Archinect - News

Passion for making furniture? A new role at OTTRA may be for you

2024-12-04T10:22:00-05:00

Following our previous look at an opening for an architectural designer at Samara, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for a CNC Programmer, Operator, and Fabricator at OTTRA.

The role, based in Brooklyn, calls for an individual interested in using digital skills to fabricate hardwood furniture, objects, and installations. Among the responsibilities for the role will be customizing existing designs on request, building new projects from start to finish, and producing shop drawings.

Image courtesy of OTTRA

Why the role interests us

The open role at OTTRA offers us the opportunity to explore recent engagements by architects in furniture design reported by Archinect. OTTRA is itself an embodiment of this collaboration, existing as the furniture brand of architecture and design firm Zimmerman Workshop.

“As an architect myself, we have hired architects and designers in the past with great success,” Zimmerman notes in t...

Oregon researchers build prototype mass timber home that ‘fits together like gingerbread house’

2024-11-07T11:13:00-05:00

A research team in Oregon has unveiled a mass timber prototype home that seeks to showcase a sustainable, energy-efficient alternative to traditional home construction. Designed by the TallWood Design Institute, a collaboration between the University of Oregon and Oregon State University, the 760-square-foot project was unveiled at an open house event on November 7th.

Image courtesy of the University of Oregon

The home, built from locally sourced mass plywood panels produced by Freres Engineered Wood, aims to address key issues such as affordable housing shortages, wildfire resilience, and economic sustainability. Unlike conventional timber construction, the home is constructed of mass plywood panels shaped to fit together like pieces of a gingerbread house, the team says.

Image courtesy of the University of Oregon

Through the project, the team imagines a future where a home could arrive in a flatpack ...

AA School of Architecture students construct timber 'Tree and Truss' structure using robotic fabrication

2024-10-29T12:19:00-04:00

A new student-led project from the Architectural Association School of Architecture (AA) that combines robotic fabrication processes with new software applications has been shared with Archinect as part of the school's Design + Make 2022-24 cohort.

Image: courtesy Design + Make course Architectural Association/Photographer Rafael Ferres Echavarren

The 'Tree and Truss' project is a mass timber structure made from locally sourced materials and designed to support the columns and trusses of a new lecture hall standing in Hooke Park on the school's Woodland Campus.

Image: courtesy Design + Make course Architectural Association/Photographer Rafael Ferres Echavarren

Together, the students say: "The project explores a hybrid structure that seamlessly transitions from natural geometry to engineered timber and regards the tree as column and the truss as beam as the fundamental points of departure. We design through making and aim to work with the material behavior of timber."

Image: courtesy ...

Robotic fabrication and hybrid structural systems are showcased in the University of Stuttgart's new ITECH Pavilion

2024-10-04T18:52:00-04:00

A team of researchers led by Achim Menges of the Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD) and Jan Knippers of the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) at the University of Stuttgart has unveiled a new pavilion made using a novel combination of bio-based materials.

The hybrid structural system behind the ITECH Research Pavilion 2024 is composed of timber and natural flax fiber polymer composites (or NFPCs). Menches and his colleagues were guided by recent research into fiber-polymer composites. The complete assembly works via the compressive strength of timber and tensile properties.

Image courtesy of ITEK and ICD at the University of Stuttgart

The pavilion was erected within the university’s Stadtgarten. It covers an area of roughly 484 square feet and weighs almost 2,130 pounds. The pavilion's structural capacity was shown to be capable of withstanding 1.5 times its own weight and 1.5 times the outside wind load.

Image courtesy of ITEK and...

Construction tech start-up sends AI-powered "micro-factories" to the US to build affordable housing

2024-10-04T17:57:00-04:00

British construction tech start-up Automated Architecture (AUAR) is sending two of its pop-up, robotic micro-factories to the U.S. for the first time in a move to bring automated and affordable house building to North America.

Founded in 2019, AUAR functions by licensing its technology to builders and contractors to build low-energy homes at the price of normal homes, at scale.

