Kawneer launches service to assist architects design bespoke building systems

Dezeen promotion: architectural manufacturer Kawneer has launched a premium service named Kawneer Collaborative to help architects achieve "bold architectural visions and specific requirements" for aluminium building systems.

Kawneer Collaborative guides architects in the creation of bespoke aluminium wall and glazing systems using Kawneer's products.

This includes the "ideation, costing and design, through to visualisation, specification and realisation". It offers a tailored experience "taking off-the-shelf products and customising them to bring bold visions to reality".

Global logistics company Kinaxis has used the system. Top image: University of Washington's Life Sciences Building

"Kawneer Collaborative can help architects, contractors and building owners to meet every individual requirement, from inspiring iconic designs to driving performance and sustainability," said Kawneer.

Kawneer Collaborative assembles a team of experts to overview all aspects of the design and delivery process. BIM 360 software is used to create a digital model that becomes central to product development.

The design team are then able to explore different solutions to help find the most suitable approach. Afterwards, the production team manages everything, from extrusion and finishing to fabrication and assembly.

"Guiding customers from ideation, costing and design, through to visualisation, specification and realisation, the unique process takes them on a custom journey to achieve the pinnacle of construction," said Kawneer.

The system allows architects to create customised aluminium building systems. Image: Lindberg Station parking Deck, Minneapolis Airport

One project that has taken advantage of this service is the 14,000-square-metre headquarters building for global logistics company Kinaxis, located in Ottawa, Canada.

Designed by McRobie Architects + Interior Designers, the building features a customised version of Kawneer's 2500UT Unitized Curtain Wall System to create a facade that combines ribbon-like windows with metal panels.

"By integrating metal panels and insulation into the 2500UT system, we were able to provide a single-source solution for a traditionally multi-trade design," explained Rob Huffman, director of Kawneer Collaborative.

Kinaxis's headquarters is located in Ottawa, Canada

The bespoke solution also helped to create a more efficient construction process, thanks to a comprehensive package of drawings and workflow instructions produced at the design stage.

"Allowing the BIM model and shop drawings to come from a single source added value to the schedule by saving post-approval time, ensuring stakeholder alignment and reducing risk," added Huffman.

"We also managed the delivery of the materials for assembly, which enabled them to arrive in the correct order sequence, reducing confusion, on-site storage and waste."

For more information about Kawneer Collaborative, visit its website.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for Kawneer Collaborative as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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Kengo Kuma creates pavilion supported by live bamboo at Kyoto temple

Architecture studio Kengo Kuma and Associates has built a pavilion with a textile roof supported by bamboo stalks on the grounds of a temple in Kyoto, Japan.

Named Kyoto Yudo Pavilion, the structure designed by Kengo Kuma and Associates was built in a bamboo grove within the temple site.

Kengo Kuma and Associates designed the Kyoto Yudo Pavilion for a temple in Japan

The studio used Tyvek, a synthetic fabric made from polyethene fibres, to weave a geometric pattern of diamonds that is supported by the living bamboo.

"When I saw the beautiful bamboo forest, I wondered if I could use the bamboo as a pillar," said Kengo Kuma and Associates founder Kengo Kuma.

"By leaving as much of the living bamboo as possible and using it as a support, I was able to eliminate the vertical element," he told Dezeen.

"By weaving the Tyvek into three dimensions, I transformed a simple flat surface into a three-dimensional work of art."

It stretches across an outdoor spa area

The fabric was tied to the bamboo stalks that surround the opening in the grove while an outdoor bath was placed at the centre of the clearing to form a spa-like area.

Inside the Kyoto Yudo Pavilion dappled light filters through the grove and the white oscillating fabric.

"The material was selected because it was the closest to Japanese paper, which transmits light, in a material that combines water resistance, tensile strength, and light weight," said Kuma.

Read:

Kengo Kuma adds mountain-shaped toilets to hiking trail overlooking Mount Fuji

The pavilion was designed to be an intimate space for guests that invites its visitors to connect with the serene and calming surroundings.

"The method of using the surrounding live bamboo as a support for the cloth is 'defeated architecture' itself, and the white cloth sways as the wind blows," said the studio.

It filters light into the opening of the bamboo grove

"A bathtub was placed underneath this 'fabric architecture' to create a semi-outdoor bath where visitors could play with the hot water in the filtered light," the studio continued.

"We believe that softness is necessary for buildings that are inserted into nature. We want something softer than wood, we are very interested in the possibilities of fabrics."

The pavilion blends into the bamboo grove

Last year, Kengo Kuma and Associates added mountain-shaped toilets and rest areas to a hiking trail that overlooks Mount Fuji.

In 2020, Japanese architect and practice founder, Kengo Kuma collaborated with artist Geoff Nees to create a circular pavilion from timber collected from Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens.

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Copenhagen Contemporary cafe features wooden chairs made by 25 designers

Danish studio Tableau and designer Ari Prasetya have filled the Connie-Connie cafe at the Copenhagen Contemporary art gallery with chairs created by 25 designers from leftover wood.

Tableau and Prasetya designed the cafe as a new addition to Copenhagen Contemporary, an international art centre in a former welding facility in the city's Refshaløen area.

