Glass and steel form rooftop Cascada House apartment in Mexico City

Architects Ana Nuño de Buen and Luis Young have used a green metallic frame to form the structure of an airy apartment built atop an existing building in Mexico City.

The Cascada House was designed by Mexican architects Nuño de Buen and Young to provide a standalone unit atop a concrete building from the 1950s. It is located in the Pedregal de San Ángel neighbourhood, a sought-after area in the south of the city.

Cascada House is topped with two sloping roofs

The apartment encompasses 140 square metres, and connects to the existing home below via an open stairwell.

Its profile is defined by two roof slopes, which drain towards a central gutter running along the main axis of the addition. These rooflines open up the interior spaces to views of the surrounding treetops.

Exposed green steel beams run throughout the apartment

Nuño de Buen and Young placed the small home's services at the lowest point of the roofline, to allow for taller and brighter living areas at the front and back of the property.

"The structure itself defines the architectural program," said the architects.

Kitchen cabinetry matches the structural colour scheme

On one side is an open-concept living and dining room, with a small kitchenette. This opens to a generous patio via sliding glass doors.

"Through large glass panels that open widely, the house integrates with the ambient vegetation, dissolving the boundary between interior and exterior," they explained.

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On the other side, the living room extends to form a secondary seating area. This space is set up with a desk and a pair of armchairs, and can be used as an office or for meetings.

The unit's sole bedroom is accessible via a discreet corridor, and is separated from the lounge by two bathrooms built back-to-back. One of these is private to the bedroom, while the other is accessible from the living area.

An open-plan dining area connects to a patio via sliding glass

A simple palette of materials run throughout the extension, primarily featuring the home's distinctive green colour.

It is used for the steel structure, which is left exposed, and for cabinets, railings, and window frames.

The apartment was built on top of an existing concrete building

Wide-plank wooden floors are used across the interiors, and the furniture is by Taller Nacional, a design agency in Mexico City.

Ana Nuño de Buen and Luis Young met at Mexico City's Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) architecture school, and have been collaborating professionally since 2017.

Other projects in Mexico City include an apartment renovation in the renowned CUPA tower by local firm Escobedo Soliz, and a courtyard block with a "secret garden" at its centre, by CPDA Arquitectos.

The photography is by Luis Young.

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Project credits:

Contractor: Ricardo Villa
Structural engineering: CAFEL Ingeniería
Furniture: Taller Nacional

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Educan is a multicoloured school "for dogs, humans and other species"

Dogs aren't the only animals to get special treatment in this colourful canine training centre near Madrid, which also includes homes for birds and bats.

Educan is a building designed by two Spanish architects, Eeestudio founder Enrique Espinosa and Lys Villalba, with biodiversity in mind.

Educan is a training centre for dogs and dog trainers

The building is referred to as "a school for dogs, humans and other species".

It primarily offers training for both dogs and dog trainers, but also accommodates various "companion species" that support the natural ecosystem of the local area.

Small birds and bats feed on insects such as mosquitoes, which can carry canine diseases, while also contributing to local pollination cycles. Meanwhile birds of prey help to keep rodent populations under control.

The building also includes habitats for bird and bats, to help boost local biodiversity

Villalba said the aim was to create a building that helps nature to thrive.

"Sitting amongst fields, in a rural environment transformed over recent decades by urban development and intensive pesticide-reliant agriculture, Educan is trialling ways to recover the conditions of the ecosystem," she said.

The building includes training areas, a classroom and a reception area

Constructed from extra-large shipping containers, the 300-square-metre Educan has warehouse-like proportions.

Organised over one storey, it is divided up into three spaces that include a training area that can be easily subdivided, a classroom and a reception area containing a kitchen and toilet facilities.

The building is constructed from reused shipping containers

The clients, Eva Alda Cano and Marcos González, share the building with two German Shepherds, Bicho and Bomba. It is currently also occupied by 20 sparrows, six kestrel families, five swift families and a barn owl named Harris.

The building's design offers facilities for all of these different users.

Sliding glass doors allows the facade to open, while rolling louvres offer shade

The flooring is a concrete aggregate that incorporates river pebbles, to make it better suitable for dog paws, while rolls of synthetic turf can be laid down in the training rooms.

Pyramid foam insulation creates a layer of soundproofing against loud barks, while windows are positioned at heights that suit both dogs and trainers.

Nesting areas for bird and bats are integrated into the building

"The average eye height drops from over a metre and a half, to just half a metre," said Villalba.

"Interior openings are raised to heights of more than one metre to avoid doggy distractions, while louvred window shutters shade the south facade, leaving enough space below for dog traffic to the outside," she said.

Rainwater is diverted into troughs for the animals

High ceilings create plenty of perches for the building's bird residents, and each species also has its own dedicated nesting area.

