Urban

The property is located in the south of Leipzig, a district characterized by housings out of the late 19th and early 20th century. The district is structured by a main street axis, which stretches from the center to the south auf the city with numerous bars, cafés and stores. The Kurt-Eisner-Street is crossing that main street and functions as an important link between the western and eastern districts. The residential buildings at Kurt-Eisner-Street 50, a six-storey building in the front and a five-storey building in the courtyard, were built in 1889. During World War Two, the courtyard building was destructed. Our new building is constructed on the footprint of the pre-war building and is accessed via a passageway in the front buil... More

Belvedere Gardens is a mixed-use development located in Waterloo that provides 98 apartments within two towers. Developed by Braeburn Estates, a joint venture between Canary Wharf Group plc and Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, Belvedere Gardens is the third building to be launched within the Southbank Place masterplan. Ground floor retail units and a considered landscaping strategy help to increase variety and activity within the immediate urban area, with vibrant, public-facing active frontages.    The two towers step up from 11 storeys to 21 storeys in height, addressing the existing urban forms and strengthening overall visual coherence across the wider masterplan which extends to 5.25ha. During the early stages of... More

In a working class neigbourhood of Ghent, against the backdrop of nearby blocks of high-rise flats, Robbrecht en Daem converted an existing timber yard into new architectural studios. Filip Dujardin The roof of the shed, built by the wood construction company De Coene in the early seventies, was partially dismantled. What used to be the work floor has become an outdoor space that accommodates an arboretum fringed with wild grasses, a swimming pool, bicycle parking and a large open area for performances and exhibitions. It is a ‘playground’ for artist friends, for partying or resting. Described as a ‘modern “ruin”’ (by Dieter De Clercq, 2010), this open area is ‘a coarse filter between the offi... More

Rubens Square is a triangular square with a large opening towards the sea. Two long benches oriented parallel to the water are bordered by a wall of tempered glass which acts as protection from the wind. It is a particularly social place where elderly people often watch children play. The square’s tiles have a mosaic-like pattern with maritime tones that refer to the nearby sea. Blues, grey-greens and whites are interwoven like an abstract pointillist painting. Only the white tiles are strictly arranged diagonally. Filip Dujardin Filip Dujardin A difference in height of 1.2 meters makes the square slightly concave as if it were a stone wave washing up against the dike. Sculptures by Franz West are placed along two sides. Th... More

In the best museums and galleries one finds one's way through a series of rooms, where the artefacts are carefully lit and set off by calm backgrounds. A degree of repetition helps navigation, some variation helps orientation. Filip Dujardin The proposals for the Whitechapel Art Gallery are bold in their restraint (someone commented: 'where’s the architecture?') and seize a simple but powerful opportunity: lower and upper floors are configured as circuits of rooms, with the stylistically different but volumetrically similar existing galleries linked up by smaller, more domestically scaled gallery spaces. The subtle rhythms and contrasts of the rooms form the backdrop to the wide variety of work on display (historic and contempor... More

Situated at the head of Spoor Noord, the hospital is a hinge between the park, the docks and the city, and thus benefits from each of their qualities. The limited surface area of the site requires the hospital to be organised vertically. The hospital structure has a clearly discernible layered construction. All outpatient activities with consultation rooms, centres of knowledge and medical technical services are in the lowest section. The various nursing units are located in an L-shape at the top of the pedestal, above which is the administrative block. This entirety is bisected horizontally several times by interweaving the building with its surroundings. The hospital anchors itself in the urban fabric by releasing the entire ground floor... More

  Standing on a plot of land, present modern tropical concepts combining tropic through wood, plants and natural stone materials, strenghten modern look by simple form with brutalist finish. Subdivisual Subdivisual There are several openings and courtyards in the dining room, it provides maximum circulation so that the residence is not hot and not humid. Additional combinations of unique and simple furniture also beautify the space inside building. Subdivisual More

