Following a complete stress analysis and working closely with the installers Lakesmere, Sotech’s engineering designers used the very latest 3D CAD equipment to ensure the bullnoses were precision engineered to meet the tight tolerances required. Around 200m of unique facetted bullnoses were fabricated and installed that providing the illusion of a long, smooth curve that perfectly matched the rollercoaster shape of the main roof. Optima interlocking wall planks were used as soffits. The Interchange links with an existing railway station that has been completely refurbished and it was here that Sotech’s Optima cassette rainscreen cladding panels have been installed. The panels, specially re-inforced against impact damage, were factory engineered to accommodate penetrations and to counteract any intolerance within the substructure.

The curvaceous form of the building evokes a sense of movement relating to the activity enclosed by and adjacent to the building. It curves in several planes creating complex and challenging shapes regulating the external mass of the interchange and achieving a more intimate, less intimidating scale to the interior. At night the interchange is a beacon of light attracting users and, illuminated by feature lighting integrated into the tree-like steel structure of the building. The indirect lighting uses suspended mirrors to give a softer feel and complement the large illuminated signage mounted on the main elevations. The Interchange itself is an amalgam of Allerton and Garston stations combined with new passenger facilities plus provision for buses, taxis and car parking.

The building has won the following awards: Community Award-ICE North West 80th Annual Awards (2007), Innovation Award- Network Rail Environment Awards 2006, National champion in the transport and freight category-Green Apple Awards 2004. The building’s sustainable features include: The use of waste blast furnace slag instead of cement, saving 310 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) as compared to the production of ordinary cement. Rainwater harvesting saving 700 000 litres of mains water per year and a roof using 2.3 tonnes of recycled aluminium. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood ensuring all timber products come from a responsibly managed forest. Solar photovoltaic cells on south facing windows providing some of the electricity and saving 1.5 tonnes of CO2 a year. Geo thermal heat pumps using 18 100-metre deep bore holes which, although more expensive to install, can save between 30 and 60 per cent on heating costs compared with conventional systems.

However bold in form or expressive in materials, it was striking to us that postwar architecture is vulnerable to appearing cold, incomplete and lacking in detail. Depending on the character of the interior design, even the strongest statements of modern architecture can today sometimes verge on feeling unadorned, like a dentist office waiting area. We wanted to add another scale of detail and information to the Breuer building’s interior. Only instead of using stark simple forms and exposed natural materials, we tried to enhance the space, to ‘re-humanize’ it, with curved shapes and a palette of synthetic materials (fiberglass, resin, nylon, acrylic and vinyl).

The Stockholm-based Island House by Widjedal Racki Bergerhoff Architects is a simple summer house with floor-to-ceiling window views of the forest and the lake. The natural scenery is its wallpaper, while the rest of the interior is adorned with slatted wood and white inner walls.

While the layout and technique of the home may be contemporary, the focus of its furnishings is on comfort and relaxation. Beyond the main section of the home is a large wooded lot that terminates on the shore of its lake. There is a second structure on the dock that includes a wood burning stove, fitting for a guest house or an office for the home’s occupants.

Formwerkz tackled this task by meeting with each individual who would live in this house and asking them about their needs, interests and design desires for the finished product. One common element that Formwerkz discovered was swimming, which the architects used as a communal and separational element between the structures. The large, L-shaped pool provides separation between each family’s space, but also acts as a point of leisure engagement for the families to come together. Atop the parent’s wing of the house is a rooftop garden, accessible by a sky bridge that extends from the younger family’s section.

In total, Formwerkz’ design provides both the community and privacy the family requested in an unique, modern home. While few may desire to live with their parents and children in one house, this design makes such living harmonious, peaceful, private and engaging at the same time.

The 45m long pool form the center piece of Casa Kimball is one of its main features. Every room in the house has a view of the infinity edge and ocean beyond. Three different levels of platforms within the pool allow guests to lie flat in the water, sit and lounge. Using a deep blue slightly reflective tile, the pool’s surface changes color to match the ocean. Swimming in the pool out toward the ocean creates the illusion of being in the ocean itself, one sees nothing but the endless horizon where water meets sky.

