Divisare - Projects — Top Favorites of the Week

The rock climbing gym Allez-Up is at the heart of the revitalization project for Montreal’s Southwest borough. Flanking the Lachine Canal, the site and silos of the old Redpath sugar refinery have been converted into a one-of-a-kind indoor rock-climbing facility, adding significantly to the recreational and tourist attractions of the Canal.

Photo: Stéphane Brugger. Published on February 17, 2014.

Developing the abandoned silos into a rock-climbing gym is a unique way to maximize the enormous potential of these historic vestiges from Montreal’s industrial past.

Photo: Stéphane Brugger. Published on February 17, 2014.

The climbing wall formations within the main building actually resemble sugar cliffs, reminding visitors of the original function of the Redpath silos. These pure-white, angular climbing walls offer many different routes for both beginners as well as seasoned climbers. The multi-coloured climbing-holds speckled across the walls add to the dynamic charm of this unique interior space.

Photo: Stéphane Brugger. Published on February 17, 2014.

The siding and outer metallic building envelope pay tribute to the industrial and monolithic character of this site, while the massive windows gaze far out onto St-Patrick Street. In long shafts, abundant natural light saturates the space, creating an effect of crevasses and voids on the climbing walls and revealing the interior climbing surfaces – a truly colourful heart at the centre of a metallic exterior.

Photo: Stéphane Brugger. Published on February 17, 2014.

The prize “Project of the year 2013” of the 7th edition of the GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN is awarded to Smith Vigeant Architects for Allez-Up which also won the Prize in the category “Training Center” and the Special Prize “Color”.

Photo: Stéphane Brugger. Published on February 17, 2014.

Project size: 1 220 M2 (14 000pi2)
Cost: 5M$
Date of completion: 08/2013
Furniture: Wood-skin by mammafotogramma

Photo: Stéphane Brugger. Published on February 17, 2014.

To learn from the long tradition of building without falling into historicism is the decisive approach used for the design of the new art museum in Ravensburg. To exhibit the modern art that constitutes the basis of the Peter and Gudrun Selinka Collection, spaces with a strong sense of enclosure have been created, with window openings only at selected locations. The corporeal nature of this architecture is especially apparent in the vaulted brick shells on the upper level.

The architectural insertion on the southern edge of Ravensburg’s old town is only discernable upon second glance. It is an art museum that, through impressive craftsmanlike qualities, familiar materials, beautiful junctures and a well-functioning floor plan, fits harmoniously and unobtrusively into the historical context of the city. This integration is emphasized as an important point of reference for the design. The building is not meant to establish a strong contrast through modernity, but instead to fit harmoniously and self-evidently into a townscape that has developed over centuries. Upon the very first glance, the new museum appears familiar. The building’s integration into the urban fabric and the materiality of its recycled brickwork are the sources of this ambiguity, which responds to the special qualities of this central location. The simple spatial concept – an entrance court to rectangular and neutral exhibition spaces that are flanked by circulation elements in the middle – is enclosed with an outer shell of recycled bricks. The roof is built as a vaulted structure of brick shells that span the entire width of the space. The bricks were recovered from a demolished monastery near the Belgian border and through their reuse, point to the central role of sustainability in construction.

Why should new materials be produced when we can recycle old ones that have proven themselves over centuries? Old and yet new – even in terms of sustainability, the contrast is clear. The art museum has been built to passive house standards. The building is supplied with air, heat and cooling only as needed and is designed to reduce its primary energy input to a bare minimum. The overall system is controlled and monitored by a BMS and it is operated and supervised by the energy provider via a control centre. Heat is generated by a gas absorption heat pump. A geothermal probe field serves as the heat source. In the summer, the heat pump works as a chiller. The heating and cooling distribution system supplies the air-conditioning equipment, including downstream zones, as well as the concrete core temperature control.

Location: Burgstraße 9, 88212 Ravensburg
Gross floor space: 1.900 m2
Gross volume: 8.300 m3
Construction period: 2010 to 2012

The Hole
Holiday home, Vals, CH, ’05-’09.

