Hasta La Ideas

Workshops clad in timber batons sit atop this children’s centre outside Paris by French architects SOA.

Surrounded by houses and offices, the two-storey Gavroche centre for children provides an education centre at the heart of a local community.

Playrooms occupy the building’s white-rendered ground floor, including a games library, a water games room and a multipurpose hall that opens out to an enclosed playground.

Upstairs, the box-like timber volumes contain cooking and reading studios, as well as a staff room and another water games rooms.

Glass doors lead out from here onto three separate roof decks, which face west towards a neighbouring park.

We published another interesting community centre in France this year – see our earlier story about a spiralling centre in Lille.

Photography is by Clément Guillaume.

Here’s some more text from SOA:

Gavroche centre for children
Multi care centre for children and games library

The Gavroche centre for children is a cultural and educational facility situated in the heart of the Victor Hugo development. The latter is part of a large urban renewal scheme consisting principally of housing, offices and commercial buildings organised around the Victor Hugo Garden.

The complex triangular plot is located within a heterogeneous built fabric: the park to the West, old town houses to the North and several new 5 storey buildings to the South.

The depth of the site provides the building with three different orientations. The workshops and games rooms are therefore turned towards the garden, most of the spaces benefiting from an unobstructed view out onto greenery.

The entrance space, with its forecourt set back from the street, acts as an urban connection with the rue Arago. The building slots into this complex site, preserving, as much as possible, a certain continuity with the existing urban fabric as well as with the layout of the Victor Hugo Garden.

The children’s centre stands out as a public facility. The scheme demonstrates cultural, educational and civic intentions with a strong social integration objective. The centre is a place for educational leisure, where children and adolescents are able to develop their own individuality through collective games and workshops.

The building’s functional organisation evolves around the central hall, focal point of the centre, entirely open to the public. Firstly, the scheme rests on a plinth consisting of horizontal lines echoing the configuration of the park. This base supports a number of timber boxes, which appear to be light structures with varied panelling, set out in a fragmented way.

The interior layout of the ground floor favours open spaces with maximum transparency, adapted to natural lighting requirements, as well as acoustic conditions. The rigorous organisation of the different entities allows for a great legibility of the various uses, while facilitating the children and visitor’s orientation throughout the building. This is also achieved with the use of a colorimetric language and appropriate signage.

Location: 50 rue arago, Zac Victor Hugo, Saint-Ouen, France
Client: City of Saint-Ouen
Project management: SOA (commissioned architect), Starck (feasibility consultants and economists), GA (acousticians)
Budget: 2.49 m€ht net floor area 851m²
Environmental aspects and performance standards: HQE environmental approach, THPE certification
Contract: full contract
Schedule studies: 40 weeks, site work 70 weeks
Completed: in 2011

British photographers Hufton + Crow have sent us new images of the Dresden Museum of Military History, which reopened last month following an extension by New York architect Daniel Libeskind.

Libeskind drove a pointed steel and glass shard through the skin of the historic museum to create new galleries on five floors and a 30 metre-high rooftop viewing platform.

When we originally published the story, many readers were outraged with the design, with one commentor suggesting it to be like a giant axe cutting through the building.

Critics also had a lot to say. Architecture journalist Rowan Moore described the building as both “breathtaking” and “breathtakingly dumb”, while critic Mary Lane compared it to “a piece of shrapnel freshly fallen from the sky” – read more about the critics opinions here.

Daniel Libeskind also recently completed a media centre for the University of Hong Kong – see our earlier story here and see all our stories about Libeskind here.

Another controversial museum we’ve published recently is the heavily criticised Museum of Liverpool – read more about that project here.

See also: more stories about museums.

Photographers Hufton + Crow have shot a number of high-profile projects this year – see their photographs of the Serpentine Pavilion by Peter Zumthor and the Olympic Aquatics Centre by Zaha Hadid.

Construction has begun on an aluminium-clad museum in Norway by Danish architecture studios COBE and Transform.

The Maritime Museum and Science Centre will be situated beside the river in the harbour town of Porsgrunn.

The roof of the two-storey building will be divided into square portions, all pitching in different directions.

A staircase at the centre of the museum will lead visitors up to a flexible first-floor exhibition hall, where the visible profile of the roof will suggest the location of possible partitions.

A central entrance hall leading to all other rooms will be located on the ground floor.

This isn’t the first time the two Danish firms have collaborated – see our earlier story about a competition-winning design for a cultural centre and library in Copenhagen.

