KNOX INNOVATION OPPORTUNITY AND SUSTAINABILITY CENTRE BY WOODS BAGOT

KIOSC, Knox Innovation Opportunity and Sustainability Centre, has established a centre of excellence training hub for the delivery of green education and training, focusing on environmental sustainability and responsible management.

The centre presents an exciting opportunity to combine both sustainable practice in building design along with secondary and TAFE (Technical and Further Education) curriculum.  Engaging with seven different schools, the building will also be used by Swinburne University TAFE students.

The design of the building reflects its purpose of operation - sustainability, inclusion and innovation. It includes sustainable materials, energy efficiency through correct building orientation and integration of siting and building fabric with engineering services.

The design comprises a two story building with the main functional areas grouped and separated on each floor. The lower ground floor incorporates five VET/TAFE labs, while the first floor (and main entry point) accommodates the Discovery Centre. The Discovery Centre has been conceived as an immersive environment for students in years 7 to 12, engaging them with the concept of sustainability utilising technology and innovation. 

The circulation space at the upper level includes displays such as interactive models, climatic experiences, and touch screens, showcasing sustainable technologies and developments. The main simulation/presentation space is central to the design of the KIOSC Discovery Centre. It accommodates 100 students for a variety of teaching and learning modes, enriched by multiple touch screens – conceived for use in groups of four students – and an immersive curved projection wall.

Custom designed games and programs have been developed especially for the curriculum. Movable informal furniture enables the space to change with ease for different educational modes. A smaller simulation space features an interactive floor surface and a ceiling-mounted screen to encourage students to move around and engage with technology in different way.

Two discovery labs have been designed to enable the delivery of a science curriculum, including chemistry and physics. They are flexible in design, allowing for different table configurations. Glazing to adjacent spaces has been utilised to showcase the teaching and learning taking place. An external terrace provides a thermal buffer to the eastern-most discovery lab. The terrace has a sustainable landscape which can be used as an external ‘classroom’, further contributing to the sustainable theme of the building.

Glazing has been optimised to the building’s north and south elevations to maximise the potential for natural lighting and to minimise artificial lighting. Solar shading has been provided to glazed walls, minimising direct solar loads and reducing glare. East and west facing glazing has been minimised and where necessary is protected by deep reveals or building overhangs.

Natural ventilation is optimised by the use of operable windows to a minimum of 5% of the building floor area, while the majority of external walls are heavily insulated to minimise heat gain in summer and heat loss in winter.

The themes of ‘reflection’ and ‘refraction’ have informed the design of the northern elevation of the building. A series of cranked vertical sun-blades provide an active overlay to north facing glazing, providing an ever-changing composition to passers-by.

 

 

Location: Melbourne, Australia

Architects: Woods Bagot

Principal In Charge: Sarah Ball

Design Architect: Bruno Mendes

Project Architect: David Ley

Project Team: Matt Si, Richard Galloway, Claire Gardiner

Collaborators: Swinburne University and Schools Consortium

Engineer/Consultant: Meinhardt Group

Builder: Harris HMC

Area: 1,800 sqm

Year: 2012

Client: Swinburne University of Technology & KIOSC Schools Consortium 

Photographs: Peter Bennetts

DÜZCE TEKNOPARK BY II ARCHITECTS

“On November 12th, 1999, the city of Düzce was shook by the 7.2 magnitude Düzce Earthquake. The remaining architecture is a wild mixture of quick reconstructions following the disaster.

In 2002, the University of Düzce was founded to attract young people and has since become a new center and one of the main driving forces for future development in Düzce. The idea and initiative for a new technology center, Düzce TEKNOPARK has its origin at Düzce University represented by Rector Prof. Funda Sivrikaya-Serifoglu and assoc.Prof.

Serkan Subasi and has found broad support in industry with the result of the establishment of Düzce Teknopark A.S.. The building will be situated on a geographic saddle, at the same time being overviewed by Düzce University´s rector´s building while having a great downhill view of the whole Düzce University campus.

