T2a Architects transform 19th-century mill into nostalgic housing block

2019-12-11T15:53:00-05:00

Led by Bence Turányi, T2a Architects have finally realized their adaptive-reuse housing block project, called Jazz Lofts. Back in 2005 father-and-son team Gabor and Bence Turányi were commissioned to restore an abandoned 19th-century mill, but after the economic crash in the mid-2000s and a change in vendor, the project was put on hold. Today, 15 years later, along with the arrival of a new owner, the innovative project has been reborn and embraces notions of conservation as well as transformation, seeking to merge the old and the new, into something nostalgically modern.

Before work

After restoration

“We restarted the project at the last moment; it was a question at the beginning if we could even still use the structure because it was so wet and full of salt. The main task was to prove this and to find a way to keep it as it is,” said Bence Turányi, touching on T2a's desire to preserve the building's original heritage. The structure's brick facade blends thoughtfully with the undula...

The late Will Alsop's unconventional housing block Heliport Heights to be built along the river in Battersea

2018-08-24T14:55:00-04:00

Heliport Heights, an unconventional orange-steel housing block and the final major London project designed by the late British architect Will Alsop, will be moving forward. The 20 story building, comprised of 15 floors of apartments built atop the pre-existing Heliport House, is set to rise along the river in Battersea and expected to complete in 2020.

Approval of the project, which is intended to fill the unsightly gap on London's south bank skyline, was granted back in 2014. However, shortly thereafter, construction was stalled when the developer Damsonetti UK went into administration. With financing now back on track, Heliport Heights is scheduled to resume within the next few months according to Alsop's studio aLL Design.

Heliport Heights model by Will Alsop at the Royal Academy.

Plans involve 15 stories of apartments rising above an existing four-story building using stilts, a feature common in Alsop's work that will allow existing tenants to remain in-situ in the Heliport Hou...

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T2a Architects transform 19th-century mill into nostalgic housing block

The late Will Alsop's unconventional housing block Heliport Heights to be built along the river in Battersea