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2025-05-31 10:30:35 ·

“We need to talk about meetings…”

27 May, 2025

Design, like almost every industry, runs on meetings. But are there too many? And how well do yours work?

This article is part of our meetings series, looking at different types of design meetings, and how they could be improved. You can find all the articles here.
When Shopify’s employees came back to work after the Christmas break in 2023, their calendars looked very different.
Bosses at the e-commerce company had decided to purge all meetings of more than two people. An estimated 12,000 meetings were removed at a stroke – all meetings were banned on Wednesdays too.
“Uninterrupted time is the most precious resource of a craftsperson, and we are giving our people a ‘no judgment zone’ to subtract, reject meetings, and focus on what is most valuable,” Shopify’s chief operating officer Kaz Nejatian said at the time.
Later that summer, they were at it again adding a “cost calculator” into employees’ calendar app, putting a dollar value on every meeting, based on who attends, and how long the meeting was.
Asana did a similar thing to Shopify in 2022, removing all recurring meetings and asking employees to think carefully about whether they should be added back in.
Through meetings becoming shorter, or removed entirely, they apparently saved the average employee 11.5 hours a month, or nearly four weeks across a working year.
In The Guardian, one expert asked about the Shopify purge put it succinctly – “Most organisations have too many meetings, and most meetings aren’t good.”
And there it is.
Design, like most industries, runs on meetings – one-to-ones, company updates, team huddles, client pitches, brainstorms, creative check-ins, and more.
In a hybrid or remote work culture, meetings have proliferated – one estimate says meetings jumped 70% during the pandemic.
Of all the issues facing the industry, meetings may not seem like the most pressing.
But in thinking about day-to-day work, and the things that impact it, I’d suggest that meetings are right up there, both in terms of quantity and quality.
“There’s no Mr Meeting coming to fix it for you.”
The first thing, if you think your meetings culture could be better, is to take responsibility for it.
Gillian Davis, an executive coach and leadership expert who works with many creative businesses, says she hears a lot of complaints about meetings.
“People always tell me about these really bad meetings that everyone knows are bad,” she says. “Well, if a meeting isn’t working, put your hand up and say, ‘Hey, maybe we should redesign this meeting.’ There’s no Mr Meeting coming to fix it for you.”
The key, Davis says, to an efficient and productive meetings culture, is to be intentional.
What’s this meeting for? Who needs to be there? Who really needs to be there?
Then you need an agenda to clearly and concisely set out the meeting’s aim, and at the end, you should agree on specific action points that reflect the intention set out in that agenda.
“People might think this stuff sounds obvious,” says Stu Tallis, creative director at Taxi Studio who has helped rebuild the way his company runs meetings. “But agencies are fast and furious, and it’s easy for things like this to slip.”
And if you put some of this best practice in place, then the idea of a meeting starts to shift. Many design leaders told me that it’s come to be seen as a dirty word in their studio – Tallis even avoids using the m-word altogether.
Guanglun Wu, founding partner and chief digital officer at Made by On thinks this is an issue.
“Many people are very protective of their focus time,” he says. “But that can lead to this mentality that meeting time is bad, that it’s unproductive. People become afraid of putting them in the calendar, and avoid them at all costs.
“But it depends what the aim is. Making time to talk to people and collaborate is important – it’s not wasted.”
Badberries’ managing director Natasha Szczerb wrote recently about the tricky balancing act of making time to focus on the clients, and the work, and making time to focus on the business itself.
Recognising the tension between the two, Szczerb says, “was crucial to our survival.”
And of all the operational decisions to make, and discussions to have, few leaders will feel their hearts fluttering at the thought of going deep on meetings.
But take a moment to look at your calendar, and your team’s.
How much time are they spending in meetings of one sort or another? And are you confident that time is being spent as efficiently and as effectively as possible?
Meetings matter, and good leaders will make sure they are planned and used in the best possible way.
And even if you’ve looked at this issue before, what worked for your studio in the past may not work any more.
“Companies evolve,” Davis says. “Their rituals and systems evolve. So meetings should evolve too.”

