En 2009, la vieille église de Valer, petite ville du sud-est de la Norvège, avait disparu sous les flammes. Le studio Cebra basé à Copenhague a proposé une nouvelle architecture pour l’édifice qui doit être construit au même endroit. Un parti-pris visuellement impressionnant, à découvrir en images dans la suite.
This timber-clad house extension in Norway by Oslo studio Rever & Drage features curvy towers that point outwards like periscopes (+ slideshow).
Located on a hillside in the outskirts of Molde, the single-storey house had only a small bedroom and bathroom on its western side, so Rever og Drage Arkitekter was asked to increase the size of both of these rooms.
Two towers with quarter-circle profiles were installed on the roof of the extension to function as lightwells. The first curves west to bring evening sun into the bathroom, while the second is pointed east to let morning sun into the bedroom.
The bedroom extends outwards by just over a metre while the bedroom is now more than three metres wider. Together, the rooms frame a small terrace in the south-east corner of the plot.
The clients asked for views across the water towards a mountain range, so the architect added generous windows to the southern elevations of both rooms.
The exterior of the building is clad with white-painted timber boards to reference both the white-painted brick and brown timber panels of the existing house.
“We initially wanted to make a clear distinction between the extension and the original building,” explain architects Tom Auger, Martin Beverfjord and Eirik Skogen Lilledrange. “At the same time we did not want to create too much contrast in terms of materials and formal means.”
The architects carried out all the construction themselves.
The small city of Molde is best known as the home of an annual jazz festival and Danish architects 3XN recently completed a cultural centre to be used there during the festivities.
See more architecture in Norway, including a wooden house overlooking the sea and a small gabled summerhouse.
Photography is by Tom Auger.
Here’s a project description from Rever og Drage Arkitekter:
Extension of single-family house, Pedervegen 8, Molde
The new owner of a detached house in Molde wanted an extension of an existing bath- and bedroom. The house was still in more or less its original 1962-condition and appeared as a time-typical house from this period. That is Scandinavian functionalism with a flat roof and brown exterior panels contrasted with white brick walls. Furthermore the house had an elegant and somewhat closed composition.
Above: floor plan – click for larger image
The owner wanted to get the evening sun in the bathroom (which was on the east side of the building) and to keep the morning sun in the expansion of the bedroom without being exposed to neighbours. Views of the spectacular mountain range to the south were required from both rooms.
We initially wanted to make a clear distinction between the extension and the original building. At the same time we did not want to create too much contrast in terms of materials and formal means. We chose to use wood cladding, as the existing building, while the colour of the new cladding was taken from the original bright brick walls. We also changed the orientation of the panels. In order to solve the requested light preferences we brought in a new form, the quarter circle, which we held for a type of basic shape that could easily relate to architecture of the early sixties.
Above: cross section through bedroom – click for larger image
The bathroom has a clear everyday zone in the innermost part with shower, toilet and sink, while the outer section provides the more time-spending bathroom artifacts; a bathtub, a wide window sill with a view and a door to the garden. The latter part has a skylight in the shape of a curve facing west. The room bathes in the late evening sun when the west-coast weather allows it. Tiles are sober in the inner part, whilst the outer part has a more festive consortium. The contrast between the inner and outer zones of the bathroom was in danger of being too hard. The relaxing ambiguity is that the outer zone suggests peace of mind in its use, yet at the same the form here is intense. While the inner zone, which reflects more efficiency, has a calmer expression in terms of colours and patterns.
The bedroom is long and has three different zones. First, a dressing-section with a large mirror and a backstage-like atmosphere. In the middle a lounge area with a fireplace and a generous window facing the green to the north. At the end of the bedroom is the bed with a large window and its view to the south. Over the bed a vaulted ceiling with a window heralding the morning sun as well as giving a view of the stars at night.
Above: cross section through bathroom – click for larger image
In retrospect, we were surprised at the modest exterior contrast between the extension and the original building. To a large extent we believe this is due to the fact that the selected wood panels have about the same size as the bonds in the original brick wall, so that these two surfaces relate. This is particularly evident in the north facade. Also, the quarter circles seem to work as form and at the same time they provide the building with a touch of relieving humour.
Architects: Rever og Drage
Location: Bjorset, Molde, Norway
Design Team: Eirik Lilledrange, Martin Beverfjord, Tom Auger
Area: 20 sqm
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Rever & Drage appeared first on Dezeen.
Five aluminium-clad volumes are stacked up like a pile of horizontal skyscrapers at this office complex outside Oslo by Norwegian studio A-Lab (+ slideshow).
Above: photograph by Luis Fonseca
Located on the Fornebu peninsula outside the city, the building is a workplace for 2500 employees at Norwegian energy company Statoil, which asked A-Lab to design an iconic structure amongst the scenic landscape of the Oslo fjord.
Above: photograph by Luis Fonseca
“Large office complexes like this are usually made out of one solid volume,” the architects told Dezeen. “Our concept was to deconstruct the ‘office machine’ into five smaller volumes.”
