The University of Oxford and internationally-renowned architecture practice NBBJ have unveiled images of the new Life and Mind Building. The development, the University’s largest building project in its history, will be the new home of the Departments of Experimental Psychology and Biology, including Plant Sciences and Zoology, accommodating 800 students and 1,200 researchers.
This article was originally published by Archipreneur as "5 of the Most Innovative Architecture Firms."
The AEC industry is notoriously slow to adopt new technologies. Cumbersome organizational structures and high financial stakes make it difficult for AEC professionals to experiment. Due to the limited role of architects in the project development process, innovative design solutions and experimentation with new manufacturing techniques are still confined to academic circles and research institutions.
However, some architecture firms are utilizing their high profiles, international success and the influx of talented, young designers to establish in-house research divisions and incubators that support the development of new ideas in the AEC industry. The following five companies are consistent in pushing the envelope and helping architecture adopt some of the latest technologies:
Nationwide Children’s Hospital has selected NBBJ to design their $85 million Livingston Ambulatory Center in Columbus, Ohio. The six-story, 200,000-square-foot center will serve more than 100,000 patients annually. It will feature modular and flexible units centered around shared employee workspaces. Construction will begin in February.
The following list, originally published on BuzzBuzzHome, is based on data from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the recognized authority on skyscraper height.
With the number of officially “tall” buildings — at least 656 feet (200 meters) — doubling over the next ten years, and the number of “megatall” buildings — at least 1,969 feet (600 meters) — expected to jump from two to 10 by 2020, building construction around the world is literally reaching new heights.
Indeed, next year alone 10 new skyscrapers of at least 1,110 feet (338 meters) will be completed. They are 2015's tallest buildings…
International architecture firm NBBJ has created Sunbreak, a new prototype for user-controlled sunshades that will not only lower energy costs, but also give buildings a dynamic appearance throughout the day.
Technology currently exists for automatically regulating solar gains in buildings, but the downside to these systems is that they often lack manual controls, and one of the most common complaints heard from workers in modern office buildings is that they do not have enough control over their environment. Automatic sunshades go up or down based on the time of day but if it happens to be cloudy outside or if users want natural light in a room when the shades are down there may be nothing they can do.
"Some days it feels like Google is taking over the world." In an article for The Verge Sean Hollister investigates how Google now represents one tenth of Mountain View, the city which hosts the company's Californian headquarters. Having one of the world's largest tech companies on their doorstep is a cause of concern for residents, some of whom are now referring to their home as Googleville. Having just bought the lease for a former military airport some city council members are seeing the expansionist move as a step too far - read the article in full here.
NBBJ has unveiled a 250-meter-high, two-tower campus that will become Tencent’s main headquarters at the Shenzhen High-Tech Industrial Park upon completion in 2016. As the world’s third-largest internet corporation, and 2013’s most innovative Chinese company according to FastCo, Tencent hopes the new campus will serve as a vibrant workplace for an expanding workforce of 12,000 employees.
In a brilliant article for Der Spiegel, "The New Monuments to Digital Domination," writer Thomas Schulz not only rounds up our reigning tech giants' oddly-shaped offices - from Apple's "spaceship" to Amazon's "biodomes" - but also pinpoints what they have in common: horizontality. And why? Because an "open creative playground" without boundaries (like floors or walls) is "the perfect ideas factory: the ideal spatial environment for optimally productive digital workers who continuously churn out world-changing innovations." And while this means that privacy has gone out these workspaces' proverbial windows, Schulz isn't too surprised - after all, "people have no right to a private life in the digital age." Check out this must-read article here.
The City Design Review Board has approved NBBJ’s tri-sphere biodome planned for Amazon’s downtown Seattle headquarters. Reaching up to 95 feet, the glass cluster of “Spheres” was designed to create an alternative work environment within the 3.3 million-square-foot office and retail campus that is currently under construction.
Brigham and Women’s Hospital just broke ground last week on the Brigham Building for the Future, a 620,000 square-foot translational research and clinical facility designed by NBBJ. Located on the hospital’s Longwood campus, the 11-story project will house eight floors of research laboratories, three floors of clinics, a state-of-the-art imaging facility, social spaces, and a 400-car garage, along with associated site improvements. More images and architects' description after the break.
NBBJ's design for the new Samsung Headquarters in Silicon Valley will become one of the new buildings to relieve the the city of its dull, nondescript two-story office architecture that dominates the landscape and introduce a new culture of office environments with a little push from the architecture itself. According to the LA Times by Chris O'Brien this architectural endeavor is just one move to establish ground in the rivalry between Samsung and Apple, whose highly anticipated spaceship-like Foster + Partners-designed Cupertino Campus has made waves in the design community. Technologically innovative and influential companies like Samsung, Apple, Google, Facebook, and Nvidia have engaged in a cultural shift of the work environment to create a hospitable and creative community for its employees. The architecture of the campuses and offices introduced by each of these companies reflect the goals of an innovative business model that engages its employees in an innovative work environment that fosters collaboration and creativity.
See how the new Samsung Headquarters innovates office building design after the break.
One thing Google has become known for is their spectacular work environments. From playful employee lounges to environmentally sensitive design, the multifaceted internet giant has successfully transformed hundreds of existing spaces from around the globe into casual work environments that spawn innovation, optimizes efficiency, and boasts employee satisfaction. Much like many other California-based corporations, Google has been toying with the idea of building their own office space from scratch. Well, this dream will soon be realized, as the company has teamed up with Seattle-based NBBJ to expand their current, 65-building “Googleplex” in Mountain View, California, by adding a 1.1-million-square-foot complex known as “Bay View” on a neighboring 42-acre site.
More on Bay View after the break...
NBBJ has shared with us their latest design in sports architecture, a multifunctional industrial sports complex for the residents of Suzhou, China. Designed as a community asset, the cultural sports hub will include a commercial center, aquatics facility, gymnasium, arena, professional sports stadium and more. All facilities will be integrated within a lush “Sports Garden” that features an abundance of pedestrian walkways, gardens and sport fields.
The architects' description after the break...