The new expansion and partial renovation of the Isenberg School of Management nearly doubles the school’s current space to accommodate Isenberg’s growth in the last decade, while introducing new facilities for more than 150 staff and 5,000 students in undergraduate, master’s and PhD programs. BIG and Goody Clancy were commissioned in 2015 to design a flexible space that inspires and facilitates collaboration for every Isenberg student.

+8

“As a top business school, we want to offer our students, faculty and staff an environment that inspires creativity, communication, innovation and collaboration—a physical space designed to train and prepare students for careers in the 21st century. The new Business Innovation Hub clearly reflects our mission and vision for the future.  Equally important, with flexible spaces and state-of-the-art tools and technologies, the Business Innovation Hub will continue to meet the rapidly evolving needs of the Isenberg community.” Tom Moliterno, Interim Dean, Isenberg School of Management.

Prominently situated on Haigis Mall near the entrance to the campus, a dramatic triangular glass entrance created by a domino-effect greets students. The building exterior is wrapped in straight, vertical pillars that gradually slope downward, creating a distinct appearance without any curved elements.

The Business Innovation Hub directly extends the school’s existing 1964 building from the north and east sides in a wide circular loop, linking back on the upper floors to maintain connectivity. The loop consolidates Isenberg’s faculty and staff under one roof, creating a singular place of arrival and a strong visual identity for the entire Isenberg School of Management.

“The new Business Innovation Hub at the Isenberg School of Management is conceived as an extension of both the building and the campus mall. The linear structure is bent to form a full loop framing an internal courtyard for the life of the students. The façade is pulled away in a domino effect to create a generous invitation from the Haigis Mall to the Learning Commons. The mall and the courtyard – inside and outside form a forum for the students, the faculty and the profession to meet, mingle and mix society and academia.” Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Creative Director, BIG.

The Business Innovation Hub’s exterior is clad in copper, so long-term exposure to the elements will naturally weather the metal from a dark ochre to an enduring patina. With longevity and sustainability in mind, the building also targets LEED Silver certification.

“There’s no other building at UMass Amherst that’s going to look remotely like this. Isenberg is trying to raise its profile among peer institutions. We have no doubt this will help Isenberg attract the best and brightest faculty and students.” Roger Goldstein, Principal, Goody Clancy.

Upon entering, students and faculty arrive at the 5,000SF Learning Commons. Daylight peers between the accordion-like pillars to illuminate the multi-story atrium, where the heart of the business school hums with students learning, networking and dining.

The bright and spacious Learning Commons doubles as an event venue for guest speakers, award ceremonies, banquets and career fairs. In any room or hallway, natural light reaches inside from both the campus and the inner courtyard.

Throughout the Business Innovation Hub, spaces are designed with student interactions, teamwork and chance encounters in mind: soft chairs adorn the corridors, benches are affixed to the grand stairway and classroom chairs can easily maneuver for theater-style lectures or small group work.

On the second and third floors, students and staff occupy the innovation labs, advising spaces and faculty offices. To support the career development of every Isenberg student, classrooms are equipped with integrated technology for distance learning. In addition, the Chase Career Center gains 15 new interview rooms, and various conference rooms and breakout areas are distributed throughout the loop.

The inner spaces of the extension face a circular courtyard, where an open-air garden and stone benches create an oasis for collaboration and contemplation. The courtyard connects back to the campus via two pathways between the original Isenberg building and the Business Innovation Hub. The buildings are fused by two bridges above the paths: the large bridge cloaked in copper becomes the gateway to the courtyard while the small bridge glazed with glass forms a visual continuity around the interior courtyard.

In the evening, the Business Innovation Hub glows from the life within—appearing as an inviting beacon on the campus and creating a lasting impression for campus visitors, staff and students.

