Category: Building Design

If until now the Kingdom Tower, expected to be completed in 2016, was the next tallest building in the world after the famous Burj Khalifa from Dubai, it seems that it won’t hold its record for very long because Azerbaijan businessman Haji Ibrahim Nehramli, president of the Avesta Group of Companies, have plans to begin to build the Azerbaijan Tower on one of a group of 41 artificial islands in the Caspian Sea, southwest of the country’s capitol city, Baku. What do you say about that?

Maybe you’re amazed, but also surprised in the same time how fast things happen, sometimes unreal, but we think we should get used to such news because it’s obvious that nowadays almost any architectural vision can be achieved if it has the necessary financial support and creative minds. It seems that Dubai city, which started to constantly draw world attention through many innovative large construction projects, will soon become history because other cities would be impressive destination. So, here we are already talking again about a new tallest structure in the world, which will exceed in height both the world’s current tallest building- Burj Khalifa (828 metres)- and the upcoming supertall skyscraper Kingdom Tower (1,000 metres) to be built in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Originally planned to be built a 560-m tower, Azerbaijan Tower will  reach 3,445ft ( 1,050 meters) and will feature 189 floors , making it with 200 m taller than the Burj Khalifa, and even 50 m than the Kingdom Tower. For comparison, the Empire State Building stands just 455 meters high.

The Avesta Group, the company behind the building, has talked to the companies behind the Burj Khalifa and other international investors who seemed to show interest for this new project.  The tower would cost $2 billion, being the centerpiece of a much larger project, the $100 billion Khazar Islands development, which actually would be home for 1 million residents in the near future.  The first phase of the project will consist of building residential, social and cultural centers ( restaurants, shopping malls, universities, schools, parks), hospitals and even  a Formula 1 quality racetrack, every facilities being planned to be able to withstand up to magnitude 9.0 earthquakes. The floating metropolis will act as a new center for business and commerce. The construction of this stunning skyscraper would be part of the second phase and would be expected to begin in 2016 and finish in 2018-2019.

Here’s how the spectacular project will look:

Source @news.az/ Photos © Avesta Group

Azerbaijan Tower and Khazar Islands – New city

The tallest building of the city of Bucharest and also of Romania, the SkyTower is almost complete. Owned by Raiffeisen International Property, the ambitious project is for the moment the largest construction in all markets where the Austrian group operates, with an investment of over 100 million euros. Built at a fast pace, within a year, the entire building will be completed at the end of 2012 and will soon become the main point of attraction in the new business district of Bucharest and a powerful new landmark of the city.

Photo © skycam.ro

Visible virtually from all parts of the city, it has an ideal location for today’s modern business needs: in the rapidly developing urban and residential area of Northern Bucharest, between two important arterial roads, where it has a great infrastructure, extraordinary easy access by public and private transportation, and also green surroundings (Lake Floreasca). Built to the highest technical standards, the SkyTower stands out through its great aesthetic which reveals an imposing modern architecture and elliptical shape made of 50,000 cubic meters of concrete, 8,300 tons of steel and 17,250 square feet of plywood for facades. If steel bars should be strung, being put together, would reach a length of 4463 km.

Photos © skytower.ro

When it’s finished, the building will have 37 floors that will total an overall height of 137 meters. It has five floors underground, thus, with all the pillars of the foundation, the tower reaches a depth of 60 meters, which represents approximately 40% of its existing surface height. Groundwater levels will have 518 parking spaces available. Office building benefits from BMS (Building Management System) that provides energy efficiency over the entire surface. The advantage of this system is to reduce maintenance costs by 30%. The building was designed so that all offices benefit from natural light, which means a reduction in lighting during the day.

Corporate tenants looking for premium quality will find here high-class offices with perfect visibility and maximum space flexibility, exceptional panoramic restaurant skybar and  a conference area situated on 35th and 36th floor that offer magnificent views of Bucharest for they and for visitors, thus creating a strong corporate presence and identity. In addition to these exclusive amenities offered by SkyTower, visitors will have also excellent entertainment and shopping  possibilities in the new Promenada Mall, next to the SkyTower.

 Photos © skyscrapercity.com

 

 

Beckenham is one of the most desirable commuter suburb towns in south-east London. It lies within the London Borough of Bromley approximately 1.7 miles west
of Bromley town. Beckenham began as a small rural village in the Kent countryside until the coming of the railways when its population swelled considerably. Today Beckenham has a population of approximately 82,000 and is incorporated within Greater London. Due to its popularity with London City commuters the housing in Beckenham is very much sought after and therefore the house prices tend to reflect this. You can find out more about house prices in the area by browsing the Your Move branches of estate agents in Beckenham.
During the second half of the nineteenth century villas were developed in the Beckenham area which today make for exceptionally desirable housing. The town features housing dating from the Victorian and Edwardian periods as well as the 1930s. More exclusive properties can be found within the Park Langley conservation area where detached house prices can begin at around the £1,000,000 mark. However, in other areas of the town, house or apartment prices begin around £85,000. With a number of highly sought after schools in and around, Beckenham is a highly desirable area for commuters with young families.