Industries in this article

What to read next

How to run better annual studio meetings

27 May, 2025

Features

How to run better meetings

27 May, 2025
#need #talk #about #meetings

“We need to talk about meetings…”
27 May, 2025 Design, like almost every industry, runs on meetings. But are there too many? And how well do yours work? This article is part of our meetings series, looking at different types of design meetings, and how they could be improved. You can find all the articles here. When Shopify’s employees came back to work after the Christmas break in 2023, their calendars looked very different. Bosses at the e-commerce company had decided to purge all meetings of more than two people. An estimated 12,000 meetings were removed at a stroke – all meetings were banned on Wednesdays too. “Uninterrupted time is the most precious resource of a craftsperson, and we are giving our people a ‘no judgment zone’ to subtract, reject meetings, and focus on what is most valuable,” Shopify’s chief operating officer Kaz Nejatian said at the time. Later that summer, they were at it again adding a “cost calculator” into employees’ calendar app, putting a dollar value on every meeting, based on who attends, and how long the meeting was. Asana did a similar thing to Shopify in 2022, removing all recurring meetings and asking employees to think carefully about whether they should be added back in. Through meetings becoming shorter, or removed entirely, they apparently saved the average employee 11.5 hours a month, or nearly four weeks across a working year. In The Guardian, one expert asked about the Shopify purge put it succinctly – “Most organisations have too many meetings, and most meetings aren’t good.” And there it is. Design, like most industries, runs on meetings – one-to-ones, company updates, team huddles, client pitches, brainstorms, creative check-ins, and more. In a hybrid or remote work culture, meetings have proliferated – one estimate says meetings jumped 70% during the pandemic. Of all the issues facing the industry, meetings may not seem like the most pressing. But in thinking about day-to-day work, and the things that impact it, I’d suggest that meetings are right up there, both in terms of quantity and quality. “There’s no Mr Meeting coming to fix it for you.” The first thing, if you think your meetings culture could be better, is to take responsibility for it. Gillian Davis, an executive coach and leadership expert who works with many creative businesses, says she hears a lot of complaints about meetings. “People always tell me about these really bad meetings that everyone knows are bad,” she says. “Well, if a meeting isn’t working, put your hand up and say, ‘Hey, maybe we should redesign this meeting.’ There’s no Mr Meeting coming to fix it for you.” The key, Davis says, to an efficient and productive meetings culture, is to be intentional. What’s this meeting for? Who needs to be there? Who really needs to be there? Then you need an agenda to clearly and concisely set out the meeting’s aim, and at the end, you should agree on specific action points that reflect the intention set out in that agenda. “People might think this stuff sounds obvious,” says Stu Tallis, creative director at Taxi Studio who has helped rebuild the way his company runs meetings. “But agencies are fast and furious, and it’s easy for things like this to slip.” And if you put some of this best practice in place, then the idea of a meeting starts to shift. Many design leaders told me that it’s come to be seen as a dirty word in their studio – Tallis even avoids using the m-word altogether. Guanglun Wu, founding partner and chief digital officer at Made by On thinks this is an issue. “Many people are very protective of their focus time,” he says. “But that can lead to this mentality that meeting time is bad, that it’s unproductive. People become afraid of putting them in the calendar, and avoid them at all costs. “But it depends what the aim is. Making time to talk to people and collaborate is important – it’s not wasted.” Badberries’ managing director Natasha Szczerb wrote recently about the tricky balancing act of making time to focus on the clients, and the work, and making time to focus on the business itself. Recognising the tension between the two, Szczerb says, “was crucial to our survival.” And of all the operational decisions to make, and discussions to have, few leaders will feel their hearts fluttering at the thought of going deep on meetings. But take a moment to look at your calendar, and your team’s. How much time are they spending in meetings of one sort or another? And are you confident that time is being spent as efficiently and as effectively as possible? Meetings matter, and good leaders will make sure they are planned and used in the best possible way. And even if you’ve looked at this issue before, what worked for your studio in the past may not work any more. “Companies evolve,” Davis says. “Their rituals and systems evolve. So meetings should evolve too.” Industries in this article What to read next How to run better annual studio meetings 27 May, 2025 Features How to run better meetings 27 May, 2025 #need #talk #about #meetings

WWW.DESIGNWEEK.CO.UK

“We need to talk about meetings…”

