Not your usual gallery... Roca London Gallery

June 23, 2020 by Zoe

Whether you are local in London, or just a passerby, make sure you have Roca London Gallery on your list!

‘Roca’ is a global bathroom brand, and its galleries around the world are each unique and designed by the city’s best Architectural designer, and in London, that has to be Zaha Hadid.

The brief given was simple and open, and Zaha Hadid Architects took this opportunity to experiment with their specialty - organic, dynamic and fluid forms - flowing with the theme of water, each element of the building are bespoke and relates to water. Not a single straight surface! The exterior facade represents the ripples of water, and merges into the interior spaces, the waves follows, the iconic pod lighting highlights the fluid and represents water droplets.

Entering the larger aperture of opening of the facade, you are welcomed by a white space, displaying books and a few pieces of furniture. This is the central axis of the gallery. Surrounding this, are smaller, interconnected spaces that can be viewed through openings in the walls.

Walking around the gallery, you begin to wonder how these individual sculptural elements are all put together, how a concrete ceiling panel is hung above my head, and is it stable?! Yes, yes it is, each panel is about 400-500kg and has at least 6 cables attached from above or supported by the floor for the lower-level panels, and slotted against each other. The shop’s existing height is 4 meters high, leaving 1 meter for service works, the rest are concrete panels. (There‘s a total of 272 GRC panels installed! 236 interior, and 36 facade panels)

This exposed grey concrete panels are chosen specifically to highlight Roca’s most innovative products, which is also cleverly integrated. How? There are pop up bolts at three different levels on the wall panels so that the products can be hung from it; top level for showers, middle level for basins, and bottom level for the toilets.

Given that the project was built between 2009-2011, ZHA was already a master at parametric softwares that aided them in design, however, the manufacturers was still catching up, hence, the team had some trouble to finding the best contractor to build their bespoke pieces. Luckily, in the end, they managed to find a German fabricator to fabricate their concrete, and my-oh-my, to perfection.

As there were no straight edges in this building, there were no possible section or pans that makes sense, the team had to rely on 3D printed models to be printed after each alteration was made. (and this would be on a weekly basis!)

Even the mosaic floor tiles were cut and laid individually, designed as an optical effect inspired by water current, and leads you in and out of the gallery.

Roca Gallery is definitely a place to visit, not only does it house a gallery of Roca’s products, the space is also used to host social and cultural events that are of interest to Roca, including exhibitions produced in-house and externally, meetings, presentations, debates and receptions.

See Roca Gallery’s website for more information about their events and opening times.

A little smuggled gem inside London - Tin House

May 20, 2020 by Zoe

Our homes are our little private haven, especially in times like during this quarantining! But can you imagine living in this little gem?! *both arms raised!*

If I showed you the entrance to this house, you would have never expected it to be somebody’s home, let alone what you are about to see!! It felt a bit like Narnia! How remarkable that London has hidden this secluded little world… Shall we enter…?

Now that’s an entrance. A double-height Soanian brick archway — Now that’s an *entrance*. A double-height Soanian brick archway

Entered as I did, I was welcomed by a bright earthy orange facade at the end of the short tunnel, (it wasn’t a colour I was expecting for sure! But it works.) Heading towards the building in front, I am back in the open, open into a courtyard! A spacious courtyard surrounded by six interconnected earthy orange pavilions in pyramidal forms! And with a pool!

Designed by the Architect Henning Stummel, who also lives and works here, has designed the shape of these six pavilions to be a simple hut sculptures, with the pyramidal roofs to comply with the rights of light to his neighbours. and by adding a skylight at the tops to capture more natural light within the rooms. The roof and facade is a standing seam metal cladding - Swedish steel from GreenCoat PLX PRO BT, which is coated using rapeseed oil (read more about the material here).

Being welcomed in the dining / kitchen area, the colour was brought inside too, I idolized at the minimalist details, no handles protruding out, everything was flush, even the ceilings followed the pyramidal shape up to the skylight was smooth.

But don’t let the cover fool you! You will begin to discover the secondary spaces, ie. bathrooms, wardrobes, and even stairs are hidden with clever devices within double walls that links between pavilions. It is said that the idea of double walls were inspired by the thick Scottish castle walls!