photo@Chelmsford Road, South Woodford, London, E18

Beckenham also has exceptional transport links, being served by no less than eight railway stations. These stations serve the Orpington line, the Hayes line and the Catford Loop line placing London Bridge, Charing Cross and Victoria within easy reach as well as providing journey times of less than an hour to the Kent coast.
Beckenham Junction is also served by the London Tramlink. Tramlink Route 2 provides easy access to both East and West Croydon with a service frequency of 10 minutes between trams. Moreover, this route provides easy access to other destinations throughout the Tramlink network. Beckenham is also served by a number of bus routes with high frequencies.

photo@Middlemarch Lodge High Street, Rickmansworth, WD3

The high street in Beckenham features all of the big name brands that one would expect to find in any upmarket UK town including Waitrose, Sainsburys and Marks and Spencer. Furthermore, with central London only a short journey away many large shopping areas are within easy reach. Beckenham also boasts a six-screen Odeon cinema housed within a historic Grade II listed building and a theatre. An annual event in the town is the Beckenham Festival of Music and Dancing.Beckenham is also home to a football club, a cricket club and a rugby club.

The town of Beckenham offers a whole range of characteristics which make it well suited for commuters with young families who wish to live outside the city yet within easy reach of the centre. With the town’s beautiful housing and access to highly successful schools young families are certainly well catered for.
Additionally, with exceptional transport links both toward the city and away from the city commuting is a straightforward exercise, as is escaping the city altogether. Finally, with Beckenham offering great facilities when it comes to shopping, culture, entertainment and sports commuters with young families will have everything that they need to feel at home while living in the town and commuting into the city.

Marshall Avenue Kew by Domoney aAchitecture contains 6 flats over three levels plus basement. We can describe this project as an urban renewal, thereby replacing six lower house; the project having the possibility to redress the deficiencies of previous development. It includes a special opportunity to respond to climatic conditions by adopting modern construction technologies.

The ground floor is divided into two living areas, separated by a central core accommodating private lift, laundry room and powder.
A flow between living areas provide visual access and connectivity between garden and backyard. Expanded glass offers a good balance of natural light throughout the day. Parking and storage space are provided in the basement for each home, while sleeping rooms are on second floor where natural light is captured by windows and sliding door panels, which provides access to balconies private. The attic is fitted with roof windows , with bathrooms and corridors of natural light during the day also. Homes range in size from 216 to 230 square feet on three levels. The exterior walls are thermally insulated, the all windows are double in order to ensure acoustic privacy within the home.

Located in the southeast London district of Woolwich on the grounds of the historic Royal Artillery Barracks, the Olympic Shooting Venue hosts this year the Olympic and Paralympic Games at the London Olympic Games for summer. Innovatively designed by the German-based firm Magma Architecture, the pavilions are these days home for the shooting competitions where athletes will line up and aim weapons at targets 10, 25 and 50 meters away.

 

Photos: J.L. Diehl, Magma Architecture.

Project details:

Architects: Magma Architecture
Location: London, England
Lead Consultant: Mott MacDonald
Client: Olympic Delivery Authority
Total Footprint: 14,305 sqm
Total SeatingCapacity: 2,900
Architectural Design Team: Martin Ostermann with Lena Kleinheinz, Hendrik Bohle, Susanne Welcker, Pablo Carballal, Niko Mahler, Philipp Mecke, Diana Drogan, Veljko Markovicz, Manuel Welsky

This stunning unique structure entitled Beach and Howe St. after on the corner of Howe & Beach next to the Granville Street Bridge in downtown Vancouver will be one of the fourth tallest buildings of the city. The proposal to create such a daring and world class project belongs to BIG, a Copenhagen and New York based group of architects, designers, builders and thinkers operating within the fields of architecture, urbanism, research and development, which was commisioned by Canada’s premier real estate developer Westbank. The idea that contemporary life constantly evolves and changes underlies the careful analysis which leads to BIG’s architecture, so every project they do aims to respond those future needs.

Beach and Howe St. is supposed to be 490-foot-tall, almost 350m shorter than famous Dubai’s 828-metre Burj Khalifato make a comparison. The mixed-use 49-story tower with 600 residential units will have a spectacular futuristic architecture, which will be a new building typology to the Vancouver skyline forming “a dramatic gateway to downtown Vancouver that speaks to the emerging creative economy in the city” as Ian Gillespie, President at Westbank, said. The project’s main objectives are to optimize the conditions for its inhabitants in the air as well as on the street level and to enrich both the neighborhood and the Vancouver city by making them more creative, sustainable and affordable.

