VOLUME 33 NO 4C(N)
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COMMERCIAL DESIGN TRENDS While the quest for large inner city residential towers continues, there’s a realisation that this style of apartment doesn’t suit everyone’s lifestyle. In this issue of Commercial Design Trends we look at how developers and architects are creating smaller scale, boutique apartment developments on the city fringes – either building from new or through adaptive re-use of heritage buildings. We also showcase the workplace sector, from high-end commercial office to a unique environment that aims to appeal to hardware engineers as well as designers. Plus there’s coverage of La Seine Musicale in Paris – the latest project by architect Shigeru Ban. All Commercial Design Trends content – and much, much more – can also be accessed online at trendsideas.com Head there now to use our extensive online resource of top local and international projects and products.
HIGHLIGHTS Editorial Director Paul Taylor – paul.taylor@trendsideas.com Sales Judy Johnson – judy.johnson@trendsideas.com Costas Dedes – costas.dedes@trendsideas.com Leslie Johnson – leslie.johnson@trendsideas.com
Architect Shigeru Ban’s sail-like structure of solar panels at La Seine Musicale tracks around to follow the sun for maximum efficiency. Go to trendsideas.com to see Ban’s Christchurch Cardboard Cathedral.
The fritted glass facade at Christchurch’s PwC Centre provides a degree of solar shading without significantly interrupting views from inside. See more facade design ideas at trendsideas.com
Technology that enables working at home or on the road hasn’t killed off the bricks-and-mortar office according to Damien Sheehan of Regus. You’ll find more market reports at trendsideas.com
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CONTENTS
Highlights from this issue of Commercial Design Trends
La Seine Musicale, Paris
The Crossing, Christchurch
Hutt City Council, Wellington
PWC Centre, Christchurch
Savills, Sydney
Supplyframe DesignLab, Pasadena
Scanlan Lofts, Auckland
Heirloom, Fremantle
La GĂŠode, Montreal
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SECTION FOCUS PROJECT PORTFOLIO
MAKING ITS MARK Architecture in the public domain provides an opportunity to create buildings that make significant visual impact to announce their presence
Project La Seine Musicale
Location: Seguin Island, Paris
Architect: Shigeru Ban
WATER MUSIC Looking like a fabulous jewelled beetle adrift on the river, La Seine Musicale has a unique presence – architect Shigeru Ban talks about his spectacular design
Previous pages:The glass-clad Auditorium is the crowning glory on the top of La Seine Musicale. Below:A giant LED screen on the façade facing the Parvis, or enclosed area, of La Seine Musicale allows concerts to be viewed outside for free. Behind is Grande Seine – the larger of the two halls at La Seine Musicale, with seating for 4000-6000.
La Seine Musicale is a multi-purpose musical facility on Seguin Island, in Boulogne-Billancourt in the western suburbs of Paris. Previously, the island was home to the old Renault manufacturing plant, which closed in 1992. After an interceding plan to build a museum there was cancelled, the city officials of BoulogneBillancourt were inspired afresh by the Nomadic Museum, which I had constructed in New York in 2005. They asked me to design a temporary art museum using shipping containers and paper tubes for the island while waiting further redevelopment. However, this plan was also cancelled. In 2010, the department of Hauts-de-Seine, to
which Boulogne-Billancourt belongs, bought the island for one euro. Subsequently, architect Jean Nouvel designed the masterplan for the island and two years later, in 2012, a competition was held for the building of a multi-purpose musical facility on the island. We prepared many drawings, perspectives and models for the venue and were one of only three teams selected to continue after the first round. Then, we made more detailed plans and image videos and finally our team won the competition in 2013. This process had run for one and half years. The available site was 330m long, running along a narrowing edge of the Seguin Island. The Eiffel
Left:Undressed exposed concrete clads Le Seine Musical. Architect Shigeru Ban chose the industrial finish to reference the Renault factory that had occupied Seguin Island in years gone by. The aptly named, glass-shuttered Porte Guillotine entry is seen here. Below:Grand approach – the theatricality of the Auditorium is apparent even when approaching the 1150-seat, classic concert venue.
Tower happens to be almost as long and as wide as the site. Here, we have designed a musical facility with the total floor area of 36,500m2. This includes a multi-use concert hall – Grande Seine – with seating for 4000-6000, together with a classic concert hall – Auditorium – which incorporates 1150 seats, a music school, and retail. Hauts-de-Seine, our client, had wanted us to design something monumental and symbolic for the west gate of Paris. However, instead of making an unusual-shaped building, I created a precious “jewel” – the Auditorium.
This is a vineyard-style concert hall where the seating surrounds the stage. Its form is egg-like and its surface covered with mosaic tiles which change colour from emerald green to bronze red according to the lighting and the angle of vision. The mosaic tile was custom produced for this project, inspired by the Japanese Tamamushi beetle. The foyer around the Auditorium is covered with glass cladding set within a wooden structure. A condition required for the competition was the inclusion of 3000m2 solar panels. However, instead of the usual locating of the panels on top of the
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Below:A sail comprised of solar panels appears to unfurl around the Auditorium. The kinetic sail follows the sun to maximise efficiency.
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Below right:The Auditorium foyer is essentially another layer on the building, built in glass and wood, also seen here in section. roof, I designed a triangular sail-form in solar panels and shaped this around the auditorium. The sail form moves according to the sunlight, just as an ordinary sail moves in response to wind. Thanks to its operation, the sail is facing the sun all the time, which allows an efficient power production and also creates a shade for the foyer of Auditorium. Inside the Auditorium, I have covered the wall with corrugated wooden stripes. These are created in several typographies by composing the same single module differently in response to its specific required acoustic reflection and absorption. The
variety of patterns ensures a homogeneous diffusion of the sound wave and good acoustic quality at all the seats, and also creates different shadows. While designing, I paid a lot of attention to Jean Nouvel’s masterplan of the entire island. For the exterior, I designed massive walls using undressed/ exposed concrete, since the masterplan required something brutal like the island’s earlier occupant, the former Renault plant. And in contrast to its exterior appearance, I created a jewel of La Seine Musicale, which is the Auditorium. I have also extended the commercial axis, which
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was defined in the masterplan of the entire island, throughout the building. When there is no concert, the glass shuttered Porte Guillotine and bi-folding Porte Pliante open up so that the public can go across the Interior Street (Rue Intérieure). Once inside, visitors can walk along past shops, the ticket office, restaurants, the foyer and on past windows where you can see into the rehearsal rooms. This street leads you to the Place Rodin, a sculptural terrace located at the point of the island. The island’s green belt – the other axis defined
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in the masterplan – extends to La Seine Musicale. You can go up the monumental exterior stairs to access the rooftop garden above Grande Seine. This was not a client’s request but my own desire to build public facilities such as museums and concert halls that are open for everyone. In other words, I like to invite citizens who aren’t used to visiting such facilities, as well as music and art devotees. The Interior Street and the roof top garden of La Seine Musicale are examples of this. And the
Above:The Auditorium – located inside the jewel-like structure – seats 1150. Individual corrugated wooden stripes, all composed from the same single module, are shaped differently according to their required acoustic reflection and absorption qualities.