Above: various wooden seating designs decorate the cafe. Top: the designs were made by 25 different designers. Photo is by Marco van Ritj

As the cafe is located within the gallery, Tableau, which created the overall spatial design for the 150-metre-square space, wanted to explore how furniture can also be art.

"We really wanted to showcase how furniture can become functional pieces of art and also how a spatial design can be dictated by a material and a direction involving multiple designers, artists and architects," Tableau creative director Julius Værnes Iversen told Dezeen.

Ari Prasetya designed the cafe's bar

The studio worked with Australian designer Prasetya, who was in charge of the design and manufacturing of the bar as well as a number of other furniture pieces in the space.

They collaborated with 24 other creatives to create seating for the cafe. All the seats were made from leftover wood from Danish flooring brand Dinesen.

Designers, architects and artists made the chairs from leftover wood

"We chose to work with Dinesen offcuts," Iversen explained. "I have always been fascinated by the company and especially the quality of their material."

"The offcuts are leftover material from their plank production, so we also made use of a material which has little usage normally," he added.

The 150-square-metre cafe is in an art centre

Tableau aims to works with a large number of artists, designers and architects on its projects, as the studio believes that diversity in design and art produces the most interesting result.

For Connie-Connie, the only parameters the studio gave the designers was the size of each seat and the requirement that it should be comfortable.

Participants were given the freedom to design what they wanted

"We curated the participants being very aware of which type of designer, artist or architect we wanted to take part," Iversen said.

"So the finished result showcases quite well how we curate in Tableau in general. We like a large variety of directions."

Read:

Bauhaus-informed chair and hemp vases feature in Ukurant Perspectives exhibition

Prasetya, who created three of the chairs, said working with just leftover wood didn't pose any difficulty.

"For me, it’s more dependent on the material choice, where you have many different ways to work with specific species of wood," he told Dezeen.

"Obviously strength and construction is very important, so being aware of which part of the tree, grain direction all have to be considered."

Prasetya's red chair Stine's Desire (right in picture) towers over the others

Prasetya's three chairs for the space include the asymmetrical Genno and the more classic Armmi as well as Stine's Desire, which he describes as a "phallic reflection and expression."

"A play on size, scale, that demonstrates societies constant idea of 'the bigger the better', Stines chair was created through humorous banter about desire and a mention of the false perception of always wanting more," Prasetya said.

The cafe takes its colours from the packaging protecting the wood

The interior of the Connie-Connie cafe was painted in a green colour that contrasts against the clean natural wood colour on most of the seating and also nods to the furniture's origins.

"To make a cohesive spatial design with an eclectic collection of furniture, we chose to colour all floors and walls in a monotone green color," Iversen said.

"A color we found from the packaging of the Dinesen wood planks when visiting the production in the south of Denmark together with the artists," he added.

"Normally their planks are delivered with this significant colored cover to protect it from rain and moist."

The material was leftover from Dinesen's wooden flooring

All of the pieces at Connie-Connie will be sold either as singular originals or reproductions.

The creatives taking part in the project were alongside Tableau were Among Other Things, Anna Clarisse Holck Wæhrens, Anne Brandhøj, Arnaud Eubelen, Ari Prasetya, Bram Vanderbeke, Carsten In Der Elst, Davide Ronco, Frederik Gustav, Jacob Egeberg, Janis Karasevskis, Kevin Josias, Kim Lenschow, Kristine Mandsberg, Laurids Gallée, Mads Hilbert, Pablo Dorigo Sempere, Paul Cournet, Pettersen & Hein, Pil Whitta, Natalie P Koerner and Thomas Gayet.

Some chairs were painted while other designers left the wood natural

Tableau has previously showcased Cornucopia, a collection of vases that the studio designed together with Röd Studio from steel and wool.

Other Danish design showcases include Ukurant, an exhibition of emerging Danish artists that took place during design festival 3 Days of Design.

The photography is by Michael Rygaard unless otherwise stated.

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Slope House by El Sindicato Arquitectura steps down a Quito hillside

This home on the side of a hill in Ecuador was designed by El Sindicato Arquitectura to provide maximum privacy to its owners and their two daughters.

Located in the Cumbayá district of Quito, the Slope House project was completed for a family that wanted private living spaces, plenty of outdoor areas, and a home that would make the most of their views of the nearby Ilalo volcano.

Slope House steps down a hillside

The project encompasses 200 square metres, and was completed last year.

"As a conceptual strategy for the project, the required spaces were defined to be highly segregated as an answer to solve the independence need between them," said Quito-based firm El Sindicato Arquitectura.

"It was determined that all the spaces will be connected only by a path that follows the steep slope of the site at ground level," they added.

El Sindicato connected the volumes with a path

The single-storey house is broken into three blocks that step down the hillside, allowing for pockets of greenery to grow between them.

"Intermediate gardens let the users see without being seen, and have a physical or visual connection with the immediate exterior," said El Sindicato Arquitectura.

The living room leads to an exterior space

Guests and residents access the home from the top, where the architects included a living and dining room connected to an exterior space for hosting.

