This spiral staircase conceived by London designer Paul Cocksedge will feature balustrades overflowing with plants and circular spaces where employees can take time out from their work.
Paul Cocksedge designed The Living Staircase for Ampersand, a new office building in London’s Soho dedicated to creative businesses.
The design concept is for a staircase that is about “more than a means of moving from floor to floor”. By widening the diameter of the spiral and excluding the central column, there will be enough space to create three circular platforms that can be used as social spaces.
“The Living Staircase is actually a combination of staircase and room, of movement and stillness, vertical and horizontal”, said Cocksedge.
“At every turn there is an opportunity to stop and look, smell, read, write, talk, meet, think, and rest. If a staircase is essentially about going from A to B, there is now a whole world living and breathing in the space between the two,” he added.
Plants and herbs will be sown into the tops of the balustrade. The hope is that employees will turn the greenery into a working garden, adding ingredients to their lunches and making fresh mint tea.
Here’s a project description from Paul Cocksedge Studio:
The Living Staircase
Paul Cocksedge has been commissioned by Resolution Property to design a central feature for Ampersand, the state-of-the-art creative office development in Soho, London.
At the project’s heart are the people who make up the Ampersand community and so the question was: how can a staircase become something more than a means of moving from floor to floor?
Concept diagram
By examining the structure of a staircase, it was discovered that by expanding the diameter and by removing the traditional central, load-bearing pillar, a new hidden space was revealed at its centre. As you emerge onto each floor, you can now enter the centre of the spiral and into social spaces devoted to a specific activity: a place to draw, to read a novel, to pick fresh mint for tea.
Everything about ‘The Living Staircase’ relates directly to the people using it, including the plants along the balustrade, which are not intended as merely decoration, but envisaged as a working garden, each plant cared for by individual members of the community.
Brains Unlimited is the name of this recently completed trio of buildings, which provides a neuroscience research facility for Maastricht University in the Netherlands (+ slideshow).
Designed by Dutch firm Wiegerinck, the buildings are located on the developing Maastricht Health Campus on the southern edge of the university grounds and provide a centre for both education and research.
The complex is divided into two wings. The first – spread across two buildings – accommodates teaching rooms and offices, alongside spaces for start-up businesses and university-run enterprises. The second houses an advanced scanning facility containing three magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners.
The exterior of each building is different, but all three were designed to feel like part of the same family.
“The design is based on an ensemble of building elements in a green inner area,” said the architects. “This ensemble of building elements varies in height and is given an architectural detailing that is expressed in great diversity within a certain degree of coherence.”
For the two blocks that make up the main wing, the architects designed gridded structures made from dark prefabricated concrete. For the six-storey block, they infilled this with red enamelled glazing, while the four-storey building features a facade of wooden panels.
The exterior of the single-storey scanner laboratory is made up of structural glazing and aluminium columns, and is described by the architects as having a “reserved, abstract design”.
Glazed corridors connect the three buildings at ground level, spilling out into a hall at the centre of the complex. This space functions as a reception and leads through to an auditorium just beyond.
Here’s a project description from the architects:
Brains Unlimited Maastricht
Vision to make the impossible possible
Under the leadership of Prof. Dr Rainier Goebel, the Cognitive Neuroscience department at the Maastricht University (Department of Psychology and Neuroscience) expressed its ambition in 2008 to further expand its name in the field of brain research. The department also wished to offer research groups and external parties the possibility of using advanced research facilities. The largest clients for this are start-up businesses and university spin-offs. They can rent space in the building from the Stichting Life Sciences Incubator Maastricht (SLIM). The new research institute is called ‘Brains Unlimited’.
At Brains Unlimited, scientists, entrepreneurs and clinicians work under one roof, undertaking research into the function of the human brain in order to gain new understanding and to develop clinical applications that can then be commercialised. Brains Unlimited also offers professional education in the field of neurophysics and neuro-imaging and it provides accommodation for spin-off companies in its BioPartner Incubator. The results of the research support the development of new treatments, diagnoses and technologies for such diseases as Alzheimer, Parkinson, epilepsy, schizophrenia and MS.
To fulfil its ambition, the university has built a new educational, office and laboratory facility for brain research. The education rooms (auditorium and classrooms), offices and laboratories are accommodated in the main building. The adjacent Scanner Lab houses state-of-the-art research equipment in the form of three MR (Magnetic Resonance) scanners. The most important asset is the fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanner with an ultra-high (9.4 Tesla) magnetic field of which only four exist in the entire world.