FACTS

NAME: Isenberg School of Management Business Innovation Hub

SIZE: 70,000ft2 / 6,500m2
LOCATION: Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
CLIENT: University of Massachusetts Building Authority

DESIGN ARCHITECT: BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

ARCHITECT OF RECORD: Goody Clancy
COLLABORATORS: Richmond So Engineers, Arup, BIG IDEAS, Nitsch, VAV, Towers Golde, Haley & Aldrich, Acentech, HLB, SGH, PEER, WIL-SPEC, VGA, Lerch Bates, LN Consulting, Mohar Designs

BIG – BJARKE INGELS GROUP

PARTNERS-IN-CHARGE: Bjarke Ingels, Thomas Christoffersen, Beat Schenk, Daniel Sundlin
PROJECT LEADERS: Yu Inamoto, Pauline Lavie-Luong, Hung Kai Liao
TEAM: Alice Cladet, Amina Blacksher, Barbara Stallone, Beat Schenk, Cheyenne Vandevoorde, Daniel Kidd, Davide Maggio, Deborah Campbell, Denys Kozak, Derek Wong, Domenic Schmid, Douglass Alligood, Elena Bresciani, Emily Mohr, Fabian Lorenz, Francesca Portesine, Ibrahim Salman, Jan Leenknegt, Justyna Mydlak, Kai-Uwe Bergmann, Kristoffer Negendahl, Ku Hun Chung, Linda Halim, Lucas Hong, Manon Otto, Maria Eugenia Dominguez, Mustafa Khan, Nicolas Gustin, Pei Pei Yang, Peter Lee, Seoyoung Shin, Simon Lee, Terrence Chew, Tianqi Zhang, Tore Banke, Yehezkiel Wiliardy, Yixin Li

The post Isenberg School of Management opens Business Innovation Hub by BIG appeared first on Archipreneur.

By 2050, 90% of the world’s largest cities will be exposed to rising seas. The vast majority of coastal cities will be impacted by coastal erosion and flooding, displacing millions of people, while destroying homes and infrastructure. Marc Collins Chen, Co-Founder and CEO of OCEANIX, said humans can live on floating cities in harmony with life below water. “It is not a question of one versus the other. The technology exists for us to live on water, without killing marine ecosystems. It is our goal to make sure sustainable floating cities are affordable and available to all coastal areas in need. They should not become a privilege of the rich.”

Designed as a man-made ecosystem, Oceanix City is anchored in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, channeling flows of energy, water, food and waste to create a blueprint for a modular maritime metropolis.

“9 out of 10 of the world’s largest cities will be exposed to rising seas by 2050. The sea is our fate – it may also be our future. The first sustainable and self-sustained floating community Oceanix City is designed as a human made ecosystem channeling circular flows of energy, water, food and waste. Oceanix City is a blueprint for a modular maritime metropolis anchored in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The additive architecture can grow, transform and adapt organically over time, evolving from a neighborhood of 300 residents to a city of 10,000 – with the possibility of scaling indefinitely to provide thriving nautical communities for people who care about each other and our planet.” Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner, BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

Oceanix City is designed to grow, transform and adapt organically over time, evolving from neighborhoods to cities with the possibility of scaling indefinitely. Modular neighborhoods of 2 hectares create thriving self-sustaining communities of up to 300 residents with mixed-use space for living, working and gathering during day and night time. All built structures in the neighborhood are kept below 7 stories to create a low center of gravity and resist wind. Every building fans out to self-shade internal spaces and public realm, providing comfort and lower cooling costs while maximizing roof area for solar capture.

Communal farming is the heart of every platform, allowing residents to embrace sharing culture and zero waste systems. Below sea level, beneath the platforms, biorock floating reefs, seaweed, oysters, mussel, scallop and clam farming clean the water and accelerate ecosystem regeneration.

By clustering six neighborhoods around a protected central harbor, larger villages of 12 hectares can accommodate up to 1,650 residents. Social, recreational and commercial functions are placed around the sheltered inner ring to encourage citizens to gather and move around the village. Residents can easily walk or boat through the city using electric vehicles.

Aggregating to reach a critical density, six villages connect to form a city of 10,000 residents with a strong sense of community and identity. A larger protected harbor is formed in the heart of the city. Floating destinations and art, including six specialized landmark neighborhoods with a public square, market place and centers for spirituality, learning, health, sport and culture create destinations drawing residents from across the city and anchoring each neighborhood in a unique identity. All communities regardless of size will prioritize locally sourced materials for building construction, including fast-growing bamboo that has six times the tensile strength of steel, a negative carbon footprint, and can be grown on the neighborhoods themselves.

Floating cities can be prefabricated on shore and towed to their final site, reducing construction costs. Pairing this with the low cost of leasing space on the ocean creates an affordable model of living. These factors mean that affordable housing can be rapidly deployed to coastal megacities in dire need. The first Oceanix Cities are calibrated for the most vulnerable tropical and sub-tropical regions around the globe.

