May 22
Pop tap
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The meeting between a line and a curve is the basis on which it develops throughout the project POP. Meeting between tradition and innovation, origin ..
Apr 16
The Bike Dock
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This wall-mounted bike rack is a simple and stylish solution to protect and store your bike inside your apartment. The Bike Dock enriches your living ..
Apr 15
Water treatment facility by Skylab Architecture features a roof of grass-covered fins
Posted in: green roofs, infastructure, slideshowsSeven concrete fins provide a green roof that collects rainwater at this new engineering facility for a wastewater treatment plant in Portland, Oregon, by local firm Skylab Architecture (+ slideshow).
The Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant was built in 1950 to process the Portland’s combined wastewater and stormwater, and now serves 600,000 residents. Skylab Architecture was tasked with creating new office facilities for the plant’s engineers and public reception areas.
The single-storey structure has a curved plan designed to trace the path of the sun. The seven roof fins form a linear sequence over the top, turning the building into a series of angular grass-covered hills that appear to fold up from the landscape.
Each of these fins features an integrated collection system that channels rainwater down to the nearby Columbia Slough waterway.
“Inspired by the native landscape and its industrial past, the building is an elegant combination of landform, indigenous planting, formal geometry, and durable construction systems that support staff and the public interface,” explained the architect.
In contrast with the plant-covered southern facade, the building’s northern elevation comprises a glazed curtain wall with a serrated surface.
Workspaces for up to 36 engineers are located just behind, replacing the mobile units that had served as offices for the previous 16 years. South-facing clerestory windows bring light into these spaces from above, filtering through steel louvres.
A new reception welcomes guests to the plant, while meeting rooms accommodate talks and other public events. These spaces lead out to a grass lawn that functions as a common space for staff and visitors.
Here’s a project description from Skylab Architecture:
The Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant Engineering Building
The Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant was constructed in 1950 as an industrial site to treat the city’s combined wastewater and storm water now serving 600,000 residents in Portland, Oregon. In recent times, this municipal works project has become increasingly public through efforts to highlight the importance of sustainable infrastructure. Over the past 16 years, engineering staff on site worked out of portable trailers that became unsuitable for occupation.
The new 11,490 square-foot Engineering Building and site development project was proposed to create replacement office space while also establishing a new public interface for the Plant. The program included office space for 36 engineers and construction management staff, a visitor reception space and public meeting spaces all to be developed within a sustainable landscape.
The new single-storey building was oriented along the path of the sun featuring seven folded cast-in-place concrete roof forms that channel storm water sustainably through the eco-roof. The storm water then drains along the berms into a visible storm water collection system leading back to the Columbia Slough.
As an intentional demonstration, the building and its immediate landscape employ signage and educational elements to celebrate the Columbia Slough ecosystem where the project is located as well as share information about the regional watershed. Inspired by the native landscape and its industrial past, the building is an elegant combination of landform, indigenous planting, formal geometry, and durable construction systems that support staff and the public interface.
The site development transformed and redefined the transportation traffic flow to create a newly formed pedestrian central green space used for educational tours of the plant and as a commons for the overall plant staff. This commons space replaced the original axial road leading into the plant improving vehicular circulation, plant security, parking organisation to create a shared central gathering space.
Juxtaposing the soft, vegetated southern edge, the building’s northern facade is a dynamic, serrated curtain wall that tracks the circular path of the commons. Exterior stainless steel solar shades and a system of clerestory windows create modulated day lighting in concert with a fully glazed operable north facade connecting the interior spaces with the central green space.
The mechanical system is a heat pump system that taps into the plant’s process water source for heating and cooling. While the building has a photovoltaic system it also benefits from an on- site co-generation plant for power.
Owner: City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services
Architect: Skylab Architecture
Contractor: Skanska USA Building
Engineer: Solarc Architecture and Engineering, Inc.
Engineer: Catena Consulting Engineers
Landscape: 2-ink Studio Landscape Architecture
Lighting: Biella Lighting
Civil Engineer: Vigil-Agrimis Inc.
Environmental Graphics: The Felt Hat
The post Water treatment facility by Skylab Architecture
features a roof of grass-covered fins appeared first on Dezeen.
Apr 06
Masterknife F.O.R.
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Multipurpose kitchen tool: knife, turner, scraper. Designed for F.O.R. brand. For Fun and Function.It is possible to test it during Gifts & Premiu..
Feb 28
LAM
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LAM is a pellet stove with an iconic shape that matches elegance and smart design. The essentiality of its architecture is in contrast with the metall..
Feb 25
bathroom conception
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A modern solution that presents a bathroom conception and function from a new perspective: a shower and a sink can exist as one object. “Two in ..
