Martin Neruda incorporates "secret garden" at the heart of House in Lanškroun

Architect Martin Neruda has completed a single-storey house in the Czech town of Lanškroun featuring translucent polycarbonate walls that conceal living spaces arranged around a secluded garden.

The property is located in a residential area of Lanškroun and was designed by Neruda to occupy the site of a demolished two-storey terraced house.

Martin Neruda has completed a single-storey house in Lanškroun

The brief for the project was to create a house that allowed the clients to live in close contact with the garden.

Neruda responded by proposing a single-storey dwelling featuring a cascading sequence of indoor and outdoor spaces that follow the plot's sloping topography.

It is designed to help the clients live in close contact with the garden

Polycarbonate panels form a screen that separates the main part of the building from the street. The translucent volumes house a garage and garden storage either side of a folding gate.

A large concrete roof shelters a path that leads from the entrance through the garden towards the main living space at the southern end of the site.

The house aligns with the plot's sloping topography

"The life of the house takes place around this secret garden," claimed Neruda, "and from there, the inner spaces can be entered."

The living areas at the rear of the plot can be opened up to gardens on either side during summer to create a social space for cooking and relaxing that merges with the outdoors.

Polycarbonate panels line the garage and garden storage space

A sequence of bedrooms, bathrooms and a utility area are positioned along the western edge of the site. These rooms step down gradually to follow the existing slope and each look onto the garden through large openings.

The architect described the open-air spaces lining the garden as an "atrium" that is protected from sun and rain by the reinforced-concrete ceiling slabs.

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Outdoor space has "equal importance" to interiors in Villa Fifty-Fifty

The overhanging roof extends to shelter concrete benches that hover above the ground. The landscaping features irregular paving slabs that contrast with the building's rectilinear forms.

Internally, a muted palette uses natural materials to balance the raw, textural finishes of the brick walls and exposed concrete ceilings, lintels and window sills.

The interiors have a muted material palette

Lime-stained bricks salvaged from the demolition of the original house are repurposed both inside and outside the building. Along with the brick, the materials used for the exterior include beige wooden window frames, steel columns and the polycarbonate sheeting.

Neruda's hope is that the house will age gracefully through everyday use, while the garden will mature and gradually merge with the architecture.

Brick walls and exposed concrete ceilings are found inside

"In the future, perhaps the walls will grow green, the steel columns will rust, a patina will appear on the concrete and silhouettes of stored items will peek behind the polycarbonate," he suggested.

"The atrium house will merge with the garden and turn into a small living landscape."

The photography is by Alex Shoots Buildings.

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Project credits:

Studio: Martin Neruda Architektura
Architect: Martin Neruda
Collaborators: Petr Hanzal and Vít Formánek
Structural engineer: Tomáš Novotný
Construction company: Stavitelství Drážka
Garden: Jan Kocourek
Woodworks: Zdeněk Škvára
Floor: FLODE
Lights: Uni Light
Manufacturers: TON, M&T

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"Paris is green with envy" at London's sustainable policies says Sadiq Khan

Paris is "jealous" of London's cycle lanes and is copying London's green initiatives, according to London mayor Sadiq Khan.

Khan, who has been mayor of London since 2016, told Dezeen that he is aiming to make London "the greenest city in the world".

According to Khan, London's Ultra Low Emission Zone, tree-planting initiatives and cycle lanes are "the envy of the world".

Other cities "embracing" London's policies

He believes that other cities, including Paris, where mayor Anne Hidalgo has been making headlines with a raft of sustainable initiatives, are copying his policies.

"It's great to see Anne embracing some of our policies," he told Dezeen. "Anne's doing it on a much smaller scale, which is understandable. We are doing it on a much bigger scale."

"So we're doing lots of things rather than one or two excellent things that Anne's doing," he continued.

"We have the world's first Ultra Low Emission Zone and we're speaking to other cities across the globe, including Paris, about how we did it," Khan said, referring to an area in central London where vehicles with high emissions are charged a daily fee.

In October, the zone is set to be expanded to cover around four million homes.

Hidalgo, who has been mayor of Paris since 2014, has recently announced plans to convert the iconic Champs-Élysées avenue into a pedestrian-friendly public space and plant "urban forests" in four of the city's squares.

"I know Paris is jealous of our safe cycling"

Khan, who spoke to Dezeen at the opening of a brightly coloured zebra crossing designed by Yinka Ilori installed as part of a drive to attract people back into central London, explained that he is implementing a raft of green initiatives in London alongside the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone.

"Put aside for a second the world's first Ultra Low Emission Zone," he said. "We've increased safe cycling fivefold, going from 50 kilometres to now more than 250 kilometres. I know Paris is jealous of our safe cycling."

Sadiq Khan (left and above) recently opened a colourful zebra crossing designed by Yinka Ilori (right)

"We've also managed to make active travel a big part of our policies in relation to walking as well as cycling," he continued. "We have more electric buses than any city in western Europe, including Paris, more rapid charging points than any city in western Europe and more charging points – more than 7,000."