Shouldn’t it be possible to conceal a house in an Alpine slope while still exploiting the wonderful views and allowing light to enter the building?
Surprised that it was permissible to construct a pair of dwellings so close to the world famous thermal baths of Vals, the client seized the opportunity to develop the site, without disturbing the bath’s expansive views. The introduction of a central patio into the steep incline creates a large façade with considerable potential for window openings. The viewing angle from the building is slightly inclined, giving an  even more dramatic view of the strikingly beautiful mountains on the opposite side of  the narrow valley. The Local Authority’s well intentioned caution, that unusual modern proposals were generally not favoured, proved unfounded. The planners were pleased that the proposal did not appear ‘residential’ or impose on the adjacent baths building. The scheme was not perceived as a typical structure but rather an example of pragmatic unobtrusive development in a sensitive location. The placing of the entrance via an old Graubünder barn and an underground tunnel further convinced them that the concept, while slightly absurd, could still be permitted.
Switzerland’s planning laws dictate that it is only possible  to grant a definitive planning permission after a timber  model of the building’s volume has first been constructed on site. This can then be accurately appraised by the local community and objected to if considered unsuitable. For this proposal, logic prevailed and this part of the process was deemed to be unnecessary.

Architects: SeARCH and CMA
 Design: Bjarne Mastenbroek & Christian Müller 
Interior design cardboard bedroom: Studio JVM, Jeroen van Mechelen
 Interior design excluding cardboard bedroom: Bjarne Mastenbroek 
Interior advises: Christian Müller, Monica Ketting & Thomas Eyck

*Special thanks to the municipality of Vals, Vitra Nederland BV, Moooi BV, Belux AG, Royal Tichelaar Makkum, Jongeriuslab, Claudy Jongstra and Thomas Eyck. 

Images: SeARCH and CMA

A lot that does not exist. A pine forest along the hillside at the top of Murtas. An existing retaining wall constructed in an Alpujarra´s vernacular way, using local rough stones. The program seeks a room to hold a wake over. A large stone lintel beam supported by a large HEB creates an access space threshold. Once inside, you think of a concave space (cavus-cave) that connects earth with sky. Two concave rooms, one public and one more private. The light as an ontological reflection of each space. In the public room a greater amount of light surrounds and envelops, in the innermost chamber fleeting light slides and moves. The midday sun forms an eclipse as continuous ring drawn together by direct and projected light, where land (material light projected onto the curved wall) and sky (immaterial direct light / clarity) engage in that particular magic moment to let out the soul in its ascent to heaven by the time window of the eclipse generated daily.

Maternidade House is a single-family dwelling set in a 19th century refurbished house. An example directly restricted to an existing context where the dwelling return to its basis. Adapted to the contemporary needs and standards, the intervention respects its inner scale and typologic scheme.   Conceptually it reinterprets the nuclear core of this type of model, acknowledging the importance of light. The lack of an expressive skylight in the original structure defines the new approach. A new scale is set in the stair core, overlapping this new vertical walkthrough that runs along the existing house, achieving new see-throughs and different spatial relations between all the floors.

The building is a typical late 19th century Porto house set in the city downtown. It is located in one of biggest city blocks, defined by large gardens in its interior, a bourgeois manor and an early last century maternity. The house itself was a two-storey middle-class example, with little ornamentation and highly modified through time.

The intervention aims to adapt this typical Porto dwelling typology to the daily contemporary routines. This is set from a depuration exercise, developing mainly the stair core, in order to achieve a unifying element that could relate all these different spaces. The stairs and its light were a recurrent theme in such a narrow and long type of housing. The rooms respect its original scale, and a third floor is added considering the block outline. The ground floor is the social level, gathering parking, kitchen and living-room, and relating it to the garden located in the interior of the block. In the highest level a guest floor is set with a wide perspective of its surroundings.

The tracuit mountain hut (altitude 3256 metres) belongs to the chaussy section of the swiss alpine club and is situated in the val d’anniviers, in the heart of the valaisan alps. its superb position makes it the ideal starting-point for climbing the bishorn, the weisshorn, and the tête de milon.

The hut was built in 1929 and enlarged several times to cope with a constant increase in guest numbers and expected levels of comfort. current requirements concerning health and safety, staffing, facilities, and environmental protection meant that the hut needed to be enlarged and completely refurbished.
As transforming the existing hut would have produced a significant cost overhead, the club decided to build a new one. the design was chosen via an architectural competition.

The nature of the site, between a cliff and a glacier, defined the position and shape of the new hut, which is constructed along the ridge above the cliff, fitting in with the site’s topography. the south façade of the building extends from the cliff and works like a large solar collector, being either glazed or covered with solar panels to make maximum use of solar energy. the other façades reflect the surrounding landscape.
From the refectory, guests enjoy an uninterrupted, plunging view over the val de zinal.

