Archinect - News

Google updates Thompson Center renderings before first full year of construction

2024-11-06T17:56:00-05:00

The renovation of Helmut Jahn’s fought-over Thompson Center building in Chicago for Google has provided an updated pair of renderings for the $280 million project. The update follows last December’s release of the initial images for the reimagining. Google is pledging to deliver a LEED Platinum-certified project in line with the late architect's post-modernist vision. Initial demolition work began in May and will advance over the next year towards completion in the year 2026.

Image courtesy Google and Pixelflakes

Sotheby’s taps Herzog & de Meuron and PBDW to renovate historic Breuer Building

2024-11-04T15:45:00-05:00

The opportunity to renovate one of New York City’s most important cultural buildings, Marcel Breuer’s Brutalist icon at 945 Madison Avenue, has been granted to a partnership that includes Herzog & de Meuron and PBDW Architects after Sotheby’s named the firm to the project on Monday.

H&dM's co-founder Jacques Herzog says the project will be carried out with much the same precision as the firm’s previous renovation of the Park Avenue Armory not far away in their shared Upper East Side neighborhood. Existing spaces will be adapted to meet the current business and exhibition needs, while Breuer’s "original vision" of the 58-year-old design is recuperated both within and without for both the public and private clients.

"The Breuer Building is such an amazing architectural icon of postwar modernism which we—just like all architects—have always admired. Since our early work in the 1970’s, we have always placed great importance on working with existing buildings, not only from a sustainable...

Harvard GSD completes first stage renovation of Gund Hall

2024-10-30T09:26:00-04:00

The Bruner/Cott Architects-led renovations to Gund Hall at the Harvard Graduate School of Design has concluded its first phase after work began to rehabilitate the building’s envelope at the end of the spring 2024 semester.

Both building efficiency and occupants' comfort have been improved with better insulation and an increased quality of light in most spaces as greater accessibility was made possible on the outside with the addition of new handrails and guardrails. The GSD's faculty building committee chair David N. Fixler said it was "important that the GSD project a spirit of innovation but also of legacy, of stewardship, of respect for the historic quality of [the building]."

Fixler had also previously called the project an important teaching tool for students interested in the preservation of other important mid-twentieth-century structures.

OMA and WITH Architecture Studio announce Perth Concert Hall renovation plans for 2028

2024-10-29T17:02:00-04:00

OMA has begun work on its renovation of the Perth Concert Hall in Western Australia's capital. The 51-year-old Brutalist structure, which was originally designed by Jeffrey Howlett and Donald Bailey, will undergo an over $98.5 million state-of-the-art reworking to enhance its visitor experience and public spaces. A much-needed restoration of the building's plinth will be enacted in addition to refurbished lobbies on both building levels One and Two, with a new foyer and musicians’ lounge/patrons' area added to the former.

Perth-based WITH Architecture Studio are included on the project team. The expectation is for renovations to be complete by the end of 2028.

You may remember OMA was behind a colorful design for the city's PRINCIPLES Square earlier this year.

SOM to redesign upper floors of Hancock Center in Chicago

2024-10-02T17:29:00-04:00

One of the most significant skyscraper designs in SOM’s portfolio, the John Hancock Center (now known as 875 N. Michigan Avenue) in Chicago, will be receiving an upgrade to its upper-level Signature Room, according to 360 Chicago, the group that bought the former restaurant space on the 95th and 96th floors earlier this year.

The managing director of 360 Chicago told the Chicago Sun-Times they were still in the "early stages" of planning for the project. She added: "One of the strengths of bringing on a firm like SOM is that they’re very focused on research and strategy as well. e’re deep in the planning process with them, and challenging both them and us what the best use of the space can be."

Dutch architects share details of Corbusier-inspired tiny apartment in Rotterdam

2024-09-11T14:48:00-04:00

A 74-square-foot apartment design in Rotterdam, the Netherlands’ second-largest city, has captured attention for its innovative use of space, as featured on Archinect.

Image: © Ossip van Duivenbode

The Cabanon, as its architect-owners Beatriz Ramo and Bernd Upmeyer prefer to call it, takes the 1951 vacation retreat Le Corbusier designed for himself in the Côte d'Azur as inspiration and includes a living room, sleeping pod, and tiny bathroom component with a small toilet, rain-shower, and spa.

