Archinect - News

Watch LAX's new Midfield Satellite Concourse South taxi to its final destination

2024-10-28T17:14:00-04:00

Woods Bagot has shared a video from the recent overnight installation of its Midfield Satellite Concourse South (or MSC South) project at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

The project adds around 146,000 square feet of space and eight gates designed to hold narrowbody aircraft.

Video courtesy Woods Bagot

Its realization was made possible by an innovative new process called Offsite Construction and Relocation (or OCR), which calls for an in-situ delivery staged in nine segments in order to avoid costly disruptions to air traffic operations after the process began earlier this year just north of the airport's northernmost runways. Buro Happold (structural engineering, sustainability, lighting, and acoustical design) was able to ensure its delivery in partnership with RAW International.

Image: Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA)

The next step after this major hurdle will be to assemble each of the segments through 2025.

Image: Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA)

Woods Bagot’s Ian L...

Woods Bagot, John McAslan + Partners debut major Sydney Central Rail Station overhaul

2024-08-26T10:54:00-04:00

Last week marked the long-awaited debut of Woods Bagot’s remake of the 115-year-old Sydney Central Rail Station. The project, which came together over five years with help from collaborators John McAslan + Partners, expands passenger capacity by more than 60% while placing an elevated customer experience, the role of placemaking, and the preservation of the terminal's Edwardian architectural character at its center.

Image courtesy Trevor Mein/Woods Bagot

Woods Bagot's Transportation Lead, John Prentice, says it “significantly improves circulation and station legibility, resulting in a station design that is easy and intuitive for all customers, irrespective of the mode of travel used.”

Image courtesy Trevor Mein/Woods Bagot

“The new metro and concourse insertions are designed to be purposeful, functional, and sculpturally rich to complement the historic qualities of the original station. The selection of materials establishes the proposals into t...

Plans for world’s tallest residential tower unveiled in Dubai

2024-04-27T08:00:00-04:00

Hospitality brand Six Senses has unveiled plans for a new residential tower in Dubai Marina, set to be the world’s tallest. Sprouting up in Dubai Marina, the Six Senses Residences will be the second Dubai location to come from Six Senses, joining the nearly-opened Six Senses The Palm Jumeirah hotel. The tower is said to boast an impressive 122 floors, when it is eventually completed in 2028.

The height of the new Six Senses Residences Dubai Marina tower is equal to the under-construction Burj Azizi tower nearby, a $1.5 billion commercial project that was announced to have broken ground in January and will be completed the same year.

Image credit: Select Group

They will become two of the world’s six 120+ story structures. Reported amenities include a 109th-floor lap pool and cryotherapy chambers, crystal sound healing room, movie theater, and spa.

Image credit: Select Group

Despite the size, only 251 high-end residences are included. The current record-holder for tallest residential building, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture's Central Park Tower in New York City, has 179 units over 131 floors.

Image credit: Select Group

WSP Middle East and Woods Bagot are reportedly in charge of the architectural design.

LAX Midfield Satellite Concourse South project has topped out in Los Angeles

2024-04-22T17:46:00-04:00

LAX's new Midfield Satellite Concourse South (or MSC South) recently topped out as the project's construction progresses in nine segments toward its 2025 completion date. The offsite construction will eventually yield eight new gates and a total of 150,000 square feet of space following a first-of-its-kind integrated design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA).

Buro Happold, structural engineer, sustainability consultant, lighting and acoustical designer on the project, in partnership with architects Woods Bagot and RAW International, says: "Each segment was designed with an independent lateral system consisting of buckling restrained braced frames in the east-west direction and Simspon Yield Link moment frames in the north-south direction to allow for access to gates along the terminal length. Additional analysis was then undertaken to determine the lifting points of each segment ...

NEOM launches Siranna resort concept on the Gulf of Aqaba

2023-12-04T17:42:00-05:00

Another high-end luxury resort complex has been revealed in Saudi Arabia as part of the country’s NEOM megadevelopment on the Gulf of Aqaba.

The new Siranna development will include a 65-key hotel in addition to 35 “exclusive” residences geared toward tourists and complement the previous Leyja and Epicon resort concepts that were announced this year.

Image courtesy NEOM

Guests will be transited to the destination via water taxis, emerge from the Red Sea surf, and pass through a gateway of natural rock formations to find a tiered approach to the outcropping of hexagonal volumes that spring up from the surrounding landscape like shards of crystals.

