Bogle Architects, a highly creative group of individuals sharing a common desire to design and build progressive, imaginative and innovative architecture, has transformed a corner site building at the junction of Fenchurch St and Cullum St, in the heart of the City of London. The client, aik, required a distinctive intervention that would announce the building and increase its visibility from Fenchurch St, as well as the rationalisation and full refurbishment of the 1st, 2nd and 6th floors, to create 11.700 sqft of class 'A' office space. The project's 'signature' element is the dramatic, multi-faceted 'feature' wall. Precision engineered, the refined geometry of the new wall is achieved using interlinked highly polished stainless steel convex panels, extending from the lobby interior through the glazed facade to wrap around the building's street façade.

Holm Bethge, Project Director of Bogle Architects, comments: "The inspiration for the use of stainless steel came from the neighbouring Lloyd's of London building, as well as the sophisticated quality of the classic Rolex watch-strap. The returns of each polished curved sheet are treated in a contrasting hand finished texture, creating additional depth and interest." RezaKeschawarz, Director of aik, states: "Bogle Architects' innovative approach and creative flair has delivered a re-energised building with a dynamic entrance and successfully rationalised office accommodation. The scheme's distinctive, elegant design has created a highly successful professional working environment."


The wall's finely detailed design was custom made by Marzorati Ronchetti, leading Italian manufacturer of specialist metalwork, whose international portfolio includes Louis Vuitton's Milan showroom, the lobby area for 30 St Mary Axe in London and a spectacular exhibition installation at MoMA in New York.

Team
Architect:	Bogle Architects
Client:	aikImmobilien –Kapitalanlagegesellschaft
Specialist metalwork:	Marzorati Ronchetti srl
Project Manager:	Jones Lang LaSalle
Services:	FM Focus
QS:	Bigham Anderson Partnership
CDM Co-ordinator:	Leslie Clark Construction Consultants

John Roake, Marzorati Ronchetti's UK representative, adds: "Our creative collaboration with Bogle Architects has been an exciting creative process. The resulting design is an intricate matrix of convex shapes, producing a deliberate kaleidoscopic fracturing of the streetscape."


The reconfiguration of the entrance and lobby area involved the realignment of the lobby façade with the main building envelope, using frameless glazing to create a seamless connection between the reception area and the street beyond. The coherence of the design is further enhanced by a new floating canopy and the introduction of a large, acid-etched steel reception desk. The project also includes new steel gates to the rear of the building, featuring a punched design that reinterprets the geometry of the lobby's distinctive feature wall, a visual reference that successfully reinforces Bogle Architects' coherent re-imaging of the entire building.

The wider brief also involved stripping out three floors of office space, introducing a simpler and more rational ceiling grid, together with new lighting, updated servicing and redesigned lifts and WCs.

Project:	Undulating Living
Client Name:	Asha/Suresh Gupta
Architects:	Studio Symbiosis
Principal Architect's:	Amit Gupta and Britta Knobel Gupta
Project Team:	M. Shaique Uddin, Rishi Sapra, Mayank Ojha
Start & Completion date:	April to June 2012

Delhi-based multi-disciplinary architectural practice Studio Symbiosis has designed an interior project called 'Undulated Living' for a private residence in Delhi-NCR. This bespoke design of living space got shortlisted recently in an international 'LEAF AWARD' as the best interior project.

The brief was to transform the existing space into an interactive dynamic space that would be used as a family lounge as well as for guests.


The design proposal looks at analyzing the movement patterns and thereby designing two islands in the space. Geometrically, they are carved out of each other, maintaining the design coherence. One island focuses on seating whereas the other focuses on creating a wall paneling system that extends and integrates into the sitting as well.

Feature wall inculcates the design language of the room. Free flowing curves have been used which transform from shelving systems to seating to a wall pattern and also encases LED lights to give a soft mood lighting to the space.


The sofas, tables, wall systems were designed as bespoke elements specifically for this space and to create a unique compact design not governed by existing modular sizes available. The carpet was also custom made.




Complete Sustainability was achieved due to the chosen design principles of low-impact materials, energy efficiency and renewability of the materials. Locally available materials were used. The production and choice of materials was governed by this principal and it was ensured that material available within 5 km distance were used to cut down the transportation distance. Also the production process took place on site itself using energy efficient processes.


Use of locally available materials and techniques ensured in keeping the cost of project economical. Wooden ribs were designed for the sofas to create the framework for them which were filled in with foam and finished by hand stitched upholstery.


The color scheme of the room has been kept as white and gold. A play of textures is evident in the space in these two colors itself.

At a Glance
Project Name:	The Plus House
Location:	Panipat, Haryana
Client:	Payal & Vinod Juneja
Design Team:	Studio An-V-Thot Architects Pvt. Ltd.
Photo Credits:	Saptorshi Majumdar
Completion Date:	March 2014
Built-up Area:	3650 sq.ft.

Located in Panipat, Haryana, 'The Plus House' is designed by Studio AVT for the client who had a very keen desire to have a house 'mix of both contemporary as well as traditional design concept and elements'.

With a built-up area of 3650 sqft., the project was perceived as a creation of rectangles within a square, which clearly took to benefitting proportions during the planning. This was the answer to a rather questionable site which sat on an almost square plot of 55' x 58', thus generating a challenge as well as curiosity to achieve a depth of travel and sight.



Beginning with facade, the complete 25' high structure can be seen as volumes and voids sharing spaces, overlapping and inter-changing their behavior as well as presence. The vertical edge of the corner is sliced open in a tapered hugging manner with MS pergola on the roof level adding the play of shadows and light. Insertion of MS jali is eminent at various places. Use of sober Orange textured paint balances its harmony through the cladding of Dholpur stone onto the left tower. Compressed laminate sheets in exposed wooden grains add to the material palette. Altogether the volumes and voids forming the face of the house are a result of interior space planning and layout.


The interiors of the house can be seen as a mix of modern as well as traditional aspects of design evolving as the contemporary India. The circulation pattern gives rise to a dramatic story within and beyond, untold everyday of existence. The whole house catering to a small family of four revolves around and about a dense green focal point; the impact of the so created courtyard can be felt from the entrance as well as the private areas of the house. Here, the "plus" is actually two axes which generated 4 rectangles within a square that goes from end to end of the plot. This in turn leads to a comfortable travel of air and natural light throughout the house.

The courtyard has a sunken pebble bed with glass top, which acts as a stage hosting the court. Italian stone "Diana" has been used throughout the flooring with its grains leading to the court. Wooden flooring is also used at places to add warmth. A lot of sit-outs have been planned & placed at various intervals within the house to add storey. Extensive use of jali can be seen as partitions which are then repeated in furniture as well. The ceiling of the lobby leading to the court is finished with veneer backed by commercial board which follows through the glimpses of backlit onyx stone in Puja, sea green lacquered glass in Kitchen, as well as a wall of wallpaper in the Dining. Traditional inserts can be seen in the rear door leading to the backyard which overlooks the coffee corner through the double height where the "Palm" reaches its footstep. The backyard hosts a small shower pool adjoining the garden.




A small bar sits as a vertical extension to the drawing room at the mezzanine level with a small pantry, a washroom & a private balcony. This area is enclosed with a lot of backlit onyx stone, white PU pigment paint & dark veneer where green fabric on the furniture adds youthfulness. The master bedroom & the children's bedroom are designed to evolve as two characters with former being warm & the latter being young. The master bedroom has a play of browns and off-whites added by Victorian wallpaper & neo-Victorian wall lights as well as a chandelier. The raised study in the children's room has a glossy pigment paint with pastel green laminate adding to the blue & white pin-up board. The same color palette is repeated on the rug and curtains.


A plenty of hanging lights and custom-designed ceiling lights have been used throughout the house adding glamour and warmth. The threshold between the ground and the first floor has a four paneled false wall water-painted with a splash of multiple colors by the designers themselves. Altogether it's a house with spaces of varying identities yet similar character.

Turbhe Railway Station, designed by Hafeez Contractor and conceptualised with a gigantic arch roof, is the new Gateway for the grand entry into the city of Navi Mumbai.


As part of City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra's (CIDCO) vision to establish a modernistic image of Navi Mumbai, some of Mumbai's renowned architects were invited to design its railway stations at Turbhe. The project was awarded to Architect Hafeez Contractor and the intent that inspired the design was his principal objectives to ensure a railway station that would become a "New Civic Symbol" and the fact that railway stations are 'Gateways into a City'. So, the crucial element of a gigantic arch roof was conceptualised to symbolise an entryway into the city.



Turbhe is the fifth railway station on the Thane-Turbhe- Vashi/Nerul Rail Corridor, a 23-km-long corridor connecting Thane with Navi Mumbai. It is at a distance of 15 km from Thane railway station and 3 km from Vashi railway station. Like other stations on this corridor, Turbhe has double discharge facilities on all tracks with a width of 12 m for island platforms and 8 m for end platforms.


Turbhe, by virtue of its location at the crossroads of the Sion-Panvel and the Thane-Belapur highways and its close proximity to the MIDC industrial area and the agricultural market in Vashi, has become one of the significant railway stations on the Thane-Dharave line. The Turbhe station also caters to 4 tracks on both the Thane-Vashi-Uran and the Kalwa-Dharave corridors and serves the populace in and around Turbhe and Sanpada.


The station occupies a total length of 65.4 m x 27 m, across the five platforms and the tracks. The station spread over an area of 15,000 sq m has a parking capacity for 175 cars and 250 bikes. The main parking area is at the northern corner of the site as a multi-level car park. Three subways – two for the commuters and one for the general public– are planned to discharge the crowd onto a pedestrian promenade. Further, a pedestrian underpass is introduced at the northern end to cater to traffic from the MIDC area to the nodal side. The ticketing counters are positioned at the centre of the station for convenience.


The station stands apart because of its massive 84-m roof with a semi circular shape. An innovative ribbed arch roof design spans across all platforms and its sheer size and magnitude makes an imposing assertion. Large strip skylights, integrated with the structural system, establish light-filled platform spaces. Finally, in terms of image, the station imposes itself as contemporary and progressive. The most visual manifestation of this ultra-modern language is the usage of contemporary materials. Resilient galvalume sheets made of aluminum and zinc are used for the roof. The roof is distinctive because of the clips that have been used for fixing joints instead of drilling.

The architecture of software development block 'Infosys building in Mysore' is known for its jagged facades and lopsided fragments style. Thoughtfully designed by Ar. Hafeez Contractor, the unique design concept for this building came to the architect's mind when he visited the site for the first time which is situated on a tremendously contoured site in Mysore.


