LMN Architects creates sensitive addition for Asian art museum in Seattle

American studio LMN Architects has renovated and expanded a 1930s, art deco-style museum in Seattle, making sure to preserve "the architectural legacy of the historic building".

Local studio LMN Architects – winner of the 2016 AIA Firm Award – was charged with overseeing the first extensive update to the Seattle Asian Art Museum since it opened in 1933. Designed by local firm Bebb and Gould, the art deco-style building has landmark status in Seattle and is listed on America's National Register of Historic Places.

The museum, which is located in Volunteer Park in the city's Capitol Hill neighbourhood, is also one of a small number of North American museums dedicated to Asian art.

Situated on a gently sloping site, the museum has three levels with rooms are organised around a skylit central space, called the Fuller Garden Court.

Photograph by Adam Hunter courtesy of LMN Architects

LMN Architects' project entailed renovations to the existing building, along with adding a rectangular volume to the east elevation that totals 13,905 square feet (1,292 square metres).

The aim was to provide more space, restore existing finishes, update systems, and strengthen the connection to the surrounding park.

Photograph by Adam Hunter courtesy of LMN Architects

"The design represents the seamless integration of the building's spectacular site with the museum's mission for the 21st century: to showcase Asian art in conjunction with contemporary educational and conservation spaces," LMN Architects said.

The new addition – made of glass, steel and concrete – contains offices, a community meeting room, and a 2,658-square-foot (247-square-metre) gallery. The extension also features a highly transparent lobby that faces the park.

"The new lobby is the vertical connector to the program spaces and is composed mostly of glass, giving the impression that the space is floating in the landscape," the firm added.

In the existing building, the team addressed the "critical needs of infrastructure, accessibility and programme space". Facades were restored and new glass was installed in windows. The main entrance, located on the west side of the building, was improved.

In existing galleries, the team made major upgrades to walls, floors and ceilings to ensure they were structurally sound and met code requirements. The layout was slightly reconfigured to make way for a new education studio and a new conservation centre.

"The building components and the interior spaces have been renovated and organised to maximise programme space and functionality, as well as take advantage of their own tectonic identity," it added.

Photograph by Adam Hunter, courtesy of LMN Architects

The project also entailed modifications to the surrounding landscape, which were overseen by Walker Macy, a firm based in Portland, Oregon.

The team restored pathways and fountains, and fortified the connection between the museum and the historic Volunteer Park. The large swath of green space was designed by John Charles Olmsted, the adopted son of famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.

Photograph by Adam Hunter courtesy of LMN Architects

The Seattle Asian Art Museum holds artwork from numerous countries and regions, including China, Korea, Japan, India, the Himalayas and Southeast Asia. It is one of three venues that make up the Seattle Art Museum, or SAM.

Others are the museum's main location in the downtown district, which was designed by Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates, and a sculpture park that stretches along the urban waterfront.

The $56 million (£43 million) project was funded through a mix of public and private contributions. After being closed for two years due to construction, the museum reopens on 8 February.

Overall, the design is meant to respect the building's past while updating it for contemporary use.

"The Seattle Asian Art Museum honours and preserves the architectural legacy of the historic building and integrity of the park, while providing space for deeper explorations of the diverse, artistic and cultural traditions of Asia," LMN Architects said.

Other art museum projects in the US include renovations to the Philadelphia Museum of Art that were designed by Frank Gehry, and a major renovation at New York's Museum of Modern Art that was conceived by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Gensler.

Photography is by Tim Griffith, unless stated otherwise.

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Project credits:

Architecture: LMN Architects
Landscape architect: Walker Macy
General contractor: BNBuilders, Inc
Construction and project management services: OAC Services, Inc

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Coronavirus quarantine hospital in Wuhan completes in just nine days

A prefabricated hospital with capacity for 1,000 patients has been built in nine days in Wuhan, China, which is the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

The Chinese state confirmed yesterday that the first of two quarantine hospitals in Wuhan had completed in just over a week. It will start admitting the first 50 infected patients today, reported China Global Television Network (CGTN).

Called Huoshenshan Hospital, the facility has been handed over to 1,400 medical staff from the Chinese military.

