BIG | Bjarke Ingels Group

The Plus

GAUSTADVEGEN, NORWAY

The Plus

GAUSTADVEGEN, NORWAY

2022

CLIENT

Vestre A/S

TYPOLOGY

Infrastructure

SIZE M2/FT2

7,000 / 75,000

STATUS

COMPLETED

Designed for furniture manufacturer Vestre, The Plus is a factory, visitor center, and 300-acre park located in Magnor, Norway near Vestre’s HQ and steel factory. Norway’s single largest investment in the furniture industry in decades, the 7,000 m2 production facility is dedicated to the cleanest carbon-neutral fabrication of urban furniture in the world.

Constructed in just 18 months, the building is made of local mass timber, low-carbon concrete, and recycled steel, and is set to become the first industrial building to achieve the highest environmental BREEAM Outstanding rating. The factory doubles as a public park for hiking and camping and aligns with the region’s mission to establish a green manufacturing hub outside of Oslo.

PROGRAM — Four factory halls are arranged radially to meet each other at the center. This formation allows short distances between each production wing and an opportunity to extend them in the future.

ROUNDABOUT — At the center, a logistical roundabout coordinates the traffic between the factory halls. Assembly lines, forklifts and people move in an organized flow around a central courtyard.

OFFICE + EXPERIENCE CENTER — The office and exhibition center are placed at the heart of the factory above the logistical roundabout. Elevating them creates a panoramic overview without disturbing the production flow.

RECIPROCAL ROOF — Each production wing has a lifted roof corner to integrate the office and exhibition center into the main building envelope. As such, the office keeps the forest views while gaining views into each production hall.

PUBLIC COURTYARD — The placement of the roundabout creates an outdoor courtyard which marks the heart of the factory. It is conceived as a green yet urban public plaza to display Vestre's latest furniture collections.

GREEN ROOF — The forest floor is lifted to the rooftop. Native seedlings and plants from the site have been cultivated and replanted to cover the factory's roof.

24/7 ACCESS — Based on the Norwegian "Allemannsretten", the roof and the courtyard are accessible 24/7 all year round. Two staircases with views into the factory and an ADA friendly forest path lead up to the public roof. A slide ensures a fast track back to the ground.

The Plus is conceived as a radial array of four main production halls – a warehouse, color factory, wood factory, and the assembly – that connect at the center and generate the ‘plus’ shape at its intersection. The layout enables an efficient, flexible, and transparent workflow between the manufacturing units and an intuitive visitor experience.

Like a flowchart, the entire interior is organized with the color of each machine overflowing to the floors. Exploring The Plus feels like moving through an archipelago of colorful islands where the experience and overview of the factory’s activities are unified.

Inside the factories, each wing has one alternating ceiling corner lifted to create inclined roofs that allow views into the production halls as well as the forest outside. Along the color and wood factory, the sloping roofs are extended to form a pathway for visitors and staff to hike up and down the building while observing the production processes inside. All four production units are built with 21 m free-spanning, cross-laminated timber, creating flexible column free–spaces.

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"The radical transparency invites visitors and hikers to enjoy the whole process of creation while providing Vestre’s team with the thrill of working in the middle of the forest. To us, The Plus is a crystal-clear example of Hedonistic Sustainability - showing us how our sustainable future will not only be better for the environment, but also more beautiful to work in and more fun to visit."

Bjarke Ingels — Founder & Creative Director, BIG

From all four sides of the buildings, visitors and staff will be invited to hike around the facility and end their walk on the roof. Here, 900 photovoltaic panels are placed and angled according to optimal solar efficiency while effective construction and materials methods, rainwater collection systems, heat and cooling systems, green roofs, and electric vehicles contribute to ca 90% lower energy demand than that of a conventional factory. An ADA-accessible ramp will allow wheelchairs and strollers to enjoy the serpentine path and the experience of being surrounded by pine trees on all sides.

All materials were carefully selected for their environmental impact, with the façade constructed from local timber, low-carbon concrete, and recycled reinforcement steel.
Every aspect of the design is based on principles of renewable and clean energy to match Vestre’s eco-friendly production, such as ensuring a minimum of 50% lower greenhouse gas emissions than comparable factories.

The heart of The Plus draws visitors into the exhibition centers Vestre Energy and Clean Water Center where the public can learn about energy, water and circular design. A logistics office with direct connections to all four production halls allows Vestre’s team to process logistical traffic with maximum efficiency. The central hub wraps around a public, circular courtyard where the latest outdoor furniture collections are displayed according to the changing seasons. The courtyard doubles as a panopticon for visitors and staff to fully experience the factory’s production processes.

"Playfulness, democracy, and sustainability are at the heart of the Vestre brand and everything they do; our wooden, colorful factory in the middle of the Norwegian woods - surrounded by a 300,000 m2 public forest park where the local community can come to experience the gigantic Vestre furniture pieces sprinkled throughout - lives and breathes this philosophy."

David Zahle — Partner, BIG

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Proving that production can be sustainable and profitable even in a high-cost country like Norway, The Plus – a hybrid of a transparent and open production facility, a public park, and a literal green landmark for the manufacturing industry – exemplifies how advancements in fabrication and manufacturing can help shape both the factories of the future, and the way we experience them.

Bjarke Ingels David Zahle Ole Elkjær-Larsen Agnieszka Wardzińska Alexander Jacobson Andrea Hektor Andy Coward Ariana Ribas Ariana Szmedra Bjarke Koch-Ørvad Camille Breuil Cæcilie Søs Brandt-Olsen Claudia Bertolotti Duncan Horswill Eduardo Javier Sosa Trevino Eva Seo-Andersen Ewa Zapiec Filip Fot Frederic Lucien Engasser Frederik Skou Jensen Jens Majdal Kaarsholm Jesper Kanstrup Petersen Julia Novaes Tabet Julien Bernard Jacques Picard Julius Victor Schneevoigt Kaoan Hengles De Lima Katrine Juul Katrine Sandstrøm Kristoffer Negendahl Ksenia Zhitomirskaya Luca Pileri Magni Waltersson Miles Treacy Nanna Gyldholm Møller Neringa Jurkonyte Ningnan Ye Palita Tungjaroen Paula Madrid Rron Bexheti Steen Kortbæk Svendsen Thor Larsen-Lechuga Tobias Hjortdal Tommy Bjørnstrup Tore Banke Tristan Harvey Ulla Hornsyld Viktoria Millentrup Xingyue Huang Zuzanna Eugenia Montwill Ákos Márk Horváth Jean-Sébastien Pagnon Andreas Bak Cheng-Huang Lin Giulia Frittoli Sui King Yu Jenna Hukkinen Marcel Götz Jonas Rask Edward Durie

AWARDS

DOGA-merket for Architecture and Design, 2023

Scandinavian Design Awards for Architecture of the Year, 2023

DETAIL Reader's Choice Awards, 2022

Interior Design Magazine Best of Year Awards for Greater World Sustainability, 2022

COLLABORATORS

Bollinger+Grohmann
Gade & Mortensen
Nordic Architects AS
Asplan Viak
Erichsen og Horgen AS
Norconsult AS
Foyn Consult AS
Fokus Rådgivning
Multiconsult AS
ØM Fjeld AS
Woodcon AS
Reflex
Hallas AS
Loe VVS Prosjekt AS
Cowi AS
Fokus Rad AS
Melby Maskin AS
EMV Construction AS
YC ROR AS
Energima Prosjekt SA
Minel Elinstallasjon US
Solcellespesialisten AS
TKS Heiser AS
Bygganalyse AS
Evotek AS

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Danish Maritime Museum

HELSINGØR, DENMARK

Danish Maritime Museum

HELSINGØR, DENMARK

2013

CLIENT

Helsingør Municipality | Helsingør Maritime Museum

TYPOLOGY

Culture, Interiors

SIZE M2/FT2

7,600 / 81,806

STATUS

COMPLETED

The Danish Maritime Museum is located in a unique historic and spatial context: between one of Denmark’s most important and famous buildings, the Kronborg Castle, and a new, ambitious cultural center – the Culture Yard.

BIG was invited for a competition to design a Maritime museum inside the neighboring decommissioned dry-dock, where ships used to be built. Instead, BIG proposed to place the museum underground, just outside the wall of the dock in order to preserve the dock as an open, outdoor display, maintaining the powerful structure as the center of the Maritime Museum. By placing the museum this way, it appears as a discreet part of the cultural environment associated with the Kronborg Castle and the neighboring Culture Yard, while at the same time manifesting itself as an independent institution.

Situated right next to Hamlet’s Kronborg Castle which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000, the new museum had to stay invisible as to not distract from the castle. At the same time, the museum’s leadership wanted a recognizable institution to attract as many museum visitors as possible.

Instead of placing the museum in the dock, BIG proposed to turn the dock inside out and add three bridges.

"When one designs next to one of Denmark’s most important architectural icons, the UNESCO World Heritage Kronborg Castle, it requires an equal dose of respect and sensitivity. At the same time, it is every Museum Director’s dream to have their institution be recognized as its own architectural icon. Our challenge was to do both at the same time."

David Zahle — Partner, BIG

The bridges span the dry dock providing visitors with short-cuts to the various portions of the museum. One bridge serves to navigate visitors to the entrance while another contains an auditorium, creating access from Kronborg Castle to the harbor. The bridges create a dynamic tension between old and new.

The arrival to the museum is through a descending set of ramps which enter both the dry dock and the world of the seafarer. Like a siren’s song, the museum attracts the passer-by deeper and deeper into the long and noble Danish Maritime history in its galleries, finally standing in the dry dock with a view of the skies.

With hard-sound reflecting surfaces and an open ‘ceiling,’ the dry dock’s acoustics are perfect for dance performances and concerts, but also suitable for other outdoor activities, exhibitions, and events – turning the Maritime Museum into a center for cultural life in Helsingor. Through minimal means, BIG’s design created maximum functionality and architectural resonance.

The architecture of the museum is a collision between the old and the new: heavy textured concrete and light transparent steel and glass.

The anchor chain serves the double purpose of exhibit and structure – not just a theatrical element, but a hard working part of the building.

The galleries underneath are tilted glass pavilions open to the surrounding dock. To slim the structure down, the span is cut in half by hanging the floor from the ceiling.

The dock creates a museum space as a cohesive floor plan which discreetly becomes lower and lower across the entire museum length. Simple accessibility ramps and bridges are added, cutting through the dock in a structural and sculptural way.

The museum is a new form of public space as an urban void in Helsingor Docklands – an unexpected venue for the cultural life of Helsingor.

Bjarke Ingels Finn Nørkjær David Zahle Annette Jensen Armen Menendian Jan Magasanik Lone Fenger Albrechtsen Stefan Plugaru Zoltan Kalászi Gül Ertekin Alina Tamosiunaite Alysen Hiller Ana Merino Andreas Geisler Johansen Ariel Joy Norback Wallner Baptiste Blot Christian Alvarez Christin Svensson Claudia Hertrich Claudio Moretti Cory Mattheis Dennis Rasmussen Eskild Nordbud Felicia Guldberg Gaetan Brunet Henrik Kania James Duggan Schrader Jan Borgstrøm Jeppe Ecklon Johan Cool Jonas Mønster Karsten Hammer Hansen Kirstine Ragnhild Lucas Torres Aguero Malte Kloe Michael Andersen Oana Simionescu Rasmus Pedersen Riccardo Mariano Rune Hansen Sebastian Latz Tammy Teng Tina Tröster Todd Bennett Xi Chen Xing Xiong Xu Li Rasmus Rodam Marc Jay Tina Lund Højgaard Jensen Michal Kristof Andy Yu Qianyi Lim Maria Mavriku Masatoshi Oka Pablo Labra Peter Rieff Sara Sosio John Pries Jensen Kristina Loskotova

AWARDS

Dansk Stalpris (Danish Steel Award), 2016

Mies van der Rohe Award Finalist, 2015

RUM Magazine Award for Best Architecture of the Year, 2015

AIA Institute National Honor Award for Architecture, 2015

RIBA Awards European National Winner, 2014

World Architecture Festival Best Cultural Category Winner, 2014

European Prize of Architecture Philippe Rotthier, 2014

Danmarks Rederiforenings SØFARTSPRIS, 2014

Architizer A+ Awards Jury Winner, 2014

AIANY Design Awards Honor for Architecture, 2014

ArchDaily Cultural Building of the Year, 2014

DETAIL Prize, 2014

AL Light & Architecture Design Awards Commendable Achievement, 2014

COLLABORATORS

Alectia
Rambøll
Freddy Madsen Ingeniører
Kossmann Dejong
KiBiSi

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National Museum of the United States Navy

WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES

National Museum of the United States Navy

WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES

2023

CLIENT

MGAC

TYPOLOGY

Culture

SIZE M2/FT2

25,080 / 270,000

STATUS

IDEA

The planned state-of-the-art National Museum of the United States Navy is envisioned as a home for both Naval veterans and the public, a living memorial to the U.S. Navy’s heritage and a lighthouse in the community for education and public events.

The 270,000 sq ft campus includes a new building and ceremonial courtyard, as well as the potential renovation of existing historical buildings. BIG’s competition proposal, developed in collaboration with landscape architects Olin Studio and digital media agency Squint/Opera, seeks to reflect the historical context of the Navy Yard, while referencing the scale, materials and details of Navy vessels. An array of large-scale vitrines open up towards a public street, welcoming visitors and locals with an impressive glimpse into the museum’s collection of artifacts inside and outside, conveying the mission, lineage and breadth of operations that constitutes the US Navy.

"As a Dane and a resident of a houseboat – a Norwegian ferry I converted into my family home – to imagine a museum for the United States Navy is a true labor of love! Our concept for the National Museum of the United States Navy is informed by the beautiful heritage of the buildings in the Navy Yard. The Navy belongs in the water, so we put the museum in the water. A series of long slender buildings line up abreast to the main street showing off life-size artifacts from the 5 branches of the Navy: Surface, Subsurface, Expedition, Aviation and Space. The 5 buildings flow together to form an epic atrium cascading from the roof to the ground where all exhibitions will be visually and physically accessible upon arrival. This massive space will also serve as the majestic setting for ceremonies honoring those who served. As imagined, the Museum will be of the Navy as well as for the Navy."

Bjarke Ingels — Founder & Creative Director, BIG

BIG’s vision is developed with flexibility and utility in mind to allow for different events simultaneously in and around the building. Rather than closing or compromising the museum due to events, the visitor experience is enhanced by the varying spectacles playing out during the day allowing visitors glimpses of events while enjoying full access to the galleries.

The final concept will be chosen from a total of five concepts from the Naval Heritage History and Command’s Artistic Ideas Competition for the National Museum of the U.S. Navy (NMUSN).

The planned new museum is set to become a destination amongst the vast offerings of exhibition experiences in D.C, while also being a welcoming place of remembrance and contemplation for enlisted sailors, Navy Veterans and their families.

Bjarke Ingels Thomas Christoffersen Julie Kaufman Kristian Hindsberg Yu Inamoto Douglass Alligood Ema Hristova Bakalova Ryan Henriksen Jasmine Idiakhoa Hudson Parris

COLLABORATORS

Squint Opera
Olin Studio

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The Heights School

ARLINGTON, UNITED STATES

The Heights School

ARLINGTON, UNITED STATES

2019

CLIENT

Arlington Public Schools

TYPOLOGY

Education, Interiors

SIZE M2/FT2

16,722 / 180,000

STATUS

COMPLETED

The Heights School opens as a cascade of green terraces fanning from a central axis, addressing the academic needs of Arlington’s two county-wide school programs while forming a vertical community within its dense urban context. By merging two existing secondary schools – the H-B Woodlawn Program and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Program into a new 180,000 sq ft building, the school expects enrollment of up to 775 students.

BIG worked closely with Arlington Public Schools (APS), WRAP (West Rosslyn Area Plan), and the Arlington community, to ensure that the design supports both H-B Woodlawn’s focus on trust and self-governance and Shriver’s extensive resources for students with specialized educational needs. The Heights has been designated LEED Gold certification.

The Heights building is situated within a compact urban site bounded by roads on three sides and a portion of Rosslyn Highlands Park. Conceived as a stack of five rectangular floorplates that rotate around a fixed pivot point, BIG maintains the community feeling and spatial efficiencies of a one-story school.