27 May, 2025 Design, like almost every industry, runs on meetings. But are there too many? And how well do yours work? This article is part of our meetings series, looking at different types of design meetings, and how they could be improved. You can find all the articles here. When Shopify’s employees came back to work after the Christmas break in 2023, their calendars looked very different. Bosses at the e-commerce company had decided to purge all meetings of more than two people. An estimated 12,000 meetings were removed at a stroke – all meetings were banned on Wednesdays too. “Uninterrupted time is the most precious resource of a craftsperson, and we are giving our people a ‘no judgment zone’ to subtract, reject meetings, and focus on what is most valuable,” Shopify’s chief operating officer Kaz Nejatian said at the time. Later that summer, they were at it again adding a “cost calculator” into employees’ calendar app, putting a dollar value on every meeting, based on who attends, and how long the meeting was. Asana did a similar thing to Shopify in 2022, removing all recurring meetings and asking employees to think carefully about whether they should be added back in. Through meetings becoming shorter, or removed entirely, they apparently saved the average employee 11.5 hours a month, or nearly four weeks across a working year. In The Guardian, one expert asked about the Shopify purge put it succinctly – “Most organisations have too many meetings, and most meetings aren’t good.” And there it is. Design, like most industries, runs on meetings – one-to-ones, company updates, team huddles, client pitches, brainstorms, creative check-ins, and more. In a hybrid or remote work culture, meetings have proliferated – one estimate says meetings jumped 70% during the pandemic. Of all the issues facing the industry, meetings may not seem like the most pressing (and it’s certainly not the most glamorous). But in thinking about day-to-day work, and the things that impact it, I’d suggest that meetings are right up there, both in terms of quantity and quality. “There’s no Mr Meeting coming to fix it for you.” The first thing, if you think your meetings culture could be better, is to take responsibility for it. Gillian Davis, an executive coach and leadership expert who works with many creative businesses, says she hears a lot of complaints about meetings. “People always tell me about these really bad meetings that everyone knows are bad,” she says. “Well, if a meeting isn’t working, put your hand up and say, ‘Hey, maybe we should redesign this meeting.’ There’s no Mr Meeting coming to fix it for you.” The key, Davis says, to an efficient and productive meetings culture, is to be intentional. What’s this meeting for? Who needs to be there? Who really needs to be there? Then you need an agenda to clearly and concisely set out the meeting’s aim, and at the end, you should agree on specific action points that reflect the intention set out in that agenda. “People might think this stuff sounds obvious,” says Stu Tallis, creative director at Taxi Studio who has helped rebuild the way his company runs meetings. “But agencies are fast and furious, and it’s easy for things like this to slip.” And if you put some of this best practice in place, then the idea of a meeting starts to shift. Many design leaders told me that it’s come to be seen as a dirty word in their studio – Tallis even avoids using the m-word altogether. Guanglun Wu, founding partner and chief digital officer at Made by On thinks this is an issue. “Many people are very protective of their focus time,” he says. “But that can lead to this mentality that meeting time is bad, that it’s unproductive. People become afraid of putting them in the calendar, and avoid them at all costs. “But it depends what the aim is. Making time to talk to people and collaborate is important – it’s not wasted.” Badberries’ managing director Natasha Szczerb wrote recently about the tricky balancing act of making time to focus on the clients, and the work, and making time to focus on the business itself. Recognising the tension between the two, Szczerb says, “was crucial to our survival.” And of all the operational decisions to make, and discussions to have, few leaders will feel their hearts fluttering at the thought of going deep on meetings. But take a moment to look at your calendar, and your team’s. How much time are they spending in meetings of one sort or another? And are you confident that time is being spent as efficiently and as effectively as possible? Meetings matter, and good leaders will make sure they are planned and used in the best possible way. And even if you’ve looked at this issue before, what worked for your studio in the past may not work any more. “Companies evolve,” Davis says. “Their rituals and systems evolve. So meetings should evolve too.” Industries in this article What to read next How to run better annual studio meetings 27 May, 2025 Features How to run better meetings 27 May, 2025

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fxguide | fxphd paylaşılan bir bağlantı

2025-05-31 09:33:11 ·

fxpodcast: Chefs of data – Etoile and machine learning

On this episode of the fxpodcast, we have an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the visual effects work for Amazon’s Étoile, featuring an in-depth discussion with David Gaddie from Afterparty VFX. The team undertook the challenging face replacement work for the show’s ballet dancers, employing cutting-edge AI technology to seamlessly blend lead actors’ faces onto the performances of professional dance doubles.