According to the architect, "The design inspiration came from the rugged profile of the landscape and then I decided on instituting a concept that would echo the spirit of the site." The Japanese traditional concept of Origami (an art of folding paper) struck the architect when he saw the length of the building going unexpectedly long. He noticed that the concept blended very well with the profile of the site and then he decided to implement the principles of this traditional art. Also his ideology while designing was that – the building should stand out as an interface of imagination of the software developers working for Infosys.


Moreover, the aesthetic has also been acquired with the use of contemporary building material 'Glass' which according to Ar. Hafeez Contractor is surely the material of the future. The architect made generous use of glass, which adds to the exquisiteness of the structure. The ceramic frit on the glass acts as a shading device without interrupting the view from inside. The frit pattern looks dynamic and appears to vary in designs. The architect says, "The intelligent use of glass in the buildings enhances its utility factor."

Originally, the building had an almost rectilinear form with a few jagged edges in the vertical plane. Later it progressed into its present form, which has the signs of distorted contours in all the three dimensions. These protruding jagged planes form abstract compositions with fractured geometry. The facade is in essence moving in and out in various angles and inclines giving rise to the distorted form.


The base of the building moves along indistinct lines, which augments the distorted nature of the structure. The 5-storey structure houses 2,500 professionals. The typical open plan interior layout has rectilinear profiles whilst featuring skewed atrium pockets in several edges. The atrium creates an array of experiences by following the changing form of the outer skin. Its subtle skew becomes incredibly pronounced at certain levels when the outer skin moves in more zealously. The jagged profile of the building echoes the rugged contours of the site.


Precisely, the architect's magical design concept and smart selection of innovative building materials have perfectly transformed the project into an awe-inspiring place for the software developers to work in.

The New Delhi satellite city of Gurgaon is the center of a rapidly expanding metropolitan area that has seen significant commercial development, which has outpaced progress on infrastructure and municipal support structures. Finding inspiration from a city still struggling to define its own urban context was a key challenge for Suman Sorg, who was tasked with designing Skyon, the large-scale, multifamily residential project. For this commission, Suman understood that controlled density could provide the opportunity for communities to flourish and breathe life into the commercial and urban explosion of the past two decades.


Skyon is a 22-acre sustainable residential development composed of five buildings 9- to 13-storey and one 40-storey iconic tower, all organized around a community green space. The slender and elegant residential tower that anchors the site's western edge is a composition of four stacked units radiating from a rectangular core. The organization of the tower plan is akin to a pinwheel and is based on the design of the Hindu symbol for good luck. This simple geometry enables each unit to have unobstructed views in three directions.

Balconies are modulated on the façade to create an undulating origami that provides visual interest and movement to the elevation as well as optimal sun-shading. This generous use of balconies, which rhythmically shifts from floor to floor, echoes the tower form, creating a dynamic visual foundation upon which the contrasting forms of the slender tower and clubhouse are enhanced.

At the center of the communal green is the clubhouse, which is conceived as a low-lying pavilion, partially sunken and belonging more to the landscape than to its neighboring buildings. The minimal, sculptural form of the clubhouse is central to the design of this urban oasis that is intended to impart human scale and organization to an otherwise cacophonous environment.

Serving as the flagship for a new 300-acre township outside New Delhi, India, the Grand Arch mixed-use development features over 900 residential units in both high- and mid-rise buildings. Planned to utilize a modern take on the Mughal garden, the Grand Arch is located on a 30-acre site at the terminus of the Delhi Metro in Gurgaon. The project includes a central community, cultural and recreation facility, educational building, and affordable housing. Drawn from the impressive arches framing timeless architectural works, such as the Taj Mahal, Sorg Architects' design infuses monumental inspiration with modern minimalist design to define a new perspective in the current building boom and provide contemporary housing for India's newly formed upwardly mobile classes.


Utilizing vernacular and technological sustainability strategies, the Grand Arch is a sustainable development from the unit to the community level. Units feature double-glazed windows to prevent heat gain and loss, along with energy conserving air conditioning systems. The development also includes solar water heating systems, solar lighting systems, and sun-shading throughout. Water conservation is achieved through efficient and low-flow plumbing systems and rain water collection and reuse. A dedicated wastewater treatment plant utilizes state-of-the-art efficient membrane technology for purification and recycling.

The Grand Arch serves as a benchmark for design and quality in its North Indian market and has set the standard for initial sales. The project is nearing completion, and construction will conclude by this year end.

Project at a Glance
Project	: Auditorium
Location	: Airoli, Navi Mumbai
Client	: NMMC
Architecture & Acoustics	: THE FIRM
Structural Consultant	: SACPL
Fire Fighting and Plumbing Consultant	: Litrum Consultant Pvt.Ltd
Electrical Consultant	: Aayush Engineers
HVAC Consultant	: Saini Engineering & Consultancy
IBMS, Audio - Video,Access Control,	: CITRIOTECH
Stage Lighting
Contractors	: Mahavir Roads and Infrastructure Pvt Ltd
Commencement	: JULY, 2014

Navi Mumbai based practice - THE FIRM - has designed a multi-functional auditorium for the community of Airoli which, like all their other designs, exercises its committed philosophy to sustainable architecture. The architects have surpassed the brief with a selection of spacious and rigorously designed spaces that offer the community superior facilities. This 860-seater project includes integral sustainable design solutions that have been considered holistically to ensure that the building performs at maximum efficiency.

Design Concepts

The auditorium has been designed as a 'shell within a shell' to provide an insulative layer between the interior and exterior. The function of the peripheral space is twofold: it provides a sound buffer from outside noise, increasing the quality of acoustics within the auditorium and it provides a thermal insulation layer between the interior and exterior, reducing the air-conditioning loads and increasing the building energy efficiency.



The building design responds to the solar orientation and capitalizes on it to conserve energy. The foyer and lobbies are situated on the south side with a floor to ceiling glazed facade so that they receive maximum natural light and there is reduced reliance on electrical lighting. The facade design has a prominent slant to afford shade to the foyer to reduce the heat ingress caused by solar gain which is complemented by an overhanging roof to amplify the effect. The large glazed facade is un-characteristic of a building with such a function but the architects decided that since it was a multi-functional building for the community it was necessary to have an open and inviting entrance, thus re-defining the typology.

Programme Elements

The programme of the building includes two primary groups of spaces - backstage and front of house. The two different programme spaces have been designed with different characteristics to refer to their function and user groups. The front of house has been designed with the auditorium guests in mind and therefore has attractive and ambient spaces that offer occasion to socialize. The asymmetry of the foyer draws attention to the spaces created and highlights playfulness in the architecture that reflects the informal activities that occur within. The internal balconies offer spill over spaces from the auditorium that overlook the entrance foyer. These inter-spatial links create a hive of excitement pre and post show because of the open and collective atmosphere. The backstage rooms have been designed with functionality and performers in mind, these rooms are efficiently arranged to reduce circulation interference and provide necessary private access routes for stage support and performers.

The auditorium itself is designed with acoustics as a top priority. The design of the walls and ceiling is angular to deflect the sound waves in different directions so that there is no interference and the sound quality is high in all areas of the audience. The architects have specified acoustic wood panels for their resonant properties that allow voices to be amplified to the rear seats. The shape of the auditorium also encourages the sound to amplify to the rear seats thus ensuring that all members of the audience receive superior sound quality. The auditorium has been designed as a multi-functional space that can be acoustically modified depending on the performance. For performances with electrically amplified acoustics, that do not require resonance from the walls, dampening curtains can be drawn to adjust the space suitably.

The foyer is a multi-functional space that not only offers an impressive and atmospheric entrance to the auditorium but also provides an outstanding space to hold exhibitions. The second floor houses a unitary programme of smaller rooms that can either be hired out for individual functions or can support the auditorium.

Sustainable Design

As is the architects philosophy on any project, 'sustainability is integral to the design'. Additional to the insulative 'shell within a shell' and the solar oriented south facade, the building design also has other sustainable elements. The roof of the building has been designed with a multi-layered aluminum finish metal roofing that is lightweight and provides better insulation properties, which gives it excellent sustainability credentials. A photo-voltaic array is planned for the roof installation which will deliver green power to the building and all lights will be high efficiency LEDs to reduce power demand. Specialized VFDs are specified for water-cooled chillers for air-conditioning, all secondary pumps, AHUs and motors respectively. The architects have also specified AAC (autoclaved aerated concrete) blocks which offer very good insulation and use fly ash in the composition which is a recycled by product of coal combustion plants.


THE FIRM have designed a meticulously high quality auditorium that offers a selection of facilities to benefit the local community in Navi Mumbai. The building comes with a low impact on the environment as a result of THE FIRM's commitment to superior environmental design. The architects hope that they will have an influence in improving the locality and community of Airoli whilst simultaneously positively effecting the wider environment.

Ar. Yagnesh Ghorecha: "Tensile structures allow the best combination of breeze, perfect balance of light quality and shade"

Diu at the district of Daman, got a 21 Kilometer Long coastline. It was one of the first places where the Portuguese landed in the 15th century in India. The Portuguese Colonial style is still visible these days at the former 400 years long colony. Not too far away from Diu one of the most beautiful and coziest beaches of India is located. Right at this place a hotel called Kostamar Beach Resort was built.


The architectural challenge of this building was to find a form language which was pleasing the expectations of locals, tourists and it had to be in correlation with the colonial style of Diu. Yagnesh Ghorecha a responsible architect describes his solution as follows: "...the Architecture relied heavily on the site specific influences. It was necessary to strategize experiential methodologies and develop a dynamic solution to a site situated within a striking distance of the beautiful Nagoa Beach."

Project	: Kostamar Beach Resort
Material Used	: Valmex® FR 700
Quantity	: 400 m²
Architect	: Yagnesh Ghorecha
Manufacturer	: Schafbock Design + Workshop
Date of Completion	: Octobre 2013
City	: Diu, Nagao Beach
Country	: India

The "Hokka" tree is the dynamic solution for the sun protection of the top roof terrace, which is one of the most highly visible elements of the Kostamar Beach Resort. These trees are forming large impressive branches with small crowns. This natural role model is taken for the design of the sun protection. Apart from reminding on this tree, which is nearly a landmark of this region, the intention was "to reintermediate vertical corridors on the terrace at the same time developing an unhindered view of the Beach. Sitting between the "Hokka palms" this site being open at eye level allows an all-encompassed view of the ocean and the site, but at the same time provides respite from the harsh summer sun. The corridors are left open so that there is a variation of direct sunlight and shade and at the same time offer respite to specific areas."