Image courtesy NEOM

Paolo Testolini, the Dubai-based Principal and Global Sector Leader of Cities and Places for Woods Bagot’s UAE operation, appears in a promotional video as the architect that will lead its design. His colleague Nik Karalis appears also to be involved, stating that the concept will help “redefine our notions of what touri...

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's $400M C Concourse Expansion gets cleared for takeoff

2023-10-15T08:00:00-04:00

A previously-announced plan from Woods Bagot and The Miller Hull Partnership is moving forward in Washington State after officials with the Port of Seattle Commission finally approved the $399 million C Concourse Expansion for the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

The expansion will add 145,530 square feet in total, including a 20,000-square-foot Alaska Airlines passenger lounge, multifaith prayer room, meditation center, nursery room, amphitheater, and a retail/dining area called The Grand Stairs, to an existing structure from 1966. The firms say their proposal “rethinks the airport experience where design creates an intuitive journey, a sense of calm, and climate consciousness.” Turner has been contracted to lead the construction.

Rendering courtesy of The Miller Hull Partnership and Woods Bagot.

SEA planning officials are optimistic its realization will add to its claims of being the most energy-efficient port in the country as the first major construction to be undertaken in ...

Woods Bagot's LAX Midfield Satellite Concourse South expansion has broken ground

2023-07-13T16:42:00-04:00

A groundbreaking ceremony held in late June marks the official start of work on the LAX Midfield Satellite Concourse South project, an expansion of the recently-opened West Gates at Tom Bradley International Terminal.

The Woods Bagot-designed $400 million MSC South project will add 150,000 square feet, spread across eight gates and two stories, to LAX. It forms part of Los Angeles World Airport’s (LAWA), the airport authority that owns and operates the airport, $14.5 billion capital investment improvement project, which includes terminal renovations, the construction of new ground transportation hubs, and an automated people mover system.

Aerial view of site. Image courtesy of Woods Bagot.

MSC South’s construction will utilize what the architects describe as a first-of-its-kind technique, where its building components will be built offsite and then delivered to the location for assembly.

The new concourse will have an L-shaped layout with an exterior brise soleil that will reduce glare and solar radiation while maximizing outdoor views. The design also draws inspiration from LA’s modernist homes. The project is grounded in sustainable practices as it aims for LEED Silver certification. Completion...

Take a look inside Woods Bagot's lobby design for The Brooklyn Tower

2023-05-30T19:55:00-04:00

Woods Bagot has shared photos of their ongoing interior work inside SHoP’s supertall landmark The Brooklyn Tower (formerly known as 9 DeKalb), in anticipation of the record-breaking high-rise’s completion later this year.

The project was led by Principal Krista Ninivaggi of Woods Bagot’s New York studio. Their brief for a lobby space and an amenity program called for a seamless transition between the 93-story building’s interior and exterior facade, whose own design was inspired by the imagined “Metropolis of Tomorrow” first envisioned by writer and architect Hugh Ferriss in the late-1920s.

Photo by Adrian Gaut

An assembly of wood veneers and milled panels scaled to the facade's extrusions feature prominently among the building’s interior. Further details include stone cladding and a vaulted ceiling that harkens to the former Dime Saving Bank that forms the tower’s base. Overall, The Brooklyn Tower includes a total of 547 apartment units, a commercial gym, and four pools in addition...

Woods Bagot unveils designs for the new C Concourse Expansion at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

2022-05-09T15:15:00-04:00

The industry's shift towards more sustainable airport design is taking on another form in Washington State after Woods Bagot revealed their designs for an ecologically-sound C Concourse Expansion at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Part of a series of capital improvements, the scope of the project entails the four-story expansion of an existing structure from 1966 and will follow the Port of Seattle’s new Sustainable Project Framework — a first for large developments under the body’s new environmentally-strident guidelines.

Image courtesy Woods Bagot

Per the architects, the 145,530-square-foot expansion “rethinks the airport experience where design creates an intuitive journey, a sense of calm, and climate consciousness. Miller Hull and Woods Bagot are leading the project’s design concept of 'bringing in and seeing out' to create an interplay of environments between the natural landscapes of the Pacific Northwest and the energy and vibrancy of Seattle.”

The project will re...

