Cork-clad concrete canopies cover large outdoor gathering spaces at a primary school on the outskirts of Leiria, Portugal, designed by local practice Contaminar Arquitetos.
Casa da Árvore or Tree House was designed to foster a close connection to the outdoors and a nearby pine forest, with classrooms opening onto a central courtyard surrounded by a series of covered patios.
The Casa da Árvore school (above) is finished in cork and concrete (top image)
"The idea of connecting classrooms to outside space was the starting point for the development of this project," said Contaminar Arquitectos.
"This premise, coupled with large windows, allowed us to create classrooms where the interior space appears as an extension of the exterior, thus creating a strong connection with nature."
Large windows connect the classrooms to the outside
To the surrounding streets and roads the school presents simple, austere elevations. A base layer of concrete and flat roof sections are clad in cork tiles, laid to create a rhythm of thin gaps between the panels across the exterior.
The school's entrance, with bespoke wooden door-pulls, leads up a low ramp directly into the central courtyard space, revealing views into the interiors through large sliding glass doors as well as back out of the site through a black metal fence.
The central courtyard is surrounded by covered patios
The simple plan sees two large classroom spaces arranged to the north and east of this courtyard, separated by an office and facilities block in the building's corner.
Inside the courtyard, the use of cork panels as cladding for the building's upper sections continues, extending around to cover the ceilings of the external canopies, which also feature light fittings.
Concrete pillars are surrounded by concrete-block seating areas, conceived as the "tree-trunks" supporting the cork canopy, while the centre of the courtyard is covered in grass and is planted with a tree.
"The [cork] was crafted like pieces of a puzzle, creating a rhythm on the facade that allows for different appropriations and movements," said the practice.
"The use of natural cork as a cladding material in the eaves connects us with nature...the concrete of the walls almost alluding to the roots of the trees, where you can see the inert materials that make up and support the structure."
The school's simple elevations are topped with flat roof sections clad in cork tiles
The classroom interiors have been left open and flexible to allow for a range of layouts and connections to the exterior. Sections of wall and a run of large timber slats create privacy from the outside.
The brick scheme was given the award, which is presented to the best new affordable housing scheme in the UK by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), at a ceremony last week.
McGrath Road has won this year's Neave Brown Award for Housing
"Intelligent, dynamic and original – this unique configuration of housing has the McGrath Road community at its heart," said Simon Allford, president of RIBA.
"It's an exemplar of high-quality social housing within one of London's most densely populated boroughs and demonstrates what can – and must – be achieved across the country."
The housing has distinctive recessed arches
The social housing estate, built for the London Borough of Newham, is made up of 26 townhouses fronted with distinctive recessed arches and arranged around a central courtyard.
Every home is three or four storeys tall and has a balcony, a private terrace and a living room on the top floor with views across London, while all are for social rent, affordable rent or shared ownership.
It is Peter Barber Architects latest London housing scheme
The block contains social rent, affordable rent or shared ownership flats
The award is named after the late Neave Brown, an architect known for pioneering modernist social housing estates such as Alexandra Road in Camden, north London.
Brown famously rejected the trend for high-rise residential buildings in the 1960s and '70s in favour of street-based estates with an emphasis on community spaces.
Allford said McGrath Road would have been "championed by the late, great Neave Brown".
David Mikhail, chair of the Neave Brown Award for Housing jury, said the McGrath Road scheme "demonstrates how imaginative street-based architecture can be socially progressive and architecturally engaging – a combination that endears Peter Barber Architects' work to so many people".
Mikhail is the co-founder of London-based architectural studio Mikhail Riches won the first Neave Brown Award for Housing in 2019 for its highly-decorated Goldsmith Street in Norwich, which also took that year's RIBA Stirling Prize.
Pooja Agrawal, co-founder and CEO of social enterprise Public Practice, and Neave Brown family representative Mark Swenarton joined Mikhail on the award jury.
The housing is arranged around a central courtyard
To be considered for the Neave Brown Award for Housing projects must be made up of 10 or more homes and have been completed must have won a RIBA Regional Award. At least one third of the housing must be at affordable tenures.
Dezeen has teamed up with architecture and design firm Lemay to host a live talk exploring Canadian design. Watch live from 4pm London time on 20 October.
The talk will discuss the different elements that make up Canadian design identity and aesthetics, touching on themes such as the importance of nature, community engagement, and placemaking.
The speakers will also discuss the role of indigenous design practices in shaping contemporary Canadian design.
The talk will be moderated by Dezeen's founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs and will aim to answer the question "what is Canadian Design?"
Joining the panel is Leslie Jen, a fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada
Jen currently acts as the director of marketing at Toronto-based architecture firm Superkül. She previously worked as the associate editor of Canadian Architect magazine for over 11 years, in which she contributed work on architecture and urbanism in Canada.
Jen is a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and also sits on the Board of Directors of the DesignTO Festival. In her recently released book titled Canadian Architecture: Evolving a Cultural Identity, Jen analysed 33 Canadian architecture practices and their work.
