Contemporary Design News

Chile-based architecture studio Pezo Von Ellrichshausen has created the LAMA Pavilion in Yungay, Chile to provide views of the Andes Mountains. The pavilion consists of two stacked towers with an extended, cantilevered plate dividing the two. The plate holds a shallow volume of rainwater reflecting the upper part of the tower, suggesting the presence of the lower part. Inside, a spiral staircase is surrounded by murals of 30 native flowers, leading via a timber staircase, to a blackened room with four peepholes. This, in turn, leads to a rooftop firepit, giving the building the appearance of a chimney when viewed from a distance. Pezo von Ellrichshausen

Sydney-based studio lahznimmo architects has designed a new building for the Powerhouse Museum's Museums Discovery Centre (MDC) in Castle Hill, Sydney, Australia. The new 9,000 square-meter building, known as Building J, adds to the six buildings currently on the site. This building provides storage for the Powerhouse collection and archives, and includes a public viewing space capable of housing planes, trains and automobiles. There are additional spaces for workshops, events, laboratories, photography and research work.

Melbourne-based Australian architectural studio Edition Office has designed Hawthorn House in Victoria, Australia. The house features two arched structural concrete shrouds linked by a walkway and a courtyard garden. Ground floor formal and informal living spaces are separated into two pavilions connected by a north-facing garden and courtyard. Sleeping and bathing spaces are located on the first floor, set in from the concrete shell, creating space for private courtyards. The rough-sawn formwork timber boards used for the concrete shell are reused for the perimeter fencing.

Polish architectural studio WXCA has completed the South Building of the Polish Army Museum in the Warsaw Citadel as part of a plan to create one of the largest museum complexes in Europe. The South Building consists of eight separate blocks connected by glass walls providing glimpses of the surrounding park. The blocks are constructed of coloured architectural concrete, similar in colour to the Citadel's walls, and they feature a chevron pattern with a military reference, scaled to the size of a human hand.

Norway and Denmark-based architects Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter have created the Kornets Hus (Grain House), a centre in the Jutland region of Denmark that informs visitors about the importance of grain locally and its significance for human civilisation. The region has a rich food and farming culture, and the new centre is situated on the grounds of an existing farm and bakery in Hjørring, a town with some of the country's oldest settlement remains.

Dorschner Kahl Architekten in collaboration with Heine Mildner Architecken, both based in Germany, have created Andreasgärten, a complex for multi-generational living in the centre of Erfurt in Germany. The complex comprises three new three-storey timber buildings hosting 100 rental apartments, a therapy centre, and a chapel, together with an adapted former brick carriage house that serves as a kindergarten.

Madrid-based architects FRPO, founded by Fernando Rodriguez and Pablo Oriol, have created an apartment building in Elcano, a street previously comprising low-rise warehouses and workshops, close to the city centre in Madrid, Spain. The building comprises 13 apartments, with storage rooms, a garden, a swimming pool and 32 underground parking places. It occupies the maximum volume allowed by the regulations, in this case, a floor plan of 22m by 12m with a 14m height.

Basel-based Swiss architects Brandenberger Kloter Architekten have created a primary school building on the existing Sonnhalde campus in the centre of Aarwangen in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. Seamless in-situ concrete is used as the primary construction and facade material, in keeping with the existing 1960s buildings. A deep incision in the building at ground floor level marks the entrance, with a large entrance hall leading to the library, kindergarten and workrooms on the ground floor, and classrooms on the upper floors.

James Gorst Architects designed the Castle Community Rooms for the Framlingham Parochial Church Council (PCC) in the historic town of Framlingham, Suffolk. Situated between two Grade I listed buildings, St. Michael's Church and Framlingham Castle, the new building replaces an existing 1898 hall that had reached the end of its structural life. The new timber-framed structure is protected by black zinc cladding and supported by piled foundations that protect existing archaeology and tree roots.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) have announced the shortlist for the first Reinvention Award, celebrating the creative reuse of buildings to improve their environmental,social, or economic sustainability. The shortlist includes projects by 6a architects x Caragh Touring, van Heyningen and Haward Architects, Wright & Wright Architects, and Associated Architects with Rodney Melville and Partners.

Amsterdam based architects Office Winhov transformed a former university dissection laboratory in Amsterdam into the 5* Pillows Grand Boutique Hotel Maurits at the Park, as part of the city's transformation of Oosterpark. The Oosterpark masterplan enabled changing the use of adjacent monumental buildings and encouraged their integration with the park.