Europaconcorsi - Progetti In Copertina

Le pavillon sans programme - Jesús Torres García

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:10:04 +0100

L’espace en tant que substance flottante.
En considérant l’architecture comme corps, on pourrait dire, que le Pavillon sans fonction est un corps qui « flotte ». Ce fait se réfère aux « pieds » et à la manière de distribuer les charges au sol, à l’équilibre entretenu entre poids du corps et le sol. Normalement, les systèmes structuraux sont développés à partir des points porteurs, des poteaux sans considérer l’impact destructeur que peut avoir ce type de fondation sur le terrain. Dans le cadre du projet, et considérant la nature de la première commande, une petite école pour éveiller la sensibilité des enfants au regard de l’environnement, a été refusée l’idée d’utiliser un système de fondations standard, facile à mettre en place mais contradictoire avec la portée didactique du projet. La première esquisse, une coupe, vient à matérialiser un corps prêt à décoller, qui ne semble pas toucher le sol. Se déplacer. À son tour le Pavillon a l’envie de se déplacer, de défier la gravité, ce désir est notamment perceptible à l’intérieur. Le projet est construit autour des questions sur la possible expression de la légèreté lorsque l’on utilise du béton armé, la réflexion sur un système structurel efficace et le moins invasif possible pour le sol a occupé une partie importante du travail à l’Atelier, cette recherche a réfléchi sur divers exemples qui développent le thème de la masse vis-à-vis du sol, La Villa Savoye, par exemple, propose un cadre de vie suspendu sur pilotis et un fait essentiel, « se connecter » au paysage. Un second exemple, La Maison Farnsworth, « avec les pieds dans l’eau », nous montre comme l’architecture peut cohabiter avec la nature, plus exactement avec les crues du fleuve Fox à Chicago. Ces deux exemples refusent l’idée de la caverne, proposant à la place une pensée architecturale qui développe des espaces construits « dans l’air », des espaces conçus comme des substances flottantes.

La disparition de la façade. La non-façade.
Si on pense au fragment au-delà des fenêtres, au fragment comme outil architectural, on trouvera des exemples très riches dans l’architecture de John Soane, notamment dans sa Maison-Musée à Lincoln Inn Fields à Londres. La salle de déjeuner est pleine de miroirs, et les « couches » espaces-temporels () sont animés par une multitude de visions fragmentaires qui nous permettent de lire l’espace dans sa globalité, ces effets sont obtenus grâce à l’utilisation du verre courbé, qui a de plus des propriétés acoustiques, disons sensorielles, on pourrait parler d’une certaine synesthésie acoustique-visuelle qui reproduit des échos, des réverbérations partielles spatiales et sonores.

Si on prend un exemple plus contemporain, tel que la Maison à Floriac de Rem Koolhaas, on verra que le contact masse-sol est résolu à partir du même dispositif, l’effet miroir. Le noyau porteur a été couvert de panneaux en acier inoxydable pour faire disparaitre le poids dans un paysage sans limite. De plus, le point de tension est tel que la structure est post-tendue pour diminuer au maximum les profils de direction verticale. À son tour, le sculpteur Anish Kapoor a également joué avec la perception urbaine à partir de l’effet du verre courbé, le Cloud Gate fait référence à cette question et aussi à l’utilisation déjà faite par John Soane à l’intérieur de sa maison. Dans le même sens, divers travaux de Dan Graham tentent de capturer le paysage, d’en apporter une relecture grâce au même dispositif qui capture et déforme la réalité. Michel Corajoud, dans son approche paysager, parle du fait d’être « poreux » à la nature, au contexte. Dans son projet d’aménagement de la Place de la Bourse à Bordeaux, il capture le fleuve pour le placer au sol du projet, créant ainsi une continuité entre ce qui est existant, le cours d’eau, et ce qui est proposé, « le miroir ». D’autres projets de l’agence expriment ce concept, dans la troisième partie du front de mer à Las Negras, on transposait le « mouvement » des montagnes, le « mouvement courbé » du paysage, aux bancs qui forment la limite maritime, le banc est conçu en tant que miroir du paysage. A Salobreña le miroir est littéral, le bâti tend à disparaître, à se fondre dans le paysage. S’exprime ici une continuité d’un projet à l’autre, à Las Negras c’est la forme du banc qui fait écho à celle des montagnes, à Salobreña c’est le matériau employé, la façade en verre, qui tend à dissoudre le bâtiment dans son contexte, en construisant un corps que des fois se situe dans un certain « Degré Zéro » () dans sa condition façade. Réflexif. La réalité construite, le détail, est développé à partir de profils d’acier courbés ou non, qui permettent de minimiser le contact entre ciel et verre, on a l’impression que la façade se construit à partir du ciel, ou en continuité avec celui-ci, en dessinant cette ligne ou ciel et verre se touchent à partir d’une référence essentielle à Corajoud dans son discours paysager : « Le paysage, c’est l’endroit ou le ciel et la terre se touchent ».

Le paysage reflété
Le paysage que vient à refléter le mur vitré du Pavillon est la plaine de Salobreña, un petit village sur la côte méditerranéenne espagnole de fondation islamique. Le Pavillon est placé à deux kilomètres de la ligne de côte, dans la zone de production agricole intensive de la Plaine, à coté de grands champs d’exploitation d’avocats et de chirimoyas, tracés par une ancienne infrastructure hydraulique de grande importance. Il existe une dynamique très particulière en ce qui concerne la création des villes islamiques le long de la côte méditerranéenne, la relation montagne-plaine, qu’évoque tellement l’idée d’une ville suspendue. Dans le cas de Salobreña, cette relation ville-campagne existe et à son tour a crée une économie notamment agricole qui s’est vue depuis une quarantaine d’années équilibrée par le développement du tourisme, cependant, celui-ci reste de moindre importance comparé aux autres fronts de mer complètement bétonnées tel que la « Côte du soleil ». Cette question est due aux infrastructures crées durant les années soixante, la côte de Grenade est la seule partie de l’Arc Méditerranéen à ne pas être connectée par une grande autoroute, aussi, aujourd’hui. Cette absence d’infrastructure construit un très beau paysage, celui de la côte Tropicale, très proche de celle que l’on peut rencontrer au Venezuela ou en Colombie, évocatrice d’une sensualité perceptible tout au long de la côte, toujours connectée à la méditerranée. Sur cet espace vaste en extension, sur ce vide qui construit le fleuve Guadalfeo, est placé le Pavillon, près de ce qui sera le nouvel accès à la communauté de Salobreña depuis la A-6. On verra, le Pavillon depuis l’autoroute, comme l’illustre le plan rapporté.

