Dutch architect Ben van Berkel of UNStudio has won a competition to design a tower that will house the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Frankfurt, Germany.

The facade of the 110 metre tower will appear to change shape depending on the angle from which it is viewed.

“It appears needle-thin from one spot, strong and straight from another, and complex with a slight twist from yet another,” says van Berkel.

The following information is from UNStudio:

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UNStudio/ Ben van Berkel’s design selected for new hotel tower in Frankfurt

Yesterday, UNStudio was selected in the competition for a 110 meter tall hotel tower.

From the six projects presented, the jury, chaired by Prof. Johann Eisele, chose the designs by UNStudio - Ben van Berkel (Amsterdam), and Kohn, Pedersen, Fox (New York) and recommended proceeding with the UNStudio design for further development.

According to Ben van Berkel the design for the Grand Hyatt tower celebrates and highlights the cosmopolitan character and diversity of Frankfurt. ‘It has three different elevations that are linked to the different aspects of the city. The tower takes up the variation and diversity offered by the city of Frankfurt and reflects that multiplicity of experiences back to the city itself. The tower can be perceived differently from each perspective; it appears needle-thin from one spot, strong and straight from another, and complex with a slight twist from yet another.”

The new tower will house a 5-star-plus hotel with 405 rooms and suites, a ballroom, spa, various restaurants, a lobby bar and a public Sky Lounge on the top floor, and the possibility of an adjacent congress center. The hotel tower consists of 30 floors at a height of approximately 110 metres and an area of 54,562.70 m2 for hotel tower + plinth.

The new hotel will be located opposite the currently emerging high-rise office Tower 185. The first building to be realized in Frankfurt’s Europaviertel was the Mövenpick Hotel. Along with a number of apartments and office buildings a second hotel, the Meininger Hotel, is currently under construction.

As part of a multiple assignment, yesterday six architects presented their ideas for the approximately 110-meter-high hotel tower. Other offices which presented their designs were Ingenhoven Architects (Dusseldorf), JSK Architects (Frankfurt), Lederer, Ragnarsdottir, Oei (Stuttgart) and Reichel Stauth + Architects (Brunswick). The jury consisted of: Councillor Edwin Schwarz (City of Frankfurt), Bernhard H. Hansen (Vivico), Prof. Jochem Jourdan (Jourdan & Müller PAS), Prof. Uwe Frerichs (Bielefeld University), Anne Geier Mann (Hyatt) and Matthias Lowin (Viador).

All of the designs will be exhibited from the 20th until the 27th May 2009 in the foyer of the Technical Town Hall of the City of Frankfurt (Braubachstrasse 15, Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 18:00 clock).

The jury chairman Prof. Eisele pointed out: “All the proposals were of an exceptionally high standard. The award-winning designs by UNStudio and Kohn, Pedersen Fox are particularly outstanding as they present a type of high-rise which does not yet exist in this form in Frankfurt. The contribution by UNStudio demonstrates how harmony can be created between extensive functional demands and the high requirements of exterior and interior design.”

According to Mr. Schwarz the designs are very well integrated into the urban planning of the new neighborhood: “With this exceptional high-rise the new project will provide the entrance area of the Europe district with a very visible accent.”

Bernhard H. Hansen said: “An architectural language has been found that responds to the high demands of the Grand Hyatt account whilst simultaneously integrating perfectly into the neighborhood.”

The new Grand Hyatt, as part of the ensemble Skyline Plaza, marks the entrance of the Europe Allee, with its impact stretching along Oslo street in a North-South direction. With the new hotel tower, 1,000 beds of different categories will be available in the Europe District. The Europe District is growing rapidly: The first residential building will be completed in spring 2009, with two more to follow in 2010. Overall, in the first phase approximately 780 houses are planned. The construction of the first office building, headquarters of the Germany bank BNP Paribas, started in the autumn of 2008 and will be realized mid-2010. The four-star Mövenpick Hotel Frankfurt City was realized in 2006. In February 2008 Vivico closed a lease contract with the Berlin hotel group Meininger. The new hotel at the entrance of the Torhause is also already under construction and will be opened in 2010.

At the entrance of the European quarter, at the Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage, Vivico has been building the Tower 185 since September 2008; the first skyscraper at this location. Before construction began Vivico closed a contract for approximately 60,000 m_ of rental space with the accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

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Posted by zefri

source : www.dezeen.com

Santa Monica practice Pugh + Scarpa Architects have completed a building to provide homes, support services and rehabilitation for homeless and mentally disabled people in Santa Monica, California.

Called Step Up on Fifth, the facade is covered with water jet-cut, anodised-aluminium panels that provide shade and privacy.

The building comprises 46 studio apartments offering permanent, affordable housing plus retail space at ground level.

Community rooms on alternate floors overlook two private courtyards on the first floor.

Photographs by John Linden; drawings by Pugh + Scarpa Architects.

Here’s some more information from Pugh + Scarpa Architects:

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Step Up on 5th is a bright new spot in downtown Santa Monica. The new building provides a home, support services and rehabilitation for the homeless and mentally disabled population. The new structure provides 46 studio apartments of permanent affordable housing. The project also includes ground level commercial/retail space and subterranean parking.

A striking yet light-hearted exterior makes the new building a welcome landmark in downtown Santa Monica. Custom water jet-anodized aluminum panels on the main façade creates a dramatic screen that sparkles in the sun and glows at night, while also acting as sun protection and privacy screens. The material reappears as a strategic arrangement of screens on east and south-facing walls, lending a subtle rhythm to the exterior circulation walkways and stairs.

