David Chipperfield Architects complete Germany’s museum extension
The new Museum Würth Two in the culture and congress centre Carmen Würth Forum for the Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG in the town of Künzelsau in southern Germany, offers a diverse range of functions; further establishing the complex’s conceptual idea of a forum and allows the building to be open continuously, in particular due to its use as a museum.
The new art museum features key pieces of modern and contemporary art from the Reinhold Würth collection that comprises more than 18,300 works. The contemplative exhibition spaces, dedicated to pieces from the collection, provide a counterpoint to the event spaces. Through a glazed belvedere, the museum opens up to the extended sculpture park with works from internationally renowned sculptors as well as to the vastness of the surrounding landscape.
Circle Wood House: Mobius Architekci’s home in the trees
Przemek Olczyk of Przemek Olczyk Mobius Architekci blends the building, located in Izabelin, Poland, into the forest surroundings through the use of wooden materials, colours and oval forms.
The client appreciated privacy but did not wish to hide away from the surroundings enveloped by the Kampinos National Park. The answer to this challenging design aspiration was an atrium, located in the central part of the spared pine trees. The atrium harmoniously invites nature into the interior of the house, full of daylight, natural materials and spacious glazing.
Rotterdam’s first fully wooden residential building at 50m high
Commissioned by Nice Developers and Era Contour, Mei architects and planners are designing the construction entirely in cross-laminated timber in the heart of the Lloydquarter.
SAWA is distinguished by the generous green terraces, with which the building enhances the biodiversity of the neighbourhood. In the context of the European Green Deal, UN Sustainable Development Goals and objectives of the municipality of Rotterdam to reduce CO² emissions, the client and architect share the ambition to fully execute the building, including the main support structure, in CLT (cross-laminated timber).
Ateliér Lina Bellovičová’s ecological hemp house LO in Czech Republic
The designers were given the brief that the house was to connect with the surrounding nature, to be ecological, and to contain a photo studio for use during winter evenings.
As per the client’s wishes, the house was built from hempcrete, which had never been used as a building material in the Czech Republic before, and covered by a green roof.
Hempcrete petrifies for several years and draws carbon dioxide from the air around during this process; it also has good insulating features, is recyclable and is resistant to pests, fire and molds.
London’s Chelsea Barracks: the most sustainable development in Europe
Qatari Diar’s super-prime Chelsea Barracks scheme, designed by Squire & Partners, is one of only 16 developments in the world to achieve the eco-credential of a LEED Platinum certification for green building and neighbourhood design.
The Chelsea Barracks masterplan has transformed 12.8 acres of SW1 into a residential-led enclave, inspired by Belgravia’s traditional garden squares. Five acres of the site, 40% of the total, have been devoted to green space, including seven publicly accessible gardens that are being planted with native species, culinary and medicinal plants, referencing the nearby Chelsea Physic Garden.