OCEANIX CITY FACTS

CLIENT: OCEANIX

SIZE: 75 hectares

COLLABORATORS: MIT Center for Ocean Engineering, Mobility in Chain, Sherwood Design Engineers, Center for Zero Waste Design, Transsolar KlimaEngineering, Global Coral Reef Alliance, Studio Other Spaces (Olafur Eliasson and Sebastian Behmann), Dickson Despommier

BIG–BJARKE INGELS GROUP

Partners-in-Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Daniel Sundlin
Project Leaders: Alana Goldweit, Jeremy Alain Siegel

Team: Andy Coward, Ashton Stare, Autumn Visconti, Bernardo Schuhmacher, Carlos Castillo, Cristina Medina-Gonzalez, Jacob Karasik, Kristoffer Negendahl, Mai Lee, Manon Otto, Terrence Chew, Thomas McMurtrie, Tore Banke, Tracy Sodder, Walid Bhatt, Will Campion, Yushan Huang, Tore Banke, Ziyu Guoh

The post BIG Unveils Oceanix City at the United Nations appeared first on Archipreneur.

The 10,000ft2 learning universe for children aged three to nine is located in WeWork’s HQ in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. The school environment is designed to embed the values of a new conscious approach to education. The opening of WeGrow happens just as BIG completes Glasir College merging three individual schools in Faroe Islands, and plans for the opening of the Isenberg School of Management extension at the University of Massachusetts next Spring 2019.

“WeGrow was created to unleash the creative potential of all generations through design. With this first location in New York City, we have created a space to facilitate and accommodate WeGrow’s transformative approach to learning because as life evolves, so should the framework in which we live in. Children realize they have agency and when design is less prescriptive and more intuitive – we don’t have to tell kids how to use the space and every interpretation of how they use the space is good.” Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner & Creative Director, BIG; Chief Architect, WeWork.

WeGrow is designed for learning to be a transformational and holistic experience. A field of super-elliptic objects with a variety of functions allow children to move freely throughout the day and to learn from the environment around them and each other. The learning landscape encourages collaboration by emphasizing transparent and communal spaces, which comprise more than half of the school: four classrooms, flexible workshops, community space, multi-purpose studio, art studio, music room and other playscapes support the energy of creation and togetherness.

“WeGrow is committed to elevating the world’s collective consciousness. We believe we are all students of life for life, and that the very purpose of life is to be in a constant state of personal growth. Through a curriculum that focuses equally on mind, body and soul, we help students identify their superpowers and discover how to use them to help others.” Rebekah Neumann, Founder & CEO, WeGrow; Founding Partner & Chief Brand Officer, WeWork.

Most of the partitions inside the school are shelves raised to the level of the child, allowing natural light to reach deep inside the building. Three different shelving levels for each age group curve occasionally to create various activity pockets and give a feeling of comfort, safety and community, while allowing teachers to have full perspective of the space at all times. Above, acoustic clouds made of felt reflect the different patterns in nature – fingerprint, coral, landscape and moon – and illuminate with Ketra bulbs that shift in color and intensity based on the time of day.

Each learning station within WeGrow includes furniture with details and materials carefully designed by BIG to optimize the educational environment: modular classrooms promote movement and collaboration, puzzle tables and chairs manufactured by Bednark Studio come in kid and parent sizes to offer equal perspectives, and the vertical garden with tiles made in Switzerland by Laufen are pockets to lavender, sweet violets, chocolate mint and others depending on shade exposure.

Nature’s qualities are often borrowed throughout WeGrow to create a calm setting for a more focused study: the mushroom shelves, magic meadow with soft pebbles and reading hives that form an immersive library shape an organic learning environment.

Teachers and parents share the lobby with the children, where a playful felt nook forms from the smooth cut out in the walls to serve as a flexible work, meet and waiting area. Children can join in the brain puzzle, an all-felt lounge that can be taken apart for playing and learning. From the lobby to the classrooms, WeGrow is lit by Gople Lamp and Alphabet of Light – flexible lighting systems designed by BIG Ideas and manufactured by Artemide to create ambience effects that form comfortable, natural lighting throughout the school day.