The architect has selected Mehler VALMEX® FR 700 for this project and the installation of the tensile construction just took 10 Days though the construction site was very close to the beach. As the building company stated, the constant wind was the biggest challenge for them. However the installation process was so quick, regarding that the complete Valmex FR 700 textiles had been pre produced by Schafbock Design + Workshop. This took 45 days while the rest of the construction work was not disturbed during this period.


VALMEX® FR 700 is the ideal material for weather protection and leisure applications. The high tensile strength and the relative low weight support fast installations and dismantling of tents.

The special surface finish Mehatop F1 comes with a nano-TiO2 base primer, which provides excellent whiteness and cleaning properties, the fabric is UV resistant, and the finish protects the fabric against fungus and bacterial growth. The material is low maintenance and maintains a good appearance over a long period.

VALMEX® FR 700 possesses outstanding characteristics such as.

• flame resistant
• fungicide finish
• high tear-out force and continued tear-out force
• well weldable
• good UV resistance
• high water pressure resistance
• very low-maintenance

Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University – East Campus New Delhi

The Govt. of NCT of Delhi established its first university with the name Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University in 1998. It is a teaching and affiliating university with the explicit objective of facilitating and promoting "studies, research and extension work in emerging areas of higher education. The university has been graded 'A' by NAAC and is committed to providing professional education with greater thrust on creativity, innovation, continuous change and motivating environment for knowledge creation and dissemination through its effective quality management system.

In 2000-2001, the university planned to expand its Dwarka East campus infrastructure and therefore organized competition for the same. Many well known names from the architectural and civil engineering fraternity took part into this design competition including Delhi-based Developments consultant who was selected by the jury. Being the leading force in the field of architectural and civil engineering consultancy and project execution, Developments consultant believes not only in using green building materials and solutions in their projects but also emphasizes on using energy efficient and solar products.

Bioclimatic Passive Architecture

The design consultancy proposed Bioclimatic Passive Architecture in order to minimize the energy needs of the building and to create a more comfortable environment adapted to the lifestyles of the inhabitants. Moreover, special attention is paid to respect the existing landscape and integrate the building within it. Some of the salient features of the project include:

Integrated Design Process…

Building a green building is not just a matter of assembling a collection of the latest green technologies or materials. Rather, it is a process in which every element of the design is first optimized and then the impact and interrelationship of various different elements and systems within the building and site are re-evaluated, integrated, and optimized as part of a whole building solution.

Net Zero Energy Building (NZEB)

• Building will have to produce surplus energy over the year; will be called energy plus building.
• Zero energy buildings will reduce significant energy use and green house emission for life of building.
• NZEB vision in building industry is becoming necessary as they take away 70% of electricity.
• European Union has issued a NZEB mandate, which says all residential + commercial buildings should be net zero by 2018.
• State of California has a similar mandate of 2020 for residential and 2030 for commercial buildings.

At a glance
18.75 Acre Campus for University School of Architecture / Planning, & School Of Design.
• Total plot area	- (75900 sqm)
• Total built-up area	- 79522 sqm
	2 basement + Gr. + 8 Floors
• Covered parking in basement	- 210 cars
Multi level parking block	- 240 cars
Total covered parking	- 450 cars
• Campus for 1500 students with hostel facility for both girls / boys.
• Centralized A/C auditorium for 650 persons with seminar / exhibition halls.
• Indoor sports hall for 300 spectators.
• Centralized library / computer center with chilled beam air conditioning system.
• Semi covered amphitheater for 500 students.
• Sports fields
• Total cost of project	- Rs. 280cr.
• Average cost per sqm	- Rs. 35000

Other Sustainable Features

• India's first Net Zero Energy campus with passive solar building design.
• The proposed campus has been desiged to achieve GRIHA 5 star rating.
• High performance building envelop is proposed in architectural design of the campus which includes good thermal resistance walls, roofs and glazing allowing sufficient and indirect sunlight. More than 64% of the regularly occupied/ living area of the proposed campus would achieve required/ sufficient daylight as per GRIHA.
• Native landscaping is proposed to lower water consumption.
• Annual potable water consumption of the campus would be minimized by more than 50% by reusing treated waste water and efficient flow plumbing fixtures as compared to conventional.
• More than 50% of hard paved areas would be shaded by vegetation.
• The proposed campus would be in compliance with Energy Conservation Building Code Mandatory Guidelines.
• Air, water pollution & soil erosion preventive measures would be followed in compliance with National Building Code on site during construction to cause minimum disturbance.
• Campus enjoys cooling by Earth Air Tunnel System.
• Intensive stepped Terrace Gardens on each floor.
• Buildings submerged to create comfortable spaces.
• Sunken courtyards used for natural light/ ventilation.
• Installed 2000 KW solar power system making a net zero energy campus.
• More than 70% of hot water demand in residential areas will be through solar water heaters.
• Proper waste segregation, collection and treatment system would be followed on site to minimize burden on waste dumping stations.
• EARTH AIR Tunnel SYSTEM would provide thermal comfort to inhabitants and there-by lower the electricity consumption as well.
• Not only campus designing, construction but running building operation and maintenance accounts would be audited to perform like a green building.

The project details have been worked out and plans got approval from all local bodies. It is reported that the foundation laying ceremony will be laid shortly.

Concept

This high tech expressionist Silver-rated, Green building has been designed by Oscars & Ponni Architects of Chennai for the Tecpro Systems for their corporate office, IT Division and the Engineering division. The design concept was developed in response to the client's requirements for the creation of a world class new architectural expression that symbolized the importance of communications between the various departments of the organization and to give a strong Iconic Image.

Function and Innovative Design

This is an eight story building, spread over 140,000 square feet, with basement being designed for engineering services and parking. The arrival lobby is in the stilt area, the remaining area has been planned for stilt parking. All the floors above have been aesthetically designed for all the different departments of the Tecpro Systems. Vaastu has been planned for designing the building as well as the interior spaces. The office core with the lifts and the staircases are planned in the centre of the building. There is a dedicated lift for the Managing Director of the company. The top floor has been planned for the staff cafeteria and the staff dining which is very well landscaped.

The entire façade is cladded with Saint Gobain low e - glass and the entry façade has a cylindrical glass drum form which has been slashed to have a cutting edge engineering effect. This slashed drum gives visual excitement for the entire Tecpro Tower with the use of the titanium glass and frosted glass. The entire tower looks very crisp and has a dramatic high tech image that compliments the flush reflective glass and the smooth polished granite on the stilt floor of the building.



The interior of the building plays a large role in the employees' lives because they often work for long hours in their offices. Accordingly, the environment has to be experiential, colourful, and should provide the staff with the feeling of being at home in their space. So, the design of the interior and the exterior space was designed as a living space, and it emphasised this quality at every workstation.

Materials, Technology and Detailing

The top of the drum has an exquisite pergola like a Tiara. The top facade has beautiful pergolas. The entire glass façade of the building has innovative horizontal and vertical glass fins to give varying rhythms and rhythm of strong vertical proportions onto the horizontal building and to break the monotony of the blue titanium glass.

Focal Feature

The Managerial and top management cabins have been planned on the perimeter of the building where they can get the panoramic views for the Siruseri SEZ. The entire Tecpro Corporate Office has been planned keeping the green building norms for adequate day lighting, water recycling and energy conservation. The low- E glass has been used for the optimum level of day lighting.

Photos: Developer and Owner: "The GPT Group" 30,000 square metres of ipasol neutral solar control glass protect the offices of the new skyscraper in Brisbane from overheating but provide high transparency.

With organic design behind a highly transparent structural glazing façade, the skyscraper "One One One Eagle Street" in the heart of Brisbane is a true iconic landmark which set up new benchmarks in innovation, quality and sustainability.

At a height of 195 m, it is the tallest office building in the city and stands at an exclusive location in the central business district. With 6 star Green Star office design rating, the building embraces global best practice in sustainable design and pushed the boundaries of the built form in its design, aesthetics and construction.

Designed by architect Cox Rayner in partnership with engineers Arup, the tower's design is inspired by nature. The steel construction, which is visible from the outside, is based on the interwoven appearance of a fig tree trunk. Arup who was responsible for the structural, civil, façade and fire engineering of the spectacular new building, developed innovative structural design which incorporates an organic structural frame, offset core and fully glazed façade to maximize views of the Brisbane River.

Brisbane, capital of the state of Queensland, is an expanding business metropolis on the north-east coast of Australia, characterized by its subtropical climate. With average daily maximum temperatures of more than 25°C and high humidity, Brisbane is a paradise for water sports and is also the home of large-leaved fig trees. With their overhanging branches they provide pleasant shade in the city centre. This inspired the architects when they were designing "One One One Eagle Street." The interwoven steel construction can be seen through the particularly colourneutral ipasol all-glass façade. It is based on the appearance of the fig trees. At night 52,000 veins of LEDs mounted on the steelwork light up the building. They bathe the glass façade in a pulsating light that gives the impression of leaves moving in the crown of a fig tree.

Credits board
Project	: One One One Eagle Street, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Developer and Owner	: The GPT Group
Architect	: Cox Rayner Architects, Brisbane
Structural Engineer	: ARUP
Glass products	: ipasol neutral
Glass processor	: AGC Interpane

It is not only the design that is innovative; the building has also received awards for sustainability. The 30,000 square metres of ipasol neutral solar control glass from AGC Interpane make a major contribution to the good CO2 balance: the glass allows plenty of daylight to enter the building but reduces overheating of the offices by the intensive solar irradiation that is present throughout the year – which sinks the air conditioning costs and protects the environment.

Structural Design

Situated between Harry Seidler's two landmark towers, Riverside Centre and Riparian Plaza, the site of One One One Eagle Street had been identified in Seidler's Riverside Precinct Master Plan of the 1980s for a tower, along with a fourth future tower further north. The primary challenge of the site was that it is largely occupied by the loading dock and carpark entrance serving the existing towers and limiting the area available for the new towers footings. This constraint entailed a search for a structural solution where the wind loads and weight of the building could be transferred laterally through it to the available ground points.

Photos: Developer and Owner: "The GPT Group" At night the inner steel construction of "One One One Eagle Street" is illuminated spectacularly by LEDs.

