SCHMIDT HAMMER LASSEN ARCHITECTS WINS LIBRARY COMPETITION IN NINGBO

Ningbo New Library is located in the heart of Ningbo New East Town and sits on the edge of a new ecological wetland area which will form a new cultural hub of the city.

With its open and accessible design the project makes it possible to display the library’s collection of more than 2 million books and double the number of daily visitors. Founded in 1927, the Ningbo City Library holds the largest collection of historic and ancient books in the region. The old library attracts 3–4,000 visitors daily.

The aim of the new library is to increase the number of visitors to 7–8,000 per day. To deal with this increase the new library will be organized with an open plan layout containing 3,000 study spaces. The building is organized around an 8,000 square metres open marketplace containing the most popular library functions and collections.

The marketplace is visually open on all sides connecting to a public plaza and a landscaped ecological park and lake, thus ensuring all interior spaces have a direct connection with the outside. In the heart of the library is a central atrium in the form of a giant book stack containing study desks, reading booths, internet stations and media spaces.

This generous 28-metre-high space connects the marketplace at ground floor level with a series of quieter research spaces and the historic collections above. The atrium provides natural light to the centre of the building during the day and acts as an urban lantern at night. From a sustainable viewpoint the library design maximises the use of passive solutions over technological add-ons.

For instance the use of natural daylight in all interior spaces is optimized through the building orientation. Natural ventilation will be maximized through the central atrium and the structure of the building will consist of exposed concrete to optimize thermal stability during hot summer months and cool winters.

Location: Ningbo, China

Architect: schmidt hammer lassen architects

Landscape architect: schmidt hammer lassen architects

Area: 31,405 square metres

Status: Expected completion in 2016

Competition: 1st prize

Client: City of Ningbo, Ningbo Library

SCHMIDT HAMMER LASSEN ARCHITECTS WINS SKANDERBORG SPORTS AND ADMINISTRATION CENTRE COMPETITION

The new complex is located in a recently established natural resort, Anebjergskov, in the northern part of Skanderborg. Functionally, the project is divided into four zones: arrival, meeting centre, sports facilities and administration centre.

All functions are linked together by the arrival area that runs through the entire complex. From the arrival area a direct view into the hall of the city council and the sports centre can be obtained, contributing to the experience that the functions of the building are informal and accessible to the citizen.

In the administration centre, with 700 work spaces, a dynamic and flexible interior office design creates the surroundings for an attractive working environment. The sports centre consists of a double hall that can be divided into two handball fields with seating capacity for 1,700 spectators.

The design of the double hall makes it possible to open towards the outdoor landscape, offering the opportunity to organize events taking place both indoors and outdoors. It has been architecturally important to create a robust complex that appears inviting for all citizens, no matter their social background, age or culture. That is why the outdoor arrival areas are designed to be open and inviting.

The outdoor areas invite active use and are carefully integrated alongside the parking areas in the undulating landscape. The architectural idea is to create an experience where buildings and landscape merge together. “The landscape plays an active part in how to experience the entire complex. We create a place where inside and outside merge – a place that invites active use and relaxation – both during and after opening hours”, explained Trine Berthold, associated partner at schmidt hammer lassen architects.

Several sustainable measures are incorporated in the design of the building, such as optimized use of daylight, natural ventilation and an efficient building envelope. Green plants are used on selected facades as solar screening while indoor green walls increase biodiversity and contribute to a good indoor climate. The aim is to be certified DGNB Silver. The project is expected to be completed in autumn 2016.

Location: Skanderborg, Denmark 
Architect: schmidt hammer lassen architects 
Engineer: Bascon A/S 
Landscape architect: schmidt hammer lassen architects 
Contractor: KPC A/S 
Area: 18,424 square metres 
Year: 2013 
Client: Skanderborg Municipality

SCHMIDT HAMMER LASSEN ARCHITECTS WINS VENDSYSSEL THEATRE COMPETITION

Schmidt hammerlassen architects has won the competition to design Vendsyssel Theatre and Experience Centre in Hjørring, Denmark.

With this 4,200 square metre building, Hjørring gains a vibrant cultural hub in which to feature the city’s various cultural activities. The architectural ambition for the new Theatre and Experience Centre has been to create a building which blends into the surrounding environment while standing out as a new, vibrant organism in the city.

”We have designed a project where the architectural and functional concept has five main themes: integration in the city, openness, functionality, flexibility and materiality,” explained John Foldbjerg Lassen, Founding Partner at schmidt hammer lassenarchitects.

“We have designed a significant building which relates to its function in a pragmatic way. It invites both active use and quiet breaks. It is a building which radiates its cultural meaning – it dares to be different, without stealing the focus from the existing qualities in the city.”

