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Thursday 6 January 2022

Sanjay Puri Architects designs Indian university with accessible stepped green roof

Prestige University by Sanjay Puri Architects

Mumbai studio Sanjay Puri Architects has designed a building for Prestige University in India that will feature a stepped green roof punctuated with courtyards.

Scheduled to be completed in June 2022, the low-rise building will be located within Prestige University's existing 32-acre campus in the Indian city of Indore.

Stepped massing — The university building will have a stepped shape

Designed to blend into its surroundings, the five-storey Prestige University will be a red-brick, stepped building that rises out of the ground and features a series of rooftop courtyards connected by small staircases.

"As opposed to creating an imposing edifice, the building will be gradually stepped up from the approach direction, belying its 20-metre height," architect Sanjay Puri, who founded his eponymous firm in 1992, told Dezeen.

Rooftop courtyards will be reached by small staircases

The building's grass-covered roof will be stepped up from its north side, making its entire surface area an accessible terrace to be enjoyed by students and staff.

As well as small courtyards designed for recreational activities, the terrace will also include different-sized open-air sections that will provide the building's interior with natural ventilation.

Stepped university building cafeteria — A cafeteria will feature on the ground floor

Inside, a diagonal pathway will run across the length of the ground floor, which will also help to open up the building's internal spaces and fill them with fresh air.

"These design elements are planned in response to the city's climate, which varies from 30 to 40 degrees Celsius for eight months of the year," said the architecture firm.

In the interest of easy access, a cafeteria, administration offices and an auditorium will be located on the building's ground floor. The library will be arranged in various areas across the first floor, which will be connected by a bridge that will overlook the diagonal "indoor street" below.

Classrooms will occupy the second floor and be ventilated by the open-air sections above them. On the third floor, visitors will find more tiered classrooms, while administrative facilities will be located on the fourth floor.

Green roof — The building's roof will be designed to blend into its surroundings

According to the studio, Prestige University's design takes its cues from traditional Indian architecture in both its materials and its ability to adapt to the local climate.

"The building will imbibe from traditional Indian architecture to create an energy-efficient, sustainable building with minimal dependence on artificial lighting and air conditioning," explained Puri.

"In addition to housing numerous activities, the building will become a large open public space with an accessible ground floor and landscaped roof."

Open-air roof sections — Various open-air sections will naturally ventilate interior spaces

Based in Mumbai, Sanjay Puri Architects recently also completed the Rajasthan School in India, which was designed with oversized pergolas to cope with the desert climate of its location.

The renderings are courtesy of Sanjay Puri Architects.

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Foster + Partners shelters subterranean art gallery with pyramidal roofscape

Four peaks clad in weathering steel cover the underground galleries at the Datong Art Museum, which British architecture studio Foster + Partners has completed in northern China.

The 32,000-square-metre art museum, which is now open in Datong, is designed by Foster + Partners as an "urban living room" with facilities for both artists and the public.

Pyramidal roof of Datong Art Museum — Top image: Foster + Partners has completed the Datong Art Museum in China. Above: it is distinguished by a pyramidal roofscape

It forms part of a new cultural quarter in the city, where there are three other major buildings designed as a creative hub for the region.

Foster + Partners first revealed the design in 2012, with its completion originally slated for 2013, and again in 2020.

Weathering steel panels on Datong Art Museum roof — The roofscape covers subterranean galleries

"The museum is conceived as a social hub for people – an 'urban living room' for Datong – that brings people, art and artists together in a space where they can interact," explained Luke Fox, head of studio at Foster + Partners.

"Designed for the future, we hope the museum will become the centre of the city's cultural life – a dynamic public destination."

Weathering steel panels — The pyramidal forms are clad in weathering steel

Datong Art Museum is designed a series of four interconnected pyramids that are partly embedded in the ground, intended to evoke rocky peaks emerging upwards.

The pyramids are surrounded by landscaped plazas, which incorporate diagonal paths to the museum's entrance and ramps down to a sunken plaza and amphitheatre.

White gallery inside Datong Art Museum — The interiors are lit by clerestory windows

Foster + Partners chose to embed the museum within the ground to reduce its scale and complement the neighbouring cultural buildings while providing sufficient gallery space.

The form of the pyramidal roofscape, which varies in height, resulted from the building's large structural span that ensures the galleries are flexible and column-free.

White gallery space — Visitors enter the building onto a mezzanine level

The roofscape is clad in weathering-steel plates, which have been arranged in a linear formation to accentuate the shape of the peaks and help drain water.

Between each peak is a clerestory window that draws light inside the subterranean galleries during the day and illuminates the surrounding plaza at night.

According to Foster + Partners, these high-level windows are orientated to the north and northwest to minimise solar gain and create a suitable environment for the artwork inside.

Visitors entering the museum are greeted by a mezzanine level that overlooks the Grand Gallery – a 37-metre-high space with a span of 80 metres. This forms the heart of the museum and is used for large-scale artworks, performance art and events.