The intrinsic relevance of this fundamental research has convinced Europe, the Province and the business community to make the challenging financial running of this project feasible through subsidies and contributions under the motto ‘Vision to make the impossible possible’.
Brains Unlimited is the first project to be completed at the Maastricht Health Campus. The Health Campus is a valorisation campus where ideas and innovations from scientific research and practical care are developed (further) and clinically tested on-site. Work is currently being undertaken on the ‘Living Lab Limburg’ and ‘Particle Therapy Center’ follow-up projects.
Research concept
‘Synergy and meeting’ were the keywords used by the client and user when selecting the design team. This range of ideas offered the greatest chance of achieving the fundamental principles.
Brains Unlimited physically and virtually brings together education, fundamental research and industry. The meeting between these different ‘blood groups’ is essential for achieving the intended innovation and accumulation of knowledge. Forced and unforced contact was of primary importance in the spatial organisation of the building. In addition, the design team was selected on a ‘Total Engineer’ basis so that it was able to provide an optimum response to the requirement to work out the concept meticulously to the very last detail.
Location and fit
The planning preconditions were formulated by von Brandt Stadtplaner und Architekten on the instructions of the Municipality of Maastricht. The basis for these was the Master Plan for Randwyck Noord produced by Prof. O.M. Ungers in 1990, in which the aim is to achieve a pluralistic city structure using the “Stadt in der Stadt” theme. This theme involves creating ensembles that have a strong spatial interrelationship. The result is “Raumformen, vom Einzelraum über die Raumgruppe bis zum Raumkomplex” which together create a “Mikrokosmos, in dem die Komplexität des Makrokosmos reflektiert wird”. The diversity of function, scale and design of the built environment are accepted. Public space and green structures form important elements for creating clarity and cohesion in the area.
The site is located on the southern edge of the university campus. Brains Unlimited is the first project to be undertaken on the currently undeveloped strip of land that is enclosed by the Oxfordlaan and the Oeslingerbaan – on the north and south side respectively – and the Universiteitssingel and the P. Debeyelaan on the east and west sides.
The development line is to a large extent determined by two factors: on the one hand the building line on the Oxfordlaan and the Oeslingerbaan that has to be retained and, on the other hand, the existing stand of trees surrounding the historic skating rink which also had to be retained. This skating rink is used as an organising element for traffic management on the site.
Brains Unlimited is the first project of the university on this campus with a clear relationship to the ground level. After all, the first floor of all of the other buildings will be open to the public. Brains Unlimited has deliberately deviated from this in order to increase the human dimension, contact with the outside space and the liveliness of the area as part of the required synergy.
Design concept
The design is based on an ensemble of building elements in a green inner area. This ensemble of building elements varies in height and is given an architectural detailing that is expressed in great diversity within a certain degree of coherence. To support the image of City Walls and heterologous development within the walls, the main building is initially segmented into three smaller “modules”. In contrast to the City Walls, these modules are slightly offset from each other, creating an ensemble of smaller building elements.
The architectural detailing of the building elements is based on the theme of “unity in diversity”. For this purpose, all aspects of the floor tiles are visible like staves and thus form a strong Leitmotiv. As in the game of Dominoes, the last tile put down passes on half of its properties to the next tile and the same method has been adopted with the construction of the different building elements in the ensemble. Each building element takes over part of the previous building element but then adds its own aspects to this so that they still derive their own individual identity from this.
The southern building block (building element A) accommodates the SLIM Incubator and the central vertical access to the ensemble. The building element has a band structure with an infill. The protruding bands are made from dark-grey prefabricated concrete. The infill material consists of two red enamelled glazing units that are positioned randomly in respect of each other. The frames are made of dark-brown anodised aluminium. Perforated aluminium strips are placed between the bands. These are dark-bronze anodised. The strips act as a vertical sunblind and give the building a certain elegant lightness.
The northern block (building element B) accommodates the Department of Psychology. The structure is similar to that of building element A. The building element manifests more towards the garden side and therefore has an infill that is formed by planks of oiled Accoya wood. The vertical strips here are designed in a lighter bronze colour.
The entrance to the ensemble is formed by a separate, one-storey building. The building forms the link between the central hall and the Scanner Lab. The entrance building has a reserved, abstract design, consisting of aluminium bands and structural glazing units, jointed together using sealant. In turn, the central hall forms the link between building elements A and B; a joint between the building elements. It is a transparently designed volume consisting of a slender aluminium curtain wall with glass. The reception area and reception function are located in this volume. The physical link between building elements A and B is created using three footbridges, arranged above each other, that keep the transparency of the central hall intact. This hall therefore forms the synergy junction where all blood groups meet each other. The auditorium, espresso bar, reception, education rooms, kitchenettes and sanitary rooms are all incorporated in the hall.