La peau polylignes
Dans l’atelier on essaie de dessiner en continu, en utilisant la poli-ligne, qui de manière automatique trace des arcs et des « liaisons ». Ce processus très facile à développer à partir d’Autocad TM, construit la forme selon deux concepts fondamentaux : l’acoustique et la continuité spatiale, en refusant un espace dirigé, il pourrait s’agir d’une danse de murs assez libre répondant à des principes tels que la densité du programme, ou ce qu’on connait normalement comme fonctionnalité. Depuis l’extérieur le Pavillon glisse sur la plaine à partir d’un accès coupé de forme radicalement droite, l’accès monte doucement à la salle polyvalente qui sert également de mirador flottant.

Travail de luthier
L’utilisation de pans de murs courbes crée à l’intérieur du bâtiment un son riche qui se voit musicalisé dans les « coins » courbés. Il pourrait s’agir d’un « corps » de guitare dont les parties exposées au nord et à l’ouest sont construites en béton et celles au sud et à l’est en verre, créant ainsi une boîte qui fonctionne efficacement dans deux sens, thermiquement et acoustiquement. La réflexion des sons des parois en verre et béton est contrôlée par la moquette dense posée au sol. En outre, le mur vitré reçoit très bien l’énergie des fréquences aigues et le bêton armé les graves et moyennes, les possibles excès de réflexion sont atténués par la moquette, qui rend possible au maximum trois trajectoires énergétiques du son, puisque la quatrième est toujours absorbée. La forme de la salle crée une sorte de « chœur » dans ses parties courbes comme s’il s’agissait d’une guitare et d’un jeu de « concentration-capture » des vibrations du son à l’intérieur du « corps » du Pavillon. Ce phénomène est semblable à la concentration sonore à l’intérieure d’une guitare produit par la vibration des cordes à l’intérieur de la « boîte », les matériaux sont choisis à partir du même principe qu’utilisent les luthiers dans la construction d’instruments de musique, le son est maitrisé à partir du choix des matériaux. Le corps de cet instrument musical, de cette guitare qui a des peaux variables dans les quatre orientations, des inerties variables qui travaillent aussi comme « peau-isolement » et « peau-structure » est conçu à partir d’une masse plus grande dans la partie nord, et plus faible dans la partie sud, en considérant le soleil en tant que source fondamentale. La circulation d’air qui se produit à l’intérieur du pavillon s’appuie à partir des petites entrées dans la partie nord, avec une majeure accumulation de masse, en construisant un cycle d’air très rapide nord-sud de façon naturelle.

Ce qui n’est pas visible et qui doit fonctionner.
Dans notre atelier, la fonctionnalité n’est pas considérée dans un sens courant, sinon qu’elle est attachée aux choses qui doivent fonctionner, tels que les ambiances, les systèmes qui font fonctionner le bâti en tant que machine. Une lecture de la coupe depuis le sol permet de voir la pièce de béton armée qui transmet les charges au sol naturel, ce bloc de béton a été conçu le plus compact possible afin d’abîmer le moins possible le sol naturel, de plus, ce talon est poreux par rapport au terrain, il devient « racine » et procède d’un échange de flux, d’humidité avec le sol naturel. Formellement, ce « grand talon » fonctionne comme une chape isolante de 90cm d’épaisseur et qui travaille, par rapport à l’intérieur du bâti à la manière d’une chambre d’air en utilisant la masse. Dans le Pavillon la source d’humidité est située au centre du bâtiment, l’épaisseur donne à ce « talon » simultanément la capacité de transmettre les efforts de charges et empêche la remontée par capillarité de l’humidité dans les panneaux verticaux, l’évacuation de l’humidité se fait de façon plus rationnelle au travers de la façade ventilée en bois thermo-traitée, le bois est un matériau qui travaille naturellement dans un principe d’absorption/évaporation de l’eau, il s’agit de la peau, dans les arbres tout est peau et tout a été peau ainsi, c’est-à-dire qui l’utilisation du bois dans la façade nord et ouest, la rends beaucoup plus intelligente. Ce comportement est très exagéré dans la coupe, on dirait intuitif, et nous approche au fonctionnement de l’arbre, des fleurs, non pas de manière métaphorique sinon réelle si l’on considère le fait suivant : l’absorption des rayonnements du soleil.

Le Pavillon en tant que capteur d’énergie
La coupe verticale permet d’observer la manière dont le Pavillon capte l’énergie solaire, de façon radicale grâce à cette façade entièrement vitrée. Ce dispositif le détail « capteur » est un vitrage de type Reflectasol TM qui filtre les infrarouges et également échappe l’énergie calorifique dans une quantité allant de 62 à 82%. Dans le schéma « entropique » qui traite de la diffusion de la chaleur à l’intérieur du Pavillon. La section du faux-plafond permet l’installation de rideaux pour minimiser l’apport de lumière, de toute façon, la coupe, assez Miesienne, de 2.45 m d’hauteur, évite les pertes énergiques importantes et réduise la quantité de lumière à l’intérieur.

Le Pavillon en tant que consommateur d’énergie
Les tubes concentrent toutes les fonctions intelligentes du bâtiment, ils sont placés dans l’épaisseur du faux-plafond, ils construisent le « cerveau », la tête du Pavillon, il s’agit sans doute de la partie la plus fragile de la construction. La superposition de tubes révèle la complexité, la complexité de la tête de ce corps.

Le Pavillon en tant que producteur d’énergie.
Depuis la transmission des efforts au terrain, l’architecture se constitue comme une « boucle » de transformations énergétiques, d’absorptions et de transmissions, au niveau des efforts et par rapport au soleil en travaillant de façon productive. En Espagne on est obligé de produire de cette manière le 40% de la consommation du bâti, la Norme Européenne oblige à céder la production d’énergie à partir de capteurs solaires à l’entreprise distributrice d’électricité de la zone, il est amusant que l’énergie produite par le bâtiment ne puisse pas servir à l’ouvrage lui-même, le fait de céder cette énergie produite vient rompre la boucle raisonnable. Les capteurs solaires sont déjà visibles dans la coupe initiale et représentent un cycle naturel qui réside à l’intérieur du bâti.

