JTS engineering blog

RTKL has been selected to design the Shanghai Changzheng New Pudong Hospital, the largest new hospital built in one phase in China. The 2,200-bed facility will comprise 361,000 sq m with an estimated construction cost of RMB 2.82 billion (EUR 304 million). The project, which will be managed out of RTKL’s Los Angeles office, is scheduled to begin construction later this year.

“RTKL’s design for the new Shanghai Changzheng Pudong Hospital capitalizes on China’s increasingly sophisticated healthcare consumer,” said RTKL executive vice president Brad Barker, who directs the firm’s healthcare sector. “Our client challenged us to create a world-class hospital to serve a population that has come to demand—and expect—advanced healthcare facilities, patient-focused care and the latest technology—all within an environmentally friendly facility.”

RTKL was selected through an international design competition in which more than 30 architecture firms participated. According to Xingdong Zheng, the hospital’s president, “RTKL’s design was an exceptional response to our goal of creating a modern academic hospital that will be internationally recognized for excellence in patient care, research, and teaching. The design supports patient-centered service as well as our desire for an environmentally friendly medical center.”

The 2,200-bed hospital will include four inpatient towers, a VIP tower, an outpatient center, an emergency center, and an infectious disease building. Beyond patient care components, plans also include research and teaching facilities, dormitories for students and staff, an administration building, and a conference and reception facility.

“This is more than grafting Western-style design,” says Barker. “This represents the emergence of a robust new market with new technical requirements and cultural sensitivities that are unique to China.”

RTKL will provide master planning and design services for the project, which has no set completion date as yet, with Shanghai Municipal Architecture Design Institute as a local partner handling the construction documentation.

blogged by: Jake Shea

The remaining works in the stations on Dubai Metro’s Red Line will be completed in April 2010, and all works in the stations on the Green Line will be completed in August 2011, a senior official from Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) announced in a press release on Saturday.

Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of RTA said that the contractor of the Dubai Metro Project; Dubai Rail Link (DURL) Consortium; is set to complete all the remaining works on the Red Line (18 stations) on 25 April 2010. [see map]

All works in the stations on the Metro’s Green Line will be completed in August 2011, he added.

“The operation of Red Line stations will be in phases starting from April 25th, 2010; where several key stations will be operational; namely Emirates Station, Airport Terminal 1 Station, GGICO Station, Al Karama Station, World Trade Center Station, Marina Station, and Ibn Battuta Station. The remaining stations will be operated over the following months of 2010″ Al Tayer said.

He summarised the criteria upon which the stations to be operated on 25 April 2010 had been selected as: “availability of population density in the locality served by each station so as to provide convenient services to the inhabitants in the neighbourhood, availability of commercial activities in the area served by each station, availability of government activities in the vicinity of each station, the station integration with other transport modes such as buses & water transport means, and the projected number of commuters at each station”.

Al Tayer explained that the RTA has agreed with DURL Consortium undertaking Dubai Metro Project to prioritise the works of the project.

“RTA will provide the biggest portion of cash injections out of its budget allocated by the Government of Dubai to cover the cost of the additional works on the Red & Green Lines, add new stations to meet the needs of property development projects, add a depot to accommodate the resultant increase in the capacity, and increase the number of footbridges linking with the metro stations to enable the public use the metro easily. The remaining portion of additional works’ cost will be funded through the project Contractor” Al Tayer said.

The Green line is the second line of the Dubai Metro and will be a 22.5km line comprising 40 trains that will run from Dubai Airport Free Zone to Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) through Saeediya and comprises two interchange stations with the Red Line, at Union Square and Burjuman.

Dubai Metro has served 9,872,545 passengers since it was launched last September, according to latest statistics compiled by Rail Agency of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

Ramadan Abdullah, director of Rail Operation Department at RTA Rail Agency said in a statement on Friday that the Mall of the Emirates Station was still the most attractive to both commuters and tourists, recording 1,578,447 passengers; accounting for 16 percent of total passenger count.

blogged by: Jake Shea

After years of accommodation in temporary premises, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has revealed its design for new permanent headquarters by schmidt hammer lassen architects (SHL). The Danish office was selected in a prestigious architectural design competition with a twenty strong international shortlist including David Chipperfield, Mecanoo Architecten, OMA/Search, Ingenhoven, Wiel Arets, and Kengo Kuma & Associates.

