New colours on the block

MVRDV’s first completed major US project is a mixed use scheme including a boutique hotel, which makes a bold architectural diversity statement in a range of colours and scales to help it blend with the locality. Tom Boddy reports In... View Article

Respecting climate & culture

A timber research facility has been constructed in Rotorua, New Zealand which combines a net zero design showcasing timber’s potential with a high degree of local cultural sensitivity. Jack Wooler reports  The fritted pattern of the glazing between the timber... View Article

More than meets the eyes

Retail developments in Chinese cities now contain much more than just retail, and are designed to be ‘all-in-one’ destinations; the new Shanghai Jiuguang Center is no exception. Roseanne Field reports The Shanghai Jiuguang Center, located in the northern Shanghai neighbourhood... View Article

Selling biophilic benefits

Shopping malls are a key social destination in China, and with this in mind Lead8 sought to provide a landscape-rich interior to enhance the experience of a new mixed-use scheme in Chongqing, in the form of a huge botanical garden.... View Article

BIG Designs New Centre for Neuroscience & Psychiatric

The first of its kind in the world, a new Neuroscience Centre designed by BIG will bring together psychiatry and neuroscience under one roof to combine groundbreaking science and treatment of physical and mental brain diseases, spinal cord and nervous... View Article

A clear vision

The versatility of glass made it the right choice for SOM to create curved facades with maximum transparency, in a complex mixed-use development on one of Manhattan’s last undeveloped sites. Roseanne Field reports Manhattan’s West Side Yard, a rail yard... View Article

Different ways of working

James Parker spoke to the architects behind an evolving 10 year scheme to provide flexible offices framing rare green space in the heart of Manchester, as part of a wider masterplan to create a new urban quarter With staff beginning... View Article

Learning from context

When Design Engine designed a trio of buildings for the University of Winchester, they used corten steel to emulate the local built heritage, while creating spaces that supported students’ wellbeing. Roseanne Field reports Located on one of the main routes... View Article

Green connections

A reuse proposal to create a new transport hub in Vilnius was used by ZHA as an opportunity to provide a new connectivity across the city for its inhabitants, as well as improve rail infrastructure and sustainability The design for... View Article

Rooted in users’ experience

Grimshaw is leading a team to deliver a highly-integrated transport hub at Shenzhen airport, in a structure and circulation strategy inspired by mangrove trees In April 2021, a design consortium led by Grimshaw, and including Mott MacDonald, China Aviation Planning... View Article

Positive mental attitude

The multi-award winning Springfield Meadows is a collection of 25 ‘carbon positive’ homes in Oxfordshire, designed by Greencore Construction to be the UK’s ‘most sustainable development.’ MD Ian Pritchett tells Jack Wooler how the project was a victory over continual... View Article

Balancing act

Creating a major new performance space to help revitalise a deprived part of south east London meant a delicate balancing act for Bennetts Associates in its adaptive reuse of five historic listed buildings, with close community involvement. Roseanne Field reports... View Article

Environmental health

A mental health building by Medical Architecture in north London took a simple, ‘first-principles’ design approach to providing access to external space and daylit interiors, as well as greater independence and wellness for users. James Parker reports Blossom Court is... View Article

Passivhaus goes large

Agar Grove is set to become the UK’s largest Passivhaus scheme, with its housing tenants already seeing the benefits from the first completed phase. James Woodward, architect at Hawkins\Brown, tells Roseanne Field why the practice decided to pursue the ‘gold... View Article