Playful and transparent, yet homelike and structured, WeGrow nurtures the child’s education through introspection, exploration and discovery.

FACTS

CLIENT: WeWork

COLLABORATORS: WeWork, Environetics Group Inc., Cosentini Associates, William Vitacco Associates Ltd., Digifabshop, Bednark Studio, LAUFEN, Ketra, Febrik

LOCATION: New York, USA

SIZE: 10,000ft² / 930m²

BIG – BJARKE INGELS GROUP

Partners-in-Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Daniel Sundlin, Beat Schenk
Project Leader: Otilia Pupezeanu
Project Architect: Jeremy Babel

Team: Bart Ramakers, Douglass Alligood, Erik Berg Kreider, Evan Saarinen, Fabian Lorenz, Filip Milovanovic, Florencia Kratsman, Francesca Portesine, Il Hwan Kim, Jakob Lange, Ji Young Yoon, Kristoffer Negendahl, Josiah Poland, Megan Ng, Mengzhu Jiang, Ryan Yang, Stephen Kwok, Terrence Chew, Tore Banke, Tracy Sodder

The post WeGrow Creates a New School Designed by BIG appeared first on Archipreneur.

+18

Central to the Noma design was the idea of dissolving the restaurant’s individual functions and organising them into a collection of separate yet connected buildings. A total of 11 spaces, each tailored to their specific needs and built of the finest materials best suited for their functions, are densely clustered around restaurant’s heart putting the chefs at the heard of it all.

The 40-cover dining room and adjacent private dining room are made of stacked timber planks that resemble neatly piled wood at a lumber yard. A large skylight and an expansive set of windows that slide to reveal the outdoor permagarden allow guests to truly sense all of the seasons and the restaurant’s natural surrounds. Outside, the restaurant’s three greenhouses are used as a garden, test kitchen and bakery.

Each ‘building within the building’ is connected by glass covered paths for chefs and guests to follow the changes in weather, daylight and seasons – making the natural environment an integral part of the culinary experience. Guests have the opportunity to walk through each of the surrounding buildings and to experience a variety of Nordic materials and building techniques: the barbecue is a giant walk-in hut, and the lounge looks and feels like a giant, cozy fireplace made entirely of brick inside and out.

PROJECT TEAM

Partners-in-Charge:Bjarke Ingels, Finn Nørkjær

Project Managers:Ole Elkjær-Larsen, Tobias Hjortdal

Project Leader:Frederik Lyng

Team:Olga Litwa, Lasse-Lyhne-Hansen, Athena Morella, Enea Michelesio, Jonas Aarsø Larsen, Eskild Schack Pedersen, Claus Rytter Bruun de Neergaard, Hessam Dadkhah, Allen Dennis Shakir, Göcke Günbulut, Michael Kepke, Stefan Plugaru, Borko Nikolic, Dag Præstegaard, Timo Harboe Nielsen, Margarita Nutfulina, Nanna Gyldholm Møller, Joos Jerne, Kim Christensen, Tore Banke, Kristoffer Negendahl, Jakob Lange, Hugo Yun Tong Soo, Morten Roar Berg, Yan Ma, Tiago Sá, Ryohei Koike, Yoko Gotoh, Kyle Thomas David Tousant, Geoffrey Eberle, Jonseok Hang, Ren Yang Tan, Nina Vuga, Giedrius Mamavicius, Yehezkiel Wiliardy, Simona Reiciunaite, Yunyoung Choi, Vilius Linge, Tomas Karl Ramstrand, Aleksander Wadas, Andreas Mullertz, Angelos Siampakoulis, Manon Otto, Carlos Soriah

PROJECT DATA

The post Noma 2.0 Opens in a Culinary Garden Village Designed by BIG appeared first on Archipreneur.

The 96,000m² office development for the state-owned Shenzhen Energy Company is designed to look and feel at home in the cultural, political and business center of Shenzhen, while standing out as a new social and sustainable landmark at the main axis of the city. BIG won the international design competition in the city known as China’s ‘Silicon Valley’ with ARUP and Transsolar in 2009 and started construction in 2012.