Related on Archinect: Where Are All The Affordable Housing Startups?. Image credit: Katerra

The micro-factories will be deployed by real estate development and construction firm Rival Holdings, which aims to address the ongoing housing crisis by building thousands of sustainable, affordable, and high-quality homes across the Midwest. The partnership between Rival Holdings and AUAR was announced in March.

“We are really excited to partner with Rival Holdings to bring our cutting-edge Robotic Micro-factories to the United States,” said Co-Founder and CEO of AUAR, Mollie Claypool. “This partnership is our first ...

Arup completes triangular ‘chamber of music’ for Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana

2024-09-23T08:32:00-04:00

Arup has completed a new performance venue for the Tippet Rise Art Center in Fishtail, Montana. Named Geode, the design of the open-air acoustical structure draws inspiration from a photograph taken by Robert Doisneau of the cellist Maurice Baquet performing with just a chair and music stand on a mountaintop in Chamonix, France.

Geode measures 18 feet tall at its highest point and is comprised of four triangular structures described as “harmonic polygons.” The polygons are designed to contain sound and reflect it in all directions, while also creating an “intimate and enveloping sonic environment” to protect musicians and the audience from the elements.

“The Geode’s sound-reflecting surfaces are large and close to the ground, creating directed sound reflectio...

Snøhetta completes new cultural and education facility in Norway inspired by Indigenous design practices

2024-08-23T19:48:00-04:00

A new cultural and educational hub that draws from the heritage and traditional building practices of the Sámi peoples, an Indigenous group in Norway, designed by Snøhetta, in collaboration with Norwegian practice 70°N architecture and artist Joar Nango, has officially opened.

Image: Lars Petter Pettersen/Snøhetta

Called Čoarvemátta, the project takes its name from the Sámi words for horn and root, after the innermost and strongest part of reindeer antlers. The shared facility creates space for the Sámi National Theater Beaivváš and the Sámi High School and Reindeer Herding School.

Image: Lars Petter Pettersen/Snøhetta

The building is located in Kautokeino, a municipality in the middle of Finnmarksvidda, Norway’s largest and northernmost plateau. Čoarvemátta’s design responds to its environment as all the structure’s façades relate to the various landscape spaces that surround them.

Image: Lars Petter Pettersen/Snøhetta

The two-story building sits low in the landscape with proportions...

In rural Norway, four distinct buildings come together as one to form this unique cabin

2024-07-31T17:59:00-04:00

A cabin by Norwegian architectural office Rever & Drage takes a unique form as a single unit and the combination of four distinct buildings.

Called Cabin at Troll’s Peak, the roughly 1,500-square-foot structure features local craftsmanship and regional timber spread across a connecting row of different buildings. This composition recalls a traditional row farm, in which buildings with different functions and different construction techniques are arranged in a line corresponding with the dominant direction of the wind.

Photo: Tom Auger

As detailed by the architects, the furthest north section of the cabin comprises a late medieval notching technique with large, narrowing logs. The living room is built with 19th-century notched logs, while the kitchen has slim, more modern square logs with dovetail notches. The garage is built from a local timber frame technique and clad with transparent polycarbonate.

Photo: Tom Auger

Located in a high mountain valley in Sunndal, Norwa...

What’s holding up mass timber's ascent in Chicago?

2024-07-30T08:00:00-04:00

The Tribune recently asked why mass timber construction is so lagging in Chicago while nearby Milwaukee and other cities in the Pacific Northwest and Europe are making strides to embrace the movement by altering their building codes and fire safety regulations.

Even after an amenable update to its citywide code in 2020, forces such as the collective memory of the 1871 Great Chicago Fire are one such impediment to the development of new wooden designs. A two-year-old residential project from Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture — a rare approved proposal over five stories — appears to have stalled. The DOB says it considers additional exceptions to the limit "on a case-by-case basis," but there remains an impression it is too late to the table, leaving the city known for its architectural innovations disappointingly out of the vanguard while a new race to the top unfolds.