South-facing walls filter direct sunlight with asymmetrical horizontal openings that lend unexpected visual depth while creating a sense of security for the emotionally sensitive occupants. Enhancing the structure’s geometric texture, the irregular array of openings variably extrudes from the building’s surface.

The small-scale elements on the façade enhance the existing streetscape and promote a lively pedestrian environment. By visually breaking up the façade into smaller articulated elements, the building appears to move with the passing cars and people.

At the second level above the retail space two private courtyards provide residents with a secure and welcoming surrounding while connecting directly to 5th street and downtown Santa Monica via a secured stairway integrated into the building storefront at street level.

Community rooms are located on every other floor of the project overlooking the private courtyards protected from the street. These community rooms along with the private courtyards serve as the principal social spaces for the tenants of the building.

Step Up on 5th distinguishes itself from most conventionally developed projects in that it incorporates energy efficient measures that exceed standard practice, optimize building performance, and ensure reduced energy use during all phases of construction and occupancy.

The planning and design of Step Up on 5th emerged from close consideration and employment of passive solar design strategies.

These strategies include: locating and orienting the building to control solar cooling loads; shaping and orienting the building for exposure to prevailing winds; shaping the building to induce buoyancy for natural ventilation; designing windows to maximize day lighting; shading south facing windows and minimizing west-facing glazing; designing windows to maximize natural ventilation; shaping and planning the interior to enhance daylight and natural air flow distribution.

These passive strategies alone make this building 50% more efficient than a conventionally designed structure.

The building is loaded with energy-saving and environmentally benign or “sustainable” devices. Materials conservation and recycling were employed during construction by requiring all waste to be hauled to a transfer station for recycling. The overall project achieved more than a 75% recycling rate.

Specifying carpet with a high-recycled content, and all-natural linoleum flooring also emphasized resource conservation. The project also uses compact fluorescent lighting throughout the building and double-pane windows.

Each apartment will be equipped with water-saving dual flush toilets and many other energy conserving devices. While California has the most stringent energy efficient requirements in the United States, Step Up incorporates numerous sustainable features that exceed state mandated Title 24 energy measures by more than 30%

Project’s Formal Name: Step Up on Fifth
Location of Project: 1548 5th Street, Downtown Santa Monica, California
Client/Owner: Step Up
Total Square Footage: 31,600 sq. ft.
Total Cost: $10.1 million
Architects: Pugh + Scarpa
Project Team: Lawrence Scarpa, AIA – Design Architect, Angela Brooks, AIA, Principal-in-Charge, Brad Buter, Silke Clemmens, Ching Luk, Matt Maijack, Luis Gomez, Omar Barcena, Dan Safarik, Gwynne Pugh – Project Team
Engineering: John Martin Associates, Jackie Vinkler – Structural IBE, Alan Locke – Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing
Contractor: Ruiz Brothers
Photography: John Edward Linden

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Posted by zefri

source : www.dezeen.com

Swedish designers Humans since 1982 have created a digital clock made of 24 analogue clocks, which spell out the time with their hands.

The designers have also developed a typeface derived from letter forms created by banks of clocks.

See demonstrations of the Clock Clock on YouTube here and here.

The prototype Clock Clock will be exhibited at the Rhösska design museum in Göteborg from June till mid August 2009.

See our earlier story on Celebrating the Cross 1 by humans since 1982.

Here’s some text from humans since 1982:

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we are designstudents at HDK Göteborg in Sweden and gathered under the name “humans since 1982″.

After having successfully launched our “Surveillance Light” and our lounger “Celebrating the cross 1″ we now developed a prototype of a wall clock: we call it “The clock clock”. Hereby 24 manual alarm clocks show the time in a digital manner.

We also have developed a typefont on this basis. This prototype will be shown at Rhösska design-museum in Göteborg from june till mid of august 2009.

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Posted by zefri

source : www.dezeen.com

Belgian designers Puresang have designed Hospital, a clothing store set in a former stable in Antwerp.

The Antwerp designers used patterned tiles and reclaimed, decorative, glass panels, and added new levels built from tropical timbers.

The store opened in December last year.

Photographs by Guy Obijn. See Puresang’s Grey Goose bar in our earlier story.

The text below is from Puresang:

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When Jeroen Smeekens started Clinic almost four years ago, he never thought it would be such an instant success. Thanks to our craftsmanship, Clinic has been published in important magazines and has been quoted as the “Best retail concept” from the last decennia by trendwatcher Malcolm Mclaren.

If Colette in Paris is known for high fashion and gifts, Clinic has become the blueprint for a new era in concept stores for casual and sportswear. In December 2008, J. Smeekens has opened a new challenge: Hospital. And again, we were the ones who did the beautiful design and concept.

Hospital will be a crossover between high fashion and casual couture with eccentric toys for him and her.

The shop is a Walhalla for new luxury, with a highlight on leading fashion trends and a diversity of accessories and one-off design pieces. It’s not Colette, nor Corso Como… it’s Hospital !

The location is in the trendy South of Antwerp, across the well-known Clinic. The space is situated in a former stables complex from the old and already destroyed Hippodrome of Antwerp.

It’s a space of approximately 1000 square meters with a ceiling of seven meters high.

In front of the store you have a listed building where a small resto-coffee bar will be installed and on the three levels a new luxury Bed and Breakfast will be designed.

We wanted to add more drama to the design and did this by using materials such as old decorative glass panels and colorful, exotic tiles combined with highly polished metals and tropical woods mixed with exposed brick walls.

The open space is split up and divided into levels which increases the retail space up to 1200 square meters. Dramatic lighting is one of the features used to illuminate the space whilst multi media effects bring more dynamism to the building. Hospital, a new challenge for new luxury!

Hospital fashion shop

De Burburestraat 4-5
Antwerp
Belgium