The Heights Building Site — The compact urban site is bounded by roads on three sides. Along 18th Street, the site shares a common edge with Rosslyn Highlands Park.

Site Objective — A vertical stack of classroom bars stretches across the center of the site, creating a protective barrier between the aesthetic field and the busy urban corridor of Wilson Boulevard.

Cascading Terraces — To create green space by the classrooms, the bars rotate around a single hinge point which creates 4 terraces from the education spaces to the recreation field. The first terrace is public when school is closed.

Public Spaces Towards Wilson — A generous lobby invites the public inside for community-oriented programs hosted throughout the building. The gymnasium and auditorium are centrally located to the lobby.

In-Between Spaces — Larger communal spaces, incl. cafeteria, library, and music rooms are easily accessible from the central space. The library is above the gym and the music rooms are above the theater.

Manipulated Ground Plane — The ground plane manipulations create circulation and daylight benefits for the school. Two sunken courtyards provide naturally lit outdoor spaces while the entrances serve as small public parks.

Rotating Stair Connection — A rotating staircase cuts through the interior to connect the four-tiered terraces, allowing students to circulate outside, forging a stronger bond between the neighborhood and the school.

Urban Terraced Landscape — The terraces provide different scales of activity, from large gatherings to class-size discussions, giving the opportunity for an urban school to have a 1-story feel.

Manipulated Ground Plane — The ground plane manipulations create circulation and daylight benefits for the school. Two sunken courtyards provide naturally lit outdoor spaces while the entrances serve as small public parks.

Green terraces above each floor become an extension of the classroom, creating an indoor-outdoor learning landscape for both students and teachers – an educational oasis rather than a traditional school setting. A rotating central staircase cuts through the interior of the building to connect the four-tiered terraces, allowing students to circulate outside and forge a stronger bond between the neighborhood and the school. While the upper terraces are more suitable for intimate classes and quiet study areas, the spacious first terrace and 18,700 sq ft recreation field also serve as public event venues for school-wide and neighborhood activities.

From Wilson Boulevard, students, teachers and staff are greeted by a triple-height lobby with stepped seating that doubles as an indoor gathering space for both student assemblies and public meetings. Many of the school’s common spaces, including the 400-seat auditorium, main gymnasium, library, reception, and cafeteria are centrally located and directly adjacent to the lobby.

Easy accessibility to the community-oriented programs hosted in the school encourages public interaction throughout the building, creating a welcoming environment while heightening the visual connectivity between the shared spaces. Other specialized student spaces include an art studio, science and robotic labs, music rehearsal rooms, and two performing arts theaters.

The classroom bars serve as the primary organizing elements, surrounding a central vertical core that contains the elevators, stairs and bathrooms. As students enter from the central staircase, they are greeted by an expanded gradient of the color spectrum: each classroom bar is defined by its own color, combining intuitive wayfinding with a vibrant social atmosphere from the ground to the sky.

The Shriver Program providing special education for students aged 11 to 22 occupies two floors of the building accessible from the ground floor, and has specialized spaces dedicated to support APS’ Functional Life Skills program as well as privacy and ease of accessibility; the gymnasium, courtyard, occupational physical therapy suite, and sensory cottage are designed to aid in sensory processing.

The Heights’ exterior is materialized in a graceful white glazed brick to unify the five volumes and highlight the oblique angles of the fanning classroom bars, allowing the sculptural form, and the energy and activity of the inside to take center stage. Keeping the surrounding neighborhood and former Wilson School in mind, the building’s material palette pays homage to the historical architecture of Old Town Alexandria.

GROUND FLOOR PLAN

PLAN LEVEL 1

PLAN LEVEL 2

PLAN LEVEL 3

PLAN LEVEL 4

ROOF TOP PLAN

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Bjarke Ingels Thomas Christoffersen Daniel Sundlin Beat Schenk Aran Coakley Jan Leenknegt Julie Kaufman Kam Chi Cheng Ricardo Palma Prieto Sean Franklin Shu Zhao Terrence Chew Ziad Shehab Tony-Saba Shiber Deb Campbell Elnaz Rafati Francesca Portesine Ji-Young Yoon Adam Sheraden Amina Blacksher Anton Bashkaev Bennett Gale Benson Chien Cadence Merrie Bayley Cristian Lera Silva Daisy Zhong Douglass Alligood Elena Bresciani Evan Rawn Ibrahim Salman Jack David Gamboa Janice Rim Jin Xin Ku Hun Chung Maria Sole Bravo Margherita Gistri Mark Rakhmanov Mateusz Rek Maureen Rahman Nicholas Potts Pablo Costa Fraiz Robyne Some Romea Muryn Saecheol Oh Seth Byrum Sidonie Muller Simon David Valentina Mele Vincenzo Polsinelli Zachary Walters Benjamin Caldwell Josiah Poland Tammy Teng

AWARDS

American Institute of Steel Construction IDEAS2 National Award for Steel Construction in the $75-200 million category, 2021

DESIGNArlington Award of Excellence, 2019

Washington Building Congress Craftsmanship Award, Winner in Structural Steel Framing, 2019

American Planning Association National Capital Area Chapter Award, Outstanding Implemented Plan, 2018

COLLABORATORS

Leo A Daly
Robert Silman Associates
Interface Engineering
Gordon
Theatre Projects
Jaffe Holden
Faithful+Gould
GHD
Hopkins Food Service
GeoConcepts
Haley Aldrich Inc.
The Sextant Group
Tillotson Design Associates
EHT Traceries
Lerch Bates
Sustainable Design Consulting

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Vollebak Island

VOLLEBAK ISLAND, CANADA

Vollebak Island

VOLLEBAK ISLAND, CANADA

2023

CLIENT

Vollebak

TYPOLOGY

Hospitality

SIZE M2/FT2

620 / 6,674

STATUS

IDEA

Located one quarter mile off the Nova Scotia mainland in the spectacular Jeddore Harbour, the 11-acre Vollebak Island will include a 597 m2 ‘Earth House’, which will consist of nine interconnected buildings, and a 88 m2 ‘Wood House’, a standalone garden suite on the island’s eastern shoreline.

Each room in the village is made from its own unique material – stacked seaweed, compacted earth, hemp, glass brick or locally sourced stone – tailored for the specific use and experience of that particular room. On Vollebak Island, BIG incorporates local tradition elevated by global innovation in a self-sustained manmade ecosystem off the coast of Canada.

Earth House, the village-like cluster of bespoke buildings, will gently rise from the ground at the heart of the island, resembling land art as much as architecture. The permeable layout will create various open spaces for socializing, allowing nature to intertwine with architecture. The structures will represent specific fragments of nature, each intentionally built with a different material and playful elements of surprise interwoven throughout. All buildings are fully powered by carbon neutral energy, offshore wind and solar power with energy stored in Tesla power walls.

"Vollebak is using technology and material innovation to create clothes that are as sustainable and resilient as they are beautiful. In other words, the fashion equivalent of BIG's architectural philosophy of Hedonistic Sustainability. For Vollebak Island, we have imagined the rooms as a manmade mount of individual volumes rising out of the ground and a separate outpost at the edge of the breaking waves."

Bjarke Ingels — Founder & Creative Director, BIG

Complementing Earth House will be the Wood House annex, a standalone two-bedroom, two-bathroom residence with a durable exterior made entirely of wood from the island, essential for extreme climate conditions. The monolithic façade will be able to open and close toward the seaside, showcasing a vast eight-meter triangular vista over the water.

For recreation, guests will rejuvenate in a Japanese-style bath house with soaking tubs cut from the stone bedrock or have a first-class view of the galaxy in the sunken hempcrete stargazing room and meditation space. A greenhouse made entirely of glass brick will grow food for the island; energy will be stored in a building with a solar roof and submarine door; and the boat house will honor a local tradition of using regenerative seaweed as insulation. The roofs will incorporate shrubs and other flora to reduce storm-water runoff and ease the burden on sewers and water treatment systems.

Every design detail at Vollebak Island will help to foster the closest possible connection to nature, acting as a curated extension of the island’s organic topography and creating a living environment that blurs the boundaries between inside and out. The beach, the woods, the cliffs, the landscapes and the sunsets will all be part of the house on Vollebak Island.

Bjarke Ingels Andreas Klok Pedersen David Vieira Agostinho Isabelle Doumet Ryohei Koike Sara Najar Sualdea Weronika Zareba Théo Hamy Ania Agnieszka Podlaszewska Ayham Kabbani Will Chuanrui Yu Harish Karthick Vijay Jan Zawadzki

COLLABORATORS

FBM

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El Cosmico

MARFA, UNITED STATES

El Cosmico

MARFA, UNITED STATES

2023

CLIENT

ICON and Liz Lambert

TYPOLOGY

Hospitality

SIZE M2/FT2

8,983 / 96,700

STATUS

IN DESIGN

BIG, ICON and Texas-based hotelier Liz Lambert have joined forces to reimagine the infamous nomadic campground hotel El Cosmico in Marfa, Texas. The new 62-acre community will feature large-scale 3D-printed structures including domes, arches, vaults and parabolic forms, enhancing the guest experience with a pool, spa, and shared communal facilities. Breaking ground in 2024, El Cosmico will continue to celebrate the convergence of creative culture and the minimalistic natural environment of the Marfa landscape.

To celebrate the project, a partnership with The Long Center for the Performing Arts brings a taste of El Cosmico to Austin, Texas during SXSW. The 3D-printed pavilion combines the architectural design themes planned for El Cosmico in Marfa in a single, sculptural space for culture and community in the heart of downtown Austin.

“Our collaboration with El Cosmico and ICON has allowed us to pursue the formal and material possibilities of cutting-edge 3D printed construction untethered by the traditional limitations of a conventional site or client. Liz Lambert’s legacy for reimagining hospitality and her pioneering of a contemporary Texan aesthetic combined with the Minimalistic nature and culture, art and landscape of Marfa has been the perfect fit to pursue a new architectural vernacular language for El Cosmico in Marfa. Organic shapes, Euclidian circular geometries and a color palette born from the local terroir makes El Cosmico feel as if literally erected from the site it stands on.”

Bjarke Ingels — Founder & Creative Director, BIG

The design is informed by the unique connection between the high desert landscape and cosmic organizations. The new hotel and homes feature organic curves and domes, a primordial architectural language that can only be achieved by 3D-printing. ICON’s technology excels at creating soft shapes and curved surfaces, making it possible to bring this design vision to life. The project provides a natural continuation of unique experiences, building on El Cosmico’s legacy at the intersection of art, nature and  hospitality in Marfa, TX. Another facet of the project will be to assess the opportunity to 3D-print affordable housing in Marfa to serve the evolving needs of the town.

As an outpost of El Cosmico, a permanent pavilion for music and performances emerges from the natural slope of the Long Center’s front lawn in Austin, Texas.

The adobe like color and texture of the horizontally layered wall appears like geological strata in an exposed cliff. Inspired by the Uruguayan engineer and architect Eladio Dieste, the sinuous curves at the foot of the pavilion provide both structural stability and social niches for the audience and performers. Organic form as structural function.

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Bjarke Ingels Martin Voelkle Agla Egilsdottir Julian Ocampo Salazar Margaret Tyrpa Veronica Acosta Mateo Fernandez Michelle Stromsta Peter Sepassi Ricardo Palma Prieto Siqi Zhang Jennifer Ng Jialin Yuan Jaeho Park Jeremy Jackson Ahmad Tabbakh Cynthia Wang

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CopenHill

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

CopenHill

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

2019

CLIENT

Amager Resource Center | Amager Bakke Foundation

TYPOLOGY

Infrastructure

SIZE M2/FT2

41,000 / 441,324

STATUS

COMPLETED

Located in an industrial area near Copenhagen city center, CopenHill, also known as Amager Bakke, is an exemplary model in the field of waste management and energy production, as well as an architectural landmark in the cityscape of Copenhagen. The building replaces the 50-year-old Amagerforbraending plant and is the single largest environmental initiative in Denmark.

The new breed of waste-to-energy plant is topped with a ski slope, hiking trail, climbing wall, an urban recreation center, and environmental education hub, turning the power plant into a destination. The building embodies BIG’s notion of hedonistic sustainability while contributing to Copenhagen’s goal of becoming one of the world’s first carbon-neutral cities.

PROGRAM — Without sacrificing efficiency, BIG was able to organize the volumetric organization of the machinery inside the plant from tallest to shortest.

FUN FACTORY — BIG proposed a new breed of waste-to-energy plant, one that is economically, environmentally and socially profitable.

FACADE — The building is gently wrapped with a continuous façade made out of stacked aluminum bricks. The openings between them are letting cascades of light into the deep process hall and the administration spaces.

PLANTERS — In time, the bricks on the facade can function as planters, creating a green façade and turning the building into a green mountain from afar.

ALPINE SKIING IN COPENHAGEN — BIG proposed to turn the roof of the new plant into an artificial, year-round ski slope for the citizens of Copenhagen.

THREE PISTS — The geometry of the roofscape supports three slopes of different gradients with a total of 500 m of ski runs and a terrain park. This accommodates beginner and pro skiers.

SLOPE ACCESS — Access to the ski paths is through an elevator adjacent to the smokestack. The elevator has a glass wall facing the interior of the plant, allowing recreational buffs and sightseers to have a glimpse into the internal workings of the plant.

TAKE A WALK IN THE PARK — The roof doesn't only function as a ski slope, but like a real mountain with green forest areas, hike trail and climbing walls. The top of the slope invites visitors to enjoy a café and 360 views from the viewing platform.

COPENHILL — Rather than a traditional visitor center, people come on their own for skiing and hiking, and become curious about what happens inside the mountain.

Located on the industrial waterfront of Amager, where raw industrial facilities have become the site for extreme sports – from wakeboarding to go-kart racing – the new power plant adds skiing, hiking, and rock climbing to the area. Expert skiers can ski down the artificial Olympic half-pipe length ski slope all year round, test the freestyle park, or try the timed slalom course, while beginners and kids practice on the lower slopes. Skiers ascend the park from the platter lift, carpet lifts, or glass elevator with views inside the 24-hour waste incineration process.

CopenHill’s continuous façade features 1.2 m tall and 3.3 m-wide aluminum boxes stacked like gigantic bricks overlapping with each other. In between, glazed windows allow daylight to reach deep inside the facility, while larger openings on the southwest façade illuminate workstations on the administrative floors.

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The public can enjoy the rooftop bar, cross-fit area, or the highest observation deck in the city before descending the 490 m tree-lined hiking and running trail within the lush, mountainous terrain. The 10,000 m2 green roof, 85 m high up in the air, features a biodiverse landscape while absorbing heat, removing air particulates, and minimizing storm-water runoff.

Biologists have monitored the biodiversity of Copenhill since its inauguration in 2019. At the latest investigation in 2020, 119 different new plant and tree species were observed.

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On the longest vertical façade, an 85 m climbing wall is installed making it the tallest artificial climbing wall in the world.

Beneath the slopes, whirring furnaces, steam, and turbines convert 440,000 tons of waste annually into enough clean energy to deliver electricity and district heating for 150,000 homes. The power plant’s infrastructure, from ventilation shafts to air-intakes, helps create the varied topography of a mountain; a man-made landscape created in the encounter between the needs from below and the desires from above.

Ten floors of administrative space are occupied by the Amager Resource Center team, including a 600 m2 education center for academic tours, workshops and sustainability conferences.

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At the bottom of the ski slope, an après-ski bar welcomes locals and visitors to wind down once the boots are off. Formerly a piece of infrastructure in an industrial zone, CopenHill is now a destination for all citizens and visitors of Copenhagen.