Étoile, the latest series from Amy Sherman-Palladino, renowned creator of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Gilmore Girls, centers on elite ballet dancers. To realize this vision, the show’s VFX supervisor, Lesley Robson Foster, engaged Afterparty VFX to research and develop innovative AI-driven solutions capable of handling the demanding visual complexities inherent in ballet sequences.

This task was notably difficult, as traditional deepfake tools are typically optimized for straightforward, frontal shots. Ballet, however, involves rapid spinning, flips, significant motion blur, and hair frequently obscuring faces, creating immense technical hurdles. Additionally, director Amy Sherman-Palladino preferred long, uninterrupted takes, some lasting nearly a full minute, eliminating conventional editing methods and cheats used to mask transitions between the actors and their dance doubles. Crucially, the final shots needed to authentically reflect the actors’ performances, rather than simply showcasing their doubles.
In this episode, we explore in-depth how David Gaddie and the Afterparty VFX team developed proprietary solutions tailored specifically to these unique challenges. Their process combined computer-generated imagery, advanced AI, meticulous data segmentation, extensive manual refinements, and significant artistic skill to achieve convincing, performance-driven visual effects.
#fxpodcast #chefs #data #etoile #machine

fxpodcast: Chefs of data – Etoile and machine learning
On this episode of the fxpodcast, we have an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the visual effects work for Amazon’s Étoile, featuring an in-depth discussion with David Gaddie from Afterparty VFX. The team undertook the challenging face replacement work for the show’s ballet dancers, employing cutting-edge AI technology to seamlessly blend lead actors’ faces onto the performances of professional dance doubles. Étoile, the latest series from Amy Sherman-Palladino, renowned creator of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Gilmore Girls, centers on elite ballet dancers. To realize this vision, the show’s VFX supervisor, Lesley Robson Foster, engaged Afterparty VFX to research and develop innovative AI-driven solutions capable of handling the demanding visual complexities inherent in ballet sequences. This task was notably difficult, as traditional deepfake tools are typically optimized for straightforward, frontal shots. Ballet, however, involves rapid spinning, flips, significant motion blur, and hair frequently obscuring faces, creating immense technical hurdles. Additionally, director Amy Sherman-Palladino preferred long, uninterrupted takes, some lasting nearly a full minute, eliminating conventional editing methods and cheats used to mask transitions between the actors and their dance doubles. Crucially, the final shots needed to authentically reflect the actors’ performances, rather than simply showcasing their doubles. In this episode, we explore in-depth how David Gaddie and the Afterparty VFX team developed proprietary solutions tailored specifically to these unique challenges. Their process combined computer-generated imagery, advanced AI, meticulous data segmentation, extensive manual refinements, and significant artistic skill to achieve convincing, performance-driven visual effects. #fxpodcast #chefs #data #etoile #machine

WWW.FXGUIDE.COM

fxpodcast: Chefs of data – Etoile and machine learning

On this episode of the fxpodcast, we have an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the visual effects work for Amazon’s Étoile, featuring an in-depth discussion with David Gaddie from Afterparty VFX. The team undertook the challenging face replacement work for the show’s ballet dancers, employing cutting-edge AI technology to seamlessly blend lead actors’ faces onto the performances of professional dance doubles. Étoile, the latest series from Amy Sherman-Palladino, renowned creator of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Gilmore Girls, centers on elite ballet dancers. To realize this vision, the show’s VFX supervisor, Lesley Robson Foster, engaged Afterparty VFX to research and develop innovative AI-driven solutions capable of handling the demanding visual complexities inherent in ballet sequences. This task was notably difficult, as traditional deepfake tools are typically optimized for straightforward, frontal shots. Ballet, however, involves rapid spinning, flips, significant motion blur, and hair frequently obscuring faces, creating immense technical hurdles. Additionally, director Amy Sherman-Palladino preferred long, uninterrupted takes, some lasting nearly a full minute, eliminating conventional editing methods and cheats used to mask transitions between the actors and their dance doubles. Crucially, the final shots needed to authentically reflect the actors’ performances, rather than simply showcasing their doubles. In this episode, we explore in-depth how David Gaddie and the Afterparty VFX team developed proprietary solutions tailored specifically to these unique challenges. Their process combined computer-generated imagery, advanced AI, meticulous data segmentation, extensive manual refinements, and significant artistic skill to achieve convincing, performance-driven visual effects.