Just in time for the Summer Olympics, Kengo Kuma's Saint-Denis–Pleyel metro station opens in Paris

2024-07-26T18:55:00-04:00

Kengo Kuma’s completed design of the Saint-Denis–Pleyel metro station in Paris is one of the largest and most significant new projects highlighting the city’s push for sustainable urban renewal as a consequence of its turn as the host of the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Images shared following its inauguration on June 24th with President Emmanuel Macron in attendance showcase a horizontal composition distinct from the verticality of its surroundings. (It will later boast a sculptural installation from the French artist Prune Nourry.)

Image: © Kengo Kuma & Associates - Photography by Michel Denancé

The station measures 377,000 square feet, making it the largest in the Grand Paris Express rail network. It’s designed to service 250,000 passengers a day from the new Metro lines 14 through 17, with connections to both RER D and GPE 4 commuter trains.

Image: © Kengo Kuma & Associates - Photography by Michel Denancé

Image: © Kengo Kuma...

A lack of product standardization is hindering mass timber’s growth in North America, expert warns

2024-07-15T11:43:00-04:00

Product standardisation—or the lack thereof—is a major obstacle to mass timber adoption, especially in the lower-rise and mid-rise “sweet spots.” It comes as Europe is miles ahead of North America (Asia-Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand) in developing mainstream mass timber systems.

“They [North America] have a mature market where woodworkers and integration shops work alongside billet producers to service the market,” Adrian Mitchell told the outlet. “It is not about whose panel size got designed by the engineer into a project from the start, giving that manufacturer an advantage because no one else produces that panel size, which is happening here.”

Nevertheless, an increase in demand within the U.S. has led to forecasts that the total domestic market, which was valued at $179.4 million last year, will reach $655.6 Million by 2032, according to Yahoo! Finance.

This Hungarian mass timber house blends seamlessly into its natural environment

2024-07-04T12:00:00-04:00

Hungarian design-build studio Hello Wood has shared its latest home with us, seamlessly blending into its rural surroundings and bridging the gap between the natural environment and engineered objects.

Photo: György Palkó

Located in rural Hungary, CLT House is approximately 1,453 square feet and fully equipped. It features a 377-square-foot main living space and a 161-square-foot guest room.

Photo: György Palkó

The main space includes a kitchen, bathroom, living room, and a bedroom. The living space connects with built-in glass doors and windows to a terrace that extends over the adjacent fishpond.

Photo: György Palkó

The architects put emphasis on making the home organically fit into the natural habitat, which is evident through the way the terrace’s shape follows the water’s curve. The home is also dug into a small mound making it unassuming. Its green rooftop further enhances its connection to nature.

Photo: György Palkó

CLT...

10 examples of wood in architecture we liked this week

2024-06-29T08:00:00-04:00

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 Wood.

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

↑ Camera House in Pemberton, Canada, by Leckie Studio Architecture + Design; Photo: Ema Peter

↑ Warm Nest in Knokke-Heist, Belgium, by Ark-shelter; Photo: BoysPlayNice

↑ Forest Retreat in Sea Ranch, CA, by Koch Architects; Original Architect: William Turnbull Jr.; Photo: Joe Fletcher

↑ Stony Hill in Amagansett, NY, by Bates Masi + Architects; Photo: Bates Masi + Architects

↑ Tolbiac housing project in Paris, France, by Atelier Architecture Vincent Parreira - AAVP; Photo: Luc Boegly

↑ Walters Cassar Residence in Palm Springs, CA, by Studio AR&D Architects; Photo: Lance Gerber

↑ Arismeer in Driehuizen, the Netherlands, by LCDQ

↑ ...

Five timber projects by LEVER Architecture: Your Next Employer?

2024-06-17T10:57:00-04:00

Following our previous visit to New York-based Valerie Schweitzer Architects, we are moving our Meet Your Next Employer series to Portland, OR this week to explore the work of LEVER Architecture.