At this altitude, the construction methods had to be adapted to the adverse weather conditions and to the means of transport available. as transporting concrete is particularly expensive, its use was minimised and restricted largely to individual footings. the whole of the structural frame is of wood. the wall and floor components, consisting of studs/beams, insulation and cladding, were prefabricated in the factory and transported by helicopter for on-site assembly. panels of stainless steel cladding protect the roof and outer walls from the elements.

The east, west and north walls have only a few openings, reducing heat loss while providing optimum natural ventilation. larger windows on the south wall, which is exposed to the sun, enable passive solar energy to be stored, and this wall is also covered with solar panels.

During the work, the existing hut accommodated the usual guests and also the construction workers. at the end of the work, this outdated, energy-hungry building was taken down. the lower part of the walls remains, with the south wall delimiting the terrace and protecting its users from the wind.

Via its large area of solar panels and south-facing glazing, the building makes maximum use of solar radiation. the compact shape of the building and efficient wall insulation reduce heat loss.

Low-tech ventilation is used to recover the significant amount of heat emitted by the building’s occupants, while making it more comfortable and preventing any problems with mould growth in premises that are closed for several months of the year.

In einem Weiler von Enneberg auf 1.200 Metern Höhe liegt das mit Bezug auf die Bautradition der „Viles“ ausgeformte Gebäudeensemble. Die zwei versetzten Baukörper mit ihrer behutsamen Einfügung in den Hang entsprechen dem örtlichen Paarhoftypus. Regionale Ornamente und harakteristische Merkmale, wie Satteldach, Loggia und Holzfassade werden aufgenommen und durch eine klare eigenständige Interpretation neu umgesetzt. Die Reduktion auf wenige aus der Umgebung gewonnenen Materialien (Dolomitgestein für Sichtbeton, massive Zirbe und Lärche), entspricht ebenso der früheren Bauweise, wie der Gedanke der Nachhaltigkeit.In den gezielt belichteten Innenräumen treffen warmes Zirbelholz und weiche Lodenstoffe auf weißen Sichtbeton und bilden zusammen eine spannende Komposition. Die eigene Wasserquelle, Erdwärme, passive Sonnenenergienutzung und eine PV-Anlage versorgen das Haus mit den notwendigen Energiequellen und machen das Gebäude energetisch autark.

Photo by Gustav Willeit. © Pedevilla Architekten. Published on February 07, 2014.

LA TOPOGRAFÍA COMO OPORTUNIDAD.
El programa principal se eleva del suelo, protegiéndose de la humedad de la región.

Bajo el programa principal, en contacto directo con el medio natural, el área de ocio, protegida, cubierta y sombreada, permite un disfrute de otro orden.

LA RAMPA COMO CONEXIÓN CON EL ENTORNO.
La rampa se adapta a la topografía y fortalece el concepto de proyecto elevado. Conecta de forma simple y universal la nueva propuesta con los accesos existentes.

LA PIEL COMO DISPOSITIVO EFICIENTE.
Dispositivo encargado de definir la relación entre el interior y el exterior. Sus funciones van más allá de cerrar y proteger. Láminas verticales a lo largo de la fachada revelan el paisaje dentro del interior.
De bajo costo y mínima manutención, la tela metálica imprime una fuerte presencia formal al conjunto entero.

Sex on the Beach, Cosmopolitan, White Russian. A cocktail bar is usually rated by the quality of the classic drinks (and their modern adaptations), but those who hope to get a taste of them at Gamsei, may either look elsewhere, or dare find out what a Lavender Drunk Bee is made of. 

Photo: © Simon and Sebastian Schels. Published on February 14, 2014.

Juniper schnapps, verjuice, lavender honey. When owner and head bartender Matthew Bax opened Gamsei 2013 in Munich’s trendy neighbourhood Glockenbach, he introduced hyper-localism to a field of practice which had till then been mainly confined to the food scene. At Gamsei, ingredients for cocktails like Lavender Drunk Bee, Mid-Life Crisis and Frühlingserwachen, are either wildly foraged by Bax and his team or grown by local artesian farmers, thus reestablishing a connection with local products, region and culture and offering something that is unique in its kind. Bax, an Australian artist and founder of three bars among which award winning bar Der Raum in Melbourne envisioned his fourth as an antidote to the globalization of cocktail bars; why drink the very same cocktail in every bar you go to in the world? Why not experience the excitement of the new when sipping a cocktail? 

