A triple height entrance lobby will welcome visitors to a world-class hotel, two restaurants, three sky gardens and a 248 unit residential tower, all with stunning views over Olympic Park. These are some of the key features offered in the newly unveiled plan for the 42-storey Manhattan Loft Gardens in London, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). It is planned to be built near the Stratford International Station – the gateway to the 2012 London Olympics. Completion is scheduled for 2014.
Safdie Architects was recently selected to design a new mixed-use development in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The 69-storey mixed-use project will be the first for Moshe Safdie in Sri Lanka, and is expected to be the tallest residential building in Colombo when it is completed. The design includes expansive family and community space amenities such as community gardens, shared outdoor spaces within the upper levels of the building, and individual roof gardens or terraces for every residence, a hallmark of Safdie’s design philosophy to provide access to outdoor spaces in high density urban housing. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Chicago-based architects Murphy/Jahn have unveiled their design for a 320-meter-tall skyscraper in the Yongsan International Business District of Seoul. Designed as two-towers under one roof, the steel and glass lattice structure is one of fifteen skyscrapers planned for the global city that was master planned by Daniel Libeskind and commissioned by South Korean developer DreamHub. Consisting of mostly high end residential units, the two Pentominium towers will provide residents with exclusive city views and four-storey skyparks, while attempting to recreate the spacious and private feel often associated with detached housing.
Continue reading after the break for the architects’ description.
Defined by a continuous volume snaking around two semipublic courtyards, the Connecting Riads residential complex by AQSO Arquitectos adapts to the different conditions of the plot to combine a domestic and urban appearance. Its simple gesture is defined by the particular context of each side of the site in a way that the different heights of the elevations become a contemporary and expressive form to which the roof is formed by staircase shaped green terraces. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Danish architects BIG have just shared with us the Cross # Towers, their latest project in Seoul. BIG’s residential towers in the Yongsan International Business District revitalize the Han riverfront into a new commercial and residential center for the citizens of Seoul. More images and information after the break.
The HA Tower, designed by Frontoffice + Francois Blanciak, proposes a hybrid model for urban life that embraces the city, pulling it in the heart of the units, while still offering large open spaces that otherwise are only available on the urban fringe. Located in Higashi-Azabu, within walking distance of a cluster of rail lines, Shiba Park, and the iconic Tokyo Tower, the corner site is small, covering only 130 square meters and is constrained by a floor area ratio that limits construction to 8 floors. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Buro Ole Scheeren, the architect behind one of the most iconic buildings of the 21st century, the CCTV headquarters in Beijing, recently revealed his design for a new landmark tower in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. The 268 meter tall tower, Angkasa Raya, was unveiled today at an official ceremony in the capital of Malaysia. Now, the country will once again appear on the world stage with a stunning new piece of architecture that alters the perception of what a skyscraper can be and how it connects to the city by inviting life into its balancing heights and visually projecting it back into the urban landscape as a symbol of the multi-cultural society. More images and architects’ description after the break.