Founded in 2009, the firm has become recognized for its innovative use of mass timber, including designing the first building made from US-produced cross-laminated timber with Albina Yard in Portland. Previously, our editorial has featured the firm’s report developed with Atelier Ten which sought to combat common myths about mass timber construction, in addition to its participation in the world’s tallest full-scale building earthquake test in San Diego which featured a 10-story building made of cross-laminated timber.

Over on Archinect Jobs, the firm is currently hiring for several positions at their Portland studio. For candidates interested in applying for the position, or anybody interested in learning more about the firm’s output, we have rounded up five projects featuring timber by LE...

Innovative mass timber Wangen Tower opens in southern Germany

2024-05-22T17:16:00-04:00

University of Stuttgart professor Achim Menges has shared details of a new research-led observation tower project called Wangen Tower after its realization earlier this month at the regional garden showcase Landesgartenschau Wangen im Allgäu in southern Germany.

The project is a collaboration between the university's Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD) and Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) at the university.

Image: © ICD/ITKE/IntCDC University of Stuttgart (Photo: Nina Baisch)

Image: © Roland Halbe

Menges’ eight-member team worked with Prof. Dr. Jan Knippers and Gregor Neubauer to produce the prototype using CNC milling techniques and curved CLT panels. The result is a durable, high-performance structure made from locally sourced renewable materials as well as the first-ever built example of a multi-level building made using self-shaped structural timber components.

Image: © ICD/ITKE/IntCDC University of Stuttgart (Photo: Christoph Mo...

MVRDV reveals tribune-shaped, mixed-use design with communal terraces

2024-05-13T11:46:00-04:00

MVRDV has unveiled its design for a tribune-shaped, mixed-use building in the Dutch city of Eindhoven. Located in the city’s revitalized Strijp-S neighborhood, the project, called the Strijp-S Tribune, includes a mixture of social housing, mid-sector rental units, commercial spots, and outdoor spaces organized through large, stepped terraces.

The building will stand along the Ketelhuisplein, a lively public square that hosts a range of events and recreational activities throughout the year. Formerly defined by its industrial presence, the area has transformed into the cultural heart of Eindhoven, with a mixture of creative companies and residents now inhabiting repurposed factories and newly constructed high-rises. This history has informed the shape of the Strijp-S Tribune.

Image: MVRDV

At its tallest, the building stands eight stories tall. It steps down to two stories alongside the plaza of the Ketelhuisplein. The stepping shape allows the structure to fit neatly with its surroun...

In rural Ontario, a timber cabin by Dubbeldam Architecture + Design creates a ‘quiet haven in the trees’

2024-05-03T15:03:00-04:00

Toronto-based Dubbeldam Architecture + Design has offered an insight into their completed cabin in rural Ontario, Canada. Named Bunkie on the Hill and described as a “quiet haven in the trees for family members to retreat and re-connect with nature,” the cabin sits at the top of a steep slope overlooking a collection of family cottages below.

Image credit: Riley Snelling

The 1,000-square-foot cabin by the Dubbeldam team, who was recently honored at the 2024 RAIC Annual Awards as the Architectural Practice winner, sees a contemporary interpretation of the traditional A-frame shape. Inspired by overlapping layers of shale rock in the surrounding landscape, the split roof features two intersecting gables that allow for window openings where the roof volumes split.

Image credit: Riley Snelling

“These geometric windows allow for curated views of the treetops on one side and lake below on the other and invite natural light to flood the...

WXY opens beachfront community center for Rockaway, Queens

2024-04-30T17:28:00-04:00

WXY Architecture + Urban Design has opened its new Arverne East Nature Preserve and Welcome Center in the Rockaway neighborhood of Queens.

The project forms the first phase of New York City’s first net-zero residential community with 1,650 new units. It was realized at 6,000 square feet and includes a community meeting room and space for the Parks and Recreation Department's Urban Park Rangers program and The Campaign Against Hunger.

