Museum & biodiversity research center, Beautour - Guinée*Potin architectes

November 11, 2013, 5:11 am

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Main idea of Beautour center is to glorify the historical Georges Durand’s mansion (a Vendean naturalist, 1886 – 1964) who got important collections. Man of rights, he quickly developped a passion for natural sciences. For 70 years, he collected plants and insects from all over Europe, with the help of his friends and fellow scientists. This is how he has been able to collect nearly 5.000 birds, 150.000 butterflies and insects, and numerous herbariums. Thus almost all 4.500 species of the french flora are hereby represented.

Context
The project aims to develop educational and scientific supports themed on biodiversity, as well as a management strategy and evolution prospectives for the whole area. Beyond the thematic gardens, composting, and using rainwater for watering, that are some obvious actions, the project aims to help new forms of biodiversity to regenerate this site, abandoned for 30 years. Some plots of land have reached a state of «climax», and the global intervention presents two alternatives : either an integral preservation, either a minimal intervention that could engage a new natural diversification. Some other plots, on the contrary, have been maintained in a state of biological poverty due to frequent mowing and pasture. These ones could use a higher level of interventionism, in order for a new ecosystem to settle on a long term basis.

Biodiversity The Museum & Biodiversity research center tries to find a right balance between light actions, preserving the biodiversity already on site, and other stronger actions, creating a positive impact on the biological diversity. Thus the project is neither a theme park, nor an ornamental garden. This really is a site-specific project, inspired by the local biodiversity, the topography, and the other qualities that are proper to Beautour. The visit itinerary is drawn by this logic, scientific purpose leading the visitor down to the fields and the valley, where the wild nature meets both Beautour historical and newly designed gardens and meadows.

Architectural project
In a very present landscaped green setting, the project takes on a strong identity, reinterpretating a traditional technique in a contemporary and innovative way, by adopting a thatched skin, that entirely covers both walls and roof of the building. The competition renderings dispay the natural aging of the material, fading to grey tones and shades changing as the seasons pass by. As a compact shape would have vied with Mr Durand’s mansion, the building grows organic, embracing the mansion, surrounding it and spreading on the site without overthrowing the natural order. Solid raw chestnut tree trunks also confuse the overall image of the mimetic project. The building, as a branch laying on the ground, is a ‘piece of built landscape’, a ‘new geography’ completing the natural scenography. Making the building rise up the ground allows the biodiversity to stay in place and minimizes the impact of foundation works. The project slowly lifts up to unveil the pond hosting frogs and herons. The technical facilities annex is painted black and houses locker- rooms and a wood-fired boiler. A pedagogical greenhouse stands next to it at the entrance of the site.

Global approach : how to combine bioclimatic design and contextual approach
A bioclimatic approach seems obvious considering the program (environment and biodiversity are the leitmotiv words), and would concentrate on being as compact as possible, in order to prevent thermic loss. But in the context of Beautour, where the mansion (even in ruins) stands quite impressive from the first visits, it has been chosen not to go in this way and add a second massive building, but instead to design a stretched shape, laying on over 100 meters. From our point of view, this contextual approach compensates the ideal of the bioclimatic shape, and follows these principles : - Light impact on the surroundings by using natural thatch and raising the building on stilts, lowering the impact of foundation works – Solar south façade, generously open on the landscape, and circulations concentrated on the north side - Maximal in-factory prefabrication phase, allowing a clean construction site and a low environmental disturbance

Structure & materiality
Given the will to protect the existing ground and minimize concrete foudations, the extension is built on a prefabricated timber frame, allowing a control during the fabrication with high precision assembly techniques, and a high internal flexibility in the future. The use of a composite timber-concrete floor compensates for the low inertia of the timber structure. Heath is kept inside in winter, but the thatched roofs and walls (35cm on roofs, 25cm on walls) prevents its penetration in summer. Concerning the existing mansion, it is rehabilitated in a patrimonial way : restoration of all windows, floors and timber frame, exterior walls are coated with a light gray lime plaster. Inside the mansion, existing floors have been conserved and original cement tiles have been relocated and mixed with contemporary pieces to create an ambiguousness on what is and what has been.