Jan 25
This soil treatment centre in Copenhagen by Danish studio Christensen & Co was designed to resemble the mounds of earth being used to sculpt the landscape of a developing harbour-side community (+ slideshow).
Soil Centre Copenhagen is located on the coastal edge of Nordhavn, a new urban quarter underway to the north of Copenhagen’s centre. It was designed by Christensen & Co as a facility for decontaminating soil excavated from construction sites across the city.
The building has an angular profile, which slopes up from the ground to create the shape of two connected hills, and its outer walls are clad with rusty panels of pre-weathered steel.
“Soil Centre Copenhagen grows out of the landscape with its characteristic shape and rusty red facades,” said the architects. “The building has a distinctive silhouette against the vast horizon, and is an integrated part of the landscape and an obviously man-made object.”
The roof surfaces are covered with plants and grasses, intended to fit in with ponds and shrubs already present nearby. The architects also hope that in time trees and bushes will grow over the structure.
“In this sense the building makes up for the piece of the landscape it has occupied, and will help preserve the natural biodiversity of the area,” they said.
There are more plants inside the building, where the architects have added a living wall and a row of trees inside a double-height entrance lobby.
Offices and laboratories are arranged around this space, while garage and workshop areas are positioned on either side.
Wooden shelving grids are build into the walls to provide storage and seating areas in various spaces and skylights help to bring daylight through the interior.
Photography is by Adam Mork.
Here’s a project description from Christensen & Co:
Soil Centre Copenhagen
Between the sky and the ocean
On the edge of Øresund, where the sky meets the ocean behind the Freeport and the Container Terminal lies Copenhagen Municipality’s new soil treatment centre, Soil Centre Copenhagen. It is here millions of cubic metres of dug up soil from construction projects and metro building sites around Copenhagen create new ground for Copenhagen’s new urban area Nordhavn.
The landscape at Nordhavn is flat and makes for a fascinating and ever-changing scenery, giant piles of soil and huge excavations. To the north-west of Soil Treatment Centre, Copenhagen, the landscape is contrastingly lush with little green hills, shrubbery and little ponds and lakes fringed with rushes. A wild nature site filled with sounds from birds, swans and mewing seagulls. It is also here the protected European Green Toad, has made a new home for itself.
With this very unique context Soil Centre Copenhagen grows out of the landscape with its characteristic shape and rusty red facades. The building has a distinctive silhouette against the vast horizon, and is an integrated part of the landscape and an obviously man-made object.
The facades are clad in stretch metal made from rusty weathering steel. On the roof tall grass and, in time, even smallish bushes and trees will grow. In this sense the building makes up for the piece of the landscape it has occupied, and will help preserve the natural biodiversity of the area. The weathering steel is protected by a red layer of rust, visually connecting it to the area and the ambitious environmental profile of the building.
The building consists of an office section for employees, laboratories, dressing rooms, two large workshops, garages and storage spaces. At the centre of the building the office section makes for a peaceful oasis with a view of the surroundings through the carefully placed windows, each offering beautifully framed views of the landscape or the waters of Øresund. At the same time, placement of the windows in the facade optimises the use of natural light, so the character and quality of that light becomes an integrated part of the architectural narrative.
A green and luxuriant interior
Two large indoor trees, along with the lush plant wall, create a green and delightful internal contrast to the dusty and rough exterior environment. A large number of roof windows shower the building with a pleasant light from above, and along with the facade windows, allows for some very good natural light conditions in the office section. The floor plan encourages interdisciplinary synergy between the centre’s very different departments ranging from engineers to excavator drivers.
The first DGNB certified building in Nordhavn
Soil Centre Copenhagen is the first DGNB certified building in Denmark built after the test phase has ended and the very first certified building in Nordhavn. It is a zero-energy building, which combines passive and active energy efficiency measures based on an overall view, which encompasses energy efficiency, building materials and social aspects. The design of the building results in an extremely low energy consumption and the necessary energy is provided using geothermal energy from the many kilometres of piping underneath the black asphalt in front of the building as well as solar panels and solar cells integrated into the slanting roof surfaces.
Soil Centre Copenhagen
General contractor: CPH City & Port Development
User: Copenhagen Municipality. The Technical and Environmental Administration
Area: 1,800 m2.
Architect: Christensen & Co
Engineer: Grontmij
The post Soil treatment centre by Christensen & Co
designed to look like piles of mud appeared first on Dezeen.
Jan 10
Triangle’s
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Docking speakers designed in the motif of a triangle. Easy to carry, and to work together as Bluetooth. In addition, the speaker, as well as interior ..
Nov 11
Cogwheel Hook
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The functioning in this hook works in the same way as a cogwheel, creating a flexible and variable hook that can look different depending on which wal..
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