Sustainability forms an integral part of the design concept. A number of passive structural measures have been incorporated first. The façade incorporates fixed structural horizontal and vertical sunblinds in order to protect against the direct heat load from the sun on the east, west and south façades. This saves on the cooling capacity required and guarantees an unrestricted view for the user. The choice of a column-free and beam-free span has also been evaluated for lifecycle costs. The other façade materials (glazing and preserved wood) have been selected on the basis of their environmental impact and maintenance requirements.
A number of energy-saving measures have also been incorporated in respect of the systems. These include heat recovery from the MR equipment cooling, CO2-controlled ventilation, natural ventilation, daylight- and motion-controlled lighting, choice of type of lighting sources, Building Management System control for equipment in stand-by mode, etc. A BREEAM-bespoke plan (ambition: BREEAM Very Good) has been instigated for the project with the Dutch Green Building Council. The Very Good score was achieved in the design phase.
The initiation phase for Brains Unlimited came about through collaboration with the European Union, the Province of Limburg, Maastricht University, MUMC+, Siemens, Forschungszentrum Jülich, the university’s property department and the end users.
Within its organisation the university appointed a compact core group that remained virtually unchanged from the moment of formulating the vision through to project completion. The core group included end users and the property department.
On the basis of vision and experience of complex projects, the design team was selected to be a ‘Total Engineer’ team, which means that it was assigned an extensive role. The design team became responsible for the design from landscaping to fitting out. There was very little change in the client team and in the design team. Personal involvement was essential for monitoring the design concept and the building quality.
When configuring the project organisation and selecting the consultants and contractors, the university always strived to achieve integration and compactness. Because of its technical complexity the ‘Brains Unlimited’ project was split into two sub-projects.
A European tender resulted in Siemens – as a supplier of state-of-the-art research equipment – being awarded a Design & Build contract for the Scanner Lab. Wiegerinck took care of the design up to the environmental permit level and then remained involved as aesthetic consultant so that the entire project was detailed architecturally as a single ensemble.
For the other building elements a call for tenders for the Total Engineer was issued at the same time. Five design teams were requested to present their vision for this project. Wiegerinck formed a compact design team together with Arup. All of the required design disciplines were represented within these two firms.
The tendering strategy and the associated selection criteria for the contractors were determined during the design process. This resulted in a tender for a single lot and an award of contract on the basis of the Most Economically Beneficial Tender in which price and quality (in the form of planning and action plan) were jointly evaluated.
Both the Scanner Lab and the main building were designed by a compact team. Architect, building services consultant, structural engineer and landscape architect worked closely together to arrive at the required building concept. Every last detail was discussed and agreed in order to achieve a strong degree of integration and high level of finish.
The construction processes commenced with a vision presentation by the design team to all of the persons involved in the construction phase of the project. This created support for the high level of requirements with regard to the quality of construction and the detailing. Intensive sessions were also held during the construction phase, during which complete agreement was sough between all aspects of the construction and the contractors.
London firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners has completed a 34-storey office tower in Sydney with criss-crossing red braces on its sides and an elevated terrace cutting through its middle.
Located on Hunter Street in Sydney’s Central Business District, 8 Chifley comprises a pair of glass volumes that are separated by a triple-height private terrace on the eighteenth floor.
The structural framework extends to the exterior of the building. Red steel beams brace the walls on the sides of the tower, plus larger members offer support where there are gaps in the floor plates.
A five-storey-high void at the base of the tower creates a lofty public plaza leading to the entrance, while a landscaped roof offers another accessible outdoor space.
Spaces inside the building are divided into seven zones, each comprising a stack of three floors. There are openings between levels in these clusters, intended to encourage interaction amongst employees.
“[8 Chifley’s] emphasis on community, both indoors and out, from ground to roof, celebrates Australia’s passion for a balanced quality of life and the great outdoors,” said architect Ivan Harbour.
“The building finally forms a focus to Chifley Square, drawing the public plaza up to its front door and forming a great loggia for all Sydney-siders to enjoy,” he added.