Orientation
On the south façade, the pronounced thatch overhang, in association with the existing deciduous trees hedge, prevent from overheating during summer, and provides a visual comfort all year long. In the restored building, the width of the walls and the insulation panels (90 cm combined) and the position of the windows (aligned with the insulation) create a solar protection from direct sunlight during summer months. The inner organization of the project clearly articulates the different units from a generous entrance hall that distributes the various elements along a north side circulation. The main hall is open on south and north, and is part of a scenographied route that initiates on the parking lot. The sequence begins with a 200 meters path going through the willow labyrinth and continues on the original footpath leading to the mansion. This one has been conserved in its original state and is reserved to pedestrians.

Lobby hall
At the end of the footpath, a wooden ramp leads the visitor toward the thatched building entrance, walking alongside the exhibition rooms on his left, and discovering Mr Durand’s mansion on his right. The lobby hall, with south and north views, articulates all the different spaces and is part of the pedagogical itinerary. It offers the visitors a comfortable 9 meters high space, letting them see the timber frame and the wood panels bearing the roof. It opens on a south-oriented terrace and outdoor footbridges leading to the pond.

Exhibition rooms
Occupying the north part of the thatched volume, the two exhibition rooms (permanent and temporary) are accessible by the main hall. Their thatched gables are visible right from the entrance of the site. The permanent exhibition aims to draw the evolution of the naturalists work, through the example of more than 80 pieces from Mr Durand’s collection. Academic and associative partners have been working together on the scientific content. The exhibition is built around 3 main themes that frame the visit : - Naturalist theme : techniques, methods, works and evolution are explored and related to the history of the naturalism during the twentieth century

The temporary exhibition «Agriculture and biodiversity» explores the different relationships between agriculture and biodiversity from a landscape point of view : common point between these two entites, landscape is a familiar spatial notion and lets the visitor rediscover the subject through its various scales and interactions. Landscape is straightaway present in the exhibition room through the wide window, opening on the meadows and framing the natural grove. The exhibition organizes from this direct visual link, and guides the visitor in observing and reading the various landscapes of the region. On two lateral walls, 6 different regional characteristic landscapes are featured. In the middle of the room, an interactive map invites the visitor to trail around these landscapes, locate them in the region, by activating different layers and thus discovering the connections between every component.
- Landscape theme : Mr Durand explored various scales of landscapes : from Beautour and its surrounding swamps in Vendée, to the Pyrénées, France and Africa, from a plot of land to a continent. Collections are then related to their territories by the study of scales, backgrounds, habitats, that allow the visitor to relate naturalized animals to their territory through the notion of biodiversity - Biographical theme : the exhibition enlights the contributions Mr Durand has made to the knowledge in the naturalist field and its expansion in the twentieth century, as well to the local history and heritage A large exhibition table occupies the center of the space, divided following a grid refering to entomological framed butterflies. Various height modules create an imaginary topography, suggesting the diversity of the prospection sites, and able to display a large number of specimens. The contents feature naturalized specimens, scientific and historic explanations, objects to discover, touchpads, and augmented reality games.

The existing mansion
Visiting the old house and feeling the particular atmosphere of the place led us to completely rehabilitate the mansion, conserving this beautiful heritage from the past and taking advantage of the generous volumes of the building. We decided to keep a domestic atmosphere in the mansion, thus the first floor hosts the associative spaces, and the second floor hosts the research laboratories. Researchers can enjoy large views on the horizon through the main façade ribbed windows, or framed views on the extension thatched roof. This floor is kept widely open, and the original centenarian timber frame (preserved at 50%) is exposed and visible. The ground floor is directly connected to the entrance hall created in the extension, and hosts shared spaces and offices. One one hand, the mansion plays a historic role, it is a memory from the past (wooden floors, ciment tiles and granite paving are conserved). On the other hand, the new extension and contemporary pieces reactivate the mansion in a whole new living dimension.