Photo: © Simon and Sebastian Schels. Published on February 14, 2014.

The bar interior, designed and executed by Fabian A. Wagner of Buero Wagner (Munich, Germany) with Andreas Kreft, is a clear continuation of this philosophy – looking for surprising configurations whilst paying a tribute to the local Bavarian culture and craftsmanship. The ambience of a typical Bavarian beer hall has been applied to the 40m² interior through amphitheater-style benches against opposing walls thus eliminating the common separation of bartender and guest, here interaction is key and everybody has a first row seat: from either tribune guests enjoy a view onto the two centrally placed bars and follow how Bax and his team mix, shake and stir up the cocktails. Also the bars have been stripped of all boundaries: workspace and bar are one. Dried flowers, herbs and leaves are stored and displayed in a wooden built-in cupboard that stretches the full length of the back wall; Besides ingredients, also the coffee machine and even the doors to the bathrooms and laboratory are seamlessly integrated and can be flexibly displayed or disguised behind lattices. Tribunes, bars and cupboards are executed in solid oak with a natural oil finish. White ceramic bottles are suspended from a black steel mesh attached to the ceiling, which contain self-made liqueurs, syrups and essences, in-between which light bulbs make for a reduced lighting scheme by night. Just like Bax’s cocktail ingredients, Buero Wagner procured all materials such as wood, ceramics (custom-made by Gefäß& Objekt) and steel locally, and worked in close collaboration with local carpenters and manufacturers to produce custom-made solutions. 

Photo: © Simon and Sebastian Schels. Published on February 14, 2014.

Gamsei is a wholly integrated concept that turns the event of drinking a cocktail into a novel experience. The refreshing take on the cocktail bar extends further: bartenders, dressed in uniform leather aprons, serve their guests an amuse-gueule such as “Biersand”, after taking their coats upon entering, and the tribunes on either side – to be climbed only without shoes – allow for sports broadcasts.

Photo: © Jann Averweser. Published on February 14, 2014.

Location: Buttermelcherstrasse 9, Munich, Germany
Year: 2013
Area: 40 sqm

Photo: © Jann Averweser. Published on February 14, 2014.

Photo: © Simon and Sebastian Schels. Published on February 14, 2014.

Photo: © Jann Averweser. Published on February 14, 2014.

Photo: © Simon and Sebastian Schels. Published on February 14, 2014.

Photo: © Jann Averweser. Published on February 14, 2014.

Photo: © Simon and Sebastian Schels. Published on February 14, 2014.

The abbey of saint maurice was built almost 1500 years ago. it is situated against a cliff in a section of the road between geneva and the simplon pass. this particular site was likely to be chosen for its defensive position given by the cliff. however the planned fortification proved a failure due to rock fragments falling from the cliff on to the building.

Throughout the history rock slides had an important influence causing several damages: in 1611 a huge rock fall caused a convulsion of the abbey, 1942 a rock destroyed the cross-spire and portal-nave of the building. those slides have constantly been occurring and marked the site throughout history.

our project endeavors to demonstrate this particular treat of history. by suspending 170 tons of stones, it expresses the ever lasting hazard the site had been exposed to. the roof gives the interior a calm and almost contemplative ambience. it is built above the fundamental buildings in order to keep the dialogue between the facades and the cliff face. the “stone-roof” serves as a filter for light and produces an evenly spread and regular illumination.

La donna (della domenica) è scappata con il cavallo di Nietsche. Cosa accomuna le Piazze d’Italia di De Chirico con Fruttero & Lucentini in questo appartamento progettato da A.Marcante e A.Testa di UDA architetti affacciato su piazza San Carlo attraverso gli oculi strabici del piano ammezzato di un palazzo della piacentiniana via Roma a Torino? Di certo li accomuna una sorta di “oscenità”, ovvero disvelare/nascondere il sostrato della realta disseminata di indizi come una trama di un racconto giallo: commistione di alto e basso, dramma e grottesco, banale e sofisticato, inquietante e rassicurante, che talvolta collassa e precipita come una soluzione chimica disvelandoci il sottile gioco delle risonanze. Noi, per caratteristiche fisiologiche, non possiamo vedere contemporaneamente di fronte e ciò che è alle nostre spalle. I limiti del campo visivo ci accomunano a tutti gli esseri viventi, ma a differenza da tutti gli altri, l’uomo ne è l’unico consapevole.

