LONDON | Projects & Construction

[SE9]

Cable Car SE10 to E12

The Emirates Air Line, linking Greenwich Peninsula (south-east London) to Royal Victoria Dock (east London). Opened yesterday.

London forum thread: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1165601

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arrivals by worldoflard, on Flickr

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Emirates Air Line cable car by Uretopia, on Flickr

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Emirates Air Line cable car by Uretopia, on Flickr

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takeoff [180/366] by worldoflard, on Flickr

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Emirates Air Line cable car by Uretopia, on Flickr

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UK - London (Royal Victoria Dock) by xpgomes11, on Flickr

[SE9]

Regent Street W1

Regent Street in the West End, which has been decorated with a flag from each nation, for the Olympics. Flags are arranged by alphabetical order of country name.

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr

Flags of the world on Regent Street by Regent Street Online, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Regent Street flags of the world by Regent Street Online, on Flickr

[SE9]

The Leadenhall Building EC3

The tallest building currently rising in London, continues to do so at a fast rate.

London forum thread: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=415718

Originally Posted by chest

[Minsk]

Hopkins' completed Velodrome offers a world-class cycling venue for the London 2012 Olympics

The bicycle is an ingenious ergonomic and aerodynamic object which is honed to unrivalled efficiency. Hopkins wanted to apply the same design creativity and engineering rigour that this embodies to our building as a three-dimensional response to the functional requirements of a stadium. The resulting Velodrome contains 6,000 seats in both Olympic and Legacy modes and responds to both contexts in an appropriate manner with minimal transformation.

The upper and lower seating tiers are split by the public circulation concourse which forms the main point of entry into the arena and allows spectators to maintain contact with the action on the track as they move around the building. The concourse is fully glazed to allow views both into and out of the building. It also helps to visually separate the Western Red Cedar clad upper bowl from the ground floor back of house accommodation which is largely hidden behind the landscaped earth berms that form a visual plinth at the east and west ends of the building.

The Olympic Delivery Authority set a number of sustainability and material targets; through careful consideration and integration of the architecture, structure and building services the design has met or exceeded these requirements. As a result of the use of the structurally efficient cable net roof structure it has been calculated that approximately 1,000 tonnes of steel have been saved compared to a more standard form of roof.

Rather than investing in PVs on or other ‘bolt-on’ technologies on the roof, designing for maximum daylight penetration proved to be a much more economical solution which yielded far greater benefits in terms of reducing carbon emissions. The main arena itself is highly-insulated and completely naturally ventilated in mid-season and summer, significantly reducing energy demand. Finally, recycled rainwater is used to supply the WC/Urinal flushing and any wash down points and the building is predicted to achieve an annual reduction of 75% in potable water demand.

worldarchitecturenews.com

[El_Greco]

Good stuff there, SE.

[El_Greco]

Heres some views from the Cable Car -

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr

[Minsk]

Wonderful! El_Greco, thanks for the photos

[SE9]

Very nice El Greco, love the second one

[LondonFox]

Wonderful shots Greco!!

Those angles are amazing... what a view!! Going to do this for sure.

[RajeshVR]

nice clicks

[SE9]

Here's a full Cable Car video:

[Minsk]

AKT II have built an inconic library next to Canada Water

Date of completion: October 2011

Client: London Borough of Southwark

Architect: CZWG

MEP Consultant: Hoare Lea

Principal Contractor: ISG Jackson Ltd

The Client's brief called for a ‘freestanding iconic civic building that exemplifies the importance of the library, education and community facilities for people of Southwark'. The impossibly small site, chosen for this new £14m ‘Super-Library' is situated on the very edge of the dock wall and is constrained by the station box beneath the plaza, access shaft adjacent to the road, pedestrian desire line across the south side of the plaza, and the need to retain critical views.

The challenge was to create a structural form that embraced these physical constraints and fulfilled the strict internal dimensional demands of the brief and engendered a building with a strong individual against the tranquil naturalised backdrop of Canada Water. The resulting five-storey futuristic 'tardis', with canted walls that flare out from the base provides an inverted geometric form that is both functional, and aesthetically striking.

The structural story for this challenging form starts below ground with the interface with station access shaft, where the original foundation system had insufficient capacity to support additional loading. New piles were installed to both underpin the existing shaft walls and support the new library structure above. The prefabrication of the inclined columns that support the ever expanding floor plates, in combination with jump formed core walls, offered significant programme advantage and the material properties of steel meant that member sizes could be optimised.