Image: © Ossip van Duivenbode

Each of these spaces comes color-coded, an effect that counteracts the apparent cramping quality of the space. A series of built-ins are another pivotal inclusion, affording them space to store items for their guests behind a tangerine-colored wall.

Image: © Ossip van Duivenbode

Ramo and Upmeyer acquired the upper floor residual space in the upper portion of their post-war apartment building in 2013. Upmeyer is the founder of BOARD (Bureau of Architecture, Research ...

MILLIØNS pays deference to I.M. Pei with new café space for the Everson Museum

2024-08-07T15:00:00-04:00

A new café space from MILLIØNS at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York, meant to showcase a 4,000-object donation from its namesake, Louise Rosenfield, is up and running inside I.M. Pei’s 54-year-old Brutalist masterwork.

Image: Iwan Baan

The project’s commission was won after an international competition organized by Syracuse University School of Architecture dean Michael A. Speaks in 2019. Coming out of the pandemic, the institution was looking to increase public access to its collection overall while finding an appropriate use for Rosenfield's ceramics collection gift. The rare bequest stipulated it would be made available for use by visitors in a reversal of museum policy.

Image: Iwan Baan

The Los Angeles-based studio’s intervention entailed adding a pair of triple-height glass towers that double as a visible collections storage facility and display cases to the building’s East Wing Mather Court area. The incorporation of these definitive 'curatorial' elements works t...

New Jersey defunds OMA's planned Centre Pompidou x Jersey City project over high costs

2024-07-31T12:18:00-04:00

The unlikely pairing of the Centre Pompidou and the state of New Jersey that would have seen OMA remake the historic Pathside Building in Jersey City into its first American satellite appears to be over after officials determined the project to be "no longer viable" financially.

"Due to the ongoing impact of COVID and multiple global conflicts on the supply chain, rising costs, an irreconcilable operating gap, and the corresponding financial burdens it will create for New Jersey’s taxpayers, the Legislature has rescinded financial support, leaving us to determine that this project is unfortunately no longer feasible," the letter from NJ Economic Development Authority chief Tim Sullivan to Centre Pompidou president Laurent Le Bon reads. Artnet has more on the unfolding funding debacle, which centers around a question about the satellite's operational costs.

The Centre Pompidou in Paris is currently undergoing a $280.5 million overhaul led by Moreau Kusunoki with associate designer F...

Marvel's Bronx Museum of the Arts expansion breaks ground

2024-07-31T11:56:00-04:00

Marvel’s much-anticipated Bronx Museum of the Arts wing expansion has broken ground ahead of a two-year and $33 million effort. According to the firm’s LinkedIn announcement, the renovation "re-imagines the entrance, connects the circulation throughout all the galleries, and creates a unified experience that invites all users to be immersed into the spaces and the art."

Firm leader Jonathan Marvel had said its scope works to "blur the boundaries of building and sidewalk, and reach a city-wide audience" as a "new front door for the people of the Bronx" at its 2022 announcement. Marvel is also putting the finishing touches on the public esplanade portion of the new Universal Museum of Hip Hop, which opens next summer.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Bronx Museum of the Arts (@bronxmuseum)

Modernist early-70s marvel restored as training venue for green-friendly Paris Olympics

2024-07-26T15:40:00-04:00

Reuse and refurbishment will be part of the buzz surrounding this year’s Summer Olympics in Paris, and Chatillon Architectes' new renovation of the Grand Nef de l'Île-des-Vannes sports complex is getting top billing as one of the key projects contributing to a ‘green’ games.

The facility had been vacant since 2018. Chatillon sought to upgrade its energy efficiency and accessibility ratings while preserving its aesthetic and spatial qualities, which have existed since it was constructed in 1971. Today, it has an interior space of 32,300 square feet supported by a superstructure comprising two inclined concrete arches of 82 feet each.

Image: © Antoine Mercusot/Chatillon Architectes

Work included the installation of acoustic wood panels, the addition of new seating and a state-of-the-art multisport floor for athletes, LED conversion of lighting fixtures, and new HVAC systems.

Image: © Antoine Mercusot/Chatillon Architectes

The Grand Nef is now compliant with the latest code requirements...

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 ...