“To the victims, to their families and to the world, the ICC building must communicate respect, trust and hope. This building cannot be anonymous; it must have the courage to express the values and the credibility of the ICC,” said Bjarne Hammer, Co-Founding Partner and Creative Director of schmidt hammer lassen architects. He continued: “The building is designed as an abstract and informal sculpture in the landscape. This way, it becomes a backdrop for the ICC to communicate trust, hope, and most importantly, faith in justice and fairness.”

Located close to the North Sea, the new Court is placed between nature and city, set in the rolling dune landscape at the edge of The Hague. The main concept is the sculptural arrangement of buildings in the landscape and the design of a landmark that conveys the eminence and authority of the ICC while at the same time relating to a human scale.

The overall building form can be seen as an undulating composition of volumes on the horizon, reminiscent of the dune landscape. “It was evident that connecting the dune landscape with the edge of the city had a striking potential. By designing a compact building with a small footprint, we propose to return the landscape to the city,” said Hammer.

According to the Architectural Jury, the design provides the ICC with a sculptural composition of square towers. The Jury quoted this approach as “a very impressive and interesting architectural gesture and a great contribution to the city with an attractive integration into the landscape. This applies also for the idea of ‘moving down’ to the Court through the spacious staircase. The big and sharp incision in the landscape and the lower ground floor are very interesting elements. The inner atmosphere is confirmed as user-friendly, especially the spacious ground floor with beautiful daylight from above. This ground floor can be seen as an inner private park area which facilitates the interaction between all the ICC employees in a very pleasant and positive way.”

By making a sharp incision into the ground the building complex forms a contrast to the surrounding dune landscape. The architectural idea is to continue the gardens in the ground floor (parterre) level of the building as a cladding of the Court Tower.

“Gardens have always existed as part of all cultures and all religions. With flowers and plants from each of the 110 ICC member countries, the parterre gardens rise up as a green landmark and a symbol of unity, regardless of nationality and culture,” explained Hammer.

Environmental sustainability is a key criterion in terms of the building’s footprint and the selection of building materials. The facades of the office buildings are clad in a composite material selected for its suitability to the windy and salty local climate, ease of maintenance and security performance. The material is normally used in the bodywork of professional race cars and in the cladding of windmills due to its durability. The design has at this stage been assessed as BREEAM Excellent.

SHL are no strangers to civic design having recently completed the dramatically clad District Court in Malmö, Sweden and are experts in educational design also.

blogged by: Jake Shea

Il COR Building progettato da Oppenheim Architecture and Design di Chad Oppenheim il primo condominio sostenibile di Miami, in Florida, e rappresenta un esempio di sinergia dinamica tra l’architettura, l’ingegneria strutturale e l’ecologia.

French studio Topos Architecture have completed a pair of perforated fast-food kiosks on the seafront at Saint-Nazaire, France.

Called Kiosque Saint-Nazaire, the wooden kiosks are protected at night by screens perforated with spiral patterns that reference sea shells.

Photographs are by Stéphane Chalmeau.

Saint-Nazaire’s sea front was recently the object of an important urban requalification work, intended “to turn the city to the sea”.

Finished in 2005, it now looks like a pedestrian walk.

It is lined with lawns, the town side has trees and there are small squares to punctuate it.

From now on, kiosks need to fit into this new landscape, and liven it up with elegance.

Constructive system: a module in wood with cut out aluminium shutters. The architects opted for a modular solution due to the tight construction schedule.

6 metres long by 3.30 metres wide, the kiosk is made up of a “standard” module in wood with aluminium shutters, cut in the form of shells and covered with a fine sand surface.

