Foster + Partners recently revealed its winning design for the new corporate headquarters for the Banco Ciudad de Buenos Aires in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Image: Courtesy Foster + Partners
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Buenos Aires · 2010.0825
Foster + Partners has revealed its winning design (rendered above) for a new corporate headquarters for the Banco Ciudad de Buenos Aires in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The firm collaborated on the competition entry with local architect BBRCH-Minond and construction firm CRIBA S.A. The building will occupy an entire city block in the neighborhood of Parque Patricios.
The plan will be organized as a series of "villages" connected by circulation routes and external landscaped patios, and linked by a flowing roof canopy. The entrance plaza will be sheltered by the deep overhang of the roof, supported by slender pillars. A full-height atrium will direct circulation into four tiers of terraced office spaces with direct views of the adjacent park. The floor plates will be based on an eight-meter- (26-foot-) square planning grid, allowing for flexibility.
With the project targeting LEED Silver certification, the design includes a number of sustainable features and strategies, such as natural ventilation, exposed thermal mass of concrete soffits with chilled beams for cooling, and shaded facades to limit solar gain.
OMA has revealed its winning design for the Bibliothèque Multimédia à Vocation Régionale in Caen, France. Image: Courtesy OMA
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Caen · 2010.0910
Architecture firm OMA, based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, has revealed its winning design for a major new library in Caen, France, the Bibliothèque Multimédia à Vocation Régionale (rendered above). The 12,000-square-meter (130,000-square-foot) building will be the focal point of new development in Caen. OMA associate-in-charge Clément Blanchet is leading the project.
The design features four protruding wings, pointing north toward the Abbaye aux Dames, east toward the Abbaye aux Hommes, south toward the central train station, and west toward the site of proposed future developments. Two intersecting reading rooms are intended to encourage interdisciplinary contact. Large windows will span the height of the reading room, and shallow floor plans will facilitate daylighting.
OMA also recently unveiled its design for a major restoration and redefinition of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi in Venice, Italy.
The larger venue and terrace at the C-Mine Energy Building, a former industrial structure in Genk, Belgium, that 51N4E converted into a theater and museum. Photo: Stijn Bollaert/ 51N4E
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Genk · 2010.0907
A former coal-mine complex in Genk, Belgium, has reopened as the C-Mine Energy Building, a theater, design museum, and tourist center (pictured above). Architects 51N4E of Brussels designed the adaptive reuse of the brownfield industrial site for the City of Genk.
The central turbine hall has become a cultural focal point. The five-meter- (16-foot-) high base of the existing brick power plant was extended with two new concrete additions, creating a labyrinth-like foyer, including exhibitions spaces, offices, a cafe, a restaurant, meeting rooms, and access to the two new performance spaces. In the theaters, the old brick infrastructure serves as the backdrop for the new stages.
Ground has been broken for the new Health and Wellness Center by
Cannon Design at the University of Colorado's Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colorado. Image: Cannon Design
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Aurora · 2010.0915
Ground has been broken for the new Health and Wellness Center at the University of Colorado's Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colorado. International multidisciplinary firm Cannon Design designed the four-story, 94,000-square-foot (8,700-square-meter) research facility with H+L Architecture of Denver and Colorado Springs. A nutrition lab and bistro will anchor the ground floor. The two-story volume of the fitness area will be articulated through a transparent expression on the north facade. The center will also include space for clinical trials, classrooms, offices, a grocery store, and a lounge adjacent to a roof garden. The building is scheduled for completion in spring 2012.
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