Timber facade

Our circular modular timber school Het Epos in Rotterdam is complete and fully operational. Both staff and pupils are very happy with the fresh yet cozy building and are making excellent use of the different spaces.   Het Epos primary school is an initiative of The Verre Bergen Foundation. This foundation aims to give back to the city of Rotterdam by setting up a new school in Zuidwijk, an area in the southern part of the city which is socioeconomically disadvantaged. In this innovative primary school teachers are given more allocated teaching time with students than the Dutch average, so they can better support the individual needs of the students.   SeARCH, together with builder De Groot Vroomshoop, has developed a new way o... More

In Hoek van Holland, near the Maeslant barrier, which is part of the Delta Works, lies the Oranjebonnenpolder recreational area. To connect a network of paths with recreational routes along the NieuweWaterweg ship canal, a new railway overpass has been built for walkers, cyclists and horse riders.    The typology of the bridge harks back to the 19th-century ‘covered bridges’ of east-coast rural America. These were covered timber structures shaped like a stable so that horses would cross ‘voluntarily’ and not take fright at the wild water or thundering locomotives below. A practical, illusionary invention that also offered a practical solution for this project.   The bridge has a hybrid construction... More

Spring Farm is an emerging community in Sydney’s South-West. NBRSARCHITECTURE has designed and delivered a community centre that visually invites and draws in the local community through design elements that evoke intrigue and play. In doing so NBRS, in collaboration with Camden Council, has created an environment to nurture and strengthen community in the growing neighbourhood.   Spring Farm Community Centre’s (SFCC) most immediate design feature is the articulated roof that projects over the flanks of the buildings, providing sheltered walkways from the retail area adjacent to the site through to the public park on the other side. The panelled timber facades allow passers-by to peek in and take a glimpse at what is happ... More

Between Escarpment and the Sea. Coledale, located between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, is an area undergoing gentle transformation, where miner’s cottages jostle with more recent homes. The brief asked to accommodate a creative family of four and to provide a smaller second dwelling to share the wonderful locale with extended family, friends and guests.  This project is built on a constrained corner block, where a steep south facing slope, ocean views and solar access are all at odds with one another.  In response, and drawing from the geological strata on this coastline, a new raised ground plane and elevated deck was developed, providing refuge and prospect for the occupants. Below this, the garage, s... More

BremenLike many German cities, Bremen is confronted with an increasing housing shortage and a growing demand for affordable housing.In response to this, the largest Bremen Housing Association, GEWOBA, has prudently taken on a supplementary extension to their existing 45,000 plus housing stock. In 2011, within the framework of the competition “ungewöhnlich Wohnen” (unusual living), five exemplary lots from a postwar housing area were chosen to investigate the adaptability of the area. The proposals considered contemporary demands for affordable and flexible housing that could offer manifold inhabitant configurations. These housing areas in the Gartendstadt Süd of Neustadt Bremen, offer generous green open areas formed b... More

Yarraville Light House is a three bedroom home in Melbourne’s inner West. To the front, the original single fronted Victorian cottage has been carefully renovated with original features retained. To the rear a new single storey extension has been added. The extension is designed to embrace contemporary courtyard living making the most of a long, narrow site. It features a curvaceous timber façade edged by a long timber bench seat. A pocket courtyard sits between old and new and brings light into the centre of the house. The design makes the most of the long and narrow (50m long x 6m wide) site.What was the brief?Our clients, Andrew & Bec are a couple with a young family. Their brief was to create a light filled family home with contempo... More

Masterfully designed by Tennent Brown, this stunning timber façade uses Vulcan Screening, chosen for its stability and weathering characteristics.Te Ara a Tāwhaki is a new building as part of Te Wānanga o Raukawa (a unique learning laboratory specifically for Māori), housing the library, main lecture theatre, student services and student hub. The criss cross pattern on the façade was designed by architects Tennent Brown to reflect traditional Māori flax weaving patterns.This project required a timber that would be stable enough to cope with this demanding application, while weathering gracefully. Maintenance was also a key consideration given the elevated nature of the structure on a commercial building.The stability and... More

This unique CLT home uses Tundra Cladding in Iron Vitriol finish, along with Vulcan timber feature balustrades both interior and exterior.   Craig Wilson, of TOA Architects, designed this beautiful home for his family – on a challenging sloping site tucked away in the Auckland city fringe suburb of Grey Lynn.   Extensive use of pre-fabrication, including Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), meant that structural components were pre-panelised and delivered to site.   This home is one of the first modern applications of ancient Scandinavian method to finish wood using Iron Vitriol (otherwise known as Iron Sulphate) in New Zealand.    Tundra Cladding was selected to contrast with the cleaner render and stee... More

Designed by Shane Kingsbeer of Kingsbeer Architecture as a simple cube, however the construction is anything but simple. Viewed from the road, the box-shaped workroom seems to float above the ground. This in part due to the clean design and choice of materials, but also in the clever planning. Signage, a letterbox and fencing are all absent from the street frontage - and leave the studio’s clean unbroken lines to speak for themselves.  The studio facade is clad with Abodo’s thermally modified pine (a rapidly renewable and locally sourced eco-timber) using Vulcan Screening finished in Sioo:x natural wood coating. This innovative finish means the timber will silver off over time so the studio... More

Situated in the neighbourhood of Núñez, Buenos Aires, Argentina, this boutique apartment building contrasts it’s suburban context with an operable timber facade. The deep but narrow lot, only 8.6m wide by 32m deep, is divided into two four-storey apartment blocks with a central open vertical circulation core.    The ground floor is kept open and is dedicated to providing amenities to the residents. It contains the swimming pool, entry lobby, multi-purpose communal entertaining space, the traditional Argentine ‘Parilla’ BBQ, garden and car parking.    Eight apartments complete the development, each containing large open plan living spaces, one bedroom and large private balconies. The apartments are located close to the local train station as... More

Sitting roughly 20 kilometres from the city of Devonport, Shearwater has gained significant momentum as a Tasmanian summer holiday destination in recent years, with its pristine beaches and Narawntapu National Park just a short paddle across the port. Shearwater House, sitting in prime position on Shearwater Esplanade, was designed to take full advantage of this special location.   Beginning with a podium-like form, Shearwater House subtly peaks above the sand dunes and low-line shrubbery.  To help soften the elevated silhouette, mirrored curves were introduced within the roof line and ground floor brickwork.   Upstairs, priority is given to the beach view, with expansive living areas and floor to ceiling windows to the n... More

Explanationof multifunctional schoolThis is a special primary school because there are 5 different groups of users who work together in one building, and use the facilities together for education, care, sports and neighborhood facilities. It consists of 16 classrooms, 3 groups for a daycare,1 group for extra-curricular activities, 1 nursery school/kindergarten and one gym. The building has a social connection to the neighbourhood and also has rooms available for associations that want to use the extra consultation and meeting rooms.When we won the project at the end of 2005 after being in competition with other architectural firms, it was on the basis of our proposal in which the existing school would be maintained, renovated and partly ext... More

The two maisonette apartments are located in a tree grove at the edge of Zürich. The tree grove is part of a forest arm that permeates through the city. From dense foliage in summer, the location metamorphoses in winter into a snowy scenery with a beautiful creek that flows to the lake of Zürich. The parcel is diagonally divided by the forest, constraining the layout of the house to a triangular shape. To give the house a spacious living space, we used the slope of the parcel to vertically separate the two apartments. Furthermore, the structure features overhangs to enlarge the surface of the upper floors. The lower maisonette occupies the ground floor and the first floor. It is the largest of the two apartments.Due to t... More