© Alex Morris Visualisation

John Pawson, OMA, West 8 and Arup were all asked to come together to design The New Design Museum in London. Their design will accommodate up to 500,000 visitors per year. Notable for its superb complex hyperbolic paraboloid copper roof intended by the architects to symbolize a tent in the park, it is regarded by English Heritage as the second most important modern building in London, after the Royal Festival Hall. Plans to bring the new design to fruition is scheduled to be completed by 2014. More images and architects’ description after the break. read more »

Courtesy of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF)

International architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) recenlty announced the inaugural exhibition at its new gallery space in central London, a celebration of the work of German artist and architectural photographer Hans‐Georg Esch. Shown in the UK for the first time, the exhibition presents a selection of photographs taken from Esch’s ‘Cities Unknown’ series. More images and information on the exhibition after the break. read more »

aerial 01

Grimshaw Architects recently announced that they have been selected by the All England Lawn Tennis Club to design their “Wimbledon 2020” masterplan for future development requirements. After a competitive selection process, it was decided that they will design the new masterplan to continue the previous ‘Long Term Plan’, which was commissioned in 1993 and completed in June 2011.  Working with such a prestigious British and internationally renowned institution, Grimshaw will embrace Wimbledon’s unique history of tradition and innovation to enhance further its position as the pre-eminent tennis Grand Slam. Another image of their design can be viewed after the break. read more »

Courtesy of V&A

This February until the first week of July, a selection of photographs and architectural drawings will be displayed at the V&A Museum of Childhood to celebrate the 140th anniversary of the Museum opening in Bethnal Green. A Museum of Art and Science was officially opened by the Prince of Wales on 24 June 1872. More information on the event after the break. read more »

Courtesy of Building Trust International

Building Trust International will be hosting an exhibition of sustainable, modular, mobile school designs for migrant and refugee populations at a POP up space open to the general public from 10am-7pm on Oxford St, London from February 3-10.

The event will showcase the winning and shortlisted designs from their recent “School 4 Burma” competition. The exhibition will invite a wide range of distinguished architects and designers to attend which will further widen the exposure of the fantastic designs and continue the support for their “School 4 Burma” project.

UK Pavilion, Seed Cathedral. Shanghai Expo, China, 2010 © Iwan Baan

As part of a season of events celebrating British design, the V&A presents the first major solo exhibition of the work of one of the most inventive and experimental British design studios practicing today.

This exhibition, taking place from May 31 to September 30, will show the enormous variety of projects that Heatherwick Studio have worked on over the last two decades spanning the disciplines of architecture, sculpture, engineering, furniture and product design. Bringing together prototypes, objects of inspiration, models and finished pieces, the exhibition will reveal the Studio’s creative process and spirit of curiosity. Visitors to the V&A at this time can also enjoy free entry to a spectacular specially-commissioned installation in the Museum’s John Madejski Garden. For more information, please visit here.

Courtesy of Make Architects

Ocubis Ltd, development manager for owners Laffly Ltd, has announced that planning permission has been granted by the London Borough of Camden in early December for the comprehensive renovation and redevelopment of 150 Holborn, situated at the corner of Holborn and Grays Inn Road. The building designed by Make Architects, which is located immediately adjacent to Chancery Lane Tube station, will be substantially remodelled and extended to create 80,000 sq ft prime office space and six one, two and three-bedroom apartments, which together complement the existing 30,000 sq ft of retail space at ground-floor level. More images and project description after the break. read more »

Courtesy of RIBA

National land charity the Land Trust and RIBA Competitions launched an international competition this week until the last week in March to find the most inspirational design and funding team to create a new visitor destination and public open space at the former Cronton Colliery in Knowsley. The competition is open to architects and architect-led multi-disciplinary design teams and will be in two stages, judged anonymously in the first stage. A shortlist will then be invited to enhance and present their designs and potential funding propositions at interview as part of the second stage. More information on  the competition after the break. read more »

© Carmody Groarke

Carmody Groarke were recently announced as the winners of the RIBA competition to redevelop the Windermere Steamboat Museum in the Lake District National Park. Earlier this year, the Lakeland Arts Trust secured initial support for a £7.4m Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) bid*, including £494,000 development funding, to take the project forward. The project aims to create an exciting and active museum which will use the lake and the stunning lakeside setting to display the nationally significant collection of steam launches, motor boats, yachts and other vessels which are all associated with Windermere. More images and project description after the break. read more »

Forecourt and St Stephen Walbrook at night © OMA by Philippe Ruault

OMA recently completed their first building in London. The new 21,000sqm building is located in the narrow medieval alley of St Swithin’s Lane, in the heart of the City, a dense context where OMA’s precise intervention is able to blend and become an active urban piece.

The building, thanks to its structural steel design, is lifted from the ground exposing new situations, connections and views, detonator of a new  streetscape where the public realm is as important as the office space above.

