London: The Latest Architecture and News

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the shortlist for the 2015 Stephen Lawrence Prize, which awards the best projects with a construction budget of less than £1 million.

The 2015 Stephen Lawrence Prize shortlist features:

Herzog & de Meuron has revealed their plans for a new £500 million stadium for Chelsea Football Club, intended to built in place of their existing stadium at Stamford Bridge. As reported by BD, the images and a model of the stadium were not officially released to the press but were presented in a public consultation meeting held by the club.

Herzog & de Meuron were appointed to work alongside the site's masterplanners Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands in January, and the recent public consultation and was the first opportunity to see the design for the 60,000-seat stadium in its entirety - however, partial renders were released in an earlier consultation in July receiving 92% approval from 1,250 respondents.

London firm, Amos Goldreich Architecture and Israel firm Jacobs-Yaniv Architects have come together to design a new shelter for the No to Violence Against Women charity, which helps domestic abuse victims in Israel. This will be the charity’s first purpose-built shelter, replacing an overcrowded, makeshift building.

Located in a quiet neighbourhood, the site is surrounded by a mix of private homes and townhouses and is within reach of community resources like stores, jobs, clinics, schools, parks, counseling centres and recreational facilities. The shelter will include independent living quarters for up to 12 families, communal areas, a kindergarten, a computer room, laundry facilities, kitchens, a refectory as well as staff accommodation and office areas.

With the cost of space rising in city centres everywhere, YO! Home by Simon Woodroffe provides a possible solution – a transformable, modular living space. Acting as a reinvention of the traditional studio apartment, YO! Home is a 40 square metre living space with movable features to create the impression of a much bigger home. Read more about this London apartment project after the break.

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After winning the 6th annual Space for New Visions competition by FAKRO last month, James Furzer of Spatial Design Architects has begun a crowdfunding campaign on Indigogo for his project, “Homes for the Homeless”. The project proposes a series of modular pods which attach to existing buildings, providing a safe space for a night’s rest for the homeless. Extending beyond mere habitation, James Furzer hopes to change the way that the public sees the homeless – of which there are over 750 on any given night in London alone.

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A twenty five metre long, ten storey high suspended swimming pool—dubbed the 'Sky Pool'—has been planned for the second phase of a new high-end residential development in the London district of Nine Elms, next to the new Embassy of the United States. The pool is part of two buildings, designed by London-based practice HAL and part of a complex of 2000 homes developed Ireland's Ballymore Group. The water will be held in suspension by just twenty centimetres of "structure free" transparent glass, and will connect two housing blocks together. Alongside a rooftop bar, orangery and spa, a second connection between the two is also planned in the form of a footbridge.

SimpsonHaugh and Partners has announced the construction of its new premier residential tower, called Dollar Bay, at the East India Dock overlooking Canary Wharf in London.

Named for the site’s World War Two heritage—“when dockworkers would tow American naval ships to their moorings for the cost of one dollar”—the building will provide unparalleled views of the River Thames from where it sits across from the O2 Arena.

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