Bjarke Ingels Finn Nørkjær David Zahle Jakob Lange Brian Yang Andreas Klok Pedersen Ole Elkjær-Larsen Blake Smith Jelena Vucic Jesper Boye Andersen Ji-Young Yoon Adam Busko Adam Mahfuh Adrien Mans Annette Jensen Alexander Codda Alvaro Garcia Mendive Anders Holden Deleuran Boris Peianov Borko Nikolic Buster Christensen Carl Pettersson Chris Falla Ella Coco Murphy Espen Vik Gonzalo Ivan Castro Vecchiola Helen Shuyang Chen Jean Valentiner Strandholt Joanna Anna Jakubowska Joanna M. Lesna Joos Jerne Kamilla Heskje Kasper Worsøe Pejtersen Kim Christensen Lars Thonke Laura Wätte Lone Fenger Albrechtsen Mads Engaard Stidsen Mathias Larsen Nanna Gyldholm Møller Richard Howis Ryohei Koike Sebastian Liszka Seunghan Yeum Tore Banke Yehezkiel Wiliardy Manik Zoltan Kalászi Gül Ertekin Alberto Cumerlato Aleksander Wadas Alexander Eising Alexandra Gustafsson Alina Tamosiunaite Anders Hjortnæs Ariel Joy Norback Wallner Armor Gutiérrez Rivas Ask Andersen Balaj Alin Iulian Brygida Zawadzka Chris Zhongtian Yuan Claus Hermansen Daniel Selensky Dennis Rasmussen Franck Fdida George Abraham Henrick Poulsen Henrik Kania Horia Spirescu Jeppe Ecklon Jing Xu Johanna Nenander Katarzyna Krystyna Siedlecka Krzysztof Piotr Marciszewski Liang Wang Lise Jessen Long Zuo Maciej Jakub Zawadzki Marcelina Kolasinska Marcos Garcia Bano Maren Allen Mathias Bank Stigsen Matti Hein Nørgaard Michael Andersen Narisara Ladawal Schröder Nicklas Antoni Rasch Oanh Nguyen Øssur Nolsø Pero Vukovic Se Hyeon Kim Simon Masson Sunming Lee Takahiro Hirayama Toni Mateu Xing Xiong Yang Zhang Jakob Ohm Laursen

AWARDS

Energy Globe National Award, 2022

World Architecture Festival Best Building of the Year Winner, 2021

World Architecture Festival Best Energy & Infrastructure Category Winner, 2021

IOC, IPC and IAKS award international architecture prize, 2021

Bundesverband GebäudeGrün Green Roof Award, 2020

IDEAT Future Award, Best Public Architecture, 2020

Popular Science Best of What’s New Award, 2020

ICONIC Awards, Innovative Architecture, Best of the Best Award, 2020

Design Educates Award, 2020

German Design Council Innovative Architecture, Best of the Best Award Winner, 2020

Architizer A+ Awards Factories & Warehouses Popular Winner, 2020

ArchDaily Building of the Year Award, Industrial Architecture, 2020

Scandinavian Green Roof Award, 2019

Architizer A+ Award, Architecture Photography, 2019

European Steel Design Award, 2017

Tekla Global BIM Awards, 2015

P/A Progressive Architecture Awards, Citation, 2015

MIPIM AR Future Projects Awards, 2012

COLLABORATORS

Detail Design:
MOE
SLA
Lüchinger+Mayer
Rambøll
Zublin
Jesper Kongshaug
BIG Ideas

Competition:
AKT
Topotek 1
Man Mad Land
Realities: United

A.P. Møller Fonden
Lokale og Anlægsfonden
Nordea Fonden
R98 Fonden
Københavns Kommune
Frederiksberg Kommune
Tårnby Kommune
Dragør Kommune
Hvidovre Kommune

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Audemars Piguet Hotel

LE BRASSUS, SWITZERLAND

Audemars Piguet Hotel

LE BRASSUS, SWITZERLAND

2022

CLIENT

Audemars Piguet

TYPOLOGY

Hospitality

SIZE M2/FT2

7,000 / 75,347

STATUS

COMPLETED

Watchmaking, architecture, and nature are celebrated at Hôtel des Horlogers which zigzags through the Vallée de Joux town just outside of Geneva. The 8,700 m2 hotel marks the second collaboration between BIG and luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet following the opening of the neighboring Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet in 2020.

The Hôtel des Horlogers builds on the history of the Hôtel de France, established in Le Brassus in 1857 by members of the Audemars Piguet family. The hotel became an important stop on the Chemin des Horlogers – the watchmaking route that connected the Vallée de Joux workshops to Geneva, where timepieces were sold by retailers. Audemars Piguet hired BIG to design a new hotel in line with the luxury brand’s values and sustainability mission.

THE HOTEL — The new Hotel des Horlogers is an evolution on the hotel typology. Instead of a generic slab building in the Vallee de Joux, the new hotel rises from the surrounding landscape and gently unfolds onto the site. The simultaneous interweaving of the building with the topography engages the community and visitors of Le Brassus.

SLAB BUILDING — A compact hotel with a single loaded corridor is stacked in slabs.

TERRACES — The slabs slide outwards to create terraces towards Switzerland's scenic Vallee de Joux.

CONTINUOUS CIRCULATION — The slabs tilt softly to merge, creating a path for continuous interior circulation.

VIEWS & TRANSPARENCY — The expanded slabs create views and transparency between the streets and scenic landscapes, while also forming accessible terraces for amenities tucked under the rooms.

Guided to the hotel entrance from the main access road, guests approach the hotel through a generous driveway. From this entrance, the hotel appears as a single slab, with the four additional floors tucked into the landscape below. Defined by timber and concrete, the exterior entrance introduces the materiality of the hotel-at-large – authentic, pared-back materials that complement the natural landscape enveloping the building.

The system of interwoven wood louvers inspired by the log cabin overlay aesthetic provides shading for the façade, enhancing the building’s energy performance. The shading system is fully integrated with the stepping geometry of the wooden slabs, keeping the transparency from the main access road to the valley, and re-establishing the connection between the village and the pastoral landscape.

The hotel’s interior design scheme, led by AU*M, draws inspiration from the architecture’s indoor/outdoor vernacular – created through the architecture’s tilting slabs that provide the interior spaces with framed views of the surrounding valley. As guests transition from the main entrance into the reception area, the visual language becomes more sinuous and rustic, with materials such as glass, concrete, stone, and wood blurring the delineation of the constructed and the natural.

One level below the entry, a spa, conference center, and two restaurants are orientated towards the valley – providing sweeping views and natural light while also acting as individual destinations along the continuous interior path. Giving pride of place to gastronomy, the Hôtel des Horlogers’ restaurants are overseen by three-Michelin-starred French Chef, Emmanuel Renaut.

On the interior, the building’s five slab-layout forms a single, continuous ramping corridor – connecting the interior programs and facilitating both guest and service circulation. This layout also provides all guestrooms with views of the surrounding Risoud Forest.

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Certified Minergie-ECO, a label for new and refurbished low-energy consumption buildings, the hotel addresses the local ecological and social sustainability requirements to reduce its environmental impact – from the building’s design and construction to its day-to-day operations. Similarly, the hotel is equipped with 86 photovoltaic panels that provide part of the building’s energy needs.

The zigzagging slabs gradually descend towards the valley, tilting slightly to embrace the site and create a visual path between nature and architecture. While the Audemars Piguet museum located just steps away defines a visitor experience inspired by the centripetal and centrifugal forces of time through the spiral form, the hotel welcomes its guests into the ‘time’ journey by reimagining the historic winding watchmakers’ trail that the region is known for.

Bjarke Ingels Thomas Christoffersen Daniel Sundlin Beat Schenk Jason Wu Haochen Yu Jan Leenknegt Gil Kilmo Kang Melissa Jones Morgan Mangelsen Otilia Pupezeanu Simon Scheller Terrence Chew Tracy Sodder Veronica Watson Casey Tucker Deb Campbell Francesca Portesine Ji-Young Yoon Aaron Mark Amro Abdelsalam Aurelie Frolet Catalina Rivera Rothgaenger Claire Wadey Claire Thomas Spiller Derek Wong Ethan Duffey Eva Maria Mikkelsen Evan Wiskup Gaurav Janey Ibrahim Salman Il Hwan Kim Ku Hun Chung Lu Zhang Malcolm Rondell Galang Manon Otto Martynas Norvila Matthew Oravec Nicolas Gustin Nicolas Lapierre Pantea Tehrani Pascal Loschetter Phawin Siripong Teodor Javanaud Emden Rasmus Streboel Seth Byrum Shidi Fu Sijia Zhou Stephanie Choi Supakrit Wongviboonsin Xinyu Wang Josiah Poland Karolina Bouros Lou Arencibia Rune Hansen Yvette Liu

AWARDS

World Luxury Hotel Awards: Continent Winner - Luxury Design Hotel, 2022

World Architecture Festival Future Hospitality Category Winner, 2019

BUILD’s 2018 Global Excellence for Future Leisure Project of the Year, 2018

COLLABORATORS

CCHE Architecture
Ingphi SA
Pierre Chuard Ingenieurs-Conseils SA
Sorane SA
Duchein SA
MAB-Ingineurs SA
Ignis Salutem
EcoAcoustique SA
Alterego Concept SA
Jean Pitteloud
Thorens et associes SA
Societe Denogent

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Denmark's Refugee Museum

OKSBØL, DENMARK

Denmark's Refugee Museum

OKSBØL, DENMARK

2022

CLIENT

Varde Museum

TYPOLOGY

Culture, Interiors

SIZE M2/FT2

2,075 / 22,335

STATUS

COMPLETED

Following the opening of Tirpitz Museum on the West Coast of Denmark – FLUGT – Denmark’s new Refugee Museum, is BIG’s second museum for Vardemuseerne: a local institution dedicated to the archaeology, dissemination, and collection of historical knowledge about the region.

Located at the site of Denmark’s largest Refugee camp from World War II, BIG has adapted and extended one of the camp’s few remaining structures – a hospital building – into a 1,600 m2 museum.

FLUGT gives a voice and a face to refugees worldwide and captures the universal challenges, emotions, spirit, and stories shared by displaced humans.

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With approximately 35,000 World War II refugees staying at the Oksbøl refugee camp, the camp became the fifth-largest city of Denmark at the time. The camp’s hospital is one of the few remaining structures.

The hospital buildings of the refugee camp were connected by a covered outdoor walkway.

The 540 m2 of additional program would be most practically positioned at the end of both buildings, creating a new interior connection between the two.

Adapting the extension into an intersection of the two existing pitched roof buildings connects old and new architecturally. However, this would have provided too little area.

Pushing the intersection of the two buildings back towards the street provides both the desired size of the building, creates a sheltered, green courtyard at the center of the extension and a gently curved interior space connecting the existing buildings.

The protruding shape of the extension marks the arrival from the street side, and opens up towards the park and surrounding forest on the other side.

The extension is clad entirely in Corten steel, making a visual connection to the red bricks of the existing buildings, except for the façade towards the courtyard and park, where a floor to ceiling glass façade lets light and views into the museum.

From outside, the abstract volume welcomes visitors into what appears to be a closed entry hall. Upon entering, a floor-to-ceiling curved glass wall reveals a view of a sheltered green courtyard and the forest, where the refugee camp used to be. The courtyard lets light flow into the entry hall that functions as a lobby or a temporary exhibition space for guests to experience before continuing their journey into one of the museum wings.

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"From the very beginning of the design process, it was vital for us and our client, Vardemuseerne to preserve the two hospital buildings. The buildings are some of the last remaining physical manifestations of the former refugee camp, and not only is their preservation invaluable for future generations to understand the past and the present, the buildings also directly informed our design of the extension by means of their unique elongated form, structure and materiality. FLUGT is a great example of how adaptive reuse can result in sustainable, functional buildings that preserve our shared history while standing out architecturally."

Frederik Lyng — Associate & Project Leader, BIG

The courtyard creates a peaceful sensory experience both inside and outside the museum. A small mirror pool in the heart of the courtyard reflects the sky above it. Around the basin, heath planting known from the region emphasizes the identity of the area.

The exhibition area in the north wing contains gallery spaces organized according to the original flow/circulation in the hospital. While most of the hospital room walls were torn down, some of the inside walls are kept intact and stabilized by three cross sections, creating larger exhibition spaces.

The south wing features a flexible conference room, smaller exhibition spaces, café. The back-of-house functions with the same character and materiality as in the north wing: white walls and intersections covered in white painted wood boards oriented according to the angle ceiling line, as well as yellow bricks across the entire museum floor, connecting past and present structures.

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"The Refugee Museum of Denmark explores an important part of our history and a theme that is more relevant than ever, with millions of refugees currently displaced from their homes. We have designed an architectural framework that connects the past with the present - with a new building directly shaped by its relationship to the historic hospital buildings of the WWII refugee camp. We went into this project with all our heart to address one of the world’s greatest challenges - how we welcome and care for our fellow world citizens when they are forced to flee. The project is a continuation of our collaboration on Tirpitz Museum with Vardemuseerne and Claus Kjeld Jensen whose uncompromised design vision once again inspired our design for FLUGT."

Bjarke Ingels — Founder & Creative Director, BIG

In addition to preserving and reusing the hospital buildings for historical value, extending the lifespan of the existing structures supports BIG’s mission of reducing waste, conserving resources, and creating a smaller carbon footprint as it relates to materials manufacturing and transport.

Bjarke Ingels Finn Nørkjær David Zahle Ole Elkjær-Larsen Marius Tromholt-Richter Anders Holden Deleuran Andy Coward Barbora Hrmova Danyu Zeng Eddie Can Frederik Lyng Frederik Skou Jensen Hanne Halvorsen Jonathan Udemezue Katrine Sandstrøm Kim Lauer Kristian Mousten Laura Wätte Lone Fenger Albrechtsen Lukas Molter Mads Primdahl Rokkjær Michael James Kepke Nanna Gyldholm Møller Nikolaos Romanos Tsokas Oliver Siekierka Peter Høgenhaven Richard Howis Sascha Leth Rasmussen Sofiia Rokhmaniko Thor Larsen-Lechuga Tomas Karl Ramstrand Tore Banke Tristan Harvey Ulla Hornsyld Ákos Márk Horváth Anne Søby Nielsen Høgni Laksafoss Cheng-Huang Lin Gabrielė Ubarevičiūtė Giulia Frittoli Toni Mateu Muhammad Mansoor Awais Arthur Martinevski

COLLABORATORS

INGENIØR'NE
Tinker Imagineers
Gade & Mortensen Akustik
HB Trapper
BIG Landscape
BIG Ideas

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Qianhai Prisma Towers

SHENZHEN, CHINA

Qianhai Prisma Towers

SHENZHEN, CHINA

2022

CLIENT

Shenzhen Metro Qianhai International Development Co., Ltd. (深圳地铁前海国际发展有限公司)

TYPOLOGY

Work

SIZE M2/FT2

330,000 / 3,552,090

STATUS

IN DESIGN

BIG’s ‘leaning’ Qianhai Prisma Towers, featuring a 300m2 tall residential tower and a 250m tall office tower, will complete the new Qianhai Bay development, solidifying Qianhai’s position as the burgeoning financial and cultural center of Shenzhen. Expected to begin construction in 2025, the project – won in a global architectural competition – will be BIG’s second in Shenzhen following Shenzhen Energy Mansion’s completion in 2017.

Situated in the Guiwan District within the metropolitan city of Qianhai, the BIG-designed Qianhai Prisma Towers will flank each side of the Shenzhen Hong Kong Plaza – also known as the ‘green belt’ – marking the entrance to the neighborhood. New workspaces, residences, and 20,000+ m2 of multi-level public spaces will be positioned steps from an integrated regional transport hub and the Qianhai Bay.

"Both towers are conceived as simple prismatic building envelopes split open to make room for public space on the ground where they stand. The open seams and gaping corners allow the green spaces to ascend from the ground to the sky leaving wedges for outdoor gardens and terraces for the life of the people living and working within. With its timeless simplicity and inviting openness - the architecture of the two towers is firmly rooted in the urban values underpinning Shenzhen - a vertical modern city of 1000 parks.”

Bjarke Ingels — Founder & Creative Director, BIG

Peeking through the building envelope openings, cascading green terraces are introduced from the street level and up to the roof, where office workers and visitors can enjoy 360-degree views of Qianhai Bay. PV cells are integrated in the slightly tilted office tower’s West and East façade spandrel to maximize the PV efficiency. To better respond to the local climate achieving and improving thermal performance, double-skin closed-cavity façade (CCF) is used for the most exposed orientation of office tower. The apartment tower units have operable ventilation inlets built into the window frames to allow for natural ventilation.

Placement — The towers are carefully placed on the site to leave the network of railway traffic below ground undisturbed.

Leaning and Opening — The tower's leaning structure allows for the strategic positioning between two underground railways, which in turn create big generous openings on the ground floor that are activated as public space.