Also joining the talk is architect and associate professor at the McEwen School of Architecture, David Fortin
Fortin is a professional architect and associate professor at the McEwen School of Architecture. Fortin has taught architectural design history and theory in the UK, USA and Canada.
A citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario, Fortin was the first indigenous person to direct a school of architecture in Canada. Fortin also works to foster and promote indigenous Canadian design through various programmes, with roles including inaugural associate director of the Maamwizing Indigenous Research Institute and member of the RAIC Indigenous Task Force.
Fortin also acted as co-curator for UNCEDED: Voices of the Land, a collective of indigenous architects who represented Canada at the 2018 Venice Biennale.
Lemay's chief design officer Andrew King will also be joining the panel
King is chief design officer at Lemay. He also acts as the leader of fieldwork for Lemay's in-house design and innovation lab.
King is the professor in practice at McGill School of Architecture, where he works with art and architecture methodologies. During his time at Lemay, King has led the conceptual design for projects including the Place des Montréalaises, Oratoire St. Joseph, and the York University Student Centre.
He has won numerous awards for his work, including the Canada Council for the Arts Prix de Rome, four Canadian Architect Awards of Excellence and two AIA Progressive Architecture (P/A) Awards of Excellence.
Partnership content
This talk was produced by Dezeen for Lemay as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen's partnership content here.
Projects by Marjan Van Aubel Studio, The New Raw and 10 other studios have been chosen by Dezeen readers as winners of the Dezeen Awards 2021 public vote in the design categories.
Other winners include Aether Eyewear for its audio eyewear collection and Asif Khan for its towering entry portals for the Dubai 2020 expo.
A total of 53,400 votes were cast and verified across all categories. The results of the public votes for the Dezeen Awards 2021 design categories are listed below.
Dezeen Awards 2021 public vote winners in the architecture categories were announced on Monday, the interiors winners were announced yesterday, the sustainability and media winners will be revealed tomorrow, followed by the studio winners on Friday.
Dezeen Awards winners announced in November
The public vote is separate from the main Dezeen Awards 2021 judging process, in which entries are assessed by our star-studded panel of judges. We'll be announcing the Dezeen Awards 2021 winners online in late November.
To receive regular updates about Dezeen Awards, including details of how to enter next year, subscribe to our newsletter.
Below are the public vote results for the design categories:
Soda by Yiannis Ghikas for Miniforms has won furniture design of the year in the Dezeen Awards 2021 public vote
Furniture design
Soda, a project by Yiannis Ghikas for Miniforms, has won furniture design of the year in the public vote with 31 per cent of the votes.
Each table is blown, extruded and shaped by three glassmakers from one volume of glass.
The runners-up include Pegg Furniture with 30 per cent, TT_01 by Poesenvanhiel Architects with 14 per cent, Mod Media Furniture by Noo.ma with 10 per cent, Plint by Cecilie Manz for Takt with nine per cent, and Brise by Wonho with four per cent of votes.
Ermis Chair by The New Raw has won seating design of the year in the Dezeen Awards 2021 public vote
Seating design
The Ermis Chair is a limited series by The New Raw. Each chair is 100 per cent recyclable and is created from third-generation plastic waste from the company's production line.
The project received 44 per cent of the public's votes, making it the winner of the seating design category.
The runners up in this category are Puffy Lounge Chair by Faye Toogood for Hem with 22 per cent, Core and Remnant by Sancal with 20 per cent, Gamar Chair & Stool by Spacon and X with eight per cent, and Evo-C by Jasper Morrison for Vitra with five per cent of the votes.
Sunne by Marjan Van Aubel Studio has won lighting design of the year in the Dezeen Awards 2021 public vote
Lighting design
Sunne is a self-powered light that harvests and stores solar energy during the day and releases it at night in a way that imitates natural sunlight.
This lighting design project by Marjan Van Aubel studio is the public vote winner in its category, receiving 19 per cent of votes.
Close behind in the running are OBJ-01 by Manu Bãnó, Dune by LZF Lamps and Alis by Potemine with 18 per cent, Daylight by Dean Norton with 15 per cent, and Origine by Davide Groppi with 12 per cent of votes.
Maggie’s Leeds by Light Bureau has won architectural lighting design of the year in the Dezeen Awards 2021 public vote
Architectural lighting design
Light Bureau’s design for Maggie’s Leeds aims to evoke a sense of calm by providing a visual connection between the interior and surrounding landscape through lighting.
This winning project received 34 per cent in the public vote.
CArrelé by Nature Squared has won homeware design of the year in the Dezeen Awards 2021 public vote
Homeware design
A collection of wall tiles made from recycled eggshells has won homeware design of the year in the public vote. CArrelé by Nature Squared received 31 per cent of votes.
Modus by Bunkholdt&Kirkestuen has won workplace design of the year in the Dezeen Awards 2021 public vote
Workplace design
Modus by Bunkholdt&Kirkestuen is the winner in the workplace design category this year with 30 per cent of votes. It’s a modular tabletop system that aims to induce interaction through shape and texture while adding a fun element to office spaces.