Image: courtesy of WXY, Ⓒ Albert Vecerka/Esto

WXY Founding Principal Claire Weisz describes: "Arverne East represents a unique and innovative path forward for the Rockaways — one rooted in honoring local knowledge, collective power, and an ongoing practice of community stewardship. The sustainable and resilient architecture creates an inviting, accessible space to connect with nature — a promontory for everyone from beachgoers to community organizers to Parks Department staff."

Image: courtesy of WXY, Ⓒ Albert Vecerka/Esto

Image: courtesy of WXY, Ⓒ Albe...

Snøhetta's high-tech Vertikal Nydalen mixed-use project opens in Oslo

2024-04-27T10:00:00-04:00

A new mixed-use project in Oslo from Snøhetta has been completed following a nine-year design and development phase that culminated in 118,400 square feet and 18 floors with restaurants, an office component, and 40 apartment units all built in.

Vertikal Nydalen is the focal point of a new town square in the Norwegian capital and features a self-sufficient climate system bolstered by PV panels, geo-wells, heat pumps, and an advanced building monitoring system that allows user feedback to inform its controls.

Image credit: Lars Petter Pettersen/Snøhetta

The project was born out of a pilot program that combined two research efforts supported by the Research Council of Norway. It focused on enhancing the building’s ventilation strategy and helping its heating/cooling systems run with little added energy at an efficiency rate of up to 2.5 times the industry’s current leading standard.

Image credit: Lars Petter Pettersen/Snøhetta

Snøhetta's Kjetil Trædal Thorsen says: "We are proud to f...

Heatherwick Studio tops out UK pharma hub with curving timber structure

2024-04-25T11:56:00-04:00

Heatherwick Studio has offered a construction update on its design for the UCB Windlesham Surrey Science Research Hub in the United Kingdom. When completed, the building will serve as a hub for the Belgian biopharmaceutical company UCB.

In new photos released by the firm, the project's cross-laminated timber structure can be seen following its recent topping out. The CLT structure, described by Heatherwick Studio as “possibly one of the most complicated CLT structures in Europe,” took two years of design and eight months of construction to deliver. The novelty of the structure comes from its curved form, which serves not only as the main structure but the feature finish for the building.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Heatherwick Studio (@officialheatherwickstudio)

Designed in collaboration with executive architect Veretec, the three-story timber extension will be partially submerged into the site’s existing campus, connecting various wings of UCB’s R...

Kéré Architecture breaks ground on new timber childcare center at the Technical University of Munich

2024-04-24T15:45:00-04:00

Kéré Architecture has broken ground on a new all-wood childcare facility at the Technical University Munich (TUM). The design of the Ingeborg Pohl Kinderoase an der TUM is 700 square meters (7,500 square feet) in total and will hold space for 60 children in service to faculty members and their families.

Image copyright Kéré Architecture

The building, made possible through a donation from philanthropist Ingeborg Pohl, is defined by its playful interior, which incorporates a variety of scales and unique circulatory features, such as slides that connect each of its five floors.

Image copyright Kéré Architecture

Administrative suites are placed at the ground level, with three floors dedicated to children and divided by age group. A green roof play area called the Himmelswiese (German for “field of the heavens”) completes the program above. The firm has emphasized its use of timber throughout is meant to “take the sustainability of the building to the extreme.”

Image copyright Kéré Archi...

A rustic ‘entertainment barn’ in California’s wine country is completed by Malcolm Davis Architecture

2024-04-19T11:31:00-04:00

San Francisco-based Malcolm Davis Architecture (MDa) has completed a rural timber home addition in Northern California Wine Country. Titled Wine Country Barn, the scheme is described by its designers as “a testament to modern architecture’s ability to blend harmoniously with nature.”