Woods Bagot will lead a new adaptive reuse project in Hobart for the University of Tasmania

2022-01-26T15:20:00-05:00

An underused piece of award-winning architecture in Australia is getting a makeover thanks to one of the country’s leading firms.

ArchitectureAU is reporting that the iconic one-time Forestry Tasmania headquarters in Hobart is set for an adaptive reuse scheme from Woods Bagot that will convert the dome and former warehouse space into an academic facility for the University of Tasmania.

The dome was designed around two existing 1930s structures by UTAS professor Robert Morris-Nunn in 1997. It received the RAIA’s Recycled Buildings award the next year and has been listed on Tasmania’s state heritage register for over three decades. The architect is now working closely with Woods Bagot on restoring his design, which he described as being a “wonderful” development for the community.

“Seeing the building fall into disuse over the last few years has been really sad, so to know that the University is planning to restore it, and even reinstate the forest under the dome, is amazing news,” ...

Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Woods Bagot reveal updated plans for the new Aboriginal Art and Cultures Centre in Adelaide

2021-08-10T18:16:00-04:00

New renderings of Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Woods Bagot's forthcoming Aboriginal Art and Cultures Centre (AACC) have been released following a consultation by the Aboriginal Reference Group (ARG) that updated an original plan released by the firm earlier this year.

The improved scheme was submitted to a State Commission Assessment Panel in Australia last week, bringing the project one step closer to realization in the hopes of providing the city of Adelaide with a new platform for First Nations artists that is both forward-looking and “wholly connected to the landscape,” according to the architect.

Image courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Woods Bagot

The design team worked together with the ARG to produce an updated plan that includes a new outdoor primary exhibition space, a more pronounced and environmental envelope, and upgraded water features inside the same 124,000-square-foot Lot Fourteen footprint featured in the original design.

“This project is a path to reconcilia...

Woods Bagot and Diller Scofidio + Renfro unveils Adelaide's new 'space for gathering and storytelling'

2021-02-16T15:50:00-05:00

In 2018 Woods Bagot and Diller Scofidio + Renfro's design proposal was selected as the winning entry for the Adelaide Contemporary International design competition. Both firms describe the center as a "new cultural paradigm that showcases the past, present, and future of Aboriginal cultures while supporting contemporary art practices and events across disciplines."

Located on Kaurna land, the arts and cultural center pulls its design reference from the "wurlie" or "humpy," temporary shelters used by Aboriginal Australians. Its facade resembles an interwoven "basket-like nest" that sits atop a set of columns anchoring the structure with a courtyard at its center. The three-story building will house exhibition spaces as well as areas for gathering and performance spaces.

Artistic render of AACC. Image courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Woods Bagot

Charles Renfro of DS+R and Woods Bagot principal Rosina Di Maria share their experience and excitement towards the project. "Our rol...

Woods Bagot and NeueHouse help breathe new life into L.A.'s famed Bradbury Building

2020-02-28T20:35:00-05:00

With its stunning interiors and handsome brick facades, the Bradbury Building has remained one of Los Angeles' architectural treasures for nearly 120 years. The building was constructed in 1893 and showcases Victorian-style interiors complete with ornate cast-iron railings, polished woodwork, masonry, and a mesmerizing glass atrium. Architects Sumner Hunt and George H. Wyman are listed as the designers who helped bring the project to life. However, the building's "final architect," according to the LA Conservancy, is still up for debate. Yet, despite its intriguing historical past and the building’s immaculate detailing, what is perhaps most exciting about the complex is its potential for a revitalized future.

Standing as one of the oldest commercial buildings in the city of Los Angeles, its relatively recent fame grew in large part thanks to the building's ability to role-play as an ideal design backdrop for fictional film locations. Most famously, the building appears in the well...

Woods Bagot to design Australia's AUD $1.85 billion World Trade Center

2017-01-19T18:35:00-05:00

World Trade Centers aren't just for the northern hemisphere anymore: Perth, Australia will become the recipient of a two-towered, $1.85 Australian dollar World Trade Center designed by Woods Bagot. The uneven towers (one tops out at 36 stories, the other 75) still need official approval by the State Government, which plans to thoroughly vet both the proposal and the backers themselves in the more severe sounding Stage Two section of the process. However, by virtue of clearing Stage One, things are looking good for the buildings (and, let's face it, for Woods Bagot).