Restoration

The conservation project for the Book Tower aims at restoring the historical site of the University Library, situated in the lively quartier Latin of Ghent, meanwhile at transforming it into a library for the 21st Century. The design unites the ambitions of the University to respectfully repair the monumental site to its original condition, but also to render it a contemporary house for a great diversity of users and for the valuable own collection of the institute. Kristien Daem The Ghent University Library is internationally renowned for its ‘heritage collection’ of manuscripts, books, coins, curiosa, newspapers and magazines. The study into the conservation project revealed that the conservation of these precious object... More

Rigidized® Metals’ InvariMatte® micro textured metal clads the roof of the Austin Hall at Sam Houston State University. InvariMatte® is an ideal choice for roofing applications due to its consistency, self-cleanability, and solar reflectivity. It is a very energy efficient texture, providing a clean, environmentally friendly surface. Benedetto Garacci, Garacci Photography Benedetto Garacci, Garacci Photography   More

Completed in 1915, 120 Broadway (known as the “Equitable Building”) is a 40-story building in Lower Manhattan that spans an entire city block and was the largest office building in the world at the time of its opening. As part of Silverstein Properties, Inc.’s capital improvement program, the revitalization re-activates the building’s soaring full-block lobby, enabling pedestrian access and connectivity between Broadway and Nassau Street. Retail is enhanced with expanded glass storefronts and lobby entrances, bringing the architecturally-significant space back into the public realm as originally intended. Paul Rivera At the building’s historic entries, BBB replaced the non-original dark Indian Green marbl... More

BBB’s design for the National Museum of American Diplomacy, located at the State Department Headquarters in Washington DC, features interactive technologies that support real-time connections with embassies and exhibits throughout the world. Visitors will be welcomed into a grand 15,400 SF entry lobby that opens into an exhibition pavilion and gallery spaces. The design also includes a theater, classrooms, gift shops, museum support spaces, security screening, and climate control systems for the collections. The next phase of the project, which totals approximately 20,000 SF, will include additional museum spaces and will restore much of the historic lobby of the Marshall Building. MediaGeez - Garland Gray   More

Winthrop House, comprised of two Neo-Georgian former freshman dormitory buildings from 1913, had undergone few upgrades since its construction. The renewal program re-envisioned Winthrop’s residential, academic, social, and co-curricular spaces and addresses technical challenges, including significant envelope upgrades, the installation of all-new mechanical systems, and detailed restoration work for the House’s signature public spaces. Amidst the sensitive context of Harvard’s River Houses, BBB also designed Robert M. Beren Hall, a distinctive 41-bed addition that includes shared amenities for undergraduates. Working with the House Renewal Project Management Office, Faculty of Arts & Sciences, the Faculty Deans, and s... More

Sturgis is a new public charter high school for 400 students grades 9 to 12 designed for their highly successful ‘International Baccalaureate for All’ program. The school asked Studio G to design the 54,000 sf building for modular construction, both to meet a very tight construction, and to shorten the construction time. At the nexus of two academic wings, the lobby opens to a central atrium and stair hall that expands into a casual amphitheater for student presentations and gatherings. The public areas of the school surround it: the administrative offices and library/resource center on the first floor, and special education and counseling areas on the second floor. The hallways in each direction lead to twenty classrooms, five... More

The Palace of San Telmo, outside of the historical city centre and integrated into the landscape of the Guadalquivir river, constitutes one of the most outstanding civil buildings of Spanish baroque architecture. Constructed between 1682 and 1796 for the Seminary-School of the University of Mariners, it was transformed in the second half of the XIXth century into the residence of the dukes of Montpensier. Transferred to the Church for use as a Metropolitan Seminary, it has been in use until the final years of the XXth century. This period has been considered the most harmful to the heritage of San Telmo; it entailed not only demolition of the interior but the transformation of the buildings formal configuration and tipology. In 1989 it was... More

Bombas Gens is an old industrial building with an unquestionable social-historical value and one of the rare remaining examples of the industrial architecture of the thirties. Its Art Deco façades and architecture make it a special, unique location for some new uses according to today needs. The new facilities have been created as an internationally renowned multi-use space where Fundació Per Amor a L’Art will carry out its three-branch activity (arts, society and research). "Our aim has always been to apply a homogeneous intervention criterion to the whole complex, and, at the same time, give each building, be it original or recently built, the characteristic features that it needs for its specific use." - Ramó... More

A hyphen between past and present, the Cartier project is a testament to a couple’s dedication to honour the architectural heritage of a quaint cottage in the Plateau Mont-Royal by giving it a second life. Compact and nestled on a city lot with restrained proportions, including a narrow lateral passage and a small green inner courtyard, the original house presented some challenges for its expansion. Meeting the clients’ desire to connect the indoor spaces to the exterior spaces without losing the home’s existing charm and intimacy would be no small feat. The architectural response thus articulated itself around a balance of old and new with conservation and modernization treatments of the exterior facades and of the home&... More

Enhancing the Visitor Experience on Liberty Island FXCollaborative set two goals for the design of the Statue of Liberty Museum: 1) To create a building that uplifts the experience of the island for all visitors, and 2) To extend and add to the island’s open space, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to a beloved international monument.   Symbolizing Liberty The Statue of Liberty Museum is a garden pavilion that is designed to welcome all visitors of all ages, nationalities, and ethnicities. It is located at the north end of the formal pedestrian mall on Liberty Island, facing the Statue of Liberty and slightly rotated away from it. The museum anchors the main axis that connects the Museum to the Statue, and extends... More

The new exhibition spaces for Fondazione Cini onlus, stem from the restoration of a building of the early nineteenth century, designed for a bonded Warehouse, deeply changed by a heavy work of reclaim in 1954, functional to its reuse as a boarding school. The works in 1954 lead to an obvious conflict with the original set-up: - the new distribution was dictated by the central corridor and entrance to the far west side, peculiar to schools, as opposed to the open spaces onto the dock, onto the water, to be ready to receive goods; - there was a division of a large part of the building into two levels, in contrast with large full-height space; - the sequence of high and narrow openings on the inner front, as opposed to a few window holes of dif... More

The 19th century Squero, on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, is now home to an auditorium for 200 people, managed by the Giorgio Cini Foundation. The original building, in masonry, measures about 28.70 m by 17.70 m and is dated between 1830 and 1879; the reference model is that of the squeri of the Arsenale, therefore an open building, with arches on the main sides and large roof supported by wooden trusses. The restoration works of 1952 had radically changed the nature of the squero, transforming it into a closed building, inside which a reinforced concrete mezzanine and a thermal power station had been built. The project recovers the spatiality of the original squero, emptying the interior and freeing the fronts. The new... More

This project represents a type of architecture that rises from the history and the morphology of the location, combining both themes into a modern concept of a smart hotel. The new Hotel Prinz Rudolf gets its name from the crown prince of Austria and Hungary, son of the Austrian empress Sissy and her husband the emperor Franz Joseph, who got lost in the woods at one of his excursions and was found near by the Hotels site. The theme of prince Rudolf is omnipresent at the hotels interior starting with the combination of black and gold colours up to the chandeliers. This revocation of an aristocratic environment in a contemporary style evocates a unique provocative character that marks the interior design of this hotel. The building with its r... More