Forse è da ciò che ad un livello profondo, inconscio, trae anche origine l’inquietudine, il dubbio, l’interrogarsi circa la consistenza e l’esistenza stessa della realtà visibile. Un po’ forzosamente, è come se tutto il domandarsi da parte dell’uomo circa l’oggettività del mondo si potesse ricondurre semplicemente alla mancanza di un “terzo occhio”, posto sulla nuca, che ci consentirebbe di avere una piena percezione. Di qui l’inquietudine della visione e dei luoghi percepiti tramite essa.

E’ certo una provocazione quanto sopra, ma se pensiamo a come una “visione altra” sia stata elaborata dal cinema ad esempio ( gli occhi dell’assassino che vedono la scena del crimine, lo sguardo di un altro soggetto che si interpone tra noi ed il protagonista della storia, il miraggio di realtà multiple contemporanee, ecc), allora la questione esce dalla sfera delle suggestioni più intellettuali e si fa pane quotidiano del nostro vivere dentro la realtà ed in particolare negli spazi costruiti dall’uomo.

Un appartamento realizzato al piano ammezzato di un palazzo affacciato sulla piazza simbolo di Torino, quella piazza San Carlo voluta dai duchi di Savoia ed in particolare da Maria Cristina di Francia che governò in reggenza come “Madama Reale” nella prima metà del seicento, diviene, tramite i suoi spazi e gli arredi in esso disposti, il teatro aggiornato ai nostri tempi di una rappresentazione di una certa idea della casa borghese, della casa del ceto medio professionale torinese, fatta di rassicurante precisione ingegneresca e sottili inquietudini. La pianta caratterizzata da una progressione ad imbuto dal retro fino al salone affacciato sulla piazza, le finestre aperte sulla stessa, connotate dalla forma e dalla dimensione degli “oculi” sulle facciate dei palazzi che ne definiscono il perimetro, la necessità di organizzare gli spazi di relazione delle zone a giorno come aree ed ambienti di maggiore o minore esposizione alla vista dall’esterno diventano gli spunti di partenza per la costruzione di un luogo domestico dal sapore vagamente metafisico.

Una metafisica dechirichiana, se si fa propria la sua definizione di questo termine per cui:”la metafisica è quella verità nuova che si cela in ogni oggetto se solo si riesce a vederlo o immaginarlo al di fuori del suo solito contesto”, cosa che vale anche per mobili ed arredi secondo l’artista che infatti diceva: “è già stato osservato più di una volta l’aspetto curioso che riescono ad acquistare letti, armadi, specchiere, divani, tavoli, quando ce li ritroviamo improvvisamente dinnanzi sulla strada, in uno scenario nel quale non siamo abituati a vederli. Tutti questi mobili ci appaiono sotto una luce nuova, raccolti in una strana solitudine: una profonda intimità nasce tra loro”. Così la casa diventa l’invenzione di un luogo secondo regole precise, come in un romanzo, dove i luoghi in esso inventati sono per implicita adesione dei lettori alla narrazione più“veri” e “reali” dei luoghi esistenti nel mondo reale, così come dei molti luoghi mitici e simbolici creati dall’uomo. Mentre infatti la realtà che percepiamo come oggettiva può essere sempre interpretata diversamente da ognuno di noi, è invece necessario che tutti noi si affidi uno status di immutabilità e certezza alla descrizioni letterarie, pena altrimenti l’impossibilità del racconto stesso.

E’ anche questo il caso dell’appartamento in questione. Qui tutti gli elementi: la conformazione delle superfici, gli arredi fissi, i piccoli oggetti e le suppellettili dislocate negli ambienti, raccontano di qualcosa che va oltre la prima apparenza, che si insinua tra le pieghe del vivere quotidiano. Gli arredi, realizzati come costruzioni isolate che popolano un paesaggio intermedio tra interno ed esterno, creano stupore non perchè appartengano alle categorie dell’insolito e dell’astruso, ma per la loro aria immediatamente familiare ed insieme misteriosa. Una fusione tra ritrovamento e mai visto, tra conosciuto ed ignoto in un delicato equilibrio tra quello che già sappiamo e ci aspettiamo da uno spazio ed il senso di spaesamento che si prova di fronte al nuovo.(www.uda.it)

Aim of the project: Not far away from the town centre of Fontanella – an old village of Walserpeople – the house is situated on a inclined south-terrace-plane. Not just to benefit from the great view but also to optimise the property ́s borders, the building is placed on the upper part of the property and the volume is kept as compact as possible. The whole fassade of the building is a made of differently size sliced spruce- boards, exactly how they are delivered from the sawmill. The intentional rough planking together with the randomness of smaller and bigger windows generate an exciting fassade game and an intimate atmosphere inside with selected framed views to the exterior. The basement is made of concrete, the rest of the house is a whole wood- construction. The interior work of the ground floor is also a silver-fir-wood- construction, the one in the upper floor is drywall.

