This week's curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights designs submitted by established architecture practices, featuring conceptual works, competition entries and projects in different stages of development. From the transformation of a former mall into a healthcare facility in the United States, a masterplan for the redevelopment of a zoo in Canada to a brewery regeneration in China, the following explores a variety of designs by global architecture offices.
Featuring firms like Perkins +Will, Henning Larsen Architects, URBANUS or Mandaworks, this week's selection of unbuilt projects highlights worldwide interventions that illustrate a variety of ideas, from adaptive-reuse strategies, interventions in heritage sites and new models for public buildings.
Read on to discover the 8 unbuilt projects, along with their descriptions from the architects.
New Goyang City Hall
Now Architects, ING Group Archi, Henning Larsen A/S
The New City Hall is composed of various programs that show spaces with different characteristics on a diverse scale. Each program connects and harmonizes with the surrounding environment such as the neighbourhood residential area in the east, the old downtown area in the north, and the Daejang Cheon Stream to the southwest. We proposed the city hall campus as a democratic place for citizens, politicians, and public officers. Easy-to-access programs such as libraries, cafes, community centers, and auditoriums are arranged around the central plaza to form a public community platform.
The Toronto Zoo Master Plan
Nestled in the Rouge River Valley and a stone’s throw from the vibrant downtown core is the beloved Toronto Zoo, an incredibly well-visited, unique Toronto attraction. Needs are shifting, requiring a re-thinking of the site to better serve the many species that call the Zoo home. A Mandaworks led comprehensive Toronto Zoo Master Plan injects energy into a bustling yet ageing site while also providing a blueprint for the evolution of the Zoo covering the next twenty years.
Fábrica de Conservas
The former canning factory Brandão & Companhia Ltd is part of the Matosinhos Sul Urbanization Plan by architect Álvaro Siza and occupies a privileged position in the city. This emblematic building, part of the collective memory of the place, had different uses over time, being subject to several interventions that mischaracterized it. By contrast, the proposal aims to fill in the urban fabric with an innovative project that compliments the pre-existing, reconstructing the original building envelope and chimney, while responding to a very special program: a mixed-use development, which brings together the facilities of a medical laboratory, health clinic, offices, commercial spaces and collective housing.
Holborn Viaduct
PLP Architecture has designed a new office building that will sit adjacent to the Grade II listed Holborn Viaduct, marking a gateway to the Cultural Mile and significantly enhancing the public realm and pedestrian connectivity. The architectural language is a response to the building’s context and is shaped to enhance the setting of the listed south-eastern gatehouse – one of four that frame the Holborn Viaduct bridge. Portland Stone, reused from the existing buildings, will form a new masonry base on Farringdon Street and weave the gatehouse back into the streetscape.
The Arc
Ghelamco, the major European pioneering real estate business, renowned for the creation of sustainable, energy neutral concepts, has officially launched The Arc, a mixed-use hub – its first venture into the UK property market. Established in 1985 by Paul Gheysens, the family-owned business is now spearheaded in the UK by his 27-year old daughter Marie-Julie. Beyond creating urban homes, offices and retail, the developer’s track record includes branded residences, golf courses, football stadiums and hotels.
University of Rochester Orthopaedics & Physical Performance Center
S/L/A/M Collaborative and Perkins&Will
Former Sears is transformed into the new University of Rochester Orthopaedics & Physical Performance Center – one of the largest orthopaedics outpatient facilities in the Northeast. The new facility reflects a convergence between the surge in e-commerce resulting in available retail spaces and growing demand for more robust healthcare infrastructure across the country. The new facility reflects a current urgency to find design solutions that expand infrastructure into underserved regions, helping to address the country's healthcare equity gaps. One of the goals for the design team was to foster a feeling of familiarity and accessibility.
Kingway Brewery Regeneration
Kingway Beer has been the collective memory of Shenzheners, especially among the pioneer newcomers and migrant workers from all over China to pursue their dreams in this frontier city of China’s reform and opening-up. URBANUS believes that the preservation and regeneration of an old industrial heritage can reposition a place and revive its spirit. The industrial heritage should not merely become another consumer product in the post-industrial age. Therefore, URBANUS proposes the novel concept of “on-site self-rejuvenation”, striving to preserve the architectural aesthetics, collective memory and intrinsic characteristics of the brewery in the renovation design to make it a showcase of the city’s unique spirit.
Université Française d'Égypte
Jakob + MacFarlane and Raafat Miller Consulting
The entire campus design is shaped according to the two dominant natural forces of the Egyptian landscape: the sun and the Nile. An overhead solar panel shade roof shelters the campus and provides energy. Gray water from the accommodation areas will be captured and repurposed for landscape irrigation via a filtration system. Traditional architectural principles will be integrated into the buildings with a contemporary twist. Structures evoking barjeel wind towers harnessed with modern mechanics will facilitate air circulation, and sunken gardens of endemic desert plants are present throughout, aiding in water conservation as well as providing outdoor lecture spaces.
HOW TO SUBMIT AN UNBUILT PROJECT
We highly appreciate the input from our readers and are always happy to see more projects designed by them. If you have an Unbuilt project to submit, click here and follow the guidelines. Our curators will review your submission and get back to you in case it is selected for a feature.
