INTERNATIONAL ACCOMMODATION CENTER FOR THE OCEANOLOGICAL OBSERVATORY BY ATELIER FERNANDEZ & SERRES

"The building is part of a complex of facilities which include the oceanological research center and observatory of Banyuls-sur-Mer, in France. This observatory is located in the middle of the marine natural reserve of Cerbères-Banyuls, in the Pyrénées orientales department.

Its purpose, as a European scientific research and training center, is to accommodate scientists and students from all over the world during short research and experimentation missions. This project of an accommodation center consists in a restaurant, working space for scientific research and seventy-four.

The building is located on the seaside and continues along the existing topography, be it of the sky, the ground or the horizon. It reinvents the relationship between the view and the landscape, and accompanies the building height plan of the city.

Its ocher tones reflect the surrounding hills and the nature of the soil that comprises the cultivated terraces of the hinterlands. These hills covered with vineyards tower above the sea and glint with the deep earthy hues of iron oxides.

The project, a rectangular monolith entirely coated in a gown of pink-ocher coral, faces the marina. It also marks the limits of the shore and the city. Behind this undulating envelope, access to the bedrooms is provided by large peripheral walkways that also serve as balconies for the accommodations. 

These walkways are covered with a self-consolidating concrete mesh inspired by a graphic, light and see-through coral design (Gorgones). We developed the facades using a limited amount of distinct shapes, also called strands, that were casted on site.

These strands were then assembled in modules according to a simple mathematical algorithm which creates a vibration in the shadows and the matter.

The restaurant is on the second floor. Its presence is highlighted by a large breach in the coral mesh, a window inviting the landscaping inside, and offering a panoramic view of the horizon and the open sea.

The colorful concrete mesh is at the same time a balustrade and a visual filter to the sea. It provides a wall that guarantees the intimacy of users, bedrooms and walkways. It also features openings which offer a subtle variation to the framing of the near and far landscape.

The gaze is attracted from the inside to the outside and reveals the landscape. The views become rhythmic, accentuated by the movements and the different uses. The international accommodation center of Banyuls sur Mer draws its energy from the Mediterranean Sea. Beyond simple matter, the project falls within a poetic and scientific approach in order to reveal the landscape" Atelier Fernandez & Serres

Location: Banyuls-sur-Mer, France
Architects: Atelier Fernandez & Serres
Engineering: GRONTMIJ Sudéquip, Aix en Provence
Area: 2980.0 sqm
Cost: € 49,0 Mil.
Year: 2013
Photographs: FG+SG – architectural photography

LSE SAW SWEE HOCK STUDENTS' CENTRE BY O'DONNELL + TUOMEY

The brief was to bring student facilities together under one roof. The multi-functional building includes a venue, pub, learning café, media, prayer, offices, gym, careers, dance studio and social spaces.

The brief asked for the "best student building in the UK" and had the aspiration for BREEAM Excellent rating. The design achieved BREEAM Outstanding. he site lies within the Strand Conservation Area. The context was complex and the site was restricted by surrounding building lines.

Specifications were closely monitored by Westminster planners, who supported the ambition for a contemporary design integrated with its setting. Throughout the building process, the planners maintained a commitment to the enduring quality of carefully crafted construction.

The site is located at the knuckle-point convergence of narrow streets that characterise the LSEcity centre campus. The faceted facade operates with respect to the Rights of Light Envelope and is tailored to lines of sight, to be viewed from street corner perspectives and to make visual connections between internal and external circulation.

The brick skin is cut along fold lines to form large areas of glazing, framing views. Analysis of the context has influenced the first principles of a site specific architectural design. The building is designed to embody the dynamic character of a contemporary Student Centre.

The complex geometries of the site provided a starting point for a lively arrangement of irregular floor plates, each particular to its function. Space flows freely in plan and section, with stairs turning to create meeting places at every level.

London is a city of bricks. The building is clad with bricks, with each brick offset from the next in an open work pattern, creating dappled daylight inside and glowing like a lattice lantern at night. The building has the robust adaptability of a lived-in warehouse, with solid wooden floors underfoot.

The structure is a combination of reinforced concrete and steelwork. Steel trusses or ribbed concrete slabs span the big spaces. Circular steel columns prop office floors between the large span volumes and punctuate the open floor plan of the café. Concrete ceilings contribute thermal mass with acoustic clouds suspended to soften the sound.

There are no closed-in corridors. Every hallway has daylight and views in at least one direction. Every office workspace has views to the outside world. The basement venue is daylit from clerestory windows. The building is designed with accessibility and inclusive design as key considerations.

Approaches are step free. Floor plates are flat without steps. Circulation routes are open and legible with clearly identifiable way-finding. Services are located at consistent locations. The central wide stair was carefully designed to comply with standards and details agreed with the approved inspector.

Location: London, UK 
Architect: O'Donnell+Tuomey Architects 
Structural Engineer: Dewhurst Macfarlane and Partners/Horganlynch 
Services + Environmental Engineer: BDSP 
Security / Fire / Acoustics / Transport & Logistics / Venue: Arup 
Archaeology: Gifford 
Project Manager: Turner & Townsend 
Quantity Surveyor: Northcroft 
Planning Consultant: Turley Associates 
Party Wall Consultant: Anstey Horne 
Building Control Consultant: Carillion 
CDM Coordinator: Gardiner & Theobald 
Main Contractor: Geoffrey Osborne Limited 
Size GIA: 6,100m 
Year: 2013-2014 

Client: London School of Economics 

Photo: Saw Swee Hock Student Centre