Archinect - News

Singapore's Changi Airport gets travelers back to nature with biophilic Terminal 2 renovation

2024-07-06T10:00:00-04:00

A new project from the Paris firm BOIFFILS Architectures at Changi Airport in Singapore has created a more “fluid gateway into the city” defined by gardens and a sensitivity to user experience that’s spread between its many varied elements and densities.

Their renovation and expansion of the existing Terminal 2 structure from the early 90s spans three levels, improving user comfort and passenger experience for travelers in a way that infuses calming stimuli and “[romanticizes] the airport experience” on the whole.

Photo credit: Changi Airport Group - Fabian Ong

More than others, this was a project that relied on a unique relationship between the client and design team. Managing Director Basile Boiffils explains: “Our proposal placed the priority on the traveler experience rather than on the management of passenger flow.”

Photo credit: Changi Airport Group - Fabian Ong

The firm’s extensive retail and hospitality design experience informed their work throughout. Columns are covered in ...

Foster + Partners replaces MAD on Hollywood office tower design

2024-03-20T18:59:00-04:00

Foster + Partners has been revealed as the architects of a replacement design that will take the place of the previous MAD Architects-produced The Star scheme at 6061 W Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

The newly proposed $1 billion "vertical creative office" is meant as an office for tenants in Hollywood's creative content industries.

Renderings for the replacement design showcase a high-rise structure with 360-degree views provided by its cylindrical form and punctured by a diagonal schism that contains biophilic elements and gathering spaces ribboning around the building's volume in three bands. A rooftop restaurant culminates the design at its uppermost floor.

Rendering courtesy Foster + Partners

The new proposal demarcates considerably from the original $500 million MAD design, which called for 22 stories of vertical gardens to be contained by a glass canopy. The rest of the program includes a ground-level LED video screen, an "arched paseo of restaurants," community gathering sp...

ecoLogicStudio’s collection of biophilic design products includes algae-based air purifier and 3D printed compostable stool

2024-03-07T11:43:00-05:00

London-based ecoLogicStudio has unveiled a collection of biophilic design products as part of their wider PhotoSynethetica research project.

The collection includes a desktop biotechnological air purifier, a compostable stool, and a 3D printed jewel made of re-metabolized pollution.

Image credit: Pepe Fotografia

The project was overseen by ecoLogicStudio directors Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto, who spoke with Archinect last year on a range of topics related to PhotoSynethetica and ‘ecological intelligence.’ Launched as a research project in 2018 with an academic consortium, the project seeks to “tackle the negative effects of climate change and air pollution on urban wellbeing.”

Image credit: Pepe Fotografia

Each piece in the latest collection has been designed to connect biophilic and design spheres, such as biomass grown from the air purification process becoming a raw material for 3D printing the collection’s compostable stool and jewel. “This collection is born from the drea...

Ronald Lu & Partners completes Hong Kong tower offering ‘nature on every doorstep’

2023-12-28T12:34:00-05:00

Hong Kong-based Ronald Lu & Partners has completed a residential development in Kowloon described as a “real forest building.” Named Garden Crescent, the scheme was designed with the philosophy of “nature on every doorstep.”

Image credit: Ronald Lu & Partners

Externally, the building features slanted structural supports to create solid and void spaces that are designed to create multiple avenues for natural ventilation and passive cooling. On the podium level, the scheme’s biophilic elements include a landscape of trees, shrubs, and plants aimed at improving air quality, reducing the urban heat island effect, and enhancing the local microclimate.

Image credit: Ronald Lu & Partners

As the tower rises, voids in the form create six multi-layered green courtyards. Designed to be fully accessible to birds and insects in an effort to repopulate the area’s biodiversity, the courtyards are also intended to give residents imme...

10 firms currently hiring Landscape Architects and Designers

2023-09-29T08:09:00-04:00

Archinect's latest curated jobs roundup from Archinect Jobs highlights 10 architecture and design firms across the country with exciting Landscape Architecture opportunities.

To learn more about the various positions firms are offering, make sure to check out Archinect's Guide to Job Titles series. Also, consult our Archinect Tips collection for helpful guidance on how to get that next job.

Balmori Associates seeks a Landscape Designer
Location: New York, NY

Details: "Balmori Associates is looking for a landscape designer with a high-level of digital design skills, graphic ability to represent design ideas, and a strong understanding of space. Exceptional knowledge of 3D design software is required." Read more here.

