.

Zaha Hadid Architects has been working on a number of other projects in China. The firm completed the mixed-use Galaxy Soho complex at the end of 2012 and is also racing to complete the Wangjing Soho complex before a rival developer that has pirated the design.

Other recent masterplans by Zaha Hadid Architects include a cluster of towers in Bratislava’s city centre and the redevelopment of an old textile factory in Belgrade. See more architecture and design by Zaha Hadid.

Other radical proposals for Changsha include a shape-shifting “transformer building” and plans to construct the world’s tallest building. See more architecture in China.

Here’s some extra information from Zaha Hadid Architects:

Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Art Centre

The International Culture & Arts Centre embodies a unique variety of civic nodes and spaces: A Grand Theatre, a Contemporary Art Museum, a Multipurpose Hall and supporting facilities. The central plaza is generated by the relative position of these separate buildings and offers a strong urban experience whereby the flow of pedestrian visitors that come from all sides of the site intersect and meet. In parallel it also stretches outwards to the neighbouring streets with unfettered and phenomenal views across Meixi lake with access towards Festival Island.

The Grand Theatre is the focal point of the Changsha International Culture & Arts Centre. It is the largest performance venue in the city with a total capacity of 1800 seats. Designed to host world-standard performances the building contains will contain all the necessary front of house functions, such as lobbies, cloakrooms, bars, restaurants, and VIP hospitality, as well as the required ancillary functions, such as administration, rehearsal rooms, backstage logistics, dressing and make-up rooms, and wardrobe.

The Museum’s composition of three fluid petals around its internal central atrium, juxtaposes of the various patchworks of gallery spaces in a truly seamless fashion. With outward views and balconies to its exteriors, it aims to engage the site’s unique location and surrounding views into some of its gallery spaces. An external plaza which faces Meixi Lake Road allows for outdoor sculptures, exhibitions and events to be extended to an expansive outdoor space.

The Small Theatre (Multipurpose Hall) is characterised by its flexibility. With a maximum capacity of 500 seats, it can be adapted and transformed to different configurations. It can therefore accommodate a broad range of functions and shows that span from banquets and commercial events to small plays, fashion shows and music. A commercial attraction, this venue shares seamless public access to retail areas and restaurant facilities, which are seated in an open and gently sunken courtyard linking visitors to and from the basement level.

Although these civic institutions are uniquely defined and separate, they supply each other in all respects within its setting with plazas offering visitors a tapestry-like sequence of urban ambiances that relate to the different institutions, inject the site with urban vitality. The working hours of the different venues also overlap to ensure continuity during the full 24 hour cycle; Operated during the evening, the Grand Theatre becomes active as the Museum begins to conclude its day-time operations whilst the Small theatre and retail/restaurants would be commercially available day and night. In this regard, they benefit from each other’s vicinity, ensuring that the site is lively 24 hours a day. This dynamic composition further establishes a powerful relationship with its surroundings, which confers monumentality to the ensemble.

Embodying values of functionality, elegance and innovation, the Changsha Meixi Lake International Culture & Arts Centre aims to become the new cultural and civic node for the city of Changsha, and well as global cultural destination.

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and Art Centre by Zaha Hadid Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Glass panels slide into the walls to create an outdoor living room at this lakeside house outside São Paulo by Brazilian architects Studio Arthur Casas (+ slideshow).

Named Casa Itu, the building is the main residence for a young family with two children. It is two storeys in height, but most of the rooms occupy the ground floor to create a long L-shaped plan.

Studio Arthur Casas used an earthy materials palette of sandy-coloured render and Brazilian teak wood to create a relationship between the house and the surrounding landscape.

“We always try to use local materials,” architect Alexandra Kayat told Dezeen. “We used local earth in the mixture of the colour for the facade. We tried to find a colour that would be as close as possible to tones found in the landscape, so the house would fit better in the landscape, as its quite large and horizontal.”

The living room sits at the outer corner of the plan, allowing two sides to open out to the garden. A wooden pergola cantilevers out beside it and has now (since the photographs) been fitted with a retractable canopy, while a supporting column is concealed behind the trunk of an indoor tree.

A timber deck stretches out along the edge of the rear elevation, where the architects have installed a swimming pool. From here, a staircase ascends to give access to another terrace on the roof.

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Studio Arthur Casas appeared first on Dezeen.

Frei + Saarinen’s first constructed residential building consists of a 40-meters-promenade that leads through spaces that are formed by L-shaped..