It was from this pursuit that the organic structure evolved, yet it was its architectural possibilities that were enticing. The specific structural configuration was developed from computer analysis using an algorithm called 'phototropism' or 'growing towards the light'. This algorithm had particular appeal due to the towers direct visual relationship with Brisbane's most treasured fig trees across the road.

The tower comprises 54 levels with the core located in one corner where its load can be directed to unimpeded ground. The height is subdivided into four riser zones enabling the net floor space to enlarge with each successive rise, assisted by reduction in the perimeter column sizes much like the branches of a tree.

The structure is enveloped with curtain glass, rather than externally expressed, as we felt the alternative would have overwhelmed the Seidler buildings. The glass skin reflects these buildings, when viewed obliquely and the structure is revealed intermittently, and is illuminated at night by a slowly pulsating lighting program created by Queensland designer Alexander Lotersztain.

The structure emerges at the base and top of the building to full view. The base consists of two levels, the upper of these providing accesses to the core, enabling the lower level to act as an internal public plaza. It will facilitate pedestrian movement from the ferry terminal in front of the Riverside centre through into the city, the aim being to contribute to and enrich the public realm of the city.

From an environmental perspective, the design demonstrates how a curtain glass tower can respond to the subtropics without resort to external shading, and the building has achieved a 6 Star Green Star (v2) rating with a 5 Star NABERS energy target.

One One One Eagle is possibly the first high rise tower in the world for which the structure is based upon organic design principles. It is not a gratuitous structure devised for aesthetic purposes, but to solve particular constraints specific to its site. It generates, however, an architecture that is distinctly responsive to context, both natural and built, and also hope to stimulate new directions in subtropical and tropical tower design.

Excellent Sustainable Building Concept

On a ground area of 1,400 square metres, 64,145 square metres of office space are available for rent. Stylish restaurants and bars can be found on the ground floor. The multi-storey lobby is especially lightflooded due to the room-high glazing and appears filigree and transparent. Above it there is a four storey car park for 115 cars and 212 bicycles. Visitors and office workers can reach this level using conventional lifts in the interior of the building. The spectacular alternative starts on the seventh floor – a fully glazed lift that transports its passengers up and down the building façade at a speed of eight metres per second right up to the 54th floor - with a breathtaking panoramic view all the way up. The building has already been awarded a six-star Green Star Award by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) for its exceptional sustainability. The latest gas-powered generator technology reduces peak loads from the electricity grid. LED lighting keeps the consumption low. A special recycling system reduces waste. But in the hot climate the cooling factor plays a critical role. Here, the glass façade greatly reduces the air conditioning requirement, thus reducing the CO2 emissions: ipasol neutral solar control glass with its excellent solar factor of 27 percent effectively protects the offices from overheating due to the intensive all-year-round sunshine. At the same time all of the 3.1 metre high fully glazed floors are supplied with plenty of light because the daylight transmittance (TV) of the glazing is relatively high. This provides a pleasant working atmosphere and the electric lighting only needs to be turned on late in the day.

Picture Courtesy: Don Riddle

Rosewood Abu Dhabi, a new 1,099,000 sq.ft. (102,000 m²) ultra-luxury mixed-use development, is ideally located on the waterfront of Sowwah Square in new Al Maryah Island financial district between the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and the Cleveland Clinic.

Picture Courtesy: Lester Ali

Project	: Rosewood Abu Dhabi
Location	: Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.
Completion Date	: October 2013
Lead Design Firm	: Handel Architects
Lead Designer	: Glenn Rescalvo, AIA, Partner
Size	: 1,099,000 sq. ft. (102,000 m²)
Photos	: Don Riddle, Gerry O'Leary, Lester Ali

Picture Courtesy: Lester Ali	Picture Courtesy: Gerry O'Leary

Designed by Handel Architects with interiors by award-winning firm BBGM, the complex includes a five-star 189-room Rosewood hotel, 131 serviced apartments, banquet facilities, meeting facilities, spa, fitness center, retail space, restaurants, and parking. The project has been designed for LEED certification.

The inspiration for the design was derived from the falcon and from the art of falconry, which has a long history in the Middle East, and remains an important part of the heritage and culture. The forms, lines and textures of the falcon's body and feathers inspired the design and initiated the early ideas for the form and expression of the tower. The way in which the falcon's wings overlap its body inspired the exterior massing and the overlapping volumes and textures of the exterior wall. The design is a sculptural manifestation that reflects the falcon's beauty, elegance and precision.

Picture Courtesy: Don Riddle	Picture Courtesy: Don Riddle

While the interior design's inspiration comes from the meeting of land and sea, and desert and sky. Inside, the lobby is bordered on one side with a flowing water feature and on the other with a dramatic wall of art to draw guests into the space with warm tones, clean lines and sleek materials. The sophisticated design is juxtaposed with comfortable furnishings and flowing fabrics in warm colors reminiscent of a local souk. Throughout the hotel, traditional Middle Eastern textiles and details are complemented with modern lines and sleek architectural elements.

Picture Courtesy: Gerry O'Leary	Picture Courtesy: Don Riddle
Picture Courtesy: Don Riddle

The interiors have an air of understated elegance, with exquisite materials such as Italian marble, a bespoke four-meter American walnut table and custom and hand-blown chandeliers from the Czech Republic featured throughout the hotel.

Picture Courtesy: Don Riddle	Picture Courtesy: Don Riddle

Picture Courtesy: Don Riddle

Picture Courtesy: Lester Ali

The building acts as a central 'mixer' for the area. The hotel, residences, retail, meeting & banquet spaces and fitness center create a building that is truly active 24/7. It's a hybrid offering many uses, with building functions that support and nourish each other, as well as themselves. Visitors--whether short-term or longterm-- may use more than one function in the complex. The building was actively designed to take advantage of spontaneous desires, such as shopping after attending a meeting, as well as planned arrangements, such as fine-dining after the fitness club, or a drink after work at one of the nearby office buildings. The economic value of the project is further enhanced by the mutual relationship of complimentary functions.

Additionally, the building's position as the "gateway" to Al Maryah Island gives it a particular importance that the architecture embraces. The surrounding buildings, all new construction as well, are much more rectilinear in form. The curvilinear 'fluid' forms of the Rosewood tie the architecture of the surrounding buildings together and balance out the adjacent straight-lined forms. The 34-storey hotel is a dramatic modern structure covered with reflective glass, which was chosen for its daytime shimmer and its nighttime luminescence. Overall, Rosewood Abu Dhabi hotel design sets the standard for luxury design in Abu Dhabi.

With the Mondeal Retail Park, Blocher Blocher India Pvt. Ltd. designed an outstanding ensemble of landmark buildings in one of the most exclusive areas of Ahmedabad. Located at S. G. Highway, this exceptional shopping centre was built on three levels, housing retailers, services and restaurants. There also is ample parking space, truly a luxury in this modern era.

After the first retail boom - reflected in the upcoming of uncountable shopping malls - has started to fade, Ahmedabad witnesses retail in a brand new dimension: the Mondeal Retail Park, which houses the top of premium brands. Blocher Blocher India provided the building ensemble with an absolutely original and beautiful façade. The outstanding surface of exposed concrete, which shimmers in variations of beige in the Indian sun, is segmented into thin, horizontal grades. By doing so, the building appears to be filigree despite its monolithic cubature. At the same time, gleaming glass elements harmonically emphasise the rhythm of the façade and convey a gesture of welcome.

For the architects, the design phase started with a basic idea: High-end brands need new architectural solutions to fully enfold. Until then, there were mainly two possibilities for India's premium retailers. Either to establish a shop in a high-street where one has to cope with the hardly changeable constructional Status Quo. Or move into one of the many malls which often, due to an overall sensual overabundance, weaken the brand experiences. Lead by these essential thoughts the architects developed the design for the retail and business park with its 16 independent units. One architectural style was spread over the façade of the four building entities to give the retail park an own identity. From the beginning, it was equally important to create an attractive outdoor area. This resulted in the new interpretation of the ancient agora principle: many stores located around a central public plaza which invites to linger around and enjoy the day.

A new era of shopping

Today, the open air mall with 16 units offers to each company – in contrast to regular malls and other big complexes – an own, gracefully designed building with a separate address. "This enables retailers not only to implement a design according to their needs but also fosters individuality and independence," says Mrs. Angela Kreutz, CEO of Blocher Blocher India. In addition to the hot spot location in an economically flourishing district, this attracts premium and luxury brands. Like the retail parks in countries as the US and UK, Mondeal creates a perfect shopping experience for the well-heeled and brand-conscious.


The retail park will also be a place of contemplation and relaxing. The architects and designers of Blocher Blocher India realised a grand central plaza and an embedded park landscape with water gardens and places to rest. Tenderly shaded by largesize sails. "We made sure that family, leisure and shopping are successfully united within this unique complex," Mrs Kreutz explains.

The business and retail park Mondeal stands for a new era of shopping in Ahmedabad and enables the city to keep up with other metropolises around the world.

The amalgamation of two worlds

Blocher Blocher India Pvt. Ltd. is the Asian subsidiary of the German based company Blocher Blocher Partners, which is an internationally renowned firm for architecture and design. It was founded in 1989 in Germany. Today, the company employs 150 architects and designers. The expertise of Blocher Blocher Partners consists of a holistic approach. They plan, develop and realise world class standard architectural and design projects for the commercial sector, private houses and hotels. In India, the core businesses are commercial and retail projects as well as private residencies. "Our concepts are created to fit each client's needs perfectly. We express the company's personality through building and design and by this, emphasise their individuality," says CEO Mrs Angela Kreutz. "With us, the company is able to differentiate itself from its competitors." Additionally, the Indian office brings together the best of east and west – an amalgamation of two worlds. All this convinced established companies such as Pantaloons, Madura Garments Lifestyle (e.g. The Collective, Planet Fashion, Van Heusen) and the SKNL Group (e.g. Reid & Taylor).

At a Glance
Project	: Mondeal Retail Park
Location	: Ahmedabad, India
Gross floor area	: 25,000 square metres on three levels
Amount of retailers	: 16
Parking spaces	: 160
Planning	: since 2010
Opening	: 2013
Client	: HN Safal Group, Ahmedabad
Architecture	: Blocher Blocher India Pvt. Ltd.

Once a water-purification plant in the 19th century, today it is a stunning 32,290-square-foot Hotel Boutique in Peubla, Mexico. The Mexican hotelier Carlos Couturier's innovative project, La Purificadora was designed by Mexico's famous architect Ricardo Legoretta and his son, Victor, who took up the challenge and transformed this old ice factory and water-purifying plant into a stunning piece of luxury.