When the kiosk is open, the shutters fold back and show the wood. They are 5mm thick and fixed to rails at the top, moving in a “Kazed” style.

A strong locking system means they can be held in place at right angles to the facade.

At night, all the area around the kiosk is lit up thanks to the light from inside the shutters.

Location: Saint-Nazaire (44) – France
Surface: 20 m2
Project owner: Town of Saint-Nazaire

blogged by: Jake Shea

Vitra Haus, the new home of Vitra’s Home Collection, has been covered widely by design media, and not in vain. It is a beautiful example of Jacques Herzog’s and Pierre de Meuron’s ability to take the ubiquitous stacked-houses concept and still make it look new, interesting and inviting.

Reaching five storeys in height and containing 12 separate houses, Vitra House is geared toward the general public, design-aware consumers who will appreciate the building as well as the Vitra products inside. The entire contraption appears both grandiose and intimate at the same time, with the gray exterior disguising the disheveled heap within the site, while the open glass-walled ends and stark, white interiors facilitate the presentation of residential-scale displays.

Vitra House is the latest addition to the ever-expanding Vitra Campus that started as an industrial park with the manufacturing facilities. Now the Vitra Design Museum–Frank Gehry’s first European building opened in 1989 — the Conference Pavilion by Tadao Ando (1993) and the Fire Station by Zaha Hadid (1993) already provide magnificent visual attraction. Vitra Haus and a new circular manufacturing facility by Kazuyo Sejima/SANAA are this year’s entrants to the site.

Weil am Rhein is a German town and a community that is a suburb of the Swiss city of Basel in Switzerland. Weil am Rhein is located by the River Rhine, close to the meeting point of the Swiss, German and French borders. The Vitra Design Museum is the town’s biggest draw.

The Basel-based architecture firm Herzog and Meuron was established in 1978 by Jacques Herzog (born 19 April 1950), and Pierre de Meuron (born 8 May 1950). It is known for many prominent international commissions, including the Beijing Olympics’ “Bird’s Nest.”

Courtesy of: The Cool Hunter

blogged by: Jake Shea

Steven Holl Architects has been awarded first prize in the design competition to redevelop the site of the oxygen and boiler plants in Hangzhou, China. Steven Holl Architects’ design won first place, Herzog & de Meuron won second place, and David Chipperfield Architects was selected as the third place winner by a ninemember international jury consisting of Thom Mayne, Wolf D. Prix, Ralph Lerner, Terence Riley, Adolf Krischanitz, Rusio Barbara, Zheng Shiling, Pan Gongkai and Wang Jianguo.

This master plan includes residential towers and an international urban exposition center, and integrates functions like an art gallery, restaurants, and performance and exhibition spaces.
The scheme, based on the concept of Shan-Shui, meaning mountain and water, builds on Hangzhou’s relationship with West Lake. At the heart of the bow-tie plan is an Earth and Water Tower, which act as a vertical gathering of the water and mountain zone. From this central position in the large site, one tower branches north towards tributary forms approaching the oxygen sector while the other branches south toward landscape forms at the boiler sector.

There are six large-scale elements which hover between landform and architecture. The new elements intersect and transform the existing factory buildings; invigorating them with new programs.

1. Water Tower
A round tower rising from a water pond branches out to provide pedestrian circulation to the North. This glass tower houses offices with retail space at the base and a restaurant and event space at the top.

2. Canal Spreaders
A new zone of recreational waterstrips, parklike and open to views from the main highway, identifies the center of the whole project. Thin buildings offer a variety of housing types: Live/work lofts for artists in residence, service apartments and boutique design hotels can be found in this new green zone of trees and waterscape.

3. Lantern Towers
The lantern towers take inspiration from the old stone lanterns in West Lake, setting “fire over water.” Photovoltaic glass curtain walls gather the sun’s energy during the day. At night, one elevation of each tower glows via special Fresnel glass, reflecting the day’s energy in the water. One loft apartment per floor is connected by an elevator to collective lobbies below the pond. Health club, spa, retail shopping and parking levels connect the lower levels.

