Tag: factory-renovation | ArchDaily

Calibrated Rawness: Studio 1:1 and the Discipline of Making in Hong Kong and Beyond

Jonathan Yeung — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 05:00:00 +0000

In Hong Kong, where interiors and small buildings are routinely caught between two extremes—high-gloss "luxury" finishes on one end, and budget-cautious industrial roughness on the other—a third attitude has emerged through the calibration of both: a uniquely precise, relevant, and materially honest execution that is not dependent on price point. This is calibrated rawness. Calibrated rawness describes an architecture that retains the directness of matter and materiality—concrete, metal, blockwork, exposed structure, visible services—while subjecting it to rigorous control.

Studioninedots Transforms a Former Tobacco Factory into a Mixed-Use Urban Complex in Groningen, Netherlands

Antonia Piñeiro — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 05:30:00 +0000

Studioninedots is leading the transformation of a 200-year-old tobacco factory site into Niemeyer, a mixed-use urban complex accommodating digital innovation, cultural venues, hospitality, education, and manufacturing within the existing industrial buildings. Located on Paterswoldseweg in Groningen, the Netherlands, the 38,000 m² project is commissioned by MWPO, with MWPO and Campus Groningen jointly acting as clients for the Shared Facilities. Currently in the design phase (2023–2025), the project's provisional timelines indicate a phased construction start beginning with the factory's southern section in 2026, followed by the northern section in 2027. The Amsterdam-based office's proposal opens the formerly closed industrial ensemble to the public, introducing cafés, galleries, workshops, and shared workspaces distributed across interior streets and adjacent park areas.

Van Nelle Factory: The Story Behind a Modernist Icon in Rotterdam

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 04:00:00 +0000

The Van Nelle Factory, located in Rotterdam, is one of the most significant examples of Modernist Industrial Architecture. Designed by Johannes Andreas Brinkman and Leendert van der Vlugt between 1925 and 1931, with the involvement of Mart Stam — a pioneer in modernist furniture design and architecture — the factory was conceived as a progressive and functional building for processing coffee, tea, and tobacco.

The Legacy of the Sawtooth Roof, an Icon of Industrial Architecture

James Wormald — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 04:00:00 +0000

A historic symbol of the industrial age, the sawtooth roof is a lasting legacy of architectural history. Although a functional invention born from necessity nearly 200 years ago, the iconic shape is enjoying a renaissance in many contemporary projects.

Industrial Nouveau: Dramatic Renovation Projects Reimagining Urban Life

Eric Baldwin — Sat, 09 Sep 2023 07:30:00 +0000

No building stands in isolation. Engaging environmental and cultural networks, architecture is an inherently grounded art. As such, limits, constraints, and restrictions drive the design process forward, engendering solutions that celebrate the world as we find it. Embodying this dynamic, renovations and adaptive reuse projects embrace challenging problems and existing conditions. This is especially true when working with industrial buildings, places where machinery, manufacturing, and power combine.

Urban Agency and COBE Design Master Plan for Esch-Sur-Alzette in Luxembourg

Paula Cano — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 05:30:00 +0000

Urban Agency, in partnership with COBE, won in 2019 a competition to transform a former steel factory into an 850,000 square meters car-free mixed-use district. The industrial site is planned to become a mixed-use district, with housing for over 8,000 new residents, office spaces, schools, workshop spaces, and 268,000 square meters of landscape, including a reactivated river area. The master plan strategies focus on urban nature, renaturalization, preservation and reuse, car-free streets, and an adapted dense mix of buildings and functions.

Aga Khan Award for Architecture Announces Winners of the 2020-2022 Cycle

Paula Cano — Fri, 23 Sep 2022 04:30:00 +0000

Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) announced the winners of the 2022 edition. From a pool of 463 projects nominated for the 15th Award Cycle (2020-2022), the six winners show examples of architectural excellence in the fields of contemporary design, social housing, community improvement and development, historic preservation, reuse and area conservation, as well as landscape design and improvement of the environment. Two projects from Bangladesh, one from Indonesia, Iran, Lebanon, and Senegal, will share the UDS 1 million award, one of the largest in architecture.

Foster + Partners Transforms Historic Industrial Building into Offices for Acciona in Madrid, Spain

Christele Harrouk — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 06:30:00 +0000

Foster + Partners is leading massive refurbishment works on a historic building in Madrid. The renovation project that will put in place an office building for Acciona, seeks to revitalize an abandoned old industrial building built in 1905, generating over 10,000 square-meters of new spaces.

Kjellander Sjoberg to Transform Former Shipbuilding Industry into Vibrant Creative Hub in Malmö, Sweden

Christele Harrouk — Tue, 01 Dec 2020 06:30:00 +0000

Kjellander Sjoberg has revealed plans to transform the historical building Gjuteriet into an innovative, open public meeting place. Located in the Varvstaden district, a new sustainable neighborhood in Malmö, Sweden, the project will become a contemporary and versatile work environment. Fitting 300 workspaces across 4,600 sq. m., the building also includes meeting rooms, open lounges, conference rooms, a conservatory, studios, exhibition spaces, a test kitchen, and wellness facilities.

A Post-Pandemic Futuristic Middle School and a Super Green Campus in Shenzhen: 12 Unbuilt Projects Submitted by our Readers

Christele Harrouk — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 07:35:00 +0000

Putting together competition entries from all around the world, this week’s curated feature for Best Unbuilt Architecture showcases inspiring approaches and concepts. Submitted by our readers, the selection highlights uncommon proposals, part of international contests. While some are winning projects, others received honorable mentions.

An Indonesian Smart City Design and a Contemporary Art School in Vienna: 10 Unbuilt Projects Submitted by our Readers

Christele Harrouk — Wed, 06 May 2020 07:35:00 +0000

Presented part of international competitions, this week’s best-unbuilt architecture gathers award-winning projects submitted by our readers. Highlighting as usual diverse approaches from across the globe, ArchDaily is rounding up in this article, a curated selection of cultural, civic, and urban proposals.

Grinding Factory 5Lmeet / DAGA Architects

舒岳康 - SHU Yuekang — Tue, 14 May 2019 23:00:00 +0000

The project is located in the Hutong of the Beijing West Grinding Factory, a small courtyard originally known as Ruihua Dyestuff in the Republic of China. This project is designed to transform the historic traditional courtyard into an attractive long-term rental apartment in Beijing.