Story by Charles Moxham Photography by Didier Boy de la Tour
giant LED screen on the façade facing the Parvis, or enclosed area, is another example. Essentially, I placed the biggest screen in Europe there hoping people who don’t actually have tickets can still enjoy the performances taking place inside the two halls.
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Project:La Seine Musicale Location:Seguin Island, Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris Architect:Shigeru Ban Architects Europe (SBAE) and Jean de Gastines Architectes Structural engineer:Setec Travaux Publics et Industriels Mechanical engineer:Artelia Timber framing:Blumer-Lehmann AG Stage and hall equipment design:dUCKS Scéno Acoustics:Lamourex Acoustics Hall acoustics:Nagata Acoustics Facade:RFR (construction document) Facade:T/E/S/S atelier d’ingénierie Landscape design:Bassinet Turquin Paysage
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Project The Crossing
Location: Christchurch
Architect: Wilson and Hill Architects
Developer Carter Group
RETAIL HUB WITH HEART An entire inner-city block has been transformed into a new retail mecca for Christchurch – however, the massive development is on a very human scale
Christchurch is fundamentally changing. The seismic events that tragically raised much of the city also cleared the way for a vibrant new heart. Many new buildings going up are as large as they are structurally and architecturally impressive, but The Crossing – developed by Carter Group and designed by Wilson and Hill Architects – creates an intimate kind of retail experience, with an air of discovery and variety at every turn. Carter Group’s Philip Carter, the driver behind the substantial, forward-looking development, says
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The Crossing is a vibrant, world-class retail and office hub that offers a drawcard for locals and visitors alike. “There’s always risk with a project of this magnitude, but The Crossing is Carter Group’s way of showing leadership and confidence in the rebuild of the Christchurch CBD,” says Carter. “Together with other dynamic developments, The Crossing gives the inner city a new heart and pumps life back into the retail precinct as a whole.” With about 44,000m2 of space, the development is
Below:A 1935 building has been restored and reinforced and forms an historic cornerstone for The Crossing in central Christchurch. The existing airbridge will connect to Ballantynes. Facing page: High-profile brand H&M literally has a high-profile facade. The dramatic composite elements attract attention without putting a heavy load on the steel-frame corner building.
Facing page:Cheers! The central hospitality building makes its presence felt by a sculptural aluminium facade with the look of rising effervescent bubbles. Below and following pages:The porous nature of the hospitality building and its facade allows for casual views through into other buildings both at ground level and on the floors above, too – all part of the sense of visual discovery that the innercity retail precinct celebrates.
the largest privately owned project in the city centre. Ideally situated on the one hectare block between Cashel Mall, Colombo Street, Lichfield Street and High Street. It’s comprised of 14,000m2 of retail and hospitality and 5000m2 of commercial space, together with an integrated multi-level carparking building. The Crossing is also bolstered by its illustrious surroundings. The thriving Innovation Precinct is to the south-east, while the Convention Centre and Performing Arts Precinct and Justice and Emergency Precinct also border the development.
The Avon river meanders along its western side and the city Bus Interchange is also to the south. However, it’s the way The Crossing dovetails with the city’s architectural history, creates a sense of an implied ‘new’ history, integrates bold modern architecture and creates an air of discovery overall for shoppers that sets it apart from other largescale retail developments in New Zealand. David Hill and Stuart Hay were design architects for Wilson and Hill Architects on the development. “We sought to achieve several things with The Crossing,” says Hill. “One aspect was anchoring
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the development within the city’s history and, as part of this, we restored and reinforced at considerable expense the 1935 heritage building facade on the corner of Cashel Mall and Colombo Street. We also retained the airbridge that will link across from here to the Christchurch retail icon Ballantynes.” Together with connections to the old – another historic facade was also retained – there is also the
architecturally bold and decidedly brand new. “With so many large buildings going up in the city we wanted The Crossing to be on a more human scale, with varied architectural elements throughout. However, there are some substantial buildings within this like the H&M building,” says Stuart Hay. “This steel-frame building with its high-profile tenant has a lightweight but dramatic composite
Facing page:High-end retail – the fit-out for the H&M store is nearly as dramatic as the building’s 3D exterior cladding. This page:Name retailers like Barkers and Rodd & Gunn were quick to secure their places in the dynamic new retail mecca.
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Facing page:A variety of texture and form creates a diversity of visual experiences for shoppers at The Crossing. Below:A first-floor walkway provides an inner-access point for the H&M corner building.
panel facade that, with its play of light and shadow, looks different from every angle,” says Hay. On the opposite side of the block, the sculptural carpark building sports a taught weaved fabric facade and also has a strong, stand-out appeal. Overall, however, The Crossing is comprised of smaller buildings with diverse facades, forms and materials, such as brick and wood, all threaded with laneways that lead to the centre of the complex. And the variety of architecture, crisscrossing laneways and air bridges creates a variety of views and experiences for shop-goers, or those there to partake of the precinct’s hospitality options. The three laneways evoke a sense of being from an earlier time, adding to The Crossing’s feeling of permanence, but they fulfil another key role, too. “We wanted to create a sense of discovery,” says Hill. “And the laneways offer peeks of the central hospitality building from the street, without fully revealing its nature – so drawing shoppers into the heart of the complex.” And the arresting semi-circular building is a
worthy centrepoint for The Crossing. Its three levels of hospitality will include a cafe at ground floor and the building is partly wrapped in a decorative aluminium mesh which for some thirsty shoppers may symbolise the bubbles rising in an ice-cold drink. “Naturally, given past events, seismic resilience is integral to all structures in the shopping and office precinct,” says Hay. “For example, the historic corner building has been fitted with a buckling-restrained brace system to protect it. “The H&M building’s seismic resistance comes in the form of a moment resisting frame system. This is ideal for steel-frame buildings and has the added bonus of having no diagonal struts, thus allowing for larger, uninterrupted shop fronts.” The Crossing has already proved popular with the two bodies that matter the most. Leading fashion brands like Trenery, Barkers and Country Road accompany H&M, and many more name retailers are likely to follow. Then there are the shoppers themselves, who have flocked to the diverse, innercity retail mecca from day one.
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Below:Outward-looking – the street side of the multi-level carpark includes a retail element.