A high percentage of recycled steel in the reinforcement and the structural steel members, the specification of cement replacement in the design of the concrete mix and the utilisation of the thermal mass of the exposed concrete slab soffits form a fundamental part of the environmental strategy for the building's design. The natural ‘struck' finish of the concrete in lieu of other less sustainable finishes contributed to give this public building outstanding green credentials.

worldarchitecturenews

[Minsk]

WAN visits The Cutty Sark in Greenwich

Nestled against the quay in Greenwich is one of the last three surviving clipper ships with composite construction in the world, encased in a sparkling case with complex steel latticework arching over its form. Architects Grimshaw and engineers Buro Happold have been delicately restoring and preserving historic gem The Cutty Sark over the past eight years, recapturing the rich splendour of this British masterpiece and suspending her above a public exhibition for all to see. The completed Cutty Sark Museum was opened by the Queen on 25th April 2012 as a gift to the monarch from HRH The Duke of Edinburgh for her Jubilee.

Built in 1869 for the Jock Willis shipping line as a speeding tea clipper, The Cutty Sark only completed a handful of journeys on the tea trade before switching to the transportation of wool from Australia to the UK. Following this, she was passed between hands and trades until she was granted Grade I listed status alongside the HMS Belfast and SS Robin, and renovations began on her rare wooden hull and iron framework back in 2004. Havoc struck when the ship was engulfed in a raging fire during renovation works, causing catastrophic damage to what was left of her original form. This set the project’s completion back a total of three years and created a number of additional challenges for engineers Buro Happold.

John Solomon, Head of Conservation and Refurbishment at Buro Happold, explains: “Following the fire, our role on the project changed from one of conservation and public access improvement to a rescue project for this important and well-loved slice of history. The first step for Buro Happold’s CARE accredited conservation engineer was to set up and chair a steering group of experts to develop and agree the conservation strategy. Essentially the conservation work involved complete dismantling of the ship in order to fully expose her wrought iron frame for repair. This necessitated removal of all of the masts and rig, all deck furniture and planning and all 600 hull planks along with her bow and stern timbers.”

After my visit to the majestic new museum I spoke with Steve Brown, Project Principal at Buro Happold to gain insight into his involvement with the scheme. It’s unusual for Buro Happold to take on a project of this nature as Brown explained: “This was a new challenge for me. I’d never worked on a ship before so it was a new challenge. It’s so different to working with buildings because The Cutty Sark has no right angles or lines of symmetry. Buildings are usually square!”

One of the first things Brown did was convene with old friend and colleague Tim Beckett of Beckett Rankine, a marine consulting engineer, to gain a better understanding of the historic vessel. A project of this type is not only unusual for Buro Happold but also for many other organisations involved in the scheme, including English Heritage, who were on hand to protect The Cutty Sark under its Grade I listing.

Aside from the breathtaking structural latticework that defines the ceiling of the main exhibition space at The Cutty Sark Museum, the most impressive design feature - and feat of engineering - is that the aged ship is suspended above the restaurant and events area. As Tim Kelly, Associate Structures at Buro Happold, details: “Probably the single biggest challenge of the entire project was the actual process of raising all 963 tonnes of the tea clipper three metres into the air to permanently suspend her within the dry dock. The technical challenge of providing an elegant solution to lifting this ‘fragile old lady’ into the air shouldn’t be underestimated. A carefully phased lifting and un-propping operation ensured she was safely transferred from her previous support system onto the new permanent supporting steelwork. And we only had one chance to succeed in achieving this - once the process had started there was no going back…”

The result is that the ship seems weightless. It hovers above the resting diners and interactive displays - including the world’s largest collection of ship’s figureheads - like an oversized toy ship, waiting to be launched into a bathtub. What was left of the original hull has been restored to its gleaming ‘copper-bottom’ of muntz metal (a mix of copper and bronze) which, should The Cutty Sark be launched on a new adventure, would glide effortlessly through the water and reduce the likelihood of barnacles attaching themselves to her streamlined surface.