Sans programme*
Daniel Chávez Romero, technicien de la Mairie de la Salobreña, nous avait commandé ce Pavillon avec l’intention de construire ce que la loi considère en Andalousie comme « Aulas de la naturaleza », des centres d’interprétation du contexte historique ou naturel qui sont permis sur sol « non urbanisable ». Le fait essentiel pour arriver à construire sur un sol de cette nature est déclaré l’intérêt public à partir d’un document nommé plan d’actuation. Le projet présenté pour ce plan d’actuation intégrait une petite agence pour la recherche paysagère et urbaine. Il s’agissait d’une prolongation du bâtiment qu’on perçoit aujourd’hui. Pour l’instant la réalisation est finie, elle attend un programme, ou c’est qui est beaucoup plus mieux, le programme est libre !

Environmental recovery of Llobregat river Baix Llobregat - Batlle i Roig Arquitectes

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:06:31 +0100

The aim of the proposal is to identify the main constraints for the environmental recovery of River Llobregat defining at the same time the actions needed to improve the connectivity along its course, as well as its accessibility from the various municipalities surrounding it in order to enhance its social use and to accommodate recreational activities.

The development of the proposal lies in understanding the river from two complementary perspectives: the river as a living and ever-changing entity, full of life as a natural space with its own dynamics and workings, and the river as a peri-urban green and leisure area for citizen enjoyment, while respecting the natural environment where it is located. The proposed landscape envisions the river as a green space, connected to the city and its surroundings. The proposal, executed in several stages, aims to resolve the relationship of the cities with the river, transforming what is now a boundary into an access of some urbanity, allowing the connection between the two riverbanks, linking the preexisting road networks and proposing vegetation which is coherent with the available water resources. Far from making extensive interventions in the entire area of the river, we performed concentrated and specific works to generate major changes in the accessibility and the course along the river.

The actions in the banks of the river were focused on dealing with certain issues to create a reaction in the river in terms of hydraulics and plant life. It is a medium and long term approach without any immediate results. It sets in motion a gradual process of naturalization of the river without any obvious human involvement. The introduction of small elements of change in the course of the river (deflectors) manages to reconfigure its meandrine aspect in shallow waters. Every allochthonous species are removed at certain points to introduce selected species, thus creating expansion units of native flora that should gradually colonize the banks of the river.

Linear park on the Riera De Sant Climent. Viladecans - Batlle i Roig Arquitectes

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:04:05 +0100

The expansion of Viladecans, as the vast majority of towns located on the left riverbank of the River Llobregat (Sant Vicenç, Santa Coloma de Cervello, Sant Boi, Gavá, Castelldefels, etc.), has not only been hampered due to the riverbeds (rieras), but also has ignored them until they became outdoor sewers where waste waters were discharged and demolition debris was accumulated.

The recovery project for the Riera de Sant Climent aimed to consider the riverbed as a natural corridor that would work as a link between the agricultural park and the mountain across the town. This could turn the “riera” into an urban park, recovering its native vegetation and turning the covered sections into wooded promenades.

La Marina Park emerges as the culmination of the Riera de Sant Climent’s green corridor. The riverbed is still uncovered along the park, thus creating some lateral impoundments that, in case of floods or overflowing of the river, they would act as temporary accumulation and lamination pools for rainwater. The groves and pathways system that comes from the North opens up and runs freely through the park, organising diversified itineraries. These pathways are sorted into two types: those that are located at the field level and those that, by means of modifications of the topography or of the construction of walkways, run through higher elevations and allow pedestrians to cross the riverbed or the surrounding streets. These topographic dunes enable the generation of different areas where we can locate the uses of the park: the natural amphitheatre, the fairground, the children’s playground, the “Oloretum” (aromatic plants), the pinewoods and the picnic areas.

The park also aims to create a sustainable hydraulic system for the collection and infiltration of rainwater, as well as for the concept and irrigation system. The collection of rainwater is carried out by a system of vegetal canals of large section that, even being traced with very soft inclination, they can conduct the water to the designated inundation areas, thus avoiding sending it to the general sewerage system. This arrangement aims to maximise the infiltration of rainwater to the subsoil and its utilisation as natural irrigation.

Landscape restoration of the Vall d’en Joan landfill site Garraf - Batlle i Roig Arquitectes

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:16:23 +0100

The Vall d’en Joan is situated in the Natural Park of Garraf, in the municipalities of Begues and Gavà, in the county of Baix Llobregat. Originally, this spot was one of the many closed, winding valleys that form the foothills of the Garraf massif. Its use as a landfill dates back to 1974, since when it has been the destination of most of the urban waste produced by Barcelona and its metropolitan area. When closure of the site began, it occupied an approximate extension of 85 hectares and had been filled to two-thirds of its original level.

Before restoration, the landfill was a vast extent of steep slopes where a layer of 20 centimetres of earth covered the waste beneath, but with no definitive capping. This huge sloping tract covered the entire valley, the top part of which was still functioning as a landfill. The image of the valley occupied by the dump contrasted with the variety of relief and vegetation of the landscapes in the natural park in which it was set.

The landfill restoration project aimed to use a single operation to address the three basic aspects identified: solving a complex technical problem, creating a new public space and constructing a new landscape. The multidisciplinary technical team that carried out restoration brought to this single intervention knowledge from different disciplines (environmental engineering, geology, landscape architecture and agronomy) to create this new place.

The complex technical problems that derived from closing and capping the landfill served to outline a working strategy based on rationalization. The organization of stabilizing terraces and retaining embankments, and the track providing access marked out the geometry of the landfill, and structured the layout of piping to collect and conduct biogas to the transformation plant where it is turned into electrical energy and the draining and storage of leachates. This organization is complemented by the construction of channels to divert runoff.

The technical process of capping structured the place as a rising itinerary between terraces and banks. Its similarity to the layout of cultivated terraces, like Italian gardens on hillsides, comprising plots of different levels, showed the way to turn it into a public space that could be used as a park without actually being one in typological terms. It might be described as a Metropolitan Park, due to its size, its proximity to various centres of population, and the fact that it is anchored in a practically rural geographical setting, Garraf Natural Park, for which it acts as a gateway thanks to its connection with the GR long-distance walks. This fact determined a use and a functioning associated with vehicles (private and public) and a diversified organization of routes which, in this case, clearly coincides both with the routes created for the landfill and those included in the technical project for capping. In this context, the road to the site and the car park acquire particular importance.

