The Gare du Pont de Bondy continues the Parisian tradition of utilizing bridges as social spaces and cultural landmarks. Located at the encounter between the communities of Bondy, Bobigny and Noisy-le-Sec, the station is conceived as both bridge and tunnel wrapped around a giant atrium, connecting the riverbank to the train landing. The deepest train tunnels will now open directly to the Parisian sky, and all three surrounding neighborhoods will be united in a single inclusive loop – a new architectural hybrid of urban infrastructure and social space.
The , m residence includes units of public housing to be built for Billund Housing Association, elderly care homes for Billund Municipality, and rental apartments for development group Kirkbi. The building forms a gentle curve along the corner streets of Vejlevej and Hans Jensens Vej, rises to the height of the building on the opposite street, while the corner ends are pressed down to meet the scale of the neighboring buildings.
Daily users and visitors enter directly into the Gastro Hall, the backbone of GOe. This central space runs from the ground floor all the way to the roof. Like a promenade, the grand staircase connects all programs and levels within the building and doubles as an amphitheater for events and lectures, allowing visitors to observe the showcase kitchens and ongoing research during their visit. Moving up, visitors can continue into the auditorium, public terraces, or experience world-class cuisine at the top floor restaurant.
Wrapped with adaptive façade louvers that are oriented according to sun angles and building geometry to minimize solar gain, the façade will become a fingerprint for the building, with a specific imprint that exists only for the O-Tower, and only in Hangzhou. The fingerprint façade will reduce solar gain by up to %, providing significant savings for cooling loads and better thermal comfort for OPPO staff, while at the same time reducing glare, reflectivity and light pollution.
Over the course of the concept design, the BIG team held public workshops and + smaller stakeholder sessions, with more than , participants from the community and surrounding neighborhoods providing input. Taken together, the ESCR project builds physical, social, and economic resiliency, strengthening the City’s coastline while re-establishing public space, enabling outdoor gathering opportunities, and improving waterfront accessibility.