News: British firm Wilkinson Eyre Architects has won a competition to design a $1.5 billion hotel skyscraper on the harbourfront in Sydney, Australia.

The proposal by last year's World Building of the Year winners beat submissions from international firm Kohn Pedersen Fox and Chicago practice Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, which recently unveiled plans for Mumbai's tallest tower.

The news comes two months after plans were announced for what will be Australia's tallest building, a 388-metre-high tower in Melbourne, while last month British architect Grimshaw submitted plans for a 90-storey skyscraper in a suburb of Sydney.

Wilkinson Eyre's planned 235-metre-tall skyscraper, located in the Barangaroo South area near Sydney Harbour Bridge, will be occupied by a six-star luxury hotel, The Crown Sydney Hotel Resort.

The winning design is inspired by nature, according to the architects. "Its curved geometry emanates from three petal forms which twist and rise together," said Paul Baker, director at Wilkinson Eyre.

"The first petal peels off, spreading outward to form the main hotel room accommodation, with the remaining two twisting together toward the sky."

Chris Wilkinson, director of Wilkinson Eyre, said: "My ambition is to create a sculptural form that will rise up on the skyline like an inhabited artwork, with differing levels of transparency, striking a clear new image against the sky."

The building will contain around 350 guestrooms and suites, four restaurants, a day spa, rooftop pool and high-end shops.

Crown Resorts chairman James Packer said the building would be an "instantly recognisable" landmark for the city.

"Its iconic curves and fine lines celebrate the harbour and create an architectural 'postcard' that will help attract international tourists and assist Sydney to compete with other global destinations," he said.

Wilkinson Eyre's Gardens by the Bay tropical garden in Singapore was named World Building of the Year at last year's World Architecture Festival, where we filmed an interview with the firm's Chris Wilkinson.

Other projects by Wilkinson Eyre include a kilometre-long cable car over the river Thames in London and a PVC tent that hosted basketball during the London 2012 Olympics – see all architecture by Wilkinson Eyre.

Here's some more information from Crown Resorts:

Crown announces Wilkinson Eyre Architects as the Winning Design for Crown Sydney Hotel Resort

Crown Resorts today announced that Wilkinson Eyre Architects had been successful as the winning design for the Crown Sydney Hotel Resort. The joint judging panel unanimously recommended the Wilkinson Eyre design to Crown, following an extended competition to design the Crown Sydney Hotel Resort at Barangaroo South on the city's harbourfront.

The final three designs by internationally renowned architects Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill, Kohn Pedersen Fox, and Wilkinson Eyre Architects were judged by a panel consisting of representatives from Crown Resorts, Lend Lease, the Barangaroo Delivery Authority and the NSW Department of Planning. All were praised for their professionalism and innovative designs. The firms presented their designs to the judges last week, and the panel made a formal recommendation to Crown on the suitability of each design and its ability to achieve the desired vision and outcomes for Barangaroo and Crown.

Crown Resorts Chairman, James Packer, thanked the judging panel and congratulated Wilkinson Eyre and its key architects Chris Wilkinson and Paul Baker. "Wilkinson Eyre have an incredible record of achievement and I am certain they will deliver Sydney an iconic building we can all be proud of. This great city deserves a building that is truly special and Wilkinson Eyre's design delivers it. It's a wonderful moment for Crown."

Discussing the hotel's iconic sculptural design, Mr Packer said: "When completed, Crown Sydney will be instantly recognisable around the world. Its iconic curves and fine lines celebrate the harbour and create an architectural ‘postcard’ that will help attract international tourists and assist Sydney to compete with other global destinations."

On winning the design competition, Chris Wilkinson, Founding Director, Wilkinson Eyre Architects stated: "Sydney is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and it is a great privilege to design such a significant building on the waterfront. My ambition is to create a sculptural form that will rise up on the skyline like an inhabited artwork, with differing levels of transparency, striking a clear new image against the sky."

Paul Baker, Director, Wilkinson Eyre Architects added: "The architecture takes its inspiration from nature, composed of organic forms that provide an abstract, sculptural shape; it does not try to mimic any particular plant or flower but is derived from the specificity of the site and the client brief. Its curved geometry emanates from three forms which twist and rise together. The first form peels off, spreading outward to form the main hotel room accommodation, with the remaining two twisting together toward the sky."