Here’s more information from Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners:
8 Chifley
8 Chifley is the Sydney Central Business District’s newest and most progressive commercial tower from Mirvac.
Dramatically different to anything seen before on the Sydney skyline, this 34-storey office building, is the product of a global collaboration between the internationally renowned UK architectural practice Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and Australia’s Lippmann Partnership.
It is the first completed building in Australia featuring the distinctive design philosophy of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners but remains a project very much of its place. The distinctive red bracing on the exterior of the building reveals the structural skeleton of 8 Chifley, combining structural efficiency, elegance, and most importantly highly functional space planning.
The building is made up of two stacked modules of 12 and nine floors, with seven ‘villages’ of three-storey communal workspaces, providing connectivity and vertical integration between the floors which create the feeling of extensive space. Central to the building’s sense of community is the elevated ‘village square’ on the 18th floor, set within a three-storey void. This area will provide a focal point for occupants of the building, allowing meeting and interaction within a light and airy space.
The building has been designed to make the most of its prominent, north-facing site, bounded by Elizabeth, Hunter and Phillip Streets. Its highly transparent façade, high ceilings and legible structure ensure the building enjoys open and unobstructed views out over the city and a sense of space and light within.
Perhaps the defining feature of the project is the six-storey open space at street level that not only forms a grand entrance to the building, but creates a new, significant area of public space which addresses and completes Chifley Square. The open space is repeated midway up the building and again at the top, integrating Australia’s outdoor lifestyle into the city’s work environment.
8 Chifley is also one of the greenest buildings in Sydney, it has achieved a 6 Star Green Star Office Design v2 certified rating representing “world leadership” in environmentally sustainable design and is committed to achieving a 5 Star NABERS Energy Rating. The design, is very specific to the climate and culture of Sydney. The result is a beautiful piece of architecture that enhances the public realm while providing occupants with wonderful internal spaces within which to develop working communities.
News: here are images of Foster + Partners‘ latest design for the new $5bn Apple Campus 2, which was unanimously approved by Cupertino City Council last night (+ slideshow)
Commissioned by late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, the 260,000 square-metre building, by British firm Foster + Partners, will take the form of a gigantic glass-and-steel hoop when completed in 2016. Parkland will both surround the building and fill its hollow centre.
“Steve [Jobs] transformed Apple into one of the most innovative companies in the world and we understand the responsibilities that come from carrying his legacy forward with this project,” Apple’s head of real estate and facilities Dan Whisenhunt told the city council in a planning meeting last night. “We’ve designed it with the same care and attention to detail as we do with all Apple products.”
After six hours of debate, the entire council voted in favour of the project. The decision is final, pending a ten-day period for appeal, and will be formally announced on 15 November.
The approval follows an identical decision from members of the city’s planning commission, who voted on the proposals earlier this month after consultation with members of the local community.
The Apple Campus 2 is set to be completed by 2016 and will be located a few blocks away from Apple’s existing headquarters. It will accommodate up to 13,000 employees, providing office, research and development facilities alonngside a company fitness centre, a 1000-seat auditorium and a private park for staff.
News: London firm Allford Hall Monaghan Morris has won a competition to design the new Scotland Yard headquarters for the London Metropolitan Police.
Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM), who are currently also working on Google’s new London headquarters, will renovate the riverside Curtis Green building in Whitehall – a former police station – to replace the existing New Scotland Yard building in Westminster.
The architects propose “a police headquarters that will be more open and accessible, and will help the Met reconnect with the public.” It will feature a new public entrance pavilion, extensions to the existing building and a series of public spaces, designed in collaboration with specialist architects Haverstock.
The well-known revolving sign will be retained and relocated, as will the Eternal Flame and Roll of Honour.
The old revolving sign will be retained and relocated to the new building
Paul Monaghan, a director at AHMM, said: “This is a very important project for AHMM with the opportunity to work with one of the most significant and longest established law enforcement bodies in the world. We look forward to working with the Metropolitan Police Service to develop a building that supports them in their changing role within the city.”
The police will move into the new building in 2015, while the old building will be sold to raise funds that will be reinvested in frontline policing.
“Through the careful extension of the public realm across the site and consideration of its neighbours in massing and materiality terms, these proposals will serve to strengthen this cohesion,” said RIBA competitions adviser Bill Taylor.
“Weaving the heritage and culture of the Metropolitan Police into the fabric of the building and the spaces that surround it, the proposals strike a balance between respect for what already exists and the desire of the client to present a new, open and progressive face to the community they serve,” he added.