Like bookends, the building is capped at both ends with full height larch cladding, the course of the building intersects a series of larch timber “pods” which house meeting rooms, a library, a printing area and a WC. Harping back to the adjacent barn building’s history, the new studio utilises cor-ten detailing, further enhancing the sense of place, reflecting the old and discarded agricultural machinery and steelwork. Floating Wenge storage pods sit dividing reception, to kitchenette to work spaces, Knoll floating wide and deep desking with bespoke cabinets integrating designers files, tools and waste bin, married with wireless screen built-in computers and wireless keyboard ensure all is at hand in this exclusive user friendly environment.

The studio utilises rainwater harvesting, its own wind turbine, whole building air heat recovery circulation system, central vacuum and centralised lighting control. Utilising low energy lighting, organic paints and non-toxic chemical sealers further reinstates the philosophy of Nicolas Tye Architects. Their passion for this is clearly evident in their own building, an achievement that many companies long for. With a build cost of £225,000, the building mirrors a sensitive, but provocative response to modern design, sustainability and the contextual issues of today. The Long Barn Studio is an extraordinary symbol of the practice and its approach to design – a pure expression of ideology.

Before BIT moved to Bogstadveien, a bookstore Norli had a cafe place at the same location. The existing ceiling and lighting were kept, but the lighting concept was upgraded with the brass lamps of British designer Tom Dixon. To create a homelike atmosphere, we designed two large couches – one with a high back so that people can sit for a long time, and another one without back – for people just waiting for the food they have ordered. This sofas were made by the local producer Buskerud Trevare AS. To emphasize British influence we chose the textiles of the British designer Paul Smith for sofas. The employees, who work at BIT,are an important part of the new visual concept and for them we oredered the aprons of the same fabric as the sofas. Paul Smith was a great inspiration for the interior, therefore colors that have been chosen for interior – red, dark gray, light green, black are selected by studying his fabrics.

In the kitchen area using classic French bistro tiles, while the walls in the customer area is covered with photo wallpapers with a painting of a hunting picture.The original of the picture “Ruffnecked Grouse” ( Oil on canvas, size: 24×36 inches, 1971 ) by Peter Darro was bought by the BIT owner at RoGalleery NYC/ 2009. This painting is used for the packaging design as well.

The Experimental Theater, or multipurpose space, presents the design of a flexible theater, ready to meet a demand for a number of other possibilities related to theater, giving possibility to organize the space according to specific needs. It provides references to the ephemeral character of the show, with an opening for the social space and art, organizing workshops and educational activities as a way to connect the public, artists and the community. This approach aims to encourage collaborations among artists from all areas, thanks to an architecture capable of generating porosity among disciplines. With the intention to occupy all interstices available in the building, considering them all as a scenographical support to the creation process, its transparency aims to expose the movement to the eyes of the passersby and to offer work conditions with natural light for the artists. It removes the idea of ‘the stage and the room’, to change them into a unique place, without any walls or barriers, which will become an actual stage for action and an infinite range of occupations. A direct communication can be established between the spectator and the theater, between the actor and the spectator; through the fact that the spectator, placed in the middle of the action, is involved and permeated by it.

The interventions and proposals for the CREET are to provide it with equipment capable of placing it, in fact, as a reference in the national and international performing arts, and more than a receptor, make it a sponsor of many different artistic expressions. In one hand is the information, the movement of ideas, and on the other, the provision of services. Joining these activities in a single area in the country, will ensure the originality requested, where all the technical knowledge, information and practices will be able to structure and integrate the elements of the show, which will enhance its role as a point of identity and connection between Salvador, Bahia, Brazil and the world.

The space of the new acoustic shell was understood as the territory of the great spatial opportunities, resuming its important role as an alternative cultural field in Salvador. A walkway connects the NTCA, from the access level of the Choir, to its similar level across the valley, connecting the edges and allowing a new access to the new building, in a more complete urban articulation. The covering of the stage hangs from this walkway and lightweight structures support the folding cover of the audience which, on the other end, rests on the new balconies. It is onto this valley, with a perspective view to the city, that the new CREET installations open themselves, obedient to the architectural party of maximum visualization of its activities. The bottom of the valley receives a treatment that organizes its functions and flows, from the stage and activities courtyard to the loading and unloading docks. This occupation allowed to fully preserve the mass of vegetation on the opposite slope from the NTCA building.

Along the length of the rear facade of the theater, and taking advantage of the topography, the parking lot was installed. The proposal meets what was required by the program, but a very workable solution will allow twice as many parking places than what was required, thus facilitating its commercial exploitation. The bicycle racks have been strategically positioned to better receive the flow of this type of vehicles, considering its existence as an opportunity to encourage changes in the transport mode of the population.