You can see Rem Koolhaas and Ellen van Loon discussing this project on a video posted earlier at ArchDaily.

More information courtesy of OMA after the break:

Project: Rothschild Bank Headquarters
Year: 2011
Client: NM Rothschild & Sons
Location: St Swithin’s Lane, City of London
Site: New Court, enclosed in cluster of buildings, adjacent to the 17th century St. Stephen Walbrook church; with main entrance on the narrow St. Swithin’s Lane
Program: Office headquarters: 13,000m2
Partners in charge: Rem Koolhaas, Ellen van Loon

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© Peter Guthrie

Strom Architects shared with us their design for a private house located in Suffolk, UK, which has been rendered with great quality by by Peter Guthrie. The client was aiming for country house – ‘a dream in a wood’, a peaceful place to relax, regenerate, and think of new ideas. So the architects created with a linear design that has picked up on the building form – the ‘long cottage’ found along Iken Common, and one can see the design as an evolution of the longitudinal cottage. More images and architects’ description after the break. read more »

Opening in 2013, the Library of Birmingham will be a major new cultural destination, rewriting the book for 21st century public libraries. Designed by international architects Mecanoo, the Library of Birmingham will be located in the city’s Centenary Square. Recently, the author of the architectural videos blog shared with us his time lapse video of the building.

© 3D Reid Architects

Architect: 3DReid Architects
Project Year: 2006 (Phase 1) – 2010 (Phase 2)
Engineer: Buro Happold
Contractor: TAG Construction Management
Quantity Surveyor: Cyril Sweett
Landscape Architect: Lovejoy
Structural Steelwork: Rowecord Engineering
External Cladding: Mero
Glazing: Compass Glass
Photography: 3DReid Architects

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Courtesy of RIBA

The Brazilian architecture offices based in São Paulo, Estúdio ARKIZ and MMBB, were invited by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Brazilian embassy in London to represent South America in the Cities of Tomorrow Talks event, that will take place in October at 6:30pm the RIBA Headquarters in London, UK. More information on the event after the break. read more »

Courtesy of New Town Studio

Inspired by the existing lattice pylon originally designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield RA in 1927, New Town Studio, who was recently shortlisted for the Pylon Design Competition, uses a lattice steel framework to create a vertical structure which retains the transparent and open qualities of the original in a more modest form to be visually and symbolically appropriate for today. More on the project after the break. read more »

Courtesy of PAD

Idyllically located on the mud flats of the Exbury bank of the Bealieu River, The Egg is a project that young architectural practice, Perring Architecture + Design (PAD), are developing in partnership with ArtSway, a contemporary visual arts organization based in the New Forest . The project was initially conceived to bring together architects, artists and engineers to collaborate on exploring new models for rural architecture, through a series of temporary buildings in the New Forest National Park. The buildings will be a resource for interaction and debate on issues of sustainability, recycling, energy conservation and rural development, with artists’ inhabitation and activity as the catalyst. More images and architects’ description after the break. read more »

supported housing accomodation / © FBN Architects LLP 2011

FBN Architects recently received planning approval for 55 dwellings on the site of the former South Primary School in Paisley at 103-109 Neilston Road for Loretto Housing Association. The design includes 37 socially rented houses that surround a landscaped central square and shared surface, 6 townhouses that line Neilston Road and a courtyard building, which houses 10 supported flats for young adults as well as a staff base. More image and project description after the break. read more »

© holdUP

Designed by holdUP & BLOO NATION, the Waving Wall of Chalkwell is an art installation commissioned by Metal comprising of over 1200, 19L water cooler bottles, demonstrating the vast journey water takes as well as the amount of water used in the production of certain products; a few of which have been depicted in small cabinets, along with information regarding their water consumption. More images and a brief description after the break. read more »

© Robin Hayes Photography

Architects: Methodic Practice
Location: Ilford, England
Project Area: 200 sqm
Photographs: Robin Hayes Photography

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© Hufton+Crow

Architect: Stanton Williams
Location: Cambridge, United Kingdom
Client: The University of Cambridge
Main Contractor: Kier Regional
Civil and Structural Engineer: Adams Kara Taylor
Building Services Engineer: Arup
Landscape Architects: Christopher Bradley-Hole Landscape and Schoenaich Landscape Architects
Project Area: 11,000 sqm
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: Hufton+Crow

Cambridge University Botanic Garden was conceived in 1831 by Charles Darwin’s guide and mentor, Professor Henslow, as a working research tool in which the diversity of plant species would be systematically ordered and catalogued. Completed in December 2010, the Sainsbury Laboratory develops Henslow’s agenda in seeking to advance understanding of how this diversity comes about. Its design was therefore shaped by the intention that the Laboratory’s architecture would express its integral relationship with the Garden beyond.

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