"At the same time, we've planted almost 400,000 trees," he added. "Paris is green with envy."

"I want the city to be the greenest city in the world"

Last year, Hidalgo announced plans to plant 170,000 trees in Paris while by December 2020, London had 300 electric buses and Paris had 259. Both lagged behind Moscow, with 500 electric buses.

In terms of tree planting, Milan eclipses both cities with its Forestami initiative to plant three million trees.

Hidalgo, who is the first female mayor of Paris, introduced a Low Emission Zone in 2015 and is aiming to ban all diesel vehicles from the city from 2024 and petrol vehicles from 2030.

Earlier this month, Hidalgo announced that she will run for the French presidency. Khan was re-elected to a second term as London mayor earlier this year.

"I'm thinking long-term," he said. "One of the challenges we have as politicians is we have a four-year cycle and we like to point to stuff within those two, three, four years that we've delivered. I'm in this for the long term. I want the city to be the greenest city in the world."

"I'm quite clear that we face a climate emergency"

Khan set out his plans to make London a zero-carbon city by 2030 in the London Environment Strategy in 2018, the same year that London declared a climate emergency.

"My initial plans were to get to zero carbon by 2050," he said. "I'm quite clear that we face a climate emergency. So we've adjusted our plans to get to zero carbon by 2030."

As part of this plan, the mayor's office created its 1.5C Compatible Climate Action Plan, which was independently assessed by C40 Cities – a network of international cities that are aiming to address climate change.

"So the 1.5 degrees plan is my piece of work, but I asked others to mark my homework," he said.

"So C40 Cities, which is a global network of cities across the globe, almost 100 cities, they looked at my 1.5 degrees plan and I was the first global city to get their sign off."

C40 Cities is overseeing the Reinventing Cities competition, which will see developments that strive for net-zero carbon built in cities around the world including Paris but not London.

Khan became mayor in 2016 after now prime minister Boris Johnson left the role to become a member of parliament. While mayor, Johnson oversaw the 2012 Olympic Games and was responsible for introducing a public bicycle system and new London buses designed by Thomas Heatherwick.

He also pushed to build a pedestrian Garden Bridge over the Thames, which was also designed by Heatherwick. Soon after becoming mayor, Khan pulled the plug on the bridge, which had become controversial due to cost overruns.

"We are a city that has a responsibility to be a world leader," said Khan. "I'm hoping people in London realise the progress we've made. We are the envy of the world."

Photography courtesy of Sadiq Khan.

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MVRDV slots red-walled courtyard into irregularly shaped French housing

Architecture studio MVRDV has completed the Ilot Queyries housing development in Bordeaux, France, which folds around a large red courtyard.

Located to the east of the River Garonne, Ilot Queyries comprises a mix of social and private housing alongside commercial units and a rooftop restaurant.

Above: MVRDV has completed Ilot Queyries in Bordeaux. Top image: a giant red courtyard sits at its centre

It was designed by MVRDV with local architects Flint with a focus on the provision of outdoor spaces, meaning each apartment has a balcony and access to the central courtyard.

The courtyard, which is positioned one storey above ground, is filled with trees and is also used to disguise the residents' parking, which is positioned below it.

The scheme comprises a mix of social and private housing

"The Covid-19 pandemic showed everyone how valuable outdoor spaces close to their homes can be, and I hope Ilot Queyries can show that such amenities don’t require compromise," said MVRDV founder Winy Maas.

"Every apartment is provided a balcony or loggia, while the green park space becomes a wonderful community amenity."

The red courtyard is revealed through large openings around its edge

Ilot Queyrie is the largest building in a wider masterplan of four buildings that MVRDV has developed in collaboration with Joubert Architecture.

It has also been used as a testbed for MVRDV's housing within Bastide-Niel, another neighbourhood nearby for which it is also overseeing the masterplan.

Once complete, Bastide-Niel will see 35 hectares of former barracks and railyards in the city transformed into a mix of irregularly shaped housing, public and cultural facilities similar to Ilot Queyrie.

The courtyard is planted with a mix of trees and grasses

"This project served as preparation for the grander plan of the Bastide Niel development," added Maas.

"With this project we were able to test some of our ideas, which resulted in a masterplan with more greenery in the streets, better cost optimisation for facades, and more open courtyards."

The exterior of the housing features cream-coloured cladding

Ilot Queyries is animated by its irregular layout and roofscape, which has been carefully arranged by the studio to maximise natural ventilation and light throughout the site.

The slopes of the roofs vary between 14 degrees and 45 degrees, depending on their relation to the sun.

The walls of the courtyard are lined with red stucco

The irregular forms of the housing also respond to the surroundings. For example, the south-eastern edge of the complex lowers in height to mirror the low-rises buildings next door.

In contrast, the northeast side of the development that overlooks the river reaches nine storeys in height to provide uninterrupted views of the water and the historic city centre beyond it. At the highest point, MVRDV has positioned the restaurant, which is enclosed by glass walls.