The educational rooms
On the west side of the extension, a conference room, a lunch room, and two educational rooms take place between a hedge on the south, the abandoned garden transformed in an ‘insects field’ on the north, and an existing wall on the west. From the entrance hall, raised 1.20m above the ground, a slight ramp (5%) serves these particular spaces, differentiating from the common spaces by this level difference. On the west end, the educational room rises 3.5m above the natural ground, offering a panorama on the landscape and the pond.

Photo by Nicolas Pineau. Published on November 11, 2013.

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IPERA 25 - Alataş Architecture and Consulting

November 12, 2013, 6:15 am

≫ Next: Single Family House - Jose Gigante, Vítor Silva

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Project Signifance and Impact
The building constitutes the first example if its kind in demonstrating that conservation in the historic Galata District can be achieved successfully not merely by preserving and replicating the past. By extension, this approach has elicited positive responses from the city and thus blazed a trail in its own right. The building gave impetus and a positive direction to the ongoing urban transformation at a stagnant and underdeveloped point in Galata. In transforming an idea into a building, Alataş’ architectural stance, his light design, use of natural energy sources, and attempt to create readable structures, as well as the unconstrained, flexible, boundless, and transparent character of his designs are reflected everywhere from the connection details of the components to the relationship between the building and its setting.

Photo by Gürkan Akay. Published on November 12, 2013.

Materials, Construction and Technology
foundation:
The neighboring structures adjoin the building on all three sides on the sloped terrain with difficult working conditions. In order to avoid any possible damage to these structure, the building’s raft foundation and curtain walls were thus completed by using the hand-dug well foundation technique in stages.

Photo by Gürkan Akay. Published on November 12, 2013.

construction:
In a city center where land is precious, the exposed concrete curtain walls and concrete floors isolating the building from its neighbors were poured in an extremely thin manner, resembling fire walls of the past. It was thus possible to use such a thin layer of concrete in a load-bearing system where concrete and steel were integrated and the structural elements functioned with vertical loads without receiving any momentum. In line with the needs of the structural system, the connection details of steel and concrete and the location and shape of the diagonal steel sets against lateral forces were specially designed by an architect. Instead of repeating the load bearing systems used frequently in this geography, this approach not only advanced the details but also introduced an innovative touch to the building’s architecture.

Photo by Gürkan Akay. Published on November 12, 2013.

façade:
Cradled in steel and concrete and used uninterruptedly in the front and rear elevations, the structural glass façade pursues patent architecture that produces new details rather than succumbing to assembly architecture with familiar systems. The non-profiled sliding wings manufactured specifically for the façade and façade cover joints are produced with unique details that are not revealed at first glance. The concept of the transparent surface of wooden veil covering the two façades and the roof between two walls was developed specifically for this building by the architect himself. The concept was achieved by elegantly suspending the steel and wooden elements from the points holding the glass panes of the façade.

air-conditioning:
In the double-façade flats facing the east and the west, the temperature difference emerging between the façades at various hours of the day is designed to provide natural horizontal air conditioning. While the moveable shell covering the outer façade protects the glass façades against daylight and heat in the summer, the 20-cm void between the building and its exterior creates a chimney effect and generates a natural air circulation around the building. In winter, on the other hand, sunlight permeating through the moveable shell is stored as heat on the exposed concrete surfaces of the floor and walls, thereby providing heat conservation for the building and its dwellers.

Location: Galata, İstanbul, Turkey 
Programme: Housing
 Total Site Area: 154 sqm
Total Combined Floor Area: 1100 sqm 
Year: 2012 
Materials: steel construction, concrete, wood, glass, stainless steel

Photo by Gürkan Akay. Published on November 12, 2013.