4. Green and Glass Arcs
Piercing the oxygen plant building walls, green arcs provide functional connections and service programs such as cafes, W.C., bicycle storage and information kiosks. These low and light-weight glass arcades have open sides and green roofs.

5. Mountain Tower
At the center of the site, the Mountain Tower is joined via an escalator bridge to an event space at the top to the Water Tower. This tower of translucent ceramic skin and green roofs branches to a landscape of faceted green mounds at the Boiler buildings. A hotel with service apartments has an event space and restaurant at the top and retail space on the lower level.

6. 3D Park
At the far west of the Boiler buildings, a tilted landform of natural grasses is punctured for light. Hovering over a large public water garden, the structure is a dodecahedron truss which contains a hotel, restaurants and cafes. In events where the large Boiler building is used for an Expo, the water garden has a platform floor allowing for it to be used as an exhibition and grand entrance.
The design proposes different scenarios for the reuse of the existing boilers and oxygen buildings but leaves the exact locations open for program flexibility.

The basic renovation strategy is to clean and minimally restore the existing building shells, inserting a new ground floor with radiant heat and cooling connected to geothermal wells. This will provide an economic and sustainable temperature climate for the buildings.

Within the minimally restored shells of the Oxygen and Boiler plants, new experimental architectural forms, designed by a variety of talented artists and architects, may take on functions of cafes, bars, and exhibit or performance spaces. The strategy of keeping the basic industrial shells raw and articulating interior pavilions will allow for interior variety. In addition, it allows for a flexible programmatic plan, which can take adjustments over time.

While the fusion of landscape and architecture characterizes all the new elements of the overall plan, the old factory building shells provide a perfect space for new experimental designs that will attract a wide variety of visitors; a balance of the spirit of old Hangzhou with an avant-garde embrace of the future.

The project will be led by Steven Holl and Li Hu, partner in charge of Steven Holl Architects’ officein Beijing. Having recently completed the award-winning Linked Hybrid in Beijing and Horizontal Skyscraper in Shenzhen, the office is currently also working on the Triaxial Field, a pavilion in Xixi-wetland of Hangzhou, and the Sliced Porosity Block, a mixed-use development of 300,000m2 in the center of Chengdu which is scheduled to open in 2012.

blogged by: Jake Shea

In collaboration with Italian architect Barbara Berni, this mixed-use residential project was conceived as a large-scale, green building development on nearly 12 acres in the province of Caserta in southern Italy. The design and site plan, reflecting a direct response to the needs of this tightly knit community in which environmental regulations are becoming increasingly strict, is intended to be sustainable and improve its inhabitants’ comfort and standard of living.

Thirteen buildings are planned to be constructed on the site, while preserving existing public amenities and green areas. Commercial and retail spaces on the ground floors of each building would enhance the social life of the residents, creating opportunities for interaction based on shopping and business. This project is also intended to show how developers with private patronage can: a) commission buildings of high quality and adopt innovative technologies and design guidelines; and b) demonstrate the way they are becoming conscious of how inhabitants of new buildings are more educated and sensitive to sustainable architecture benefits and issues.

Each building has 20 units, equally distributed, on five floors — four 2&3-bedroom units on each floor – with ground floors used as commercial spaces and a lobby. Underground parking garages serve each building and connect to the ground floor level with a ramp. Seismic resistant steel structure: given the active seismic condition of the area, the buildings’ steel frame construction is designed to guard against damage and related consequences in case of earthquake. The total collapse of steel-framed buildings appears to be an extremely rare event, even when large earthquakes are involved.