This towering commercial block in Ginza, Tokyo, by Amano Design Office features a faceted aluminium facade reminiscent of a crumpled-up sweet wrapper (+ slideshow).
Tokyo-based Amano Design Office was asked to design an eye-catching building that would entice shoppers from Ginza’s Central Street to a second shopping street just beyond.
The nine-storey tower accommodates small units that can be used as either offices or shops. Apart from the glazed ground floor, each storey is concealed behind a double-layer facade that comprises a perforated metal exterior and a clear glass interior.
The architects used computers to generate the faceted aluminium form, then added a floral pattern to soften the appearance.
“In the neighbourhood of mostly modernist architecture with horizontal and vertical or geometric shapes, the building has a proper feeling of strangeness, attracts special attention and has an appeal as a commercial building,” they explained.
Lighting installed behind the metal panels is programmed to change colour depending on the season, switching between shades of red, blue and green.
“The facade becomes a part of the interior decoration and obviates the need for window treatments such as blinds or curtains,” added the architects.
Here’s the project description from the architects:
Dear Ginza Building
The client is a developer company. It purchased a long-sought after lot in Ginza, and planned to build a commercial/office building. The building site is on the Ginza 1-chome Gaslight Street, which is one street behind the Ginza Central Street. It is on the back side of the Mizuho Bank and Pola Ginza buildings on the Central Street. The atmosphere is quite different from the gorgeous Central Street, and the site is on an empty street which is often seen behind the street with large-sized buildings. Attracting as many people as possible into such a street is our task. The client desired the building to be a gorgeous existence. In addition, the designer desired to provide a “slight feeling of strangeness” to the passersby that would attract them to the building.
Considering the views from the inside, simply obtaining openness with glass seems futile, since the outside scenery is hopeless. Therefore, a double skin structure is employed, which consists of glass curtain walls and graphically treated aluminium punched metal. The facade becomes a part of the interior decoration and obviates the need for window treatments such as blinds or curtains. By using a double skin, reduction of the air conditioning load and the glass cleaning burden was also intended.
The irregular facade design was determined by computing a design to avoid arbitrary forms and to approximate forms in nature. We thought that a well-made incidental form would likely be a less-disagreeable design. In the neighbourhood of mostly modernist architecture with horizontal and vertical or geometric shapes, the building has a proper feeling of strangeness, attracts special attention, and has an appeal as a commercial building. The abstract flower graphic is used to balance the impression of the facade, i.e., to free it up from becoming too edgy.
By computing the design, individual aluminium punched panels are irregular with different angles and shapes, yet all fit into a standard size, resulting in excellent material yield. To avoid being clunky, an extremely lightweight structure is required. Therefore, much caution was taken in its details. The coloured LED upper lighting, which is installed inside the double skin, entertains the passersby with different programs depending on the season. Expected tenants included a beauty salon and aesthetic salon, and the expectations are materialising.
Building location: Ginza-1-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan Completion year: March 2013 Designer: amano design office Collaborators: Atorie Oica, Azzurro Architects Construction firm: Kumagai Gumi Co.,Ltd.
Main use: store building and office building Lot size: 187.20 sqm Building area: 155.55 sqm Total floor space: 1300.02 sqm Maximum height above rail level: 31.955 m Structure: steel frame Number of stairs or stories: nine storeys above ground and one underground story Main material: aluminium graphic punching metal, extruded cement panel
The space functions as a showroom, so the architects wanted to show customers the raw condition of the office units available to rent.
“As Soho rents out the offices in this building in bare shell state, the main design idea is to show the customers what they are actually getting, and at the same time add a layer of inspiring luxury to it,” they said.
Ventilation ducts and other service pipes are visible through a continuous glass ceiling, while glass floors surround individual meeting rooms.
Mirrored partitions alternate with glass screens and windows, juxtaposing views between rooms with framed apertures of the Shanghai skyline.
“The glass-only approach allows a complexity that emerges from a simple choice,” added the architects.
The entrance to the office is via an all-white corridor, where strips of light are reflected to create the illusion of a never-ending grid.
Photography is by Jerry Yin, Chief Architect, SOHO China.
Here’s a project description from AIM Architecture:
Glass office by AIM Architecture for SOHO China
An all glass and mirror inner cladding exposes the infrastructure of SOHO’s new office building in Shanghai. The glass creates manifold reflections of the sales models and meeting rooms, while leaving the original height and structure in view. This creates a ‘double reality’ that merges with the stunning views of downtown Shanghai.