Penthouse Terraces — The west-facing walls extend to the sky, creating a sculptural and characteristic skyline.

Biophilic Outdoor Terraces — Cascading biophilic balconies run from the street level up to the roof and create a pocket of outdoor areas accessible from the office spaces.

Urban Living Room — An urban living room providing shade and protection from rain enables the connection between the shopping mall, a retail podium and the Green Belt.

Views — Each tower's tripod footprint secures multiple views from inside the building and out towards the city and ocean.

Crown Penthouse Terraces — Together, each of the tower’s three structural volumes create an iconic crown which provides the penthouse apartments with generous terraces.

Extend and Taper — The tapering of the towers allow for an efficient structural design that mitigates wind-loads and provides a cost-saving element.

Connection to the Green Belt — The entry areas are highlighted by tall wide canopies that provide shade and cover from rain. On the north side a sky bridge connects the building with retail and the Green Belt.

Rippled Landscape — The landscape is formed like a series of ripples. Like the Qianhai Bay, these ripples make people flow through the entrances in and around the tower's public spaces.

Facade — Both functional facades for the towers take inspiration from the waves of the sea, making them slightly shimmer through the passing time of the day.

“As the tower footprints open to the ground, they celebrate the connectivity to the transit infrastructure, retail and adjacent buildings. Pedestrian walkways connect multiple stories to provide seamless transitions between the towers and the surrounding public programs, forming a pedestrian network that leads up to the Qianhai Bay Waterfront Park.”

Martin Voelkle — Partner, BIG

Both towers are defined by gently leaning volumes that taper towards the sky – a subtle gesture that adds structural efficiency while creating verdant openings between the volumes and a generous ground-floor public realm. The lush biophilia on the balconies and ledges contrasts the glass facades that shimmer subtly throughout the passing of the day.

The ground plane of the towers opens up to create a dynamic and welcoming urban living room while connecting the towers to the ‘green belt’ and nearby shopping mall. A meandering biophilic pedestrian skybridge functions as a canopy, providing shade and protection from the rain while connecting the shopping mall, the retail podium, and the surrounding neighborhood.

The tripod footprint of the 130,760 m2 residential tower is a radial array of three rectangular volumes that step up at different heights – providing multiple views towards the city and the ocean while creating beautiful living spaces, ‘sky garden’ terraces, and a roofscape. Between the volumes, the envelope opens up to create a subtle crevice of green balconies, from the ground level to the roofs.

The ground floor wayfinding takes inspiration from the Qianhai Bay, oftentimes appearing as a series of ripples while facilitating the flow of people through the entrances in and around the towers. The public realm of the ground floor office tower includes an amphitheater, tree–shaded social spaces, and an under–porch bar. In response to the climatic characteristics of the region activities are located under the canopy, trees and overhangs of the building. Rainwater is collected via the sloped curtain walls, utilized for irrigation system and maintenance of the public space.

From the interior of the tower, the corners peel open to create outdoor terraces on every floor. The west tower wall extends slightly skywards to reiterate the leaning gesture – delicately joining the remaining three walls/envelopes to create a sculptural addition to the skyline.

Both towers are strategically positioned between the two intercity railways; the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Intercity Railway is at the east side of the site, and the proposed Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Express Railway will be at the west side of the residential tower. An adjacent below-grade retail corridor will provide both towers with direct access to the Transportation Hub via the below-grade lobbies. To complement the accessibility of the transport hub, an additional 966 long-term bicycle parking spaces will be available for building occupants.

Bjarke Ingels Martin Voelkle David Holbrook Ricardo Palma Prieto Ryan Duval Bella Yanan Ding Yao Tong Zhonghan Huang Chris Tron Chengjie Jacob Li Douglass Alligood Shu Du Flora Bao Mama Qicheng Wu Bianca Blanari Sungmin Kim

COLLABORATORS

CADG
RFR
BPI
Brandston Partnership Inc.
Buro Happold
Turenscape
Thornton Tomasetti
Arup
Atchain
RJ Model

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Google HQ

MOUNTAIN VIEW, UNITED STATES

Google HQ

MOUNTAIN VIEW, UNITED STATES

2022

CLIENT

Google

TYPOLOGY

Urbanism

SIZE M2/FT2

350,000 / 3,767,368

STATUS

COMPLETED

Google Bay View is Google’s first-ever ground-up campus with the mission to operate on carbon-free energy 24 hours a day, seven days a week by 2030. The buildings deliver on Google’s ambition to create human-centric, sustainable innovations for the future of Google’s workplace and scalable, replicable solutions for the construction industry and beyond.

Located on a 42-acre site at the NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, the 1.1 million sq ft Google Bay View Campus brings three new buildings, 20 acres of open space, a 1,000-person event center, and 240 short-term employee accommodation units to the area. All three buildings are constructed as lightweight canopy structures optimized for interior daylight, views, collaboration, and activities.

Anchored in three themes defined by Google’s design brief at the beginning of the project – innovation, nature, and community – the design is driven by flexibility and extraordinary user experience that inspires collaboration and co-creation. Team spaces are on the upper level and gathering spaces are below, separating focus and collaborative areas while still providing easy access to both. The second floor design has variation in floorplates to give teams a designated “neighborhood” area that is highly flexible to change with their needs.

The site has achieved a LEED-NC v4 Platinum certification – making it the largest LEED v4 BD+C: NC Platinum certified project in the world – and has become the largest facility ever to attain the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) Living Building Challenge (LBC) Water Petal Certification.

Bay View operates entirely on electric energy. The integrated geothermal pile system at Bay View, which is the largest in North America, is estimated to reduce carbon emissions by roughly 50% and will help both heat and cool the campus. The massive geoexchange field is integrated into the structural system, reducing the amount of water typically used for cooling by 90%, equal to 5 million gallons of water annually.

To help deliver on Google’s commitment to replenish 120% of the water the HQ consumes by 2030, the site is net water-positive with all non-potable water demands being met using the recycled water it generates on site. The on-site systems built by Google collect, treat, and reuse all stormwater and wastewater and provide habitat restoration, sea level rise protection, and access to the beauty of natural wetlands for both Googlers and the public on the nearby Bay Trail.

The long-span canopy (120 ft) rests on cruciform columns which also relay services from the solar roof above. The selection of this structural system allows the entire workspace to be open and connected under one roof. Access to natural light and views with reduced glare during working hours were priority design elements, achieved through the use of carefully-placed clerestory windows.

On the exterior, all three buildings feature a first-of-its-kind “dragonscale” solar skin roof equipped with 50,000 silver solar panels that generate a total of nearly seven megawatts of energy.

“Our design of the new Bay View campus is the result of an incredibly collaborative design process. Working with a client as data driven as Google has led to an architecture where every single decision is informed by hard information and empirical analysis. The result is a campus where the striking dragonscale solar canopies harvest every photon that hits the buildings; the energy piles store and extract heating and cooling from the ground, and even the naturally beautiful floras are in fact hardworking rootzone gardens that filter and clean the water from the buildings. All in all, a campus where front of house and back of house, technology and architecture, and form and function have been fused into a new and striking hybrid.”

Bjarke Ingels — Founder & Creative Director, BIG

The Bay View buildings are split across only two floors, with desks and team spaces on the upper level, and the amenity spaces below. A series of indoor “courtyards” throughout the buildings connect the two levels, giving teams easy access to cafes, kitchenettes, conference rooms, and all-hands spaces. The courtyards also encourage the physiological benefits of physical movement when circulating between levels and different modes of work, and double as wayfinding devices.

Rather than being segmented by excessive columns and support walls, the structural innovation of the canopy roof allows for a wide-open workspace; every person has equal access to views across the floorplate, and through the perimeter facade and clerestory windows to the outdoors.

"Google Bay View offers a workplace experience that is an antithesis to an urban high-rise; Containing as much area as the tallest office tower in San Francisco, the typically stacked floorplates are redistributed into a flat array, creating a vibrant village. While on-site carbon and water neutrality is challenging for skyscrapers, this bay-scraper typology enables us to harvest the power of the sun, earth, and water. We hope Bay View will provide a quantum leap in the evolution of the workplace, elevate the benchmark for sustainable design, and inspire the next generations of users and visitors to the building."

Leon Rost — Partner, BIG

The campus includes 17.3 acres of high-value natural areas – including wet meadows, woodlands, and marsh – that contribute to Google’s broader efforts to reestablish missing essential habitat in the Bay Area.

Google’s mission to unlock advancements for the benefit of the environment and the entire industry have led to several scalable solutions in working on the Bay View campus: increasing modular construction, geothermal at new scales, innovation in PV design, a permitted blackwater system, waste diverted from landfill, improved total number of products vetted for Red List ingredients, and landscape designed to advance water stewardship and create valuable habitat for threatened wildlife.

Overall, the Google Bay View campus has forged a new framework, materials language, and ecological approach that will help push both the future of the workplace, and the built environment-at-large, forward.

Bjarke Ingels Bjarke Ingels Bjarke Ingels Thomas Christoffersen Thomas Christoffersen Thomas Christoffersen Daniel Sundlin Daniel Sundlin Daniel Sundlin Beat Schenk Beat Schenk Leon Rost Leon Rost Leon Rost Jakob Lange Agla Egilsdottir Alvaro Velosa Blake Smith Blake Smith Blake Smith Jason Wu Jason Wu Jason Wu Corliss Ng Cristina Medina-Gonzalez David Iseri David Iseri Erik Kreider Florencia Kratsman Florencia Kratsman Guillaume Evain Guillaume Evain Guillaume Evain Isabella Marcotulli Jan Leenknegt Jan Leenknegt Linus Saavedra Linus Saavedra Veronica Acosta Veronica Acosta Melissa Jones Michelle Stromsta Otilia Pupezeanu Patrick Hyland Patrick Hyland Pauline Lavie-Luong Rita Sio Rita Sio Ryan Harvey Ryan Harvey Ryan Harvey Ryan Duval Sebastian Claussnitzer Seo Young Shin Shane Dalke Shu Zhao Siva Sepehry Nejad Terrence Chew Terrence Chew Thomas McMurtrie Tracy Sodder Xi Zhang Zhonghan Huang Zhonghan Huang Ziad Shehab Ziad Shehab Ziad Shehab Deb Campbell Deb Campbell Dylan Hames Dylan Hames Isela Liu Isela Liu Ji-Young Yoon Jeremy Alain Siegel Aaron Mark Alan Tansey Alessandra Peracin Alice Cladet Andriani Atmadja Anton Bashkaev Armen Menendian Armen Menendian Athena Morella Barbara Stallone Benson Chien Bernard Peng Bernard Peng Brian Zhang Camilo Francisco Aspeny Inostroza Jia Chengzhen Cheyne Owens Cheyne Owens Christi Farrell Christopher Wilson Christopher Wilson Claire Thomas Spiller Claire Thomas Spiller Cristian Lera Silva Cristian Lera Silva Cristian Lera Silva Danielle Kemble Danielle Kemble David Spittler Derek Wong Diandian Li Douglass Alligood Douglass Alligood Eva Maria Mikkelsen Filip Milovanovic Gabriel Hernandez Solano Gabriella Den Elzen Gaurav Sardana Gaurav Sardana Helen Shuyang Chen Helen Shuyang Chen Jennifer Dudgeon Jennifer Kimura Jennifer Kimura Jennifer Wood Jennifer Wood Jian Yong Khoo John Hilmes John Hilmes Jonathan Fournier Jonathan Fournier Joshua Burns Joshua Burns Joshua Plourde Joshua Plourde Joshua Plourde Juan David Ramirez Julien Beauchamp-Roy Kalina Pilat Kiley Anne Feickert Kiley Anne Feickert Kristoffer Negendahl Kurt Nieminen Lina Bondarenko Lina Bondarenko Ludwig Ebert Mads Kjaer Mahsa Malek Manon Otto Manon Otto Manon Otto Marcus Kujala Mirco Amstad Mo Zhou Nandi Lu Nicole Passarella Nicole Passarella Olga Khuraskina Oliver Colman Omer Hadar Pablo Costa Fraiz Pantea Tehrani Pantea Tehrani Patricia Correa Velasquez Peter Kwak Peter Kwak Ramona Montecillo Simon David Taylor Fulton Tiago Sá Timothy Cheng Tingting Lyu Tore Banke Valentina Mele Valentino Vitacca Vincenzo Polsinelli Vincenzo Polsinelli Walid Bhatt Ye Sul Cho Yina Moore Ali Chen Ali Chen Ania Agnieszka Podlaszewska Benjamin Caldwell Benjamin Caldwell Domenic Schmid Dong-Joo Kim Hacken Li Hacken Li Jonathan Pan Jonathan Pan Luke Lu Sebastian Grogaard Sebastian Grogaard

COLLABORATORS

Heatherwick Studios
SERA/Studios
AKT
Atelier Ten
Front
Eckersley O’Callaghan
ARUP
EKI
CMG
Sandis
Sherwood
ESA
Urban Tree Management
Cumming
HT Harvey
SFEI
Iris
MIR
Dbox
Squint Opera
BIG Ideas

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VLTAVA Philharmonic Prague

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

VLTAVA Philharmonic Prague

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

2021

CLIENT

Prague Institute of Planning and Development

TYPOLOGY

Culture

SIZE M2/FT2

49,715 / 535,120

STATUS

IN DESIGN

In May of 2022, the City of Prague unveiled BIG’s design for the country’s first national concert hall in over 100 years: The Vltava Philharmonic Hall. The new concert hall will become the home of the world-class philharmonic for 1800+ audiences, celebrate the Czech music tradition and cement the country as a cultural capital in Europe.

The Vltava Philharmonic Hall is composed as a cascade of outdoor destinations from the waterfront on the river to the city’s iconic skyline. By raising and lowering the corners of the building at multiple touch points, the public spaces connect and allow activities to spill in and out of the building on every side: towards the river, the square, the street, and the alley. Visitors will be drawn in from all forms of arrival, with carefully chosen programs inviting them to explore the music venues inside or climb the elegant, arced roofs of the new concert hall.

The new Philharmonic is conceived as a contemporary extension of Prague’s dramatic urban topography, as a cascade of outdoor destinations. A series of grand public plazas will become a new symbol of inclusionary architecture, welcoming a multitude of Prague’s vibrant urban life to flow across, around, through, under and over the new concert hall.

The site is bound by four key traffic corridors, the character of which informs the public space programming around the Philharmonic. Along the Western side, Bubenská passes the site and continues across the Vltava on the Hlávkův Bridge. Here, several modes of mobility are accommodated within the public realm. Along the North, the tram line runs adjacent to the new neighborhood development. As a car-free zone, this corridor becomes an important pedestrian and soft mobility connection to the surrounding neighborhoods. The new ecological corridor extending down from Stromovka Royal Game Reserve passes by the Eastern side of the site, creating a lush green buffer between the Philharmonic and the train line.

Most importantly, the Vltava River runs along the Southern side of the site, connected to the streetscape by a new waterfront promenade.

VLTAVA PHILHARMONIC — Simple and pragmatic program stack creates a compact arrangement.

RIVER TO ROOF — From this rational volume, colonnades crescendo into a powerful expression ascending from river to roof.

PERFECTLY COMPOSED — Compact internal organization for maximum efficiency and accessibility.

BELVEDERE ROOFSCAPE — Elevated terraces extend diagonally to views of Prague's iconic skyline and natural setting.

An essential public building for the Holešovice district and a new focal point for Prague, the new Philharmonic extends horizontally and vertically in all directions to create key urban connections and form a recognizable landmark for surrounding communities near and far.

The roofs are conceived as a continuation of the grand public plaza at the foot of the building. The undulating stepped form of the roofs allows visitors to meander to the summit of the building, as if climbing a hill. Slender vertical colonnades support the building’s roof terraces while undersides of warm timber from the Bohemian Forest provide shade and shelter. A space to sit and to gather, spaces for informal outdoor performances and views inward to the Philharmonic’s lively musical environment.

Arriving in the grand foyer, guests are greeted by a striking interior inspired by Czech Glass Artists which lead them into the music venues for a truly contemporary music experience. Arranged like petals of a pinecone turned inside out, the seats of Prague Hall are rotating within the compactness of a perfect square. The seating rakes meet at their corners to allow physical connectivity between every seat in the audience, providing a greater sense of unity and shared experience. Warm timber interiors provide balanced acoustics with a natural material, and form an environment designed to strengthen the intimate connection between the audience and orchestra.