Farm Landscape Design seeks a Landscape Architect - Project Manager and a Landscape Design Associate
Location: Shelter Island, NY

Landscape Architect - Project Manager Details: "We are currently in the process of renaming and rebranding Farm Landscape Design to better re...

PAU-designed The Refinery at Domino reopens Brooklyn's most iconic building to the modern workplace

2023-09-27T15:25:00-04:00

A landmark era of high-profile additions and architectural changes to the historic Brooklyn waterfront has ushered in a new chapter with today’s official public unveiling of the PAU-designed The Refinery at Domino office component at the 11-acre former Domino Sugar Factory site in Williamsburg.

The new, 15-story glass commercial space was constructed inside the building’s old brick masonry shell, offering tenants 460,000 square feet of Class A office space enhanced by carefully-inserted biophilic elements and marked by the firm’s attenuation to ascendant health and wellness considerations typical in modern workplace design.

Photo: Max Touhey

A 12-foot gap left between the new and old structures provides space for Field Operations’s 17-count in-house arboretum while standardizing a misalignment with the floors and helping to flood the bonetti/kozerski-designed office interiors with natural light and expanded access to vegetation throughout the day.

Photo: Max Touhey

A vaulted 27,000-s...

UNStudio completes Booking.com City Campus HQ in Amsterdam

2023-06-28T14:39:00-04:00

A new HQ project from UNStudio for the Dutch travel site Booking.com has opened in Amsterdam, offering a dynamic central location it says will serve as a “recruitment machine” while creating a more inclusive, healthy, and socially engaging experience for the company’s 6,500 employees.

Video courtesy UNStudio on Vimeo.

Designed to maximize connectivity for its users and visitors to the campus’ Oosterdokseiland location, the nearly 700,000-square-foot plan creates a highly-visible, activities-laden consolidation of disparate office locations that, for over a decade, had been spread throughout the city.

Image: © Hufton + Crow

Anchored by a striking main building made of glass and steel and sited on a double-height plinth that creates an urban element underneath and around a cantilevered overhang, the development was influenced by years of research into comparable corporate headquarters and engenders a “platform for human activity,” the architects say.

Image: © Hufton + Crow

A network o...

Tetro’s new residence floats and weaves through the Brazilian rainforest

2023-06-12T11:49:00-04:00

Brazilian architecture studio Tetro has offered a look inside their completed residential project in the Atlantic Rainforest. Named Casa Açucena, the development was constructed on a steep slope amidst a landscape of dense trees and shrubs.

Photo credit: Jomar Bragança

The scheme was designed to occupy the space between existing trees without removing or altering the topography. The design team’s dedication to preserving the existing landscape also saw the house elevated off the ground to allow animal and plant life to develop underneath.

Photo credit: Jomar Bragança

“The project is a response to a sensitive reading of the terrain, where first contact dictated the need to maintain its natural characteristics,” the team explained. “The act of looking upwards, from the ground to the fifteen-meter canopy of the trees, was decisive for the creation of a concept addressing the challenge of building in a place with such steep topograph...

UNStudio debuts K.Wah G72 mixed-use development in Nanjing

2023-04-25T13:58:00-04:00

UNStudio has just unveiled plans for another new mixed-use development project in the Chinese city of Nanjing.

Dubbed K.Wah G72, the scheme will enact what they call a “lifestyle waterfront community” space along the city’s Qinhuai River, with the new home of the UCCA Centre for Contemporary Art serving as its base surrounded by green terraces, a hotel, apartments, and office tower blocks that create a new hub for socializing and commercial activity.

Image courtesy UNStudio

Ben van Berkel, the studio’s founder and principal architect, shared: “The Nanjing K.Wah G72 mixed-use development will serve as a one-stop destination in which lifestyle, innovation and work are brought together. It aims to be a benchmark for newly integrated urban developments in Nanjing, across the country, and beyond.”

Image courtesy UNStudio

As always, UNStudio says sustainability will be the project’s central concern, adding that it will serve as a “landmark in sustainability and future-proof design in China....

Biophilic installation begins at Brooklyn's Domino Sugar Factory, including 17 big trees

2023-04-10T14:55:00-04:00

In advance of the expected project completion later this summer, the Brooklyn-based developer Two Trees Management has shared images of its recent installation of the biophilic program inside PAU’s long-awaited Domino Sugar Refinery redevelopment in Williamsburg.