Here’s some more information from COBE:

The Danish architecture offices COBE and TRANSFORM start construction of Porsgrunn’s new Maritime Museum and Science Center

Today the construction of the new Maritime Museum and Science Center starts in Porsgrunn in Norway. The building is designed by the Danish architecture offices COBE and TRANSFORM and conveys Norway’s trans- formation from a seafaring nation to a modern society based on knowledge industry. The new Maritime Museum and Science Center is expected to be completed already in autumn 2012.

A new landmark in Porsgrunn

The iconic character of the new Maritime Museum and its attractive location at the river close to the city center makes this new building a natural landmark for the city of Porsgrunn. Furthermore, the new museum building is the first step towards a big new master plan development for Porsgrunn City Center – also designed by COBE and TRANSFORM. The city of Porsgrunn has a long maritime history of shipping and the unique development of the region is clearly visible in the existing remarkable building structure of the area. The concept of the museum shows a high level of sensitivity towards the existing small buildings yet simultaneously stands out as a contemporary public building.

Lars Bendrup, director at TRANSFORM, says: ”The new Maritime Museum and Science Center starts up an important process to turn the back of the city to the front. In the future, the city of Porsgrunn will be oriented towards the river. The signaling effect will therefore be crucial to the city’s new situation”.

9 building volumes with pitched roofs

Taking into account the surrounding building structure, the new building is composed of 9 smaller building volumes with tilted and pitched roofs that are assembled into a larger building unit. A characteristic aluminum façade outlines the shape of the building and provides a vivid impression by reflecting the lights and colors of the surrounding landscape.

All public functions of the building are situated on the ground floor and have direct access to the outdoor areas including the new promenade towards the river. The central entrance area is the building’s main room from where all other rooms are distributed. This multifunctional space is defined by a central characteristic staircase that folds down from above and invites visitors upstairs to the large, enclosed exhibition area. Here various room heights and a distinct ceiling line emphasizes an airy and continuous space. The exhibition space is composed as an open flexible space, gently subdi- vided by the roof into 9 different spatial experiences. The 9 spatialities can be separated or combined thereby providing a sound functional setting for small and large exhibitions.
Dan Stubbergaard, owner of COBE, says: “The new Maritime Museum and Science Center balances between contextual adaptation and modernity.The interpretation of the context’s pitched roofs and small building volumes create the frames for a unique intenior with varying, vivid spatialities.”

The project is done in collaboration with the engineering firm Sweco and is expected to be completed in autumn 2012.

A slatted timber concert hall bulges through the glass atrium walls of this performing arts college in Cardiff by London studio BFLS.

Above: photograph is by Joe Clark

The 450-seat timber auditorium occupies one of three new blocks at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, which adjoin an existing building on the park-side site.

Above: photograph is by Joe Clark

A triple-height atrium and exhibition hall connects the separate blocks under a single metal roof.

A bridge across the foyer links the recital hall with a 180-seat theatre in a curved stone-clad block opposite.

Above: photograph is by Joe Clark

The third new block, which abuts the existing college building, houses a café and bar on the ground floor and a movement studio above.

Above: photograph is by BFLS

BFLS are best-known for designing the Strata tower in south London, which last year was awarded as the ugliest building in the UK – see our earlier Dezeen Wire here.

Above: photograph is by BFLS

Photography is by Nick Guttridge, apart from where otherwise stated.

Here’s some more information from BFLS:

Transformed Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama opens its doors to students

The newly completed Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff – Wales’ national music and drama conservatoire – opens to a new intake of students this month.

Above: photograph is by Joe Clark

Won in international competition in 2007, the scheme comprises an acoustically excellent 450‐seat chamber recital hall (the ‘Dora Stoutzker Hall’), a 180‐ seat theatre (the ‘Richard Burton Theatre’), four rehearsal studios, an exhibition gallery (the ‘Linbury Gallery’) as well as generous foyer areas, a terrace overlooking Bute Park and a new Café Bar.

The £22.5m project is funded by a grant from the Welsh Government, loan finance and £4m of philanthropic donations. The scheme has been designed to be BREEAM ‘excellent’.

The new buildings are situated within the Grade I listed Bute Park. Directly across the road from the new building is Cathays Park, the civic centre of Cardiff, consisting of a number of important listed buildings.

As Jason Flanagan, Project Director explains: ‘Our approach was two‐fold, to design the internal performance spaces from the ‘inside out’, looking at their acoustic and theatrical functionality as major drivers, whilst in parallel designing from the ‘outside in’, thinking about the civic presence of the building in its urban context.’