Photo by Ali Bekman. Published on November 12, 2013.

Photo by Gürkan Akay. Published on November 12, 2013.

Photo by Ali Bekman. Published on November 12, 2013.

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Single Family House - Jose Gigante, Vítor Silva

November 14, 2013, 5:59 am

≫ Next: Nanjing Sifang Art Museum - Steven Holl Architects, Architectural Design Institute, Nanjing University

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On a hillside overlooking the city of Guimarães, we looked for an elevation that would allow, from within the space, to widely benefit from the magnificent view over the city. The house is there implanted, in an elevation that does not exist in the actual terrain and, therefore, we must transform it by reinventing its topography, shaping it with the assistance of long granite walls that, accentuating ledges, are already the proclamation of this assembly, setting the basis for its construction. On the upper platform of that desired elevation, the volume rests, swinging so seemingly unsteady over the last ledge.

The artificiality of this platform also allows for the appropriation of its interior and the house can be developed in a lower level, in direct contact with the ground floor. A narrow courtyard, open throughout the height of the interior space, brings down natural light into the center of the volume, compensating for the constraints resulting from the predominant orientation of the spans of the façade – facing the scenery, that is, to the West. A balance that the different inputs of zenital light come to strengthen. In the opposite façade everything becomes more filtered and circumstantial, drawing the entrance approaching area and safeguarding the readability of the service areas. And all it takes is a volume unusually cantilevered – the laundry room – to establish the corresponding hierarchy. And then we wait for dusk, for the city lights, that over the horizon, will gradually light up.

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Nanjing Sifang Art Museum - Steven Holl Architects, Architectural Design Institute, Nanjing University

November 13, 2013, 1:44 am

≫ Next: Quarry Garden in Shanghai Botanical Garden - THUPDI, Tsinghua University

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Perspective is the fundamental historic difference between Western and Chinese painting. After the 13th Century, Western painting developed vanishing points in fixed perspective. Chinese painters, although aware of perspective, rejected the single-vanishing point method, instead producing landscapes with “parallel perspectives” in which the viewer travels within the painting.

The new museum is sited at the gateway to the Contemporary International Practical Exhibition of Architecture in the lush green landscape of the Pearl Spring near Nanjing, China. The museum explores the shifting viewpoints, layers of space, and expanses of mist and water, which characterize the deep alternating spatial mysteries of early Chinese painting. The museum is formed by a “field” of parallel perspective spaces and garden walls in black bamboo-formed concrete over which a light “figure” hovers. The straight passages on the ground level gradually turn into the winding passage of the figure above. The upper gallery, suspended high in the air, unwraps in a clockwise turning sequence and culminates at “in-position” viewing of the city of Nanjing in the distance. The meaning of this rural site becomes urban through this visual axis to the great Ming Dynasty capital city, Nanjing.

The courtyard is paved in recycled Old Hutong bricks from the destroyed courtyards in the center of Nanjing. Limiting the colors of the museum to black and white connects it to the ancient paintings, but also gives a background to feature the colors and textures of the artwork and architecture to be exhibited within. Bamboo, previously growing on the site, has been used in bamboo- formed concrete, with a black penetrating stain. The Museum has geothermal cooling and heating, and recycled storm water.

program: museum complex with galleries, tea room, bookstore, and a curator’s residence
project type: direct commission
building area (square): 30000sf/2787sm
Date: 2003 – 2013

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Quarry Garden in Shanghai Botanical Garden - THUPDI, Tsinghua University

November 8, 2013, 2:12 am

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Site and Context
Quarry Garden is located at the center of Shanghai Chen Mountain Botanical Garden, covering an area of 4.26 hectares (10.53 acres). Chen Mountain is isolated in the Garden and is nearly 70 meters (229.7 feet) high. Its appearance has been greatly destroyed and two east-west quarries are formed between the early 20th Century and the 1980s due to quarrying. One deep pool is left in the west quarry after the hill is explored and excavated into the ground. This project plans to build one delicate and characteristic horticultural garden by focusing on the west quarry. This Hill was one famous tourist resort in this region historically with a good name of ” Chen Mountain Eight Sights”. This project involves the ecological restoration of abandoned quarry and the recovery of five classic sights of the ” Chen Mountain Eight Sights” based on the site condition and traditional context.