The installation comprises 17 30-foot trees, each weighing more than 10,000 pounds, that make up the core of the project’s indoor vertical garden component, which highlights the 460,000 square feet of new office space being created inside the iconic 19th-century waterfront structure.

Image © Wes Tarca

Each tree had to first be carefully hoisted above the roofline of the refinery and then “surgically” placed inside via a 12-foot-wide opening between the brick facade and envelope of the 27,000-square-foot all-glass office addition located further within.

Image © Wes Tarca

The overall $250 million project began in 2014 and includes the James Corner Field Operations-designed Domino Park segment i...

Pininfarina’s first Mexican residential design gets underway in the Yucatan

2023-03-07T12:12:00-05:00

Pininfarina has just shared an update on its new Light Towers luxury residential project in Mérida, Mexico.

The development broke ground last Wednesday with local politicians in attendance to celebrate the beginning of construction on a project the firm and developers Branson say represents a "path forward; a nod to new ideas, fresh perspectives, and hope for future generations."

Image courtesy Pininfarina

Featuring a V-shaped pair of 17- and 18-story volumes connected at the base by a five-story podium, the design centers a "green valley" at its core to create a communal space with private terraces, wellness amenities, and a co-working space all entwined with the building’s concept.

Image courtesy Pininfarina

A total of 121 modular "Skyvilla" condominiums come with configurations that offer between 25% and 75% of their total floor areas to greenspace. Interior color palettes used in the residential units evoke local traditions, the design team says.

Image courtesy Pininfarina

Image c...

View images of BIG and Carlo Ratti Associati's newly completed biophilic high-rise, CapitaSpring, in Singapore

2022-09-28T08:00:00-04:00

BIG and Carlo Ratti Associati, in collaboration with local firm RSP Architects Planners & Engineers, have announced the completion of their new CapitaSpring skyscraper in Singapore’s Central Business District.

After the project broke ground in February of 2018, the completed biophilic tower stands tall at 51-stories. The high-rise includes interior sky garden spaces, a rooftop park, Citadines serviced residences, multiple restaurants, premium office spaces, and a hawker center (food court center) that nods to Singapore’s iconic food culture. The project was commissioned by local developer CapitaLand in an effort to "set a new benchmark for the office of the future" in advance of the ultragreen city's 2030 Sustainability Master Plan.

Image: Finbarr Fallon

"As someone with Singaporean heritage, I have been honored and humbled by the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing evolution of architecture in Singapore as a distinct blending between the contemporary and the tropical," shared ...

Moshe Safdie on making the iconic spaces that have defined his career

2022-09-27T09:00:00-04:00

On the heels of Safdie’s massive donation to his alma mater McGill University, the 84-year-old architect sat down with CNN in Singapore to dissect his career and discuss his new memoir If Walls Could Speak out next week from Grove Atlantic.

The creator of the iconic Marina Bay Sands (which is about to begin work on a $1.35 billion expansion he says will not include an extension of its famous skybridge) touched briefly on impressive recent designs around Asia, including the Jewel Changi Airport, Habitat Qinhuangdao, and Raffles City Chongqing before veering off into an assessment of the region’s labor markets. He then reasserted the idealism that helped define his career and lamented the contemporary faddish use of biophilia — an element critical to the philosophies that are inherent in his garden-lined residential designs.

“There's a cynicism about so many architects...

Living architecture: A design solution and a career choice?

2022-06-15T09:00:00-04:00

In late 2021, we covered a study by researchers at the University of Plymouth in the UK, which found that living wall systems can reduce heat lost from existing buildings by 31%.

The Plymouth study was symptomatic of a larger curiosity within architecture on the impact of integrating nature and biophilia with the built environment. In May, NASA undertook its own study to understand the potential for green roofs to lower temperatures in cities, while back in 2019, our Studio Snapshot series included a reflection by Habitat Horticulture founder David Brenner on the growing interest of living materials in architecture.

“Living walls are often considered an afterthought or a static accessory in architectural design,” Brenner told us. “Having said that, the tide seems to be shifting with proactive urban greening policies and the rise in popularity of biophilic design. I think we are only scratching the surface in understanding the impact living walls can have.”

Archinect Feature: Livin...

Kengo Kuma hopes to 'blur the line' between outdoor activity and office work in San Jose

2022-05-12T13:45:00-04:00

Kengo Kuma and Associates has unveiled plans for a new biophilia-laden office complex in downtown San Jose, California.