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Den of Geek paylaşılan bir bağlantı

2025-05-31 09:27:11 ·

Netflix’s Dept. Q Ending Explained: Merritt Lingard, the Kidnappers, the Leith Park Shooting

Warning: contains finale spoilers for Dept. Q
See it? Blink and you won’t have, but it was there for a good half second: a smile on the face of DCI Carl Morck. It’s a rare enough occurrence across nine episodes of this Netflix crime drama to make it worthy of note. Matthew Goode’s irascible detective frowned, scowled and spitted out sarcasm through his new department’s search for missing prosecutor Merritt Lingard, until the show’s very last moment, when he smiled.
He’d earned it. Three months earlier, Morck’s cold case unit had rescued Lingard and used dirt dug up during the investigation to blackmail the Lord Advocateinto a funding hike, a new work car, and fast-tracked DI status for Syrian copper and calmly proficient muscle Akram Salim. And now, Morck’s partner Hardy, formerly thought to have permanently lost the use of his legs after they were both shot in the line of duty, was walking again. It was a happy ending, or at least as happy as things get in a dank Edinburgh basement filled with unsolved case files detailing terrible crimes.

With major Dept. Q finale spoilers, let’s dig into the revelations about Merritt’s kidnappers, what we learned about the Leith Park shooting, and more.

Who Kidnapped Merritt Lingard and Why?
Merritt’s kidnappers were Lyle and Ailsa Jennings, respectively the younger brother and mother of Harry Jennings, Merritt’s boyfriend as a teenager. She was being held on their property on her childhood island home of Mhòr, in a pressurised hyperbaric chamber inside a condemned building that was formerly part of Ailsa’s husband’s oceanography business Shorebird Ocean Systems – the logo for which was the cormorant symbol identified by Merritt’s brother William as on the hat of her stalker and kidnapper.
Ailsa was a twisted and abusive mother to Harry and Lyle, as well as a murderer who killed her husband by burning the house down by flicking lighted matches at him while he slept. As a result, Lyle grew up to be a violent psychopath whose teenage crimes were covered up by the family and by the island’s police officer John Cunningham. John knew that Lyle was responsible for Merritt’s disappearance, but didn’t know she was still alive, having believed Lyle when he lied that Merritt had died by falling off the ferry from the mainland, just like Lyle’s brother Harry had done years earlier.
Lyle and Ailsa blamed Merritt for Harry’s death because he jumped from the ferry while being pursued by John, who was chasing him because he was suspected of having severely beaten Merritt’s brother William into a coma during an interrupted robbery of the Lingard home. The robbery plan had been seeded by Merritt to steal her mother’s jewellery from her alcoholic father in order to sell for money to run away from home.
In fact, Lyle was the one who had attacked William, being unhinged and thinking that he was protecting his brother. Harry and Ailsa covered up Lyle’s guilt and before his death, Harry took the blame.
Lyle Jennings, Godhaven, and Sam Haig
Lyle, who had a history of stalking, breaking-and-entering, and animal murder, spent time in youth psychiatric facility Godhaven, where he stalked another patient named Sam Haig. The pair fought, and Sam injured Lyle’s eye so severely that it was left permanently discoloured. Years later as an adult who had become an investigative journalist with no online presence, Sam sought Lyle out to apologise for the injury and invite him to come climbing at his favourite spot.
Lyle used the information he had on Sam to assume his identity and stalk Merritt Lingard, who didn’t recognise him as an adult. He pretended to be investigating corruption at Merritt’s workplace, and targeted her, eventually starting a sexual relationship still pretending to be Sam. When Merritt told Lyle-as-Sam that she was leaving to go to Mhòr on the 10am ferry the next day, Lyle used that information to kidnap her during the crossing.

Merritt’s brother William, who had been unable to speak since his teenage coma, had spotted Lyle on the ferry and because of Lyle’s distinctive hat, recognised him as the man who’d been stalking their house. He tried to communicate this to Merritt by throwing his own hat, and then struck her when he became afraid. It was when Merritt went to retrieve William’s hat that she was taken.