Image: Yao Chen. Published on November 08, 2013.

Opportunities and Challenges
This project, as one of the core scenic spots of Chen Mountain Botanical Garden, offers opportunities for changing this severely-damaged quarry into one eco-friendly open public space. And the unique space form of the present quarry also provides possibility for designers to construct one unusual landscape. Certainly, the landscape designers also face many challenges. One is to repair the severely degraded ecological environment. This site has little vegetation cover and lean species but severe rock weathering and water and soil loss. Another is to fully excavate and use the value of landscape left in the quarry. This site has been wholly abandoned with the Deep Pool fenced against people over the past twenty years. Therefore, reestablishing proper connection between quarry and people becomes the problem for designers to think about.

Image: Yao Chen. Published on November 08, 2013.

Design Strategies
Quarry Garden has been divided into three parts based on sufficient site analysis: the Lake Area, the Platform Area and the Deep Pool. Different design strategies are adopted corresponding to different area conditions to renew the quarry landscape. The Lake Area: reconstructing the surface configuration and enriching the ecological community It is located in the west side of the garden where visitors firstly enter from the main entry. It used to be relatively even rock surface and be lifeless except for the thick metasequoia forest at its southeast edge. Designers reconstruct the landform by digging and land filling and form the new “Mirror Lake” and “Flower-seeing Platform”. “Mirror Lake” forms another touring center balancing with the Deep Pool and the reflecting of the lake surface reduces the dull sense of the hill’s vertical plane; the south hill on which the “Flower-seeing Platform” is built not only isolates the interference outside the site, but also provides ideal place for flower planting and displaying.

Image: Yao Chen. Published on November 08, 2013.

The Platform Area: Improving spatial sequence and opening up sightseeing site The Platform Area is situated between the terrace area and the hills, with 6 exits and entrances surrounding it as underground facilities. The exits and entrances are connected by three layers of set-back floors with retaining wall; the set-back floor is grown with a single variety of bushes. First, the designer utilizes the free stone wall and the rusty steel plate to reshape facade sequence with rhythmic changes; then, a variety of mountain-climbing routes are explored for people to reach the top of the Platform and to visit the “secret garden” of diverse plants. A water tower has been built inside the “secret garden” based on the existing facilities tunnels. The Deep Pool: Creating dramatic route to connect east-west quarry

Image: Yao Chen. Published on November 08, 2013.

The deep pool has a water area of about 1 hectare (2.47 acres); both the water depth and the height difference between the water surface and the terrace area is between 20-30 m (65.6-98.4 feet).Due to its unique space form, this area is doomed to make the core zone of this project. Since the deep pool has been affected by the rampway for transporting stones, the rock wall on its south side is much more abundant in space level. Meanwhile, considering less serious rock weathering, the rock wall on the south side boasts of stable structure for visitors to access the bottom pool. The designer has created a sightseeing route composed of pourable steel barrel, freely-cambered steel trestle, artificial “the strip of sky” landscape and winding wood floating bridge. Through this route, the visitors will be able to experience the quarry from more angles and to enjoy dramatic space, which will further strengthen their understanding for the oriental cultures of landscape and mining industry. At the end of this route, the designer also cuts a 150 m (492 feet) tunnel rising for 25 m (82 feet), connecting east-west quarry.

Image: Yao Chen. Published on November 08, 2013.