Nests for bats are located in a more surprising location.

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They are located within the six chunky letters that spell out Educan on the building's facade.

The building also integrates rainwater harvesting, providing water-filled troughs for the use of all animal species.

The building is coloured in vibrant shades of red, yellow, blue and mint green

Educan is brought to life by a vibrant colour palette that includes shades of red, yellow, blue and mint green.

These colours help to bring homogeneity to a highly textured palette of industrial materials, which includes corrugated metal, steel beams, exposed service ducts and pyramid-shaped foam insulation.

Custom made plywood furniture provides seating for the classroom

Bespoke details riff on these elements, for instance, the wiggle-edge plywood seating and the large circular windows.

"Educan is an experiment that demonstrates how agricultural architecture can also be a place of exploration and architectural innovation," added Villalba.

Other recent buildings designed with dogs in mind include the Canine and Feline Hotel in Portugal and the Ohio office of dog toy brand and treats brand Bark.

The photography is by Javier de Paz García and José Hevia, as indicated.

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Project credits

Architects: Enrique Espinosa (Eeestudio), Lys Villalba.
Client: Adiestramiento Educan
Construction company: Servicios Integrales Alji / Construcciones Metálicas Miguel Torrejón
Building engineer: Javier Reñones Marín
Structural engineer: Mecanismo
Building services engineer: Alberto Espinosa
Technical consultant: Jorge López Hidalgo
Collaborators: Maria Paola Marciano, Irene Domínguez

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Es Devlin awarded CBE in Queen's New Years honours

Designer Es Devlin has been recognised for services to design in the 2022 New Year Honours list, which also gave awards to AKT II co-founder Hanif Kara and architects Selasi Awo Setufe and Andrew David Whalley, chairman of Grimshaw Architects.

Devlin was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the New Years Honours list, which "mark the achievements and service of extraordinary people across the UK." The award is the highest-ranking Order of the British Empire award.

Es Devlin's Forest for Change installation is a tree-filled courtyard. Photography is by Ed Reeve

The artist and stage designer is known for her installations, which have recently included a labyrinth installation unveiled during Miami art week to celebrate 100 years of Chanel No. 5.

She often works with nature and created an indoor forest, Conference of the Trees, as a venue for the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow. Last year, Devlin filled the courtyard of London Design Biennale venue Somerset House with trees for her Forest for Change installation. She was also the biennale's artistic director.

Devlin designed the cone-shaped UK Pavilion for Dubai Expo 2020. Photography is by Ry Galloway and Alin Constantin, courtesy of Es Devlin

The designer also created the UK pavilion for the Dubai Expo 2020. Her cone-shaped cross-laminated timber pavilion was designed to represent "culturally diverse Britain" and features a circular facade made from protruding timber slabs.

An AI creates poems based on words submitted by visitors, which are written in LED lights on the pavilion's facade.

In 2015, Devlin was given an Office of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), the second-highest ranking of the biannual awards. She was awarded the London Design Medal in 2017.

Hanif Kara is co-founder of civil engineering firm AKT II

Also awarded on the New Years Honours list was structural engineer Kara, the co-founder of structural and civil engineering firm AKT II. Kara, who was one of the judges for the Dezeen Awards 2021, was given an OBE for services to architecture, engineering and education.

Setufe, the co-founder of Black Females in Architecture, a network elevating the visibility of Black females in the architecture industry, was awarded a Member of the Orders of the British Empire (MBE) for services to diversity in architecture.

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Whalley, who has been the chairman of Grimshaw Architects since 2019, was given an OBE for services to architecture and to environmental sustainability. Like Devlin, Grimshaw contributed to the Dubai Expo 2020, with the studio creating the Sustainability Pavilion, topped with a giant "energy tree", for the expo.

The New Year Honours are awarded by Queen Elizabeth II every December as part of the British honours system, which also includes the Birthday Honours given out on the regent's birthday.

In last year's New Year Honour list, architect David Chipperfield was named one of only 65 members of the elite Order of the Companions of Honour, while designers Yinka Ilori and Ilse Crawford were rewarded for their services to the design industry.

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Cubitts eyewear store in Leeds taps into seminal design movements throughout history

London design practice Child Studio has combined Victorian-style joinery with modernist and art deco touches inside the Cubitts eyewear store in Leeds.

Cubitts occupies a corner unit of the city's County Arcade shopping mall, which was constructed in 1898 and retains an array of original detailing from pink marble columns to mosaic ceilings.

Cubitts' Leeds store is set inside a 19th-century shopping arcade

Child Studio was brought on board to design the eyewear store's interior with the aim of honouring the arcade's Victorian origins while stirring up nostalgia for later design periods.

"New interiors within historic structures often fall into a pastiche or offer a sterile minimalist look that doesn't attempt to engage with the context," explained Che Huang and Alexy Kos who co-founded Child Studio.