Membrane ceilings create extra attention for the models. Light and surfaces reflect throughout the space, even further diffused by half see-through mirrors. Some of the floors are islands of stone or carpet, to create static moments to offset this sea of reflectivity.
As SOHO rents out the offices in this building in bare shell state, the main design idea is to show the customers what they are actually getting, and at the same time add a layer of inspiring luxury to it.
The glass-only approach allows creating a complexity that emerges from a simple choice. That is what makes this project bold and layered at the same time.
This project by AIM Architecture is part of Fuxing Plaza, a large mixed-use complex (140.000m2) that hopefully will boost more energy and surprises for the city.
Date of realisation: September 2013 Design team: Wendy Saunders, Vincent de Graaf, German Roig, Carter Chen and Jiao Yan. Client: SOHO China
Designer Hella Jongerius and architect Rem Koolhaas have renovated the North Delegates’ Lounge at the United Nations buildings in New York (+ slideshow).
Working alongside a team of Dutch creatives that included graphic designer Irma Boom, artist Gabriel Lester and theorist Louise Schouwenberg, Jongerius and Koolhaas have reconfigured the layout and added new furniture to the lounge – one of the key spaces in the complex designed during the 1960s by a team of architects including Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer.
Koolhaas’ OMA began by removing a mezzanine that had been added in 1978, opening up a view towards the East River. Hella Jongerius then added a bead curtain made from hand-knotted yarn and 30,000 porcelain beads.
Furniture is arranged so that one end of the lounge accommodates formal meetings and the other is more suited to coffee and drinks. Jongerius designed two new pieces for the space – the Sphere Table and the UN Lounge Chair – which are accompanied by original Knoll chairs.
A new bar is made from black resin, while the existing information desk is retained and repositioned alongside the original clock and signage.
Jongerius was responsible for the colour palette, adding an orange carpet alongside the purple, blue and green upholstery.
“The renovation and redesign of the lounge is a gift from the Netherlands to the UN,” said the designers.
Dezeen recently filmed a series of interviews with Jongerius discussing her latest projects and why she chose to relocate to Berlin. Watch the movies »
New interior for United Nations North Delegates’ Lounge (New York)
More than sixty years after the opening of the UN North Delegates’ Lounge, Hella Jongerius has redesigned the lounge in collaboration with Rem Koolhaas, Irma Boom, Gabriel Lester and Louise Schouwenberg.
Their aim was to create a space of both comfort and professional informality. The team carefully edited the history of the space, retaining some of the iconic Scandinavian designs and creating a new perspective on the works of art already on display. They removed the mezzanine that had blocked the view of the East River, restoring the open architectural space.
Jongerius designed two new pieces of furniture for the lounge: the Sphere Table and the UN Lounge Chair, produced by Vitra. For the East Facade Jongerius designed the Knots & Beads Curtain, with hand-knotted yarn and 30,000 porcelain beads made from Dutch clay by Royal Tichelaar Makkum. Jongerius was also responsible for revitalizing the colour palette, selecting the furniture and designing the cradle-to-cradle Grid Carpet.
The UN buildings in New York date from 1951, six years after the foundation of the UN. Referred to as ‘A Workshop for Peace’, the complex was designed by a team of architects including Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer and Wallace K. Harrison. In 2009, the UN launched a large-scale renovation project, which is now nearly complete. At the request of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hella Jongerius formed a team to redesign the lounge and bring it into a new era. The renovation and redesign of the lounge is a gift from the Netherlands to the UN.
The lounge will be officially opened on September 25, 2013 by Queen Máxima of the Netherlands and the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Frans Timmermans, in the presence of Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Year: 2013 Material: Various Dimensions: Various Commission: United Nations/ Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs Category: Industrial production
Tomato vines suspended over conference tables and broccoli fields in the reception are part of working life at this Japan office by Kono Designs (+ slideshow).
New York firm Kono Designs created the urban farm in 2010, in a nine-storey office building in Tokyo to allow employees to grow and harvest their own food at work. Dezeen spoke with company principal Yoshimi Kono this week to hear more about the project.
“Workers in nearby buildings can be seen pointing out and talking about new flowers and plants and even the seasons – all in the middle of a busy intersection in Tokyo’s metropolitan area,” Kono told Dezeen. “The change in the way local people think and what they talk about was always one of the long-term goals of the project.”
The creation of the new headquarters for Japanese recruitment firm Pasona consisted of refurbishing a 50 year old building to include office areas, an auditorium, cafeterias, a rooftop garden and urban farming facilities. Inside the 19,974 square metre office building there are 3995 square metres dedicated to green space that house over 200 species of plants, fruits, vegetables and rice.