Mecanoo's Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen renovation moves forward in Rotterdam

2024-07-03T12:42:00-04:00

Mecanoo’s plan for a much-needed renovation of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam has been given the go-ahead by the city’s mayor and alderman for their design, which will author a "new chapter" in its 175-year history and be delivered by the end of 2029.

Aspects of the work will include creating a new entrance, improving logistics and circulation for the museum, and restoring the existing Van der Steur, Bodon, and Henket buildings, which are considered national monuments.

Rendering courtesy of Mecanoo

A modern intervention will be added to connect all three structures after the Robbrecht en Daem wing is demolished. Fire safety and sustainability will be prioritized throughout; and, finally, a new connection to the museum's Park will be made by repurposing the Henket Pavilion into a restaurant for museum visitors.

Rendering courtesy of Mecanoo

Moreau Kusunoki set for major Centre Pompidou overhaul in Paris in collaboration with Frida Escobedo

2024-06-20T18:39:00-04:00

French studio duo Moreau Kusunoki have announced their plans for the prolonged renovation of the Centre Pompidou in Paris a year after the museum announced its closure for five years in order to realize the project, whose costs are estimated at around €262 million ($280.5 million USD). The plan will come together with the help of Frida Escobedo, the project's associate designer.

As many of you who have been closely monitoring Archinect Jobs may have noticed, Frida Escobedo recently posted a job listing for a French-speaking Senior Architect. This position, likely affiliated with the Centre Pompidou renovation project, seeks an experienced professional to join her growing New York City studio. The role involves working on complex cultural projects in Europe, mirroring the responsibilities and challenges of the Pompidou overhaul.

According to the museum, the renovation is being designed to instigate a new kind of public experience while exposing its innermost recesses to the vibrancy...

MVRDV transforms 19th Century structure into new multifunctional NIO House Amsterdam HQ

2024-06-14T17:22:00-04:00

MVRDV’s remade space for the electric automaker NIO has opened in Amsterdam. The Chinese brand’s new European flagship offers just over 29,000 square feet of showrooms and other spaces carved out of a seven-story heritage structure in the Keizersgracht district that's held over from the 19th Century.

Partner Jacob van Rijs says: “The exciting challenge of this project was in unifying the history of this building with the identity of NIO, a company which in many senses is interested in offering a vision of the future. In a sense, we are confronting the same challenge that Rietveld resolved so gracefully 90 years ago. NIO House Amsterdam shows how the old and the new can provide a counterpoint for one another and ultimately enrich each other.”

Image: © Ossip van Duivenbode

The building has changed hands several times throughout its long history after originally being constructed for the New York Life Insurance Company in 1891. Special features include a second-floor “Joy Camp” childre...

Quinn Evans' remake of the iconic Michigan Central Station debuts in Detroit

2024-06-13T19:18:00-04:00

Quinn Evans Architects has shared some photos of their completed work on the newly remade Michigan Central Station in Detroit. The home of the Ford Motor Company’s 1.2-million-square-foot technology hub in the historic Corktown district re-established the 110-year-old landmark through an expedited six-year process described as a "hybrid approach" by senior associate Angela Wyrembelski.

The project is the largest central piece included in the 30-acre master plan from Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU). The building re-opened for the first time since closing in 1988 over the weekend with a star-studded musical performance and remarks from special guests like Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Integral to the design team were several native Detroiters and proud alumni of the University of Michigan's Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning (more on that here.) The project was completed at a cost of $950 million, helping the firm to be named as the AIA Architecture Firm Awa...

Theaster Gates partners with Philadelphia arts initiative on revitalization project

2024-06-04T14:29:00-04:00

Philadelphia’s Forman Arts Initiative (FAI) announced that it has bought and is developing almost a whole block in the city’s West Kensington neighbourhood as a museum and community centre—with help from the artist Theaster Gates and local architects Digsau and Ian Smith Design Group. The campus will open in stages over the next two years, starting later this summer with a public outdoor space.

Gates is also currently, among many other things, involved in a community revitalization effort for the new St. Laurence Arts Incubator in Chicago and National Museums Liverpool's waterfront development in partnership with Asif Khan.

Listen back to our Archinect Sessions podcast conversation with him here.

Real Madrid stadium renovation wrapped up

2024-06-03T14:23:00-04:00

Renovations on the home of Real Madrid, the legendary Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, have been completed by German architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners, the firm announced recently via its social media channels.