A DUAL CONDITION OF LIVING: THE ANTAGONISTIC AND THE COMPLEMENTARY
XAN is single family residence, located in a private neighborhood in Xangrilá, a little town in the coast side, 135 km South from Porto Alegre.

A summer house is a space full of freedom, a place to enjoy an outdoor life. This fact conditioned the way the project was faced.

The distinction is simple.
Social life stays in the ground floor, in direct interaction with its surroundings. Private life, separated and isolated, belongs to the second floor. Visual filters in expansion spaces next to bedrooms allow open air experiences of another nature.

XAN House, an antagonistic and complementary game of spaces and living experiences.

As part of the Daoiz y Verlarde complex of former barracks the objective is to preserve the architecture; a representative sample of Madrid’s industrial and military heritage.

Photo: Alfonso Quiroga. Published on February 14, 2014.

From the start, the idea was to respect the basic geometry of the existing building, as well as its saw-tooth metal structure and the brick-built façade. The interior space has been emptied to create a container for the Cultural Centre, which is divided into two areas with separate entry points and circulation areas, but with a strong visual and spatial connection between them, and the possibility of their adaptation to different types of events.

Photo: Alfonso Quiroga. Published on February 14, 2014.

A newly created intermediate space separates the former container from the new uses to bring the character of the existing building to the fore and set up a protective filter with the exterior. These intervening spaces establish visual connections that foster variations in the spatial experience.

Photo: Alfonso Quiroga. Published on February 14, 2014.

A generous communal space has been created at the entry points; a place for meeting, information and exhibitions, which works as a covered agora, as if the square outside extended into the building.
A hi-tech roof has been developed to take the best advantage of natural light and ventilation.

Photo: Alfonso Quiroga. Published on February 14, 2014.

Sustainable and energy saving refurbishing
The refurbishment of this former industrial building, and abandoned barracks, has been made in a sustainable way as regards energy efficiency and the integration of renewable energy capture systems.

Photo: Alfonso Quiroga. Published on February 14, 2014.

The existing brick façade has been respected, as has the structure of the roof built from metal profiles, and a new structure of concrete slabs has been created, which will be used for the HVAC of the building through its thermo-activation. The existing roof truss and its metal pillars remained suspended in the air while the rest of the interior of the building was completed.

Geothermal renewable energy is used to heat and cool the building, and the air-ground exchanger works as a pre-treatment mechanism for the primary renewal air. The final energy cost of the building, employing this type of HVAC systems, is far lower than it would be otherwise using conventional systems.

The FRAC houses regionally assembled public collections of contemporary art. These collections are conserved, archived and presented to the public through on site exhibitions and by loans to both galleries and museums.

The North region FRAC is located on the site of Dunkerque port in an old boat warehouse called Halle AP2. The halle AP2 is a singular and symbolic object. Its internal volume is immense, bright, impressive. Its potential for uses is exceptional.

To implant the FRAC, as a catalyst for the new area, and also to keep the halle in its entirety becomes the basic idea of our project.

To achieve this concept, the project creates a double of the halle, of the same dimension, attached to the existing building, on the side which faces the sea, and which contains the program of the FRAC. The new building juxtaposes delicately without competing nor fading. The duplication is the attentive response to the identity of the halle;

Under a light and bioclimatic envelope, a prefabricated and efficient structure determines free, flexible and evolutionary platforms, with few constraints, fit to the needs of the program. The transparency of the skin allows to see the background vision of the opaque volume of the artworks reserves. The public footbridge (previously planned along the facade) which crosses the building becomes a covered street entering the halle and the internal facade of the FRAC. The halle AP2 will remain a completely available space, which can work either with the FRAC, in extension of its activities, (exceptional temporary exhibitions, creation of large scale works, particular handlings) or independently to welcome public events (concert, fairs, shows, circus, sport) and which enriches the possibilities of the area. The functioning of each of the buildings is separated, or combined.

The architecture of the halle and its current quality make sufficient minimal, targeted and limited interventions. Thanks to the optimization of the project, the budget allows the realisation of the FRAC and the setting up of conditions and equipment for public use of the halle AP2.