Above: photograph by Luis Fonseca
The five 140-metre-long wings are piled up in a criss-crossing formation, with two at the bottom, two in the middle and a final one at the top. The blocks overlap one another at the ends, but the shape still creates cantilevers of up to 30 metres.
Above: photograph by Luis Fonseca
“Deconstruction into smaller volumes optimises the distribution of light conditions and views for each lamella,” explain the architects, comparing the structure to that of a leaf. “[It] also makes a more flexible and resilient ‘office machine’, as each office lamella works as an individual unit that can more easily adapt to changing needs.”
Above: photograph by Trond Joelson
A glazed atrium is positioned at the centre of the building and serves as the main entrance to each block. At ground level, this area functions as an indoor plaza for lunches and informal meetings, and is overlooked by balcony corridors on the floors above.
Offices are located in each three-storey wing and feature modular ceiling systems that allow spaces to be easily sub-divided. Most of these spaces are column-free, as the stacked construction creates additional supports.
A-Lab, led by architects Geir Haaversen and Odd Klev, won a competition in 2009 to design the Statoil regional and international offices. The studio had already been working on another project nearby: the IT-Fornebu Portalbuilding business centre at the former Oslo Airport. See more architecture by A-Lab.
We’ve featured a few structures that appear to be piles of smaller buildings. Others include a stack of four house-shaped apartments, a hotel that looks like a pile of houses and a skyscraper made of around ten separate buildings.
Above: photograph by Trond Joelson
Photography is by Ivan Brodey, apart from where otherwise stated.
Read on for more information from A-Lab:
Statoil regional and international offices
Fornebu, Norway
The new Statoil regional and international offices at Fornebu is result of an open competition won by Norwegian architects a-lab in February 2009, with completion of the building the autumn of 2012.
Above: photograph by Trond Joelson
Statoil is a Norwegian energy producer, the 57th largest company in the world by revenue, with about 30,000 employees in 37 countries. 2500 of these now work in this unique office building, with a spectacular view over adjacent park areas and the fjord of Oslo. The iconic structure seeks to reflect Statoil’s role as an innovative and internationally pioneering petroleum company as well as giving a new identity and pulse to the local environment.
Above: photograph by Trond Joelson
The Fornebu area, a previous site for Oslo’s main airport, is undergoing a radical transformation into an urban area, with commercial and residential buildings and public recreation areas.
Above: photograph by Trond Joelson
A key challenge of the design was to balance size and architectural expression with its surroundings, whilst at the same time introducing new impulses that enliven the park and commercial area. More specifically: how does one design a 65.000/117.000 m2 commercial building complex to make it blend with the idyllic shoreline of Fornebu?
A large part of the site has been transformed into a publicly accessible park and promenade along the fjord. The new office building stands on the site of the old airport’s multi-storey car park. The structure consists of five office lamellas of identical size, stacked on top of each other. The concept minimizes the environmental footprint of the building and gives a generous amount of space to the park.
Each lamella is 3 stories high, 140 meters long and 23 meters wide. The modules are oriented differently to optimize internal daylight conditions and views towards the fjord landscape. Inside, the modules create a communal atrium, with an “urban plaza” connecting many of the social functions on the ground floor. The design is rooted in the democratic principle of bestowing all users of the building with excellent working conditions that include stunning views and good light conditions.
The building design draws on the oil industry’s own construction forms and techniques. The steel superstructure enables the different modules to cantilever up to 30 meters. Escape stairs and services are concentrated in four giant concrete cores, which also stabilize the superstructure. The façade consistes of about 1600 prefabricated elements with integrated windows, insulation and solar-shading, a highly energy efficient solution with no visible fixings in the entire facade.
The central atrium is covered by a high-tech, “propeller-shaped” glass roof – the first of its kind in Scandinavia. The geometry can be described as a “soap-bubble”, finding the smallest surface area to close the volume between the modules. Considering the extra weight from snow, this construction was one of the most complex challenges of the project.
Above: photograph by Luis Fonseca
A communication tower in the communal atrium is the centre of the building’s social life; everyone passes through the atrium to and from work. In this way, spontaneous encounters and exchanges are fostered, which are very desirable for an international knowledge-based company such as Statoil.
Above: site plan – click for larger image
The office building has a high degree of flexibility to ensure that it can easily be adapted to changing future needs. A specially developed ceiling allows workspaces with separate units as small as 3×3 meters, each with access to power, sprinklers, ventilation and lighting. An interior almost free of columns makes it possible to easily adjust the number and size of workstations and meeting rooms according to a project or the tenant’s shifting needs.
Above: ground floor plan – click for larger image
The characteristic building is highly cost effective and has a calculated energy use of just 103 kWh/m2/yr. This is achieved through several methods, including using heat from the remote centralised heat source, 85% energy recycling and of course a well-insulated and airtight skin: The triple-glazed façade panels have an u-value of 0.6 and the air tightness of the construction aids reaching the very low energy consumption figures for the buliding.
