Harbour Terminal Building Design | New Keelung Harbor Terminal Building | Keelung | Taiwan | SDA

Inspired by the geometric patterns of Taiwanese Hen Cages and the structural shells of luxury racing yachts, the building takes shape in a dynamic gradient form that transitions from exo-skin to exo-skeleton in response to programmatic content as well as performative requirements. Thus, what appears to be formal expression, is actually “informed form” which responds to the integration of weather, urban context, program, circulation, and sustainability through integrated design responses that inform the building orientation, spatial layout, façade design, and choice of material and structural system.

The building program is divided into three primary experience groups and cyclical sequences. These three groups share programmatic overlaps and transitions which allow exchange between groups.......more

Office Design | H2Office | Smartpark Research and Technology Park | University Of Manitoba | Canada | Cibinel Architects

By challenging the standard planning principles of the business park subdivision, H2Office is a building that blurs architecture, landscape, water management and sustainability. Early on, development guidelines were pushed with the desire to locate the building closer to the water. In breaking the predefined lot line, the “building as a bridge” emerged, reminiscent of the low horizontal bridges of the Canadian prairie landscape.

The narrow volume, supported on thin columns, draws a prairie datum line across the retention pond, offering abundant natural daylight and expansive views of the landscape. Through clear detailing, the exterior butt-jointed, mirrored glazing allows the building to embed itself in its surroundings, reflecting its modulating landscape........more

Zaha Hadid Architect | Hongqiao SOHO | Shanghai | China

A design for a new office and retail destination that aims to provide a strong visual identity close to Hongqiao
Transportation Hub near Shanghai's city centre and Hongqiao Airport .

The building envelope is defined by four elongated elements tied together by a sinuous retail podium and a continuous metallic ribbon that wraps them – a calligraphic gesture which will be highly recognizable. Such simplicity is contrasted by the added complexity of a 'squeeze' applied to the middle area. These moves have the double advantage of configuring intimate courtyards framed by bridges branching off the slabs, and providing dramatic and dynamic views............more

New Main Headquarters | Insurance Company PGGM | Zeist | Holland | Mateo Arquitectura

In the surroundings of the city of Zeist, near Utrecht, the competition was about the need to increase in 25.000 sqm of office space the existing building. At the same time, the project had to solve the parking garage for 1000 cars so that to retrieve a green park.
The project makes the connection between the context and the neighbouring cloister type building, so that to keep the compacity of the volume that helps on the growing logics of the building.......more

The Custom Checkpoint Building | Georgian Border | Geogia | J. MAYER H. architects

The customs checkpoint is situated at the Georgian border to Turkey, at the shore of the Black Sea. With its cantilevering terraces, the tower is used as a viewing platform, with multiple levels overlooking the water and the steep part of the coastline. In addition to the regular customs facilities, the structure also houses a cafeteria, staff rooms and a conference room. The building welcomes visitors to Georgia, representing the progressive upsurge of the country..........more

Office Renovation | 55 Baker Street | London | Make Architects

This radical renovation of a 1950s office building transforms the site into an important new urban amenity. While providing an exceptional range of flexible and highly efficient office spaces, the scheme enhances activity and interest at street level by offering an enriched mix of uses and introducing a substantial new public space to the streetscape.Three glass infills or 'masks' span the voids between existing blocks to create a new facade for the building, with the central glazed section enclosing a seven-storey atrium which is open to the public. The ground floor of the building is entirely re-clad and devoted to retail units, cafes and restaurants serving residents, pedestrians and business employees. At the rear of the building, a new development of twenty-three houses along Rodmarton Street offers affordable, key worker and private accommodation.........more

Office Design | Estudios Terra 240 Office | Brazil | Arquitectos Associados

In a complex topography and a problematic geological situation, this building occupies the descending site with a two storey underground free plan office that allows the definition of a pilotis in the street level. In the upper volume, five duplex units allow flexible use – living and/or working space. The structure is mostly defined by the four V shaped pillars, a design strategy to reduce foundations. The superimposition of two different structure types – the concrete frame with flat slabs in the first three levels and the structural masonry of red brick in the two upper levels – defines the main formal attributes of the building concerning mass and void, openings and surfaces. The intentional absence of walls and fences reinforces the open character of the pilotis, as an attempt to redefine the relation of the building with the public realm.....more

Office Design | BP RR | Rotterdam | The Netherlands | GROUP A

s youngest and largest oil refinery in The Netherlands, BP RR exposes a powerful dynamism which is reflected in the new offices, situated safely in close proximity to the oil refinery. It was the aim of GROUP A to design a building that expresses and accommodates the objectives of the company, including providing a sustainable, safe and healthy working environment for the dedicated staff.