I must admit, if I wasn’t guided the first time around inside this house, I would totally get lost! Despite there not being many rooms, they all somehow linked to each other and I would pop back into the same room as I had started with unintentionally! But through a different door!

With that being said, this house is super fun for a kid! Playful elements within the architecture and attractive colour! And then there’s me pressing on any panels on the wall I find, to see if it would pop open and reveal any secrets behind it.

But the highlight of my visit, was seeing Mr Stummel put together a piece of furniture he had designed - a chair! With a few pieces of plywood, slot slot slot, a complex yet simple chair is assembled! No screws, no nothing, just the wood! The architect has been designing his own furniture which can also be seen around his house, mainly the sofa, using the same concept as the small chair he demonstrated, is made from only one sheet of ply!

If you are interested in visiting this building, ‘Tin House’ is one of the buildings listed on Open House London that opens its doors for visitors. You just need to wait until September. (providing Government has lifted the lockdown and Open House will continue to host it this year).

The new Bloomberg HQ in BLOOM

January 28, 2020 by Zoe

Everyone has their duty to protect the environment and sustain the world, and one of the ways that architects has taken action is through designing buildings that are sustainable. We welcome the BLOOMBERG HQ in 2017 which was awarded for the highest BREEAM rating of 99.1% for commercial developments! Let us applaud Foster + Partners for their efforts!! But that’s not all that the building is awarded, it also won the 2018 RIBA Stirling Prize!

The new Bloomberg’s European Headquarters moved from 50 Finsbury Square to 3 Queen Victoria Street, situated across a historic site of 3.2 acres. The complex is made up of two buildings divided by a pedestrianised dining arcade that reinstates Watling Street, an ancient Roman road that once ran through the site. The complex also houses the restored Temple of Mithras in the London Mithraeum. (which is FREE to visit!)

But first of all, let us appreciate the blend of 9,600 tonnes of Derbyshire sandstone with bronze ventilation fins used for the building’s facade, it does not impose itself on the City of the historic buildings that surrounds it, but is sympathetic to its context.

Next, let’s admire the details of the innovative technology Fosters’ has used to reach the outstanding BREEAM status. The secret to reducing 40% less energy is in the bespoke petal-leaf designed ceiling panels. Not only aesthetic, the 500,000 LED lights are eco-friendly; providing better air-ventilation, cooling, heating and acoustics.

Upon entering this pioneering piece of architecture, we are whirled in by… ‘The Vortex’, the dramatic double-height entrance lobby. The twisted, wood-paneled structure is part hallway, part work of art, and relies on nothing to support its weight! The milled aluminium centre-piece of ‘Vortex’, by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson, is called ‘No future is possible without a past: Wave ceiling’ and acts as both a pond-like floor when viewed from above…

Looking closer at the details on the wooden panels…

Another feature of Bloomberg is the triple helix ramp, spanning over six floors, the ramp leads people seamlessly inside the building, into open-plan office spaces. (Felt like a bit of M.C.Esher’s staircase to me though!) This sculptural staircase visually opens up the entire building, and is designed to inspire and encourage the employees to interact with each other.

“…a spiralling ramp at the heart of the building ensures a connected, healthy and creative environment.”
Lord Norman Foster, Architect of Bloomberg London

Enjoy more of the building from this video from RIBA Architecture…

BREEAM - Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method. This means BREEAM rated developments are more sustainable environments that enhance the well-being of the people who live and work in them, help protect natural resources and make for more attractive property investments.

RIBA Stirling Prize - The RIBA Stirling Prize is judged against a range of criteria including design vision; innovation and originality; capacity to stimulate, engage and delight occupants and visitors; accessibility and sustainability; how fit the building is for its purpose and the level of client satisfaction.

Man About Kew House!

Kew House

June 20, 2017 by Zoe in Private homes

Tell me... Who else is going around snooping into private homes this month in the name of London Festival of Architecture?! *waves hands in the air* US! ARCHiTRACKER has been on a snoop!