Above: photograph is by Joe Clark

Hilary Boulding, RWCMD Principal, adds: ‘These new facilities have completely transformed the College. They have inspired our staff and students, and provided us with the very best facilities in which to train our talented young artists and arts practitioners.

Above: photograph is by Joe Clark

Furthermore, the new development is rapidly becoming a major new landmark in Wales’ capital city, attracting new audiences to the College and in doing so, helping to significantly raise our profile.’

The design focuses on the core needs of the College community, namely an acoustically impressive sequence of performance and learning spaces which will encourage and inspire the College’s students.

Above: photograph is by Joe Clark

The client was very specific from the outset that the new buildings should act as a catalyst for positive cultural change and help foster greater artistic collaboration across the institution.

Above: photograph is by Joe Clark

Although the building appears to be a single structure it is in fact three separate new buildings and a renovated existing structure. Each performance space has been conceived separately, the individual components of the building united under a single floating roof, its height determined by the theatre fly‐tower.

The drama building forms a new façade on North Road while the chamber recital hall, clad with a timber screen consisting of light‐coloured cedar wood slats, sits amongst the park’s mature trees. Finishes of stone and timber create a sequence of warm and tactile interior spaces.

Above: photograph is by Joe Clark

The new entrance to the college opens out onto Bute Park and a treble‐height arcade forms a new spine between the new and old accommodation, linking the constituent elements, functioning as exhibition space for a range of creative and artistic output.

The Gallery also acts as the ‘lungs’ for the scheme, creating a natural stack effect which ventilates the public spaces.

Project details
Area: 4,400 m2
Status: Completed 2011
Value: £22.5 million

Above: photograph is by Joe Clark

Team
Client: Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama
BFLS team: Jason Flanagan, Paul Bavister, Jason Sandy, Anne Heucke, Kibwe Tavares, Armando Elias
Acoustic Engineer: Arup Acoustics
Structural & Services Engineer: Mott MacDonald
Lighting Consultant: Equation Lighting
Theatre Consultant: Theatre Projects Consultants
Cost Consultant: Davis Langdon

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See also:

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High School #9 by Coop Himmelb(l)au	Tour des Arts by Forma 6	New World Centre by Frank Gehry

Photographer Iñigo Bujedo Aguirre has sent us these photographs of a curved concrete library in San Sebastian with a narrow courtyard driven through its centre.

Completed in 2008 by Ander Marquet Ryan of Spanish architects JAMM, the Carlos Santamaría Centre is located on the campus of the University of the Basque Country.

Timber-panelled walls surround the secluded courtyard, which separates the two-storey building into two asymmetrical halves.

The library’s book collection is housed on two storeys of the larger half, while the smaller part contains separate study rooms and a lecture theatre.

The round concrete exterior walls converge into a point at the front entrance to give the building a teardrop-shaped plan. Students walk through this pointed entrance into a double-height colonnade, where L-shaped timber columns surround a glass wall and roof.

Photographer Iñigo Bujedo Aguirre previously photographed the helter-skelter-like Centro Niemeyer by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, which you can see here.

Here’s some information from the architect:

The Carlos Santamaría Centre, located in San Sebastian is an advanced data centre and library, linked to the Ibaeta University Campus and the result of a competition developed by the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).

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The building is conceived as a huge container, shaped from a spontaneous outline following the natural curve of the lot. The line is the wall containing the two blocks arranged in a north-south direction, and its vertex is at the place we consider the most important: the building’s main access, which opens up like a large mouth, pointing the vertex towards the sky.

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The division of the construction into two blocks also makes the creation of a private, inner garden possible, like an extension of the spaces that overlook it. It is a quiet, green area, accessible for strolling, reading and group meetings, always lighted from the south and north, an outdoor counterpoint to urban noise, inside the building.

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With regard to its construction, the principal façade of the building is a curved wall of 25cm made out of white self-compacting concrete. On the other hand, in the garden which divides the building the solution of the facades consists of IPE wood planks.

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Architect: Ander Marquet Ryan, JAAM sociedad de arquitectura s.l.p.
Quantity surveyor: Juncal Aldamizechevarría

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Collaborators: June Gómez Alonso, Emmanuele Pibiri, Naia Landa Méndez, Mario Domínguez Maestre
Structure: Minteguia y Bilbao

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Instalaciones: PGI (project), JG ingenieros (construction).
Developer: Universidad del País Vasco (UPV-EHU)

Construction company: Construcciones Moyua
Date of project: January 2008

End of construction: September 2008
Area: 24.000m²

See also:

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Médiathèque by Tétrarc	Multimedia Centre by Béal & Blanckaert	La Médiateque de Proville by TANK Architectes