Project:The Crossing, Christchurch Developer:Carter Group Architect and interior design:David Hill and Stuart Hay, Wilson and Hill Architects Construction:Southbase Construction Civil, mechanical and electrical engineer:BECA Quantity surveyor:Rider Levett Bucknall Structural engineer:Engco & W2 Mechanical systems:David Browne Landscaping:Wilson and Hill Architects Fire consultant:Holmes Fire Fire protection:Wormalds Metal and membrane roofing:Newfield Roofing Facades:Composite Aluminium by Cudoclad, precast concrete by Lanyon & LeCompte, terracotta tile facade system, brickwork by SA Thelning, Nu-wall aluminium wall cladding, timber from Timbers of NZ, metal rings on central building by Prometal from Alutech, Metalcraft Espan as a wall cladding, Hardies Exotec, Structurflex fabric on carpark facade Structural steelwork:John Jones Steel Glazing system:Alutech Glass balustrades and glass canopies:Metroglasstech Paving:Flamed and brushed Basalt Paint:Resene Ceiling:Gib board and ceiling tiles in suspended ceiling grid Signage:Signtech Wayfinding design:Wilson and Hill Architects Lift and escalator services:Schindler Story by Charles Moxham Photography by Jamie Cobel
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SECTION FOCUS PROJECT WORKPLACE PORTFOLIO
SECTION FOCUS WORKPLACE
LEADING EDGE Whether it’s a dramatic commercial building or a cutting-edge workspace fit-out, good design connects on a very human level
Project PwC Centre
Location: Christchurch
Architect: Warren and Mahoney
RESPECTFULLY YOURS A prime inner-city site, eye-catching fritted-glass facade, roomy, versatile floor plates and green credentials make the PwC Centre an elegant pointer to Christchurch’s future prosperity
The right location may not be everything but it’s an excellent head start for a forward-looking office building – particularly when it comes in the form of a prominent Christchurch inner-city site defined by the banks of the Avon River and looking to the iconic Bridge of Remembrance beyond. Essentially, the PwC Centre, by architectural practice Warren and Mahoney, enjoys a pivotal gateway position between the Christchurch innercity and the Botanical Gardens, and is also in close proximity to the Entertainment + Hospitality and Retail Precincts to the east.
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And the six-level building’s architecture is respectful of the high quality location, even in its cladding. Warren and Mahoney’s project principal Jonathan Coote says the form of the building is both about standing out and fitting in. “The stepping of the facade along the street frontage creates a series of distinctive planes that are in keeping with the grain of an inner city block. “The angled planes also help to reduce the visual impact of an extended flat facade, without losing the drama offered by a building with a long frontage.” One requirement of the developer was to avoid
Previous pages and below:The PwC Centre is nearly 100m long, but having the frit glass and metal panel facade designed in angled planes lessens its bulk visually. Similarly, the tapering east end downplays the centre’s scale when viewed from the river and Botanic Gardens. Facing page:The building is set on a raised 1m-high concrete base to counter water damage should The Avon river flood.
Facing page:A timber batten ceiling above and matching area rugs below bring warmth to the PwC lift and circulation lobby, which is also enlivened by a café. Below:Art for organisation’s sake – visitors to the top-floor Chapman Tripp offices are quietly directed towards the reception by the angles of a sawtooth dividing art wall that also shields workspaces and meeting rooms.
brise soleils or other shade options that would interrupt the graceful lines of the building. “Our answer was to introduce fritted glass panels on the long street-side facade, interspersed with GRC matt panels – the correct proportion of the two successfully reducing the heat load from the northern sun.” The southern side of the centre is partly finished in this cladding, but not to the rear, where future adjacent construction will obscure it anyway. One talented staff member at Warren and Mahoney wrote some code based on an algorithm of birds swirling in flight, and this was applied to the frit pattern in the glass. There’s even a tui shape hidden in some of the fritted glass panels – so a visitor to the PwC centre with a child in tow has a ready distraction for them. Apart from attractive patterning, the fritted glass has the practical function of mitigating solar gain without significantly interrupting workers’ views. The building is designed to present a defined base, middle and top – respectively the ground floor set-back, the four central floors, and the top
floor office space, occupied by law firm Chapman Tripp. The centre’s crisp aesthetics are given a human, warm feel through wooden batten soffits on the underside of the ground floor overhang, on the building’s formal entrance canopy and on the ceiling of the open terrace on the second-to-top floor – spaces taken by the naming tenant PwC. Elements of the building form are a response to the environment, too. Being in proximity to The Avon, a height of nearly a metre was calculated as the likely rise of water in a one-in-one-hundredyears flood. For this reason, the entire building is raised above ground level by one metre. Other examples include the fact that the tapered east end of the building presents a respectfully modest face to the river and Bridge of Remembrance. Plus the set back top floor delivers the 45% recession plane required by the city plan so the street to the north is not overshadowed. And the building’s raised base was given a head start thanks to Warren and Mahoney’s response to Christchurch’s most obvious environmental factor.
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Left:Two Chapman Tripp client meeting rooms lie beyond the wood floor, wood ceiling and wood-fronted reception desk. Below left:The Chapman Tripp law offices feature a variety of meeting and break-out spaces. Below:The top floor tenancy enjoys spectacular views from its terraces, situated at both ends of the ideally located building.
“This building isn’t on piles, the entire structure is on a seismic-resistant giant raft of concrete, heavily impregnated with reinforcing steel. Partly underground, this also forms part of the one metre base seen above ground,” says Coote. “The base was an ideal grounding for the building’s speedily installed buckling-restrained brace system, too, which also allowed for largely uninterrupted floor plates.” With the main service and lift core spread thinly along the less sunny, south side of the building, the upper floors are fully open-plan and designed for a variety of tenancy configurations, big or small. The lower floors have an access corridor running the length of the building and are suitable for multiple tenancies. The ground floor lobby is activated by a café and is the main public space in the PwC Centre, while retail will activate the building’s exterior at street level. And the modern office block is as green in terms of sustainability as its fritted glass is shady. Built to 130% of the New Zealand Building Standards
it includes the latest in structural technology and mechanical and electrical elements designed to NABERSNZ 4.5 standard. There’s even a discreet entrance and serviced showers for lycra-wearing cyclists, encouraging pedal power over petrol power. On the top floor, Chapman Tripp’s internal premises are 1178m2, along with balconies totalling 190m2. The lower floors weigh in at 1754m2. Given the long footprint, the law firm asked the fit-out architects, also Warren and Mahoney, to set up a saw-tooth screen, much like an art gallery wall, opposite the elevators which are halfway down the space. This directs visitors to reception while the lawyers workspaces are behind this wall. A herringbone floor adds to the refined ambience here.
