Archinect - News

SGA designs concept for ‘New England’s first all-timber frame laboratory development’

2023-11-03T11:50:00-04:00

SGA has unveiled details of its proposed mass timber life sciences building, which seeks to demonstrate the potential of the construction method in future research buildings. Taking an urban site in one of Boston’s leading life sciences clusters as a test case, the team believes their concept offers “the true potential for the first mass timber research development in New England.”

Image credit: SGA

The test case sees two proposed buildings that create an “experiential research community” while being designed along three pillars of sustainability, resiliency, and construction efficiency. A nine-story building is centered on offering a flexible and efficient research environment, while the second four-story, hospitality-inspired facility delivers on-site amenities alongside an incubator space for start-up and early-stage research companies.

Image credit: SGA

The mass timber concept deploys industry-standard dimensions for laboratory bay spacing, meets the requirements for structural an...

Renzo Piano completes CERN's new Science Gateway project in Geneva

2023-10-13T15:13:00-04:00

Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) has shared photos following the inauguration of its new CERN Science Gateway project in Geneva, Switzerland.

The project for clients at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (or CERN) was realized in collaboration with the local studio Brodbeck Roulet Architectes Associés and offers the agency room for an expanded education and outreach program capable of handling between 300,000 and 500,000 visitors annually.

Image © CERN

The project’s design is inspired by the tubing integral to CERN’s famed Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator and houses two new laboratories, three small exhibition areas, a 900-seat auditorium, shop, and restaurant in a footprint totaling just over 75,000 square feet. A bridge suspended 20 feet above the ground connects the five separate spaces. RPBW says it also establishes a central metaphor as the “link between science and society.”

Image © CERN

More than 400 trees were planted in order ...

Zaha Hadid Architects reveals new Science Centre project in Singapore

2022-12-05T17:34:00-05:00

Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) has shared project details for its new Science Centre in Singapore.

According to a press announcement released today, the design includes five interconnected rectangular volumes defined by large "monocle" windows that offer views of neighboring Jurong Lake Gardens. Features include a network of discovery trails and an enhanced Children’s Gallery that offers twice as much room as the space provided in its predecessor.

Rendering: Negativ, image courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects

An "Eco-Lab" and "Eco-Garden" will serve as part of the museum’s educational offerings, while programmable rooftop spaces, an observatory, and a Digital Fabrication Lab all provide students with the opportunity to learn about topics like vertical farming.

Rendering: Negativ, image courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects

ZHA says it hopes to attain a BCA Green Mark Platinum rating for the project with the help of atelier ten and Architects 61...

SOM completes new Wellesley College Science Complex, an 'interplay between old and new'

2022-10-13T14:48:00-04:00

SOM just completed a major design project for the Wellesley College Science Complex after a five-year construction period.

The redesigned 97,000-square-foot structure is comprised of mass timber with recycled zinc elements and involved the consolidation of several smaller academic buildings that were originally constructed on the Science Hill portion of the campus between the 1920s and late1970s.

Dave Burk © SOM

“We reimagined the science center as a village for teaching, learning, and research,” SOM Design Partner Colin Koop said in a press release. “The project is a careful mix of removal, renovation, and addition that will give students and faculty a more inviting and engaging experience.”

Dave Burk © SOM

For the renovation portion of the project, SOM focused on the L-wing, a Perry, Dean, Stahl, and Rogers-designed addition to the older Neo-Gothic Sage Hall that was first enacted in 1977 and provided an ideal space for transformation.

Dave Burk © SOM

SOM’s team converted the structu...

KAAN Architecten completes a new base for the Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d’Orsay in France

2018-09-12T15:16:00-04:00

The new Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d’Orsay (ISMO) was recently completed by Dutch firm KAAN Architecten. The institute moved into their new building as part of the Université Paris-Saclay's future campus in Orsay, France.

Located about 12 miles outside of Paris in Plateau de Saclay, the science institute is a grouping of physics laboratories, an educational building, housing, offices, and a reception center for international researchers.

The firm's design is centered around an urban-meets-rural idea with a concrete rectangle amidst the for...

Big Name Teams Shortlisted for Museum and Educational Center in Moscow

2012-12-19T14:44:00-05:00

Six international teams have been selected for the second stage of the architectural design competition for the Museum and Educational Center of the Polytechnic Museum and Lomonosov Moscow State University.

The shortlisted design teams are:

Project Meganom (Russia) and John McAslan & Partners (UK)
Mecanoo International B.V. (The Netherlands) and TPO Rezerv (Russia)
Farshid Moussavi Architecture (UK) and Rozhdestvenka Architectural Bureau (Russia)
Massimiliano Fuksas Architetto (Italy) and Speech (Russia)
3XN A/S (Denmark) and Asadov Architectural Studio (Russia)
Leeser Architecture (USA) and ABD Architects (Russia)

In case one of the selected finalists decides to drop out of the competition, the consortium of COOP Himmelb(l)au (Austria) and Architecture Bureau Atrium (Russia) was chosen to replace it.