"The Vltava Philharmonic Hall is composed as a meandering journey from riverbank to rooftop. Public flows and belvedere plazas unite the city life of Prague to the music within. Its halls are formed for sight, fine-tuned for sound, and orchestrated for functionality and connectivity. From this rhythmic structure, a symphony of colonnades and balconies extend as platforms for public life. Expressive yet pragmatic, the new Philharmonic will ascend to form a key landmark for Prague - from river to roof."

Bjarke Ingels — Founder & Creative Director, BIG

“The new Vltava Philharmonic Hall will be a symbol of openness, accessibility, and exploration. From the Vltava square, streets ascend upward connecting interior balconies with exterior colonnades and terraces. Like eighth, quarter, half and whole notes, the steps the benches, façade, and colonnade are perfectly on beat offering its resident orchestras effective and extroverted rehearsal areas, while bringing the audiences within the halls closer to the source in an environment that is both majestic and intimate.”

Brian Yang — Partner in Charge, BIG

Beyond being a major cultural destination for Prague, the building is crafted to maximize its potential to host external uses and special events. The venues are carefully designed to maximize flexibility for a range of uses – from the boldness of contemporary music styles to theater performances and digital exhibitions.

At the buildings summit, an elegant hyperbolic structure spans over the Vltava Hall and forms the iconic ceiling of a restaurant and event ballroom with views of the historic city center of Prague.

THE PERFECT INSTRUMENT — A contemporary music experience for Prague and the Czech Republic.

A LIVE LOCATION — An urban crossroads forming an active social environment

PRAGUE CENTER — A grand public building to bring the center of Prague to Vltavska.

FOCAL POINT — A recognizable landmark building to connect communities near and far.

CONNECTION TO VLTAVA — An open and accessible public space directly connecting to the Vltava.

VERTICAL CITY — Removing urban barriers and connecting the community across all levels.

Bjarke Ingels Brian Yang Shane Dalke Alberto Menegazzo Christian Vang Madsen Dagmara Anna Obmalko Izabella Banas Jan Magasanik Louise Mould Luca Nicoletti Mads Primdahl Rokkjær Matteo Baggiarini Matthew Oravec Paula Madrid Peter Høgenhaven Polina Galantseva Santtu Johannes Hyvarinen Sarkis Sarkisyan Sorcha Burke Giulia Frittoli Giulia Vanni Tania-Cristina Farcas Karim Daw Giulia Orlando Eleanor Gibson Casper Klarén Ondrej Slunecko Yanis Amasri Sierra Alicia De Nobrega Khaled Magdy Zaki Ahmed Elfeky Clara Elma Margareta Karlsson Heinrich Froese Neto Jeremias Sas Iros Jonathan Chester Fernanda Furuya Paola Yepes Bocanegra Rohit Nandakumar Jialin Liang Anna Mesiariková Jonathan Christian Chin Anastasia Papaspyrou Nikol Maraj Jakub Misař Jan Goebel Eliška Slaměna Iveta Jakubčíková Camila Alzate Riano Efstratios Sakellariou Sandrino Jan Deiana Nouran Wael Mohamed Rashad Mohamed Sherif Ali El Moussawi Tomáš Chrástecký Mahmoud Nagy Elsayed

COLLABORATORS

Theatre Projects & Nagata Acoustic
Buro Happold
AED
ETC
Systematica
Front
Mozses

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Zurich Airport Building Dock A

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND

Zurich Airport Building Dock A

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND

2020

CLIENT

Zurich Airport

TYPOLOGY

Infrastructure

SIZE M2/FT2

140,000 / 1,506,947

STATUS

IN DESIGN

Since its opening in the 1940s, Zurich Airport has become one of the most important aviation hubs in Europe. Following the airport’s previous additions of Dock E, the Airside Center, and The Circle, an international two-stage design competition was kicked off in 2020 to replace the aging Dock A.

Expected to open in 10 years, the new Dock A designed by BIG includes Schengen and Non-Schengen gates, airside retail, lounges, offices, the new air traffic control tower, and an extension of the immigration hall. BIG’s design is conceived as a mass timber space frame that is structural design, spatial experience, architectural finish, and organizational principle in one. The structure is made from locally sourced timber, and the roof is entirely clad in solar shingles turning sunlight into a power source.

Based on BIG’s concept of the ‘Raumfachwerk’ – a robust yet flexible structural framework – the design proposal celebrates the passenger experience and movement through the airport.

Located adjacent to the existing Airside Center and Terminal 1, the new Dock A is defined by two main areas: the central hub with shopping, airport services for arriving and departing passengers, and vertical circulation; and the pier with the gates, waiting areas, and the fixed links connecting to the planes.

Arriving passengers are guided towards the hub of Dock A – which is split across seven floors which are visually connected through the generous light-filled atrium. Passenger flows are funneled through the atrium that connects all floors via stairs, escalators and elevators – from the underground immigration hall to all arrival and departure levels, and the lounges on the top floors of the central hub.

To enhance the passenger experience, the spaces within the new terminal use daylight as a natural wayfinding system. A linear skylight – created by the unfolding roof of the pier – widens toward the central hub and opens up into the atrium where all departing, arriving, and transferring passengers meet. By placing the control tower in its center, the tower is experienced from the inside as a beacon that creates a sense of place, akin to a town square rather than an airport.

“As airports grow and evolve and as international guidelines and safety requirements change, airports tend to become more and more complex: Frankenstein's of interconnected elements, patches and extensions. For the new main terminal of Zurich Airport, we have attempted to answer this complex challenge with the simplest possible response: A mass timber space frame that is structural design, spatial experience, architectural finish, and organizational principle in one. The striking structure is made from locally sourced timber, and the long sculptural body of the roof is entirely clad in solar shingles turning sunlight into a power source. A simple yet expressive design - rooted in tradition and committed to innovation - embodying the cultural and natural elements of Swiss architecture.”

Bjarke Ingels — Founder & Creative Director, BIG

A contemporary, pared-back material palette, the structure, floors, and ceilings of Dock A are envisioned with timber as the main material. As a renewable local resource, this material choice allows for efficient prefabrication during the construction process while paying homage to the long-standing local tradition of wood construction in Switzerland.

The main loadbearing system of the building is based on V-shaped timber columns – providing a structural function while also serving as a reference to both the iconic Swiss alpine landscapes and the centuries-old tradition of timber construction and traditional pitched roofs. Arriving passengers will be welcomed by this distinctly local architecture that showcases high-quality craftmanship while underscoring the airport’s pledge to sustainability.

Finally, Dock A’s roof will be covered with PV panels while integrated shading will reduce solar heat gain and maintenance requirements, and a combination of water and air-based cooling and heating systems will improve the building’s energy demand.

Bjarke Ingels Thomas Christoffersen Beat Schenk Martin Voelkle David Holbrook Fabian Lorenz Guillaume Evain Hector Romero Jan Leenknegt Oliver Thomas Paul Clemens Bart Sang Ha Jung Sebastian Claussnitzer Shu Zhao Simon Scheller Sören Grünert Terrence Chew Tracy Sodder Veronica Watson Weronika Siwak Christian Salkeld Jennifer Ng Ji-Young Yoon Bernardo Schuhmacher James Donaldson Ruo Wang Samantha Pires Tom Lasbrey Dong-Joo Kim Juan Diego Perez Diez Don Chen Amie Yao Jaeho Park Ryan Henriksen Shuo Yang Luca McLaughlin Zofia Bednarczyk Gus Steyer Montre'ale Jones Cosmin Paduraru Pearl Cao Ololade Owolabi Bianca Blanari Andrew Haas Sinam Hawro Yakoob

COLLABORATORS

BIG
HOK
10:8
Buro Happold
Pirmin Jung Schweiz AG
NACO
Haerter & Partner AG
TLP
B+P Baurealisation
BIQS
Pragma
The Design Solution
Bucharest Studio & Imigo

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The Twist

JEVNAKER, NORWAY

The Twist

JEVNAKER, NORWAY

2019

CLIENT

Kistefos Museum Jevnaker

TYPOLOGY

Culture

SIZE M2/FT2

1,000 / 10,764

STATUS

COMPLETED

The Twist is a contemporary art museum situated in the Kistefos Sculpture Park, located around a one hour drive from Oslo. The sculpture park, built around an old paper mill, occupies both embankments of the Randselva river and features sculptures by Olafur Eliasson, Lynda Benglis, Yayoi Kusama, Jeppe Hein, and Anish Kapoor, among others.

BIG was invited to design an intimate art museum to transform the visitor experience and add 1,000 m2 of indoor exhibition space to the park. After a careful study of the site, BIG proposed a raw and simple sculptural building across the Randselva river to tie the area together and create a natural circulation for a continuous art tour through the park.

Completed in 2019, The Twist is conceived as a beam, warped 90 degrees to create a sculptural form within the park and connect the two riverbanks: a museum, bridge and sculpture in one.

"The Twist is a hybrid spanning several traditional categories: it’s a museum, it’s a bridge, it’s an inhabitable sculpture. As a bridge, it reconfigures the sculpture park turning the journey through the park into a continuous loop. As a museum it connects two distinct spaces - an introverted vertical gallery and an extraverted horizontal gallery with panoramic views across the river. A third space is created through the blatant translation between these two galleries creating the namesake twist. The resultant form becomes another sculpture among the sculptures of the park."

Bjarke Ingels — Founder & Creative Director, BIG

BRIDGING — The total required building volume is placed as a bridge spanning the Randselva river, connecting the two sides.

TWISTING — A simple twist in the building volume allows the bridge to lift from the relatively lower forested area towards the south, up to the hillside area in the north.

VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL GALLERIES — A series of generic gallery spaces are created: stacked vertical galleries to the south and the large horizontal, open gallery to the north.

CONTEXTUAL GALLERIES — The twisted geometry in the middle of the building merges the vertical and horizontal in a single motion, reflecting the landscape.

The museum is placed as an abstract shape in the landscape. Its sculptural form is spanning between perfect geometry and specific bridge technology: on one side, it’s a simple box structure; on the other side, it’s a huge warping sculpture. A simple twist in the building volume allows the bridge to lift from the relatively lower forested area towards the south, and up to the hillside area in the north.

As a continuous path in the landscape, both sides of the building serve as the main entrance. From the south entry, visitors cross a 16 m aluminum-clad steel bridge to reach the double-height space, with a clear view to the north end, similarly linked with a 9 m pedestrian bridge.

The double-curve geometry of the museum is comprised of straight 40 cm-wide aluminum panels arranged like a stack of books, shifted ever so slightly in a fanning motion. The same principle is used inside, with white painted 8 cm-wide fir slats cladding the floor, wall, and ceiling as one uniform backdrop for Kistefos’ short-term Norwegian and international exhibitions.

The museum is comprised of a series of generic gallery spaces where, due to the curved form of the glass windows, the variety of daylight entering the museum creates three distinctive galleries. Stacked vertical, dark galleries with artificial lighting are found to the south, and a large horizontal, naturally-lit gallery with panoramic views is located on the north side. In between these spaces is the sculptural gesture, creating a twisted sliver of roof light.

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From either direction, visitors experience the twisted gallery as though walking through a camera shutter. The ability to compartmentalize, divide, or merge the gallery spaces creates flexibility for Kistefos’ artistic programming.

The main entrance to the building is from the south, with the information center and visitor facilities such as a cloak and locker room, museum shop, and restrooms located nearby. From this entrance, there is a clear view to the other end of the building, including the sloping gallery which is located along the main circulation ramp – guiding visitors to the panoramic gallery.

The panoramic gallery is a large open space suitable for sculptures and large installations, with the ability to be subdivided for special occasions and events. On the north end, a full-height glass wall offering panoramic views to the pulp mill and river tapers while curving upwards to form a 25 cm-wide strip of skylight. A café is situated at this end of the gallery, where guests can enjoy snacks while taking in the view of the historic pulp mill and surrounding landscape. During the summer months, the café service area spills onto the plateau just outside.

WEST ELEVATION

LONGITUDINAL SECTION

GROUND FLOOR PLAN

A glass stairway leads down to the museum’s lower level on the north river embankment, where the building’s aluminum underside becomes the ceiling for the basement and restroom area. Another full-width glass wall brings visitors even closer to the river below, enhancing the overall immersive experience of being in the idyllic woodlands just outside of Oslo.

The art delivery and reception area is shared with the main entrance. Art can be delivered discreetly and securely after hours, and the art shipping crates are stored in the exhibition storage room once the art has been installed in its respective gallery.

Bjarke Ingels Finn Nørkjær David Zahle Jakob Lange Brian Yang Catherine Huang Ole Elkjær-Larsen Casey Tucker Aimee Louise Desert Alberto Menegazzo Aleksandra Domian Alessandro Zanini Andre Enrico Cassettari Zanolla Brage Hult Carlos Ramos Tenorio Channam Lei Christian Eugenius Kuczynski Claus Rytter Bruun de Neergaard Dag Præstegaard Edda Steingrimsdottir Espen Vik Eva Seo-Andersen Frederik Lyng Joanna M. Lesna Kamilla Heskje Katrine Juul Kekoa Charlot Kei Atsumi Kristoffer Negendahl Lasse Lyhne-Hansen Lone Fenger Albrechtsen Mads Mathias Pedersen Mael Joseph Jaques Barbe Martino Hutz Matteo Dragone Maxime Le Droupeet Mikkel Marcker Stubgaard Naysan John Foroudi Nick Adriaan Huizenga Norbert Nadudvari Ovidiu Munteanu Rasmus Rosenblad Rihards Dzelme Roberto Fabbri Ryohei Koike Sofiia Rokhmaniko Steen Kortbæk Svendsen Sunwoong Choi Tomas Karl Ramstrand Tommy Bjørnstrup Tore Banke Tyrone Cobcroft Ulla Hornsyld Xin Chen Carlos Suriñach Penella Alina Tamosiunaite Balaj Alin Iulian Christian Dahl David Tao Marcelina Kolasinska Richard Mui Tiina Liisa Juuti Ola Sobczyk

AWARDS

LCD Berlin Leading Culture Destinations of the Year Award, 2020

Building Awards International Project of the Year, 2020

Architizer A+ Awards Architecture + Engineering Jury Winner, 2020

Architizer A+ Awards Gallery & Exhibitions Jury and Popular Winner, 2020

COLLABORATORS

AKT II
ÅF-Belysning
AS Byggeanalyse
Baumetall/Zambelli Group
Bladt Industries
Brekke & Strand
David Langdon
DIFK
ECT
Element Arkitekter
Erichsen & Horgen
Fokus Rådgivning
GCAM
Grindaker
Lüchinger&Meyer
Max Fordham
MIR
Rambøll
BIG Ideas

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LEGO Brand House

BILLUND, DENMARK

LEGO Brand House

BILLUND, DENMARK

2017

CLIENT

Kirkbi A/S | LEGO Foundation | LEGO Group

TYPOLOGY

Culture, Interiors

SIZE M2/FT2

11,960 / 128,737

STATUS

COMPLETED

The LEGO brand House in Billund, Denmark is as playful and inviting as the world’s famous LEGO toy itself. Applying the ratio of the famous LEGO brick throughout the architecture, LEGO Brand House embodies the culture and values at the heart of all LEGO experiences. Simultaneously, the colorful building cements Billund’s status as the home of the LEGO brick and the children’s capital of the world.

Due to its central location in the heart of Billund, sitting at the site of the city’s former town hall, LEGO House is conceived as an urban space as much as an experience center. Consisting of 21 overlapping architectural blocks, a 2,000 m2 public square allows visitors and citizens of Billund to spend time inside or simply shortcut through the building.

CHILDREN'S CAPITAL — Since LEGO House is at the center of the capital of children, we thought why not design it like a city center - or rather, a town square?

ENERGIZING THE GROUND LEVEL — Elements that have a public everyday-like urban character are consolidated around a central space: café, forum, store, ticketing, wardrobe, restrooms etc.

CHILDREN'S SQUARE — Individual building blocks frame a square, allowing for daylight and views between them while letting people enter from multiple directions and creating shortcuts through the building.

GALLERIES — Above the square, a cluster of galleries overlap to create a continuous sequence of exhibitions.