Because of the number of buildings slated for the site, and with an eye toward cost-effectiveness and design cohesion, each building is a repetition of the same core design, varying only in façade materials (Corten steel, zinc and vertical garden details are projected) as well as in architectural details. One such detail is a system of light panels (attached perpendicularly to the facades) which change pattern in the facades and illuminate at night through solar power, creating a dramatic, rhythmic visual effect at dark.
Ground floor plan

Typical plan

The vertical gardens follow the example of other architectural applications of this living, green façade, such as French botanist Patrick Blanc’s designs, Jean Nouvel’s Musée du Quai Branly in Paris and the recent indoor application in the Harmony Atrium at Lincoln Center in New York, where its purpose is cited as a “theatrical garden,” featuring 20-foot-high walls of plants and cascades of falling water. Another goal for this project is to integrate and extend the existing greenspace, making sure to give back twofold in green where the built space has been claimed. Contemporary architecture is evolving more and more to minimize its footprint on existing landscapes, where possible. In this sense, even the aforementioned vertical gardens would act as an extension, albeit abstract, to the existing landscape.

Both front and back main facades of the building are articulated (patterned) in a grid of large balconies where the sunlight is regulated by adjustable, brise-soleil sliding panels. As each resident adjusts his own brise-soleil in response to light needs or preference, the result is a continuously changing, random pattern on the facades. Also, the steel frame structure is partially extended in elevation at the roof line in order to accentuate the height of the building, without adding to it in volume.

Continuous glass surfaces wrap the perimeters of the entire ground (commercial) floors, emphasizing the suspended effect of the buildings, which are supported by pilotis. This suspension design creates recessed porticos as a sheltered gathering place for the residents and their community – recalling a traditional feature of Italian architecture. The glass surface is visually interrupted by the stark element of a sculptural, metal folding-gate system that at night – after business hours – encloses its perimeter for security. The visual result is of an architectural screen with a natural pattern that it is also used as a decorative element in the common areas of the building.

In order to achieve the best level of comfortable living at an effective cost, this green building project is intended to be as self-sufficient as possible in energy and water savings, featuring also passive cooling and natural climatization, to single out two distinctive categories:

· Empowering the “passive” performance (or energy behaviour) of the building creates a natural ventilation, via brise-soleil and insulated wall/roof systems;

· Adopting high-performance energy and heating systems such as solar panels (photovoltaic and solar thermal panels placed on the roof).

Other key features are:
· A natural ventilation chimney by the stairwell, designed to extract outside air and pass it through the building while cooling at ground-floor level;

· A veranda serra (greenhouse balcony) system to reduce the quantity of heat generated by the heating system during the winter months, supported by solar screens that control any direct irradiation and outside thermal exposure of the rooms during summer months;

· A rainwater recovery collection system which recycles also grey water;

· An insulated façade and roof system also using the aforementioned vertical garden application for lower energy consumption;

· Energy efficiency approaches to building orientation and passive solar design;

· Adjustable, sliding brise-soleil sunscreen panel systems (sun-louvers) designed to allow the infiltration of light – while being comfortably regulated from within;

· Adjustable ventilation louvers by the building lobby’s entrance and stairwell.

blogged by: Jake Shea

Asymptote’s design for the PGCC complex is centered on the idea of creating a new and powerful image for the city of Penang and the new initatives associated with the development of the Northern Corridor of Malaysia. The design achieves its elegance and stature through the simultaneous embrace of natural landscapes and contemporary urbanism.

The PGCC will become a vital new precinct that complements and enhances the unique characteristics that typify Penang as a remarkable island metropolis. The design of the iconic towers in particular draws inspiration from not only the lushness and drama of the surrounding mountains and seascapes, but also from the rich and diverse cultural heritage that makes up the Malaysian nation and Penang in particular.

The forms of the two towers are comprised of both horizontal and vertical elements: sculpted horizontal components move across the plinth, rise up and transform into articulated vertical structures.

Set against the backdrop of the nature reserve of Penang Hill, the twisting, glass façades of the towers “perform” various surface effects—reflecting, refracting and distorting views of Penang, the surrounding landscape and the seascape beyond.

The vast, cascading plinth, which functions as a public plaza with multiple gathering spaces, are venues for the performing arts center, convention center and various facilities for residential, office and urban life.

blogged by: Jake Shea