Image credit: Joe Fletcher

The project client sought a communal living space for weekends with family and friends. Originally imagined as a large addition to the original house, the projects evolved into an “entertainment barn and guest house addition.” For the scheme’s design, MDa drew inspiration from the region’s rustic barns, while incorporating modern detailing, including locally harvested redwood siding to reflect the area’s history as a mill town.

Image credit: Joe Fletcher

The resulting building features a guest suite, covered parking, and an outdoor kitchen and living space, with interiors by Grant Gibson Interior Design. The design unites the e...

Gordon Kipping's mass timber installation 'Maison de Cartes' is now open at SCI-Arc

2024-04-17T13:02:00-04:00

SCI-Arc opened a new exhibition last Friday, curated by Class of 1995 M.Arch graduate Gordon Kipping, that documents the development of mass timber within contemporary architecture.

Inspired by Le Corbusier’s 1914–15 Dom-Ino House prototype, Maison de Cartes presents examples both in the form of physical models and via a special augmented reality (AR) application to deliver a narrative about timber's ability and potential to meet the challenge of climate change in different typological contexts worldwide.

Image credit Joshua White Photography, courtesy of SCI-Arc

The exhibition culminates years of research into engineering and sustainable construction methods and Kipping's belief that timber architecture can play a role in alleviating the impinging housing crisis in Los Angeles and abroad.

Image credit Joshua White Photography, courtesy of SCI-Arc

SCI-Arc says: "It's a testament to his conviction that architects should pay more attention to such societal issues, exploring tangible w...

Henning Larsen’s ‘forest canopy-like’ World of Volvo opens in Sweden

2024-04-16T11:52:00-04:00

The Henning Larsen-designed World of Volvo has opened in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Housed under an expressive timber canopy, the 237,000-square-foot building will serve as an experience center for the car brand Volvo, designed around “Scandinavian values of freedom of movement, access to nature, and openness and inclusion.”

Image credit: Rasmus Hjortshoj

The main timber structure is formed of glulam and cross-laminated timber, designed as three tree-trunk-like columns that fan out to carry the entire load of the roof while “enveloping visitors in a welcoming forest-like canopy.” The center’s round structure is intended to encourage visitors to create their own journeys through the building’s interior and exterior.

Image credit: Rasmus Hjortshoj

Inside, a series of spaces are contained to host cultural events, talks, and conferences, accommodating up to 1,100 people. Anchoring the structure is a 485,000-square-foot exhibition space...

Sou Fujimoto shares new photos of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai master plan under construction

2024-04-01T15:46:00-04:00

Sou Fujimoto’s studio has shared new construction images of the forthcoming Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai's The Grand Roof circular wooden container structure, a year ahead of the start of the six-month fair, which begins on April 13th, 2025.

The enormous structure is 1,969 feet (600 meters) in diameter and will serve as the main circulatory route for the exhibition, which includes 161 total participating countries/locations.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sou Fujimoto (@sou_fujimoto)

Fujimoto’s team says their design is meant to evoke a sense of "Unity in Diversity" and takes the Stage of Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto and other historic examples of Japanese timber architecture as its inspiration.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sou Fujimoto (@sou_fujimoto)

It will support an aerial walkway that affords visitors sightlines into the arena-like layout encased on the manmade Yumeshima island below and divided into three zones (Pavi...

Swedish companies unveil low-carbon wall system 60% lighter than traditional concrete

2024-03-15T12:45:00-04:00

A group of materials companies in Sweden has collaborated on a hybrid wall element with a lower carbon footprint than conventional concrete wall elements.

The joint venture, comprising concrete element manufacturer Heidelberg Materials Preca and engineered timber manufacturer Metsä Wood, is now rolling out the element for live construction projects.

Image credit: Heidelberg Materials Preca / Metsä Wood

The wall consists of a facade element in a sandwich construction with an outer layer made of 'climate-improved' concrete, intermediate insulation, and a load-bearing inner panel made of strong, material-efficient laminated veneer lumber. According to the group, the wall module has approximately 30–50% less of a climate impact than an equivalent traditional concrete wall while also being 60% lighter.