MASTERPIECE GALLERY — At the top of the pile of bricks the Masterpiece Gallery forms a bridge between all the corners of the exhibition, and serves as a sky-lit gallery for LEGO as an art form.

MELT — Two of the volumes appear like melted pixels, forming casual outdoor seating for people watching or public performances.

The LEGO square is energized by an urban character, welcoming locals and visitors to the café, restaurant, LEGO store, and conference facilities. The plaza appears like an urban cave without any visible columns and is illuminated through the cracks and gaps between the volumes above.

Above the square, a cluster of galleries overlap to create a continuous sequence of exhibitions. Each gallery is color-coded in LEGO’s primary colors so wayfinding through the exhibitions becomes a journey through the color spectrum.

"LEGO house is a literal manifestation of the infinite possibilities of the LEGO brick. Through systematic creativity, children of all ages are empowered with the tools to create their own worlds and to inhabit them through play. At its finest, that is what architecture - and LEGO play - is all about: enabling people to imagine new worlds that are more exciting and expressive than the status quo, and to provide them with the skills to make them reality. This is what children do every day with LEGO bricks - and this is what we have done at LEGO House with actual bricks, taking Billund a step closer towards becoming the Capital for Children."

Bjarke Ingels — Founder & Creative Director, BIG

The first and second floors include four play zones arranged by color and programmed with activities that represent a certain aspect of a child’s learning: red is creative, blue is cognitive, green is social, and yellow is emotional. Guests of all ages can have an immersive and interactive experience, express their imagination, and not least be challenged by meeting other builders from all over the world.

The top of the building is crowned by the Masterpiece Gallery, a collection of LEGO fans’ beloved creations that pay tribute to the LEGO community. The Masterpiece Gallery is made of the iconic 2×4 LEGO brick and showcases art beneath eight circular skylights that resemble the studs of the brick. Like the golden ratio, the proportions of the brick are nested in the geometries of everything man-made in the building, from the glazed ceramic tiles in the steps and walls to the overall 21 block scheme. Atop the Masterpiece Gallery, citizens and visitors can get a 360° panoramic view of the city. Some of the rooftops can be accessed via pixelated public staircases that double as informal auditoria for people watching or seating for performances.

The History Collection at the lower level is where visitors can experience an archival immersion into the LEGO company and brand’s story. The Vault – located underneath LEGO Square – is where children and AFoLs (Adult Fans of LEGO) can witness the first edition of almost every LEGO set ever manufactured, including the new 774-piece, 197-step kit replicating the stacked-block formation of the LEGO House.

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"All activities in the house are related to our LEGO philosophy that learning through play promotes innovation and creativity. Play runs through the LEGO Group’s DNA, and it is really brought to life in LEGO House. Everything from experience zones and outdoor areas to our restaurant concepts is based on play and creativity, so no matter what you do in LEGO House, it will have something to do with playing."

Jesper Vilstrup — CEO, Lego

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R_Hjortshoj - Legoworld-86 s

R_Hjortshoj - Legoworld-89 s

Bjarke Ingels Finn Nørkjær David Zahle Jakob Lange Brian Yang Andreas Klok Pedersen Jakob Sand Ole Elkjær-Larsen Jesper Boye Andersen Annette Jensen Ask Hvas Birgitte Villadsen Chris Falla Christoffer Gotfredsen Jakob Andreassen Jakub Wlodarczyk Jesper Bo Jensen Kamilla Heskje Kasper Reimer Hansen Kekoa Charlot Lone Fenger Albrechtsen Lorenzo Boddi Mads Engaard Stidsen Manon Otto Michael James Kepke Ryohei Koike Sergiu Calacean Snorre Nash Stefan Plugaru Tobias Hjortdal Tommy Bjørnstrup Høgni Laksafoss Agne Tamasauskaite Ariel Joy Norback Wallner Daruisz Duong Vu Hong Esben Christoffersen Franck Fdida Ioana Fartadi Scurtu Katarzyna Krystyna Siedlecka Katerina Joannides Leszek Czaja Magnus Algreen Suhr Marta Christensen Mathias Bank Stigsen Ole Dau Mortensen Stefan Wolf Thomas Jakobsen Randbøll Thomas Richard Hart Julia Boromissza Katarzyna Stachura Søren Askehave Jakob Ohm Laursen ‍Louise Bøgeskov Hou

AWARDS

EU Mies van der Rohe Award, Shortlist, 2019

Civic Trust Awards, Winner, 2019

IDEAT Future Awards Shortlist, Best Architecture in Commercial Design, 2018

INSIDE World Festival of Interiors, Civic, Culture & Transport Category Finalist, 2018

Danish Design Award Winner, Feel Good Category, 2018

Architizer A+ Award, Jury and Popular Choice Winner for Architecture + Branding, 2018

COLLABORATORS

COWI
Dr. Lüchinger + Meyer Brauingenieure AG
Jesper Kongshaug
Gade & Mortensen Akustik
E-Types

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The Spiral

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES

The Spiral

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES

2022

CLIENT

Tishman Speyer

TYPOLOGY

Work

SIZE M2/FT2

241,497 / 2,599,459

STATUS

IN CONSTRUCTION

Located at the intersection of the elevated High Line park and the newly developed Hudson Boulevard Park on Manhattan’s new western frontier, The Spiral extends the green space of the former train tracks in a spiraling motion towards the sky – from High Line to the skyline.

The 1,005 ft high-rise is a unique hybrid that intertwines a continuous green pathway with workspaces on every level. The building sets a new standard for the contemporary workplace, where nature becomes an integrated part of the work environment while spatial features are continuously adaptable to the changing needs of the tenants and their organizations.

The first zoning resolution in 1916 transformed NYC’s skyline. It required all towers to stay within a diagonal sky exposure plane, ensuring light and air could reach the streets. This resulted in the iconic NYC “wedding cakes” which still dominate the skyline today.

The stepping form of The Spiral echoes the architecture of New York City’s classic stepped setback skyscrapers and is the natural evolutionary step in the Tishman Speyer portfolio.

The building’s silhouette resonates with the iconic architecture of Rockefeller Center while its modern materials and detailing place it at the forefront of contemporary high-rise design on a path to become a future classic on the Manhattan skyline.

The Spiral combines the efficient layouts of the modern high-rise with the classic ziggurat silhouette of the premodern skyscraper.

SITE & ENVELOPE — Located at the crossing of 34th street and 10th avenue, the building punctuates the High Line and the beginning of Hudson Boulevard. The zoning envelope allows for 2.6 million sf and requires two setbacks.

Building Height — We stretch the basic volume to the requested building height of 1005 ft and follow the setback structure of the zoning envelope.

VIEWS — At 1005 ft tall, The Spiral clears most of the neighboring buildings, allowing uninterrupted views over New York City.

FROM HIGH LINE TO SKY LINE — The High Line will appear to carry through into the tower's spiral, forming an ascending ribbon of lively green spaces and extending the High Line into the skyline.

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The chain of amenity spaces and terraces originates at The Spiral’s main entrance on 34th street and Hudson Boulevard. The spiral wraps around the tower, which becomes gradually slimmer towards the top. This creates unique floor configurations that will cater to a diverse community of tenants making the building a lively place for businesses of different scales – giving tenants a stake in the building’s iconic skyline presence.

Inside, every terrace becomes a double height atrium with impressive views over Manhattan, offering a more informal setting for meetings, events and recreational activities. These spaces connect multiple levels in the building, offering an alternative to elevators to encourage physical activity and interaction amongst colleagues.

TYPICAL MULTI-STORY ORGANIZATION — In a typical commercial skyscraper, floors operate in isolation. Even when tenants work for the same organization, interactions are minimal.

CONNECTED ORGANIZATION — The Spiral has a string of double height spaces that can be connected. Occupants on different floors are able to interact with each other in a lively ribbon of atria and terraces.

“Designed for the people that occupy it, The Spiral ensures that every floor of the tower opens up to the outdoors, creating hanging gardens and cascading atria that connect the open floor plates from the ground floor to the summit into a single uninterrupted workspace.”

Bjarke Ingels — Founder & Creative Director, BIG

Bjarke Ingels Thomas Christoffersen Daniel Sundlin Beat Schenk Agla Egilsdottir Agne Rapkeviciute Alvaro Velosa Andreas Buettner Andrew Lee Dominyka Voelkle Florencia Kratsman Haochen Yu Jan Leenknegt Julie Kaufman Kate Cella Kelly Neill Mackenzie Keith Marcus Wilford Margaret Tyrpa Veronica Acosta Megan Van Artsdalen Morgan Mangelsen Otilia Pupezeanu Ryan Duval Seo Young Shin Terrence Chew Tracy Sodder Won Ryu Emily Chen Lawrence-Olivier Mahadoo Tony-Saba Shiber Stephen Kwok Chris Tron Deb Campbell Dylan Hames Francesca Portesine Gabriel Jewell-Vitale Janie Green Adam Sheraden Adrien Mans Anton Bashkaev Armen Menendian Benjamin Johnson Brian Rome Cadence Merrie Bayley Carolien Schippers Cheyenne Vandevoorde Christopher White Daniele Pronesti David Brown Davide Maggio Denys Kozak Douglass Alligood Erin Yook Gabriella Den Elzen Gaurav Sardana Ibrahim Salman Jan Casimir Janice Rim Jennifer Wood Joshua Burns Juan David Ramirez Kristoffer Negendahl Kurt Nieminen Lisbet Fritze Trentemøller Lucio Santos Manon Otto Maria Eugenia Dominguez Martynas Norvila Mateusz Rek Matteo Gawlak Maureen Rahman Michael Zhang Nicholas Potts Phawin Siripong Rachel Coulomb Ruo Wang Sarkis Sarkisyan Simon David Simon Lee Thea Gasseholm Tore Banke Ute Rinnebach Varat Limwibul Veronica Moretti Wells Barber Will Fu Yaziel Juarbe Yenhsi Tung Zoltan Kalászi Hung-Kai Liao Ali Chen Benjamin Caldwell Dong-Joo Kim Giulia Frittoli Jack Lipson Josiah Poland Luke Lu Peter Lee

AWARDS

CoStar Impact Award, 2023 ASLA NY Design Merit Award, 2017

COLLABORATORS

Adamson Associates
WSP Cantor Seinuk
Cosentini
Langan
Edgett Williams Consulting Group
Thornton Tomasetti
Heintges
Vidaris
Entek Engineering
FMS
Pandiscio
Doyle Partners
Squint Opera
Siteworks
Northern Design
BIG Landscape
BIG Ideas

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Aqaba Port Terminal

AQABA, JORDAN

Aqaba Port Terminal

AQABA, JORDAN

2022

CLIENT

APM Terminals Management BV

TYPOLOGY

Infrastructure

STATUS

IN DESIGN

APM Terminals and Maersk teamed with BIG to reimagine the future of the shipping industry starting with the green transformation of the Aqaba Port Terminal in Jordan by 2040. The project is the first step towards decarbonization of major ports and container terminals – and connecting shipping infrastructure to local communities.

Born out of APM Terminal’s ambition to optimize and decarbonize the port and surrounding logistics, BIG has developed a spatial framework for the green transformation of Aqaba Container Terminal – the gateway to the distribution network of Jordan, the Levant and beyond. The vision, with ESG principles at the core, merges different strategic approaches at regional scale, starting from the terminal refurbishment, expanding to the logistics functions in the immediate surroundings, and lastly, connecting to the wider port’s community and natural environment.

“Over the last decades, industries have driven economic growth, but also contributed to severe environmental impact. Aqaba Container Terminal is an example of how cleaner, quieter and safer infrastructure can create new forms of sustainable urban environments. As an urban planner and landscape architect the collaboration has been a unique chance to explore the hidden potential behind industrial sites and rethink infrastructure as a catalyst for urban, sustainable transformation. Developing this vision in collaboration with Maersk, APM Terminals and ACT has been an incredible opportunity to collaborate with industry leaders on the design and innovation of the global maritime infrastructure, which we all rely greatly on."

Giulia Frittoli — Partner, BIG

The framework for transforming Aqaba Container Terminal aims to bring life back to the port. This is done by decarbonizing its infrastructure, creating new synergies with local businesses and communities, and incorporating strategies for environmental restoration and nature-based solutions. Considering increasing safety and operational efficiency, which is core to APMT, BIG’s planning approach connects social, economic and environmental strategies into a holistic vision, for the terminal and beyond.

The future Aqaba Container Terminal incorporates solar installations and canopies, which allow for zero-emission port functions and reliance on fully electrified cranes, vehicles and charging stations. Yard refurbishments with state-of-the-art technology and sustainable pavement treatment provides efficient operations while creating comfortable spaces for workers.

By relocating the custom facility closer to the port, the clearance process is optimized and directly linked to nearby logistic facilities – an area where trade opportunities will be offered to the wider economy by connecting with local businesses. Bringing together agents and shippers will ensure faster goods distribution, while training and innovation centers develop Jordan’s next generation of logistics professionals.

Bjarke Ingels Shane Dalke Filip Radu Jakub Wlodarczyk Giulia Frittoli Tania-Cristina Farcas Daniel Joshua Vanderhorst

COLLABORATORS

Dimitrie

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VIA 57 West

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES

VIA 57 West

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES

2016

CLIENT

The Durst Organization

TYPOLOGY

Residential

SIZE M2/FT2

77,202 / 831,000

STATUS

COMPLETED

VIA 57 West introduces an entirely new typology to New York City: the Courtscraper. The 830,000 sq ft high-rise combines the density of the Manhattan skyscraper with the communal space of the European courtyard, offering 709 residential units with a lush 22,000 sq ft garden at the heart of the building.

Located on the west side waterfront of Manhattan, framed by a power plant, a sanitation garage, and the West Side Highway – the site needed an oasis in the middle of all the infrastructure. BIG essentially proposed a courtyard building that is on the architectural scale – what Central Park is at the urban scale – an oasis in the heart of the city.

THE SITE — The site is on the west side waterfront of Manhattan, framed by a power plant, a sanitation garage and the West Side Highway. The site needed to become a place; it needed an oasis in the middle of all the infrastructure.

COURTYARD — The courtyard creates a sanctuary for the residents in the heart of the block.

DENSIFICATION — To reach Manhattan density, the north-east corner is raised to 470 ft.

PRESERVING VIEWS — The receding silhouette leaves the water views uninterrupted for the adjacent Helena Tower, which is also owned by the Durst Organization.

A hybrid between the European perimeter block and a traditional Manhattan high-rise, VIA combines the advantages of both: the compactness and efficiency of a courtyard building with the airiness and the expansive views of a skyscraper. By keeping three corners of the block low and lifting the north-east corner up towards its 450 ft peak, the courtyard opens views towards the Hudson River, bringing low western sun deep into the block and graciously preserving the adjacent Helena Tower’s views of the river.

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The grand stair leads to access and views to the central courtyard. The courtyard, which is inspired by the classic Copenhagen urban oasis, can also be seen from the street and serves to extend the adjacent greenery of the Hudson River Park into VIA.

The slope of the building allows for a transition in scale between the low-rise structures to the south and the high-rise residential towers to the north and west of the site. The highly visible sloping roof consists of a simple ruled surface perforated by terraces – each one unique and south-facing. The fishbone pattern of the walls is also reflected in its elevations.

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“In recent decades, some of the most interesting urban developments have come in the form of nature and public space, reinserting themselves back into the postindustrial pockets, appearing around the city; the pedestrianization of Broadway & Times Square; the bicycle lanes, the High Line and the industrial piers turning into parks. Located at the northern tip of the Hudson River Park, VIA continues this process of 'greenification,' allowing open space to invade the urban fabric of the Manhattan city grid. In an unlikely fusion of what seems to be two mutually exclusive typologies, the courtyard and the skyscraper, the Courtscraper is the recent addition to the Manhattan skyline, showing that we don’t have to limit our choices to one or the other - we get to have both.”

Bjarke Ingels — Founder & Creative Director, BIG

Every apartment gets a bay window to amplify the benefits of the generous view and balconies. At the upper levels, the apartments are organized in a fishbone layout orienting the homes towards the view of the water. Large terraces are carved into the warped façade to maximize views and light into apartments, while ensuring privacy to the residents.

The material concept for the interior design of the project is “Scandimerican,” another layer of the European-American hybridity: classic modern Scandinavian material sensibility blended with local New York materials. The primary materials of the apartments are oak wood floors and cabinets, with white porcelain tiles in the bathrooms.