Construction photo by Miguel de Guzmán/Imagen Subliminal

The five-year, $1.91 billion project added a retractable new roof and underground greenhouse to the original design while increasing capacity by 3,000 seats (from approximately 80,000) and adding 240 new VIP suites to the upper levels. Pop star Taylor Swift unofficially inaugurated the new stadium with back-to-back concerts last week.

Construction photo by Miguel de Guzmán/Imagen Subliminal

"Our design gives form to the ideas of 'movement' and 'dynamism.' The stadium’s massing may appear at first glance to be autonomously determined — but in reality, it dances within tightly defined parameters. It wraps the stadium’s form, which has evolved over time through numer...

OMA's LANTERN renovation opens at the Little Village in Detroit

2024-05-20T13:22:00-04:00

Work on the OMA-led new LANTERN project has been completed in Detroit’s Little Village neighborhood.

The block-sized 22,300-square-foot complex serves as a new home for two local arts non-profits. Signal-Return, designed by Detroit-based M1DTW, and PASC (Progressive Arts Studio Collective) will occupy LANTERN's roughly 5,300-square-foot artist studios, art gallery, and 4,000-square-foot "creative retail" in the site's former North Building.

Photo by John D’Angelo

Photo by Jason Keen

Led by Partner Jason Long, the design is centered around a 2,000-square-foot open outdoor community space lined by galleries. The project's brief called for repurposing a former commercial bakery and warehouse that had fallen into complete disrepair. Now, looking to create a Dia:Beacon or Bergamont Station-like cultural gateway to the East Side neighborhood, OMA's team reinvigorated the structure with spaces for art production, exhibition, and community interface.

Photo by Jason Keen

A ...

Rafael Pelli and Gruen Associates push to restore father César’s masterwork San Bernardino City Hall after 52 years

2024-05-13T17:21:00-04:00

César Pelli was a rising architect when he got the job of designing a new City Hall for San Bernardino. [...] a push is on to renovate City Hall and restore it to use. The lead architect: Rafael Pelli, son of César Pelli. [...] “The idea is to preserve what’s great about it and make it better,” Pelli said of the building. “The bones of it are very good. We just need to bring it forward.”

Chief of among the estimated $60 million renovation tasks is the work of replacing the building’s over 6,000 original windows, which Rafael Pelli says will now be double pane for improved insulation against the heat. The City of San Bernardino, California, shut down operations in the building in 2017 due to seismic concerns. The design features an early version of the same glass curtain facade solution later used in the Pacific Design Center. As the San Bernardino Sun reported, a decision to finance the expected four-year restoration could come as soon as late May.

Three rural renovations by Murdough Design: Your Next Employer?

2024-05-13T12:07:00-04:00

Following our previous visit to California-based Walker Warner, we are moving our Meet Your Next Employer series to Massachusetts this week to explore the work of Murdough Design.

From their studio in Concord, the firm has built a portfolio specializing in residential and small institutional projects. “We merge practical requirements with intangible qualities distinct to each design problem,” the firm says about its design outlook. “Our approach considers relationships between landscape and architecture, space and light, material and form.”

Over on Archinect Jobs, the firm is currently hiring for an Emerging Architect / Designer to join their Concord team. For candidates interested in applying for the position, or anybody interested in learning more about the firm’s output, we have rounded up three rural renovation projects by Murdough Design that exemplify the firm’s ethos.

Reclaimed Barn. Image credit: Chuck Choi

Reclaimed Barn, Central Harbor, NH

Murdough Design led the restoratio...

Álvaro Siza completes sculptural extension to Porto monastery

2024-05-09T17:24:00-04:00

Pritzker Prize-winning architect Álvaro Siza has completed an extension to the Monastery of Leça do Balio outside Porto, Portugal.

The recently renovated monastery will now serve as the headquarters for the Livraria Lello Foundation, offering a space for “exhibitions that will champion literacy and critical thinking.”

Photo: Alexandre Delmar

Located near Siza’s hometown of Matosinhos, the scheme draws on the architect’s early childhood dreams of being a sculptor. Among the contributions by Siza to the extension is a stand-alone sculpture ‘Viandante’ which acts as a “poetic tribute to the pilgrim’s journey, offering a serene space for visitors to reflect and forge deeper connections.”