Aether Audio Eyewear by Aether Eyewear has won wearable design of the year in the Dezeen Awards 2021 public vote
Wearable design
Voted most popular with 38 per cent in the wearable design category this year is the new eyewear collection by Aether. Using Bluetooth and new sound technology, the audio eyewear allows you to listen to music and take calls through your sunglasses.
Forest Crayons by Playfool has won product design of the year in the Dezeen Awards 2021 public vote
Product design
Our readers have chosen Forest Crayons by Playfool to be crowned product design of the year in the public vote. Receiving 33 per cent of votes, the project acts as an incentive to use and appreciate Japan’s vast areas of unmaintained woodland in new unique ways.
The runners-up include My Football Kit by Nendo for Moltern Corporation with 31 per cent, Volta Zero by Astheimer with 18 per cent, The Pickup Truck by Canoo with 14 per cent, and InstaSwab by OPT Industries with four per cent of votes.
The Complete Short Stories: Philip K. Dick by The Folio Society has won graphic design of the year in the Dezeen Awards 2021 public vote
Graphic design
The Complete Short Stories: Philip K. Dick by The Folio Society cleverly combines 24 illustrations by 24 different artists, tied together with a striking colour scheme.
The box set received 24 per cent of votes in the graphic design category, making it a public vote winner.
Faith and Liberty Discovery Center by Local Projects has won exhibition design of the year in the Dezeen Awards 2021 public vote
Exhibition design
The Faith and Liberty Discovery Center combines touch and lighting technology to invite reflection on America’s past and present. Situated in Philadelphia’s Independence Mall, the exhibition design by Local Projects received 36 per cent of votes.
Next up is V&A Fashioned From Nature at the Design Society by Studio 10 with 30 per cent, Backstage by Tinker Imagineerst with 19 per cent, No Show by Youssofzay + Hart with eight per cent, and Re-Source by Lanza Atelier with seven per cent of votes.
Entry Portals by Asif Khan has won exhibition design of the year in the Dezeen Awards 2021 public vote
Installation design
Asif Khan's Entry Portals are three 21-metre-high doorways that welcome visitors into each Dubai Expo 2020 district. Made from modular units of carbon fibre, the balance of material and open space makes the structure appear translucent when viewed from afar.
Entry Portals is the installation design of the year as chosen by the public, with 49 per cent of votes.
Online retailer Amazon has debuted Astro, a robot with smart technology that can monitor a user's home, check in on family members and deliver household items.
Designed to "help with everyday tasks", Amazon's Astro robot can complete a variety of domestic tasks, such as patrolling the home to monitor unusual activity and work with an upcoming Alexa service to help caregivers stay in touch with "aging loved ones".
Top: Astro can deliver phone calls. Above: it can move autonomously around the home
During set-up, users can programme the robot to learn a map of their home. Advanced learning algorithms and sensitive sensors then allow it to move around autonomously and monitor unusual activity.
When the robot is not used, it will "hang out close by at the ready," the company said.
When the owner is not at home, Astro can be used to check in on the home. Using an integrated app, users can remotely send Astro to check specific rooms or people.
Astro monitors the house when users aren't home
"When you're away, use the Astro app to see a live view of your home, check in on specific rooms and viewpoints and get activity alerts," said the brand.
"If you want to see if you left the stove on, or to confirm you have all the ingredients you need for dinner in the pantry while you’re still at the store, you can send Astro to check or use its built-in periscope camera to take a better look," it continued.
Astro uses Intelligent Motion technology to move. This "uses advances in simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) to help Astro understand where it is, and autonomously navigate around dynamic home environments that constantly change," Amazon said.
It can be paired with a new Amazon caregiving service
The 44-centimetre-tall robot can also be trained to recognise family members using a computer vision feature called visual ID. If the robot comes across someone it doesn't recognise, it will send an alert to the owner.
It can also deliver a household item or a call to a specific person once it has learned how to identify them.
Amazon aimed to give the robot a personality to help it interact with users. It communicates with digital eyes on a rotating screen, as well as through body movements and "expressive tones."
Astro can be combined with a new service called Alexa Together
When paired with the upcoming Alexa Together service, Astro will be able to provide remote care for family members.
"When used with Alexa Together, a new service designed to help family members feel more comfortable and confident living independently, family members can set up reminders and receive alerts to give caregivers the reassurance that their loved ones are active and going about their day," Amazon said.
To avoid any accidents, the device features obstacle avoidance technology. A variety of safety sensors mean Astro can detect obstacles, such as stairs, in real-time.
Control features such as active breaks will also help stop the device if a pet or other unexpected motion suddenly moves into its path.
The robot includes all the same features as Alexa
Astro also has all the features of Alexa, Amazon's voice-controlled virtual assistant. Using the same technology, it can deliver calls, messages, timers, alarms or reminders.
"It can find you to deliver reminders, let you know that a timer went off, snap a family photo, and notify you of incoming Alexa calls — with the ability to follow you around your home while you are on the call," the brand explained.
The robot can carry items to family members
Astro will initially be available in limited quantities to customers in the US later this year.