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The 22,000 sq ft courtyard is complimented by other building amenities – a VIA gym and fitness lounge, a 25-yard swimming pool, a mini golf venue, basketball courts and a variety of resident lounges.

The form of the building shifts depending on the viewer’s vantage point. While appearing like a pyramid from the West Side Highway, it turns into a dramatic glass spire from West 58th Street.

WEST ELEVATION

SOUTH ELEVATION

NORTH ELEVATION

Bjarke Ingels Thomas Christoffersen Daniel Sundlin Beat Schenk Beat Schenk Pauline Lavie-Luong Sören Grünert Francesca Portesine Ivy Hume Aaron Hales Alessandro Ronfini Alessandro Ronfini Alvaro Garcia Mendive Benjamin Schulte Birk Daugaard Brian Foster Christoffer Gotfredsen Christoffer Gotfredsen David Brown David Brown Gabrielle Nadeau Hongyi Jin Hongyi Jin Jenny Chang Lauren Turner Lucian Mihail Racovitan Marcella Martinez Maya Shopova Mina Rafiee Ola El Hariri Rakel Karlsdottir Tara Hagan Tara Hagan Thomas Fagan Tiago Barros Valentina Mele Valentina Mele Valerie Lechene Yi Li Gül Ertekin Aleksander Tokarz Alessio Valmori Celine Jeanne Eivor Davidsen Felicia Guldberg Florian Oberschneider Ho Kyung Lee Ho Kyung Lee Julian Liang Julianne Gola Laura Youf Maria Nikolova Mitesh Dixit Nicklas Antoni Rasch Riccardo Mariano Stanley Lung Steffan Heath Thilani Rajarathna Tyler Alexander Polich Xu Li Dominyka Mineikyte

AWARDS

ULI NY Award of Excellence for Multi Family, 2021

ASLA NY Merit Award, Residential Landscape Architecture Design, 2018

London Design Awards, Gold Winner, 2017

AIA Housing Award for Multifamily Housing, 2017

AIA New York State Design Award for Residential for Multi Family, 2017

ArchDaily, Housing Building of the Year, 2017

ACEC New York Engineering Excellence Diamond Award, 2017

Brick in Architecture Award for Paving & Landscape, 2017

The Emporis Skyscraper Award, 2016

The International Highrise Award, 2016

CTBUH Best Tall Building Americas, 2016

Residential Architect Design Award for Multifamily Housing category, 2016

Interior Design Best of Year Award for Residence: Lobby & Amenity Spaces, 2016

American Architecture Prize Residential Architecture Silver Award, 2016

ENR New York Best Residential Project, 2016

World Architecture Festival Best Housing Category Finalist, 2016

Concrete Industry Board Award for Quality Concrete Special Recognition, 2015

P/A Progressive Architecture Awards, Citation, 2015

AIANY Design Award, Merit Award for Future Project, 2012

COLLABORATORS

SLCE Architects
Starr Whitehouse Landscape
Thornton Tomasetti
Dagher Engineering
Langan Engineering
Hunter Roberts
Enclos
Philip Habib & Assoc
Nancy Packes
Van Deusen & Assoc
Cerami & Assoc
CPP
AKRF
Vidaris Inc.
Brandston Partnership Inc.

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Villa Gug

AALBORG, DENMARK

Villa Gug

AALBORG, DENMARK

2022

CLIENT

Mads Peter Veiby

TYPOLOGY

Residential

SIZE M2/FT2

840 / 9,041

STATUS

COMPLETED

In the words of BIG Founder & Creative Director, Bjarke Ingels: “Designing a home for a family is like painting a portrait. A portrait’s success lies not only in the artists’ ability to express themselves – but rather in their ability to capture the expressions, character, personality, or even the soul of those being portrayed. As an architectural portrait, the home is about creating a framework for interests and needs, wishes and dreams, requirements and criteria – in short – the life the family wants to live.”

In Villa Gug, located in its namesake city Gug in Northern Denmark, the clients’ passion for cars plays a major role in the family’s life, taking up a significant portion of the housing area. Instead of hiding the cars away in a basement, or a large garage, BIG designed a house that smoothly transitions from the car to the home.

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The linear building curves in a loop around the top of the hill framing a central courtyard for the family’s private affairs. The building’s character gradually changes from an introverted garage and showroom at the driveway, to the more open functional spaces, including the kitchen, living room, and terrace on the top of the building.

From within, the spaces open up towards the central garden – offering increasingly expansive views as the rooms climb the hill and begin to perceive the distant horizons beyond the roof line.

The cars are protected from the outside, but visible across the garden from the living spaces and bedrooms. Looking out from the bedroom, the client can say goodnight to their cars before turning out the light each night.

The spiral courtyard creates a balance between private living and public location, while the continuous ascent effects a gradual transition between parking and living.

With Villa Gug, BIG has reprogrammed the standard house as we know it by basing the design on the clients’ passion, creating a type of housing that is tailored to the residents of this specific household. In terms of architecture as portraiture, Villa Gug is a pure manifestation of a house shaped by the desires of its inhabitants.

GARAGE TO LIVING ROOM — BIG imagined the house as a linear organization of rooms ranging from the most intimate - the cars to the most public - the living room.

PRIVATE TO PUBLIC — Being located in the center of a public park, at the top of a hill imposed an inherent dilemma of the balance between privacy and views.

CREATE PRIVACY — The central garden is the private oasis in the public park.

LET SUNLIGHT IN — Open to the south all rooms are bathed in sunlight.

OPTIMIZE VIEWS — The family rooms overlook the landscape. The garage opens to the garden.

GARAGE, SWEET GARAGE

Bjarke Ingels Finn Nørkjær David Zahle Jakob Lange Ole Elkjær-Larsen Alda Sol Hauksdóttir Alexander Codda Andy Coward Anke Kristina Schramm Anna Wiktoria Wozniak Anne-Charlotte Wiklander Athena Morella Bjarke Koch-Ørvad Cæcilie Søs Brandt-Olsen Dag Præstegaard Enea Michelesio Eskild Schack Pedersen Frederik Lyng Frederik Skou Jensen Hugo Yun Tong Soo Joanna Anna Jakubowska Kim Christensen Kristoffer Negendahl Lasse Lyhne-Hansen Mads Engaard Stidsen Mads Johansen Margarida Fino Jerónimo Michael James Kepke Michael Leef Morten Roar Berg Nanna Gyldholm Møller Naysan John Foroudi Pawel Bussold Richard Howis Rihards Dzelme Sofia Sofianou Timo Harboe Nielsen Tommy Bjørnstrup Tore Banke Weronika Marek Gökce Günbulut Brygida Zawadzka Elina Skujina Katarina Mácková Katerina Joannides Krzysztof Piotr Marciszewski Nicolas Millot Priscilla Bellas

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IQON Residences

QUITO, ECUADOR

IQON Residences

QUITO, ECUADOR

2022

CLIENT

Uribe Schwarzkopf

TYPOLOGY

Residential

SIZE M2/FT2

55,000 / 390,000

STATUS

COMPLETED

Traditionally a sprawling city of dense low-rise buildings, the skyline of Quito was re-imagined following the relocation of the city-center airport over a decade ago. With the skyline able to grow upwards for the first time, Uribe Schwarzkopf worked with BIG to realize a new contemporary identity for the city.

The 130m, 32 story IQON stands as the tallest residential building in the Ecuadorian capital, designed as a vertical community, and an extension of the neighboring La Carolina Park.

THE SITE & MAXIMUM VOLUME — The program demands a massing that maximizes the footprint to stay below the height limit.

VIEW OPTIMIZATION — The massing is oriented towards the most desirable views of Pichincha, La Carolina and Cotopaxi.

PRIVATE TERRACES — The façade is further broken down into rotated boxes, creating private terraces for each unit.

THROUGH-UNITS — Split cores allow for premium through-units which are optimal for daylight, views and cross-ventilation.

PARK EXTENSION — The ground floor plaza is designed to be an extension of La Carolina park.

IQON — The Carolina park climbs up the rotating boxes that make up the façade of the building to create a vertical display of Quito's biodiversity.

“We’ve tried to take all the iconic qualities of Quito - such as the enjoyment of living in one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, in a city on the equator where the seasons are perfect for both human and plant life - and bring that experience into the vertical dimension. IQON is an entire vertical community of individual homes; an extension of La Carolina Park that now climbs all the way up to the rooftop."

Bjarke Ingels — Founder & Creative Director, BIG

The 390,000 sq ft building – which includes 215 residences, commercial units, office spaces, and a variety of amenities – features a notable curved corner, wrapped by terraces that continue around the building’s perimeter with views of the park, city and over the Pichincha volcano.

IQON’s architectural identity is defined by its ‘stripped back’ façade; the raw, exposed concrete simultaneously functions as the building’s structure. Individual ‘pixels’ are stacked 32 floors high and rotated to provide the best possible views while simultaneously creating terraces for the apartments. Celebrating native trees and plants, the building integrates greenery wherever possible to take advantage of Ecuador’s temperate climate and ecology – the country with the most plant species per square meter in the world.

Upon entering the lobby, the material palette transitions from the raw, pared-back exterior to a more refined aesthetic; marble stone pavers complement the custom millwork reception desk, and concrete touchpoints nod to the façade. Deep emerald-green tones are utilized on the ceiling tiles, mailboxes, and through to the elevator lobby – an area located beyond a blackened-steel portal.

Quito’s biophilia is carried from the public spaces below into the private domain of each home via the sculptural planters that are integrated into the architecture of the building. The planters become a unique concrete sculpture inside the apartments – creating space for the root zone of the tree for the apartment terrace above – while transforming the façade of the building into a celebration of Quito’s verdant biodiversity.

The building also acts as an urban tree farm: once the vegetation planted on the terraces outgrows its planter, it can be replanted in parks all over the city. In this way, the building becomes part of a green cycle – from park to building, and back to park.

“Each apartment floor features through-units - apartments that have terraces on both the north and south facades - which not only allows for views across the entire city, but also offers the opportunity for cross ventilation and a sense of openness.”

Thomas Christoffersen — Partner, BIG

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An integrated lap pool and terraces at the top of the building offer residents a place to relax while overlooking the city. Additional building amenities include a gym and squash court; a spa; a bowling alley; entertainment rooms; and a business center. IQON is the first mixed-use building in Quito to have a preliminary EDGE certification, granted by GBCI (Green Business Certification Inc.); and IFC (International Finance Corporation).

Bjarke Ingels Thomas Christoffersen Beat Schenk Amir Mikhaeil Jason Wu Jan Leenknegt Lorenz Krisai Lucia Sanchez Ramirez Margaret Tyrpa Peter Sepassi Stephanie Mauer Terrence Chew Tracy Sodder Bell Cai Ziad Shehab Stephen Kwok Deb Campbell Francesca Portesine Andrea Di Pompeo Angel Barreno Gutiérrez Benjamin Novacinski Chengjie Jacob Li Claire Djang Clara Sanfeliu Douglass Alligood Juan David Ramirez Maria Sole Bravo Magdalena Narkiewicz Rune Wriedt Sijia Zhou Stephanie Choi Benjamin Caldwell Josiah Poland Ma Ning Megan Ng Sebastian Grogaard

COLLABORATORS

Rene Lagos Engineers and Fernando Romo
CPP Wind Tunnel
Geo Estudios
Trialmech
Incoayam
Consel
Estrusa

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Johns Hopkins Student Center

BALTIMORE, UNITED STATES

Johns Hopkins Student Center

BALTIMORE, UNITED STATES

CLIENT

Johns Hopkins University

TYPOLOGY

Education

SIZE M2/FT2

13,935 / 150,000

STATUS

IN CONSTRUCTION

The Johns Hopkins University Student Center, also known as ‘The Village,’ will form a new social engagement hub for all members of the school community. The 150,000 sq ft building includes spaces for relaxation and socializing, student resources and support, a digital media center, performance space with seating for 200 people, and a dining hall.

Located at the intersection of 33rd and Charles Streets, the Student Center will foster greater connectivity between the campus and the neighboring community by creating a prominent point of entry. As a natural gateway, the area will connect Charles Village and the 3,500+ Johns Hopkins students who live in the neighborhood to the heart of the Homewood campus.

EXISTING SITE — The site is located on the hill of the Grove, next to the existing Homewood campus Beach at the main gateway between the City and the Campus.

INDOOR LANDSCAPE — The indoor landscape - as vast as the 'Beach' next door - negotiates the grade of the site to allow direct entry from all four levels, while maintaining a friendly human scale.

GATHERING SPACES — A true Village of student life, the student center is comprised of an array of spaces, including art studios, a music rehearsal room, a state-of-the-art performance space, job fairs, and a student engagement hub.

SITE CONNECTIONS — The building is rotated to align with the historic Merrick Barn next door and improve site connectivity for greater pedestrian flows.

CAMPUS LIVING ROOM — All spaces connect back to the Campus Living Room, an inclusive melting pot for student life, and a crossroad for campus connectivity.

PROGRAM DISPLAY — The porosity and transparency of the student center places its activities and school spirit on display, expressing an ever-changing mosaic of the student body.

THE VILLAGE — The Village is a vision for the new Hopkins Student Center, a physical expression of the student body diversity, and a welcoming new beacon for both Campus and Community.

The Village is conceived as a central living room – a dynamic hub – surrounded by a collection of spaces tailored to the needs of the Hopkins community. The building negotiates the sloping grade of the site to allow direct entry from all four levels of the building, while maintaining a human scale and providing several accessible routes across the site. Arriving on Charles Street, students and visitors are greeted by an open building façade with dining areas spilling out onto an adjacent plaza.

The mass timber structure provides a warm and acoustically comfortable environment as light filters in between the photovoltaic roof panels -design strategies that contribute to the University’s larger sustainability goals, including LEED Platinum Certification.

The design transforms the landscape around the building to create outdoor spaces for student activities and events. A central plaza can host pop-up exhibits or performances, as well as vendors and food trucks to enliven the North Charles Street corridor.

Bjarke Ingels Leon Rost Agne Rapkeviciute Andres Romero Blake Smith Jason Wu Corliss Ng Elizabeth Mcdonald Florencia Kratsman Guillaume Evain Jan Leenknegt Ken Chongsuwat Kevin Pham Margaret Tyrpa Oliver Thomas Kig Veerasunthorn Terrence Chew Tracy Sodder Veronica Watson Xi Zhang Alex Wu Chia-Yu Liu Lawrence-Olivier Mahadoo Tony-Saba Shiber Bryan Hardin Deb Campbell Gabriel Jewell-Vitale Jialin Yuan Alexander Jacobson Ema Hristova Bakalova Frederic Lucien Engasser Jakub Kulisa Jesper Kanstrup Petersen Kaoan Hengles De Lima Tore Banke Tom Lasbrey Benjamin Caldwell Josiah Poland Mike Munoz Juan Diego Perez Diez Alan Maedo Ryan Henriksen Luca McLaughlin Cynthia Wang

COLLABORATORS

Clark Construction
Lindner
StructureCraft
Shepley Bulfinch
Rockwell Group
MVVA
WSP-NYC
WRA
Knippers Helbig
Charcoal Blue
L’Observatoire
Point of Reference Studio/POR
Thornton Tomasetti
Acentech
Ricca
Code Red
Lerch Bates
Squint/Opera

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CapitaSpring

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE

CapitaSpring

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE

2022

CLIENT

CapitaLand Group

TYPOLOGY

Work, Hospitality

SIZE M2/FT2

93,351 / 1,004,830

STATUS

COMPLETED

The 280 m tall CapitaSpring is located in the heart of Singapore’s financial district on the site of a 1980s car complex and a hawkers market. As the second tallest tower in Singapore, the 93,000 m2, 51 story mixed-use development continues Singapore’s pioneering vertical urbanism by creating a diverse neighborhood of places to work, live, and play.

Entirely defined by zoning rules, street walls, and setback requirements, the volume is a complex composition of polygonal shapes. The program, which includes premium Grade A office space, Citadines serviced residences, retail, and public spaces, is similarly strictly defined with offices sitting on top of residences that in turn rest on a podium of food markets and parking.

