Morphosis marked the recent opening of the new 820,000-square-foot research and development (R&D) facility for The Kolon Group, the leading textile manufacturing company in South Korea. The design features flexible laboratory facilities, administrative offices, and active social spaces that encourage greater interaction and exchange across the company departments, with a visually striking façade that demonstrates Kolon’s commitment to innovation, technology, and sustainability.
Led by CEO and Chairman Lee Woong-Yeul, Kolon (which takes its name from its original product, KOrean nyLON) is a diverse corporation that covers R&D, primary material manufacturing, and product construction. The company produces textiles, chemicals, and sustainable technologies as well as original athletic and ready-to-wear clothing lines across its 38 divisions. Kolon’s all-encompassing scope allowed the company to draw from its own resources to construct the new facility, christened the Kolon One & Only Tower, and assume a unique position as both client and contractor. Fifteen percent, or approximately 123,000 square feet, is devoted to active social spaces, supporting Chairman Lee’s vision of creating collaborative and interdisciplinary spaces that prioritize employees’ well-being. Fifty-five percent of the building is laboratory space, with the remainder designed for offices.
The Aqwa Corporate Project is a Class A commercial office development along the waterfront in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, strategically located at the heart of the Porto Maravilha urban regeneration district. Situated within a landfill zone dating back to the 20th Century, the project is part of an extensive land reclamation in the historic port area of the city. Throughout its history, the area has been integral to the city’s development, and is where choro and samba music was born. The site is also close to the port region of Rio, which has been isolated for many years by the raised ‘Perimetral’ highway. As part of the masterplan, a portion of this route has been demolished, reintegrating the port – which still receives thousands of visitors every year – with the rest of the area. It will also restore parks, squares and other public spaces throughout the district, while rationalising the traffic flow and introducing new retail, commercial and civic spaces to create a vibrant district in the heart of Rio.
Foster + Partners Design Team: Norman Foster, David Nelson, Spencer de Grey, David Summerfield, Juan Frigerio, Pedro Haberbosch, Filomena Russo, Rui Alves, Anthony Cestra, Chris Farmer, Daniel Gaertner, Domingos Garcia, Jai Krishnan, Courtney Hunt, Consuelo Manna, Sebastian Mendez, Alonso De Garay Montero, Elke Pedal, Jorge Pereira, Maro Riga, David Santamaria, Nathan St. John, Anthony Stahl, Jose Vargas-Hidalgo, Francisco Waltersdorfer
From the pile of ashes and rubble. An original conversion of a former boiler house into a multi-functional leaseable area for cultural, corporate and social events, with an ambition to become the heart of a future arts & culture district existing in a symbiotic relationship with traditional crafts and technological innovation and preserving, in a unique way, the industrial phase of the city’s development which has significantly influenced the historical context of the place in question. It is another important project contributing to the gradual regeneration of the former large industrial estate of ŠROUBÁRNA (Screw Factory) in Libčice nad Vltavou near Prague which provided people with jobs and a place to live and became a bearer of near 150-year tradition of know-how and craftsmanship in the field of screw and wire production. The brownfield, which currently operates at a fraction of its former capacity, is thus being revived with a plan to preserve and develop the tradition of crafts and manufacturing. The boiler house, together with the already iconic industrial gem of Uhelný Mlýn (the Coal-Grinding Mill), are the beginning of the new UM Valley located in a meander of the Vltava river. It represents a precedent for many other still dilapidated sites.
Located in NOIDA, on the 6th floor of a commercial building, Inshorts is a young media company, with an energetic vibe. With a creative and young team as well as a 24×7 operations, the client’s brief called for a set up that would energise the young crowd, aid the open office culture and work well within tight budgetary constraints of setting up the office. Founded by three IIT drop-outs, the intent was to have a space that would emulate the idea of a home; wherein the reception would manifest itself as the drawing room, the cafe would translate into the dining room, etc. With an existing office on the 4th floor of the same building, sufficient and insightful feedback was shared by the client on their spatial requirements including common requirements such as team briefing spaces, and unique requirements such as acoustic barriers between the gaming areas and the working areas. Such customized inputs enriched the brief.
Article source: Schenker Salvi Weber Architekten ZT GmbH and feld72
Schenker Salvi Weber and feld72 shape the new corporate headquarters of Post AG on Vienna’s Rochusmarkt. The building ensemble is a composition of the highest quality which not only skilfully combines old and new but also features contemporary interior architecture which is distinguished by the open communication areas in the offices and the design of the mall. The integration of the building into the urban context enables it to enter into dialogue with its surroundings.
Project: Corporate headquarters of Post AG on Vienna’s in Austria
Location: Vienna, Austria
Photography: Bengt Stiller
Client: Österreichische Post AG
Team Schenker Salvi Weber: Stefan Dobnig, Balthasar Freise, Sven Mayer-Schwieger, Martin Maidl, Alexandros Merkouris, Teresa de Miguel, Andreas Grasser, Thomas Morgner, Hans Reumann, Tiago Santana, Pia Schmidt, Katalin Toth, Maria Luisa de Villalonga, Eva Andrasova, Simona Masarova
Team feld72: Nicol Bolletta, Norbert Engelhardt, Christoph Frantes, Andreas Grasser, Astrid Jagersberger, Edoardo Nobili, Gerhard Oberhofer, Kayhan Önder, Wilhelm Scherübl, Wenzel Witt-Döring
Full Service General Contractors: ARGE HABAU Hoch- und Tiefbaugesellschaft m.b.H. and ÖSTU-STETTIN Hoch- und Tiefbau GmbH.
For the master plan of this project we considered a distribution with a clear structure able to support the company´s activities. Barry-Callebaut required an operative center with an academy, green house, relaxing area and open space offices in a single area.
There is a clear trend in leading cities worldwide towards urban transformation that is above all the result of social and demographic evolution, reconciling densities and land uses to trigger development.
“Parque Toreo” was designed as a mixed-use complex and as a prime example of this phenomenon of urbanization. The site is located in Naucalpan, State of Mexico, the most developed suburban area with significant commerce to the north of Mexico City. It measures 46,793.57 sqm and includes access to main roads such as: Periférico Norte, Río San Joaquín Avenue and Parque de Chapultepec Avenue.
The new Kintele Congress Centre and Resort Hotel (KCC) is in a newly developing area of Brazzaville, to the north of the new Olympic Centre. The site has panaromic views of the Congo River to the south and a forested unbuilt landscape to the north. The topography of the site is a valley carved out by the great Congo River which creates an island M’Bamaou in the foreground and the buildings sit parallel to the contours of this valley falling towards the river.
In response to the current demand for quality spaces in a context of continual urban growth, Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos designed the Artz Pedregal, a mixed-use complex that promises to be a new icon in the heart of southern Mexico City. This project is located within a fully urbanized landscape on a 50,000 m2 site that is adjacent to major roads.
TPG Architecture recently completed designing 50,000 square feet of space for Blue Mountain Capital, a prestigious asset management firm, at the 12th floor of 280 Park Avenue in Manhattan