Todd Nisbet, Crown's Executive Vice President – Strategy & Development, said: "Wilkinson Eyre are world renowned for their sustainable and iconic designs and their great attention to detail. The Gardens by the Bay in Singapore is an absolute standout, becoming one of the most recognised tourism assets in the world and an iconic image that is instantly recognisable and linked to Singapore’s new identity as one of Asia’s most important gateway cities."

In October 2012, Crown and Lend Lease invited a number of internationally acclaimed architects for their interest in participating in the Crown Sydney Hotel Architectural Design Competition. The brief to the architects stated: "Crown, Lend Lease and the Barangaroo Delivery Authority are seeking a bold and innovative design team to create Australia’s best hotel in Australia’s most exciting new precinct – a new landmark building on Sydney Harbour that will become a destination for international tourists and seekers of luxury."

Subject to receipt of all necessary approvals and subject to finalisation of commercial arrangements between Crown, Lend Lease and the BDA, the Crown Sydney Hotel Resort will sit on the Lend Lease commercial site at the north western corner of Barangaroo South and will have approximately 350 guestrooms and suites. The typical guest rooms will be some of the largest in Australia and the suites and villas will rival the best in Asia. There will be four restaurants, a café, an ultra-lounge, day spa, roof top pool and luxury retail facilities.

On the planning and development processes to follow, Mr Nisbet, said: "The designs are a result of a design competition initiated by Crown and Lend Lease to select an architect for the Crown Sydney Hotel Resort and are not a formal part of the planning approval process. In the near future, Crown in collaboration with Lend Lease will engage in public consultation and seek approval from the Barangaroo Delivery Authority as landowner to lodge an application to the Department of Planning and Infrastructure for all necessary approvals."

Lend Lease has an exclusive dealing agreement with Crown in relation to the development of the hotel resort at Barangaroo South and both parties are working towards final commercial arrangements. The Crown Sydney Hotel Resort Proposal is currently in Stage 2 of the NSW Government's Unsolicited Proposal process.

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Scheduled for completion in early 2017, the 27,000-square-metre Bryghusprojektet is a mixed-use development on the site of an old brewery, which will include residential units, community spaces and a playground.

In the middle of the development will be the new offices for the Danish Architecture Centre, an organisation set up to spread knowledge about architecture and the built environment.

The centre will be surrounded by its own subjects of study and research, explains Ellen van Loon, who is OMA's partner-in-charge on the project along with the firm's co-founder Rem Koolhaas.

"Instead of stacking a mixed-use programme in a traditional way, we positioned the Danish Architecture Centre in the centre of the volume, surrounded by and embedded within its objects of study: housing, offices and parking," said van Loon.

The centre will include exhibition areas, research facilities, conference rooms, an auditorium, a bookshop and a cafe.

OMA's design for Bryghusprojektet, which is being funded by the philanthropic Realdania Foundation, was first revealed in 2006.

The Dutch firm is currently going head to head with Danish firm BIG in a competition to transform a convention centre in Miami, USA, while work is nearly complete on the OMA's Shenzhen Stock Exchange in China – see all architecture by OMA.

Images are courtesy of OMA.

Here's some more information from OMA:

The Bryghusgrunden Project is located on the harbor on the site of an old brewery, the Bryghusgrunden, one of the few remaining areas with the potential to link the city to the waterfront. The building itself will straddle the busy Christians Brygge ring road, creating new urban connections for pedestrians and cyclists between the waterfront and Denmark’s houses of government.

Construction begins today on the OMA-designed Bryghusprojektet in Copenhagen, Denmark. The 27,000 sq m mixed-use project will accommodate a new headquarters for the Danish Architecture Centre (DAC). The building will act as the missing link between the city centre, the historic waterfront and the culturally rich Slotsholmen district of Copenhagen.

OMA partner-in-charge Ellen van Loon explained: "Instead of stacking a mixed-use programme in a traditional way, we positioned the DAC in the centre of the volume, surrounded by and embedded within its objects of study: housing, offices and parking. The urban routes reach into the heart of the building and create a broad range of interactions between the different programme parts and the urban environment."

Situated among landmarks in the history of Danish architecture, Bryghusprojektet shares with the indigenous modernism tenets of simplicity, monumentality and urbanity. The site is bound by a cluster of historic monuments, including the Christiansborg Palace and the Old Brewery, whilst sharing the riverside with many other bold, contemporary interventions.