Here, there is an exterior staircase that leads to the roof, which forms a series of three terraces that correspond to the interior spaces below.

Brick also features inside the house

The central block contains the owner's bedroom and the kitchen, which was intended to be the heart of the home.

"The intermediate block receives the kitchen which is thought as the main space of the project as is the place where the family gets together for cooking, eating, working and spending time together," said the architects.

Read:

El Sindicato builds tiny Casa Parásito on a rooftop in Ecuador

Within the lowest point of the home are the two daughter's bedrooms, one of which has its own terrace, and the other a generously sized walk-in closet.

The architects explained that these differences in layout relate to each daughter's preferences.

"Both volumes have the same dimension, but are designed in a different way defined by their own living routines," said the architects.

The internal corridor is sealed with fully-glazed walls

The path connecting the various rooms is a combination of a corridor and staircase. Its walls are fully-glazed, offering views of the surrounding nature and mountainous setting.

This circulation is replicated on the rooftop, where a stepped walkway connects the three volumes. Effectively, the home has more exterior space than interior.

Concrete and brick are the main materials that comprise the structure

Concrete and brick are the main structural materials, and are visible both inside and out. "In this system, the role of the brick is at the same time as a formwork and exterior finish, and also as interior finish in some cases," El Sindicato Arquitectura explained.

Other projects in Ecuador include a home made of concrete and Eucalyptus wood by Bernardo Bustamante Arquitectos and a rural home by Al Borde that uses living trees as structural supports.

The photography is by Andrés Villota.

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Project credits:

Architecture office: El Sindicato Arquitectura
Team: Nicolás Viteri, María Mercedes Reinoso, Xavier Duque
Illustrations: El Sindicato Arquitectura, Laura Vaca

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Majoral Tissino Architects adds first-floor courtyard to refurbished Spanish home

Barcelona-based Majoral Tissino Architects has modernised a house in the historic Spanish village of Cruïlles, adding living spaces to the vaulted ground floor and creating a studio that opens onto a secluded terrace.

The refurbished building adjoins the clients' existing property, which Majoral Tissino Architects refurbished in 2013. Connecting the two buildings allowed new and expanded living spaces to be created.

Cruïlles 2 is a Spanish villa in Cruïlles that was designed by Majoral Tissino Architects

The house, which features stone load-bearing walls and a traditional tiled roof, is positioned at the junction of two narrow streets in the centre of the medieval village in Catalonia's Baix Empordà region.

Prior to the refurbishment, the property's interior comprised a sunken ground floor with a vaulted ceiling and an upper floor that was subdivided into several rooms. The studio was tasked with renovating and rearranging the spaces to better suit the owners' requirements.

The studio renovated and expanded the interior

"The brief was quite unusual as the first house already fulfilled all habitability requirements," the architects explained. "The new functional programme includes a broader living room, a studio open to a courtyard and a new room."

The project involved linking the two houses together on the ground floor through the creation of a new opening next to the stone outer wall.

It incorporated a number of staircases and steps

This passage leads into a living space with a vaulted ceiling that spans the entire width of the building. The room is divided into different zones by a cast-concrete construction incorporating various levels, steps and podiums.

A U-shaped seating area on one side is sunken slightly below the main floor and faces a plinth supporting the television. Steps ascend to a cocktail area with a floor-level fireplace positioned beneath a concrete arch.

Steps were constructed using concrete and have a stone look

The corridor that extends through the space is angled inward slightly away from the stone wall and is mirrored by a curved panel added to the ceiling that helps to emphasise the gradual widening of the room.

"The concrete topography is broadened diagonally to produce a 'prospectic' cone," said the studio, "expressed in the vault's unique finish and opening towards the stair cluster allowing access to the upper floor."

Read:

Sara Acebes Anta completes Spanish villa with pared-back colour palette

The concrete switchback staircase at the end of the living area incorporates an arched section that echoes the form of the ceiling.

A new window added to the west elevation allows natural light to reach the circulation area and the living space, which previously only received light from two small, north-facing windows.

A staircase leads to the upper level

Another window on the opposite side of the room introduces light from a patio between the two houses. The new opening is set behind an angular frame described by the architects as an 'embrasure', which is traditionally a bevelled opening in a wall or parapet.

The concrete steps connect with another metal stair leading up to the new studio space, with a toilet and kitchenette off the adjacent landing.

Cast concrete divides and zones different areas

A large east-facing terrace was created next to the studio, with full-height sliding doors allowing the interior and exterior spaces to be opened up to one another.

The studio's concrete floors extend out onto the courtyard, enhancing the connection between the spaces. A bench inserted along the existing stone wall incorporates a water spout that creates a soothing sound as it pours into a trough below.

Sliding doors open out to the courtyard

A final set of steps ascends from the studio to a mezzanine bedroom slotted in beneath the gabled roof. Windows lining this secluded space provide views of the village's historic tower and the Montgrí mountain range beyond.

Elsewhere in Spain, architecture studio Sara Acebes Anta built a villa that boasts a pared-back colour palette, while Horma Studio designed a home comprised of a number of geometric volumes.

Photography is by Adrià Goula.

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