Above: first floor plan – click for larger image
The construction of the building above ground was completed in less than 20 months, with a total of 2500 people from 30 countries having worked on site. Due to the very short construction period, most of the building, including steel and concrete superstructure, facades and glazed structures, was prefabricated off-site. Northern Europe’s biggest mobile crane was used for the assembly of the steel trusses.
Above: third floor plan – click for larger image
Thanks to thorough planning, advanced BIM-modeling and a fruitful solution-oriented dialogue, the team of the architects, client and owner, construction companies and all subcontractors were able to complete the complex design on schedule. The result is a building where the owner, contractor, architects, construction companies and user of the building have all expressed great satisfaction with the project.
Above: sixth floor plan – click for larger image
Although an untraditional office building, the new Statoil offices represent typical Scandinavian values by emphasizing democratic values and social equality. Both placement and orientation reflects optimized adaptation to its surroundings. Inside, the warm oak interior and cool aluminum reflects the soft northern daylight in different ways, and create a much appreciated contrast in the aspect of accessibility and universal design.
Above: basement floor plan – click for larger image
Name: Statoil regional and international offices
Location: Fornebu, Bærum, Norway
Completion: Autumn 2012
Construction: 20 months
Developer: IT Fornebu Property AS
Client: Statoil ASA
Above: office floor plan options – click for larger image
Total area: 117 000 m2 (65,500 m2 total office area + 51,500 m2 underground parking)
Cost: NOK 1.5 billion
Architects: a-lab (Arkitekturlaboratoriet AS)
Interior architects: a-lab (No) and Momentum Arkitekter (NO)
Landscape architects: Østengen og Bergo (NO) -concept, and Rambøll Norge (NO) -detail
Construction: Skanska (above-ground commercial building) / PEAB (foundation and underground structure)
Annual energy consumption, estimated: 103 kWh/m2
Average R-values (insulation): Windows (including frames) 0.8 W/m2K. Façades 0.18 W/m2K , roof 0.15 W/m2K
Energy source: District heating (85 % heat recovery)
Above: section – click for larger image
Materials:
Superstructure: pre-fabricated reinforced concrete and steel elements
Façades: glass and aluminium
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offices by A-Lab appeared first on Dezeen.
Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects has paid homage to the northern lights by constructing a titanium-clad cathedral that spirals up towards the sky (+ slideshow).
Danish studio Schmidt Hammer Lassen teamed up with Scandinavian firm Link Arkitektur to design the Cathedral of the Northern Lights in Alta, a Norwegian town located 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
The cathedral was conceived as a public attraction for tourists visiting the natural light display, officially known as the Aurora Borealis, which occurs when particles from the sun collide with the earth’s magnetic field. It can be observed frequently between late autumn and early spring.
With a spiralling body, the cathedral winds up to form a pointed belfry 47 metres above the ground.
“The Cathedral of the Northern Lights is a landmark, which through its architecture symbolises the extraordinary natural phenomenon of the Arctic northern lights,” said Schmidt Hammer Lassen partner John F. Lassen.
Shimmering titanium clads the exterior and was added to reflect the vivid green colours of the lights as they flicker across the sky.
“The cathedral reflects, both literally and metaphorically, the northern lights: ethereal, transient, poetic and beautiful,” added Lassen. “It appears as a solitary sculpture in interaction with the spectacular nature.”
The spiralling form continues inside the building, where offices, classrooms and exhibition areas wrap around a 350-person hall, which will be used for church congregations.
This isn’t the first time the northern lights have provided the inspiration for architecture. Henning Larsen Architects and artist Olafur Eliasson drew inspiration from the lights when designing the Harpa Concert and Conference Centre in Reykjavík, Iceland.
A number of architectural projects have been completed in the northern parts of Norway in recent years. Peter Zumthor built a memorial to commemorate suspected witches, while Reiulf Ramstad Architects has added platforms high up in the Norwegian mountains.
See more architecture in Norway »
Above: site plan – click for larger image
Photography is by Adam Mørk.
Above: ground floor plan – click for larger image
Here’s some more information from Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects:
Official inauguration of the Cathedral of the Northern Lights in Alta, Norway
The Crown Princess of Norway, Mette-Marit, has just inaugurated the Cathedral of the Northern Lights situated in the Norwegian town of Alta approximately 500 km north of the Arctic Circle. Even before the inauguration, the 47-metre-high cathedral, designed by schmidt hammer lassen architects in cooperation with Link Arkitektur, was perceived as a symbol and an architectural landmark for the entire area.
Above: basement level plan – click for larger image
In 2001, when the architecture competition for the Cathedral of the Northern Lights was arranged, the city council in Alta did not just want a new church: they wanted an architectural landmark that would underline Alta’s role as a public venue from which the natural phenomenon of the northern lights could be observed.