The building took nine days to complete, with a total of 10 days between construction starting and the first patient being admitted.

The hospital has capacity to treat 1,000 coronavirus cases. Stock image of surgical masks by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay

Construction workers in Wuhan laboured through the night to dig foundations, concrete building bases and to crane modular prefabricated-units into place.

At peak times 1,500 workers were reported to be on site. Workers interviewed on CGTN, which is funded by the Chinese state, said they had only slept for two hours in three days.

A second hospital in Wuhan called Leishenshan Hospital, will have a capacity of 1,500 patients. It is due to complete on 5 February and start admitting patients on 6 February.

Coronavirus is a new flu-like virus effecting the respiratory system. It causes a fever and a cough, which can progress to pneumonia.

In mainland China there have been over 360 deaths from the virus, and one death of a Chinese national in the Philippines. Currently there have been over 17,000 confirmed cases of infection, with 175 cases outside of China in 25 countries around the world.

Video reporting from CGTN showed units with ultraviolet disinfection technology installed in the walls, which will allow staff to pass equipment to and from treatment rooms without entering.

"With the support of the government and the people, we are sure to win this smokeless war," China's vice premier Sun Chunlan said when he inspected the hospital on Sunday 2 February.

This model for prefabricated hospitals was pioneered in China during the SARS outbreak in 2003. At that time, Xiaotangshan Hospital was built in Beijing in just seven days.

The city of Wuhan was put under quarantine on 23 January 2020, with all planes and trains in and out of the city suspended. Stations are being guarded by the military.

British and American nationals who have been evacuated by their governments were put under quarantine for two weeks in their home countries upon their return.

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Scott Whitby Studio creates multi-level boudoir for a throuple

Three people can sleep, practice yoga or drink whisky together in this bedroom designed by London-based Scott Whitby Studio.

The clients are a throuple – a romantic relationship between three people. They asked Scott Whitby Studio to create them a bespoke boudoir in their south London home, which also features spaces for other activities.

The architects responded with a reimagining of the traditional four-poster bed. Above the large sleeping space is a mezzanine that can be used for reading, exercise and other forms of relaxation.

Studio founder Alex Scott Whitby said the project was "unusual and exciting". He saw it as an opportunity to rethink the typical bedroom layout, where furniture is simply dotted around a room.

"Making space for a contemporary relationship typology was a new challenge for us as a studio to tackle," he said.

Called The Tri-Pod, the bed structure comprises a huge piece of joinery, crafted from walnut.

Two first-floor rooms, both with high ceilings and tall windows, were combined to make space for it. It sits in the centre, away from the walls, allowing light to reach all parts of the room.

The bed, with a mattress large enough for three, can be opened up or closed off.

This allows one of the threesome, who suffers from a sleep disorder, to enjoy a restful night's sleep sheltered from street noise and planes. It also allows the bed to be concealed when the trio are entertaining guests.

A storage closet is slotted into one side, alongside a staircase that leads to the upper deck. Scott Whitby describes this upper level as "a secret leisure world for whisky tasting, yoga and reading".

The architect suggests that more of London's Victorian properties could be reconfigured in this way, creating two rooms on top of one another rather than side by side.

"We are delighted that our client loves their quirky, practical, exotic bed and that we have been able to help them live in a space that fulfils their needs and requirements in an innovative and transformational way," he said.

Other projects completed by Scott Whitby Studio include a pop-up cinema in a shipping container. It is currently working on a renovation of an art-deco sea pool in Cornwall.

Photography is by Nicholas Worley.

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Glow-in-the-dark skatepark created inside Triennale Milano by Koo Jeong A

A gallery inside the Triennale Milano museum is transformed into a fluorescent skateboarding venue in this installation by South Korean artist ​Koo Jeong A.

Koo Jeong A has installed a full-size skatepark inside the Triennale Milano's ground-floor galleria and it is free for the public to use.

The skating bowl is covered in glow-in-the-dark paint, creating different experiences as the lights are turned on and off.