Halle AP2

The project so creates an ambitious public resource, of flexible capacity, which allows work at several scales from everyday exhibitions to large-scale artistic events, of regional but also european and international resonance, which consolidates the redevelopment of the port of Dunkerque.

Halle AP2

Program : artwork reserves, exhibition rooms, education
Competition 2009, design 2010, completion: 2013
Area : 11 129 m2 net :
- 9 157 m2 new building
- 1 972 m2 existing halle
Cost :12 M Euros net (2011)

Halle AP2

Expo 1 ground floor

Expo 2 street level

Belvedere

Forum Expo 3

Storage

This typical Flemish allotment in a pine forest lacks a deterministic context. Except for the vertical rhythm of the pine trees, the surroundings enforce only few constraints. As a result the central theme for the design is found in the design brief itself. The design for the house demands an answer tailored to the needs of this client: no specific rooms are requested but instead an open plan that allows relocating within the house. In doing so a plan emerges with almost arbitrary placed massive volumes – containing couchettes used at night, bathroom, kitchen and storage – and generous light and open transitional spaces that are used during the day. Their use can be adapted to the desires of its inhabitants. Living everywhere.

A central patio forms the heart of the house and brings strong light to the surrounding spaces. Roof volumes mark certain areas in the enclosed volumes by the light they provide but also by the elevated heights they create. The limited budget compels the use of simple constructions, capturing the pure essence of the materials they are composed of. It is a house made as a composition of things. Each of the components is at its own a banal type: a concrete slab, masonry in concrete blocks, a wooden roof, simple greenhouse glazing, drains designed as spouts, prefab concrete wall cladding as countable oversized stones… It is in their composition that they become interesting.

The open plan is structured by oversized wooden beams, which do not only transfer loads but determine the spatial character of the house itself. The visible joints of the concrete masonry add an extra ornament to the rooms. The light wooden roof forms a warm complement to the massive concrete of load bearing walls. A subtle brutality.

Design: 2009-2011
Realization: 2011

The building was arranged on the periphery of the property so that the distance to the neighbouring houses was as large as posssible and so that the option of constructing another building could be left open. The concrete cellar anchors the building in the sloping terrain and houses the entrance area and the technical servicing, on top of which is the wooden volume of the building which appears something like a ship. This floor juts out to a great extent towards the east so that a covered, protected entrance is created._The concrete chimney of the open fireplace rises like a mast out of the cellar, and together with a concrete wall forms the bracing backbone behind which the two single-flight staircases connect the 3 storeys. On the ground floor is a large living room spread over two different levels and with different ceiling heights. The deliberately low area containing the kitchen in fact creates a spatial feeling like that generated in the low parlours in mountain huts. The 5-meter long fixed-glazed panorama window, which frames the breathtaking view like a picture, nevertheless introduces a contemporary modernity. The polygonal plan form makes a differentiated spatial division possible and gives the open fireplace its particular status at the widest spot in the room.

Year of Project: 2002-2003
Year of construction: 2003-2004
Surface: 242 m2
Costs: 580’000 CHF

Photo: Valentin Jeck. . Published on February 13, 2014.

Photo: Valentin Jeck. Published on February 13, 2014.

Not so many jobs begin like this one, with an owners’ list of wishes and hopes for their new home. A list much closer to the principles and values architects usually work with, often secretly, than the ordinary expectations of those couples facing this unknown challenge. Lists always full of good intentions but often incomplete. This was the start, loaded with responsibility, yet an excellent start.

The plot, located in a residential area of Sant Cugat, near Barcelona, had enough good attributes to become the project main line. One of the main goals was to achieve a close and essential relationship between the house and the garden in such a way that they both became the extension of each other. All that, without falling into the unavoidable, often out of proportion, and so recurrent large glazed panels: they wanted walls, and we also did. A house with walls in a garden for an art collectors couple.

For those reasons, from the right beginning, the proposal searches the balance between placing the maximum number of rooms on the ground floor yet keeping the garden free from masonry work volumes. This idea is developed through a volumetric composition shaped in three boxes spread throughout the garden, almost aligned and located in the plot northern side creating a wide outer zone facing south. The first box, to the east, houses the children’s area with three single bedrooms upstairs and a playroom on the ground floor. The second one, in the centre, accommodates the main room: the kitchen, a nearly 30square metre and 4metre high room dominated by a large fireplace. The third box, to the west, contains the parents’ zone, with the bedroom at the garden level and a high ceiling studio on the first floor.

