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EFFEKT has been awarded first prize in a competition to transform a disused train shed in Esbjerg, Denmark with their proposal to transform the roundhouse-style industrial structure into a home for skating and a host of other street culture activities. Entitled Streetmekka, the design restores the industrial shed's original circular geometry, incorporating indoor facilities for transition and bowl skating, basketball courts, a street dance area, workshop areas for DJ-schools and street art as well as meeting rooms, administration offices, a cafe, kitchen, changing rooms and a large social area and reception. In the heart of the circular compound, the design features an enclosed street sport plaza and large outdoor social space.

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To address issues surrounding Asia’s aging population and food scarcity, SPARK has unveiled a conceptual project the blends affordable retirement housing with urban farming. The proposal, titled "Home Farm," integrates vertical aquaponic farming and rooftop soil planting with high-density housing designed for seniors that provides residents with a desirable garden environment and opportunities for post-retirement employment.

"We designed this concept for Singapore," says SPARK Director Stephen Pimbley, "but there is the potential for it to be applied in any location that would support the growth of leafy green vegetables on building facades and rooftops." He continues, "We are keen to see this project materialise at some point in the future. The concept is a realizable solution to real and pressing problems faced by many of the world’s growing cities."

Read on to learn more about the concept.

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Stockholm-based practice Utopia Arkitekter has been selected to design a new travel centre in Uppsala after their "sculptural, eye-catching jewel of a building" won the municipal design contest. Featuring a travel centre, fitness centre and restaurant on the lower floors and offices in the floors above, the building aims for LEED Platinum certification. The design revolves around the incorporation of bicycles, providing commuters with extensive bicycle parking facilities as well as changing room and shower facilities for a convenient transfer from bicycle to train.

More on the design after the break

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As part of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne's Malmo Quay development masterplanned by URBED, AWP Office for Territorial Reconfiguration has designed a cycle hub and community hall with a gradually ascending ramp that leads to a lookout platform with views of the surrounding Newcastle Quayside and Ouseburn Valley. Though this distinctive ramp and lookout will be a landmark at a prominent location on the Tyne river, AWP states that "by revealing a new perspective of the city and the Valley, the cycle hub will become a landmark celebrated precisely for the view it creates," rather than merely for its striking appearance above the roofline of the cycle hub below.

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Berlin-based Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA) has designed a 180-room hostel for the Bavarian Youth Hostel Association in Bayreuth, Germany. Designed for the sociable Generation Y traveler, the hostel offers an abundance of flexible public spaces featuring bright colours and soaring windows overlooking the Bavarian landscape. Touted by the firm as a "yardstick for the sports hostel of the future," the futuristic building includes modular furniture and universal step-free access throughout all facilities, grounds, and sports fields. Circulation for the design centres on a Y-shaped plan designed to maximize natural light light while providing ample opportunities for athletic engagement.

Find out more about Bayreuth's futuristic Youth Hostel after the break 

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