Called OooOoO, the installation is the first instalment of Year of ​Play, an exhibition series curated by Julia Peyton-Jones and Lorenza Baroncelli, exploring the importance of physical interaction in an increasingly digital world.

"The Skatepark is evidence of what it means to play: to play with a real intention and very real skill," said Peyton-Jones.

"The skateborders are balletic in their command of space, speed and movement," she added. "Just like a choreographer, they define the movement of the human body, and like a dancer, they achieve remarkable feats of human endeavour and endurance."

OooOoO is the latest of several skateparks that Koo Jeong A has created, but a few details make it unique.

Firstly, the artist worked with electronic music producer Koreless to create a soundtrack to the skating experience.

A lighting scheme was then devised to alternate with the music, so visitors could be subjected to two very different settings.

When the main lights are on, the space still appears like a traditional gallery. When they are turned off, the space becomes illuminated in fluorescent shades of green and blue, making it feel more like a nightclub.

"Bringing it inside, the skatepark becomes an object, like sculpture on a grand scale, but participatory," said Peyton-Jones.

"People can not only touch the sculpture, which is usually forbidden in museums, but can use it, engage with it, move all over it, using the very sophisticated skill that skateborders have developed and honed through years of practice."

The skatepark opened to the public in late 2019 and remains in place until 16 February 2020. It is open Tuesdays to Sundays, from 10.30am to 8.30pm.

The next project in the Year of Play programme will be a playground in the museum garden. This will be followed by a contemporary art exhibition titled Play With Me!

Last year, author of Skateboarding and the City, Iain Borden, selected 11 skateparks that highlighted the key aspects of the movement's culture from its beginnings in 1960s California to the modern day.

The sport will be contested at the 2020 Olympics for the first time.

Photography is by Gianluca Di Ioia.

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UPS delivery vans get electric makeover by Arrival

Electric vehicle company Arrival has co-developed a fleet of 10,000 modular electric-vans with UPS in the delivery service's signature livery.

The electric vans will be rolled out across the UK, Europe and the US between 2020 and 2024.

Arrival has developed electric vans with UPS

Wheels are attached to a skateboard-style bed that is flat from front to rear, with identical wheelhouses.

This allows the vehicles to be built by robots in smaller, more flexible micro-factories rather than traditional, conveyer-belt model factories.

Their skateboard-style wheel bed makes them easy to make and repair

Arrival's vehicles are modular in design, so that parts can be swapped out over the vehicle's lifetime to improve and upgrade.

Rather than building an entirely new vehicle at the end of its life, the materials can be reused, and any defunct parts replaced.

Electric vans cause less air pollution

With more people buying online, a greater number of vehicles are needed to deliver the increased number of packages. Up to 1.5 million packages are delivered every day in New York City alone.

Electric vehicles produce zero direct emissions, so Arrival's UPS vans will be less detrimental to urban air-quality than traditional vans.

UPS has ordered 10,000 custom Arrival vans

Arrival's electric vehicles are the same price as the diesel or petrol equivalent and are 50 per cent cheaper to run.

The vans have a range of up to 300 miles on one charge.

Arrival vans are easy to upgrade physically and digitally

Arrival's software can be updated immediately, and the vehicles can be programmed to be autonomous.

"Arrival has created Generation 2 electric vehicles that are better in price, design and experience than traditional fossil-fuel vehicles and existing electric vehicles," said Arrival chief strategy officer Avinash Rugoobur.

"This gives fleet managers a highly compelling commercial and environmental reason to switch to electric and will accelerate the adoption of electric technology globally," he continued.

Arrival was founded in 2015 by Denis Sverdlov
 and is headquartered in London.

Royal Mail is currently trialling Arrival vans in London. CGI by Arrival

A small flock of customised electric vehicles produced by Arrival for Royal Mail were rolled out in a pilot scheme across central London in 2017.

The prototypes currently being used by Royal Mail to deliver London's letters have wing mirrors, but Arrival plans to eventually replace these with cameras for monitoring traffic around the vehicles.

Japanese design brand Muji has launched an autonomous shuttle bus, called Gacha, and Swedish tech startup Einride has designed a fully electric and autnomous logging truck.

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