Glass envelope

The task for a private client to build an indoor swimming pool in the rural surroundings of Munich, Ismaning, led to the concept of swimming outdoors and the embedding of the building in nature and existing topography. Selection criteria for the positioning of the new volume on the site were, on the one hand, the orientation to the south and on the other the possibility of docking and thus extension of the family house. The existing exterior stairs that led to the outside of the lower level of the living area, has been extended, ensuring the connection of the existing inner spaces with the pavilion. The pool, a free-standing shower column and a relaxation area represent the reduced functions.     The new defined outdoor space,... More

The Jesolo Lido Beach Villa is a multi-unit building set on a beachfront property in the resort town of Jesolo Lido, Italy.  The villa is designed as single-story pavilion above ground with an airy basement level that receives plenty of natural light from the two sunken patios placed on both sides of the building. Jacopo Mascheroni Jacopo Mascheroni The clients, two brothers with respective young families, having had the rare chance to find a beachfront plot for sale, decided to join forces and invest for a new weekend house.  While thrilled to enjoy a summer place right on the beach, at the same time both families desired their own independency.  Jacopo Mascheroni Jacopo Mascheroni Since the narrow plot... More

Turning a country house, lost in the Agro di Casarano from an anonymous building without quality in a meeting place between art and architecture was not a recent request. It would have been much simpler to demolish the existing one and redesign the whole lot from scratch, instead we chose not to make a clean sweep, but rather to accept the actual state as a starting point: the old factory building is It was wrapped in a new wrapping, a white wooden lining that redefines the volume, unifying it, and redraws the score of the facades.In some places the lining is detached from the house and becomes a fence. The house houses an important collection of works by the Japanese artist Hidetoshi Nagasawa.Their installation, both inside the b... More

Refurbishment and extension of a single-family house. BACKGROUND A single-family house (built in the 60’s) in a partial state of ruin is acquired by a new owner, who demands for new functionalities for the house.PROGRAM The original house was designed to accommodate a family of 3 members and a service person. The new configuration of the house should contain a family of 4 members, a guest area, an independent apartment, a playground and the possibility of dividing the house into two separate units.STRATEGY The biggest challenge posed by the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the house is the integration of a new area with more surface in the same pre-existing footprint. Due to the partial state of ruin it is necessary to demolish the east... More

The Engie headquarters project transformed an energy-inefficient 1980s building into a contemporary, LEED Platinum-certified property. More than a standard renovation, the project forms part of the broader effort to revitalize Milan’s Bicocca district. The building’s architecture was reconsidered and reshaped into a lighter, more articulated form, now including rooftop terraces that offer panoramic views. With adaptability as a central focus, the building features modular workspaces and open layouts that accommodate future changes in use. Its solid structural frame supports programmatic adjustments over time, helping to avoid unnecessary demolition. Architectural clarity, attention to working environments, environmental perfo... More

The Project is located at Manuel Antonio rainforest in central pacific of Costa Rica. For the construction of this Project, it wasn’t handed to cut any tree, as the property had a clear area, which was utilized for the construction of the Project.  Concept and Objectives  This Project follows a tropical contemporary style and was designed with the main concept of “Integration with landscape and nature with the minimization of environmental impact following bioclimatic and sustainable strategies”. The lines and shapes of the house designed is always looking to be integrated with nature thru a roof designs that resembles the tree Canopy, the steel structure designed that disappears as tree branches, and curved exterior terr... More

A new FBI facility designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) accommodates the future of the federal agency’s largest division, Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS). The facility’s purpose is to centralize the research, development, and application of biometric identification technology to serve national security and law enforcement. Located on an existing FBI campus in Clarksburg, West Virginia, the Biometric Technology Center is the product of a joint effort with the FBI and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). It allows the CJIS Division, which has one of the largest collections of biometric information in the world, and the U.S. Department of the Army, which has developed military biometrics database systems, to advance the n... More