Ricardo Legorreta, though famous for his use of bold and bright colors and designs decided to shun all that and stick to minimalist colors for La Purificadora. With three more floors added to the original building, the architect duo stuck to black and white while designing the interiors of the hotel. Blending the old architecture with new, the stone and plaster façades are also incorporated in the interior designs. The primary materials used were the stone and wood from the original building, onyx, and specially fabricated glazed tiles were used for the floors and interestingly, materials such as bottles and glass fragments that were found in the original building have also been incorporated in the design.

La Purificadora boasts of an opento- the-sky lobby area. Legorreta used the local volcanic rock as traditional raw material and combined it with the airy glass gallery. A sweeping staircase opens to a spectacular view of the next-door church. The hotel's interiors are a mixture of glass, dark stone and heavy wood features, and the color purple is boldly used in an otherwise minimalist background to give it a livelier look.

The lobby of the hotel and the rooms are arranged in L-shape around the lobby. The usual coffee tables made way for the more chic, open, stone fireplaces having open fireboxes for the guests and also a grand staircase adds much drama to the interiors. Glass open stairs are used from the second floor of the hotel to the third level and finally terminate into a sheltered roof terrace, presenting a stunning view of the city. All the 26 guest rooms have been inspired by colonial architecture and have been given a contemporary flavor. Another interesting feature of this hotel is its rooftop terrace's 30-meter glass-sided swimming pool, built like an aquarium; glass closets in guest rooms, and the glass balconies that are a regular design feature in this entire hotel building. The ground level finds an extensive use of timber and wood that was recycled from the original site of the purification plant.

This hotel can be dubbed as a 'recycled' master piece for its transformation from a purifying plant to a luxury hotel, fusing traditional architecture with contemporary designs and this innovativeness won the architect duo, Legorreta and his son, the World Architecture Festival Awards 2008 in the holiday category. The green hotel is a landmark in Mexico and also a source of inspiration for many who want to recycle and get the most of it.

• http://www.aia.org/SiteObjects/files/Hotel%20Boutique%20La%20Purificadora.pdf
• http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/bts/archives/hotels/07_LaPurificadora/default.asp
• http://www.designhotels.com/hotels/americas/mexico/puebla/la_purificadora_puebla_mexico
• http://www.designhotels.com/hotels/americas/mexico/puebla/la_purificadora_puebla_mexico/la_purificadora_puebla_design_concept
• http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/travel/25checkin.html

The New Majestic Hotel in Singapore has surely lived up to its name ever since it was created. This boutique hotel was the brainchild of Loh Lik Peng, a 34 yearold former lawyer who eventually went on to win the Singapore Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year 2006. The hotel developed by combining existing buildings and shops managed to retain the old colonial past and combined it with contemporary designs to give it a modern look.

The reconstruction of the hotel was carried out by DP Architects who took a year to refurbish this 80-year-old hotel. Its stunning all-white concept lobby and the classic Compton fans gives it an unusually grand look. With strict regulations of the Urban Redevelopment Authority in Singapore, New Majestic's façade had to be retained in its original form but with slight cosmetic changes. The most striking feature of the hotel is that all the guestrooms have different designs and are a combination of contemporary styles fused with modern and vintage fittings, including customized copper bathtubs. Some rooms have dramatic floor to ceiling mirrors, while some are attic/loft-style having sleeping area, upstairs. A couple of rooms have 'aquarium' see-through bathrooms as its main attraction or some with striking features like a bed suspended by poles from the ceiling.

Another interesting fact about this hotel is that Peng used not one but several designers to do the interiors of the hotel. The rooms were designed by Colin Seah of Ministry of Design and five guest designers were appointed to give the hotel's five suites, a striking, magnificent look. These five designers included Glen Goei, Film & Theatre director, who designed the "Wayang Room," giving it crimson walls, black lacquer furnishings and red lanterns suspended from the ceiling. Daniel Boey, a fashion show producer designed the "Pussy Parlour" and used French chandelier, neon lights, crinkly pink linen, a brass four poster bed and mirrors for this suite. Fashion designer, Wykidd Song, took charge of "fluid" and ensured space, swirls and simplicity in it. Graphic designer Theus Chan used plywood predominantly to design "living in a box". Patrick Chia, a furniture designer, extensively used cement and gave "untitled" a majestic European design.


The hotel's original 50 rooms were brought down to 30 thus ensuring there was enough space and distinguishing features to make every room a statement. Another fascinating feature is the fixture of '1296', Lightouch Design Competition 2007 award-winning lights that adorn the lobby. These are light bulbs that are created with 1296 incised cuts in a two dimensional plane thus giving rise to an organic form, so the bulbs dance echoing through its layers. The New Majestic Hotel went on to win the Designs of the Year category in the President's Design Award 2006 and was also mentioned in the Condé Naste Traveller as one of the world's most hospitable hotels.

The Oddfellows Hall in Edinburgh's Old Town is an iconic bar/ pub in this city. This once traditional building has now been refurbished to give it a modern look. The clients, Festival Inns Ltd commissioned architects and designers Lee Boyd to give it a more contemporary appearance and interiors. With the building's double height space, the architects made sure that the building was visible enough from the road side thereby giving it a transparent look from one side. Also the paint was stripped so as to expose the magnificent stone façade of the building.

Trying to incorporate the old and new in the refurbishment, Lee Boyd also utilized the services of Grum Anderson and his company Dynamic Productions for the renovation of the main room of the building. Grum's specialized and technologically advanced lighting scheme was used here at the Oddfellows Hall.


Here, he has created a unique design that uses individual single source LEDs in fixtures customized and set into polycarbonate baroque light fittings to light the points of the vaulted ceiling. More light fixtures under the ventilation ducts throw light on the exposed brick wall, with lights slowly changing colors while rotating and each revolution taking almost an hour to complete and also setting up sculptural plywood moose heads to add some drama to the interiors. Lee Boyd also got a local artist Gregor Laird to design a double height artwork, Garden of Eden piece-Utopia that was put at the bar's entrance.

New additions in the Oddfellows Hall also included setting up a new public house with kitchen facilities on the ground floor and additional public space on the balconies above. Lee Boyd completed the refurbishment of Oddfellows Hall in December 2006 and the entire project cost £1 million. The interiors renovated led to the Hall bagging the Roses Design Awards 2007 for Best Interiors. This once traditional meeting place for members of the Oddfellows order has now been transformed into a hip joint and is now quite a landmark in this part of the country.

• http://www.leeboyd.com/oddfellows.htm
• http://www.nightmagazine.co.uk/venues/OddfellowsEdinburgh.htm
• http://www.edinburgharchitecture.co.uk/oddfellows_hall.htm

Photo courtesy: Iwan Baan

In recent years high-rise residential towers in Asia have undergone a significant transformation. No longer do only mass replicated tower blocks dot the skyline of most Asian cities, a new generation of bespoke towers now provide aesthetic, singular silhouettes and incorporate comfortable living spaces, attractive landscaped gardens and an array of amenities for residents.

The Ardmore Residence at 7 Ardmore Park in Singapore is these new breed of residential towers. Situated in a prime location close to the Orchard Road luxury shopping district, the Ardmore Residence enjoys both expansive views of the panoramic cityscape of Singapore City and the vast green areas of its immediate western and eastern surroundings.

Photo courtesy: Iwan Baan

Photo courtesy: Iwan Baan

Living landscape

Photo courtesy: Iwan Baan

The primary concept for the design of the 36 storey, 17.178 m² residential tower is a multi-layered architectural response to the natural landscape inherent to the 'Garden City' of Singapore. This landscape concept is integrated into the design by means of four large details: the articulation of the facade, which through its detailing creates various organic textures and patterns; expansive views across the city made possible by large glazed areas, bay windows and double-height balconies; the interior 'living landscape' concept adopted for the design of the two apartment types, and the introduction of transparency and connectivity to the ground level gardens by means of a raised structure supported by an open framework.

Textured facade

Photo courtesy: Iwan Baan

Photo courtesy: Iwan Baan

The facade of the Ardmore Residence has been derived from micro-design features which interweave structural elements, such as bay windows and balconies into one continuous line. The façade pattern is repeated for every four storeys of the building, whilst rounded glass creates column-free corners, visually merging the internal spaces with the external balconies. Intertwining lines and surfaces wrap the apartments, seamlessly incorporating sun screening, whilst also ensuring that the inner qualities of the apartments and the outer appearance of the building together form a unified whole. From a distance the tower appears to adopt vastly divergent contours when viewed from different perspectives, whilst from closeby the various openings in the concrete panels of the facade affect a sense of organic mutation and transition as you move around the building.

Inside-outside landscape

The apartments in the Ardmore Residence embody the idea of a 'living landscape'. Functional spaces are redefined and extended into the living landscape concept, offering the possibility for versatile functionality for the occupants. An indoor-outdoor living experience is achieved through the inclusion of large windows and double height balconies in all of the residences. These elements enable a wide variety of views across Singapore City, while the large vertical balconies additionally offset the horizontality of more private interior spaces. With the terrace spaces integrated into everyday internal living scenarios, the living landscape promotes seamlessness between interior and exterior spaces. Bay window features on the façade create natural shading on the glass to minimize heat gain and provide welcome opportunity for planting by the residents.