Photo: Alexandre Delmar

The extension, due to open on June 22, follows weeks after Siza's self-named Serralves Museum expansion in Porto opened to the public. The 45,000-square-foot expansion is the fifth building designed by Siza for the Serralves Foundation after the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Ar...

AIA presents plans for Global Campus for Architecture & Design at reimagined D.C. headquarters

2024-05-07T17:06:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architects has issued an update on the EHDD-led campaign to redesign its Washington, D.C., headquarters. The organization this week announced a new initiative aimed at bringing different community members together to better professional practice and advance discourse within the field.

According to the press announcement, the complex will reopen as the AIA Global Campus for Architecture & Design in 2025. The new "home base" for design professionals, students, and civic leaders in architecture aims to increase collaboration and serve the "holistic new vision" outlined by EHDD partner Rebecca Sharkey at the project's April 2022 remodel announcement. AIA EVP/CEO Lakisha Ann Woods says it will become a "place where the public can be inspired by the power of design."

Previously on Archinect: AIA announces energy-efficient redesign scheme for its Brutalist D.C. headquarters

Hartman-Cox, Hood Design Studio, and Point Energy Innovations are serving as consultants for...

Dirk Lohan proposes domed Soldier Field renovation as Bears new stadium talks take off

2024-05-06T13:01:00-04:00

A proposed redesign of Chicago’s soon-to-close Soldier Field stadium from architect Dirk Lohan gained some press recently after the Bears NFL franchise debuted Manica Architecture’s $4.7 billion design for its new lakefront home. Lohan is the architect of its modern 2003 renovation (in association with Wood & Zapata), a project that ultimately cost Soldier Field its landmark status. He says the design alternative is at once cheaper and more sustainable than the current proposal that’s been targeted by critics but still backed by team owners and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Image: Lohan Architecture via LinkedIn

The proposed plan calls for a lightweight domed roof to be constructed over the structure, with 20,000 new seats added underneath and upheld by cables connecting to four exterior columns. Lohan, who also designed the master plan for the surrounding Museum Campus, says it "remains] true to the values reflected in the Burnham and Bennett Plans and the Chicago Lakefront Ordinan...

Chicago's Thompson Center begins demolition ahead of $280 million Google takeover

2024-05-03T17:12:00-04:00

NBC Chicago is reporting on the start of planned demolition work for the Thompson Center in advance of a $280 million makeover that will turn the famed Helmut Jahn-designed building into a new office space for Google for 2026. Work will cover the exterior glass curtain facade and interior atrium. The 39-year-old former state office building had become a $17 million-a-year liability for Governor JB Pritzker before the property was offloaded for $105 million in July of 2022.

“These types of improvements take several years to complete; we’re excited about what this project symbolizes for the greater Chicago community and will share more about our plans in the future,” Karen Sauder, Google's Chicago Site Lead, said in a December update.

Jean Dubuffet's 29-foot 'Monument with Standing Beast' sculpture is also being evacuated to the Art Institute of Chicago.

SO – IL and OSD to overhaul Detroit marina for new waterfront district

2024-04-30T11:45:00-04:00

SO – IL and OSD have designed a new waterfront district for Detroit’s Little Village. The marina overhaul, named Stanton Yards, will see the existing storage and service-based site transformed into a 13-acre cultural destination with 80,000 square feet of commercial and creative space, 85 boat slips, and waterfront parks.

Image credit: bloomimages

SO – IL will lead the adaptive reuse of four existing pre-war industrial buildings, which historically housed a former theater, marina showrooms, service ships, and a navy shipyard used during World War II. Select demolition and the addition of “unifying elements and upgrades to accessibility” will create a campus for arts organizations, retail, artist studios, and hospitality.

Image credit: bloomimages

“The ethos that 'new ideas must use old buildings' guides our transformation of Stanton Yards into a thriving, multifaceted community,” said Florian Idenburg, Co-founding Principal of SO – IL, about the scheme. “Our design ingrains four histo...

Chicago O’Hare $300 million airport terminal renovation breaks ground

2024-04-25T12:03:00-04:00

Construction has begun on a $300 million renovation of Chicago O’Hare International Airport’s Terminal 3. The upgrades are expected to take three years and will overhaul the terminal’s infrastructure from security checkpoints to baggage claim, as well as adding amenities and improving accessibility.