Above: long section – click for larger image
The significance of the northern lights is reflected in the architecture of the cathedral. The contours of the church rise as a spiralling shape to the tip of the belfry 47 metres above the ground. The façade, clad in titanium, reflects the northern lights during the long periods of Arctic winter darkness and emphasizes the experience of the phenomenon.
Above: cross section – click for larger image
Inside the main area of the cathedral, the church room creates a peaceful contrast to the dynamic exterior of the building. The materials used, raw concrete for the walls and wood for the floors, panels and ceilings, underline the Nordic context. Daylight enters the church room through tall, slim, irregularly placed windows. A skylight lights up the whole wall behind the altar creating a distinctive atmosphere in the room.
Above: front elevation
The cathedral, which can accommodate 350 people in the church room, also has administration offices, classrooms, exhibition areas and a parochial area.
Above: side elevation
Architect team: schmidt hammer lassen architects, Link Arkitektur A/S
Client: The Municipality of Alta
Area: 1,917 sqm
Construction sum: €16.2 million
Competition: 2001, 1st prize in restricted architecture competition
Status: Construction period 2009 – 2013
Engineer: Rambøll AS, Alta
Main contractor: Ulf Kivijervi AS
Art work: Peter Brandes
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Schmidt Hammer Lassen and Link Arkitektur appeared first on Dezeen.
Dutch studio MVRDV has given the new Oslo headquarters for Norwegian bank DNB a pixellated appearance by building a stack of brick and glass cubes.
The irregular arrangement of the six-metre wide cubes creates recessed openings across the facade, which MVRDV has used to add sheltered terraces to each floor and a new route from the waterfront towards the nearby railway station.
“We started with a massive slab and by removing pixels one by one we were able to create an arcade, terraces, a public passage, etcetera,” project architect Jeroen Zuidgeest told Dezeen. “By carving out volumes, we made sure every floor has access to interior and exterior terraces.”
The DNB Bank Headquarters is located within the waterfront development of Bjørvika Barcode that MVRDV masterplanned in collaboration with Norwegian architects a-lab and Dark. Each studio has designed one building for the bank and MVRDV’s is the first to complete.
At 17 storeys high, the building provides over 2000 flexible work spaces for employees and each floor accommodates a series of glass cubes where staff can hold informal meetings, have lunches or take phone calls.
Wooden bridges and staircases connect the floors both inside and outside, and it is possible to walk up one side of the building to the canteen and then back down on the other side.
“On one hand, you have this proud, strong iconography, and on the other hand you’re offered social spaces and human character on every floor,” said Zuidgeest. “None of the floors are the same and when you manoeuvre through the building you experience how each floor has its own character and qualities; each one has its own surprises.”
Above: photograph is by Jeroen Musch
The building is already in use, although the complex is scheduled to open officially in May 2013.
Above: photograph is by Jeroen Musch
MVRDV has designed a few buildings with pixellated volumes, including a pair of skyscrapers that caused controversy for bearing a resemblance to the exploding World Trade Centre on 9/11. See more projects by MVRDV »
Photography is by Jiri Havran, apart from where otherwise stated.
Here’s the full project description from MVRDV:
MVRDV completes DNB Bank Headquarters main building in Oslo
The central building of DNB’s new bank headquarter cluster developed by Oslo S Utvikling (OSU) is completed. The MVRDV designed main building has 17 unique floors and a surface of 36,500m2. The pixelated volume based on small-scale working units adapts to the various influences of the urban context, combining an efficient and flexible internal organisation with a variety of specific communal spaces such as the main entrance lobby, a transparent trading floor, a sheltered public passage, respect for urban view lines and collective terraces overlooking the fjord to the south. The glass and brick exterior expresses both the transparency and stability of DNB as a modern financial institution.
Above: photograph is by Jeroen Musch
The development of the new headquarter cluster is a strategic operation concentrating the DNB offices formerly spread out over Oslo at one location, aiming for synergy and a clear identity. The objective was to translate the social and democratic character of the organisation into a building with excellent working conditions and spatial qualities that would stimulate efficiency, identity and collaboration.
The design is based on an ideal work group of the bank, a pixel of 6×6 metres, whose versatility permits adaptation to the flexible nature of the organisation. Besides more than 2,000 flexible work spaces the building contains a panoramic 140 seat canteen on the top level, the executive lounge with a view over the fjord, the board room, in the heart of the volume DNB’s trading room with 250 work stations, and the main entrance with the reception and access to the concourse that connects to the two neighbouring volumes. The collective spaces are connected by a staggered continuous internal route of collective terraces, all being executed as glass pixels, encouraging informal meetings and communication between employees.
Above: photograph is by Jeroen Musch
This route meanders from the reception upwards through the building, connecting all 17 levels office levels with the communal areas. A series of wooden stairs and bridges allow employees to switch levels or even to walk up to the canteen on one side of the building and down on the other side. The route accommodates communal areas to the office floors and is made homely with a series of pantries, informal meeting areas, reading-rooms, lounges and fire places. It gives access to the various outdoor terraces and roof gardens. All these collective spaces offer views to the surroundings and transparency from out side. The route is naturally ventilated and has a high performance glass fit for the cold Norwegian winter.
