Waf 2016 shortlist

The United Nations affiliated World Maritime University (WMU) in Malmo, Sweden has been completed. In collaboration with Kim Utzon Arkitekter we won the project in 2011 after a 3-stage international competition. This collaboration continued throughout all stages of the project to completion. In urban terms the building was conceived as a spatial "hinge” that marked a transition point on the street extending from the old town of Malmo to the harbour area where the building is sited. The conception of the building as a “hinge” prompted us to explore a folded plate language for the new building such that it could act as a hinge in the city and also a hinge between itself and the original “Tornhuset”. The form of the project emerged... More

The entirely transparent façade of a high-end flagship store on Amsterdam’s upmarket shopping street, PC Hooftstraat, uses glass bricks, glass windows frames and glass architraves in a way to evoke the vernacular of the area with the goal to maintain the character of the site. The 620 m2 of retail and 220 m2 of housing, were designed for investor Warenar. The design unites the ambition of Amsterdam to have large distinctive flagship stores without compromising the historical ensemble. The project, conceptualised by MVRDV, was developed and constructed as part of a multi-team collaboration including Gietermans & Van Dijk Architects, Delft University of Technology, Brouwer & Kok engineers, ABT consulting engineers, Poesia (brand of Ve... More

After a period of 128 years, the sale of fresh produce has returned to its original location on Östermalm’s Square in the form of a temporary Market Hall, designed by Tengbom. Not only has the temporary market hall brought new life to the area, but been such a success that after only a few weeks, business is going better than in the old Market Hall. Östermalm’s Square was home to a thriving market trade until the municipality banned the sale of fresh produce outdoors in order to reduce health risks. In 1888 market trade moved in to the newly completed Market Hall on an adjacent site and the square lost its original function. With the erection of a temporary Market Hall directly on the square we are able to contemplate an alternative urb... More

The clients are a couple, a director and camera operator in the film industry, their jobs involve them filming on location for stretches of time. This house is the space to which they retreat between filming. The site is 20 hectares of farmland on the Kauaeranga river in the valley of the same name, it stretches from high on the hillside to the river banks and includes a ridgeline which commands a panoramic view of the farmland below and the native bush on the opposite slopes of the valley. The clients brief called for a response which engaged with the site in both a filmic as well as practical way, they live a life of self-sufficiency while on the land, including growing, animal husbandry and butchery. The clients spoke of materials... More

Embedded within the summit of Mount Kronplatz, 2,275m above sea level at the centre South Tyrol’s most popular ski resort, the Messner Mountain Museum Corones is surrounded by the alpine peaks of the Zillertal, Ortler and Dolomites. Established by renowned climber Reinhold Messner, the sixth and final Messner Mountain Museum explores the traditions, history and discipline of mountaineering. © Hufton+Crow © www.wisthaler.com Messner, the first person to climb all 14 mountains around the world over 8,000 meters, and the first to climb Mount Everest without the aid of tanked oxygen, conveys his vision for the MMM Corones: “Kronplatz offers views beyond the borders of South Tyrol to all points of the compass: fr... More

In 2012, Studio Farris Architects won the competition which was organised by the City of Bruges for the renovation and expansion of the Sint-Andries city library. The plot on which the library had to be expanded was very limited in size and located in an urban environment. The existing library, alongside other public services, was located in a building that’s listed on the inventory of architectural heritage. The request of the client consisted of a complex set of requirements, along with the wish to make the library more visible from the adjacent streets and give it its own identity to make it stand out from the multiplicity of other services located in the existing building. The extension is subordinate to the main building in te... More

Omicron, a global electronics company, desired to realize a lofty ambition: The expansion of the company's headquarters in Klaus is intended to provide employees with workplaces that stimulate creativity, promote communication and exchange among staff, and create a sense of well-being. Dietrich | Untertrifaller Architects has developed a harmonious, integrated package based on the idea of the existing building having variable office cubicles and an inner courtyard. Three courtyards now subdivide and bring daylight into the campus, whose clear division creates structure and orientation. On the ground floor there are meeting, storage and special purpose rooms. The office spaces on the two upper floors can be flexibly adapted to the res... More

