courtesy Alvaro Uribe Design

The Plum Stool is a concept that organically combines structure, form and material into one. The aerodynamic form of the Plum Stool emulates the way that natural forms grow and evolve, always aiming for efficiency. The stool mimics this philosophy, but towards a seating surface.

Using state-of-the-art 21st-century material and technologies the stool would be made of tri-axial carbon fiber. This composite is capable of providing incredible strength five times greater than steel on an equal weight basis.Simultaneously the stool is designed to have strategic ribs where pressure and weight will be applied. By building ribs with the material folds, the stool structure is able to accomplish maximum strength and lightness. Similar to the stem of a leaf, or the shaft of a feather, these ribs give additional resistance to pressure and compression.

+ Designer: Alvaro Uribe Design

courtesy Alvaro Uribe Design

courtesy Alvaro Uribe Design

courtesy Alvaro Uribe Design

courtesy Alvaro Uribe Design

The project is a proposal for a subterranean public bath beneath a central urban plaza with a glazed roof at street level. Responding to the city's ambitious plans for the total redesign of Eleftherias Square (i.e. Freedom Square) into a landmark that will become a magnet for the city and beyond, our proposal sets to re-establish Thessaloniki's long lasting culture of public baths as a form of built social space par excellence.

courtesy NotaNumber Architects

Since ancient times public baths have played a central role in the unfolding of the city's social life which under the mantle of physical culture and relaxation presented the opportunity for the most informal encounters. Roman thermae, Byzantine baths and Ottoman hammams are still evident in the city's urban fabric, the first in the form of archaeological findings and the other two as preserved historic buildings turned into museums. The last Turkish bath operating in its original form closed in 1981.

courtesy NotaNumber Architects

A set of inverted arches, domes and cupolas organize the space of the public baths – extending 10 meters underneath Eleftherias Square – into an almost labyrinthic set of interconnected pools for the various water treatments. The activity in the pools is exposed at street level through a walkable glass floor giving the impression of bathers floating inside a temple. At the same time the hectic buzz of the city becomes a distant setting for the relaxing experience of bathing. Thus the public baths acquire the qualities of an open air space as opposed to the more hermetic enclosures of the traditional typologies. A grid of plane trees is planted in the inverted columns of the arcades functioning as a uniform shading canopy for the plaza and the baths underneath. This natural canopy lets winter sunlight in and protects from overheating during summer time. Underneath this grid of trees, inside the thick pillars the more private rooms of the baths are placed.

courtesy NotaNumber Architects

Visitors descend to the level of the pools via three wells with spiral staircases. Round shafts in the centre of the wells house the elevators and small canteens at ground level. A sequence of sanitary facilities, washrooms, showers and cloakrooms surround the main bathing hall preparing the visitor for a ceremonial experience of body wellness. The 4000 square metre bathing complex comprises 10 pools including one 40 x 8 metre sports pool, four round pools with a gradation of warm water, an adventure pool and a water play park with cascades, two square pools for special hydrotherapy treatment and an oval grotto-like hall with bubbling jets and whirlpool. The thermal pool landscape is interrupted by rest areas and passages that lead to more private halls for sauna, aromatic steam bathing and massage therapies.

courtesy NotaNumber Architects

courtesy NotaNumber Architects

+ Project facts

Authors: Not a Number Architects www.nan-a.eu
Design period: 2013
Location: Thessaloniki, Greece
Type: Competition
Mechanical consultant: G&P Engineering & Energy
Agronomics consultant: TheGreenSpace

+ All images and drawings courtesy Not a Number Architects

If you're a landlord, you want to keep costs to a minimum when furnishing a student house whilst still creating a space that's pleasant to live in for your tenants. So here are some tips for creating an affordable yet appealing interior.

Buy in bulk

If you're starting from scratch with your student property, the chances are you'll need several beds, wardrobes and desks at the same time. Obviously you could head to a store and get a few of everything, but if you buy from somewhere that sells packages of furniture especially for landlords, you could save yourself some money. Plus, it's much simpler to buy a pre-arranged package of furniture. You know you'll get it all at the same time and don't have to worry about a store not having several of the same item in stock. David Phillips sells student packages that will make furnishing your interior a walk in the park! You can check out the products on their website here.

Don't skip the finishing touches

Students are notorious for living in a scruffy environment. If you want to minimise damage and encourage your tenants to keep a clean house, then it's important they feel like it's a property they really want to look after. Adding potted plants and canvas paintings to the house and investing in little extras will make the property feel like a home from home, and the chances are they'll probably respect the effort you've made to make it nice for them. There's also the added bonus that you're much more likely to fill the house quickly, and the demand for high standard student housing means you'll probably be in a position where you're able to hand pick your tenants. It doesn't have to cost a fortune either. For money saving ways on making a house homely, take a look at this Pinterest board.

Invest in a good vacuum cleaner

If you want your house kept clean, then make sure you provide a trusty vacuum cleaner. Pick one that's good quality and isn't likely to break. If your tenants are girls, especially girls with long hair, this is particularly important as nothing breaks vacuum cleaners quite like hair. Gross but true.

Provide a notice board

Blu-Tack leaves grease marks behind on the paint, so unless you're prepared to re-paint your property each year, it's a good idea to provide a notice board in each bedroom. Obviously there's no guarantee that your tenants won't still Blu-Tack things to the wall, but you could make a point of asking them to use the notice board instead. If you've followed the previous steps, you may have been able to choose tenants that you know will respect your wishes for the property, so hopefully they'll listen.

Steer clear of carpet

Wooden and tiled flooring is much more student-friendly than carpet. Inevitable student parties will leave your carpet stained with drinks and stinking of beer, so mop-able flooring is a must. It's also much more modern, light and airy and will make the property even more attractive to potential tenants. To keep costs down, look out for offers and deals on wooden and tile flooring for a few months prior to fitting it to save yourself a bit of cash.