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Left:From the east end of the building, cladding overruns give the public a view of the fritted glass cladding from the inside. The slender eastern facade offers spectacular views from within and downplays the impact of the long, substantial building.
Project:PwC Centre Architect:Warren and Mahoney Structural engineer:BECA Services engineers:Cosgroves Fire engineers:Holmes Fire Cladding:Dimond V-Rib profiled cladding; Sto Plaster render system; Pe2 Aluminium cladding system; King Facade curtain wall system; Metal flat sheet cladding; aluminium joinery & louvres Roofing:Dimond BB900 roofing; DeBoer Duo torch on membrane from Equus Aluminium and glass balustrades:Canterbury Balustrades Lifts:Schindler Lifts Lift shaft and stairwell wall system:Speedwall Accessible wheelchair lift:Vestner Flooring: Ground floor, Ivory White Vein Cut tile from Tile Shoppe; lobbies, Drifting IM05 carpet tile from Dilana; stairs, concrete and Forbo Marmoleum Exterior paving:Bluestone, flame finish, from Tile Shoppe
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Ceilings:American White Ash battens by Timspec; Mineral Fibre Ceiling Tile from Vector Ultima Lift interiors:Stainless steel in Linen; back-painted glass by Antigua Celestine Chapman Tripp tenancy: Floors:Individual solid timber Parquet flooring in herringbone pattern from Timbers of New Zealand Boardroom carpet:Tretford Broadloom in Charcoal Wood treatments:Timber and veneer, American White Oak Desk seating:Formway Be Task Chair;:Open plan pull up Chair from Lotus; meeting chairs, Formway Beside Chair and Visaroll 2 Reception furniture:Andreu World Alya Chair Story by Charles Moxham Photography by Jamie Cobel
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Project Savills
Location: Governor Phillip Tower, Sydney
Interior designer Futurespace
LEADING BY EXAMPLE When your business is world-class property management it makes good sense that your own offices reflect leading edge thinking in work and staff culture
When visitors wander through Savills’ new Sydney inner-city offices they experience an informal, unstructured environment that would be equally at home in a high-end hospitality venue. The fit-out for the Australian offices of the global property management firm by interior and architecture design firm Futurespace is relaxed and welcoming. However, its look is informed by the latest best practices in modern office design. Founder and director of Futurespace architect Stephen Minnett says people come to Savills to find the best solutions for their property needs, so the team had to design a contemporary workplace that would reflect and enhance this reputation.
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“We did this in part by thinking about how the space can underpin the business through flexible and agile solutions – essentially creating an activity based workplace that supports the employees.” The Savills Sydney office comprises a full floor with reception, open-plan work spaces and kitchen, with further work spaces on the half floor below. Design director at Futurespace Gavin Harris says both floors are largely open-plan, with workdesks, high tables, stools and casual seating arrangements set up for a variety of work task needs. And, importantly, to be used by any staff members as specific work needs dictate. “So, instead of Savills’ employees thinking about
Below and following pages:Warm welcome – soft tones, a warm-wood drop ceiling and a variety of seating and standing options all blur the line between reception and workspaces in this visitor and staff friendly fit-out of Savills’ Sydney office by Futurespace. Right:An inter-floor stair links the two levels of the fit-out visually as well as encouraging exercise and creating a place for casual or ‘bump’ meetings.
‘my desk, or my office’, this approach creates a team-based, egalitarian community, breaking down communication barriers and stimulating productivity. Further to this relaxed, activity-based workplace approach, both floors have been stripped back to allow for ease of movement and to achieve a visibly connected workplace. “We also introduced a large internal staircase, offering a strong visual link as well as a circulation link between floors,” Harris says. “Fluid staff movement was an important part of the design, in terms of collaboration, incidental exercise, and socialising. And the open spaces, broad corridors and large staircase facilitate this.” Every part of the design works hard to contribute to a multi-use environment. The large reception with views out to the Sydney Harbour Bridge is part of this and is located adjacent to a variety of conversational, desking and standing areas. All of these
are designed so they can be swept to one side to create a large, dynamic town hall environment. So there are no barriers within the office except a few dedicated meeting rooms, and in most cases the areas of use are subtly and simply indicated by dropped ceilings or even area carpet rugs. Both of these elements also help deaden noise and so bring a degree of privacy within the open-plan volumes. Warm, reassuring tones on the carpets and wood ceilings are offset by groupings of colourful furniture, which can be swapped in or out to change the look. The eye-catching iridescent blue on the stairwell changes with the play of light – highlighting this all-important social circulatory feature.
Project:Savills, Governor Phillip Tower, Sydney Interior design:Futurespace Fit-out company and project engineer:Buildcorp Project engineer:Peter Hawkings, Futurespace Partitioning:Plasterboard and stud partitioning Window/door joinery:Maneto Hardware:Barben Architectural Hardware Flooring:Interface, Tretford, Aspire Rock, Polyflor Wallcoverings: Vescom Tonga wallcovering from Eurowalls; Pleat wallcovering from Kvadrat Maharam Ceiling:Decor Systems Veneers:Elton Group
Paints:Dulux, Axolotl Lighting:Woodmark by Luxmy, Stylecraft, ELS, HGFS, Luxxbox, Euroluce, Koda Workstations:Isatelliti from UniFor Workstation task chairs:Gesture Task Chair in Liquorice from Cognet Connect Reception furniture:CULT, Own World, Living Edge Additional furniture:Jardan, Schiavello, HGFS, Stylecraft, Zenith, Designer Rugs
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Facing page:A prime property firm in a prime position, Savills office reception and adjacent hub has a circle-seat view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Right:Even the meeting rooms have a transparent quality in a fit-out that values connection and equality over privacy and elitism.
Story by Charles Moxham Photography by Nicole England
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Project Supplyframe DesignLab
Location: Pasadena, California
Architect: Cory Grosser + Associates
BALANCING ACT Engineering functionality meets designer elegance at Supplyframe DesignLab – a hothouse for hardware innovation and prototyping
Think of a Silicon Valley start-up in its early days, and you’ll probably imagine a couple of coffeefuelled friends working passionately on their project late into the night, in a basement or garage. That’s at the opposite end of the spectrum to the cool sophistication you’d expect to find in a creative agency. So how would you bring those two extremes together in a single workplace environment? This was exactly the challenge facing Californiabased tech company Supplyframe when they brought architects Cory Grosser + Associates on board to create the DesignLab.
