Peter Pichler Architecture has been selected as the winners of a competition to design a new residential tower complex in the town of Maarssen just outside of Utrecht, Netherlands. Called the “Looping Towers,” the scheme consists of two L-shaped residential towers that connect as their ends to create a figure-eight shape that is optimized for its site.
Located along a main artery connecting the cities of Amsterdam and Utrecht, the 35,000 square meter complex is envisioned as a “social engine” for the area, which is expected to grow significantly over the upcoming years. The scheme will contain approximately 260 apartments as well as a parking garage and an abundance of amenities, including a unique running track on the roof.
3XN Architects have released design plans for a new contemporary extension of the Historical Silkeborg Museum in Denmark. The museum houses some of the oldest and well-preserved bog bodies in the world: The Tollund Man and Elling Woman. Through the 1,858 square meter extension that includes a contemporary “roofscape” rising from the marshland, the design seeks to build a stronger identity for the museum through its architecture.
Aedas has unveiled its plans for Nansha Kingboard Free Trade Zone Mixed-Use Project, a new building sited at the starting point of the ancient Maritime Silk Road in Guangzhou, China.
Located on an irregularly shaped plot with views of the Jiaoman River and Phoenix Lake, the 80,762-square-meter building will be composed of a series of stacked geometric blocks in order to create varied silhouettes and capitalize on surrounding views.
White Arkitekter with developer Midroc has won a competition for a new residential development to be located in the Royal Seaport district of Stockholm, Sweden. Drawing from the industrial history of the site, the buildings feature concrete ramps and rustic wooden floor treatments, and have been clad with brick facades and masonry arches to frame the street level and establish an identity for the community.
A department store in Shenzhen, China, is currently undergoing a major transformation into what the architect describes as an "a new sustainable and iconic design for the city." Designed by Aedas, the Shenzhen Luoho Friendship Trading Centre will include a new skyscraper and a "vibrant and porous" 7-story retail podium. Integrated landscaping and green balconies turn the development into an "urban oasis" in the heart of the city.
Aedas has unveiled the plans for its Chongqing Xinhua Bookstore Group Jiefangbei Book City mixed-use project, a complex of retail, residential, office, and hotel space with a Xinhua Bookstore at its core. Based on an ancient Chinese prose that states “knowledge brings wealth,” the project aims to integrate the concept of a book with the cultural elements of Chongqing to create an interactive commercial space.
Four Dutch cultural institutions are collaborating to build a new repository for their vast national collections. The new Netherlands Collection Centre (CC NL) will be built in Amersfoort, east of The Hague, and will replace the current depositories belonging to Paleis Het Loo, the Dutch Open Air Museum, the Rijksmuseum and the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, combining these collections in a central hub. With an area of 30,000 square meters, the building will house 675,000 objects, and is scheduled for completion in 2020.
The University of Manchester’s Mecanoo-designed engineering campus has received planning permission from the Manchester City Council, greenlighting the £350 million project. The Manchester Engineering Campus Development is part of the University’s campus masterplan, meant to bring together a multidisciplinary engineering and scientific community and to consolidate the University’s campus around Oxford Road. The project is one of the largest single construction projects ever undertaken by an institution of higher education in the United Kingdom. MEC Hall, the main building of Mecanoo’s development, is 195 meters long.
KAAN Architecten has won the commission to design the New Amsterdam Courthouse. The new building will replace the current judicial complex at the intersection of Zuidas and Parnassusweg, which is slated for demolition. The Courthouse of Amsterdam is the largest in the Netherlands and handles 150,000 cases a year with a staff of 200 judges and 800 professionals. KAAN Architecten describes the building's design as both "stately" and "distinguished," stating that the intention was to create a facility that understands justice as an open process, and thus incorporates ways for the public to engage with the Courthouse.
British firm PLP has unveiled their design for a large complex at the heart of the Pearl River Delta in China. The master plan comprises four buildings: the Platform for Contemporary Arts, the Lizhi Park Tower, the Concourse, and the Nexus - a 600-meter tall office and hotel tower that will be the masterplan's centerpiece and the region's tallest skyscraper.
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Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects and Gottlieb Paludan Architects
Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects and Gottlieb Paludan Architects have won an international competition to design the world's largest waste-to-energy plant on the outskirts of Shenzhen, China. The new "Shenzhen East Waste-to-Energy Plan will be capable of incinerating 5000 tonnes of waste per day - "one third of the waste generated by Shenzhen's 20 million inhabitants every year," according to the team. In addition to incinerating waste and generating power, the plant will serve as a place to teach residents about its purpose.
Logistics level. View of the inclined part of the square. Image Courtesy of WALL Architectural Bureau
Over the past 20 years, the urban environment of Moscow's Paveletskaya Central Station has been degrading, suspending potential development of the area. Early in 2015, it was placed on a list of 256 transport hubs to be developed in Moscow, resulting in the Paveletskaya hub –- a proposal by WALL Architectural Bureau to redevelop the train station.
Exterior Rendered View. Image Courtesy of Alajajian Marcoosi Architects
Alajajian Marcoosi Architects has unveiled designs for an Armenian American museum, with the aim of educating the public on the Armenian American story. The project will be located on the corner of Verdugo Road and Mountain Street in Glendale, California, with negotiations currently underway for ground lease agreements.
Gottlieb Paludan Architects have been selected as the winners of an anonymous two-stage competition to design a new biomass unit at the Amagerværket power plant in Denmark. The combined heat and power unit (CHP), dubbed BIO4, will power the facility with biofuel, upholding local efforts to make Copenhagen the world’s first CO2-neutralcapital by 2025.
Finnish firm Verstas Architects has been awarded first place in a competition for the expansion of Finland's Lapland central hospital for their design of a functional complex of "healing architecture." Responding to the challenge of Finland's aging population and changes in municipal funding, the winning proposal reflects the "hospital of tomorrow," creating a flexible and functional space in conversation with its urban surrounds.
The winning design of an international competition in 2010 to house the world-renowned Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra, Austrian firm Atelier Thomas Pucher's Sinfonia Varsovia European Music Center has been approved to begin construction. As part of a larger campaign to revive Warsaw's historic character and inspire cultural exchange, the Music Center has ranked high on the priority list of the Renewal Program, and is slated to open in 2020.
Read on after the break for a closer look at the Music Center.
schmidt hammer lassen architects have won a competition to design a new retail and office complex in central Oslo. The winning scheme, chosen ahead of five other proposals, was chosen for “its strong and innovative” design that “enhances the existing urban qualities” and forms a “new connection between the building and city life.”
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