The vegetation and landscape at the Panda House closely mimic the pandas’ natural habitat with patches of bamboo scattered throughout. The pandas must be able to find both shade and sun, as well as water and foliage. By creating two forests – a dense, mist forest and a light green bamboo forest, Mao Sun and Xing Er have the opportunity and flexibility to explore both landscapes, according to season, temperature and preference.
BIG was invited for a competition to design a Maritime museum inside the neighboring decommissioned dry-dock, where ships used to be built. Instead, BIG proposed to place the museum underground, just outside the wall of the dock in order to preserve the dock as an open, outdoor display, maintaining the powerful structure as the center of the Maritime Museum. By placing the museum this way, it appears as a discreet part of the cultural environment associated with the Kronborg Castle and the neighboring Culture Yard, while at the same time manifesting itself as an independent institution.
Diverging from the condominium typology is a world-class recording studio, The Sanctuary – located adjacent to the public plaza on the most prominent site in the entire resort. Despite being the lowest lying structure in Albany, it’s location at this significant intersection maintains convenient access to the marina, plaza, golf course, beachside, and other resort amenities. Surrounded by extraordinary views of the marina and its surrounding community, the state-of-the-art recording studio attracts the world’s most famous recording artists to Albany to record their next chart-topping hits.
To enhance the passenger experience, the spaces within the new terminal use daylight as a natural wayfinding system. A linear skylight – created by the unfolding roof of the pier – widens toward the central hub and opens up into the atrium where all departing, arriving, and transferring passengers meet. By placing the control tower in its center, the tower is experienced from the inside as a beacon that creates a sense of place, akin to a town square rather than an airport.
Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet is informed by the convergence of form and content in clockwork. It is conceived like the coils of a watch, ticking and advancing in perpetuity like the gallery visitors and watchmakers moving cyclically with the structure. Every element is governed by the functional requirements of the exhibition while appearing as a sculpture conceived in a single gesture. The all-glass structure is made up of two spirals that seamlessly integrate into the existing landscape. The museum’s collection, which showcases some timepieces, is displayed alongside two in-situ production workshops, creating a living museum.