The Coral is the cornerstone of the Albany Masterplan. Located at the southern tip of the public promenade, it has a unique relationship with the harbor entry and with the South West Bay beyond. It is one of the largest buildings in Albany with wraparound balconies offering spectacular, panoramic views from the marina to the ocean, and beyond. Different unit sizes introduce dynamic irregularities in the pattern, similar to the staggered elevation of The Honeycomb and The Cube. The rounded motif of the plan is repeated in elevation and creates a natural opening that exposes a dipping pool for every balcony at the demising wall of the units below. These unique pools have a transparent edge towards the marina and ocean, eliminating the visual barrier between the pool and the surrounding environment and allow bathers to become fully immersed in the view of the marina and the ocean beyond.
Located in Copenhagen’s Nordhavn neighborhood, BIG’s new HQ building recently topped out its -storey structure. The new HQ is architecturally anchored in Copenhagen harbor’s heritage of warehouses and factories. The small footprint at the end of the pier became the main design dilemma: how to organize a single work environment for all of us when we would have to be split between a minimum of four levels. In a counterintuitive decision, we split all the floors in half and doubled the amount of levels.
The m site is positioned next to the existing urban fabric in the future development zones of the Yongsan masterplan. BIG’s design includes two elegant towers with a height of and m. To meet the height requirements of the site, the exceeding building mass is transformed into an upper and lower horizontal bar, which bridge the two towers at m and m height. The two towers are additionally connected through the arrival bar at the ground level and a courtyard below ground.
A central canyon provides daylight and a visual connection between laboratories and offices. In the atrium a cascade of informal meeting spaces lead to the public rooftop terrace and faculty club. A public stair to the rooftop offers glimpses into the activities of the laboratories which are divided by transparent walls throughout the building to ensure visual connections between the working spaces. The upper levels have panoramic views towards the Notre Dame and the skyline of Paris.
The museum is placed as an abstract shape in the landscape. Its sculptural form is spanning between perfect geometry and specific bridge technology: on one side, it’s a simple box structure; on the other side, it’s a huge warping sculpture. A simple twist in the building volume allows the bridge to lift from the relatively lower forested area towards the south, and up to the hillside area in the north.