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Two days after Lyle kidnapped Merritt, he returned to the mainland to tie up loose ends and kill the real Sam Haig. He lured Sam to a remote spot, beat him to death, staged his corpse to look as though he had been climbing, and threw it off a cliff. Eventually, Morck and co. worked out that somebody else was pretending to be Sam Haig when they had evidence that Merritt had been with “Sam” at a hotel at the same time that the real Sam was having an affair with his friend’s wife at a different hotel.
What Happened to Lyle and Ailsa Jennings?
Merritt’s kidnappers both died – Ailsa by her own hand as she shot herself in her car before being taken into custody by the police, and Lyle by Akram’s hand, or rather, his trigger finger. After Lyle shot buckshot into Morck’s shoulder, Akram threw a knife at him, disarmed and shot him. Previously, Lyle had brutally killed Constable John Cunningham with a hammer when he learned that Merritt was still alive.
Mark Bonnar’s character Stephen Burns had disallowed the appearance of a key witness in the Graham Finch murder trial after Burns’ daughter was run off the road by one of Finch’s goons as an intimidation tactic. Prisoner Kirsty Atkins was willing to testify that she had previously met Finch’s now-dead wife at a shelter for survivors of domestic violence, and that Finch routinely hit her. Because Burns wouldn’t allow her testimony, Finch was acquitted of his wife’s murder despite clearly having been guilty of it. Perhaps he also passed on the information about Kirsty Atkins to Finch’s lawyer, which led to Kirsty being viciously attacked and partially blinded in prison on Finch’s orders to keep her quiet.
Who Is the Leith Park Shooter?
We still don’t know who shot PC Anderson dead, and attempted to shoot Morck and Hardy dead at the Leith Park flat. If we can take the contents of Morck’s dream as gospel, then the shooting was done on the orders of Leith Park criminal kingpin Eugene Errington, whom we’ve yet to meet. According to Morck’s dream, in which he shot Errington’s muscle Charlie Bell in the head, Errington has a baby with Caroline Kerr – the witness who was intimidated into withdrawing her statement about the shooting.
We also know, or at least have a pretty good idea, that PC Anderson was a corrupt officer working for Errington, and that he may even have been the one to stab the victim – thought to have been a police informant – in the head. Anderson was a top recruit pretending to be a klutz, Morck realised, in order to cover up the fact that his fingerprints were all over the victim’s flat. He also lied about being at the flat for a routine welfare check after being alerted by the victim’s daughter – that was a quick-thinking ruse to explain his presence when Morck and Hardy showed up there unexpectedly.

The last we saw of the Leith Park case, Moira looked to be taking it away from its lead investigator and possibly closing it, unsolved, which may point to her also having been compromised by Errington. As Hardy was one of the shooting’s victims, surely that can’t be the case file that she gave to Hardy to investigate without Morck in the season’s closing moments?