Its silhouette which reveals a unique structure isn’t randomly designed in this manner. Besides the beauty of its appearance which changes from every angle resembling a curtain being drawn aside and welcoming people as they enter the city from the bridge, the tower shapes after the urban complex conditions aiming to increase pedestrian activity and street life. A mixed-use urban village with three triangular blocks that feature intimately-scaled spaces for working, shopping, and leisure composes the building’s podium. This additional space transform the space under the Granville Bridge into a dynamic and iconic neighborhood hub with a variety of open and covered outdoor sites. Its important to mention that the project is based on the sustainability concept and will strive for for LEED Gold Certification.

Photos: © BIG.

Project details:

Name: Beach and Howe St.
Client: Westbank Projects Corp.
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Size: 653,890 sf / 60,670 m2
Collaborators: Dialog, Cobalt Engineering, Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg Urban Design, Buro Happold, Glotman Simpson, James KM Cheng Architects
PARTNERS-IN-CHARGE: Bjarke Ingels, Thomas Christoffersen
PROJECT LEADER: Agustin Perez-Torres
TEAM: Julianne Gola, Marcella Martinez, Chris Malcolm, Karol Borkowski, Michael Taylor, Alina Tamosiunaite, David Brown, Tobias Hjortdal, Alexandra Gustafson

Londoners have recently enjoyed a dazzling sound and light show over the London night sky that marked the Shard Skyscraper’ grand opening ceremony. Visible from several miles away, lasers celebrate the completion of the incredible 95-storey glass-and-steel structure who became the tallest building in Europe in this moment.

The irregular pyramid-shaped skyscraper clad entirely in glass was opened by Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, the Qatari Prime Minister, whose country funded the $708-million building, and Prince Andrew, the Queen’s son. Called by the London Mayor “a quite astonishing piece of architecture”, the Shard tower is 309,6 meters (1016ft high) which means is half-a-kilometre shorter than Dubai’s 828-metre Burj Khalifa and almost 300m shorter than Tokyo SkyTree.

Designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, the exceptional new building was completed after three years and will surely become a true landmark in United Kingdom and in Europe too. Its futuristic silhouette stands out for 11,000 glass panels covering the area of eight football pitches. It features 72 habitable floors, with a viewing gallery and open-air observation deck ( the UK’s highest) – on the 72nd floor, at a height of 245 metres (804 ft) offering 360-degree panoramas of the city. The Shard skyscraper includes apartments, offices, restaurants and a luxurious five-star hotel, making them the highest residential properties in Britain for 12,000 people. Enjoy some amazing photos and don’t forget to share with us your opinion.

Project details:

Architect: Renzo Piano
Location: London, Southwark
Height: 1,012 feet (308 m)
Opened: June 2012
Construction started: 2003
Owners: QInvest, Qatari Islamic Bank, Barwa Real Estate, QNB Group

One of the key projects of the London 2012 Olympic Games is Olympic Aquatics Centre, another flagship project signed by British award winning architect Zaha Hadid. Finished the year before the Olympic Games, in 2011, the Aquatic Centre is a stunning construction that lives up to everyone’s expectations and is ready to welcome the world’s athletes.

Its imposing appearance with distinctive architecture gives the impression of an organic creation due to its perfect harmony between the whole ensemble and every detail in part. It impresses by the exterior inspired by the fluid geometry of water in motion which seems taken from a SF movie, as well as the ultra modern interior. The curved roof sweeps up from the ground as a wave, being the dominant element of the entire building. It measures at 160m long and up to 80 m wide. The only elements of support are two concrete pillars 54 meters away on one side, and a wall, all concrete, on the opposite side.

During the Olympics, many people will be traveling to London for the Olympic Games.  When visiting London, the first thing you will look for is a place to stay. When choosing your hotel, you should consider staying near the aquatic center.  The Aquatic Center will be the gateway for most travelers who are fortunate enough to travel to London for the opening ceremonies and festivities of the Olympic Games.   The Aquatic center is sandwiched between a canal and railway construction.  The center links  to the rest of the Olympic park by a single bridge crossing over the train tracks to the Stratford area and the rest water sports facilities in the surrounding areas. Located in the south of the Olympic Park, the Olympic Aquatics Center will be used for swimming, diving and synchronized swimming 2012 Summer Olympics events.  It host an 50m warm-up pool for the competitors, 50m competition pool, 25m diving pool. The three pools are sealed with 180,000 tiles and hold a total of 10 million liters of water

During the games the venue will have a capacity of 17,500. The two temporary “wings” will be removed post-games reducing the capacity to a regular 2,500, with an additional 1,000 seats available for major events.

Photos: © Hufton + Crow, Zaha Hadid Architects.

Project details:

Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects
Location: South-east corner of the Olympic Park , London, United Kingdom
Construction time: 2005-2011
Stage: Built
Capacity: 17,500
Sport: Diving, Swimming, Synchronised Swimming, Modern Pentathlon
Cost: £268m