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Parc National du Mali, Bamako - kere architecture

November 13, 2013, 3:24 am

≫ Next: Estudio para el pintor Arranz-Bravo - Garcés · De Seta · Bonet Arquitectes

≪ Previous: Quarry Garden in Shanghai Botanical Garden - THUPDI, Tsinghua University

See more photos by Iwan Baan

For the 50th anniversary of the Independence of Mali, the National Park in Bamako will be reopened with new buildings such as an exclusive restaurant, a sport centre and several entrance buildings.

The restaurant is situated on top of a rock formation and is nestling up against the different height levels. The building is separated in four cubes which are representing the different functions. The concern was always to integrate the spectacular view over the park and the nearby lake into the design.

Following the example of the restaurant, the sport centre is meeting with the same architectonical language. It consists of three pavilions which are situated around an ellipsoidal playground. The buildings are situated in such a way that they give maximal shadow to the playground and also the interior recreation spaces. Also here the relationships between interior and exterior spaces played a major role in the design.

The entrance buildings are interpreting the architectonical style of the restaurant and the sport centre. In this way the ensemble of the different complexes creates through the common design language and choice of materials a unique and recognizable architecture fort he park.

All buildings are covered from the outside with the local natural stone, which usage is reinforcing the local identity and saving building costs. The exterior stone walls are providing a natural isolation and acclimatisation of the interior spaces. The big overhanging roofs are giving shade to the facades and are creating an enjoyable inside climate. For more exclusive rooms, such as the dining hall in the restaurant, an air-conditioning is foreseen. In these cases, the gap between the massive wall and the roof was closed with a stripe.

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Estudio para el pintor Arranz-Bravo - Garcés · De Seta · Bonet Arquitectes

November 8, 2013, 2:58 am

≫ Next: Maison Stine-Gybels - Pierre Hebbelinck

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El nuevo edificio está dedicado a una sola actividad: Creativa, ensimismada y solitaria, tal como nos conta- ba el pintor. Esto nos inclinó a resolver el volumen de una manera compacta con un exterior uniforme – capas aislantes y estuco claro en expresiva continuidad de muros y cubierta- para establecer relaciones de carácter familiar, sin estridencias, con el entorno natural. El interior es una fluida y múltiple cavidad de hormigón consecuencia directa del concepto estructural monolítico de la construcción y de la búsqueda de espacios severos y desnudos al servicio del trabajo artístico que ahí se realiza.

En el solar en pendiente, con abundancia de árboles, en la vertiente Norte del Tibidabo y contiguo a la casa donde vive el pintor, el pequeño edificio reúne un estudio de pintura lo más grande, 12 m x 13,5 m., y vacío posible y en su planta inferior, resultado del encuentro del volumen prismático con el terreno, un taller para escultura y un almacén de obra propia.

El estudio, espacio sin vistas, recibe luz principalmente por cubierta con un gran lucernario situado en el encuentro de los cuatro planos inclinados que de forma irregular acaban de definir el espacio a partir de la línea horizontal de coronación de los muros de periferia de 5 metros de altura.

Una escalera, colocada discretamente en un lateral para no romper la unidad del estudio, conduce a la planta inferior de menor altura libre 3,5 m-. El espacio posterior más cercano al muro de contención de tierras se destina al almacén de obra y la zona delantera, taller de escultura, se abre frontalmente en su totalidad con una gran fisura rasgada de proporción ap

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Maison Stine-Gybels - Pierre Hebbelinck

November 12, 2013, 7:40 am

≫ Next: Granary reconstruction - Jose Gigante, Vítor Silva

≪ Previous: Estudio para el pintor Arranz-Bravo - Garcés · De Seta · Bonet Arquitectes

La parcelle de terrain est de très petite taille et son profil s’apparente un talutage en bordure d’un chemin creux. En outre l’ensemble du terrain est parsemé de petits arbres et fourrés de qualité faible mais permettant une véritable inscription dans les valeurs paysagères. Ce caractère de sous-bois est renforcé par la proximité du bois du Verrewinckel. Le programme consiste en une habitation unifamiliale de cinq chambres comprenant deux garages fermés et possédant, en outre, une zone dévolue à une société de production audiovisuelle.