Surrounding this the Grand Gallery is a series of smaller climate-controlled exhibition spaces, alongside a media library, archive, storage spaces and a cafe and restaurant.

There is also a dedicated gallery and education centre for children, which is lined with tall south-facing windows to maximise sunlight.

Foster + Partners, the studio founded in 1967 by Norman Foster, also recently completed the Narbo Via museum in southern France that is lined by coloured concrete walls.

Other contemporary museums with underground galleries include Amos Rex by JKMM Architects in Helsinki and the Danish National Maritime Museum by BIG in Helsingør.

The photography is by Yang Chaoying.

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BMW's iX Flow concept car can change colour "at the touch of a button"

BMW iX Flow colour-changing concept car is half black and half white

Car brand BMW has unveiled an updated version of its electric iX SUV at the Consumer Electronics Show that can change colour from black to white in order to suit the driver's mood and conserve electricity.

Dubbed iX Flow, the concept car is wrapped in a kind of "digital paper" that is also used to form the screen of the Kindle e-reader.

This can change colour in one fluid motion when prompted by an electrical impulse, making it possible for the driver to match their car to their personal style or the weather.

White version of BMW's colour-changing concept car at CES — The BMW iX Flow concept was presented at CES

"Similar to fashion or the status ads on social media channels, the vehicle then becomes an expression of different moods and circumstances in daily life," said Stella Clarke, who headed up the iX Flow project at BMW.

Turning the car reflective white on sunny days and heat-absorbing black in the cold could also help to cut the electric vehicle's energy consumption, thereby increasing its range.

Half-black, half-white version of BMW iX Flow car — The car's exterior can change colour from white to black

The iX Flow was presented at CES as part of a digital programme live-streamed from Germany and, according to BMW, is "the first car in the world whose exterior colour can be changed at the touch of a button".

The digital paper used to wrap the car was originally developed by students of MIT's Media Lab and functions with the help of traditional ink pigments used in the printing industry.

Black version of colour-changing concept car at CES — The colour can be changed to black on cold days to absorb heat

Each sheet contains millions of microcapsules, about as wide as a human hair, filled with negatively-charged white pigments and positively-charged black pigments.

Stimulating these capsules with electricity will prompt the chosen colour ink to move to the surface of the capsule, becoming visible from the outside.

Unlike traditional screens, the digital paper does not emit light and only uses power to change colour, not to maintain it.

To mould the plastic sheet to the contours of the vehicle, BMW developed a triangle mesh pattern using a generative algorithm, which was laster-cut into precise segments.

After being fixed to a layer of circuitry, the entire bodywrap was warmed and sealed to create a seamless finish.

Close-up of digital paper by E Ink on hoot of BMW car — Digital paper is laser-cut into a triangle mesh and wrapped around the car

Although BMW has not yet announced plans to integrate the technology into its actual fleet, the carmaker is currently working on adapting it for different parts of the car, including the interior.

Future applications could include a colour-changing dashboard that won't overheat and a flashing exterior that can help the driver find their car.

Half-black, half-white BMW iX Flow concept car — The car needs no electricity to hold its colour

A number of other carmakers have developed concepts for vehicles that can change their hue or shape, but for now these they exist only as renders.

The Vision Next 100 concept by MINI has a colour-changing roof while the body of Renault's Morphoz can be expanded for long-distance travel or compacted to fit into small parking spots.

The Consumer Electronics Show is taking place in person in Las Vegas for the first time since the start of the pandemic until 7 January 2022. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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British engineer Max Fordham dies aged 88

Max Fordham, a British engineer and "pioneer of sustainable building design", has passed away at the age of 88.

The news of Fordham's death on 4 January was announced yesterday by his eponymous engineering firm, Max Fordham LLP.

"Max's creativity and passion will be sorely missed," the studio said. "The legacy of his vision will continue to inspire. Our thoughts are with all of his family at this difficult time."

Top image: engineer Max Fordham has passed away at the age of 88. Above: he was an engineer behind Neave Brown's Alexandra Road Estate. Photo is by Jonframe1 via Wikimedia Commons

Fordham founded the building services firm Max Fordham & Partners with his late wife Thalia 'Taddy' Fordham in 1966. It transitioned into Max Fordham LLP in 2001.

The firm, which employs over 250 people, was the first business in the British construction industry to become a Limited Liability Partnership. Today it is co-owned by 119 partners.

According to the practice, Fordham's work prioritised creativity and "ensuring human comfort by giving buildings heat, power, water and ventilation in a sustainable and elegant way".

"Max was an acclaimed engineer and pioneer of sustainable building design," it said.

"‘He resisted pigeonholing into the conventional boxes of mechanical or electrical engineering, and was always interested in the whole building," the studio added. "He took a creative, but essentially practical, approach to building services design."