To capitalise on the site's potential, the building is an 'urban motor' to actively link the city and the waterfront. Providing a connection under the busy Christians Brygge, where entrances to the different program elements are strategically located, the site becomes both a destination and a connector at the hinge of the waterfront and the 'entrance' to the city.

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Dyson, who lives and works near to the Royal United Hospital, said he hoped the new centre would be able to replicate the success of the Dyson Centre for Neonatal Care.

"Research has shown the incredible effect that a healing environment can have on recovery," said the inventor, whose best-known products include a bagless vacuum cleaner and a fan heater with no blades.

"This new cancer centre will use cutting edge technology and well considered design to improve the health of its patients."

By reducing background noise from hospital machinery and increasing natural light, doctors at the hospital found that the condition of sick and premature newborns improved substantially.

"We have been hugely impressed by the outcomes," Dyson said of the baby unit, which was designed by local architects Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios.

A study funded by the James Dyson Foundation, the charitable body set up by the designer, found that 90% of babies recuperating in the unit went home breastfeeding, compared to 64% in the old building.

Large windows and skylights increased natural light by up to 50% and exposed babies to changing outside conditions, helping them gain awareness of day and night.

Noise levels were decreased by over 9 decibels on average, helping babies to sleep on average for 22% longer than in the old unit, while nurses in the new building spent 20% more of their time with the newborns.

The cot rooms are arranged in a clockwise circuit from intensive care through to high dependency, special care, the parents’ rooms and finally home, so that parents can clearly track their baby's route to recovery.

Medical equipment is fixed to the ceiling and pulled down when in use, reducing clutter at ground level.

Dr. Bernie Marden, a consultant neonatologist and paediatrician on the ward, said the study had allowed doctors to build up an accurate picture of how babies respond to their environment.

"We have found that the design of the building is leading to better fed and better rested babies, contributing to their recuperation," he said.

See more of The Dyson Centre in our earlier post, published shortly after the unit opened in 2011, or see more hospitals and healthcare centres on Dezeen.

Here's more information from Dyson:

The Dyson Centre for Neonatal Care is leading the way in improving the quality of life for sick and premature babies. Pioneering research funded by the James Dyson foundation, has found that of babies studied, 90% recuperating in the new unit went home breast feeding, compared to 64% in the old building. The study also showed that babies are better rested – sleeping on average for 22% longer than in the old unit.

Through award winning architecture, the new Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) creates a healthier environment for babies, parents, and nursing staff. The project was funded in partnership with the NHS and private donations, including £750,000 from the Dyson family and the James Dyson Foundation. The building has a progressive layout. A clockwise circuit of cot rooms, starting with intensive care and leading to special care and finally home. This creates a psychological effect of development. Large windows give controllable natural light throughout, allowing babies, parents and staff to be aware of changing outside conditions, gaining an awareness of day and night.

The Research

A £100,000 donation by the James Dyson Foundation is enabling research to ascertain the full benefits of the new building. Collecting data from both the old building and the new, the hospital is building up a picture of the ideal environment for recuperation.

Consultant neonatologist and paediatrician, Dr. Bernie Marden said: "We have collated vast amounts of data using new techniques to build up a really accurate picture of how babies respond to their environment. We have found that the design of the building is leading to better fed and better rested babies, contributing to their recuperation."

James Dyson said: "New technology has been specifically adapted to monitor a baby’s sleep cycle and respiratory patterns in a far less invasive way than ever before. The findings show the way in which design and technology can have an effect far beyond the hands of a single consumer – aiding health."

Accelerometers measure speed and movement; they are used in aircraft and smartphones and increasingly in sports and athletics. Bath Rugby Club uses the technology to analyse player training techniques and fitness.

This research is the first in the world to adapt and use accelerometers to measure the respiratory and sleep patterns in a baby in order to monitor their reaction to the surrounding environment, using an extremely low power, self contained wireless device. Previously intrusive methods including ECG and information from ventilator circuits have been used to measure this.

The accelerometers have been found to be sensitive enough to provide remote and wireless respiratory information. Doing away with invasive tubing and tangled wires. This is a significant result which may allow for remote monitoring of apnoea, effort of breathing and the quality of sleep. The studied babies in the new centre were found to be asleep or in a restful state for longer than in the old building.

Infrared tracking technology was used to pinpoint staff movements in the building and test the efficiency of the design. The study found that nurses in the new building spend 20% more of their time in the clinical rooms, with the babies. Meaning more time spent caring for the babies.