Of the three original objectives, the third, to construct a new landscape, was influenced by a particular desire to integrate the former landfill into Garraf Natural Park. Obviously, the then morphology of the site was completely different to its original state. However, in other places in Garraf there are cultivated valleys that have been modified by agricultural techniques adapted to the geography, with systems of terrace construction, drainage and farming that were very similar to the technical needs involved in closing and capping the landfill. Yet it was not just this similarity that attracted us; it was also the conviction that the use of agricultural systems was by far the most effective and logical way of intervening in the restoration of damaged landscapes, thanks to their capacity to provide guidelines for organization, maintenance and continuance.

This conversion of a landfill into a farming landscape was based on three key factors: topography, hydraulics and vegetation. The topographic system was addressed by the capping project. Whereas the project for closure of the landfill involved channels and embankments, the landscape restoration project had recourse to farmed terraces, tree-planted plots and fields of crops.

The hydraulic requirements for the implantation of the new landscape had to be addressed in the project. The various drainage systems existing on the series of terraces were used for this purpose, channelling rainwater to cisterns that we inserted in the banks of the landfill, and the irrigation system was run on the energy produced by the transformation of biogas.

Finally, for the replanting of the site we used resistant native species that require little water and are adapted to the environment. The vegetation introduced includes a range of bramble, scrub and Mediterranean maquis, trees and shrubs, and native leguminous crops in reference to the surrounding mosaic of farmland and woods, promoting the succession of the primary ecosystems on the site, which will, in time, develop and adapt to the environment. The crops envisaged for the series of terraces should also evolve with time to adapt fully to the site. The terraces will be cultivated for a period of time until the slopes are consolidated, then the crops will be allowed to evolve towards the surrounding landscapes with the ultimate aim in the distant future of full reintegration into Garraf Natural Park.

The driving force behind this restoration was not just reintegration into the landscape. The operation also served to showcase new attitudes that society should adopt towards the environment. To this end, public access to the restored area was created, with an information centre explaining the work carried out and projects under way. The approach road constitutes a door to this new landscape, leading to vantage points from which visitors can view restoration work and a track that winds its way over the terraces. Walls of waste matter and earth guide the path to this new place, reminding us of its origins, the role it played for decades and how it has recently been salvaged for public use.

IL GIARDINO DELLE NINFEE - simona ventura

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:58:28 +0100

Il lavoro è stato commissionato dall’Istituto Professionale Edile di Bologna nel 2006. La scuola è ospitata in un edificio funzionalista degli anni ‘70, ampliata all’inizio degli anni ‘90. Lo spazio che ospita il giardino è una piccola corte sulla quale si affacciano, tramite ampie finestre, le aule e gli uffici della scuola. Prima del progetto la corte si presentava come un luogo assai angusto e anonimo. Le richieste della committenza erano di avere un giardino nel quale acqua, fioriture e piante di bambu’ fossero le protagoniste.

L’assenza di luce diretta, restringendo le possibilità di avere copiose fioriture, ha suggerito l’idea di utilizzare scelte scenografiche particolari, quali sculture in ceramica, giochi d’acqua e pitture murarie le quali, dialogando con gli elementi vegetali, hanno creato un ambiente unico mettendo in stretta relazione arte e natura.

Due artiste hanno collaborato alla realizzazione: Silvia Zagni, per le sculture in ceramica, Monica Macchia, per le pitture murarie tipo affresco. La durata dell’intero processo, dalla progettazione alla realizzazione, è stato di sei mesi.

Una sorgente d’ acqua sgorga da un bosco di bambù dipinto sulla parete di fondo e, correndo lungo una canalina di rame, incontra diverse piante per confluire in una vasca, realizzata sempre in rame, nella quale, sul fondo di sassi di fiume, galleggiano ninfee bianche in porcellana. La presenza dell’acqua ha contribuito a creare un microclima ottimale per il benessere generale: sia per le persone che per le piante.

Come già anticipato, la mancanza di luce diretta del sole e il clima del luogo hanno condizionato la scelta delle varietà vegetali prediligendo piante da mezz’ombra. Le varietà utilizzate sono state: • Pittosporum nano 4/sqm • Sarcococca hookeriana 3/mq • Lonicera nitida 4/aqm • Pleiobastus pygmaeus 8/sqm • Phyllosthachys bissetii 3/sqm

High School in Paredes - Atelier 15

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:40:15 +0100

The intervention in the Escola Secundária de Paredes is characterized by the integral reformulation of the Central Building, as well as the Pavilion of Gymnastics and the Old Workshops, and the maintenance, with some functional and constructive changes, of the three existing Pavilions, mainly composed of classrooms. The network of pathways enclosed by pavilions represents a unifying element, granting some coherence to the set of scattered buildings.

The main entrance remains, having, however, a new space for the Administrative Rule and a broad protection flap which allows better waiting conditions for the users. It was created a new service entrance, to the north, for direct access of supply to the area of meals confection. The intervention in the outer spaces attempted to recover the image of the school and how it is integrated in the surrounding, maintaining and recreating alignments of trees which extend throughout the perimeter, reinforcing the bush nature and creating accommodation areas and enjoyment of the space.

Esplanade du Gros Caillou - Gautier+Conquet Architectes

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:02:20 +0100

La réalisation d’un parking public enterré de 440 places est associée à la réalisation d’un espace public en surface qui devient un lieu de proximité et de promenade, un lieu festif à l’écart de la circulation automobile et un lieu touristique et historique.

Olivier Nord. Pubblicata il 20 Febbraio 2012.

Le point de vue sur la ville et le grand paysage est valorisé par des gradins discontinus simplement posés sur la pente enherbée.

Olivier Nord. Pubblicata il 20 Febbraio 2012.

D’Est en Ouest, on passe du belvédère proprement dit à une large clairière ouverte, puis à un square arboré qui crée un filtre, une transition végétale et visuelle, entre le boulevard urbain et l’esplanade.

Olivier Nord. Pubblicata il 20 Febbraio 2012.

Plan masse

Farmer’s office - Vanessa Larrère Architecte

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:37:19 +0100

Walking through the slender roads of the south west coast of France, an image strikes travelers ‘mind, the repetitive sequences of the pines’ trunk trees along. The rhythm of trees causes a kinetic effect which disturb senses as well as musical variations. This primitive sense is the basis of the project, located in the heart of the Landes forest: to recreate this tree trunks alternation that line up and let pass through or not the light and views.