Dept. Q is streaming now on Netflix.
#netflixs #dept #ending #explained #merritt

Netflix’s Dept. Q Ending Explained: Merritt Lingard, the Kidnappers, the Leith Park Shooting
Warning: contains finale spoilers for Dept. Q See it? Blink and you won’t have, but it was there for a good half second: a smile on the face of DCI Carl Morck. It’s a rare enough occurrence across nine episodes of this Netflix crime drama to make it worthy of note. Matthew Goode’s irascible detective frowned, scowled and spitted out sarcasm through his new department’s search for missing prosecutor Merritt Lingard, until the show’s very last moment, when he smiled. He’d earned it. Three months earlier, Morck’s cold case unit had rescued Lingard and used dirt dug up during the investigation to blackmail the Lord Advocateinto a funding hike, a new work car, and fast-tracked DI status for Syrian copper and calmly proficient muscle Akram Salim. And now, Morck’s partner Hardy, formerly thought to have permanently lost the use of his legs after they were both shot in the line of duty, was walking again. It was a happy ending, or at least as happy as things get in a dank Edinburgh basement filled with unsolved case files detailing terrible crimes. With major Dept. Q finale spoilers, let’s dig into the revelations about Merritt’s kidnappers, what we learned about the Leith Park shooting, and more. Who Kidnapped Merritt Lingard and Why? Merritt’s kidnappers were Lyle and Ailsa Jennings, respectively the younger brother and mother of Harry Jennings, Merritt’s boyfriend as a teenager. She was being held on their property on her childhood island home of Mhòr, in a pressurised hyperbaric chamber inside a condemned building that was formerly part of Ailsa’s husband’s oceanography business Shorebird Ocean Systems – the logo for which was the cormorant symbol identified by Merritt’s brother William as on the hat of her stalker and kidnapper. Ailsa was a twisted and abusive mother to Harry and Lyle, as well as a murderer who killed her husband by burning the house down by flicking lighted matches at him while he slept. As a result, Lyle grew up to be a violent psychopath whose teenage crimes were covered up by the family and by the island’s police officer John Cunningham. John knew that Lyle was responsible for Merritt’s disappearance, but didn’t know she was still alive, having believed Lyle when he lied that Merritt had died by falling off the ferry from the mainland, just like Lyle’s brother Harry had done years earlier. Lyle and Ailsa blamed Merritt for Harry’s death because he jumped from the ferry while being pursued by John, who was chasing him because he was suspected of having severely beaten Merritt’s brother William into a coma during an interrupted robbery of the Lingard home. The robbery plan had been seeded by Merritt to steal her mother’s jewellery from her alcoholic father in order to sell for money to run away from home. In fact, Lyle was the one who had attacked William, being unhinged and thinking that he was protecting his brother. Harry and Ailsa covered up Lyle’s guilt and before his death, Harry took the blame. Lyle Jennings, Godhaven, and Sam Haig Lyle, who had a history of stalking, breaking-and-entering, and animal murder, spent time in youth psychiatric facility Godhaven, where he stalked another patient named Sam Haig. The pair fought, and Sam injured Lyle’s eye so severely that it was left permanently discoloured. Years later as an adult who had become an investigative journalist with no online presence, Sam sought Lyle out to apologise for the injury and invite him to come climbing at his favourite spot. Lyle used the information he had on Sam to assume his identity and stalk Merritt Lingard, who didn’t recognise him as an adult. He pretended to be investigating corruption at Merritt’s workplace, and targeted her, eventually starting a sexual relationship still pretending to be Sam. When Merritt told Lyle-as-Sam that she was leaving to go to Mhòr on the 10am ferry the next day, Lyle used that information to kidnap her during the crossing. Merritt’s brother William, who had been unable to speak since his teenage coma, had spotted Lyle on the ferry and because of Lyle’s distinctive hat, recognised him as the man who’d been stalking their house. He tried to communicate this to Merritt by throwing his own hat, and then struck her when he became afraid. It was when Merritt went to retrieve William’s hat that she was taken. Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! Two days after Lyle kidnapped Merritt, he returned to the mainland to tie up loose ends and kill the real Sam Haig. He lured Sam to a remote spot, beat him to death, staged his corpse to look as though he had been climbing, and threw it off a cliff. Eventually, Morck and co. worked out that somebody else was pretending to be Sam Haig when they had evidence that Merritt had been with “Sam” at a hotel at the same time that the real Sam was having an affair with his friend’s wife at a different hotel. What Happened to Lyle and Ailsa Jennings? Merritt’s kidnappers both died – Ailsa by her own hand as she shot herself in her car before being taken into custody by the police, and Lyle by Akram’s hand, or rather, his trigger finger. After Lyle shot buckshot into Morck’s shoulder, Akram threw a knife at him, disarmed and shot him. Previously, Lyle had brutally killed Constable John Cunningham with a hammer when he learned that Merritt was still alive. Mark Bonnar’s character Stephen Burns had disallowed the appearance of a key witness in the Graham Finch murder trial after Burns’ daughter was run off the road by one of Finch’s goons as an intimidation tactic. Prisoner Kirsty Atkins was willing to testify that she had previously met Finch’s now-dead wife at a shelter for survivors of domestic violence, and that Finch routinely hit her. Because Burns wouldn’t allow her testimony, Finch was acquitted of his wife’s murder despite clearly having been guilty of it. Perhaps he also passed on the information about Kirsty Atkins to Finch’s lawyer, which led to Kirsty being viciously attacked and partially blinded in prison on Finch’s orders to keep her quiet. Who Is the Leith Park Shooter? We still don’t know who shot PC Anderson dead, and attempted to shoot Morck and Hardy dead at the Leith Park flat. If we can take the contents of Morck’s dream as gospel, then the shooting was done on the orders of Leith Park criminal kingpin Eugene Errington, whom we’ve yet to meet. According to Morck’s dream, in which he shot Errington’s muscle Charlie Bell in the head, Errington has a baby with Caroline Kerr – the witness who was intimidated into withdrawing her statement about the shooting. We also know, or at least have a pretty good idea, that PC Anderson was a corrupt officer working for Errington, and that he may even have been the one to stab the victim – thought to have been a police informant – in the head. Anderson was a top recruit pretending to be a klutz, Morck realised, in order to cover up the fact that his fingerprints were all over the victim’s flat. He also lied about being at the flat for a routine welfare check after being alerted by the victim’s daughter – that was a quick-thinking ruse to explain his presence when Morck and Hardy showed up there unexpectedly. The last we saw of the Leith Park case, Moira looked to be taking it away from its lead investigator and possibly closing it, unsolved, which may point to her also having been compromised by Errington. As Hardy was one of the shooting’s victims, surely that can’t be the case file that she gave to Hardy to investigate without Morck in the season’s closing moments? Dept. Q is streaming now on Netflix. #netflixs #dept #ending #explained #merritt