Location The lot forms part of the Claude Bernard priority development zone (ZAC), between the Paris ring road and the Boulevard Mac Donald. Despite the surface area of the lot, its location near the canal provides very interesting poetic potential. So that the children can benefit fully from the location and enjoy the views, we have created two frontages, one north-facing, and the other south-facing. Along the Boulevard Mac Donald, a three-storey block forms a screen that protects the playground, reduces noise pollution, and provides a sense of depth when you stand on the front courtyard and look through the foyer to the playground. On the south side there is a lower block adjoining the offices that looks inwards. Between the two... More

Exercise in Renaissance Following two demolition campaigns for a world exhibition in 1913 and an administrative centre never built in the 60s, Ghent’s historic heart degenerated for decades into a desolate parking lot in between a suite of three adjoining Gothic towers. In two consecutive competitions between 1996 and 2005, Robbrecht en Daem architecten and MJosé Van Hee architects proposed their own programme, countering the initial competition requirement. Rather than just providing an open space for events, they sought, by meticulously positioning a market hall, to rectify this deficiency and reinstate the presence of old urban areas that had become unrecognisable. The building positions itself between Poeljemarkt, Goudenleeuwplein... More

The Stock Market, the Garden, the Canopy and also the Pompidou Center are aligned on an east-west axis. This urban configuration, thus acknowledged, parallel to the Seine and the rue de Rivoli, extends the symbolic dimension of Les Halles. By combining all these effects and layouts, the idea of another scale for architecture is initiated: that of the “Gate of Greater Paris”. Ascent into Paris The creation of a vast vertical and sheltered public space The canopy is the realization of a sheltered and designed public space representing the “ascent into Paris” from the underground.this unique space, on an urban scale, spans 140 m in length and 80 m in breadth and 24 m in height under the envelope. the volume is half-excavated, h... More

The Würth Haus Rorschach, situated between the shore of Lake Constance and the train station, houses a conference centre, exhibition spaces for the art collection, administration, work-shops, a restaurant and a cafeteria. The greenish crystalline building responds to the unique location of the site with a structure that oscillates between transparency and shiny reflective surfaces that multiply the natural beauty of the setting. The architecture affords views out to the surroundings, glimpses into the building, and sightlines through it to the park and lake. The building reacts to its surroundings with lower and higher volumes and setbacks. A double glass envelope encases the building. The inner layer is made up of triple glazing and meta... More

White Arkitekter has won an international design competition for Skellefteå’s cultural centre and hotel, which will be completed in 2019. Located just below the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden, the city of Skellefteå has a long tradition of timber architecture which inspired the winning proposal ‘Sida vid sida’ (Side-by-side). The design was selected from over 55 entries from ten countries. ’Kulturhus i Skellefteå’ is planned to be a 19-storey structure reaching a height of 76 metres. It will house the ‘Västerbottensteatern’ (the county theatre of Västerbotten), the Anna Nordlander Museum, Skellefteå’s Konsthall (art gallery), the city library and a new 16-floor four-star hotel. The 24,940 sqm BTA building will be timber framed with... More

The new head office for the Piper Heidsieck and Charles Heidsieck House of Champagne faces onto the production unit, extending a wine-growing site and a presentation space. The same architectural style coalesces all the programme elements and allows the new head office building to stand out as a contemporary yet unostentatious project reminiscent of an immaterial barn. By raising its silhouette in the landscape, the building transforms the wine-growing site and becomes a beacon-like federating structure. Inspired by the structural minimalism of winery buildings, the simplicity and efficiency of its delicate metal structure also suggests considerable elegance and sophistication. The new head office is designed as a glass envelope encl... More

The site at 2 Whites Grounds is located in the Bermondsey conservation area, a vibrant part of London close to London Bridge where the Shard and White Cube Bermondsey recently opened consolidating this central up and coming part of London. The existing building is a five storey warehouse dating back to the end of the nineteen century with a distinctive character and a gable roof structure. The office has successfully negotiated planning permission for this roof structure where initial planning enquiries gave very few chances of development being permitted on this site. A thorough history and site analysis, which proved the existing roof resembled but was not actually the original structure, together with the bold contemporary design prop... More