Among Fordham's most notable projects is the Alexandra Road Estate by Neave Brown and Tate St Ives by David Shalev and Eldred Evans, as well as the Judge Institute Cambridge by John Outram.

After handing over the running of the practice to his fellow partners in 2000, the studio worked on projects including the Tate Modern Switch House by Herzog & de Meuron and the MAXXI National Museum of the XXI Century Arts by Zaha Hadid Architects.

Born in June 1933, Fordham began his career in engineering working at Arup, which was known then as the Building Group, until founding his studio.

Alongside practising as an architect, Fordham was a lecturer and teacher, a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and an honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

His practice Max Fordham LLP led the engineering on the Tate Modern Switch House. Photo is by Jim Stephenson

His achievements and contribution to the field were also recognised in many awards, which include the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) Gold Medal, an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to engineering and the Prince Philip Designers Prize by the Royal Society of Art where he was recognised as "a pioneer of environmental design for buildings".

Fordham continued to work into his 80s, designing his own house in collaboration with Bere Architects that reached completion in 2019. The home, an all-electric and ultra-low energy structure in London – won a RIBA Sustainable Prize in the same year.

Other recent projects for which Max Fordham LLP has led the engineering include Sands End by Mae Architects, Museum of the Home by Wright & Wright and Maggie's Leeds by Heatherwick Studio.

Fordham's portrait is courtesy of Max Fordham LLP.

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SOM unveils Shenzhen bank tower enclosed in diagrid

SOM's Rural Commercial Bank headquarters in Shenzhen visible through park treeline

Architecture firm SOM has completed its headquarters for Shenzhen's Rural Commercial Bank, a steel-wrapped office building with an exterior that resembles an exoskeleton.

Located on the edge of a public park in one of Shenzhen's business districts, the 33-storey, 158-metre-tall tower is distinguished by its external steel diagrid, which is both a structural and solar-shading element.

The diagrid has the effect of supporting the building from the exterior, which enables column-free and flexible interior layouts and partially shields the tower from sunlight.

It reduces solar heat gain by an estimated 34 per cent, according to the studio.

Rural Commercial Bank Headquarters by SOM viewed from a park — SOM designed the Rural Commercial Bank Headquarters to suit Shenzhen's tropical climate

"We're always exploring opportunities to synthesise inventive engineering solutions with architectural design," said Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) design partner Scott Duncan.

"The Rural Commercial Bank Headquarters gave us the chance to incorporate a diagrid — similar to an exoskeleton — that pulls the structure to the exterior and effectively suspends the tower within to create column-free workspaces."

Steel diagrid encases the Rural Commercial Bank Headquarters building in Shenzhen — The building's exterior diagrid provides structural support while reducing solar heat gain

The diagrid forms a lattice-like pattern on the outside of the building. Its diamond shapes widen at the building's base to create entryways and provide framed views of the surrounding park and the nearby South China Sea.

"We explored numerous exoskeleton systems and determined that this particular density of diagrid provided the best balance of structural stiffness, exterior solar shading and interior daylighting levels and views," Duncan told Dezeen.

Daylight-responsive sunshades and natural ventilation add to the building's energy efficiency. Two vertical atria span the height of the tower and are meant to function as its lungs, allowing it to "breathe".

Automated louvres let fresh air into the atria, and when the climate is pleasant, employees can open and close vents on their floor to allow that air through to their offices.

Lobby of SOM's Shenzhen bank building with stone-clad walls on one side and rain-curtain feature in the foreground and exterior diagrid structure visible behind it — Wider sections at the base provide entry points and frame views of the park

The building's interior design was guided by Feng Shui principles that link water and wealth. Encircled by a reflecting pool, the lobby also features a wall of water by the main entrance and a 15-metre-high "rain curtain", with droplets of water cascading down thin translucent filaments.

As well as providing an aesthetic feature, the rain curtain has an evaporative cooling effect on the building.

Striated marble wall cladding on the elevator core is also meant to evoke water and its effect on stone.

Tall water feature and textured stone walls in Shenzhen's Rural Commercial Bank building — The interior design of the building references the look and feel of water

Small gardens, seating areas and consultation suites also feature on the ground floor, while the tower is topped by operable walls and an outdoor deck.

The Rural Commercial Bank Headquarters was completed in 2021 and contains 94,049 square metres of floor space. The tower is LEED Platinum certified and is targeting a China Green Star certification.

Diagrid wraps around the lobby of SOM's bank building — The diagrid structure means interior spaces can be column-free

SOM's work on the project extended to the mechanical, electrical and plumbing, and structural and civil engineering.

The Chicago-based architecture practice was founded by Louis Skidmore, Nathaniel Owings and John Merrill in 1939.

Its best known buildings include the tallest building in the world, Dubai's Burj Khalifa, and New York's One World Trade Center, while its recent projects include the Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations in Manhattan and the SPLAM experimental engineered wood pavilion.

The photography is by Seth Powers.

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