The project is situated on a family farm made of fields and warehouses anarchically arranged over successive extensions. In order to give cohesion to everything, it was about building a founder element in the heart of this place, restoring order and simplicity. The building, new workplace for management had to represent the image of the company and the willingness of owners to move towards an organic, healthy and environmentally friendly agriculture. The building, along the highway, is defined through its wooden structure clearly set out. The façade, consists of repeating structural modules, produced under the changing effects of light, increased itselves by the vision in movement from the road. Existing buildings were built by the same carpenter, so wood use was an evidence. Its presence as fundamental element was voluntary: to reuse something already present on a different way.

Inside, the central double height entrance connects all workspaces. Simple and bright, they are sequenced by views over the fields and distant landscapes. The structure can also be read from inside and defines the different spaces. The interface between the project and the existing buildings is managed through a thick wall including all the cupboards, ducts and access to the plant, all in a unified treatment of panels cleverly arranged. To provide greater openness to the outside, with unobstructed view, windows consist of fixed glazing. Natural ventilation is dissociated and works by opening the wooden panels in front, themselves invisible when closed. Then views pass through and away and create a special relationship with landscape.

Agua potable corriendo por las calles - Luzinterruptus

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:49:19 +0100

You will find the English text at the bottom

En Madrid se han perdido, en menos de 30 años, más del 50% de las fuentes públicas en servicio, que ahora aparecen desmanteladas, rotas, sin grifo para beber o simplemente secas.
Las razones no la entendemos muy bien, aunque las instituciones lo achacan a que somos gente poco cívica, que lava las jeringas de la droga o el coche en ellas…
A nosotros nos enfada mucho que para beber en el espacio público tengamos que comprar una botella de agua en un kiosco o meternos en un bar, por no hablar de la diversión a la que se priva a los niños que juegan en los parques y plazas. En Madrid, para encontrar una fuente, debes andar mas de 5 kms.
Para criticar este despego de la administración por un servicio público tan necesario y más en una ciudad tan calurosa como Madrid, hemos llevado a cabo una acción llamada Agua potable corriendo por las calles.
Para ello hemos pasado más de 4 meses recopilando recipientes de cristal del supleménto vitamínico Infatrini, recetado a la pequeña Alicia, que ahora tiene 1 año y que su padre Fernando ha ido guardando para nosotros con toda la paciencia del mundo.
En total nos han regalado más de 200 botellitas que hemos limpiado conciezudamente y usado para crear nuestros chorros de agua particulares y luminosos.
Una fria noche de finales de enero, nos echamos a la calle para intervenir con ellas 4 fuentes públicas sin uso del centro de la ciudad, devolviéndolas a la vida por unas horas.
Queríamos contar que el agua es necesaria para la vida y que nos parecen mucho más necesarias y bellas las fuentes que se usan para beber y para refrescarse, que las meramente ornamentales a las que los ciudadanos normalmente no podemos ni acercarnos a no ser por algún acontecimiento futbolístico “de interés nacional”.
Gracias a Alicia y a su padre por aportar tan importante materia prima a la instalación, a Alex y Cris por su cualificada y desinteresada ayuda en el montaje y a Gustavo Sanabria por sus magníficas fotos.

Tiempo de montaje: 4 horas.
Daños ocasionados: 0.
Permanencia de la intervención: 6 horas?.

In Madrid, in less than 30 years, more than 50% of the public fountains in service have been lost, which now are seen to be dismantled, broken, without a tap to drink from or simply dry.

We do not understand the reasons very well, although the institutions blame the less civic-minded people, who wash drug syringes or their cars with them…
It makes us very angry that in order to drink in a public place we have to buy a bottle of water in a kiosk or go into a bar, not to mention the fun the children playing in the parks and squares are being deprived of. In Madrid, to find a fountain, you have to walk more than 5 kms.
To criticize the indifference of the administration in regards to a necessary public service, even more so in a city as warm as Madrid, we carried out an action called Drinking water running through the streets.
For this reason we have spent more than 4 months collecting the glass containers of the multiple vitamin supplement Infatrini, prescribed for little Alicia, who is now 1 year old, and whose father Fernando has been saving them for us with all the patience in the world.
In total they have donated more than 200 vials to us that we have thoroughly cleaned and used to create our individual and luminous streams of water.
On a cold night at the end of January, we went out into the street and took control of 4 unused public fountains in the city center, bringing them back to life for a few hours.
We wanted to say that water is necessary for life and that the fountains that are used for drinking and refreshing ourselves seem much more necessary and beautiful to us than those which are merely ornamental, which the citizens cannot normally get close if not for some football event of “national interest”.
Thanks to Alicia and her father for providing the important raw materials for the installation, Alex and Cris for their qualified, disinterested assistance in the set up and Gustavo Sanabria for his magnificent photos.

Time of installation: 4 hour.
Damages: none.
Exhibition time: 6 hours?.

Floorworks - Agence Ter

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:54:43 +0100

«Floor Works», a garden open to the public which surrounds a company headquarters in Geneva, is the exterior equivalent of the «Wall Works», a collection of works by contemporary artists including James Turrell, Cindy Sherman and Sol LeWitt which adorn the building. Floor Works is what is produced by working the ground, that is to say by the manipulation – the gardening – of the available mineral or living materials. The project devises a unique means of support, which frees itself from the constraints linked to the many functional elements that emerge here and there, by covering them. Only one inert material, Cor-ten steel, has been chosen for manipulation. Laid out in successive strips, this red steel floor is folded or distorted according to the topography and the structures that need to be enclosed. It covers the entire garden.The edges of each panel are cut and folded, creating « shapes »; some of these provide support for climbing plants while others become seats, that can be occupied by people. The layout is completed with some tall trees on the edges of the site, so as to consolidate the pre-existing verdant setting.

Modernisation of Sebastião da Gama School - Ricardo Carvalho + Joana Vilhena Arquitectos

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:03:44 +0100

The Modernisation Project for the Sebastião da Gama School is based on improving the school and its relationship with the city of Setúbal. This process includes both exterior and interior areas. The basis of all public spaces, and particularly schools, is about the balanced relationship between both. This relationship is responsible for the memory of the first collectively shareable areas in a community. The project orders, rearranges and locates not only the programme and circulations but also the design of the outside area.