The fact that the building can be seen from a bird’s eye view represents an unique situation which requires the “fifth” façade – the roof – to integrate seamlessly in the overall design. Infinity of science and the convergence of industrial and academic research has inspired II Architects int to develop a looping multifunctional mono shell for Düzce TEKNOPARK.

The exterior and interior space is covered by a 3-dimensional, endless, biomorphic double-façade. The environmentally self-sufficient and self-supporting building envelope will house office spaces and research labs for industry and university spin-offs. For the foyer, the double façade twists like a conch shell to an atmospheric entrance space.

In the entrance area the inner skin detaches from the outer shell winding around the main stairs –  twisting and hovering in the air above the foyer, while offering a direct view from the entrance to the inner courtyard.

The monoshell-design of the outer façade is also expected to have a positive impact on the building’s earthquake behavior and microclimate. Its compact shape with a inner courtyard for recreations provides shelter from the heavy winds of this region. As an innovative building for the 21st century, Düzce TEKNOPARK shall represent the pulsating economic and technological development in this region.

It will mark a new era for the city and a strong statement for the positive spirit after the devastating 1999 earthquake. With its innovative “green” concept and the multifunctional mono-shell of the building´s envelope Düzce TEKNOPARK is expected to be a new sparkle in the city´s landscape and a trailblazer of Turkey’s academia and industry.” Description to the architects.

 

 

MAGGIE’S CENTRE BY OMA

The Maggie's Centre in Glasgow has been named Scotland's best building at the nation's annual “architectural Oscars”, held in the Scottish Parliament.

“The aim of a Maggie's centre is to provide an environment of practical and emotional support for people with cancer, their families and friends. Since the opening of the first Maggie's in Edinburgh in 1996, the Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres foundation has grown substantially, commissioning and developing a series of innovative buildings designed by world class architects.

While contemporary architecture has a reputation, deservedly or not, for being at times cold or alienating, the goal of each Maggie's Centre – whether in Glasgow, London, or Hong Kong – is to provide a space where people feel at home and cared for, a space that is warm, receptive, and welcoming.

Maggie's Centres rely on the fundamental precept, often overlooked, that exceptional architecture and innovative spaces can make people feel better – thereby kindling the curiosity and imagination fundamental to feeling alive.

Grand in their ambitions, but designed on a small scale, Maggie's Centres provide a welcome respite from typical institutional hospital architecture. Their spaces are more than merely functional; they serve as a haven for those receiving treatment.

In creating a place to connect and learn from others who are going through similar experiences, Maggie's help patients to develop their sense of confidence and resourcefulness. In 2007, Maggie's approached OMA to design a new centre on the grounds of Gartnavel hospital in Glasgow, close to the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre. OMA designed a single-level building in the form of a ring of interlocking rooms surrounding an internal landscaped courtyard.

Seemingly haphazardly arranged, the building is actually a careful composition of spaces responding to the needs of a Maggie's Centre and providing a refuge for those coping with cancer. Instead of a series isolated rooms, the building is designed as a sequence of interconnected L-shaped figures in plan that create clearly distinguished areas – an arrangement that minimises the need for corridors and hallways and allows the rooms to flow.

The plan has been organized for the spaces to feel casual, almost carefree, allowing one to feel at ease and at home, part of an empathetic community of people. At the same time the design also provides spaces for more personal moments – either in the intimate setting of the counselling rooms, or in smaller nooks and private spaces.

Located in a natural setting, like a pavilion in the woods, the building is both introverted and extroverted: each space has a relationship either to the internal courtyard or to the surrounding woodland and greenery, while certain moments provide views of Glasgow beyond.

With a flat roof and floor levels that respond to the natural topography, the rooms vary in height, with the more intimate areas programmed for private uses such as counselling, and more open and spacious zones for communal use. More than any other space, the internal courtyard provides a place of sanctuary and respite.” Description from architects.