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Architect Cory Grosser says Supplyframe had recently acquired Hackaday, an online computer engineering community. “Hackaday was a strictly digital environment for people to share engineering ideas,” says Grosser. “DesignLab was to be a physical space where those ideas could be brought to life and tested in real life. It was an opportunity for Supplyframe to support Hackaday, while keeping a finger on the pulse of the latest tech innovations. “But they also wanted to have an emphasis on the design side from the start of the process,”
These pages:Designed by Cory Grosser + Associates, Supplyframe DesignLab aims to be a collaboration hub for engineers and designers of hardware componentry. A blackened steel-encased conference room protrudes from the Lab’s industrial style workspace into a bright gallery space at front of house.
says Grosser. “Somehow we had to deal with the disparity between an engineering and a design environment and bring the two together.” The building selected to house DesignLab was a 1910s building in Old Town Pasadena – just a few minutes walk from Supplyframe’s corporate head office, also designed by Cory Grosser + Associates. The historic brick building had had a diverse history, having once been home to an auto garage, Masarati dealership, Art Center College of Design annex, and even an Apple retailer. Like many old buildings in this earthquake-prone area, it had been
structurally strengthened in an earlier retrofit. “Being in a historic district meant there were restrictions such as what we could do to the facade. But inside we stripped everything out, back to the shell – leaving the brick walls on all sides, and the bow trusses in the ceiling.” The interiors needed to accommodate flexible workspaces, 3D printing facilities, an engineering workshop and soldering stations, as well as community space for lectures and events. Front of house is a stark white, public-facing gallery space, creating the feeling of a crisply
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designed office reception area. Adding to this look is the steel-clad conference room, which protrudes into the space from the work areas behind. The engineering workshop with its CNC machines was positioned at the opposite end of the 455m2 building, next to a large roller door and loading dock, giving easy access for production materials. The main work area sits in between these two spaces and has been designed so that its work tables can be reconfigured for workshop events, or be totally cleared out for larger public gatherings. “We wanted the space to be dark and moody – to give it that late night, basement atmosphere – but we also wanted a design that would appeal to designers and artists so they would come and
collaborate with the engineers on their projects.” As a result, DesignLab isn’t the warm loft concept that the building might initially suggest, but rather is deliberately stark, industrial and elegant. Referencing traditional factories and workshops, the design team employed a material palette of blackened cold rolled steel, raw concrete and rough-sawn timber, while the use of glass, glossy black and white surfaces, and premium furnishings reflect the elegance of workspaces in high-end creative agencies. “By introducing this high level of design into an engineering space like this, design also becomes a bigger part of the product itself, and not just an afterthought,” says Grosser
Previous pages and below:DesignLab’s building envelope retains the original brickwork and bow trusses of the historic 1910s building. But the workspaces inserted into this backdrop are deliberately stark, industrial and elegant. Facing page:The kitchen with its additional workbenches suggests the moody atmosphere of a garage or basement setting for a Silicon Valley start-up.
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Left:The engineering shop was inserted at the back of the building next to a large roller door and loading bay. Expansive windows bring a sense of theatre to the manufacturing process. Right:The workshop has been acoustically engineered to take account of a music school, including a recording studio, in the building next door. Plan:1 Gallery, 2 Conference room, 3 Laser lab, 4 Multipurpose assembly, 5 Computer lab, 6 Soldering, 7 Kitchenette, 8 Docking, 9 Model shop
Project:Supplyframe DesignLab Location:Pasadena, California Architect:Cory Grosser + Associates (CGA) Construction:Cal Asia Construction Mechanical and electrical engineers:SG Engineers Windows and glazing:Custom frameless glass Wallcoverings:Cold rolled steel Lighting:Accent lighting grid by Barbican Metro Workstations:Custom designed by CGA, manufactured by John Ford Tables:A Single Tree Work chairs:Bludot Hot Mesh Chairs Meeting room chairs:Alta; Bernhardt – designed by CGA
Meeting room table:Strut table by Bludot Reception furniture:Elle Collection, Cumberland – designed by CGA Story by Paul Taylor Photography by Benny Chan
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Project Hutt City Council’s admin building
Location: Lower Hutt
Architect Architecture +
Construction management Naylor Love Wellington
PROUD FACE, NEW HEART Great things come from great collaborations – the Hutt City Council is in the process of upgrading its Lower Hutt civic heart in partnership with Naylor Love Wellington
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Below:Working closely with the Hutt City Council, Naylor Love Wellington has restored the Council’s administration building on the outside and transformed it on the inside. Naylor Love is also upgrading the outdoor spaces in the Hutt City Council Civic Precinct.
The Hutt City Council has been working with the Naylor Love Wellington team on a series of major projects to upgrade its Civic Precinct. Naylor Love’s strong partnership with the Council is based on open communication, close collaboration and consistently successful project delivery, says project manager Scott Duncan. As part of the upgrade, the Hutt City Council’s administration building has been restored on the outside and completely transformed on the inside. “It was vital the historical features, including the council chambers and the north and south facades, were retained and enhanced,” says Duncan. “However, the interior has been stripped out, with the demolition of all floors and beams – basically, a complete new internal build and new piles.” The 72 new structural piles also contain the pipework for an energy efficient ground source heating system – the first of its scale in New Zealand. “The project has re-purposed the interior from lots of corridors and small spaces to a light, bright, open-plan workspace for the Council’s admin staff.” Naylor Love was involved early in the 19-month project, providing input into design development, methodology review and value engineering, all resulting in time and cost-savings for the client. “We also installed new mechanical and electrical systems, and added a new four-storey annex.” The project has won several awards, including a gold award in the Civic category at the New Zealand Commercial Project Awards 2017 and Heritage, Interior Architecture and Public Architecture awards at the 2017 Wellington Architecture Awards. Naylor Love is also upgrading the outdoor spaces in the Hutt City Council Civic Precinct with new hard and soft landscaping, paths and seating. Naylor Love’s work with the Council continues with the adjoining Lower Hutt Civic Centre, including the Town Hall, Events Centre and Foyer. Contact Naylor Love – web: www.naylorlove.co.nz; or alternatively email: enquiries@naylorlove.co.nz
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Building success since 1910 We’ve been working with the Hutt City Council to revitalise their Civic Precinct, including strengthening their old administration building to meet current building codes and transforming it into a world-class working environment. The client was delighted both with their award-winning building and our collaborative approach.