The generic office floors recline and are recessed in various places to answer to the urban context creating communal indoor and outdoor areas and outstanding daylight conditions. At street level the building volume is opened to give space to sheltered entrance zones, and intersected by a public passage creating a public route between Oslo Central Station and the fjord. The pixelated design allows this specific response whilst being highly efficient and flexible. As a result, every floor of the building is both unique and generic: the pixelated volume makes the generic specific.
Above: photograph is by Jeroen Musch
The structure is conceived as a steel rack wrapped in a brick skin, covering all exterior terraces, walls and ceilings with bricks, which adopts Norwegian environmental standards and gives a human scale to the building. It appears as a rock, a strong shape within the boundaries of the Barcode.
The international Norwegian financial institution DNB decided to concentrate their twenty office locations currently dispersed over the city in the Bjørvika Barcode, an urban plan by MVRDV / DARK / a-lab next to Oslo Central Station. In 2007, the masterplan team was commissioned by developer OSU to design the urban concept for DNB’s headquarter complex. A new cluster of three volumes (80.000m2) and a common basement with a 3,000m2 underground concourse, which interlinks the three buildings of the bank, was developed. MVRDV was commissioned as architect for the central main building and co-responsible for the urban concept and concourse.
Above: photograph is by Jeroen Musch
MVRDV has collaborated with Norwegian co-architect DARK Arkitekter AS and various Norwegian engineering firms. Project management is executed by Norwegian firm Vedal Project AS. The second building of the DNB cluster is designed by A-lab and the third building by Dark Arkitekter, within the overall Bjørvika Barcode masterplan. The cluster will be officially opened May 14th 2013.
DNB is the largest financial services group in Norway. The Group consists of brands such as DNB, Vital, Nordlandsbanken, Cresco, Postbanken, DnB NORD and Carlson. In 2003, MVRDV, together with Norwegian firms Dark and a-lab, won the competition for the Bjørvika waterfront development with the design of the Bjørvika Barcode; a dense, open and differentiated urban master plan along Nyland Allé, that is developed and realised by OSU in phases. DNB Life Insurance (DNB Scandinavian Property Fund) bought the 3 buildings last year for 4,8 billion Norwegian krone.
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by MVRDV appeared first on Dezeen.
Sur une musique composée par Fieldscarecrow, Nicholas Buer nous présente cette superbe vidéo appelée simplement « Spirits ». Une captation réalisée au nord de la Norvège dans la zone de Tromvik : un lieu propice aux aurores boréales. Cette création est à découvrir en vidéo dans la suite de l’article.
This student housing block in Norway by MEK Architects is named MySpace, as the architects imagined the building as a social network where each of the 116 residents can get to know one another (+ slideshow).
Above: photograph is by Matthias Herzog
MEK Architects, comprising Spanish studio Murado & Elvira and architect Enrique Krahe, designed the housing block for the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim as part of the Europan housing design competition.
Above: photograph is by Matthias Herzog
Rather than group the building into separate apartments, the team decided to create large social areas that would unite every student, including a large lounge and a shared kitchen where everyone has their own separate storage area and fridge.
“The shared kitchen is the space where common life is negotiated,” explain architects Juan Elvira, Clara Murado and Enrique Krahe, and they describe how this ground floor space is used for social activities such as pancake contests and cooking seminars.
A lounge occupies most of the first floor and is divided into different areas, which students are encouraged to customise to suit their day-to-day activities.
Above: photograph is by Matthias Herzog
“The building can be looked upon as something that is unfinished, because it calls for permanent completion by its inhabitants in the search for a more satisfying community life,” say the architects.
Bedrooms line one edge of this lounge and also fill the four floors above, while study areas are positioned in the corridors and on balcony terraces, allowing students to easily work in groups.
The building is located at the end of two existing housing blocks and copies the roof pitches of its neighbours.
The facade is clad with pine and is painted in shades of grey and black.
Other student housing projects on Dezeen include a building modelled on a stack of baskets and a tower block with a patchwork of brown panelling on its facade.
See more stories about student housing »
Photography is by Miguel de Guzman, apart from where otherwise stated.
Here’s an explanation from MEK Architects:
‘MySpace’ student’s housing in Trondheim (Norway) is the outcome of a winning entry of Europan 9 by MEK Architects, Clara Murado, Juan Elvira and Enrique Krahe. The competition brief called for a student house between the Nidelva River and the main University Campus.
MySpace residence proposes the compression, transfer and conditioning of the relational capacities of urban space. Soon the client (a student-run association named SIT that looks after student room availability) showed the need to fit in some extra 40% rooms within the original volume, also lowering the already tight budget.
Above: photograph is by Matthias Herzog
Assuming the existing urban conditions, the student housing detaches as much as possible from the surrounding buildings and shapes its volume in order to extract potential from the views and sun. Open-air terraces are spread around the building. Through them, students can experience outside conditions and relate with the city and the far views.