The arcade still has a number of original details such as marble columns

"We wanted to take a more subtle approach and build a layered narrative that would acknowledge different chapters in the building's history," the duo added.

"We tried to imagine how the space could have evolved organically over time, fusing the Victorian cabinetry features with the art deco elements and modernist references."

Victorian-style display cabinets line the store's walls

The store is fringed with three-metre-high cabinets featuring brown-lacquered bordering and different eyewear models displayed on backlit shelves.

A 1930s bakelite clock produced by British company Genalex, which used to supply timepieces to factories and schools, has been placed on top of the cabinets.

Vintage furnishings have been placed at the centre of the store

At the centre of the room is a bespoke service counter. Based on the writing desks popularised by British designer Robin Day in the mid-20th century, it features a black glass tabletop with steel legs nestled over a cherry-wood storage cupboard.

Next to the counter sits a black leather edition of the Monk chair by Italian design duo Afra and Tobia Scarpa, which was originally created in the 1970s.

A domed lamp by Irish modernist Eileen Gray sits perched on top of the counter.

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Glossy chestnut-coloured paint covers the store's ceiling, while tiles in beige, terracotta and umber have been arranged in a geometric pattern across the floor.

Child Studio said it incorporated the tiles to pay tribute to the tin-glazed ceramic detailing that once featured inside the County Arcade.

Tiles form a geometric pattern on the floor

The entire interior is visible through Cubitts' ornate mahogany shopfront, which is inset with expansive windows.

Just above the lintel, the eyewear brand's logo is rendered in gilded glass using a traditional technique known as verre églomisé, in which gold leaf is applied to the rear face of glass to leave a mirrored finish.

Glasses are displayed on backlit shelves

This is not the first retail space that Child Studio has designed for Cubitts.

The studio was also responsible for the eyewear brand's branch in Soho, London, which features cheeky neon signage and a deep-red basement in reference to the sex clubs and adult cinemas that once populated the neighbourhood.

The photography is courtesy of Child Studio and Felix Speller.

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Trace Architecture Office designs theatre complex in China as a "stage for the city"

Chinese studio Trace Architecture Office has completed the Aranya Theatre complex at the seaside resort of Aranya in Hebei Province, with a stone amphitheatre for outdoor performances.

Instead of designing a single block filling the seafront site, the Beijing-based practice split the complex into three distinctive spaces – the outdoor Dionysus Theatre, the 500-seat A Theatre and the 300-seat Fengchuao Theatre – with public spaces in-between.

Trace Architecture Office has built an outdoor amphitheatre and two indoor theatres

"By breaking up an excessively large volume into three smaller units, the building integrates into the urban setting without being too obtrusive in scale," explained the studio.

"The Aranya Theatre itself is a stage for the city, and the events in the theatre reflect Aranya's urban public life," it continued.

The Dionysus Theatre is a stone-clad outdoor amphitheatre

Each theatre space has been designed to have its own distinctive visual appearance and to meet a range of different uses, with the three buildings connected by a paved plaza.

The Fengchuao Theatre is a black box theatre designed for professional dramatic performances and is appropriately housed in a low, black metal-clad box in the centre of the site.

The studio wanted to incorporate Hebei city life into the structure

The adjacent A Theatre is a slightly larger space designed for a more flexible range of uses such as conferences and exhibitions, clad with a pattern of pale stone panels that vary in size.

A low lobby structure connects the Fengchuao Theatre to the A Theatre, built using a frame of triangular girders allowing for a column-free space that creates a sense of visual continuity between the two.

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Looking to maximise the sense of connection between the theatre spaces and the city itself, doors lead directly from the small lobby into the performance spaces, encouraging visitors to spill out and gather on the surrounding plaza during intervals.

Positioned at a street corner to the south of the site is the Dionysus Theatre, a stone-clad external amphitheatre looking towards the sea that doubles as an informal gathering space when not in use for performances.

Actors and the general public can look out onto the sea from the building

"With the functions of performance, party, relaxation and sea viewing, the Dionysus Theatre acts as a socially cohesive area of the town," said Trace Architecture Office (TAO).

"The concept was to open up the theatre, where the stage takes the sea and the city as a background. The stage set is juxtaposed with the real scene of city life, creating a unique seaside theatre," it continued.

The black box theatre is designed for professional performances

Contrasting the openness of this amphitheatre is a "cave-like" cafe tucked underneath its semicircular form, with windows facing out towards the Fengchuao Theatre.

Other theatre projects recently completed in China include the Sunac Guangzhou Grand Theatre by Steven Chilton Architects, with a twisting red form informed by the city's historic connection to silk.

TAO's previous projects include a bookshop in an abandoned house in rural China and a visitor centre in a wetland park.

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