Hutt City Council
PRACTICE SAFE DESIGN. USE A CONCEPT. Petrula Vrontikis — Designer
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MARKET SECTOR REPORT
WORKPLACE TRENDS
THE OFFICE FIGHTS BACK With some of the world’s largest tech companies investing in bricks and mortar, is the physical office still alive and kicking asks Damien Sheehan, Regus Country Head for Australia and New Zealand
When the digital revolution allowed us to work anytime, anywhere, experts lined up to predict the death of the office. But their warnings were premature. In recent years, some of the fiercest exponents of working from home have backtracked, changing flexible working policies and luring employees back to the bricks-and-mortar office. The advantages of remote working are clear for some employees in some industries. But a shared physical space still holds enduring relevance and a symbolic significance for 21st-century workers. Our current working environment is the result of more than 100 years of technological change. In the 20th century, the telephone allowed businesses to build offices away from their factories. Later, rising
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land prices and steel-frame construction techniques inspired the development of skyscrapers. Offices evolved into spacious, open-plan environments housing hundreds of employees, reinforcing a clear distinction between home and work. The next iteration of communication technology has enabled us to work virtually, carrying a fully functioning office wherever we go. The result has been to cut office overhead costs and increase flexibility for employees, particularly working parents. According to a recent Gallup poll, 43% of Americans said they spent at least some time working remotely last year, up from 9% in 1995. This rapid transformation fuelled predictions that the office would become a thing of the past.
These pages:While remote working has advantages for some employees in some industries, a shared physical workplace encourages collaboration and innovation. Shown here are Fonterra’s Auckland head office by Jasmax, and Regus, Nijmegen City Centre, Netherlands.
But it was technology companies that led the backlash against remote working. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s surprise announcement in 2013 that the company would require all employees to work from a corporate office marked a sea change. “People are more productive when they’re alone. But they’re more collaborative and innovative when they’re together,” Mayer explained In March 2017, one of the most notable proponents of remote working also reversed its policy, when IBM informed over 2,000 of its US staff they could no longer work from home. The company told Bloomberg that bringing staff back into a traditional space could lead to faster, more productive, more creative workers.
“IBM’s strategy is about adopting the best work method for the work being done,” a spokesperson said. “For example, small, multi-disciplinary teams of engineers, coders, project managers and designers work in close proximity, often directly with clients or end users, continually generating and refining ideas.” Even the most technologically advanced companies have been forced to recognise that remote working has drawbacks and unintended consequences, alongside the advantages of flexibility. Research supports the view that the creative, collaborative qualities of the office environment can’t simply be replicated on the screens of our smartphones, tablets and laptops. Studies by Justin
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Below:Havas, Chicago by Gary Lee Partners – the modern office is a mix of formal workspaces and informal communal areas.
Kruger at New York University have shown how we consistently overrate our ability to communicate over email, and fill in the gaps in communication with faulty guesses. Meanwhile, Robert E Kraut at Carnegie Mellon University has demonstrated how digital technology has failed to create environments where collaboration succeeds as well as it does in the office. Shared physical spaces and proximity to each other are crucial to effective understanding between employees. Flexible working hasn’t always improved the lives of workers either: for many, a reliance on digital communication has ended up blurring the boundary between work and home. As Monash University’s Anne Bardoel points out, technology “has increased our ability to work from home and outside of regular hours, but at the same time it has increased the expectation that we will do so”. In this way, remote working further complicates the difficult work-life balancing act that employees already face. Other researchers have identified what they call “flexibility stigma”, where remote workers in high-level roles feel they need to put in long hours at evenings and weekends to demonstrate their passion for the job, fearing that otherwise they will be overlooked for advancement. “You have to prove yourself worthy of your job by making it the central focus of your life – the uncontested central focus of your life,” says Joan C Williams, director of the Centre for WorkLife Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law. “Technology now sets no work boundaries. So we have to set these work boundaries through social norms.” Employees have also noticed the impact on the way they work. Akshat Rathi, a writer for the online business publication Quartz, mourns the loss of those water-cooler moments of spontaneous brainstorming between his colleagues who work virtually
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from all corners of the globe. He says that despite the vast array of tech solutions for communication at their fingertips – Slack, Skype, Google Hangouts, Cisco’s web conferencing and even the old-fashioned phone call – it can’t replace “serendipitous bumping into each other” for sparking new ideas. “We may have video calling on almost every messaging service today, but it doesn’t replace face-to-face conversations,” Rathi says. “The subtle expressions on someone’s face or their body language, which are often missed on a Skype chat, add a crucial layer of unspoken communication. That’s why such chats are critical for building trust between members of a team.” What we are witnessing isn’t the death of the
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office, but its latest evolution. The construction of a new $5 billion headquarters by Apple in California is a monumental example of one of the world’s most innovative technology companies demonstrating its investment in the bricks-and-mortar office. It shows how businesses are moving towards a fluid working environment that enhances professional life – where employees still have an assigned desk, but can move freely between quiet workspaces and informal communal areas, cafés and terraces. Futuristic designs like these show how companies are betting on a future which harnesses the power of these impromptu encounters between employees and their creative collaborations. After all, they might just kick-start the next big idea.
Below:Despite remote workers having access to an array of tech solutions for communication at their fingertips, these can’t replace serendipitous bump meetings for sparking new ideas. Shown here is Spaces, Herengracht, Amsterdam.
SECTION FOCUS APARTMENTS
LIVING FOR THE CITY With our cities bursting at the seams, developers and architects are finding clever solutions to housing more people comfortably on less land
Project Scanlan Lofts
Location: Auckland
Architect: Leuschke Kahn Architects
Developer: Phi Group
MAX HEADROOM Presented with a tight, height-restricted infill site, Leuschke Kahn Architects came up with a creative solution for their developer client and the future homeowners
As more demands are put on the land in our city fringe suburbs, sections once taken up with single dwellings are being re-developed for multiple residences and apartments. These developments often call for imaginative designs that both meet the needs for greater housing density and respect the existing neighbours at the same time. At first sight, this narrow 506m2 Auckland site, zoned for mixed use, seemed like an opportunity to develop a medium-rise residential tower. But there were height restrictions attached due to the close proximity of the neighbours, says architect Paul Leuschke, of Leuschke Kahn Architects. “A tall apartment building wasn’t an option. However, because of its position high on the ridge, there was the possibility of getting great views out over the suburb and harbour beyond if the new
design could see over the apartment building immediately downhill to the site,” says Leuschke. After considering several options for his clients, Phi Group, Leuschke eventually settled on a row of contemporary, high-end terraced townhouses. “At that time, Auckland hadn’t really embraced the idea of terraced housing – we simply didn’t have the planning rules for them,” he says. “It was either a stand-alone house or apartments. There was nothing in between, which is a shame, especially in these fringe suburbs where terraced housing would sit more sympathetically alongside the traditional housing stock. “Given the circumstances of the site, I felt it was more important to provide daylight and views to the living spaces by inverting the traditional model and having the bedrooms on the lower floor.”
Previous pages:With a view – a clever reallocation of public and private spaces means the owner of this Scanlan Loft apartment has a view of the city and the sea. Facing page:Leuschke Kahn Architects designed Scanlan Lofts to fully optimise the land on a site that had previously had just one home on it. Below:The saw-tooth roof echoes earlier industrial buildings in the area and, factoring in setbacks, offered the best value for the developer and apartment owners.