Due to the unique character of Singapore’s urbanism – both very dense and verdant – BIG pursued the design challenge as a vertical exploration of tropical urbanism, reinforcing Singapore’s reputation as a garden city. The building’s recognizable exterior façade consists of vertical elements that are pulled apart to allow glimpses into the green oases blooming from the base, core and rooftop. A dynamic interplay of orthogonal lines and lush greenery presents itself in the contrasting textures of steel and glass, interweaved with tropical vegetation.

Basement — The ground floor area is constrained by the dimensions of the site, tower core, parking, MEP plantrooms and the hawker market.

Ground Floor — The lobbies are on the ground floor while main retail frontage is along Market Street. Setbacks accommodate pedestrian walkways and a public City Room with through-block passage.

Hawker Market — Two levels of hawker food market are located along the narrow tail end of the site.

Serviced Residences — 8 floors of serviced residences sit above the parking podium with access to generous outdoor garden spaces.

Offices — 29 floors of continuous, efficient, and repetitive office floors sit above the serviced residences.

The Green Spring — Office block is lifted to maximize commercial value. Lush green connections between the offices and residences contain different types of amenities for life, work, and play.

Roof Garden & Amenities — Centralized MEP plantrooms are located on a single floor under a rooftop restaurant. The restaurant is connected to a roof garden that spirals up in a continuous and accessible loop.

Facades — Vertical extrusions mounted to the exterior of the façade as mullions run continuously from top to bottom of the building, creating pockets that reveal greenery and social activities inside.

At the ground floor, visitors are met by a new linear public rainforest plaza and park. Meandering garden paths and covered passages create natural entryways into the City Room, a 19 m high generous open space at the foot of the tower.

Nestled on the second and third levels of CapitaSpring is the new hawker market with 56 food stalls offering local delicacies and an abundance of lunch options for the CBD’s workers.

The first eight floors of the tower contain 299 serviced residences with a wide range of amenities – a swimming pool, jacuzzi, jogging track, gym, social kitchen, lounges, and barbeque pits.

A vertical park is inserted in the middle of the tower in the form of a spiraling promenade ascending among tropical tree trunks and canopies.

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"As someone with Singaporean heritage, I have been honored and humbled by the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing evolution of architecture in Singapore as a distinct blending between the contemporary and the tropical. In our design, this manifests as a seamless transition between the garden and the city, articulated in the facades and a series of lush spiraling gardens connecting between various programs and amenities."

Brian Yang — Partner, BIG

The top 29 floors of the tower offer premium office spaces with panoramic views of the Singapore River and Marina Bay. At the core of the building between the hardscapes of the offices and residences are four connected levels of organic softscape, called the Green Oasis – a mesmerizing 30 m open-air garden for work, casual strolls, relaxation, exercise and events.

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CapitaSpring’s rooftop garden is home to 1-Arden Food Forest. Currently, over 150 species of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers, are grown across five thematic plots to supply the building’s restaurants with fresh greens.

Bjarke Ingels Jakob Lange Brian Yang Aimee Louise Desert Aleksandra Domian Alessandro Zanini Anders Holden Deleuran Anke Kristina Schramm Antonio Sollo Augusto Lavieri Zamperlini Bartosz Kobylakiewicz Dalma Ujvari Davide Tarditi David Schwarzman David Vega y Rojo Dimitrie Grigorescu Dina Brændstrup Dominika Trybe Eric Li Elise Cauchard Eriko Maekawa Espen Vik Ewa Natalia Szajda Federica Locati Filippo Lorenzi Francisco Castellanos Teodor Cristian Fratila Frederik Skou Jensen Gorka Calzada Medina Cris Guoyu Liu Helen Shuyang Chen Hongduo Zhou Jacek Baczkowski Jakub Wlodarczyk Joseph James Haberl Julieta Muzzillo Kirsty Badenoch Kristoffer Negendahl Luca Pileri Luis Wagenführer Martino Hutz Matilde Tavanti Moa Carlsson Nataly Timotheou Niu Jing Orges Guga Patrycja Lyszczyk Philip Rufus Knauf Praewa Samachai Qamelliah Yusuph Nassir Rahul Girish Rebecca Carrai Roberto Fabbri Ryohei Koike Samuel Rubio Sanchez Shuhei Kamiya Sofiia Rokhmaniko Song He Sorcha Burke Steen Kortbæk Svendsen Szymon Kolecki Talia Fatte Tore Banke Ulla Hornsyld Viktoria Millentrup Vinish Sethi Weijia Lu Xinying Zhang Zari Van de Merwe Günther Edwin Weber Aleksander Wadas Gabrielė Ubarevičiūtė Jonas Käckenmester Lukas Kerner Maria Teresa Fernandez Rojo Pedro Savio jobim Pinheiro Ramon Julio Muros Cortes Vilius Linge Xin Su Zhen Tong Andrew Lo Malgorzata Mutkowska

AWARDS

President*s Design Award for Design of The Year, 2023 ULI Asia Pacific Awards for Excellence, 2023 ArchDaily, Office Building of the Year, 2023 MIPIM ASIA’s Silver Award, Best Mixed-Use Development, 2022

COLLABORATORS

Carlo Ratti Associati
RSP Architects
Dragages Singapore
COEN
BIG Ideas
BIG Landscape

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Red Lion Court

LONDON, ENGLAND

Red Lion Court

LONDON, ENGLAND

2018

CLIENT

Landsec

TYPOLOGY

Work

SIZE M2/FT2

35,372 / 380,741

STATUS

IN DESIGN

Landsec’s redevelopment of Red Lion Court, Bankside recently received planning permission to create a green office cluster in Southwark. The new Red Lion Court will bring 230,000 sq ft of Grade A offices, retail and open public space to the banks of the River Thames, adjacent to Borough Yards. The BIG-designed building will provide access to outdoor spaces on every floor, an extensive communal roof terrace and unfettered views over the river into the City.

Over 45% of the site will be publicly accessible, including an expanded Thames Path, a pocket park and community garden plus affordable office space, flexible retail, a bike repair centre and wellness centre. The building is designed to be net-zero in both construction and operation. The completed building will be fully electric and target WELL Core Platinum and BREEAM ‘Outstanding’.

The building is arranged, in massing terms, as a series of ‘jumping blocks’ of differing sizes that lift in the middle, freeing up the ground plane and creating a series of new, enhanced urban public spaces. In aggregate, the mass delivers a transformative overall building form that responds to the different scales of its surroundings.

At ground level, the lifted mass provides nearly 45% of the site devoted to public realm including two new, generous publicly accessible spaces linked together by the building’s lobby. At the north a new Bankside Square is created adjacent to the Grade II listed Anchor Pub, enhancing its setting. At the west, in conjunction with the neighboring Former Financial Times Building, a centralized, tranquil Pocket Park is created in association with a new north-south route through the Site.

Sustainability aspirations for Red Lion Court include BREEAM ‘Outstanding’, operational energy performance aligned with NABERS UK 5 stars, a commitment to offset all embodied carbon emissions at completion, in addition to GLA offsets. A Whole Life Carbon Assessment for the Built Environment (RICS 2017) has been carried out.

Bjarke Ingels Andreas Klok Pedersen Oliver Thomas Anna Leticia Loch Goncalves Anna Natalia Krzyzanowska Anton Olof Malte Ling Andy Young Cadence Merrie Bayley Carl Pettersson Carmen Simone Chris Falla Claire Thomas Spiller David Vieira Agostinho Dermot Martin Horgan George Edward Entwistle Harry George Andrews Jason Chee Han Chia Lauren Connell Falla Lorenzo Maccacaro Luciana Bondio Michela Cardia Mike Yin Ming Cheong Naysan John Foroudi Parinaz Kadkhodayi-Kholghi Pedro Sepulveda Nunes Stefan Plugaru Tom Cameron Hunter Vid Znidarsic Vishmi Anuttara Jayawardene Hittige William Campion Christina Ødegaard Grytten Théo Hamy Ania Agnieszka Podlaszewska Jakob Freek Engstrom Federico Fauli Cheryl Wan Xuan Cheah Gulru Arvas Amber Collinson Gloria Wong Leticia Fochesatto Yue Xu Litri Zhenni Liao Mariana Puzko

COLLABORATORS

AKT II
Hilson Moran
Gardiner & Theobald
CPC
Gerald Eve
Tavernor Consultancy
Kanda Consulting
Arup
Momentum
R.P.M.
Five at Heart
Astute Fire
Hoare Lea
D2E

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CityWave

MILAN, ITALY

CityWave

MILAN, ITALY

2019

CLIENT

Generali Real Estate

TYPOLOGY

Work

SIZE M2/FT2

53,500 / 538,200

STATUS

IN CONSTRUCTION

CityLife is one of the largest redevelopment projects in Europe, covering an area of 366,000 m2. Located in a prestigious area of Milan, only a short distance from the Duomo, CityLife currently consists of three iconic towers surrounded by a green public realm. While an international design competition asked for a new tower on the site, BIG took the opportunity to explore a different typology for the city.

Currently under construction, BIG’s design envisions two individual buildings connected by a 140 m long hanging roof, forming a generous shaded public realm as the entrance to CityLife: The Portico, also known as CityWave. Rather than to compete with the existing context, BIG’s design completes it.

THE FIERA AXIS — CityLife is located on the former site of Fiera Milano. The fair's primary axis, called Domodossola Axis, was the main pedestrian walkway to the pavilions dividing the site diagonally between Largo Domodossola and Piazza Amendola. This axis is maintained in the CityLife masterplan as a visual connection and further enhanced by the underground metro. Our site acts as an entryway to the axis, split in two parts.

TWIN BUILDINGS & AXIS — Twin buildings were often used in Milan in the 20th century to celebrate the axis as an urban demarcation of entryways. Anchoring both sides of the street, the twin buildings create a sense of grandeur to the axis and are commonly found throughout history, from the Spanish Walla Gates in the 1500s to post-war icons such as the twin buildings of via Turati.

CityLife is located on the former site of Fiera Milano. The fair’s primary axis, called Domodossola Axis, was the main pedestrian walkway to the pavilions dividing the site diagonally between Largo Domodossola and Piazza Amendola. This axis is maintained in the CityLife masterplan as a visual connection and further enhanced by the underground metro. BIG’s site acts as an entryway to the axis, split in two parts.

Twin buildings were often used in Milan in the 20th century to celebrate the axis as an urban demarcation of entryways. Anchoring both sides of the street, the twin buildings create a sense of grandeur to the axis and are commonly found throughout history, from the Spanish Walla Gates in the 1500s to post-war icons such as the twin buildings of via Turati.

CityWave is a 53,500 m2 development with workspace and public amenities, designed on the last two remaining plots of the CityLife masterplan in Milan. The masterplan designed by Studio Libeskind, in conjunction with Zaha Hadid Architects and Arata Isozaki & Associates, consists of three iconic towers surrounded by a green public realm and residential neighborhoods.

Site — The site of the competition was comprised of two distinct plots facing each other. The Domodossola axis separates and restricts the buildable area for both plots at the street level while below ground, the tunnel for the Line 5 metro demarcates the two plots.

Program — CityWave includes offices, a hotel, a podium with shared amenities and panoramic terraces with a bar and restaurant. The total area of the brief could fit within a complete extrusion of ten floors. BIG proposed splitting the main components of the program to ensure the most efficient vertical circulation and maximize amenities on the ground plane. Both plots are activated at their base, with amenities spilling onto the public space at the center of the axis.

Courtyard — Introducing courtyards brings daylight and natural ventilation into the building, as well as astonishing views over the private gardens. With a depth of 18 m, the office floorplates are extremely efficient, allowing for flexible layouts. The hotel floorplates have a depth of 9 m for efficient room layouts with open corridors facing an atrium filled with lush greenery.

Relationship to the axis — To unify the two irregularly shaped plots, we generate two simple curves formed by pure circles on each side: one created by the end of the axis and the other by the Piazza Tre Torri, the epicenter of the site. The geometry of the roof is generated as a wedge of a sphere. The resulting massing reads as one single gesture. The profile of the roof emphasizes the axis by lifting up the edges and lowering towards the center. With this move, we unite the two buildings in one single form. The two buildings reach 105 and 53 m respectively at their highest points.

Terraces — A portion of the offices' closed courtyard is removed in order to create an outdoor terrace, while another portion is reinstated to the hotel's open courtyard to enclose the atrium. The result is two extraordinary outdoor spaces: an office terrace connected to all the amenities, and a pool for the hotel overlooking the city, the park and the three towers.

Portico — CityWave is conceived as one entity formed by three parts: the two buildings, the covered public realm, all unified by a colonnade. This represents and pays homage to the classic typology of the portico as an element that connects, gives shade and protects, echoing the historic grand monasteries or abbeys of Italy. At the central axis, removing the existing concrete ramps and relocating the taxi drop-off stations allows a new park entrance to form at the heart of the public realm.

"Throughout the urban history of Milan, an urban axis is symbolized by a set of twin buildings and a gate. The Portico is an evolution of that typology creating both a gateway to CityLife and a significant destination for Milan."

Lorenzo Boddi — Partner, BIG

CityWave is an extension of the interior space to the exterior, allowing outdoor life to be enjoyed throughout the year. The characteristic long portico structure is clad entire in PV tiles, forming one of the largest rooftop solar installations in Europe.

Two courtyards allow employees to enjoy a place of respite during the workday, while the large, central, covered public realm becomes a gift to the city of Milan.

“With CityLife, we set ourselves an ambitious goal that we believe we have achieved, that of regenerating and upgrading the area of the Milan Trade Fair, which we have fully restored to the city in a completely renewed form that can be used by everyone. The project of the BIG studio completes the area with a solution that is in line with our values and objectives, a project that we embraced right from the start."

Armando Borghi — CEO, CityLife

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Each floor of the building has at least 3 m high ceilings, enabling natural light to enter thanks to a continuous, transparent and luminous façade that will look out onto both the city and two large private courtyards. At the highest part, the buildings will have cascading terraces for use as multifunctional spaces with breathtaking panoramic views.

Under the roofs, a cascading ring of amenities allows for interconnected workspaces, and extends into the rooftop bar overlooking the Alps and Monte Rosa.

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In parallel with the construction of the new residential lot on Via Spinola, the new project represents the completion of CityLife, which will become one of Europe’s major business districts, with a mix of public and private functions including residences, offices, shops and green areas.

Expected to open in 2023, the new neighborhood is considered one of the main “new urban centers” of Milan and a highly regarded example of urban renewal and regeneration in Italy.

Bjarke Ingels Andreas Klok Pedersen Florencia Kratsman Francesca Portesine Andy Coward Anna Pazurek Andy Young Beatrice Melli Bjarke Koch-Ørvad Camille Breuil Carl Pettersson Carmen Salas Ruiz Carmen Simone Chris Falla Claire Thomas Spiller Daniel Ferrara Bilesky Duncan Horswill Elisabetta Costa Filip Radu Giulio Rigoni Gualtiero Rulli Ioannis Gio Jason Chee Han Chia Jonathan Russell Kamila Abbiazova Lauren Connell Falla Lorenzo Boddi Marco Antonio Maycotte Nefeli Stamatari Marina Cogliani Marjan Mostavi Matilde Tavanti Michela Cardia Miles Treacy Ming Cheong Parinaz Kadkhodayi-Kholghi Pernille Kinch Andersen Pierre-Edouard Joseph Joiris de Caussin Ryohei Koike Sabina Blasiotti Sijia Zhong Timo Harboe Nielsen Ulla Hornsyld Vincent Katienin Konate Youngjin Jun Yueying Wan Zuzanna Hanna Sliwinska Siqi Emily Chen Giulia Frittoli Jakob Freek Engstrom Maria de Salvador Arnaiz Luca Vincenzo Puzzoni Liliana Prevedello Gianmarco Cannizzo Maayan Raviv

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DOGA-merket for Architecture and Design, 2023

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Dansk Stalpris (Danish Steel Award), 2016

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American Institute of Steel Construction IDEAS2 National Award for Steel Construction in the $75-200 million category, 2021

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LCD Berlin Leading Culture Destinations of the Year Award, 2020

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EU Mies van der Rohe Award, Shortlist, 2019

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CoStar Impact Award, 2023 ASLA NY Design Merit Award, 2017

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Siteworks
Northern Design
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ULI NY Award of Excellence for Multi Family, 2021

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SLCE Architects
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