In order to stress a local initiative that intends to promote Trondheim as a wood-friendly city, and also seeking new challenges about wood use in large buildings, the entire exterior volume of the building is cladded with fir (pine) wooden planks, displaying different treatments, compositions and layouts.
As a result of a special regulation that considers Elgesetergate as a road instead a street, no windows for rooms are allowed to be opened on that elevation. The front and the rear are thus conceived as thick containing membranes, while only corridors and lounge are able to look over the street.
The core of the building contains a multipurpose lounge with no hierarchy, or spatial definition, in which different ambiances are located. Room floors surround this lounge. The general layout is articulated by stripes occupying the space as they approach or distance the existing limits. Rooms mimic the building’s internal scheme, structured in functional bands (storage, prefabricated bathroom and a bed).
Since the construction started, and more details about the building were made public, a vibrant debate arose among residents-to be in specialized blogs and social networks. Architecture has still a long path to explore collecting data and seeking ways of transferring feedback into the making, just as information architects or videogame designers would do.
Above: ground floor plan – click above for larger image
Above: first floor plan – click above for larger image
Above: second and third floor plan – click above for larger image
Above: fourth floor plan – click above for larger image
Above: fifth floor plan – click above for larger image
Above: roof plan – click above for larger image
Above: cross section – click above for larger image
Above: cross section evacuation stairs – click above for larger image
Above: cross section – click above for larger image
Above: longitudinal section – click above for larger image
Above: south elevation – click above for larger image
Above: east elevation – click above for larger image
Above: north elevation – click above for larger image
Above: east elevation – click above for larger image
Above: exploded axonometric diagrams – click above for larger image
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by MEK Architects appeared first on Dezeen.
Stone bleachers climb onto the roof of this cultural centre in Molde, Norway, by Danish architects 3XN, creating open-air seating for visitors to the jazz festival hosted there each year (+ slideshow).
Located in the heart of the small town, the Plassen Cultural Centre will become a hub for the July event, which is one of the oldest jazz festivals in Europe and attracts around 100,000 tourists.
The external staircase adjoins the northern wall of the building, linking the neighbouring market square with a roof terrace that accommodates a sunbathing lounge, an exhibition area and a sculpture garden.
The entrance to the three-storey building is positioned at the foot of the stairs, and leads into a concert hall through a triple-height atrium.
“There must be room for celebration in this building, both inside, on top of it and around it,” said 3XN’s Jan Ammundsen.”It must be able to withstand being invaded by happy people throughout the year, year after year.”
A jazz museum is also included inside the building, alongside a library, a small gallery and a series of rehearsal studios.
The architects used granite for all the exterior surfaces, which they claim “gives the building a bright monochrome expression” that contrasts with the “warm red light” that shines out through the windows.
Other projects completed by 3XN in the last year include another culture centre with glass hills outlined on its facade and an experimental food laboratory.
See more buildings in Norway »
Photography is by Adam Mork.
Here’s a project description from 3XN:
Cultural Center ‘Plassen’
Molde, Norway
‘Plassen’ (meaning the square or the space in Norwegian) is formed like a giant paper cutting. The building literally grabs the city square, Gørvellplassen. It cuts and folds the surface, resulting in a building where the inside and the outside, the surface and the roof, merges into one. This compact and well-functioning structure with its highly usable and easy accessible areas maintains the public space of Gørvellplassen, and even enhances the flexibility of the square.
The flowing transition between the stages, the gallery, and the café creates the illusion that the inner and outer spaces are one. Emphasizing this principle, the windows of the building can be described as wide horizontal openings allowing plenty the daylight, and providing a splendid view from within as well as from the outside. The relatively low-rise building consists of just three floors that make room for the local theatre, ‘Teatret Vårt’, ‘The Bjørnson Festival’ and Molde’s International Jazz festival which attracts famous jazz musicians and a wide audience when it takes place every summer in July.
Contemporary and innovative, but at the same time simple and blunt, the design of the building resists any excesses. Hence, it is in accordance with the surrounding sober and regularly shaped buildings. Use of the same local stone on both walls and floors, creates a calm atmosphere. The exterior is dominated by the broad staircase. This created a lot of space for people to rest in nice weather. The staircase provides the jazz festival with a big open-air stage that may become a new focal point for the town.
The heart of the building is the main concert hall, solved in “box in box” room, to ensure optimal acoustics. Therefore, the concert hall is rectangular and stripped of fancy shapes. Finally, ‘Plassen’ contains a library and an arts centre with a gallery facing the upper square. The library is situated in the eastern wing with a strong exposure to the square.