Project Factsheet
Architect	: Ben van Berkel / UNStudio
Interior design show suite	: Terry Hunziker
Location	: 7 Ardmore Park, Singapore
Programme	: Residential
Client	: Pontiac Land Group
Consultants	:
Mechanical & Electrical Consulting Engineers	: J Roger Preston, Singapore
Façade	: Ove Arup, Singapore
Design Year	: 2006
Completion	: September 2013
Contractors	: Shimizu Corporation
Interior design show suite (level 33) & clubhouse	: Terry Hunziger
Entrance artwork	: Yayoi Kusama
Building Information
Site Dimensions	: 5.595 m²
Building Height	: approx.. 135.7m (Ground – FL 117.130. Top of Upper Roof – FL 252.830)
Number of Floors Below Grade	: 1 (one), Car park
Number of Floors Above Grade	: 36 storeys (lobby at ground level, 1st residential level at 8th storey)
Floor Area:	Gross: 17.178 m² Net: 15.666 m² of apartments Individual spaces: 58 apartments (240 m2)
Exterior Materials
Substructure	: concrete
Superstructure	: concrete
Envelope	: pre-fabricated concrete
Interior Materials / suppliers
Flooring: Beige Marble / Roman Travertine / American Oak Timber Flooring Glazing: Glass and Aluminium Ceilings: Plaster and paint Wall finishes: Plaster and Marble / Roman Travertine
Furnishings	: (type and manufacturer)
Kitchen appliances	: Kitchen system by Poggenpohl from Germany Refrigerator and Wine chiller Liebherr from Germany Oven, Microwave, Cooker Hob & Hood, Dishwasher: V-zug from Switzerland Washing machine & dryer: V-zug from Switzerland
Bathroom appliances	: Sanitary ware: Kohler from USA
Fixtures and fittings :	Tap fittings: Dornbracht from Germany (note: Kitchen Yard is Jado from Germany) GIRA Switches and EIB Lighting system
Special elements :	: Custom-made aluminum retractable louvers at the balconies
Sustainable features according to Greenmark Declaration	Green Roofs at ancillary buildings with auto-irrigation and sensors Water usage regulators and Water efficient fittings Motion sensors for back of house spaces Energy efficient VRV air-conditioning system Naturally ventilated lobbies/ common areas Apartment units have good daylighting and natural ventilation

The floor plan chosen for the 58 individual apartments is designed to increase the amount of daylight and take full advantage of the panoramic views, thereby creating an atmosphere of spaciousness in the dwellings. This floor plan is based on an analysis of Renaissance villa prototypes – and the concept of a “cours d'honneur” as in between space which enable visual links between different parts of one and the same house. In the design for the Ardmore Residence, this concept is appropriated and translated in order to allow for visual interconnection between specific areas within the apartments. This concept furthermore increases privacy for sleeping rooms and adds a four-dimensional aspect to the layout, as both wings can operate separately, service different needs and be active at different times of the day.

Photo courtesy: Iwan Baan

Ben van Berkel: The highly textural façade of the Ardmore Residence works in unison with the organisation of the individual apartments, affording both extensive daylight to the unique residential spaces and panoramic views over the city of Singapore. The façade further generates a unique reading of the building in the neighborhood with its layered contours extending the appearance beyond four façades and providing a variety of profiles and perspectives.

Continuous landscape

The first residential level of the Ardmore Residence is located on the eighth storey of the building. An open framework has therefore been introduced at the base of the raised tower which enables full connectivity and transparency across the ground level landscaping, while simultaneously organising the shared amenity facilities. Whilst building regulations in Singapore specify both the height and area of high-rise buildings, views are also deemed to be essential for the occupants. The raised design of the Ardmore Residence therefore integrally incorporates these set parameters to take full advantage of the potential. They afford to optimise the design concept and simultaneously create a fully integrated living and leisure landscape for its occupants.

Presenting a Luxurious New Concept for Resorts, Retreats, and Beach huts- The Future of Multi-purpose Building options for the Hospitality Industry

Loom Crafts a name synonymous with path-breaking innovations and trend-setting outdoor living concepts now presents the first of its kind, Multi-purpose Cottages specifically designed and conceptualized for the hospitality industry that ensures minimal impact on the environment. These cottages are ideal for camping and also bring one closer to nature. The tents are also perfect for areas where permission of permanent structure is not granted. From hill-station retreats to beach resort getaways and countryside cabins, whatever the locations may be, weather or altitude, the Eco-tent Cottages can be modified to suit the given conditions and requirement of space.

Loom Crafts' Eco-tent Cottages made to work in harmony with the environment; are architecturally designed, flexible in application, foster sustainability and able to maintain affordability. These luxurious eco-friendly cottages give a rare opportunity to those who are concerned for environment, but want to live in spacious luxury surrounded by canvas, wood and all other modern day amenities that the cosmopolitan life has to offer.

"Simple enough for anyone to assemble yet robust enough to withstand extremes of external conditions and weather"

The revolutionary design of these Eco-tent Cottages is based around a robust aero-space grade aluminum framework, which forms the core structure of the modular building, a virtually indestructible grid of aluminum and stainless steel. Each interlocking square panels are fastened to adjoining sections by a patented locking system designed to withstand enormous pressure. The top of the tent is made of fire retardant tensile PVC coated fabric membrane which lasts for years without any maintenance.


"These cottages are of five-star living standards with unlimited choices wherein the interiors can be changed unlimitedly."

Once the basic grid floor plan is in place, the interior living or working environment can be created from an extensive selection of ancillary modules. Packed with eco-amenities such as solar power, natural ventilation, cloakroom and bathtub, among others, the wooden deck flooring along with aluminum doors and windows powder coated in a choice of colors further adds to the plush interior designs and premium finish. All Loom Crafts Eco-Tent Cottages have insulation on top and sides thereby making them suitable for air conditioning. In addition, the elevated wooden deck flooring further ensures negligible impact on the ground.

Whether creating a high-tech beach resort cottage, Safari style tents, eco-tent cottage or any other prefab structure, the Loom Crafts Eco-Tent Cottages are limited only by the imagination. So go ahead IMAGINE THE FUTURE!

Dancing Dragons

Chicago based firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture which is dedicated to the design of high-performance architecture in a wide range of typology and scale, from low-and mid-rise residential, commercial and cultural buildings to mixed-use supertall towers and new cities, have designed a pair of landmark supertall mixed-use towers 'Dancing Dragons' for the new Yongsan International Business District in Seoul, South Korea. The buildings which include residential, "officetel" and retail elements, consist of slender, sharply angled mini-towers cantilevered around a central core. The design aesthetic is highly contemporary yet informed by aspects of traditional Korean culture.


Positioned side by side in the fast-growing business and commercial district on the north bank of the Han River, the two Dancing Dragon towers have a similar design comprises a supporting central core and a series of wings attached to the sides. The mini towers feature a dramatic series of diagonal massing cuts that create living spaces that float beyond the structure. This recalls the eaves of traditional Korean temples—a design theme echoed both in the geometry of the building skin and the jutting canopies at the towers' base. The theme is extended in the building skin that suggests the scales of Korean mythical dragons, which seem to dance around the core—hence the project's name. (Yongsan, the name of the overall development, means "Dragon Hill" in Korean.)

Dancing Dragons' scale-like skin is also a performative element. Gaps between its overlapping panels feature operable 600-mm vents through which air can circulate, making the skin "breathable" like that of certain animals.

Towers 1 and 2—about 450 meters and 390 meters tall, respectively—share an architectural language and, therefore, a close family resemblance, but are not identical. In the taller structure, the 88-level Tower 1, the massing cuts at the top and bottom of the mini-towers are V-shaped. In the 77-level Tower 2, the cuts move diagonally in a single unbroken line; they are also arranged in a radial pattern around the core that is perceptible as viewers move around the tower.

Project	: Dancing Dragons
Location	: Seoul, Korea
Function	: Mixed-use
Design Architect	: Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill
Client	: Yongsan International Business District
Photo credit	: All images ©Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

"There's a sympathetic and complementary relationship between the two masses at the level of the cuts, almost as though they were dancing," says Adrian Smith, FAIA, RIBA.

He further adds, "It's always important for our designs to reflect and interpret the cultures they serve, and the Dancing Dragons complex certainly does that, although in an abstract and highly technological manner. We try to design in a way that is at once beautiful and focused on performance."

In both buildings, the mini-tower cuts are clad in glass at the top and bottom, making for dramatic skylights above the units at the highest levels and a transparent floor beneath the units at the lowest levels. This offers the opportunity for special high-value penthouse duplex units with spectacular 360-degree views of downtown Seoul and the adjacent Han River, along with an abundance of natural light.

"The abstract recall of the historic structures gives the towers a unique perspective from the ground and the sky while creating unique interior experiences. The shingled texture of the skin is developed with integrated breathable mullions and self-shading cantilevers. It's a great honor to be joining several other top international architecture firms designing buildings for this remarkable master plan by Studio Daniel Libeskind," says Gordon Gill, AIA.


AS+GG partner Robert Forest, AIA, notes that Dancing Dragons represents AS+GG's second major project in downtown Seoul. The other is the Head Office of the Federation of Korean Industries, an innovative and highly sustainable office building now under construction and scheduled to be completed next year. "We're very excited to be making a sustainable contribution to the built environment of Seoul, one of the world's great cities, in a manner that addresses the need for sustainable high density development while respecting Korean culture," Forest says. "YIBD, which promises to become one of Seoul's most dynamic and vital neighborhoods, will be an example of high-quality high-density design, and we're proud to be a part of that."


The design team also includes PositivEnergy Practice, a Chicago-based engineering and energy consulting firm that is designing a series of innovative building systems for the project. Sustainable features of the building system design include triple-glazed window units, which minimize heat loss; an overlapping exterior wall system, which creates a self-shading effect; and natural ventilation in all units through operable mullions. Other systems include radiant heating; fuel-cell cogeneration units at the basement level; photovoltaic arrays on the roof surfaces; daylight-linked lighting controls; and heat recovery via electric centrifugal chillers.

The structural scheme for Dancing Dragons, developed by AS+GG in collaboration with the international structural engineering firm Werner Sobek, features eight mega-columns that traverse the vertical length of both cores. The mini-towers are hung off the cruciform cores in a balanced fashion by means of a belt truss system, stabilizing the structure.

The design of the 23,000-square-meter site—part of the larger Yongsan master plan —reinforces the angular geometry of the building massing and skin. Landscape features, designed in collaboration with Martha Schwartz Partners, include sloped berms that echo that geometry. The site also includes a retail podium with a crystalline sculptural form and sunken garden that provide access to a large below-grade retail complex.

Credits
Building owner	: ADAC e.V.
Architects	: Sauerbruch Hutton Architekten, Berlin
Structural planning	: Werner Sobek, Stuttgart
Façade builder	: Josef Gartner GmbH, EG-Fassade: Korsche
Screen print, roof glazing	: SGT, Oelsnitz
Screen print, façade glazing	: BGT, Bretten
Glass processor	: Interpane Plattling

Everyone in Germany knows the expression "yellow angel", and most of its 17 million members have already made use of the organization's road assistance service at least once: it is the largest automobile club in Europe, the ADAC. Designed by Sauerbruch Hutton of Berlin, the new headquarters in the west of Munich is now operational and gathers all the colleagues under one roof. The new and impressive office complex which is known as 'Star of Sendling,' consists of a five storey, gracefully curved base, out of which emerges an eighteen-storey office tower of steel and glass – a colourful, shimmering eye-catcher in Munich's skyline.