Image credit: Heidelberg Materials Preca / Metsä Wood

To test the wall, the team constructed a home using the elements. The structure was equipped with moisture sensors to monitor the wall ...

‘Intimacy, minimalism, and immersion’ define Atelier L’Abri’s rural Canadian camping shelters

2024-02-19T14:24:00-05:00

Montreal-based Atelier L’Abri has completed an experimental camping concept project in the Canadian wilderness. Named Territoire Charlevoix, and located in a forest between La Malbaie and Baie-Saint-Paul, the scheme is described as “a series of structures that are simple, yet varied; familiar, yet unusual.”

Image credit: Raphaël Thibodeau

The various modules comprising the project include camping shelters, viewing platforms with communal kitchens, and a visitor center. The five shelters function as small, autonomous buildings offering “an intimate encounter with nature in complete comfort, both in summer and in winter.” Sitting on slender legs, the cabins were designed to fuse rusticity and modernity, with a single-slope roof to suit the natural topography of the site.

Image credit: Raphaël Thibodeau

“This bold form is reminiscent of the shape of large dormers, or old cameras,” the designers say about the shelters. “Like th...

Toronto Metropolitan University unveils plan for SCITHub, the 'world’s first fully digitally-enabled building'

2023-12-28T15:49:00-05:00

A new prototype demonstration of different burgeoning smart building technologies is coming to the campus of Toronto Metropolitan University as part of a cross-institutional effort that will result in the construction of a new 3,229-square-foot Smart Campus Integration and Testing Hub (SCITHub) designed by WZMH Architects.

The initiative has been in development since 2019, with a finalized design for the structure submitted two years later, and its construction is now fully funded through a mixture of public grants and private donations that covered the total project cost of about $6 million.

The TMU SCITHub is part of the Network of Living Campuses (NLC), which involves seven other universities across Canada. Researchers are hopeful it will serve as a kind of nexus for the various data-driven investigations into smart building tech that are happening at their respective campuses.

Image courtesy Toronto Metropolitan University

A mass timber building envelope and exterior Intellige...

IOAN’s Joshua Tree residence sets natural materials against a desert backdrop

2023-12-12T18:42:00-05:00

Los Angeles-based Industry of All Nations (IOAN) has completed a timber residence set against the backdrop of California’s Joshua Tree National Park. According to the team, the building named The Landing House “masterfully blends into the layout, textures, and color palette of its desert canvas.”

Photo credit: Ye Rin Mok

“The landscape is harsh, and it can take decades for a plant or tree to recover if displaced from its delicate ecosystem,” says Fernando Gerscovich of IAON about the project. “We were determined to minimize disruptions of the natural landscape, so our design focused on integration that wouldn’t disturb the surrounding plants and natural geography of the land.”

Photo credit: Ye Rin Mok

Responding to the many natural features across the five-acre site, which includes Joshua trees and natural boulder formations, the team adopted an approach grounded in “eco-humility,” resulting in a nine-foot-tall structure whose low profil...

Five contemporary timber homes by Wittman Estes: Your Next Employer?

2023-10-30T15:20:00-04:00

Following last week’s visit to Wyoming-based Dynia Architects, we are moving our Meet Your Next Employer series to Seattle this week to explore the work of Wittman Estes.

Founded in 2012, and spanning architecture and landscape operations, the firm operates on “the idea that buildings and landscapes can be combined into one interconnected whole.” Back in 2017, Archinect sat down with firm founders Matt Wittman and Jody Estes as part of our Studio Snapshot series, in which the duo described their firm as “part of a new movement of young Seattle practices who reject architecture as object and shape-driven form-making in favor of an architecture of experience and site connection.”

Over on Archinect Jobs, the firm is currently hiring a Drafter/Designer to join their Seattle office. For candidates interested in applying for the position, or anybody interested in learning about the firm’s output, we have rounded up five contemporary timber homes by Wittman Estes that exemplify the studio’...