Architect: 3XN
Project type: Cultural Center
Functions: Theatre, concert hall, café, gallery, library
Client: Molde Kulturbyg AB
Construction: 2009 – 2012
Official Opening: 14th of July, 2012
Size: 5,800 m2
Cost: 187 mio. norwegian kroner / / 25 mio euros
Engineer: Norconsult AS
Site plan – click above for larger image
Ground floor plan – click above for larger image
First floor plan – click above for larger image
Second floor plan – click above for larger image
Long section – click above for larger image
Cross section – click above for larger image
North elevation – click above for larger image
East elevation – click above for larger image
South elevation – click above for larger image
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by 3XN appeared first on Dezeen.
This art museum by architect Renzo Piano straddles a canal in Oslo’s harbour (+ slideshow).
Named the Astrup Fearnley Museet, the museum of contemporary art opened to the public this weekend and was completed in collaboration with local firm Narud-Stokke-Wiig.
A curving roof of fritted glass unites the three timber-clad buildings that comprise the complex, while two bridges cross the canal to link them at ground level.
The architects selected naturally weathered timber for the facades and interiors of each block, to reference the traditional Scandinavian construction of local buildings and boats.
Ten galleries are split between the three buildings, and one block also contains offices within four of its upper storeys.
Between the buildings, promenades stretch along both sides of the canal to lead to a sculpture park and sandy beach on the southern side of the water and a local ferry terminal on the northern side.
Other recent projects by Renzo Piano include The Shard, which opened earlier this summer, and the new wing at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
See all our stories about Piano here, including a past interview with the architect.
Photography is by Nic Lehoux.
Here’s a project description from Renzo Piano Building Workshop:
The Tjuvholmen development commissioned by Selvaag Gruppen / Aspelin Ramm Gruppen in Oslo is located southwest of the centre of the city and is a continuation of the Aker Brygge development built in the 90’s. The site of the Tjuvholmen project is one of the most beautiful places in Oslo. The project will transform the formerly closed harbour into a public area connecting the Fjord and the centre of the city.
The RPBW project is on the western part of this development and consists of cultural programmatic elements as part of an agreement with the City of Oslo: the project includes 3 different buildings under a unique glass roof, one for Offices and Art exhibition and two exclusively for the Art Museum, the landscape design with bridges over the new canals and a small Sculpture Park.
The urban design creates a visual link between this cultural platform and the City centre of Oslo, developing the visual axis from Aker Brygge to the new complex. The integration of Art related activities in all three buildings and the mix with offices and leisure activities, makes the complex a vibrant part of the new urban fabric that will attract a very broad public.
The Design
Overlooking the fjord, it seems inevitable to continue the sightline from the city along the Aker Brygge promenade to the far end of the new development. The entire promenade along the sea will be 800m long. Almost half of that length will consist of the new promenade of the project. The promenade will start at the bridge on the dock at Aker Brygge and continue along Strandhagen over to Skjaeret until it ends at a floating dock, from where a ferry may depart to other destinations along the inner Oslo Fjord.
The promenade along the canal will provide to the visitors the visual contact with the sea and nature, as an important experience of the journey.
On Skjaeret, the promenade is embraced by the building complex and the location of the art building along the canal, instead of along the sea as proposed by the city’s zoning plan, creates an active dialogue between the 3 buildings.
Between the art museum and the sea a softly undulating sculpture park fills the rest of Skjaeret and finishes in a sandy beach, protected by the wind and from the waves. It will be an open space for children and their parents to play and swim, to enjoy nature and the sea.
A café is planned alongside the beach with a facade that can be opened during good weather to enjoy views of the park and the wind gusts from the fjords as well as to extend the relatively small internal area of the café.
Across the canal over a wide bridge that links the two opposite banks, visitors will find the entrance to the other exhibition spaces at the quay level. A wide stair between them leads up to an urban Piazza where café’s, shops and entrances to other functions find their place.
Visitors will be able to continue along the quay of the canal to the tip of the new development which allows a spectacular view out over the Fjord, but also back to the centre of Oslo.
The Roof
The roof is a curved surface which covers all three buildings to emphasize their interaction as a cultural destination and the architecture of the complex.
The design strongly identifies the project. Its curved shape, formed by laminated wood beams, crosses the canal between the buildings. The beams are supported by slender steel columns, reinforced with cable rigging, which refer to the maritime character of the site.
The roof geometrical shape is derived from a section of a toroid and it slopes down towards the sea. On Skjaeret, the roof almost touches ground in the Park, over a small water pond that prevents people to climb on the glass.
The roof surface is fully glazed and a ceramic fritting gives the glass the right solidness and the right transparency where needed. Some of the exhibition spaces, the museum lobby as well as the office atrium will receive daylight through the roof.
The edges of the roof extend generously outwards to reinforce the lightness of this glass plane and while obstructing daylight to a minimum, giving protection from rain and wind.
Exhibition Spaces
The project will have different kinds of exhibition spaces: visiting the museum will be a cultural journey going from one space to the other. This journey includes all three buildings on both sides of the canal and will bring the visitor through a series of 10 rooms, each with a different ceiling height, material and shape.