The starting point for the project is the setting – both symbolically and functionally – of an exterior central space, which regularises and completes the area where people circulate, creating a paving plan that is perceptible as the centre of the school. The structural presence of Learning Street (in line with the School Network programme) was interpreted as a way of intercepting all areas of the school, reacting to the succession of interior and exterior, covered and open spaces, finishing off an area of student and teacher activity easily perceptible as a distributive scheme.

For this system to become intelligible and effective, the creation of the new building (which contains the library, multi-use room, copy room, café and outdoor playing field) between the main class building and the gymnasium was very important.
This aims to be the logical conclusion of a system that is today considered to be unfinished.

The Project involves:

- Construction of a new porter’s building next to the main gate of the school.

- Rehabilitation, infra-structural and anti-seismic intervention. Improvements in the area of heating/air-conditioning, acoustics and accesses, such as vertical communications (with the installation of a lift in the west atrium). Emphasising the central nature of the Atrium and from there establishing links with all the programmatic areas.

- Improvements to the workshops and conditions in the area of heating/air-conditioning, acoustics and accesses. Changes to the old mechanics workshop, in order to allow the creation of an indoor football pitch, changing rooms and stands. This provides a covered sports area with natural light, which can be used by the local community without affecting the smooth running of the school.

- Improvements to outside areas, restoration of paved areas, creation of shaded areas, installation of fixed furniture and leisure zones with planting of trees.
The project puts the programmatic areas into order, establishing a hierarchy of use and inter-relation, using their scale and dimensioning vocation, their position in relation to the Atrium and other available areas within the existing space as a starting point. The main teaching area groups were kept and diffuse uses were changed, concentrating uses with programmatic similarities.

Nicolai Culture Center - Kristine Jensens Tegnestue

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:58:57 +0100

St. Nicolai School Centre from the 1850’ies is a continuous reincarnation of everything from the traditional Danish school with gyms and schoolyards. With five art houses as the new function the possibility of a new typology of creative and dynamic culture centre emerges. The project evolves with the idea of the schoolyard as the centre, joining the different functions together, an active free space in a more cheerful schoolyard than the historical version. A yard, creating a base of the different house programmes, movies, literature, house of children, craftsmanship and music. Along the west side a continuous wall of corten steel is build along two terraces and a stage/ tribune also made in corten steel. Furthermore different outdoor activity spaces are added to the schoolyard: The Garden of Tales, The City Garden, The Market Square and The Plaza, opening up towards Katrinegade. The tilting terrain in the schoolyard is prevailed and a new enclosing surface of black asphalt is laid out, on which patterns are drawn with thermo plastic and street paint. The schoolyard is designed with a big white drawing on a new layer of black asphalt- as a new drawing board. The project development has been theme-based and during the design process five groups of users have participated in concretizing the programming and the future schedule of utilization and maintenance.

PREVIOUS STATE
Since 1890 St. Nicolaj has been a school complex. Since then the schoolyard as well as all the buildings had been worn down, unfit for modern school life. Therefore the whole building complex, with the schoolyard and the five buildings, was to be turned into a cultural place, renovated by The Municipality of Kolding and the Realdania Foundation. The complex is an almost 3.400 m2 big schoolyard with five different school buildings from various periods of time. Build from 1890 until late 1930, all made in different styles and with either red or yellow bricks or plaster. The courtyard has a long rectangular shape almost 100 meter by 35 meters with a small terrain slope in the middle. Along one side of the courtyard, to the west, there was a condemned fence and planted area that ran for almost 70 meters. The buildings had all various stairs and extensions in a poor state. The courtyard was used only as a parking lot and the whole state was literally a messy backyard site.

AIM OF INTERVENTION
The aim for the site has been to turn the whole area into a cultural complex, each house having different purposes as follows: House of literature, House of films, House of crafts, House of children’s culture and House of music. The schoolyard should be created so that it would benefit from all of the dynamic features from the houses. Hereby we harvested following programmes: a cinematic place as an outdoor scene also able to feature small concerts or plays, places for expositions and markets, places for children to play and everyone else to stay, gather, run and just be in the sun. The aim of intervention by an architectural point of view: On the city level or structural codex we did two things to full fill the yard on both sides: A new wall almost 70 meters long and a new structure in the row of houses on the other side. Our aim was to make a new concept for a modern school yard, one that was a lot livelier, full of joy, participation and through feeling of dynamic purpose.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERVENTION
The new schoolyard now consists of various situations and elements that communicates with the five building programmes; an entrance area when coming from Blæsbjergade, a garden for children’s play and relaxing on the grass, a terrace for the cinema cafes guests, a big circular stage for summer cinema screenings, theatre plays or concerts, an area for markets, a small courtyard for drinks and talks when visiting the house of music, and a square for multiple use. Having a differentiated building complex the aim of the project has been to bind the complex together as a hole. Therefore the selection of materials has been essential. The main material used is corten steel, asphalt and white thermoplastic combined with pale pink magnolia trees and bright blue, yellow and red elements in the garden. The asphalt serves as a blanket covering the whole schoolyard, the bright white thermoplastic creating links between the houses. The white dots challenge one to walk from dot to dot – or merely creating new ones by drawing directly on the asphalt. With its orange color the corten steel creates an inclosing wall that links the various buildings together, but also areas for recreation like the terrace and the stage. The blue, yellow and red elements in the garden are elements for playing such as a sandbox and water basins.

ASSESSMENT
The new schoolyard does not have a central space but has many points of view – a poly focal space. Is has become a place of various activities linked to the themes of the buildings, a public urbane space that now invites one to participate.

Colegio Gandasegi - Luis María Uriarte

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:55:31 +0100

La parcela receptora del proyecto cuenta en su interior con el carismático colegio público matriz – que ofrece su fachada principal al ayuntamiento – sus añadidos posteriores y los módulos edificatorios que acogen la guardería.

La propuesta se concreta en la disposición transversal aérea de un prisma rectangular insertado entre las traseras de los edificios que definen básicamente el solar.

Un doble pliegue en tal volumen laminar se alza interponiéndose entre aquellas y el espacio creado.

