Contemporary Design News

UK-based Mole Architects and Invisible Studio have designed the Big Roof, a low-carbon, low-energy storage and training centre in the Cambridgeshire Fens for Forest School Camps, a charity providing educational camps for children. The single-storey, 745m2 building includes 400m2 for camp equipment storage for sites across the country and replaces three dilapidated buildings.

Berlin-based Sehw Architektur has completed the first phase of the expansion and renovation of a primary school in Essen, in the North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. This involved the renovation of two buildings from the 1950s and the addition of new structures to create a 'learning village' of four buildings.

London-based architects Knox Bhavan have transformed a landlocked triangular plot in Teddington, once housing a disused warehouse, into Threefold House, a low-energy single-family dwelling with three planted courtyards. The site's restricted access rendered it unsuitable for industrial use. The replacement dwelling features a 2.5-meter-high perimeter wall echoing the old warehouse wall, behind which lie courtyards surrounded by single-storey accommodation, with a two-storey section bordering the street.

Berlin-based Sehw Architektur has completed a series of school buildings using modular timber construction in Cologne, in the North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

For a special school in Dünnwald, Cologne, timber modules were lifted over the existing listed buildings to extend the school. The extensions are finished in red brick to blend with the existing listed post-war buildings. The interiors are designed to maximise daylight and feature classrooms with adjoining annexe rooms.

Belgium architects noAarchitecten have replaced a 1950s extension with a tourist reception and visitor centre at the collection of historic buildings known as Het Steen in Antwerp. The extension draws inspiration from the site's history, transitioning from being a part of the city wall to a freestanding castle around 1890. To restore its character, the 1950s extension was replaced with a contemporary structure, referencing historical elements such as stone walls, bay windows, and towers.

Swiss architects Allen + Crippa have designed 'House with a Curtain' in Grabs, Switzerland, within the Rhine Valley offering views of the Prealps. The house spans three floors including a basement, featuring identical floor plans inspired by traditional barn houses of the region. The front section accommodates living and dining spaces alongside a bedroom, while service areas at the rear encompass a bathroom, pantry, and staircase. Internally, partition walls serve dual purposes as built-in storage.

London-based architects Archio have completed eleven affordable homes at Citizens House, the first Community Land Trust (CLT) in London. Extensive collaboration with the local community led to the replacement of an underused garage site with a three-to-four-storey building facing a landscaped courtyard.

Staggered balconies and a wide walkway encourage residents to interact. A stepped profile responds to the surrounding buildings, with insets bringing light into the centre of the building.

Swiss architects Deschenaux have designed a house adjacent to a forest in a neighbourhood of villas in Vuissens, a secluded village in Fribourg, Switzerland.  The house is oriented towards the forest and entered through an opening in a concrete wall. Following the topography of the site, a small entrance hall leads two steps down to the kitchen, which connects to a larger volume of the living room. The living room, with forest views through a wall of glazed doors, opens to a double-height loggia.

US architects Easton Combs have built House SIX, a 5,000 sq ft house in Berkshire County, western Massachusetts, near New York’s Hudson Valley. The house responds to a sloped site with a low, elongated, thin volume featuring a folding roofline. A bend and fold in the plan allows the central living space to open onto the south and east while also connecting to bedrooms to the southwest.

The Swiss architectural practice Bearth & Deplazes, based in Chur, has built House Schweizer-Schmid in the village of Ardez in the Lower Engadin valley, Switzerland. The house, with its exposed concrete exterior, is a contemporary interpretation of an Engadine house, traditionally characterised by large arch openings and deep, hole-like windows with funnel-shaped reveals. Photo by Juan Rodriguez. Bearth & Deplazes

Swiss-based architects Allen + Crippa have renovated and extended a fire-damaged house in Salez, Switzerland. The approach was to reuse a large proportion of the structure rather than demolish and rebuild, reducing the construction time and preserving an established garden. 

The exterior walls of the ground floor form a base for the new timber frame structure. The independent structure allowed for the creation of nine interconnected rooms separated by sliding doors.

Slovenia-based architecture studio Elementarna, with headquarters in Ljubljana, has renovated the Old Glassworks buildings and upgraded the adjoining public spaces in the historic town of Ptuj, Slovenia. The Old Glassworks, with its courtyard, and the formal Vrazov trg square - an urban landmark for cultural events - along with the adjacent streets, connect Castle Hill, the town, and the river, creating a vibrant city.

The two halls of the Old Glassworks incorporate cantilevered folding doors, allowing the spaces to fully open up to the courtyard and forming flexible event spaces.