To find your way into this cavernous event space, which gives the impression of standing on the sea bed, you must first enter the hold and work your way through stacks of ancient tea chests bearing historical references and snippets of information on former crew members and perilous sea quests. The renovation here is exquisite and perfectly attune to the rich history of The Cutty Sark, who at the time of her completion was one of the world’s fastest tea clippers. Low ceilings and exposed wooden planks provide a believable backdrop as the engaging exhibition transports visitors back in time through light-box displays, short documentary films and glass cases of historical artefacts. This wooden capsule is at once protecting and claustrophobic; a vessel lovingly restored and tastefully modernised to withstand the battering any public museum is destined to receive. As Steve Brown concludes, ‘It’s always worthwhile restoring something of heritage value’.

worldarchitecturenews

[Minsk]

Winning design celebrating the essence of community due to go on site in 2013

The competition winning North Harrow Community Centre gained planning consent in late 2010 and will be on site early 2013. The scheme provides learning, recreation, sports and meditation space for young people, adults and the elderly. The client group are East African Asians of the Shia faith who migrated to the UK in the 1970’s. The architects' aspiration, shared jointly with the client, was to develop a ‘cultural embassy’ providing learning and community space accessible to all Harrow residents regardless of faith.

The two-storey building accommodates a library, creative hub, prayer and exhibition space, kindergarten and conference facilities with a deep basement incorporating a sports hall. The site is complicated by a culverted river which restricts development and separates the building in two parts. The scheme gently mediates the culvert and neighbouring properties to create an ‘open courtyard’ at Station Road and a ‘contemplation garden’ along its back edge.

Key to the success of the scheme is how groups of different ethnicity, ages and backgrounds come together and how architecture and its ‘envelope’ might act as an urban canvas for cross cultural encounters. The filigree and ornamentation on the building’s façade related in part to Olbrich’s Secession Building is thus a narrative for the ‘cultural embassy’ which depicts through geometric patterns the migration of the client group from Iran to India, East Africa and finally to England.

Patterns from Isfahan, the Delhi Red Fort, the Maasai Mara as well as William Morris are interwoven into the building fabric and make reference to the Arts and Crafts vernacular of suburban Harrow also known as Metroland.

worldarchitecturenews

[Minsk]

Originally Posted by Minsk

AKT II have built an inconic library next to Canada Water

www.archdaily.com

[Syndic]

I must be the only one who thinks that building is an eyesore. I thought we had progressed beyond this kind of retro-looking Modernism.

[Minsk]

Stanton Williams provides a community hub in Hackney centred around football

Hackney Marshes is best known as the London home of amateur Sunday League football. However, by the turn of the century, the facilities provided for the hundreds of players and supporters were in need of urgent overhaul. The London Borough of Hackney’s initial brief requirements sought a piece of high quality architecture that would acknowledge the unique character of the site, which would instil a sense of pride and ownership, and increase participation in sport.

Completed in autumn 2010, the new ‘Community Hub’ at the South Marsh, comprises new changing rooms, a café, and an education facility. They are housed in a welcoming, inclusive structure that recognises the special qualities of this place and connects with its wider setting, including the adjacent Olympic Park. The Centre is embedded within the landscape, avoiding the ‘tabula rasa’ approach of many sports venues. Plugging a gap in the trees that surround the pitches, its massing minimises its impact on the site. The overall impression is one of horizontality, with changing rooms arranged in linear fashion at ground level.

The café and education spaces are placed above at one end, merging into the taller trees of the adjacent coppice. The layout fuses practicality and flexibility with the desire to celebrate the ritual aspects of football: not least the way that the act of changing fuses individuals into teams. Materials have been chosen for robustness and for their ability to blend into the structure’s surroundings. Gabion walls provide a vandal-resistant envelope and function as a framework for climbing plants, creating a ‘green wall’. Weathered steel is used for cladding, shutters and louvres, offering a rich texture. Changing in colour over time, it emphasises the combination of nature and artifice that permeates the scheme.

Designed to achieve a BREEAM rating of ‘Very Good’, sustainable features include an indigenous green roof that complements the local ecosystem, rainwater harvesting facilities and biomass boilers. The changing rooms and community spaces are designed for maximum flexibility - one of the key aspects of sustainable design that ensures a long lifespan for Hackney Marshes Centre with adaptability for multiple and future uses. The initial idea of the Hackney Marshes Centre becoming a shared community facility for those using the Marshes for different activities has become a reality, bringing together various groups and individuals under one roof.

Source: www.worldarchitecturenews.com

[Andre_idol]

I really like the Canada Water Library. The facade facing the street on the second picture on post #4315, although quite simple makes a nice contrast with the other side.

[SO143]

Originally Posted by LondonerN1

As this is nearing completion, I thought a few new pictures were in order...










(The one above shows 'Silicon Way')

[SO143]

25 churchill place

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25 Churchill Place UC by corerising, on Flickr














the construction chest