On second of June, in the outskirts of Rhoon, the Netherlands, the Buijtenkeuken was launched, five projects (Buijtenpaths, Buijtenbrewery, Buijtenbed, Buijtennursery and Buijtenkitchen) which investigate the coming years the relationship between landscape and recreation.
The initial approach was to single out and magnify the experience of walking from the roadside down to the seaside at this very special place. Therefore a main concern was to slow down this movement and make the path itself a means of refocusing the experiential mode: a measured, restrained approach that creates awareness.
Between forward-facing high-rise buildings and blast furnaces of the past the new Steelyard square forms the center of Belval Ouest, a city development project which is currently constructed in Luxembourg on the grounds of a former steel mill. The disused industrial site´s atmosphere was characterized by wideness and roughness as well as pioneer plants such as mosses and birch. The former situation is necessarily literally covered by the new use and new design. Our major goal was it to let the now hidden qualities shine through the redesign.
The project is based on two specific conditions: – on one side the client’s needs, looking for a small and intimate space; – on the other a small, special and precious place. The alpine landscape dominates the place: it becomes evident the condition of a privileged and unique space.
The concept of size guides the project. Great is the land, the landscape: small is the place, the space. There is a mutual relationship that inspires the design process. What is the role of the “room” in relation to the landscape? How the landscape reflects, “adopts” the room? The point of view changes in a frenzied search for balance.
A large communal leisure amenity set in the landscape but yet easily reachable in terms of transportation. The building is elliptical in plan, the volume is (to quote the architects) a “flying saucer”. Deliveries are made underground; at ground floor level there is a large entrance hall that functions as a distributor and is connected to the swimming area by floor-toceiling glazing. From the hall one makes one’s way to the changing rooms, swimming zones, sauna area as well as to the lift leading to the upper floor. There are three different swimming areas, each separated by broad relaxation zones with rich planting and separate access to the outside.
Les Thermes
Architects: Hermann & Valentiny et Associés; Atelier d’Architecture et de Design Jim Clemes; Witry & Witry SA
Bab Al Bahrain Urban Oasis explores the value of the cultural and natural landscape inheritance as a design opportunity to address climate issues in public space, while catalyzing the urban potential of the site in the emerging new city urbanity. Urban Oasis is called to be the most important public space of Manama, embodying its dynamic character and showcasing its new sustainable identity.
Heatherlands is a substantial addition to an existing house, built in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the Dorset Devon border. It responds carefully to the folding of the landscape and roof pitches of the existing house, The folds create splits which highlight views, both concealing and opening to them. A new living room forms a transition point between the old and the new, collecting reflected views and light. Situated to the West of the existing house, the structure takes the stance of a traditional outbuilding, acting as a paddock boundary whilst protecting the gardens. The addition defines a new approach to the building, entrance court and outdoor terrace to the South. Adopting a number of sustainable strategies the building includes passive ventilation, sustainable materials and highly insulated construction. The existing building is wrapped in shingle, which will weather together with the new larch rain screens, covering the addition.
The Paul Davis Architects-led transformation of an iconic, modernist waterfront structure in Newport Beach, CA, has wowed high-fashion shoppers and won a 2011 Preservation Design Award for Rehabilitation from the California Preservation Foundation (CPF).
“A’maree’s was brought back in marvelous style,” noted the CPF Preservation Design Awards jury. “This is a beautiful building that uplifts the spirit.”
Our extension at Ordrupgaard redefined the relationships between the museum buildings gardens, creating a new landscape both in itself and in unison with its surroundings. Design ensures that visitors’ experience is not fragmented or compartmentalized – building / collection / gardens – but a continuous, fluid interaction between different elements and aspects.
Rebild Hills and RoldForest in northern Jutland are some of Denmark’s most beautiful and unique nature reserves, and thus the area holds an extraordinary potential for offering spectacular experiences in this very distinctive rolling landscape. We wish to contribute to the creation of an ideal setting for the narrative about cultural history and nature experiences in these unique surroundings.
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