Le premier point d’appuis de la conception a été de fixer les lignes de démarcation imposées par les contraintes du chemin de servitude, l’alignement à la maison mitoyenne, la volonté de se raccorder à cette mitoyenneté. La structure de soutènement a conduit à une articulation de deux volumes en forme de tour. Cette implantation a ainsi permis de maintenir le maximum d’espace de talutage et de terrain de telle manière à conserver l’esprit du « sous-bois ». Les espaces s’articulent en plateaux successifs déclinant des configurations variées de très cloisonnées à totalement ouvertes. Le matériau de façade choisi est la brique de telle manière à se raccorder à l’environnement bâti. Les briques, de formes artisanales, peu avenantes, sont placées à joint à reflux, l’idée étant d’effacer progressivement la maçonnerie en l’ancrant dans le paysage par l’accroche des mousses et micro végétaux. Superficie : 250m2 habitable + 60m2 de garage

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Granary reconstruction - Jose Gigante, Vítor Silva

November 14, 2013, 5:47 am

≫ Next: School Centers in Abrantes - Aires Mateus Associados

≪ Previous: Maison Stine-Gybels - Pierre Hebbelinck

The pre-existing granary stood in a terrain that was, in the meantime, sold, and the owner craved to transfer it to a new location, converting it into a house. Its dimension, however, was unable to fulfil the project’s programme. Having to choose between the absolute loyalty to the pre-existent, necessarily requiring extension, or its reinterpretation in a new model that would preserve its essence, we favoured this second approach. And so, the granary was reborn, adding two modules to the four primitive ones and taking advantage of some parts derived from other demolition work. In its reconstruction we kept the granite wall as a structural component and a framework of steel and wood in the upper floor and roof was adopted. In a model mainly marked by a widely open façade, we also focused on its orientation, facing it South. The indentation of the glazing units derives primarily from the idea of the granary’s new façade. Dimensioned for the retractable exterior shutters, this indentation simultaneously avoids the direct commitment of the glazed frames with the granite structure, choosing to reinterpret, on those same louvered doors, the formal meaning of the wooden slatted plans that filled the spans of the granary.

Relinquishing the pursuit of a literal interpretation of the pre-existent model, the design of the shutters seeks to address the new demands of functionality and comfort, allowing for their full or partial opening and placing them against a sliding wooden slat that, providing better ventilation, helps to ensure subtle changes of light in the readability of the façade. In a system intended to be harmonic, the granite structure never appears dissociated from the filling of its spans. The thickness of the façade is drawn by those same louvered doors that, when open, reveal the interior space. That area, directly linked to the new granite paved threshing floor space is, after all, the key player of the architectural experience, and without it, everything else would be meaningless.

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School Centers in Abrantes - Aires Mateus Associados

November 11, 2013, 7:09 am

≫ Next: Pradenn - Block architectes

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The center Bemposta School is located at west of the Neighborhood 25 April, and was developed for the Municipality of Abrantes.

The project comprises the construction of a building with one floor with three prismatic volumes rotated to each other, forming a geometric body clustered. The intervention includes a building area of approximately 1,700 m² and the school is located in a land of about 5750 m².

The program set for the school includes valences at the level of basic education and pre-school. It is also intending to the construction of social areas and support such as refectory supported by cuisine, library and administrative areas.

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Pradenn - Block architectes

November 14, 2013, 1:29 am

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Simplicité et compacité
Le programme comporte 89 logements sociaux dont 51 en locatif et 38 en accession. L’ensemble est situé dans la ZAC de la Pelousière, un des pôles de développement urbain du grand Nantes. Le projet cherche à conjuguer densité, mixité d’usage et confort pour les futurs habitants.