On a gross floor area of 129,500 square metres, the employees from all branches of the company – insurance, financial services, car rental, travel and cellular phone offers – work in an atmosphere marked by architectural openness. The Board and the management are on the two top floors; under them are cubicle areas and single office spaces, as well as large conference rooms at the centre of each level, all the way down to the ground floor. There, the employees can find a cafeteria, a casino, training rooms, the printing facilities, the kitchens, the mailing centre and the packing room.

From the outset, the owner wanted to create a building that would make its mark on the Munich skyline and host an innovative and state-of-the-art work environment. ADAC had also insisted to the architect for giving special emphasis on a state-of-the-art energy concept built on solar and geothermal energy as well as remote heat. Hence, the heating in building is based both on geothermal resources and on remote heat and most of the electrical supply comes from regenerative sources and solar panels installed on the rooftops. Apart from them, the architectural marvel also features natural ventilation inside the offices through the double-layered façade.

Light-flooded foyer

A central foyer serves both as a representative lobby and as the central distribution point for all employees; from here they can reach their offices in the five-storey low-rise block or the eighteen storey tower above it via escalators and lifts. It has something of the feeling of a gigantic train station: the glass roof floods every corner with light and offers a view onto the façade of the office tower, which is over 92 metres high. The tower boldly overhangs the base by eight metres in the direction of the nearby train tracks. To prevent the foyer from overheating despite the large proportion of glass, ipasol platin 25/15 solar control glass from Interpane is used. It has a solar factor of 15%, guaranteeing effective protection from the sun's heat. This significantly reduces the air conditioning requirements. At tV = 25%, the daylight transmission is also low, which prevents glare when the sun is high in the sky. To comply with the stringent safety requirements, the insulating glazing on the roof consists of an outer layer of single-pane safety glass with heat-soak test (ESG-H) and an inner layer of laminated safety glazing (VSG). Some of the outer panes also have a screen print.

The three floors below ground contain the 40% of the building's floor area that is hidden from public view: parking spaces, two ultra-modern computer centres, technology and logistics as well as a delivery area that can even accommodate articulated trucks.

Facades

The requirements for the façades of the base and the highrise block included letting a lot of daylight into the building while maintaining good solar control and thermal insulation. The architects designed a laminated window façade with insulating glass on the inside. On the outside, in front of the insulating glass, lies single-pane glazing with a screen print finish. This ensures continuous rear ventilation. The window openings can be operated by hand, but a volume flow control system in front of them regulates the airflow. Coloured profiles and partial screen print design make the building shimmer in 22 different colours. The insulation glazing ensures an optimal interior climate by using ipasol neutral 70/39 solar control glass and iplus E-thermal insulation glass from Interpane. ipasol neutral fulfils high aesthetic and functional requirements: colour-neutral transparency, lots of daylight and high solar control. The solar control glass achieves a particularly high daylight transmission of tV = 70%, with a solar factor of 39%. On cold days, the Ug-value of 1.1 W/(m²K) (according to EN 673) ensures effective thermal insulation. The energy requirements for heating, cooling and artificial lighting are thereby reduced – which lowers the operating costs and is good for the environment.

Dr. N. Subramanian, Consulting Engineer, Gaithersburg, MD, USA

Figure 1: The ArcelorMittal Orbit

The ArcelorMittal Orbit is a 115 m high sculpture and observation tower constructed in the Olympic Park in Stratford, London (Fig. 1). The steel sculpture is Britain's largest piece of public art, and is intended to be a permanent, lasting legacy of London's hosting of the 2012 Summer Olympics, assisting in the post-Olympics regeneration of the Stratford area. Located in between the Olympic Stadium and the Aquatics Centre, it will allow visitors to view the whole Olympic Park from two observation platforms. Designed by one of the world's leading artists, Mr. Anish Kapoor and one of the world's leading structural designers, Mr Cecil Balmond, the Orbit is the tallest sculpture in the UK - twice the height of Nelson's Column (Fig. 2).

The Orbit has two observation floors, a 455-step spiral staircase, a lift and restaurant. At ground level, visitors are greeted by a massive steel horn which hangs overhead. The uppermost observation floor is flanked by two concave mirrors which disorientate the visitor before they get to see the skyline beyond. Visitors will be able to go up the 35-storey structure in a lift. At 114.5, the Orbit gives panoramic views across London's skyline of up to 20 miles. After their visit is over, visitors have the option to descend via the 455 steps that were designed to make the visitors feel as if they were orbiting around the structure. The exterior of the structure is outfitted with 250 colored spotlights. Each can be individually controlled to produce a stunning digital combination of static and animated effects including a 15 minute moving light show every evening after the Games.

Creation of unusual structure

The design was the winning entry to a competition launched by Mr Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London. He wanted to create "something extra" to celebrate London Olympics 2012, which would "arouse the curiosity and wonder of Londoners and visitors." Designers were asked for ideas for an "Olympic tower" at least 100 m high, and Orbit was the unanimous choice from proposals considered by a nine-person advisory panel. From the initial sketch, it has grown into a looping lattice form. The lattice evolved from the need to build the vision and make the concept constructible. Kapoor and Balmond's idea was to 'challenge the idea of tower', so initially it was just a vertical form. It is stabilized by points crossing in space on a tripod base. Daniel Bosia of Arup engineered the overall form.

Figure 2: Comparison of heights of iconic sculptures (Source: http://www.e-architect.co.uk)

M/s Ushida Findlay Architects (UFA) was appointed by Arup to realize the architectural elements of the ArcelorMittal Orbit. They are responsible for turning one of the world's tallest sculptures into a 'habitable building'. UFA's most visible contribution to the tower is the emergency stair design. In the initial concept drawings, the external helical stair was purely functional in form, expressing the flights and landings through a transparent enclosure. UFA explored the idea of creating a more sculptural form for the stair, designing a sinuous curve that articulates the visitor journey from the observation deck to ground level. The stair's expanded stainless steel mesh creates a 3-dimensional pattern that changes in opacity depending on the viewing angle and the density of the apertures, which become more open in the upper section of the panels.

Structure of Orbit

The structure of Orbit consists of the following three parts (see Fig. 1):

• The central tower, which houses the elevators and stairs and supports the observation deck.
• The open lattice of red steel that surrounds the trunk (Fig.3).
• The external helical stair

Figure 3: (a) Concept and (b) actual structure of looping steel lattice around the central tower (van Velzen, 2012)

The central tower has a base diameter of 37 m, reduced to 5 m near the top, and widening again to 9.6 m, just under the observation deck. The trunk is supported and stabilized by the looping lattice tube, which gives a structural character of a tripod to the entire construction. (van Velzen, 2012). Further structural integrity is given to the construction by octagonal steel rings that surround the tube and trunk, spaced at 4 m and cross-joined pairwise by sixteen diagonally mounted steel connectors (van Velzen, 2012).

A special part of the construction is the canopy, the conic shape that hangs off the bottom of the trunk. Originally, it was planned as a fiberglass composite construction. Consideration of cost resulted in the use of steel for this section also. Centraalstaal International, Netherlands was approached as a special consultant for the design of the steel cone and came up with a design for a cone built out of 117 individually shaped steel panels with a total surface area of 586 m2 and weighing 84 tonnes (van Velzen, 2012).

Creators of the ArcelorMittal Orbit

Anish Kapoor And Cloud Gate in Chicago’s Millennium Park

One of the world's leading artists, Turner Prize winning Anish Kapoor was born in Bombay, India and studied in London, where he is now based. He is well- known for his use of rich pigment and imposing, yet popular works, such as Marsyas, which filled the Tate's Turbine Hall as part of the Unilever Series, Cloud Gate in Chicago's Millennium Park (popularly known as 'The Bean') and his recent record breaking show at the Royal Academy, the most successful exhibition ever presented by a contemporary artist in London.


Cecil Balmond, a Sri Lankan is a British designer, artist, architect, writer and one of the world's leading structural designers. He has taught at Harvard and Yale and currently holds the Paul Philippe Cret Chair at Penn Design as Professor of Architecture where he is also the founding director of the Non Linear Systems Organization, a material and structural research unit. He was also deputy chairman at Arup (Arup are behind landmark buildings such as the Sydney Opera House, Beijing's Water Cube and the Beijing Olympic Stadium). He is known for his innovative work on some of the greatest contemporary buildings in the world, such as the CCTV building in Beijing, as well as many Serpentine Gallery Pavilion commissions.

Using steel as a sustainable material

Construction of the ArcelorMittal Orbit took 18 months and required 560 m of tubular steel to form the sculpture's lattice superstructure. A four-man team assembled it together, comprising two steel erectors, a crane operator and a site foreman. All of the junctions between the big red bits of steelwork are wild, with unpredictable shapes and members coming in all directions. The result is a bold statement of public art. It is important to note that the tower is both permanent and sustainable, with close to 60% of the 2,000 tonnes of steel used, coming from recycled sources (harnessed from every continent where ArcelorMittal has operations). This tower cum sculpture underlines steel's status as the world's most recyclable material. Steel was chosen for the Orbit because of its unique properties including strength, modular structure, and advantages of weight, speed of construction, and recyclability.

Some Highlights about ArcelorMittal Orbit

• Tallest sculpture in the U.K.
• Standing at 115 m, it is 22 m taller than the Statue of Liberty in New York.
• If the loops around it are flattened out and the tower is made vertical, it will be taller than Eiffel tower in Paris.
• Provides unparalleled views of the entire 250 acres of the Olympic Park and London's skyline from a special viewing platform.
• Over 35,000 bolts and 19,000 liters of red paint were used in its construction.
• Designed by Artist Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond
• Architects : M/s Ushida Findlay Architects
• ArcelorMittal donated $ 30.7 million and 2000 tons of steel to create it.

Public Opinion about the Orbit

Cecil Balmond said that he and Anish were conscious from the beginning that the ArcelorMittal Orbit would be a lasting legacy to the city and so they wanted to stretch the language of the icon as far they could go. The Orbit is a hybrid, a network of art and structure, and its dynamic is the non-linear. You read into it multiple narratives in space." Towers are almost always symmetrical," he continued, saying the Orbit's twisted loops were "the refusal of a singular image". Kapoor and Balmond believe that Orbit represents a radical advance in the architectural field of combining sculpture and structural engineering, and that it combines both stability, and instability in a work that visitors can engage with and experience via an incorporated spiral walkway.