The result is a four-storey structure of five units, each comprising double internal garaging on the ground floor, two bedrooms – both with ensuite bathrooms – plus the main entrance on the first floor, and a light-filled, double-height living volume and mezzanine nook on the second. The building is topped off with a distinctive saw-tooth roof profile – a nod to some of the old factories in the area, but also a practical way of conforming to the council restrictions and at the same time maximising the site. “The roof is clad with a ribbon of standing-seam profile aluminium that flows up and down each peak of the roofline, then folds down the front façade to street level, following the recession plane, giving the building its distinctive look.” Leuschke says he drew his inspiration for
the interiors from the iconic New York loft-style designs, with an added industrial edge. “The base palette is very simple – wide-plank wooden floors and white walls. Metal mesh screens and raw, blackened metal staircases, with matching fireplaces and flues, together provide the industrial highlights,” he says. The kitchens are black, too, and sit under the elevated mezzanines that are located beneath the apex of the peaked roof. The architect says he believes the result provides something quite unique for the area, and for the wider Auckland housing market. “These residences have most of the advantages of a stand-alone house but with the convenience of a lock-and-leave apartment – a perfect inner-city pad for an urban lifestyle.”
Facing page, left and lower:The interior fit-outs connect with the strong exteriors via a semiindustrial look that includes blackened metal stairs, mesh screens and black kitchens. Right:Dark-toned standing-seam aluminium cladding wraps up and down the peaked saw-tooth roof forms and waterfalls down the street frontage of the building.
Project:Scanlan Lofts, Auckland Architect: Paul Leuschke, Leuschke Kahn Architects Developer:Phi Group Builder and apartment interior designer:Phi Construction Civil engineer:JNG Engineering Cladding:UlltraClad 200mm Shadoline Weatherboard Roofing:Euroline Doublelok from Steel & Tube Lighting:Lighting Direct, Alpha Lighting Air conditioning:Mitsubitshi Kitchen design:Bespoke on Khyber Kitchen manufacturer:Custom Kitchens Window/door joinery:Ascot Aluminium, APL Joinery Tiling:European Ceramics, Tile Space, Tile Warehouse
Flooring:Solid oak from Timber Floor Solution Wallpaper:Resene Paints:Resene and Porter’s Paints Splashback:Tile Warehouse Oven, cooktop, dishwasher:Scholtes Refrigeration:Fisher & Paykel Story by John Williams Photography by Jamie Cobel
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Project Heirloom
Location: Fremantle
Developer: Match and Sirona
NEW LEASE OF LIFE The reworking of Fremantle’s Dalgety Wool Stores into Heirloom apartments not only preserves the heritage building, it brings its character features to the fore
Architect: Cameron Chisholm Nicol
Below:Built in 1922, the Dalgety Wool Stores is an historically significant building on Fremantle’s eastern gateway. An innovative adaptive re-use project has seen it converted to an apartment development that makes the most of its character features.
When the recent drive to increase the number of inner city residential units began a couple of decades ago, historical buildings were often in the demolition spotlight. Though located in prime positions, they were deemed expensive to renovate, with no easy way for developers to maximise returns by packing units into the available space. Luckily, not all of those heritage buildings fell victim to the wreckers ball, and some are again being considered for adaptive reuse. One such prominent building on Fremantle’s eastern gateway is Dalgety Wool Stores, recently converted to Heirloom apartments by Match. Match parent company M/Group managing director Lloyd Clark says the Wool Stores were one of Western Australia’s most recognised buildings. “Although a significant development challenge, the inherent classic warehouse form was proving extremely popular across Australia as an apartment environment,” says Clark. “The features of the building were such that you could not replicate them in any new apartment project. They were part of the building’s structure and heritage, and the prospect of incorporating them into apartment buyers’ homes was just an enormous opportunity.” But the biggest challenge in undertaking the conversion was still the commercial viability. “By their very nature, heritage buildings are expensive to adapt and reuse, so finding a way to do that while maintaining viability was critical,” he says. “But at the same time, retaining, reusing and capitalising on the existing fabric was a priority.” Working with architects Cameron Chisholm Nicol, Match went through a number of iterations for the project including looking at adding an extra floor to increase the number of apartments. “However, from a heritage point of view, this would have been extremely invasive, as well as structurally catastrophic.” Instead, Match took the unusual approach of working within the building’s existing structure. While this significantly reduced the number of apartments, it also reduced construction costs.
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Left:The Wool Stores building has two street frontages, with one level difference between them. This entrance on the lower Beach Street frontage leads to stairs up to the atrium level. Lower left:Three double loaded blocks of apartments have been inserted into the building. For the facade blocks, the outer apartments have street frontages, while the inner ones face into the atriums. Right:To get light into the middle of the expansive building, architects Cameron Chisholm Nicol cut away two sections of roof running the length of the building, leaving all the original beams and columns intact.
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Below:Two-storey apartments on the top floor overlook Fremantle’s active port area. Each of the Wool Store’s 183 apartments occupies two bays of the buildings. Cameron Chisholm Nicol associate director Deborah Binet says that the 1922 building was of historical significance and had a number of attractive features including the heritage brick facades as well as the internal timber columns, beams and struts spanning quite long distances. “It was structurally very sound, but it was very dilapidated, with most of it having been empty for several years,” Binet says. While the brickwork and columns needed some remedial work, and patches of floorboards needed replacing, it was the process of incorporating the 183 apartments into the original structure that was the real design challenge. “We started by inserting three apartment blocks into the large, square floorplate,” she says. “Then, by removing sections of roof sheets and floorboards, we cut two atriums into the space. That allowed us to get natural light into the centre of the development and into all the apartments.” Apartment set-out was determined by the location of the existing jarrah columns – a complex task due to many of the structural elements not being square. Double loading the apartments in each block meant they all have balconies, providing either external or atrium views. The drive to make the most of the existing character features included the floorboards. “The timber floors were all restored and we wanted to make sure they were visible. By building a new floor over the top, we could accommodate all the services and also provide the required fire rating and acoustic separation between apartments. “But the existing floors were then left exposed as the ceiling for the apartment below.” While the ceilings are 3.6m high, all interior walls are offset from the existing columns and stop at 2.4m, being either open above or glazed. This allows clear views of the timber ceiling and facilitates maximum light penetration. On both facades, existing window openings had to be retained. New aluminium windows were inserted for the apartments’ interiors, while window openings to balconies were left unglazed to create protected outdoor space. On the Queen Victoria Street facade, new openings on the top floor were left frameless to distinguish them from the original windows. Lloyd Clark says boutique, limited property has an intrinsic value that’s beyond market comparison. “When you add in an historical significance that demands the level of attention that Heirloom does, it’s hard to put a price on that – regardless of where we are on the property cycle.”