Passing by what seems to be an ordinary, quiet, residential street in Richmond, set within the Kew Green Conservation area, you cannot miss this eccentric weathered perforated steel facade shouting out at you... and there it is - Kew House, one of the featured projects by Piercy&Co.

At first glance, you can see the house is split into two to avoid being a large bulky volume, with pre-fabricated perforated weathered steel cladding units, connected by circulation encased in glazing. One unit is set partially behind the remnants of a Victorian stable, giving this elegant house a brilliant fuse of glass, steel and history.

Walking closer to the building, you begin to notice the perforated steel imitates the dappled light through the branches of trees. As we enter through the gates, on the left, is a sunken courtyard with a blooming tree, and downstairs... the floor to ceiling glazing reveals a basement of the family's playground.

Kew House is a home for a family of four, with a simple informal layout of multiple level-changes, incidental spaces and accidental lights. The house is like a playground for the children! In actual fact, to access the basement, you can go via the steel staircase OR the slideeee! The space has swings AND a trampoline! Guess where my favourite space is! It also houses a workshop too! This floor is intended for flexibility and the potential to modify the space to suit the client's needs. Ie. temporary performance space for us!

This was also no ordinary visit or just the plain ole tour inside the building, there was entertainment involved! By Tim Ross and Kit Warhurst! They are a fantastic duo namely, 'Man about the house' from Australia, who performs in iconic, extraordinary and breathtaking architecturally designed houses or buildings and turn them into an intimate temporary performance space. What else is more engaging than learning about the building than with Stand-up comedy and music!?

With a short break, we are allowed to freely roam around the house, being cautious not to touch or break anything, however, we are given permission to chill on the sofas, walk around and talk to each other. (and grab yourself a bottle of beer!)

Beside the glass-encased staircase is the family's private courtyard, accessible from both wings of the house via the kitchen/dining room's double doors and half sunken living room on either ends, allowing a seamless transition from inside to out.

And finally, the owner's bedrooms on the top floors on both wings of the house, each occupying a cosy corner, with natural daylight from the skylights, and light from the perforated steel cladding.

The two shells housing each wing are formed of 4mm thick weathering steel – a hardworking combination of structure and façade. The weathering steel is maintenance free, essential for the enclosed site, and softened by a patchwork of expressed welds and perforated panels. The deep orange tones and perforations within the skin echo the dappled light and autumnal palette of nearby Kew Gardens. Inside, oak veneer paneling and Dinesen flooring are the basis of a warm and natural material palette.

Piercy & Company are a renowned London-based practice founded in 2001. Part of a new generation of forward-thinking British architects, the studio prides itself on the practice of ‘designing through making’, utilising a digital fabrication centre and workshops to test new ideas. Collaborations with artists and makers continually invigorate the studio. The recently completed Clerkenwell office development, Turnmill, has just been awarded an RIBA National Award 2016.

The London Festival of Architecture is Europe’s biggest annual architecture festival, and returns to the capital from 1-30 June 2017 with hundreds of events exploring ‘memory’. We celebrate London as a global architectural hub, provoke questions about the life of the city, and promote positive change to its public realm.

Let us know if you have visited any of the venues at LFA this year by emailing [email protected]! We'd love to hear your stories and which buildings you have visited! And you never know, we might bump into each other at an event! ;)

You don't need to go to Japan to visit Moriyama House!

Barbican Center

May 20, 2017 by Zoe

This month we visited the exhibition 'The Japanese House: Architecture and Life after 1945' at none other than at the Barbican Centre, in the middle of London's prominent post-war development of brutalism. London and Japan's approach to post-war architecture are definitely on opposite ends, we have agreed that it is much 'lighter' in Japan. What do you think?

Don't expect this exhibition to be a conventional art gallery with only just 2D drawings, sketches and photographs, intricate yet minimalist models are indeed involved... and full scaled too!

Japan is a country with distinct architecture of unique architectural styles, due to the culture and natural conditions of the country, the buildings are usually only built to last for one generation. You will find that there are never any massive public housing, but individual pre-fabricated homes as an experiment to adapt to change. However, they tend to share the common theme of being in touch with nature, and a sense of simplicity and lightness.