Overlooking the road Puma Energy Corporate Headquarter is located on the Panamerican highway, passing through San Salvador. The new building, which is inserted between the existing commercial and industrial buildings that characterize this stretch of road with barely public profile, overlooks the road with a powerful cantilever taking part of the intensity of the traffic, showing its interior activity and acting as an innovative element of the urban landscape. The building consists of two superimposed and arranged crosswise blocks, interlacing solids and voids all around them. Thus, a progressive sequence of compressions and expansions arranges and qualifies the circulation and access areas. Jesús Granada Sequence of scales F... More

The highest value of the plot is a wonderful view stretching out. The idea was for the house to become its framework that crops it. The most appropriate building turned out to be a fully open on mountain landscape one-storey building, which gives the same view to all of the interiors. Because of the plot being located in an absolute wilderness a problem of security came out. The solution turned out to be "twisting" the building so as only its one corner touches the ground and the rest is hang over the edge of the hill. With this solution, part of the ground floor where the bedrooms were located was pulled up to the level of the first floor. Because of the fact that there are wide glass openings in the building, my wife asked me to e... More

19-08-2016 World's best library: Dokk1 wins Public Library of the Year Award 2016 Monday 15th August, Dokk1 in Aarhus, Denmark, designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, was announced winner of the Public Library of the Year Award 2016 at a ceremony during the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) congress in Columbus, Ohio. The international panel of judges recognised Dokk1 as a true library of the future that embraces new digital developments, user demands, local culture, and a desire to accommodate diverse population groups within an open and functional architectural expression. Dokk1 triumphed over libraries from Australia and the United States, becoming the first Danish library to receive... More

A belief in the power of Drawing and its central role in artistic creativity is vociferously shared by Stuart Bartholomew, the Vice Chancellor and Head of Arts University Bournemouth and its architect alumnus, Sir Peter Cook. In 2014 Bartholomew invited Cook to design this building, which is dedicated to that pursuit. Cook’s office CRAB (the Cook-Robotham Architecture Bureau) with Jenna Al-Ali as Project Architect have then developed an instrument that is to be used by the students of all of its 17 departments. These range from painting, sculpture and Illustration, through to architecture, costume, drama, and model-making with the result becoming the first such dedicated Drawing Studio as a stand-alone structure to be built in a British art... More

Located in the historic scenic water town, of Wuzhen in northern Zhejiang Province, the 6,700m2 art museum is dedicated to the renowned hometown artist/writer Mu Xin. Mu Xin, was a complex and inspiring figure, he was not only a celebrated artist of abstract landscapes and paintings but equally accomplished as a scholar, poet and writer. The building, is not only inspired by the complexity of the artist’s work but also his writing which was deeply impacted by the consecutive imprisonment he experienced during the Cultural Revolution in the early 1970’s and his ultimate exiling to the West. Influenced by these experiences and his scholarly upbringing, Mu Xin created space. Space, not only in the evocative multilayered painting of abst... More

VIΛ 57 West, designed by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group for the Durst Organization, introduces a new typology to New York City: the Courtscraper. The 830 000 sq ft highrise combines the density of the American skyscraper with the communal space of the European courtyard, offering 709 residential units with a lush 22 000 sq ft garden at the heart of the building. VIΛ occupies nearly a full city block at the corner of West 57th Street and the West Side Highway, with uninterrupted views towards the Hudson River Park and the waterfront. The Durst Organization commissioned BIG to design a building for the site in the spring of 2010, and construction commenced in 2011. The 32-story building has welcomed residents since May 2016 with the construction co... More

Photo shoot of the Field House near Głogów (Poland) designed by architectural studio, Blank Architects Information on the possibilities of use the photographs: [email protected] or +48 / 606463444 The site and people dictated the way this house was created. It is located in the XIX century village that is built among two lines of roads crossing in the heart of the community. The crossing is accented by landmark church. The original backdated cottages are lined regularly among the roads and their brick façades with gable roof always facing the road. The village is surrounded by agricultural fields with big population of birds, deer and hares moving around freely. The site is a long strip of land at the end of one road. Further expansi... More