CVDB Arquitectos has won a competition for a new student accommodation block at Lisbon University's Pólo da Ajuda campus. The building consists of three interconnected but structurally separate units arranged around a central courtyard, with the internal layout being determined by the modular unit of the individual bedrooms. On the South side of the building, at street level, the building's communal spaces and vital services provide a sense of transparency in the otherwise opaque building, connecting the central courtyard and the life of the students to the street outside.
SYAA has just been named first prize winners for their design of a new Natural Science Museum Complex in Constanta, Romania. Proposed at an unprecedented scale for the region, the design seeks to become a significant destination in the Black Sea tourist industry. Incorporating features of an amusement and leisure park into the program of a science museum, SYAA proposes a building equipped to adapt to a diverse variety of public activities and events. Some of the primary functions will include an aquarium, dolphinarium, exotarium and tropical greenhouses, planetarium, and observatory.