Kono told Dezeen that all of the food is harvested, prepared and served on-site in the cafeterias – making Pasona’s Urban Farm the largest farm-to-table office scheme in Japan.
Pasona employees are encourage to maintain and harvest the crops and are supported by a team of agricultural specialists.
“My client has a larger vision to help create new farmers in urban areas of Japan and a renewed interest in that lifestyle,” Kono told Dezeen.
“One way to encourage this is to not just tell urban communities about farms and plants, but to actively engage with them through both a visual intervention in their busy lifestyle and educational programs focusing on farming methods and practices that are common in Japan,” he added.
The building has a double-skin green facade where flowers and orange trees are planted on small balconies. From the outside, the office block appears to be draped in green foliage.
“The design focus was not on the imposed standards of green, where energy offsets and strict efficiency rates rule,” said Kono. “But rather on an idea of a green building that can change the way people think about their daily lives and even their own personal career choice and life path.”
Inside the offices, tomato vines are suspended above conference tables, lemon and passion fruit trees are used as partitions for meeting spaces, salad leaves are grown inside seminar rooms and bean sprouts are grown under benches.
Plants hang in bags surrounding meeting desks and there are vines growing within vertical cages and wooden plant boxes around the building.
Ducts, pipes and vertical shafts were rerouted to the perimeter of the building to allow for maximum height ceilings and a climate control system is used to monitor humidity, temperature and air flow in the building to ensure it is safe for the employees and suitable for the farm.
“It is important not to just think about how we can use our natural resources better from a distance, but to actively engage with nature and create new groups of people who have a deep interest and respect for the world they live in,” said Kono.
“It is important to note that this is not a passive building with plants on the walls, this is an actively growing building, with plantings used for educational workshops where Pasona employees and outside community members can come in and learn farming practices.”
Yoshimi Kono studied architecture in Tokyo and was a chief designer with Shigeru Uchida at Studio 80 in Tokyo and later became partner at Vignelli Associates in New York. He founded Kono Designs in 2000.
Located in down-town Tokyo, Pasona HQ is a nine story high, 215,000 square foot corporate office building for a Japanese recruitment company, Pasona Group. Instead of building a new structure from ground up, an existing 50 years old building was renovated, keeping its building envelope and superstructure.
The project consists of a double-skin green facade, offices, an auditorium, cafeterias, a rooftop garden and most notably, urban farming facilities integrated within the building. The green space totals over 43,000 square feet with 200 species including fruits, vegetables and rice that are harvested, prepared and served at the cafeterias within the building. It is the largest and most direct farm-to-table of its kind ever realised inside an office building in Japan.
The double-skin green facade features seasonal flowers and orange trees planted within the 3′ deep balconies. Partially relying on natural exterior climate, these plants create a living green wall and a dynamic identity to the public. This was a significant loss to the net rentable area for a commercial office. However, Pasona believed in the benefits of urban farm and green space to engage the public and to provide better workspace for their employees.
The balconies also help shade and insulate the interiors while providing fresh air with operable windows, a practical feature not only rare for a mid rise commercial building but also helps reduce heating and cooling loads of the building during moderate climate. The entire facade is then wrapped with deep grid of fins, creating further depth, volume and orders to the organic green wall.
Within the interior, the deep beams and large columns of the existing structure are arranged in a tight interval causing low interior ceiling of 7′-6″. With building services passing below, some area was even lower at 6′-8″. Instead, all ducts, pipes and their vertical shafts were re-routed to the perimeter, allowing maximum height with exposed ceilings between the beams.
Lightings are then installed, hidden on the bottom vertical edge of the beams, turning the spaces between the beams into a large light cove without further lowering the ceiling. This lighting method, used throughout the workspace from second floor to 9th floor, achieved 30% less energy than the conventional ceiling mounted method.
Besides creating a better work environment, Pasona also understands that in Japan opportunities for job placement into farming are very limited because of the steady decline of farming within the country. Instead, Pasona focuses on educating and cultivating next generation of farmers by offering public seminars, lectures and internship programs.
The programs empower students with case studies, management skills and financial advices to promote both traditional and urban farming as lucrative professions and business opportunities. This was one of the main reason for Pasona to create urban farm within their headquarters in downtown Tokyo, aiming to reverse the declining trend in the number of farmers and to ensure sustainable future food production.