Under the monicker “Park Habitat,” the massive new 1.3-million-square-foot development offers 20 stories of office and retail spaces which are beset by a network of internal and external parks and gardens.

In a new manifesto published by the group Westbank Campus, the international development group’s founder Ian Gillespie outlined his reasoning for choosing the influential Japanese architect for a design whose scope purportedly entails a focus on user wellness and local environment.

Previously on Archinect: BIG, Kengo Kuma, and Studio Gang tapped for Westbank's San Jose masterplan

“I chose Kengo for a very deliberate reason: Kuma-San has risen to the pinnacle of his profession by blurring the lines between nature and the built environment. His practice is dedicated to making buildings less definitive or solid and more ephemeral. In essence, creating a particular co...

Biophilia: 10 new examples of nature and the built environment coexisting harmoniously

2022-04-22T07:00:00-04:00

Happy Earth Day! In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Biophilia.

Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!

↑ Field Office in Portland, OR by Hacker Architects; Landscape Designer: Lango Hansen; Sustainability Consultant: YRG; Photo: Josh Partee

↑ Nanbo Bay Reception Center in Yinchuan, China; Interior Design: SUNSON Design; Photo: Kanghui Zeng

↑ Restaurante 34 in Guimarães, Portugal by REM'A; Photo: Ivo Tavares Studio

↑ Lazy House in Zlín, Czech Republic by Petr Janda / brainwork; Photo: BoysPlayNice

↑ Restaurant Terrace [ Azuma ] in Odessa, Ukraine by JK Lab Architects

↑ Wine Cave in Texas Hill Country by Clayton Korte; Photo: Casey Dunn

↑ Art Villa in Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica by Refuel works; Interiors: Fo...

Stefano Boeri's first Vertical Forest in China completes in Hubei province

2022-01-25T14:16:00-05:00

A new landmark in the long history of Chinese housing experiments is about to be inaugurated as Stefano Boeri Architetti's “social forest” has been completed in Huanggang.

Located in Hubei Province’s second-largest city, Easyhome Huanggang Vertical Forest City Complex is a near-identical twin to the firm’s previous “social forest” development in the Netherlands. The new development consists of two residential towers in a five-building mixed-use complex taking up approximately 4.54 hectares (11.2 acres) in total area.

Image courtesy RAW VISION

According to the architect: “The design allows an excellent view of the tree-lined façades, enhancing the sensorial experience of the greenery and integrating the plant landscape with the architectural dimension. Thus, the inhabitants of the residential towers have the opportunity to experience the urban space from a different perspective while fully enjoying the comfort of being surrounded by nature.”

Image courtesy RAW VISION

Image courtesy RA...

SOM-designed "Breathing" bank headquarters opens in Shenzhen

2022-01-04T12:36:00-05:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has completed a 158-meter-tall, 33-story tower, located at the center of one of Shenzhen’s key business districts. The structure responds to the region’s tropical climate through a series of biophilic and sustainable design solutions. SOM was commissioned by Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank in 2012 to design a new headquarters that merges its past with its vision for the future.

SOM's work on this project included architecture, mechanical, electrical and plumbing, structural, and civil engineering.

The tower’s façade is defined by an external diagrid, which acts as both the building’s structure and solar shading element. At its base, the diagrid widens to create framed openings and views of the surrounding park and nearby South China Sea.

“We’re always exploring opportunities to synthesize inventive engineering solutions with architectural design,” said SOM Design Partner Scott Duncan. “The Rural Commercial Bank Headquarters gave us the chance to incor...

MVRDV unveils plans for a revamped BUFA campus in Berlin

2021-11-12T17:55:00-05:00

Plans are moving forward for a “low-tech transformation” of West Berlin’s storied film and television studios Berliner Union Film Ateliers (BUFA) called Atelier Gardens from London-based developer Fabrix and MVRDV.

Approval has been granted for a six-acre adaptive reuse project at the southern edge of the former Tempelhof Airport in the merged borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg.

Image: © MVRDV

The comprehensive master plan will repurpose two of the site’s existing 20th-century structures into a center for social justice activism surrounded by a radically re-greened campus courtesy of British landscape designers Harris Bugg.

Image: © MVRDV

Studio 1, a 100-year-old building that has served as the set for several different important films, including Bob Fosse’s Oscar-winning 1972 classic Cabaret, will get a colorful curtain-clad makeover in addition to a new skylight and other “sensitive” interventions making the 7,000-square-foot facility a vibrant space for film screening, meetings, an...