Read:

MVRDV's "mountainous" Future Towers provides low-cost accommodation in India

According to MVRDV, the irregular layout and roofscape of Ilot Queyries gave rise to "complex and interesting interior spaces".

This helped the studio to develop a wide range of apartments, catering to the needs of a variety of future residents.

Every apartment has a balcony

While the height and layout of the building vary on each side, its street-facing facades are all unified by a cream-coloured cladding that complements its surroundings.

In contrast, the courtyard-facing walls are finished in textured plaster with a bright red finish.

The restaurant is enclosed by glass at the highest point of the building

Red plaster was chosen to help enliven the courtyard area, in tandem with the 83 alder and birch trees and mix of grasses, chosen with landscape architect Sabine Haristoy.

MVRDV was founded by Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries in 1991. It is based in Rotterdam. Other housing projects by the studio include an enormous apartment building in the Indian city of Pune, which features a series of connected blocks with sloping roofs, and a proposal for a residential tower complex in Eindhoven, featuring plant-covered roofs.

The studio also recently hit the headlines for its design of Marble Arch Mound, an artificial hill built alongside London's Marble Arch. The installation was greeted by criticism after it opened before it was ready.

The photography is by Ossip van Duivenbode courtesy of MVRDV.

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Project credits:

Architect: MVRDV
Founding partner in charge: Winy Maas
Partner: Bertrand Schippan, Jeroen Zuidgeest
Design team: Nils Christa, Marie Saladin, Thomas Boerendonk, Roxana Aaron, Marco Gazzola, Adam Mierzwa, Florian Hoanen and Antoine Ceunebroucke
Client: Kaufman & Broad, ADIM
Co- architects: Flint
Landscape design: Sabine Haristoy

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Maximus easy chair by Johan Ansander for Blå Station

Dezeen Showroom: recent graduate Johan Ansander has designed Maximus, a lounge chair for Blå Station with the soft, bulbous forms of a cushioned seat but made entirely from wood.

The Maximus easy chair is carved from solid ash wood using CNC routers. Its seat, back and legs are made as separate pieces although their joins are hardly visible, giving the chair a continuous form.

Maximus is an all-wood armchair available with a clear or coloured lacquer finish

Blå Station describes Maximus as a "playful departure" from rational furniture styles.

The brand approached Ansander after his graduation show at the Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm, where he exhibited the chair as part of his master's degree project.

The chair's rounded forms are CNC machined

Ansander worked with a small sawmill just outside of Stockholm to realise the project, combining traditional craftsmanship with modern technologies.

"I have been inspired by theories claiming that we in the future, must find alternatives to global mass production and instead locally manufacture our everyday objects," Ansander said.

Maximus is available with both clear and coloured lacquer finishes.

Product: Maximus
Designer: Johan Ansander
Brand: Blå Station
Contact: info@blastation.se

About Dezeen Showroom: Dezeen Showroom offers an affordable space for brands to launch new products and showcase their designers and projects to Dezeen's huge global audience. For more details email showroom@dezeen.com.

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Watch a live talk on the creative process with Benjamin Hubert and Andreu World

Dezeen has teamed up with Andreu World for a live talk with British industrial designer Benjamin Hubert, who features in a new book by the Spanish furniture brand about how designers work. Watch live from 3:00pm London time.

The talk coincides with the launch of Conversations About Work, a new book by Andreu World that takes an inside look at the working practices of eight renowned designers, including Hubert, Patricia Urquiola and Philippe Starck.

Hubert, who founded London-based design studio Layer, will appear on the panel alongside Andreu World's CEO Jesús Llinares.

The pair will speak to Dezeen's founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs about the creative process and what it means to different designers.

The talk will also explore how Hubert approached his previous designs for Andreu World, including a bar stool collection named Hula and an upcoming collection called Triada.

Industrial designer Benjamin Hubert

Hubert is a British industrial designer and entrepreneur. He established an eponymous design studio in London in 2011, which he renamed Layer four years later. The studio has worked on projects with brands such as Bang & Olufsen, Airbus, Panasonic and Moroso, and start-up Nolii.

Previous projects by the practice include an electrical scooter that learns your regular routes through AI, and an anti-bacterial cinema seat designed for social distancing.

Layer has worked with clients including Nike, Pepsi, Herman Miller and Braun. Hubert also takes on not-for-profit projects like cancer charity Maggie's, and acts as a mentor to young designers through Layer.

Jesús Llinares, CEO of Andreu World

Prior to becoming Andreu World's CEO in 2011, Llinares joined the brand in 2001 as an assistant to the brand's general management, before becoming its general director in 2002.

Andreu World was founded in 1955 in Valencia, Spain. The company produces furniture designs for public spaces, hospitality, and work environments, as well as for the home.

Whilst under Llinares' direction the company was awarded the National Design Award in 2007. Andreu World has showrooms across Spain, Europe, North America and Asia, and its furniture is stocked by shops in more than 90 countries.

Partnership content

This talk was produced by Dezeen for Andreu World as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen's partnership content here.

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