Currently, Japan produces less than one-third of their grain locally and imports over 50 million tons of food annually, which on average is transported over 9,000 miles, the highest in the world. As the crops harvested in Pasona HQ are served within the building cafeterias, it highlights ‘zero food mileage’ concept of a more sustainable food distribution system that reduces energy and transportation cost.
Japan’s reliance on imported food is due to its limited arable land. Merely 12% of its land is suitable for cultivation. Farmland in Pasona HQ is highly efficient urban arable land, stacked as a vertical farm with modern farming technology to maximise crop yields.
Despite the increased energy required in the upkeep of the plants, the project believes in the long term benefits and sustainability in recruiting new urban farmers to practice alternative food distribution and production by creating more urban farmland and reducing food mileage in Japan.
Using both hydroponic and soil based farming, in Pasona HQ, crops and office workers share a common space. For example, tomato vines are suspended above conference tables, lemon and passion fruit trees are used as partitions for meeting spaces, salad leaves are grown inside seminar rooms and bean sprouts are grown under benches.
The main lobby also features a rice paddy and a broccoli field. These crops are equipped with metal halide, HEFL, fluorescent and LED lamps and an automatic irrigation system. An intelligent climate control system monitors humidity, temperature and breeze to balance human comfort during office hours and optimise crop growth during after hours. This maximises crop yield and annual harvests.
Besides future sustainability of farmers, Pasona HQ’s urban farm is beyond visual and aesthetic improvement. It exposes city workers to growing crops and interaction with farmland on a daily basis and provides improvement in mental health, productivity and relaxation in the workplace. Studies show that most people in urbanised societies spend over 80% of their time indoors. Plants are also known to improve the air quality we breathe by carbon sequestration and removing volatile organic compound. A sampling on the air at Pasona HQ have shown reduction of carbon dioxide where plants are abundant. Such improvement on the air quality can increase productivity at work by 12%, improves common symptoms of discomfort and ailments at work by 23%, reduce absenteeism and staff turnover cost.
Typical office floor – click for larger image
Employees of Pasona HQ are asked to participate in the maintenance and harvesting of crops with the help of agricultural specialists. Such activity encourages social interaction among employees leading to better teamwork on the job. It also provides them with a sense of responsibility and accomplishment in growing and maintaining the crops that are ultimately prepared and served to their fellow co-workers at the building’s cafeterias.
Section showing facade and balconies
Pasona Urban Farm is a unique workplace environment that promotes higher work efficiency, social interaction, future sustainability and engages the wider community of Tokyo by showcasing the benefits and technology of urban agriculture.
A chequerboard of glass blocks allows light to flood in and out of these creative studios in São Paulo by French-Brazilian architects Triptyque.
Slotted into a narrow gap between towers and houses in the central Pinheiros district of the city, the Leitão_653 building by Triptyque is just four metres wide but 25 metres high.
Three opacities of glass blocks are dispersed across a grid that covers the top four levels visible above the adjacent buildings to the north-east. “This gigantic panel allows smooth communication between the city and the interior of the building,” said the architects.
The other long facade is hidden against tall buildings, so is simply dotted with small windows and rendered white. Entry is under a canopy on the same side as the patterned facade, while a cafe and other communal facilities are on the other.
The staircase and elevator core sits in the centre of the plan, feeding open-plan studio spaces in the front and back of the concrete structure. Additional staircases link the studios so companies can be self-contained over more than one floor.
A veranda is set into the front of the second storey and balconies stick out from the ends of alternate levels above. The covered roof terrace provides extra outdoor space.
Leitão_653 is a building located in the heart of Pinheiros, a popular neighbourhood which combines small traditional buildings and new residential towers. Inserted between two lofty towers, a long and narrow plot, the building is four meters wide and 25 metres high.
The studios occupying the building enjoy a smooth flow between the plates through a central tower. Alternating terraces on the 2nd floor and roof offer living areas and promote exchange and community life.
“Leitão 653” was conceived as a place of inspiration in permanent connection with the city. This connection is provided by a set of transparencies affirmed by the facade. The building draws a cathedral light, completely revisited, like a latticework.
The wall, multifaceted indeed plays to absorb light during the day. As for the night, light radiates as a goldsmith working in a casket. In this urban theatre play scenes carved by a fine lace glass, cut and articulated as a Chinese shadow puppet show.
This gigantic panel allows smooth communication between the city and the interior of the building while providing a real solution to the constraints vis-à-vis. These scenes of transparency, a subtle eroticism, revealing another use of the building, visible from the street.
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