The Theatre and Experience Centre consists of a complex of buildings – a city within the city. Its characteristic corten steel façade, with its warm rusty red colours, corresponds well with the area’s existing plaster and brick façades; thereby creating an aesthetic whole between the city, the front plaza and the theatre building.

A vibrant building with a glimpse of the backstage Inside, an open plan solution ensures visual and physical connections across the building. The boundaries between publicly accessible areas and the more traditional theatre functions are blurred. In the building layout special attention has been paid to making sure that all functions can operate optimally.

At the same time many areas can be joined and the circulation areas can be used as backstage facilities. ”The open plan ensures a high level of flexibility in the building, and only your imagination sets the limit for where and how the theatre productions can take place,” said Rasmus Kierkegaard, Associate Partner at schmidt hammer lassen architects.

“Actors and staff are visible to the visitors in the building, and the building will appear vibrant even with only a few persons present.” Completion of Vendsyssel Theatre and Experience Centre is expected in 2016.

Location: Hjørring, Denmark 
Architect: schmidt hammer lassen architects 
Project Team: Arkitektfirmaet Finn Østergaard, Brix & Kamp, ALECTIA, Gade & Mortensen Akustik, AIX Arkitekter, Filippa Berglund scenography, and LIW Planning 
Engineer: Brix & Kamp, ALECTIA 
Landscape architect: LIW Planning Aps 
Other consultants: Gade & Mortensen Akustik, AIX Arkitekter AB, Filippa Berglund, scenograf, arkitekt maa 
Area: 4,200m² 
Construction sum: € 16.5 million excl. VAT 
Competition: 2013, 1st prize in restricted competition 
Client: Municipality of Hjørring

THE CLOUD BY SCHMIDT HAMMER LASSEN ARCHITECTS

The Shanghai West Bund Biennial for Architecture and Contemporary Art, China, officially opened this week.

Based on the themes Reflecta and Fabrica, the biennial showcases contemporary architecture, art and theatre. Schmidt hammer lassen architects were invited to design pavilions alongside some of China’s most respected architects and selected international architectural practices, including the 2012 Pritzker Prize winner Wang Shu.

The contribution of schmidt hammer lassen architects consists of an art installation pavilion, The Cloud, and a composition of pavilions containing support facilities including a café, a gallery and a bookshop. The pavilions are placed adjacent to one of two industrial cranes on the Xuhui West Bank Riverside.

The tall crane stands as an icon that people all over the world can recognize and relate to and symbolizes balance, performance and gravity. The aim of the art installation pavilion, The Cloud, is to amplify and contrast these qualities. “The Cloud pavilion is the quintessence of lightness, immateriality and fuzziness,” explained Kristian Lars Ahlmark, partner at schmidt hammer lassen architects.

By following the path along the riverside, visitors are led to The Cloud and can walk through it as part of their stroll through the biennial area. A clear visual connection to the history and the industrial nature of the site is created by the support facility pavilions. These are clad in Corten steel. Their colour and texture underline the pavilions’ relation to the industrial heritage.

The shape and orientation of the pavilions were determined by the views towards the nearby bridge, the crane and the river. While The Cloud is intended for experience, interaction and activity, the support facility pavilions are for contemplation, rest and relaxation.

“We have collaborated with the client, Xuhui Development Corporation, on a number of projects in and around the West Bank site in Shanghai and these projects are all still in design development. The biennial pavilions, however, were conceived, designed and built in only three months, which is a massive achievement and a sign of good collaboration between the client, Tongji University and schmidt hammer lassen architects,” stated Chris Hardie, of schmidt hammerlassen architects.

The Shanghai West Bund Biennial for Architecture and Contemporary Art is promoting Shanghai as a centre for architecture and fine art. Yung Ho Chang (Zhang Yonghe), former head of the Department of Architecture at MIT and one of China’s most respected architects, is the overall curator for the biennial, which will run from 19 October to 19 December 2013.

Schmidt hammerlassen architects has just relocated to larger office facilities in Shanghai and has experienced an increasing success in Asia. Current projects include Green Valley, a sustainable regeneration project on the former Shanghai World Expo site, a headquarters for the Ningbo Daily Media Group and a redevelopment of a former coal storage building, which will become a new art gallery and museum for an international art dealer.

URBAN MOUNTAIN BY SCHMIDT HAMMER LASSEN ARCHITECTS

URBAN MOUNTAIN is a proposal for a refurbishment and extension of a 50,000-square-metre high-rise office building in central Oslo.