Here are our favourites at the exhibition:

A full-scaled reproduction of Moriyama House by the Pritzker winner Ryue Nishizawa (SANAA). You will also find a rather interesting and entertaining film filmed by Beka & Lemoine, (with comfy cushions on the floor!), interviewing Yasuo Moriyama, the 79-year-old owner and a hermit, whom has never left Japan, only living in his private universe at the Moriyama House.

As we weaved in and out of the narrow courtyards between the houses, we can really feel the sense of orderly in intimate spaces. The windows of the house are large-scaled giving no sense of boundary or privacy (yes, we examined every nook and cranny as we imagined how the owner lives here, well the real house), the integration of the indoors to the outdoors are specifically designed for Moriyama to laze around doing his favourite activity - reading, and absorbing the nature. He even has sliding bookshelves so it saves space and are completely accessible. The Japanese really utilizes every square meter! (Even the space under the stairs were occupied with a table!)

Immersing you fully into the Japanese culture, "Please take your shoes off and place them inside the shoe rack" inside this beautifully crafted Tea House elevated on stilts above a surreal garden designed by Terunobu Fujimori. With an unusual whimsical outlook, the exterior is alternate bands of hand-charred timber and white plaster, the result is a counterpoint to the contemporary minimalism of the Moriyama House, emphasizing the importance of hand-made, the material, and the fantastical in Japanese design.

Further into the exhibition, we explore key themes and movements in Japanese architecture through drawings, photographs, short films and smaller models.

Lightness and lightweight materials have always been a key feature to Japanese architecture, a fine example is the NA house, with no internal walls, it maximizes the natural light.

The exhibition is the first major UK exhibit that purely focuses on Japanese domestic architecture from the end of Second World War to now. Featuring over 40 Japanese architects from internationally renowned contemporary architects to figures that are less known to the outside of Japan.

U-House by Tadao Ando

1:1 structural beams by architect Kazuo Shinohara’s House in Uehara

Aluminium House by Toyo Ito

S-House by Yuusuke Karasawa

Architectural exhibitions are always fascinating and an eye-opener, and the Japanese House did a great job presenting itself to the public with interactive spaces and story-telling!

The Japanese House: Architecture and Life after 1945 at Barbican Art Gallery until 25 June. Tickets are £14.50 for adults, concessions available.

Architects featured:

Takefumi Aida, Tadao Ando, Atelier Bow-Wow, Takamitsu Azuma, dot architects, Hiromi Fujii, Terunobu Fujimori, Sou Fujimoto, Itsuko Hasegawa, Go Hasegawa, Kiyoshi Ikebe, Ikimono Architects, Kumiko Inui, Junya Ishigami, Osamu Ishiyama, Toyo Ito, Yuusuke Karasawa, Kiyonori Kikutake, Chie Konno, Kisho Kurokawa, Kunio Maekawa, Makoto Masuzawa, Katsuhiro Miyamoto, Kiko Mozuna, Kazuhiko Namba, Hideyuki Nakayama, Ryue Nishizawa (SANAA), Katsuhiko Ohno, Keisuke Oka, onishimaki + hyakudayuki, Antonin Raymond, Junzo Sakakura, Kazunari Sakamoto, Kazuyo Sejima (SANAA), Kiyoshi Seike, Kazuo Shinohara, Seiichi Shirai, Kenzo Tange, Tezuka Architects, Riken Yamamoto, Kazumasa Yamashita, Junzo Yoshimura, Takamasa Yoshizaka.

I want to become a tiny Gingerbread man and live in a Gingerbread City...

Museum of Architecture

December 30, 2016 by Zoe

Christmas is now over but who can blame us for still reminiscing over the sweet sweet aroma of gingerbread from the Museum of Architecture where they held The Gingerbread City designed and built by renowned London architects.

It all happened when we first walked past the shop front... captured by many tiny but beautifully decorated structures of sweets and everything tasty, the alluring scent of gingerbread sent us off our feet, floating our way into the Gingerbread heaven...

It really is a challenge to tour around this Gingerbread City without your mouth watering and slapping your hands from trying to touch (or pick) the sweets off the houses! Guiltyyy! Kudos to the children that were dragged here by their evil parents who actually craved some gingerbread themselves though!!