 

Location: Glasgow, Scotland

Architect: OMA

Partners in charge: Rem Koolhaas, Ellen van Loon

Associate In Charge: Richard Hollington Iii

Project Team: Atsuo Arii, Josh Beck, Alexander Giarlis, Stephen Hodgson, Takuya Hosokai, Maria-Chiara Piccinelli, Koen Stockbroekx

Implementation Architects: Keppie

Structure: Sinclair Knight Merz

Services: Kj Tait Engineers

Landscape: Lily Jencks

Fixed Shelves: Vincent De Rijk Year: Completed September 2011
Client: Maggie Keswick Jencks Cancer Caring Centres Trust

CENTER FOR SOLAR ENERGY AND HYDROGEN RESEARCH BY HENNING LARSEN

The new research building in Stuttgart is designed as a grid of small units to meet the requirement for a highly flexible workplace that serves as a dynamic framework for the ongoing research and innovation activities of the centre. The Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research comprises offices, laboratories, meeting and conference facilities.

“The grid structure of the research centre ensures a high degree of mobility and freedom to change and expand the building”, explains Design Director Louis Becker, Henning Larsen Architects. “The building has a rational design and is organised in modules. This creates visual contact across the atriums and green oases, which the researchers can use for work or informal meetings.”

Carefully integrated into the surrounding context, the building features various heights that relate to the city and adjacent buildings. The building will create a new, distinctive entrance to Stuttgarter Engineering Park and provide an insight into the ongoing research.

The new Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research situated in STEP, Stuttgarter Engineering Park [1], will house researchers conducting research on sustainable technologies and energy forms. The flexible building design allows for it to be adapted to new, changed research requirements in the future.

”We look very much forward to the collaboration. The researchers of the centre hold a world-leading position in their field, sustainable technology and energy forms. The research has been integrated into the facade design”, says Werner Frosch, General Manager of Henning Larsen Architects Munich.

The Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research meets strict, German requirements for sustainability. Through the design process, the energy consumption of the building has continually been simulated through studies of volume, material selection, ceiling height, light and shadow, sound, wind and opportunity for indoor and outdoor spaces. By selecting and fully exploiting the most efficient solutions, the energy consumption of the centre has been minimised. Particularly, an effective use of daylight has contributed to reducing the energy consumption. 

The Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research covers 13,000 m2 and is expected to be completed in 2016. The Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW) in Stuttgart is one of Germany’s leading research institutions and conducts research on renewable energy. The centre employs a staff of more than 220 researchers, engineers and technicians who are distributed across several offices in Germany, more specifically in Stuttgart, Ulm and Widderstall. Descripton of Henning Larsen Architects.

[1] The Stuttgarter Engineering Park StEP is a modern industrial estate. Three already finished phases of construction offer 18.000 m² industrial floor space which is utilized by 17 companies with a whole of approx. 600 employees.

When finished in 2005 the Stuttgarter Engineering Park will offer an environment for 6000 jobs mostly in the area of telecommunications and new media with an overall floor space of roughly 150.000 m². The actual phase of construction StEP 4  includes an infrastructure building with a centralized offer of services for the whole engineering parc.

On top of this building one of the most modern Fitness and Wellness studios will offer its services on 2.500 m² - VitaParc StEP. The whole planning and construction of this facility is led by the Knut Büngen GmbH, Cuxhaven. Operator of this mediterranean highlight is the VitaParc Vaihingen GmbH, Stuttgart.

Location: Stuttgart, Germany

Architects: Henning Larsen Architects

Team: Henning Larsen Architects, Transsolar, Knippers Helbig and ZWP Ingenieur AG

Collaborators: Louis Becker (Partner), Werner Frosch (Project Director), Kostas Poulopoulos (Lead Design Architect), Ósbjørn Jacobsen, Andreas Schulte, Maine Godderidge, Silke Jörgenshaus, Blanca Ulzurrun, Emil Skibsted Tranæs, Laura Schmitt and Julia Menz

Sustainability Concept: Signe Kongebro, Jakob Strømann-Andersen, Lise Mansfeldt Faurbjerg and Kalle Park

Area: 13,000 m2

Client: ZSW Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung

Type of Assignment: 1st prize in invited, international competition