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Left:The distinctive saw tooth roof design on the Queen Victoria Street frontage came as part of a 1944 extension to the top floor. The original window design has been retained, but new openings for balconies have been distinguished by being left frameless. Right:Elevations show the two different street facades, the position of the two atriums, and the two partially underground parking floors.
Project:Heirloom apartments, former Dalgety Wool Stores Location:Fremantle, WA Developer:Match, part of M/Group Architect:Cameron Chisholm Nicol Heritage architect:Hocking Heritage Studio Heritage consultant:TPG Construction company:Built Structural, civil, fire services, fire engineering, energy:Wood & Grieve Electrical:ETC Mechanical:WSP Acoustic:Herring Storer Acoustics Traffic:Transcore BCA certifier:Milestone Certifiers Quantity surveyor:Ralph Beattie Bosworth Planner:Greg Rowe & Associates; MW Urban Glazing system:Jason Windows Public area flooring:Corridor carpets – Interface; atrium tiles – D’Amelio Stone Lift services:Schindler
Apartment interior design and kitchen design:Cameron Chisholm Nicol Heating:LG reverse cycle split system Paint:Dulux Kitchen cabinets:Polytech, JHW Benchtops:Corian, Quantum Quartz Splashback:Laminam, Quantum Quartz Oven, cooktop, ventilation:Bosch Story by Paul Taylor Photography by Greg Hocking
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Project La Géode
Location: Montreal, Canada
Architect: ADHOC Architectes
LIVING FOR THE CITY In an historically working class neighbourhood of Montreal known for its residential energy and vibrancy, La Géode apartment building reveals a new approach to urban living
Coming up with a completely new model for residential living in a city can require an intrepid approach from an architect. Often city bylaws will work against him or her, and developers may also be apprehensive as to how readily a fresh design vernacular will appeal to buyers. Based in Montreal, the ADHOC Architectes team has designed an alternative blueprint for residential living that challenges the tradition for long narrow homes on small lots that’s been typical in the city.
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For this ground-breaking design, ADHOC cleared a one-level home hogging a rather small 7m x 24m site and replaced it with a five-apartment building that wraps around a private inner courtyard. Lead architect Jean-François St-Onge explains how the name of the complex – La Géode – is a metaphor for the design. “Geologically speaking, a geode is a rock with a hollow centre lined with sparkling crystals and here the apartment building is the protective rock, while
These pages:A splash of geometric tiles on a sidewalk entrance and tunnel are the only clues to the secret heart of this Montreal apartment block by ADHOC Architectes. The predominant brick cladding merges with the street’s wider material vernacular.
Facing page:Inner light – the design shapes the apartments around the inner courtyard, an arrangement that facilitates easy access to the units as well as natural light penetration. Right:The rakish access stairs echo the jagged angles of the triangular cladding tiles.
the courtyard is the secret jewel hidden inside.” La Géode is located on de la Roche, in the neighbourhood of Le Plateau Mont-Royal – a traditionally vibrant residential environment with many brick frontages. In response, ADHOC has created La Géode’s street-facing facade in brickwork punctuated by windows that loosely approximate to building frontages to left and right. Set into this classic facade is the opening to an access tunnel lined in triangular metal tiles – a fresh material language for a new style of dwelling.
“The tiles’ shimmering tones blend with the hues of the sky – their sparkling materiality reminiscent of the geode’s crystal-studded interior,” says St-Onge. “The headers in the brick layer on the street facade reflect the mineral roughness and protective aspect of the geode.” The main advantages of La Geode for the city of Montreal are the non-disruption of the classic streetscape and the revitalisation of an urban environment that residential occupancy brings. “For residents, however, the advantages are
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many – ranging from the private inner-courtyard that admits natural light but not street noise, to enjoying maximum internal apartment space that, in a different kind of design, might have been soaked up by circulation corridors,” says St-Onge. And it is the architecture itself that brings these pluses to the people that live there. Seen from above, the site reveals how the central laneway and courtyard divide the building – with the original house there had been no throughway to the street behind. The nature of the wrap-around architecture also helps stop sound from penetrating to the internal courtyard. In addition, staircases at the ends of the building and external landings that face into the courtyard avoid the need for internal corridors. One of the cleverest aspects of the building design facilitated the courtyard’s sunny ambience. “In this area we couldn’t build above three levels unless the fourth storey is defined as a mezzanine floor. And for that designation it has to take up only 40% of the building floorplate. In such situations, the vacant part of the floor is stipulated to form a step-back from the street facade, basically to optimise sunlight penetration down to the street. “Here, however, we persuaded the local council to let us have the step-back on the courtyard-facing
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sides of the building – creating a wider angle of sunlight penetration into the centre. “In addition, part of this project depended on our ability to create healthy, light-filled apartment interiors – including for the ground floor basements. This constraint prompted us to completely rethink the generic basement from a qualitative aspect.” Pavement windows were utilised to channel natural light into the basement rooms. Plus, glass floors were installed between the ground floor and the basement of the ground level apartments, again increasing light penetration. Green strategies and high energy performance also underpin the innovative project. As a result, La Géode is expected to become the first multi-unit building to achieve LEED v4 certification in Canada. “Specification of energy-efficient materials was an essential part of the strategy for this building,” says St-Onge. “In addition, La Géode’s acoustic performance exceeds good practice. So how well has this new style of mediumdensity dwelling been received? La Géode’s five apartments were quickly taken up and due to vigorous, even invasive, interest from the public, a gated entry has now had to be installed at both ends of the complex.
Below:The design of La Geode allows sunlight to penetrate into the apartment interiors from the courtyard. Right:To ensure the basement floors also benefit from natural light there are pavement light wells as well as glass floors that admit light to the below ground spaces from the floors above. The riserless internal staircase echoes the access stairs outside.
Left:New brick cladding merges with neighbouring facades on the other side of the city block, too. The modest-sized section had only one home on it but now supports five apartments. Below:The first-floor plan shows how the inter-street alley and central courtyard divide the fiveapartment building form. Lower:The top-floor mezzanine level is stepped back from the internal faces of the building, allowing sunlight to penetrate deep into the courtyard.
Project:La Géode, Montreal, Canada Architect:ADHOC Architectes – lead architects, JeanFrançois St-Onge, François Martineau; team, Manon Paquet Structural engineer:L2C Experts Mechanical engineer:Desjardins Experts Conseil Landscape architect:Turquoise Design Facade:Tuile 3R architectural metal siding, Sienna Smooth Modulaire brick by Endicott
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Windows:Architectural Windows by Shalwin Story by Charles Moxham Photography by Adrien Williams
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