El quiebro contrapuesto al edificio matriz del colegio se separa del mismo respetando su rango y asumiendo un efecto-marco que realce su impronta, incorporándolo decididamente a la plaza, mientras que el efectuado sobre la gran medianera de viviendas se adhiere a ésta proponiendo su habilitación: un andamio tecnológico orientado al sur que incorpora las instalaciones del centro.

El prisma contiene un doble emparrillado de aulas separadas por un patio-calle arbolado.

Toda la planta, al igual que las dos emergencias volumétricas, se comunica directamente con el edificio matriz a la altura de su planta primera y mediante núcleo de comunicaciones que atiende a ambos, más rampa dispuesta en la esquina opuesta que asiste a la planta primera, planta baja y semisótano.

La planta segunda del pliegue tras el colegio matriz cuenta con servicios asociados al área de administración tales como sala de profesores y oficio.

El contenedor de la actividad docente, rasgado transversalmente por la “calle arbolada” que prolonga la acabada ahora en fondo de saco y atraviesa el hall del edificio matriz, posibilita, cobijado bajo su panza, un mundo extenso y plural de juego.

Su exploración permite el reconocimiento del artificio sustentado por paquidermos de H-A blanco cuyos vientres se salpican de los elementos textiles del suelo y se constituyen en soporte de juegos o juegos en sí mismos, y de la naturaleza implantada en el subsuelo de la geometrizada parcela (agrupaciones de abedules) que alcanzan incluso las bocas del semisótano.

El suelo de la parcela se constituye mediante solado de hormigón blanco despiezado cuyas faltas se completan con ”losetas vegetales” arboladas y/o acolchadas con material absorbente al impacto (caucho natural perforado vulcanizado). Tanto las vegetales como las de juego/relax se forran con elementos textiles imputrescibles que, ocasionalmente, protegen también los paños verticales o, parcialmente, los paquidermos de H-A blanco que sustentan el aulario superior.

Próximo al núcleo de comunicación adjunto al edificio matriz se instala el centro de control e información mientras el opuesto recoge la rampa de acceso que liga los distintos niveles.

Desde el mundo intermedio del juego la rampa adosada a la medianera de viviendas, constituye el mundo visible del enlace de las tres esferas de actividad: servicios, juego y formación intelectual.

El cuerpo de semisótano, de geometría rasgada por ingentes tragaluces por donde desciende la naturaleza o en su caso el propio acolchado – una especie de “biogargantúa”- cobija la restauración y servicios (aulas de psicomotricidad, almacenes,..) extendiéndose a lo largo del pasaje de acceso, prolongación de la calle norte.

El hall del antiguo colegio se preserva, como en la actualidad, como el gran espacio previo de ingreso al potente patio que techa el volumen aéreo del centro educativo si bien su renovado aspecto, más relacionado con la plaza del Ayuntamiento mediante la extensión del solado externo y la implantación de elementos de cierre, lo integra ahora decididamente a aquella.

Su primera planta, conectada al nuevo edificio, acogerá las aulas de música, idiomas y psicomotricidad mientras que su planta segunda, exenta, se preservará para la implantación de una biblioteca con capacidad de recepción de consultas externas.

Villa Piedad - Marta Badiola Lainsa

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:29:30 +0100

Habitar el volumen. Transformar el plano en volumen habitable. Abarcar el espacio. Este ha sido el obsesivo objetivo del proyecto. Mis posibilidades de adquirir una vivienda propia en la ciudad más cara de España se reducían a 41 m2 y mis conocimientos de arquitectura.

Villa Piedad era una vivienda bifamiliar de 1950 que con el tiempo segregaron en 8 diminutos pisos. Compré medio bajocubierta, antiguo desván de la vivienda. Techos bajos y un espacio compartimentado en 5 minúsculas estancias con un agobiante distribuidor central. Una distribución convencional adaptada a un espacio mínimo.

Veredicto: demolición total. Incluida la cubierta, que estaba en un estado lamentable. Sin piedad. El resultado un espacio casi cuadrado con 3 fachadas y una cubierta: 4 planos de contacto con el exterior. Las 7 veluxes de la cubierta completaron el queso gruyere. Los espacios se organizan en torno a un tabique central y el baño está colgado sobre la escalera comunitaria.

Se reservan las vistas sobre la ciudad para el espacio principal. Vivir y trabajar en dos alturas de un mismo espacio. Conectados e independientes entre sí. El estudio en la entreplanta se transforma en dormitorio cuando se quedan amigos.

La cocina se abre al este para disfrutar del sol de la mañana y amplia lateralmente la zona de estar. El dormitorio principal está en la zona más tranquila de la casa, protegido de las vías del ferrocarril.

Las puertas se esconden. Cada hueco es un armario. Cuenta cada centímetro.

House G-S - GRAUX & BAEYENS architects

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:22:12 +0100

Reconversion of a private house

House DS - GRAUX & BAEYENS architects

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:20:07 +0100

The house is situated in a typical residential area. The plots are characterized by large rear gardens and negligible side garden strips. The property can be described as a typical Belgian ‘fermette’, or farmhouse imitation from the Seventies. The client acquired the property 10 years ago. The brief was to transform the house to ensure spacious, bright and contemporary living. Unlike the total make-over the client had in mind, the architects chose to conserve the archetype of the farmlike house and add an extension that strived for a dissonance, a confrontation, aimed at sharpening both entities and achieve a symbiosis between old and new. Four volumes are placed against the existing volume as large canvases, to capture light and form a new rear. A fifth, separate volume contains the pool house. These two interventions, the extension and the pool house, thus define the large garden area, connected by the terraces and the pool. The other parts of the shell remain untouched and preserve the sight of a individually readable volume. Inside, however, a fusion of old and new is created: The new space formed by the canvases connects through a continuous wall cupboard to the existing L-shaped living room and opens as a trampled fan into the light.

A long cupboard is placed diagonally and separates the living room from the utility parts (entrance, storage room, bathroom, playroom) and integrates functions like fireplace, library, kitchen, ... Using highly specific constructive interventions the existing house was opened up and was linked to the new rear. This results in an open living space where the garden with its evolving seasons plays a central role. The wardrobe has a double purpose. Firstly, the living space thus separated from the practical parts (entrance, storage room, bathroom, playroom) and secondly, many different features are integrated (fireplace, library, kitchen, ...) The covered terrace is integrated into the new rear.

