ARCHMOV shared with us their recent completed video 227 Flat. The house was designed by OODA and located in Porto, Portugal. The intention was to make use of void space and play with the light that strongly flows into the apartment… Read more in our earlier story here.

courtesy BAU.UAU ARQUITECTUR, photo by Ivo Tavares Studio

BAU.UAU ARQUITECTURA has completed a private house in Viseu, Portugal.

The conditions are similar: the limits of the intervention are defined by the exterior walls and by the sloping planes of the roof, the accesses are defined by the two existing stairways, the solar orientations are brought to the interior by the existing openings of the windows.

courtesy BAU.UAU ARQUITECTUR, photo by Ivo Tavares Studio

courtesy BAU.UAU ARQUITECTUR, photo by Ivo Tavares Studio

The solar exposition was determinant in the distribution of the program (as it uses to be in our projects of new buildings): the localization of the living room was solved on the end of the volume, getting advantage of the existing windows in the three walls, one turned to east, two in the biggest wall turned to south and another turned to west, and also appropriating all the height towards the intersection of the inclined plans of the ceiling crossed by wooden supporting beams. The maximum height of the volume is announced on the top of the main stairway, where the tiles dematerialize in order to give light from the zenith to the entrance and to the access of the attic. In the attic there's a bedroom and a bathroom for guests, a polyvalent room and a balcony over the living room, touching the wooden beams.

courtesy BAU.UAU ARQUITECTUR, photo by Ivo Tavares Studio

In the lower level a curved volume organizes around itself all the compartments, dividing the more private circulations from the most public ones of the house: the living room where it offers a bookshelf, the bedrooms turned to east, the kitchen to west, and it creates a leftover space to be used without script or as a dinning room when contaminated by the kitchen which is contiguous. This round volume hosts in its interior the bathroom. Its exterior is lined by wooden battens painted on one side with the noble functions of induction and reflection of the movement that creates and a constant reference for who lives in this house.

+ Project facts

Architects: Cristina Emília Silva & Alberto Montoya / BAU.UAU ARQUITECTURA (www.bauuauarquitectura.carbonmade.com )
Date of project: January 2011 / July 2011
Date of construction: September 2011 / October 2012
Built Area: 220 m²
Location : Viseu, Portugal
Contractor: ALP Construções
Photographs: ITS – Ivo Tavares Studio (www.ivotavares.net)

+ All images and drawings courtesy BAU.UAU ARQUITECTURA

courtesy Ivan Brodey

In 2012 Space Group completed the refurbishment of the former industrial building designed by architects Ove Ekman and Einar Smith and erected from 1896 to 1899. This area along the Akers River was historically referred to as Ny York (New York) due to its explosive development in 1858. Today the area reflects a transformation towards a district focused on art, architecture and design.

SIGNAL MEDIAHUS

Signal Mediahus sits next to the Aker River in Oslo. The original industrial building has a rich history of uses, from textile industry to offices and events. Part of the building burned down in the 1980s. The project inserts a completely new architecture inside the shell of the old while preserving the historic. The two correlates while both being clearly architecturally defined.

courtesy Vegard Kleven

The Signal Mediahus hosts several film production companies under one large glass roof. The program is organized around a main void that brings light from a glass roof into the deep section of the building. The program is also organized around the availability of light: cinema rooms in the basement, edition rooms, studios and offices in the ground floor and offices on the upper floors, where more daylight penetrates the building. Different programs receive different material treatments.

courtesy Ivan Brodey

The space in the basement is organized around a big black box that contains the cinemas. On the ground floor, two wooden cladded boxes hosts the studios and edition rooms, while generating common spaces in the gap between the existing façade and the boxes. The boxes also serve as acoustic absorbent for the Atrium. The upper floors are as open and transparent as possible, creating promiscuous visual connection between different tenants, encouraging exchange and collaboration.

courtesy Vegard Kleven

The life of the building is around the common Atrium: a lounge, meeting spaces, café, a vertical garden and a centrifugal circulation. The circulation is designed to maximize the interaction between the users and the experience of the space.

The building is designed in both plan and section as one large open space. This architectural solution allows for an efficient use of the energy and ventilation, reducing consumption and minimizing the need for ventilation technical installations that can prove difficult to integrate into historical buildings.

courtesy Vegard Kleven

OCA

Our goal was to reveal the space where a discourse on art could be generated rather than represented. After years of exploitation, the space is again visible, the materials accentuated, and one new element is introduced, a large stair of massive wooden planks (Douglas fir). The stair acts as an auditorium and makes the transition between the OCA offices and the project space. The stair organizes the space in 3 zones, providing a room in the room for lectures and screenings, a reading room and Library of Norwegian Artist as well as the surrounding exhibition space. The project includes offices for the OCA administration, artist studios for OCA's residence program and a 450m2 project space.

courtesy Ivan Brodey

KINDERGARTEN

As part of a the Nedregate 5-7 project, Space Group made the design for the "NY YORK KULTURBARNEHAGE" (New York Culture Kindergarten). The space is built for children's exploration and use. The scale is deliberately manipulated in a sequence of compressed and open spaces. The big, open room creates a frame where as variations in horizontal and vertical lines, creates intimate rooms for small groups and secret play, which are only available to and dimensioned for children. The kindergarten has four bases organized around a giant staircase for musical gatherings, theater, film, dance and play. In the back of the room lies a big curved wall that contains all technical installations. It's made out of stainless steel and distorts the viewer's image, just like the fun mirrors at the fun fair.

+ Project facts

Title: Signal Mediahus / Nedregate Culture District
Location: Oslo, Norway
Site: Transformation old industrial buildings
Area: Building 5 000 m2 (appx.)
Program: Offices, artist studios, exhibition space, sound and image studios, cinema, kindergarten.
Client: Signal Mediahus ANS
Status: Built 2012
Design: Space Group
Team: Adam Kurdahl, Gro Bonesmo, Gary Bates, Jose Hernandez, Eric Gerlach, Wenche Andreasen, Jens Noach, Anne Wordstrup, Frederik Kjelman, Tim Prins, Grant Cooper
Consultants: Norconsult, Rambøll Norge, Energima, Ingenius Oslo, 3D akustikk, Oslo El Prosjektering, F-Holm, Bleed, Sundt & Thomassen
Photography: Ivan Brodey, Vegard Kleven, Space Group

+ All images courtesy Space Group, Ivan Brodey, Vegard Kleven