The site along the d'Arcyweg-area is located in the transition zone between the harsh industrial landscape of refineries and the lush green and wetlands of the Brielsemeer directly across the Hartel Canal..........more

Corporate bayon Office and Warehouse | Mexico City | Mexico | DCPP Arquitectos

Corporate Bayon is located in Mexico City. In a land where there were some storage vessels for which they must integrate an office space for two companies and warehouses and storage spaces for a cloth factory.
The intention of the project was to integrate the existing building elements that act as a gateway, and a screen that invites you to discover, acting as the shell of a fruit waiting to be peeled to discover inside.

4180m2 with a program consisting of warehouses and offices, the building unfolds along the linearity of the platform.

This linearity and flatness of the building is broken with access doors on the facade creating motion and in turn another entry of natural light............more

Architectural Design Competition | Global Financial Centre On The Bund | Shanghai | China | OMA

Shanghai is a fragmented collage of different scales and styles. The identity of the city lies in the diversity of traditional, colonial, communist, and "post-modern" architecture united only through the city’s history. The Global Financial Centre on the Bund – yet another mixed-use project among all these opposing elements – has the natural task of addressing and emphasizing all the contradicting qualities of Shanghai without compromising their benefits.......more

Office Design | Gorredijk Building | The Netherlands | Architectuur Bureau

Gorredijk building is a building for different users, namely a publisher, a gallery, a wholesaler of books and a shop. The building is located on the visible location of a business district, adjacent to an ecological zone that forms the transition to the surrounding landscape. We have chosen a shape and a materialization which is entered into relationship with the landscape that is both notable and modest........more

Creative Exchange Workspaces | West Cambridge | England | 5th Studio

Creative Exchange is a publicly-funded building providing shared workspaces for West Cambridgeshire's emerging creative workers and innovators. Creative Exchange demonstrates how considered good design and a supportive client can deliver an inspiring, beautiful and environmentally sustainable building on a challenging budget..........more

Operation Office Design | Ansfelden | Austria | Caramel

The plan for the garage and office building for the state government of upper austria resulted from a limited open design competition in 2002 in which Caramel took first place.

Although the organizer’s brief called for a linear alignment of the functional units, Caramel arranged the main functional units in a u-configuration around a transparent covered interior yard. situated in the west wing are the two-level office building as well as the employees’ changing rooms and washrooms; directly adjacent to these are the special-service shops, e.g. the sandblasting and painting booths........more

The Port City Offices | Rotterdam | The Netherlands | MVSA

The Port City project comprises four office buildings, each with a total floor area of 8000 m². Parking facilities are located underneath the wooden “ship’s deck” on which the buildings are situated. This deck, which is open to the public, will also provide space for small-scale pavilions with cafés and restaurants.
The building by MVSA is situated at the head of the “ship’s deck”. The form of the building is inspired by its position within the urban fabric and its views. The fluidly designed, imposing black volume evokes nautical references............more

Bio-Lake Reception Center | Wuhan | China | Zephyr Architects

This reception center houses exhibition space, conference rooms and administration offices for Bio-lake campus. Next to the entrance plaza and adjacent to the central lake, the building is the symbolic heart of the Bio-lake campus currently under construction.
The overall form and proportions of the building correspond to the program arrangement, which includes a central atrium, models and media exhibition room, and ramps and stairs connecting different floors. The architectural massing of the reception center rises about the elevated plinth. The stone are cladded in such a way to following the geometry line and wrap around the entire building, giving the impression that the building is floating above the ground. ............more

