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Undulating concrete conceals Chaohu Natural and Cultural Centre in China
CategoriesArchitecture

Undulating concrete conceals Chaohu Natural and Cultural Centre in China

By Zarkon Group,

A flowing landscape of grass-topped, terracotta-coloured concrete animates the Chaohu Natural and Cultural Centre designed by Chinese studio Change Architects to reference mountains in Anhui province.

Commissioned by OCT Group, the centre provides a community hub and restaurant for the Bantung Hot Spring Town resort, which forms part of a new economic development zone at the foot of a mountain to the north of the city of Chaohu, China.

Aerial view of Chaohu Natural and Cultural Centre by Change Architects
Change Architects has created the Chaohu Natural and Cultural Centre

Its design is informed by both mountains and wormholes, with a series of performance and restaurant spaces punctured by large openings that allow visitors to see the surrounding landscape in new ways.

“The logic of the architectural concept derived from the idea of natural elements,” explained Change Architects.

View of restaurant at the Chaohu Natural and Cultural Centre by Change Architects
It is concealed by a flowing landscape of terracotta-coloured concrete

Winding across the site between a small lake and a path, the concrete structure incorporates walkways and viewing points and rises up at its western end to conceal a large restaurant beneath a grass-topped mound.

This artificial landscape was constructed using a steel frame, which was then covered with concrete poured in situ, and finished with a green roof and anti-slip surface finishes.

Holes and curved openings that puncture the roof create skylights and open courtyards below, where sunken areas of amphitheatre-like seating provide informal areas for outdoor performances.

The sinuous walkways provide multiple routes to the restaurant entrance, where visitors can either descend into a lounge space or move upwards towards the dining area.

Red-concrete walkways in Chinese cultural centre
Its form incorporates sinuous walkways

Once inside the restaurant, a fully-glazed wall looks out over an adjacent lake to the south. At night, the building is reflected in the water, creating a “moment where mountains, water and buildings meet”.

The dining area is housed in a rectangular form that projects from the northern side of the large mound, with a mirrored exterior designed to blend in with the surroundings and a balcony to provide views of the nearby mountains.

Courtyard surrounding by red-concrete walls
Holes in its surface form skylights to spaces below

The interiors of the Chaohu Natural and Cultural Centre’s restaurant are defined by smooth, white-painted concrete surfaces and extensive planting. Designed by the German-based studio Ippolito Fleitz Group, they are intended to echo the flowing form of the exterior.

Elsewhere in China, a Team BLDG created a cluster of grass-topped, artificial mounds to conceal facilities for a riverfront park in Pazhou.

The photography is by Qingshan Wu.

Reference

Bureau conceals Thérèse cabin in France with boulder-like concrete finish
CategoriesArchitecture

Bureau conceals Thérèse cabin in France with boulder-like concrete finish

By Zarkon Group,

Architecture studio Bureau has used a rough concrete finish to disguise this small wooden cabin in France as a boulder, distinguishable only by a porthole-style window.

Named Thérèse, the structure is located in the rural grounds of contemporary art space Bermuda outside the town of Sergy and provides space for one person to live comfortably.

Concrete exterior of Thérèse cabin in France by Bureau
Bureau has created a boulder-like cabin in France

Bureau, formerly known as Bureau A, conceived the project as a companion piece to its 2014 project Antoine – a cabin in the Swiss Alps that was also disguised as a boulder.

Both projects pay tribute to the work of Swiss writer Chales-Ferdinand Ramuz, whose novel Derborence tells the story of a shepherd named Antoine who becomes trapped under rocks following a landslide, shortly after his marriage to Thérèse.

Woodland with boulder-like structure
It has a rough concrete finish to disguise it in woodland

“Thérèse was thought and built along the same lines as Antoine, creating interconnected dependencies of art and other travelling communities,” said Bureau.

“Habitation is political here, as the two shelters are nowhere near commercial or speculative routes or agendas,” it continued. “They offer a place to many outside any financial or economic considerations.”

Porthole-style window of Thérèse in France
All that distinguishes it is a porthole-style window

Nestled in a wooded area close to France’s border with Switzerland, all that gives away the presence of the cabin is a single, large porthole-style window.

Underneath Thérèse’s rough concrete exterior is a pyramidal timber structure, sitting atop light foundations that give it the potential to be relocated in future.

Inside, the cabin provides enough space for a single person to live comfortably, with room for a portable wood-burning stove, a table with benches and niches for storage.

Beneath the openable porthole window is a bench for viewing the surrounding landscape, alongside a ladder that leads up to a small mezzanine sleeping area.

Wood-lined cabin interior designed by Bureau
Underneath the concrete is a wooden structure

Exposed timber panels line the entirety of Thérèse’s interior and have also been used to construct the furniture, chosen to provide a warm contrast to the rocky exterior.

Wooden ladder to mezzanine of Thérèse
A mezzanine is accessed by a ladder

Bureau is an architecture, design and research studio led by architects Daniel Zamarbide, Carine Pimenta and Galliane Zamarbide, with offices in Geneva and Lisbon.

As well as the previously completed cabin Antoine, the studio’s other projects include an inflatable PVC nightclub in Geneva that was designed to host the annual party of the Federation of Swiss Architects.

The photography is by Dylan Perrenoud.

Reference

Vision Studio conceals “jewel-like” store behind perforated metal facade
CategoriesInterior Design

Vision Studio conceals “jewel-like” store behind perforated metal facade

By Zarkon Group,

Cool-toned industrial materials such as aluminium and concrete are paired with marble surfaces and translucent pastel shelving in this eyewear store in Melbourne, Australia.


Designed by local firm Studio Edwards, the first flagship store by optometrist Vision Studio is housed in a shopping centre in the city’s Glen Waverley suburb.

Transluscent pastel pink sunglasses displays with marble counter in retail interior by Studio Edwards
Vision Studio’s perforated aluminium facade (top image) hinges open to reveal a jewel-like interior (above)

Half of the store’s 3.6-metre-high perforated aluminium facade hinges open to reveal what the studio describes as a “jewel-like” interior, framed by marble tiles that contrast with the raw concrete of the existing shell.

Inside, Studio Edwards set out to create a space reminiscent of a gallery, including enough display space for 200 spectacles and storage for an additional 800 pairs alongside three consultation rooms with waiting areas and a staff and store area.

Marble accents and bright orange tap in Vision Studio interior
A bright orange tap and pastel pink doorframe act as pops of colour in the otherwise monochrome interior

To accommodate these functions, the floor plan is split into two zones with the store and display area at the front, and the optician and consulting spaces at the rear.

“The space is zoned via an angular plan configuration with the areas requiring most privacy to the rear and semi-private consulting spaces tapering to the front,” Studio Edwards founder Ben Edwards told Dezeen.

“One challenge was to work with the existing air conditioning ceiling ductwork – we chose to expose them and include them within the overall aesthetic.”

Pastel-coloured accents are applied to the shelving and cabinets that run along the walls on either side of the Vision Studio store.

The material palette, which the studio described as “a balance between raw and refined”, blends industrial materials such as aluminium and concrete with marble surfaces and translucent shelving that seems to hang in midair.

Perforated aluminium facade of retail interior by Studio Edwards
The shop is located in a Glen Waverley shopping centre

Other studios that have combined industrial materials and soft, powdery colours include Spanish studio Lucas y Hernández-Gil, which contrasted pastel furnishings against concrete walls in this restaurant in Seville.

Photography is by Tony Gorsevski.

Reference