The design of the Orbit has split opinions since its inception at a chance meeting between London Mayor Boris Johnson and steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal in a cloakroom at the 2009 World Economic Forum in Davos. Critics have described the orbit as "the Eiffel Tower after a nuclear attack" and "a catastrophic collision between two cranes." Oliver Wainwright, from Building Design magazine branded it "a contorted mass of entrails". He objected the way it towers over the stadium, saying that the 2,000-tonne structure compared unfavourably to the lightweight construction of the venues in the Olympic park.

Funding

ArcelorMittal, the sponsor of the tower and the Olympics, is a leading steel manufacturer and provided the material for the sculpture.

It provided £19.2m towards the cost of building the Orbit, with the remaining £3.1m was funded by London Development Agency.

The tower is expected to attract 1 million visitors per year to Stratford's Olympic Park, when it reopens as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park after the Games. During the Games, the ticket price is fixed as £15 for adults and £7 for children.

About ArcelorMittal

ArcelorMittal is the world's leading steel and mining company. Guided by a philosophy to produce safe, sustainable steel, it is the leading supplier of quality steel products in all major markets including automotive, construction, household appliances and packaging. ArcelorMittal operates in 60 countries and employs about 260,000 people worldwide. Mr. Lakshmi Niwas Mittal (born on 15th June 1950), is the Chairman & CEO of ArcelorMittal and was ranked the sixth richest person in the world by Forbes in 2011. In 2009, ArcelorMittal had revenues of $65.1 billion and crude steel production of 73.2 million tonnes, representing approximately 8 per cent of world steel output.

Future

Eiffel Tower was built as a temporary structure and erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair. Although, Eiffel Tower was hated by most Parisians and the design was criticized by many at that time, it has now become a global and cultural icon of Paris. One of the most recognizable structures in the world, this tower is the tallest structure in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world (7.1 million people ascended it in 2011). Similarly, will the Orbit be acclaimed as the cultural icon of London? Only time can provide the answer!

References:

1. http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/art-culture/culture-2012/arcelormittal-orbit
2. Meinhold, B., "Anish Kapoor's Recycled Steel ArcelorMittal Orbit Tower Provides Views of London's Olympic Park", Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, 26th July 2012. (http://inhabitat.com/anish-kapoors-recycled-steel-arcelormittal-orbit-tower-now-complete-in-london/arcelormittal-orbit-anish-kapoor-1/?extend=1 Accessed Aug. 1st 2012)
3. http://www.anishkapoor.com/
4. http://www.arcelormittalorbit.com/orbits-journey/perspectives/cecil-balmond
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArcelorMittal_Orbit
6. Oh, S., Cool Olympic Tower, Modern Steel Construction, Vol.52, No. 8, Aug. 2012, pp. 38-39.
7. van Velzen, T., Rood icoon (Red icon), (in Dutch). De Ingenieur, Vol. 124, No.10/11, June. 2012, pp. 25-27.
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArcelorMittal_Orbit

Picture Courtesy: Sunil Patil and Associates, Pune



Wine making has invariably been a fascinating process. India lacks the culture of wine drinking - the reason why the country has a minimal presence of vineyards in the country - restricted to a mere 6-7 in numbers. When the reputed winemaking Italian Company Fratelli Wines Pvt Ltd approached Architect Sunil Patil to design their winery unit in Solapur, the uniqueness in the assignment was what appealed to Mr Patil to explore the process of wine making thoroughly. Architect Sunil Patil heads his seventeen years old award winning firm Sunil Patil & Associates in Kolhapur and is known for his patented 'Tropical Contemporary Vernacular Architecture'. Believing in an architecture that is built in harmony with nature, Architect Patil likes to create spaces which require minimum intervention with nature.


Abstaining from the study of any sample case studies that could have influenced his design, the designer took the wine park near the Sanghli District (promoted by the Maharashtra Government) as a case study to understand the process of wine making that involves five basic steps - harvesting, crushing, fermentation, clarification, and aging and bottling.

The huge existing 40 acres of vineyard in the provided site took care of the first step – the harvesting while the brief for the remaining steps included a winery plant with processing units, bottling plant and a tank hall which would be required to give a huge output of 9 lakhs litres of wine annually, probably one of the biggest winery plants in the country as Mr Patil adds. Besides, a cellar and an administration block (with wine testing lab) completed the brief. The entire design was conceived as two surface blocks (segregated through landscaping) serving as the admin and processing unit while a cellar was conceived in the basement. With a built up area of 2500sqm on a plot area of 11,501 sqm, the project got completed in Dec 2009.

Design

The main gate throws open the views of the admin block sitting on a huge mount scape in surrounding lush landscaping behind which lies the processing plant. The G+1 admin block has wine tasting and accounts department (on the ground level) and a wine tasting lounge (projecting out in the vineyard) and guestrooms (for the company executives) on the first floor. The lounge offers vantage views of the vineyard on one side and the wine making process on the other side. The guest rooms in varying coloured themes of red, yellow and blue bear expansive views of the lawns through full length glasses and are complemented by old styled furniture which are inspired from the process of making wine which is again age old.



The spiral staircase going to the first floor in this block provides a certain break to the rigid geometry besides the mound which are the only two features punctuating the calm. Another staircase leading down to the cellar (designed parallel to the processing plant unit) is deftly camouflaged by an interesting surface door. The site undulations led to the soil being removed to create the cellar which has been used for the mount scape. The cellar used for storing the finished wines into different vessels (to made ready for bottling or further ageing) required no direct sunlight and hence a brief of no windows. However, Mr Patil's yearning of windows led him to implement his experience of orienting the glass façade of the processing plant to the north where the sun would never enter directly. Mr Patil informs that the executives were keen on following the European concept where a drum of wine is handed to the winery when a child is born which is eventually handed back to the child by the winery when he/she gets married. This gave birth to the huge 241sqm cellar.

Avoiding any complex structural materials, the processing unit made in steel portals with aluminum frames takes care of all the intermediate steps involved in making wines and has units for crushing, fermentation and filtration. The process of wine making needs a minimum temperature and hence the north glazing was made the lone recipient of the sun's rays while all the other sides were blocked from sunlight.

Sustainability

Architect Patil who believes in environment-friendly sustainable architecture, made use of the same stipulated mud for the mount scape that was extracted to make the cellar. By this he could evade the cost and the time that would have been required in the disposing of the mud. Its innovative implementation here bestows a more vernacular look to the project where the built space seems to be borne out of the mound.

The 23m of linear space in the processing unit has been supported by small and straight steel trusses made by I sections. A very delicate design has been conceived where the same section becomes the wall and the ceiling (roof of the structure). The PEB's for the same were manufactured in Delhi and conferred a very neat and clean appearance from inside, found rarely in such industrial projects.


Simple materials have been used – Kota Stone, Ceramic Tiles, exposed Trimix Concrete for the flooring of the Admin Block, Bottling unit and plant room respectively. The exterior façade is finished in restrained amounts of glass and concrete.

The architect has successfully confronted the challenges of a regimented budget, the newness of this kind of a project, the intricate planning of areas like the tank hall and the location of the site in a remote area of Maharashtra where transportation posed to be a challenge. The simplicity of the project lends a certain sense of unexpected calm through the site. Practically accepting nature as his guide, Ar Patil has added his own vernacular touch to this modest design.

Requirements of modernization: low air-conditioning costs, glare-free view to the outside, and always the optimal lighting conditions.

The "House of Architects" in Stuttgart is a forum for building culture and the headquarters of the Chamber of Architects of Baden-Württemberg. The glazed foyer has just been completely modernized. Some pane edges had become leaky and the glass had become fogged by condensation between the panes. The glazing was also far below current energetic standards. The sun blinds, which were on the inside, required constant maintenance and blocked the view. The complex requirements for the modernization were to lower the heating and cooling costs, improve the lighting, and provide a clear, glare-free view, unobstructed by shading. The owners opted for electrochromic triple-pane solar control glass from EControl in Plauen, Germany. It is dimmable, thus allowing the solar factor and transparency to be modified according to the level of solar irradiation. This makes both exterior shading and interior blinds redundant.

The House of Architects in Stuttgart is situated in an exposed, elevated location and offers exceptional views of Stuttgart. More than two decades ago the owner, the architects' pension fund, bought a plot neighbouring their existing premises and held a competition for the new building. Architect Michael Weindel (Waldbronn) designed and built the ensemble of three structures: living quarters, event hall and administration building. The round event hall stands as a special construction in the middle and is attached to the administration building by a transparent and filigree glazed foyer, thus preserving the grandiose view of the Stuttgart skyline from Danneckerstraße.

Credits board
Architektenkammer Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart
Object address	: Danneckerstraße 54, 70182 Stuttgart
Building owner	: Versorgungswerk der Architekten, Stuttgart
Architect	: Dipl.-Ing. Michael Pauls, Stuttgart
Façade construction	: Aug. Guttendörfer GmbH & Co. KG, Stahlstraße 8,91522 Ansbach
Glass product	: EControl
Glass production	: EControl-Glas, Plauen

Leaks and water: renovation required

For some time, the edges of some glass units had become leaky and the glass panes had become fogged. Every now and then, water would also leak from the glass ceiling. The double pane solar control glazing was not up to current standards for the heating and air conditioning of the foyer: in winter the building was too cold, in summer it overheated. The interior blinds required constant maintenance and blocked the view.

The architects' office Pauls (Stuttgart) won the contract to modernize the glazed foyer. The aims: maintain the architecture, increase the comfort and reduce the energy costs to a moderate level. Exterior shading and interior blinds were both rejected in favour of maintaining an unhindered view to the outside. Traditional solar control glass, with a low but constant solar factor, was not considered because it lets in too little light on cloudy days.

Intelligent solution: dimmable solar control

After weighing up the parameters, the architect suggested electrochromic solar control glass (EControl). Dimmable panes allow the solar factor and the transparency to be adapted to the actual light intensity. "If there is no sun, the glass stays fully clear and transparent. The stronger the sun shines, the darker the glass becomes, all the way to a deep blue – like photochromic ski goggles," explains Dipl.-Ing. Michael Pauls, architect and owner of the architects' office. Photochromic sunglasses make additional eye protection unnecessary and don't tire the eyes; they adapt to the light intensity. The dimmable solar control glass EControl carries this principle over to modern architecture with its electrochromic technology. A modern triple-pane insulation glass, EControl insulates extremely well against heat loss with a Ug value of 0.7 W/(m2K).


The complete renovation was carried out in only twelve weeks in the summer of 2011 by the façade construction company Guttendörfer (Ansbach) – whilst limited operations at the House of Architects forum continued – and was completed in the autumn.