MAD Architects breaks ground on its ripped-open first North American residential rental project

2021-11-09T13:18:00-05:00

Continuing with their recent expansion into the United States, MAD has officially broken ground on a new residential development in Denver called One River North.

Courtesy Colorado Drone Images

The Beijing and Los Angeles-based firm is looking to cement its footprint in North America with a sixteen-story tower for one of Denver’s most vibrant neighborhoods. Located in the River North Art District (RiNo) just above Coors Field and the city’s downtown business center, the new development will feature187 residential units carved into a sculptural, curvilinear tower with a jagged open chasm and four hikeable footpaths, providing users with an unencumbered view of the majestic Rocky Mountains from which its shape takes inspiration.

Courtesy One River North

A rooftop pool, spa, and garden areas complete the 216-foot-tall structure with a water feature to further enhance the deliberate sense of connection between residents and the natural world created by Ma Yansong’s design team.

Courtesy O...

Faced with new challenges, airport design is reinventing itself

2021-09-07T17:22:00-04:00

Across the country, the average airport terminal is more than 40 years old and further challenged by the growth of air travel. Denver International, for example, opened in 1995 with capacity for 50 million fliers; in 2019, it handled more than 69 million.

Airports have been argued over by various names representing differing views from varied places in the architectural community. Norman Foster recently told Bloomberg he felt the impacts of air travel have to be considered in relation to other primary drivers of climate change.

The movement to make airports more comfortable and user-oriented has dominated the industry as the need to modernize or significantly upgrade antiquated facilities looms larger in coming years. Biophilic designs have proliferated as well.

The COVID-19 pandemic has initiated quite a lot of its own changes within the last year that have accelerated the movement substantially. The New York Times has more on trends in airport building here.

Designing living walls and green roofs could be your next future-proof career move

2021-08-11T13:13:00-04:00

Exploring alternative options for building sustainability has become a critical part of the architectural design process. With climate change efforts increasing, living walls and green roofs are one of the many ways architects, landscape architects, and design professionals transform new and existing buildings.

Last week, we highlighted an opportunity to work as an Interior Architect for a Las Vegas Theatre company. This week we're profiling the North Carolina-based firm Living Roofs Inc. and their search for a Project Designer. This job position is ideal for someone looking for part-time work and passionate about horticulture and green infrastructure.

Living Roof team working on green roof that sits on top of Publix grocery story at the Smokey Hollow development in downtown Raleigh. Plant Materials Used: Native Perennials and Grasses. Image courtesy of Living Roofs Inc. via Instagram

The firm shares that their ideal candidate will help with "various drafting, graphic production, a...

Haptic Architects' team wins 2021 Davidson Prize with biophilic home design

2021-06-10T19:18:00-04:00

A multidisciplinary team led by Haptic Architects has won the £10,000 first prize in the inaugural Davidson Prize, a competition calling for new ideas that rethink the design of the contemporary home.

Titled HomeForest, the winning proposal comes from a diverse team. In addition to those representing Haptic Architects, the team includes poet Lionheart, interdisciplinary designer Yaoyao Meng, digital designers Squint/Opera, and musicians Coda to Coda. As stated on the competition’s website, multi-disciplinary creative teams are actively encouraged, however, each must include an architect registered with the Architecture Review Board (ARB) or the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI).

The theme of the inaugural competition is titled “Home/Work – A New Future”. It is based on the way the Covid-19 pandemic has blurred the boundaries between living and work spaces. While remote working has become commonplace and even preferred, the theme highlights the fact that homes are...

A case for nature: Architect and regenerative design strategist Amanda Sturgeon pushes for rewilding cities

2021-04-06T20:39:00-04:00

More cities are incorporating biophilic design approaches for several reasons. While some firms genuinely practice regenerative and sustainable design methods, others could be placed into the category of "greenwashing" to satisfy trends and bolster their firm's PR efforts. However, according to architect and regenerative design strategist Amanda Sturgeon, the goal is to have buildings "that are intimately connected to the living systems that have evolved with us, that celebrate the human-nature connection that is central to our wellbeing."

In her recent article for The Guardian, Sturgeon makes a case for rewilding cities. She explains, "rewilding is about adding nature everywhere, not just in parks, by using nature-based solutions or green infrastructure at the edges of our streets, in leftover spaces, and on and within our buildings."

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