Lux meters were used to take light measurements according to specific times, dates and outside weather conditions. Up to 50% more natural light was measured in the new building. This ensures a more natural circadian rhythm – allowing the babies, parents and staff to perceive the changing day, aiding the babies sleeping and eating habits.

Sound pressure level meter readings were taken and an average level for each hour was documented in decibels. Noise levels in the special care unit have decreased by over 9dB on average from those in the old building. It is suggested that the increased sleep observed in the babies relates to this reduction in background noise.

Cot side diaries used in the research captured the physiological state of the babies in each environment and the interaction of parents with their babies. In addition a qualitative aspect of the project measured how the ‘intervention’ (the building) affected parental and staff experience, taking the form of semi structured psychological interviews.

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As part of Riyadh's all-new public transport system, the station will be located on the edge of the King Abdullah Financial District and will function as a major interchange between three of the city's six new metro lines.

Zaha Hadid Architects has planned the four-storey structure with six platforms, as well as two floors of underground parking. A network of pedestrian pathways will snake through the building, designed to minimise congestion, plus passengers will be able to access the city's monorail network via a new bridge.

The walls and roof of the building will appear as a series of undulating waves interspersed with curved Mashrabiya screens. The architects describe it as "a three-dimensional lattice defined by a sequence of opposing sine-waves".

The project is due to complete by 2017.

Other buildings by Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid in the Middle East include the Sheikh Zayed Bridge in Abu Dhabi, as well as proposals for a performing arts centre in Jordan and an office and retail development in Egypt. See more architecture and design by Zaha Hadid.

Here's a project description from Zaha Hadid Architects:

King Abdullah Financial District Metro Station

The King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) Metro Station will serve as a key interchange on the new Riyadh Metro network for Line 1, as well as the terminus of Line 4 (for passengers to the airport) and Line 6. The local monorail can also be accessed from the station via a skybridge. With six platforms over four public floors and two levels of underground car parking, the KAFD Metro Station will be integrated within the urban context of the financial district, responding to the functional requirements of a multimodal transport centre and the district's future vision. The project extends beyond the simple station typology to emphasise the building's importance as a dynamic, multi-functional public space; not only an intermediate place perceived through quick transitions, but also a dramatic public space for the city.

The design places the station at the centre of a network of pathways, skybridges and metro lines envisaged by the KAFD master plan. Connectivity diagrams and traffic across the site have been mapped and structured to clearly delineate the pedestrian routes within the building, optimise internal circulation and avoid congestion. The resulting configuration is a three-dimensional lattice defined by a sequence of opposing sine-waves (generated from the repetition and frequency variation of station's daily traffic flows) which act as the spine for the building's circulation. These sine-waves are extended to the station's envelope and strictly affiliated to its internal layout, translating the architectural concept to the exterior.

Location: Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Date: 2012/2017
Client: ArRiyadh Development Authority

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News: British firm Foster + Partners has unveiled plans for two residential skyscrapers as part of a mixed-use development in north London.

The skyscrapers will form part of a cluster of residential towers proposed for the City Road area in Islington, including Dutch firm UNStudio's Canaletto building and another proposed by US architects SOM.

The 250 City Road project, led by property developers Berkeley Group, proposes the redevelopment of a 1.9 hectare site currently occupied by a cluster of commercial buildings.

Foster + Partners' plans include 800 homes across two towers, which, at 41 and 36 storeys in height, would be significantly taller than any other buildings in the surrounding area.

Additional buildings containing shops, cafes, restaurants and a community space would be arranged around a central public park and courtyard garden.

Berkeley Group initially employed London practice DSDHA to explore the potential of the site before a public consultation in July last year, after which the project was handed over to Foster + Partners.

The project team, which includes landscape architects Gillespies, has now submitted the planning application to the local council.

Last month UNStudio unveiled its own plans for a 30-storey residential skyscraper on City Road, which studio head Ben Van Berkel introduced to Dezeen at the launch event.

Elsewhere in London, Foster + Partners recently received planning permission for three residential towers on the south side of the river Thames near Lambeth Bridge.

The firm also recently completed a new gallery wing clad with golden pipes at the Lenbachhaus art museum in Munich and an airport terminal under a canopy of domes in Jordan – see all architecture by Foster + Partners.

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