The new rear is conceived as a timber frame. This dry wall structure is a quick way of working and has led to a reduced construction period.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum - Renzo Piano Building Workshop

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:43:28 +0100

The new wing by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano incorporates the use of natural light and transparency, offering visitors views of the exterior gardens and adjacent park upon entering, as well as creating a continuous visual relationship between the new wing and the historic building. The new building features a transparent first floor of glass, above which four “floating” volumes, clad in pre-patinated copper, are organized on an axial circulation system that features a central double staircase and elevator. Adjacent to the main lobby, a greenhouse with a sloped glass facade stands two stories tall, with two artist apartments on the second level.

Casa RBN - MAGMAPROGETTI

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:42:17 +0100

La Casa delle Gelosie a San Salavario, Torino. Interno o esterno ? Le gelosie scandiscono lo spazio abitato dal giorno alla notte, dalla camera alla cucina. La casa nasce con molte pareti divisorie che tolgono luce e fruizione degli spazi. L’intervento ha mirato alla razionalizzazione del vivere, demolendo tutte le superfici superflue per consentire l’utilizzo di ogni spazio della casa. Le gelosie accompagnano la percezione degli spazi dal più pubblico al più riservato regolandone e mutandone continuamente l’accezione.

House KCV - GRAUX & BAEYENS architects

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:06:54 +0100

“Room with a View”
The project lies on the outskirts of the city center of Mechelen and occupies a three story family house with a pitched roof, on the edge of the river Dijle. The brief was to create rooms that fit the urban tissue. The house is enclosed from three sides, which only leaves the façade to create potential views on the old city skyline. The new façade is a repetition of three stacked windows that provides the vistas for each level.

Materials and details:
Some of the existing elements of the 18th century house ~~the timber floors structure, stairs and brick walls~~ where blend in the new design. The wooden window frames are accentuated/contrasting with the white plaster-finished façade.

Challenges
The challenge was to create comfortable living spaces in a narrow house divided in small rooms. Therefore we’ve opted to combine two main function per level: dining room vs kitchen, bed room vs bath room, living room vs working space. The former pitched roof is now a piano room with panoramic view.

Butaro Hospital - MASS Design Group

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:11:25 +0100

See more photos

In January 2011, the Rwandan Ministry of Health and Partners In Health (PIH) opened the 140-bed Butaro Hospital in the Burera District of Rwanda. Burera District, which has a population of over 340,000, has historically had very poor health indicators compared to other areas of Rwanda and is one of the most impoverished districts in the country. Prior to PIH’s arrival in 2007, Burera was one of the last two districts in the country without a functioning district hospital and was without a single doctor. MASS Design Group was brought in by PIH in 2008 to help plan and design a first-rate facility that would help reverse these conditions.

In the design of the hospital, MASS Design Group and PIH sought to create a more holistic model of architecture that included the design of an appropriate, state of the art hospital while also fully choreographing the process of construction to employ, educate and empower the local community.

Infection Control

After immersion in the field through living and working at the Butaro Health Center, and consultation with global health experts from PIH, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School, and the Center for Disease Control, the issue of nosocomial or hospitalborne infection became apparent. Due to crowded corridors and insufficient ventilation, patients and healthcare providers were often subjected to the high risk of contracting airborne diseases inside health facilities, particularly in rural, impoverished settings. The design of Butaro sought to mitigate and reduce the transmission of airborne disease through several systems, including overall layout, patient and staff flow, and natural ventilation, providing a template and approach that could be replicated in areas of high risk for TB transmission and other airborne diseases in resource-limited settings.

The Butaro Hospital design incorporates a range of innovative features designed to minimize risk of infection. Elimination of interior corridors and installation of large-radius fans and louvered windows ensure frequent air exchange, a key strategy in reducing transmission. In order to produce the necessary air changes in the ward, high-volume, low-speed fans with diameters of 24 feet were used at strategic points to move air from the wards out the louvers and open windows, and in doing so remove potentially harmful microbes. Germicidal UV lights were installed to kill or inactivate microbes as air is drawn through the upper regions of the room. Finally, the use of a non-permeable, continuous floor finish provided a surface devoid of joints prone to bacterial growth. The floor type is easy to clean, durable, and safe by resisting infection.

Capacity Building

Beyond providing access to first-rate healthcare facilities, the Butaro Hospital project was used as a way to spur grassroots business and development. Constructed with 100% local labor, 3,898 people were trained and hired to help excavate, construct, and manage the project. Construction teams were organized into six teams, each of which worked a two-week shift. This allowed for six times as many people to be hired and be involved in the building process. All employees were provided with food, water, and healthcare. Employing more laborers was cheaper and faster than using solely heavy equipment to excavate the hillsides and move the earth — but more importantly, it provided the added benefits of both creating jobs and engendering community investment in the project.

Masonry Capacity building and two way learning happened naturally at all stages and areas of the project, from design workshops with the local builders through on-site development of specific construction methods. Volcanic stone is a ubiquities element of the northern Rwandan landscape; commonly thought of as a nuisance by farmers clearing their fields. When used in building, it is typically only for foundations or courtyard walls, and is often covered partially or completely with mortar. In an effort to reveal the exceptionally unique and beautiful texture of the stone we sought to minimize mortar, and create an even and nearly seamless expanse of deep gray porous walls. After multiple mock-ups, the mason’s began to get excited about the product that was appearing, and finally were given the go- ahead. As they progressed through the various buildings on the hospital campus, their work became more and more refined. Recognizing how their skill had advanced as they worked, the masons eventually offered to replace their initial work at no cost, out of a sense of pride. As newly trained, highly skilled contractors, these masons are now sought after in other parts of the country by contractors seeking to replicate the “magnificent stone walls of Butaro.”

CREDITS

Architects:
MASS Design Group

Design Team:
Michael Murphy, Alan Ricks, Sierra Bainbridge, Marika Clark, Ryan Leidner, Garret Gantner, Cody Birkey, Ebbe Strathairn, Maura Rockcastle, Dave Saladik, Alda Ly, Commode Dushimimana

Structural Engineering: ICON
Construction Supervision: PIH/IMB, Bruce Nizeye, Felix Ndagijimana

Sewage Plant Engineering: EcoProtection
Landscape Design: Sierra Bainbridge and Maura Rockcastle

Client: Rwandan Ministry of Health; Partners In Health / Inshuti Mu Buzima

Built Area: 6,040 square meters

Cost: $4.4M

Design Phase: January 2008 – February 2009

Construction Phase: February 2009-January 2011