Connecting built form to the surrounding landscape, the design of Windsor Park is characterised by elegant forms, apertures and playful materiality that embrace the leafy surrounds. The concept, inspired by minimalist Japanese architecture, is one of enduring and timeless design that is at one with its environment. Gabriel Saunders The architectural form is interpreted as a series of smaller buildings separated by pockets of greenery. Vertical breaks along both street interfaces create shadow lines, changing the macro to micro for a more human-scale experience. Gabriel Saunders Sensitive landscaping to the neighbouring reserve evokes an escape from urban life, while a generous internal courtyard offers a sculptural, contemplativ... More

Urban context Village im Dritten (Village in the third district) is a newly developed quarter between Landstraßer Gürtel and Otto-Preminger-Straße in the north-east, with a park for everyone in the middle. The Gürtelbogen, a two-storey commercial building, shields the residential complex behind it from the heavily frequented Gürtel. The guiding idea of “climate-resilient district development” focuses on parks, façade greening, roof gardens and percolating pavements, but also on social sustainability. Site 7, which was developed by Dietrich | Untertrifaller together with Artec, is located in the middle of the Quartierstrasse, exactly opposite the passage to the Gürtel. Our project owes its... More

Demolish or renovate? This question often arises when it comes to the further development of school buildings from the 1970s. The senior high school Lycée Evariste Galois in the Paris metropolitan area no longer meets current requirements and is bursting at the seams due to strong demographic development. With a holistic environmental approach in mind, we decided together with our partner Panorama Architecture from Aix en Provence to restructure and expand. Based on the qualities of the existing, we reorganised the individual parts of the building and united them into a legible, communicative whole. Dietrich Untertrifaller The newly created green schoolyard forms the heart of the ensemble and connects the various functions. It... More

Over the next ten years, the Metzgergrün district is set to undergo a profound transformation and change into a contemporary housing estate without losing its original character. To replace the 27 row buildings from the 1950s, a modern district with about 500 new apartments and generous green areas is being built here. “This urban composition of residential courtyards, social center, high-quality and differentiated open spaces, new networks and the right connections has the potential to become a model and future-oriented quarter,” praised the jury. Dietrich Untertrifaller Manageable Neighborhoods The design arranges the apartments into six blocks, creating manageable neighborhoods. Each block combines three to four-s... More

Bruno Klomfar   On a historically significant industrial site, where a hammer mill grew into the most important metal-processing company in Vorarlberg, a natural history museum and city garden was established after the closing down of the company. Bruno Klomfar Bruno Klomfar New and additional parts have been added with flair and finesse to the surviving historic buildings, in which the industrial character of the existing buildings was referenced and interpreted in a contemporary manner. Bruno Klomfar The exhibition spaces were designed on several floors. The new constructions can be identified by its cladding of Corten steel plates. The administration buildings protrude from the old facades in the back court. T... More

The concept of the new Heideveld Primary School complex was borne from constraints experienced as part of the previous school location and layout as well as from the decanting strategy and programme, which was integral to the roll-out and construction process. The site is fairly small and the existing school operation had to be accommodated on site while the new school was being built. This gave rise to a compact and simple plan form, focused around a shared central courtyard, and two secondary undercover courtyard spaces, one for the foundation phase classes in a single storey block and the other for intermediate and senior phase classes in a double storey block. The hierarchy of shared spaces is a theme that runs throughout the design of... More

Du Noon Primary School is a replacement school, built as part of the Department of Basic Education’s Accelerated School Infrastructure Development Initiative (ASIDI) Programme.   The Du Noon Primary School site is located within very dense urban fabric, with properties fully built up, and the narrow streets lined with informal spaza shops, crèches, and informal house extensions. With open space in Du Noon being an absolute luxury, the streets are true public spaces, where, out of necessity, pedestrians take precedence over motor vehicles. The existing school operation had to be accommodated on the site, while the new school was built. Hence the new school had to be accommodated on the limited area available outside the e... More