The exhibition spaces of the Art Museum on the north side of the canal will house the permanent contemporary art collection, which expands at ground level under the office building. This part is an open flexible space, extending under the Tjuvholmen Allee and the main stair between the quay level and the upper Piazza. In this area also educational activities of the museum will take place.
Site plan – click above for larger image
The building on Skjaeret, on the south side of the canal, will be for the temporary exhibition. The main exhibition space consists of two floors: one floor at ground level and one on the mezzanine, with natural light from a spectacular skylight in the roof. On the second floor a generous roof terrace will allow for the placement of sculptures outside. A small cafè is located next to the lobby and its terrace extends to Park and the beach.
Cross section – click above for larger image
Office Building
The office building along the Tjuvholmen Allee, has four floors and a mezzanine under the roof. A naturally lit atrium in the centre of the building connects the office floors. All floors will be rented to one tenant, which was very much involved the layout of the offices. The conference rooms as well as the common areas for the occupants are on the upper floors, taking best advance of the views and the terraces on these floors.
Long section – click above for larger image
Materials
The materials for the new buildings are few in order to emphasize the unity of the complex and are subdued to emphasize the roof as the most important architectural element.
The roof structure will be made of laminated wood beams, sometimes with steel elements, supported by steel columns. The glass of the roof has a dotted pattern, resulting in a light colour, a white ceramic frit that covers the whole surface reducing the transparency of the glass by 40%.
Elevation – click above for larger image
The facades have glazed areas on the ground floor where the public view is desired. The glazing is executed with low iron glass, as much as possible without coatings to enhance the transparency and to minimize the discoloration of the light into the exhibition spaces. The office glazing and less public facades may need coatings, with internal shades for glare control.
External sun shades on the facades, will make them more dynamic and will bring some color to the monochromatic wood facade.
Cross section detail – click above for larger image
The lobby to the temporary art space is completely glazed and allows the visual contact with the park and the sea, even from the Piazza on the Tjuvholmen Allee.
Naturally weathered timber was selected for the opaque parts of the façade (Aspen), which in a short time acquires a soft silver-grey color due to its exposure to the weather, The wood planks have a particular shape and the gaps between the planks increase where ventilation of the buildings is required.
Sectional perspective – click above for larger image
The use of wood as a material for structural elements, for the bridges, exterior paving and in the interiors, follows Scandinavian traditions. The use of wood is also a reference to the materials used for boats, while the slender steel elements in the bridges and the columns relate to the masts in the Oslo harbour, anchoring the building complex even more in its location.
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Renzo Piano Building Workshop appeared first on Dezeen.
London studio Haptic has created a forest-like lounge at a hotel in Oslo, filled with trees, stacks of lumber and a plant-covered wall.
The open-plan lounge is also the lobby for the hotel, which contains 300 guest rooms and a business conference centre.
The stacked-up timber beams form the reception counter, while the trees create a protective canopy along the edges of a 350-seat canteen.
“The challenge was to provide spaces that felt intimate whilst being easy to get to, flexible and compatible with large-scale event logistics,” Haptic’s Tomas Stokke told Dezeen.
Instead of using matching furniture, the designers have added a variety of chairs by different designers, including Charles and Ray Eames, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, and Jasper Morrison.
A row of timber columns separates the lounge from the hotel restaurant, where more columns fold outwards to shelter dining tables.
In contrast to the busy spaces of the lobby, the guest rooms have a simplified design, with a muted colour palette and plain furnishings.
Another hotel completed recently is the Hôtel Droog, which opened in Amsterdam earlier this month.
Photography is by Trine Thorsen.
Here’s a project description from the architects:
Inspired by Nature
This interior architectural project for a large, 300-room hotel and conferencing venue, is inspired by the stunning Norwegian landscape and uses a primary palette of natural materials to provide variety in spatial composition, form, texture and colour.
The primary design strategy was to rationalise a complex set of interconnecting spaces and functions, providing consistent themes and architectural tectonics, but variety and specific “installations” to define each space from the next.
The main communal space of the hotel is understood through a simple architectural theme, the “big floor”, which is then subtly sub-divided into zones to define the lobby, from the restaurant/canteen to private dining, lounge/library and conference lobby.
The Norwegian forests are a primary inspiration, whereby timber is used through out in very different ways to create semi-permeable screens, cladding to cores, a bespoke square-log reception and bar, right down to details such as signage and loose furniture.
The main lobby space is framed by a stylised forest wall that divides the lobby from the restaurant but allows glimpses between the spaces and filters natural light from the main skylight above.
The lobby is more than a reception and waiting lounge, elevated to a communal dining and meeting point for hotel and conference guests. Subtle lighting has been installed to work with the planted trees, where shadows from their canopies dance upon the articulated lobby ceiling.
The lounge and library space is defined by a slender timber screen, that seemingly goes off for a walk, creating bar shelving, bookshelves, desks and ceiling.
By contrast, the hotel rooms are pared down, with simple, quality materials and custom-made furniture made in collaboration with B&B Italia.
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by Haptic appeared first on Dezeen.
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