“Shenzhen Energy Mansion is our first realized example of ‘engineering without engines’ – the idea that we can engineer the dependence on machinery out of our buildings and let architecture fulfill the performance. Shenzhen Energy Mansion appears as a subtle mutation of the classic skyscraper and exploits the building’s interface with the external elements: sun, daylight, humidity and wind to create maximum comfort and quality inside. A natural evolution that looks different because it performs differently.” Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner, BIG.

The volume and height of the new headquarters for Shenzhen Energy Company was predetermined by the urban masterplan for the central area. The development consists of two towers rising 220m to the north and 120m to the south, linked together at the feet by a 34m podium housing the main lobbies, a conference center, cafeteria and exhibition space. Together with the neighboring towers, the new towers form a continuous curved skyline marking the center of Shenzhen.

BIG developed an undulating building envelope which creates a rippled skin around both towers and breaks away from the traditional glass curtain wall.

By folding parts of the envelope that would reduce solar loads and glare, a façade with closed and open parts oscillate between transparency to one side and opacity to the other. The closed parts provide high-insulation while blocking direct sunlight and providing views out. As a result, the towers appear as a classical shape with an organic pattern from a distance and as an elegant pleated structure from close-up.

The sinuous direction of the façade corresponds to the solar orientation: it maximizes north-facing opening for natural light and views, while minimizing exposure on the sunny sides. This sustainable facade system reduces the overall energy consumption of the building without any moving parts or complicated technology.

From the street level, a series of walls are pulled open for visitors to enter the commercial spaces from the north and south end of the buildings, while professionals enter from the front plaza into the daylight-filled lobby. Once inside, the linearity of the building façade continues horizontally: the pixel landscape of the stone planter boxes is in the same dimensions and arranged in the same pattern as the ripples of the building envelope.

The offices for Shenzhen Energy Company are placed on the highest floors for employees to enjoy views to the city, while the remaining floors are rentable office space. Within the protruded areas of the building, the façade is stretched out—two smooth deformations create large spaces for extra good views on each floor, meeting rooms, executive clubs and staff facilities.

The folded wall provides a free view through clear glass in one direction and creates a condition with plenty of diffused daylight by reflecting the direct sun between the interior panels. Even when the sun comes directly from the east or west, the main part of the solar rays is reflected off of the glass due to the flat angle of the windows.

As the sun sets, the changing transparency and the curved lines of the façade create an almost wood-like texture or a scene of vertical terraced hills. The slits that open between the curtain wall to reveal special spaces such as boardrooms, executive offices and breakout areas, lend the building a distinct character from different parts of the city.

+23

FACTS

Client: Shenzhen Energy Company
Size: 96,000 m²
Location: Shenzhen, China
Collaborators: ARUP, Transsolar, Front

BIG-BJARKE INGELS GROUP

Partners-in-Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Andreas Klok Pedersen
Project Manager: Martin Voelkle
Project Leaders: Song He, Andre Schmidt
Team: Alessio Zenaro, Alex Cozma, Alina Tamosiunaite, Alysen Hiller, Ana Merino, Andreas Geisler Johansen, Annette Jensen, Armor Rivas, Balaj IIulian, Brian Yang, Baptiste Blot, Buster Christiansen, Cat Huang, Cecilia Ho, Christian Alvarez, Christin Svensson, Claudia Hertrich, Claudio Moretti, Cory Mattheis, Dave Brown, Dennis Rasmussen, Doug Stechschulte, Eskild Nordbud, Fan Zhang, Felicia Guldberg, Flavien Menu, Fred Zhou, Gaetan Brunet, Gül Ertekin, Henrik Kania, Iris Van der Heide, James Schrader, Jan Magasanik, Jan Borgstrøm, Jeppe Ecklon, Jelena Vucic, João Albuquerque, Jonas Mønster, Karsten Hansen, Kuba Snopek, Malte Kloe, Mikkel Marcker Stubgaard, Michael Andersen, Michal Kristof, Min Ter Lim, Oana Simionescu, Nicklas A. Rasch, Philip Sima, Rasmus Pedersen, Rune Hansen, Rui Huang, Sofia Gaspar, Stanley Lung, Sun Ming Lee, Takuya Hosokai, Todd Bennett, Xi Chen, Xing Xiong, Xiao Lu, Xu Li, Yijie Dan, Zoltan Kalaszi

The post BIG Completes Subtle Mutation of the Classic Skyscraper in Shenzhen appeared first on Archipreneur.