The project introduces completely new and innovative ways of reducing energy consumption and the building’s CO2 footprint, employing Cradle to Cradle principles and targeting a BREEAM Outstanding certification.

When the refurbishment is complete the building will reach a total size of 79,000 square metres and will be a sustainable landmark for the city of Oslo. The building will be the tallest in Norway and the first high-rise building in Norway to enjoy natural ventilation.

Based on principles from Cradle to Cradle (C2C) thinking, as much as 90% of the demolished existing materials are being recycled into new and upgraded building materials; 80% directly used in the new refurbished building.

As an example, all the façade elements from the existing building are being re-used in the new façade design. Furthermore, the design concept operates with measurable C2C goals in areas of flexibility, biodiversity and recycling of water, heat and organic waste.

An important part of this project is to allow the sustainable measures to be visible to the users and the city, hereby raising awareness of how the building works. For instance the façade is characterized by a series of ‘green lungs’.

The ‘green lungs’ are an innovative part of the natural air intake in the building. With the use of regionally found plants, the ‘green lungs’ contribute to enhance biodiversity locally and to create a better and healthier indoor climate. The green plants clean, humidify and reduce the CO2-concentration of the incoming air for the comfort of the staff and visitors.

Solar chimneys run from the bottom to the top of the building. A greenhouse on the rooftop captures and reuses the excess heat of the building and the solar heat gain of the solar chimneys. The result is a recognizable building design – a sustainable landmark in the urban setting of the Oslo skyline.

Another example of visible sustainable solutions in the building is the innovative ice storage, which can be viewed through a large window by people going to and from the metro station. The more than 1000 cubic metres ice storage is used as a heat source in an adapted heat pump design and as a source of direct cooling during the summer.

To integrate the office building into the local community at street level, public access is given through an Urban Green Mall, selling healthy quality food and locally produced products. Here, people will meet and interact in the large atria, on terraces, in cafés and restaurants.

Location: Oslo, Norway

Architect: Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects

Design Team: Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, LOOP Architects, COWI Denmark, COWI Norway, Transsolar Energietechnik GmbH, Vugge til Vugge Denmark

Area Existing: 50,875 m2

Area Extension: 28,375 m2

Client: Entra Eiendom AS

Competition: 1st prize in open international competition

OFFICE BUILDING BUDDINGE BY SCHMIDT HAMMER LASSEN ARCHITECTS

Opened on September 27 on Friday 27 September 2013 when engineering firm MOE has opened its new office building in Buddinge near Copenhagen, Denmark.  

Schmidt HammerLassen architects has designed the 7,500-square-metre building organized as one long spiral staircase. The result is a dynamic office environment that creates synergy and encourages movement. The architects has designed a significant and sculptural new building that connects Buddinge centre in the infrastructural intersection between Buddinge station, the road of Buddingevej and a future light rail.

”For MOE, it was important that the spirit of the building supported their corporate brand. Already from the first sketches, they talked about dynamics and synergy. From there, came the idea of a long spiral staircase all the way up through the building levels, so the building in itself encourages movement,” states Kristian Lars Ahlmark, partner at Schmidt Hammer Lassen architects.

Schmidt Hammer Lassen architects proposed a Yin Yang shape, where two building volumes are staggered and at the same time interlocked. The idea of the building as an atrium with an active staircase was taken to the extreme. The building itself became one long staircase where the working areas are placed on what look like oversized landings.

“The result is an office building with displaced levels linked by two staircases, where you use the staircase to move from one floor to the next without landings. Instead of having four to five levels we end up having nine levels but with a leap of half a storey at a time,” Kristian Ahlmark explains.

The office building is pre-certified as DGNB silver and meets the requirements of the Danish 2015 energy classification. The energy-optimizing measures in the building include high-insolating windows, heat recovery and 300 square metres of solar cell panel on the roof.

The DGNB certification also includes measures regarding accessibility and bicycle parking. Besides the function as an office building, the development also consists of a base in light grey concrete with a shopping area of approximately 4,000 square metres at ground floor level, connecting to parking areas in the two subterranean levels and on the roof.

The two-piece office building sits on top of the base with five east-facing and four west-facing floor levels. The facade is clad in a black ceramic brick tile. The dynamic line of the building continues in the interior design and decoration, also designed by schmidt hammer lassen architects. Schmidt Hammer Lassen architects has extensive experience with the design of sustainable buildings.

Location: Buddinge, Denmark 
Architect: Schmidt Hammer Lassen architects 
Engineer: MOE A/S 
Contractor: Myhlenberg – Søren Vangsted Vest A/S 
Area: 11,500 square metres 
Year: 2013 
Client: Sophienberg Real Estate Development A/S 
Photographer: Adam Mørk