Named ElevateT3, the project will include the reconfiguration of two TSA checkpoints into a single screening area, an expanded passenger corridor between concourses K and L, and the development of approximately 10,000 square feet of new concessions and amenity spaces. The terminal’s interior and exterior are also to be renovated to improve overall energy efficiency.

Previously on Archinect: FAA gives the final go-ahead to multibillion-dollar Chicago O'Hare expansion. Image render courtesy of Studio ORD.

Construction of the new terminal is expected to be completed by the summer of 2027 and will take a phased approach to allow continuous operations throughout Terminal 3 during construction....

Montrealers ask: What to do with the Olympic Stadium?

2024-03-28T13:45:00-04:00

But nostalgia rarely makes for good decision making. Keep the tower and repurpose it as a tourist destination. With the money saved, we can erect a better stadium serving the city’s current and future needs. Not all landmarks are sacred. When fire consumed the Notre-Dame cathedral, they raced to replace the roof; Montreal’s Olympic Stadium is not Notre-Dame.

Quebecers face a vexing choice: Keep the stadium or pursue an even costlier demolition that would erase the landmark, which late architect Roger Taillibert called a “poem in concrete,” owing to its location over two underground metro stations. The new, $870 million replacement roof that is being made transparent to let in natural light for the first time won't be completed by 2028. (The original Kevlar roof partially collapsed in 1999 and has suffered several smaller tears since being constructed in the late-1980s.)

Montreal has been floated as a potential location for a new MLB expansion franchise for the past few years. Our preview of the new BIG and HNTB-designed home of the relocating Oakland A's franchise in Las Vegas (another city that was on the league's expansion list) can be found here.

RIBA announces 'once-in-a-generation' House of Architecture investment plan with new $107 million price tag

2024-03-25T19:45:00-04:00

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has provided an outline to overhaul its 66 Portland Place London headquarters into a “once-in-a-generation” home of the new House of Architecture initiative.

For a reported cost of £85 million ($107.4 million USD), the project from Benedetti Architects will restore the building while creating a new centralized space for its world-leading Collections archive. The initiative was originally announced with a budget of £20 million (around $25 million USD). RIBA says the new figure "includes all project costs such as contingencies, inflation, and fees" for the renovations, whose plan of work required an additional £58.8 million ($74.3 million USD) in outturn costs.

"House of Architecture is about unlocking and opening RIBA to make it — and everything it offers — far more accessible. The proposed investment in our collections, upgrades to our digital platform, and improvements to our landmark building at 66 Portland Place are vital," said ...

Zaha Hadid Architects will refurbish Le Schuylkill Tower in Monaco

2024-03-12T12:15:00-04:00

The next new project from Zaha Hadid Architects will renovate major elements of the historic Le Schuylkill Tower in Monaco.

Built as the principality’s first high-rise in 1963, the aging 25-story residential tower overlooks the Mediterranean and Monte Carlo’s Port Hercule and boasts 188 apartment units in its present layout.

Image courtesy MIR

Joined by Square Architecte, ZHA will embark on a renovation that will result in a brand new 441,320-square-foot space in May of 2027. The operation will add six total penthouses made from low-carbon (XCarb) steel to the three uppermost floors while reconfiguring the interior and balconies without any alteration to the building footprint, as well as reducing whole-life carbon emissions through a BD2M accreditated design.

Image render courtesy Talcik Demovicova

Other environmental considerations include grey and rainwater recycling, improving the building’s envelope performance, and an on-site waste management system.

The new building will also...

OMA overhauls 1970s modernist building for Singapore cooking club and campus

2024-03-06T10:47:00-05:00

OMA has completed the AIR CIrcular Campus and Cooking Club in Dempsey Hill, Singapore. The scheme saw the overhaul of an existing modernist building and surrounding green space into what the team calls “a place for novel dining experiences, inviting broader thinking and discussions about food and the environment.”

Image credit: Kris Provoost

Designed in collaboration with entrepreneur Ronald Akili, and chefs Matt Orlando of Amass and Will Goldfarb of Room4Dessert, the scheme includes open kitchens, research space, and a cooking school for visitors.

Image credit: Kris Provoost

“It has been an inspiring journey to join Ronald, Will, and Matt on this platform to address the topic of sustainable hospitality from different perspectives,” said OMA managing partner David Gianotten about the project. “We are convinced that architecture and design can maximize impact through active engagement with different disciplines.”

Image credit: Kris ...