Stand Alone Office Design | Atelier Tenjinyama | Japan | Ikimono Architects

This building was born to be able to hold it to prevent rain and wind.
This building is made only on four pieces of walls and roofs. The primitive constitution showed the possibility that "a person seemed to be able to spend somehow". In fact, it rises in joy and presence of mind and discovery here.
As for the design method, simplicity is clear. Make a box to live, establish the window to be connected to the town, grind a ceiling transparently to look up at the sky, plant a tree to make a bower, make a floor soil so that a root grows, raise a ceiling to be brought up greatly. So there are the scene that is various inside and out, and come across the scene beyond the imagination. This is comfort of the kinds unlike a feeling of outdoor openness. There is comfort to lead to the outside from the place that was followed physically and psychologically, or enjoying wind and rain not to prevent them.......more

Dockland Office Building | Van-der-Smissen-Straße | Hamburg | Germany | BRT Architekten

At the end of Edgar-Engelhard-Kai, between the northern Elbe and the Fischereihafen, the Dockland office building stands like a gateway to the city of Hamburg. The “prow” of the ship-like building cantilevering for almost 40 metres, is a dynamic addition to the “stern” of the neighbouring ferry terminal. The building, supported by a steel-framed construction, contains approximately 9000 square metres of office space. The depth of the building makes it possible to locate communication areas such as kitchens or conference rooms as well as archive areas and print rooms within the central zone of the building. The large, open areas with freely positioned installations create a generous working atmosphere. The users can savour the spectacular panoramic views over the harbour through the glazed facades. For those who don’t have any time during the daytime, they can catch up in the evening: on the rooftop terrace on the upper floor of the building, which can also be reached by guests via an open staircase at the rear of the building........more

Office Design | Max Planck Coal Research Institute awarded "Good Buildings Award" by Mülheim BDA | HPP Architects

The Mülheim branch of the German Association of Architects (BDA) has awarded the “Good Buildings Award” to the Max Planck Coal Research Institute in Mülheim an der Ruhr. The award was announced and conferred at today’s jury session. In addition to the award for the lecture hall, HPP were also awarded a further prize and an honourable mention. The prize-winning buildings receive automatic entry to the state-wide Düsseldorf State Branch of the German Association of Architects (BDA) Architecture Award Competition 2011......more

Hugo Boss Industries Switzerland Office Building | Matteo Thun

In the greenery of Canton Ticino, a 3 stories office building with public areas and self service for 300 people: a transparent volume of glass, steel and concrete, enveloped in a wooden suspended structure. A symbolic facade as a metaphor for a clothes brand: a massive loom weaving the yarns of the corporate organization. A climate and comfort control device: materials, light and air feature a wide, flexible open space for maximum quality workplaces.....more

Client: Hugo Boss Industries Switzerland
Building use: Office building of three stories
Services provided: Architecture, Interior Design, Light Design, Landscaping
Public areas: Lounge, conference rooms, show room and self-service for 300 people
Total building area: 10.500 m2
Material: Glass, larch, concrete
Start date: 2005
End date: 2006
Phase: Completed

Ingleburn Data Centre | MediaHub Australia | Sydney | Australia | Woodhead

MediaHub Australia’s data and program management centre is a new centralised facility for four television program carriers, reaching across Australasia and feeding over 300 stations. The concept brief provided Woodhead the opportunity to make an otherwise pragmatic space into a high tech experience of interconnecting functions. MediaHub Australia is a joint venture between ABC and Win Television, based in Ingleburn in the south west of greater Sydney. Data centres have many common features such as is found in airport buildings, office facilities and industrial buildings. These are within our office. Woodhead has drawn on key competencies found in airport buildings, office facilities and industrial buildings design and bring this knowledge to bear on the MediaHub project; adding value and alacrity to the design and delivery process. Understanding that data centres can have one or multiple users, and the need for future expansion and modular design is a primary planning achievement. The Central Apparatus Room is the data centre component of MediaHub’s operations. The sensitive coordination of the CRAC air conditioning and fire suppression services within floor and ceiling plenums, together with data cabling trays, ensure easy access for maintenance and future expansion. The Operations Centre’s requirement for multiple display screen positions and analysis of various competing sight lines. Our airport experience was vital for the setting out of the master presentation area.....more