The spaces created between the three boxes are covered sheltering two different environments, open to the garden in north-south direction and can be closed with big folding windows. These spaces offer a very different atmosphere, much more related to the garden area than to the house. The first of these interstitial ambiences, between the children’s area and the kitchen, serves as entrance hall. The second one, bigger, between the parents’ zone and the kitchen, is the living room but not a conventional one: a green house during winter and a fresh porch in summer.

The residence is all circled by the garden, the most part of it facing south. The corner (west), sharp-shaped, gathers the kitchen garden and a pond to bath in. In the north, the distance between the green fence and the house varies between 5 and 6metres and increases up to 9metres at the uncovered car parking place. This space is connected through a 3metres wide path, parallel to the east fence, with the main southern garden. The interstitial spaces of the house (entrance hall and living room) become connecting porches between the front and back gardens.

About volumes, the house is composed of three brick masonry cubes of different heights set parallel to the back street. Although having several dimension windows that depend on their function, the cubes are predominantly massive. Besides, the interstitial areas between cubes, covered by a concrete slab and framed by folding wooden glass doors, are essentially ethereal. Actually, the space becomes an open porch when windows are folded back.

According to its materiality, the house is built on double face brick load-bearing walls, using red masonry for the outer face while white painted inside; wooden window and door frames with traditional outer roller blinds as sunscreen when required. The house is conditioned with a geothermal heat pump and an under floor heating system that slightly refreshes the house during summer, avoiding an air conditioned system to dehumidify.

Focusing on sculptural cliffs and friendly hillside woods, Hideg-ház is an unusual object in the landscape of the outskirts of Kőszeg, a charming historical town in Hungary. The site had been used as a quarry a few cenutries ago so the exposed rock face was one of the strongest elements of the environment. In order to get enough direct sunlight all-year-long and to stay close to the sculptural cliffs, the building had been placed about 10 meters above the road that runs along the bottom of the valley.

“An abstract footprint of a family’s lifestyle – perhaps these are the best words to describe the floor plan” architect Attila Béres says. The wooden cabin is floating a few steps above the natural terrain. The two parts are tied together with a thick black frame. These units taken apart create space for the covered outside terrace which became the central space of the cabin with its perfect views towards the colourful forms of the exposed rocks and the woods on the south side.

Natural lights and views to the surrounding nature were the most important factors at the arrangement of spaces. The solid and open surfaces of the 110 sqm building react to these elements as well – large but shaded openings towards the best views on the south side, glimpses of the rock from accentuated spots on the north.

The contrast between the rough sawn larch cladding stained black on the exterior surfaces and the same material with natural finish and smooth surface on the inside leads visitors towards the interior spaces. The clear white walls in the interior pick up the random colours of the sky and the surroundings.

The building is located in a country with very diverse climate. Hot summers and cold winters desire a smart mix of architectural decisions to keep the cabin comfortable and easy to run in all four seasons. The clients had a clear concept about what they wanted to achieve in terms of building services and comfort. A combination of high-tec and simple ecological solutions resulted in extremely low energy consumption and moderate building cost.

Hideg-ház is the first project realized by Attila Béres and Jusztina Balázs. Thir young architecture firm started the design of this building in 2009 when Mr. Hideg noticed Attila Béres in Wallpaper magazine’s Graduate Directory – an annual list of talented young architects. Detailed design and construction of the cabin finished in 2013. Mr. Hideg and his wife spent 3 years on site to build this precisely detailed and custom-tailored house by hand. They carried out almost every phase of construction from cleaning the cliffs to building custom furniture. Their devotion and insistent enthusiasm had key importance along the process of design and construction of the holiday home.

The house designed in the historical center of Alcobaça is a record of overlapping times: A small building reconstructed to perpetuate the vernacular common scale, and a wall thoroughly shaped to house the quiet extension. On the existing building a void is created managing the thickness of the peripheral walls. An absence of space is freed collecting luminosity from a skylight that grants a private and protected atmosphere.

The compartments appear as internal additions, connected to the exterior through reinterpreted windows in the façades, but proposing an unexpected internal space. The extension of the house takes the difference between two levels: The street level and the garden that is generated with the river Baça. The form of the new wall defines courtyards that mediate the contemplation to the exterior. The social areas, work as a spatial continuum that spread through the two times of the intervention.