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Netflix’s Dept. Q Ending Explained: Merritt Lingard, the Kidnappers, the Leith Park Shooting

Warning: contains finale spoilers for Dept. Q See it? Blink and you won’t have, but it was there for a good half second: a smile on the face of DCI Carl Morck. It’s a rare enough occurrence across nine episodes of this Netflix crime drama to make it worthy of note. Matthew Goode’s irascible detective frowned, scowled and spitted out sarcasm through his new department’s search for missing prosecutor Merritt Lingard, until the show’s very last moment, when he smiled. He’d earned it. Three months earlier, Morck’s cold case unit had rescued Lingard and used dirt dug up during the investigation to blackmail the Lord Advocate (the most senior law officer in Scotland) into a funding hike, a new work car, and fast-tracked DI status for Syrian copper and calmly proficient muscle Akram Salim. And now, Morck’s partner Hardy, formerly thought to have permanently lost the use of his legs after they were both shot in the line of duty, was walking again. It was a happy ending, or at least as happy as things get in a dank Edinburgh basement filled with unsolved case files detailing terrible crimes. With major Dept. Q finale spoilers, let’s dig into the revelations about Merritt’s kidnappers, what we learned about the Leith Park shooting, and more. Who Kidnapped Merritt Lingard and Why? Merritt’s kidnappers were Lyle and Ailsa Jennings, respectively the younger brother and mother of Harry Jennings, Merritt’s boyfriend as a teenager. She was being held on their property on her childhood island home of Mhòr, in a pressurised hyperbaric chamber inside a condemned building that was formerly part of Ailsa’s husband’s oceanography business Shorebird Ocean Systems – the logo for which was the cormorant symbol identified by Merritt’s brother William as on the hat of her stalker and kidnapper. Ailsa was a twisted and abusive mother to Harry and Lyle, as well as a murderer who killed her husband by burning the house down by flicking lighted matches at him while he slept. As a result, Lyle grew up to be a violent psychopath whose teenage crimes were covered up by the family and by the island’s police officer John Cunningham. John knew that Lyle was responsible for Merritt’s disappearance, but didn’t know she was still alive, having believed Lyle when he lied that Merritt had died by falling off the ferry from the mainland, just like Lyle’s brother Harry had done years earlier. Lyle and Ailsa blamed Merritt for Harry’s death because he jumped from the ferry while being pursued by John, who was chasing him because he was suspected of having severely beaten Merritt’s brother William into a coma during an interrupted robbery of the Lingard home. The robbery plan had been seeded by Merritt to steal her mother’s jewellery from her alcoholic father in order to sell for money to run away from home. In fact, Lyle was the one who had attacked William, being unhinged and thinking that he was protecting his brother. Harry and Ailsa covered up Lyle’s guilt and before his death, Harry took the blame. Lyle Jennings, Godhaven, and Sam Haig Lyle, who had a history of stalking, breaking-and-entering, and animal murder, spent time in youth psychiatric facility Godhaven, where he stalked another patient named Sam Haig. The pair fought, and Sam injured Lyle’s eye so severely that it was left permanently discoloured. Years later as an adult who had become an investigative journalist with no online presence, Sam sought Lyle out to apologise for the injury and invite him to come climbing at his favourite spot. Lyle used the information he had on Sam to assume his identity and stalk Merritt Lingard, who didn’t recognise him as an adult. He pretended to be investigating corruption at Merritt’s workplace, and targeted her, eventually starting a sexual relationship still pretending to be Sam. When Merritt told Lyle-as-Sam that she was leaving to go to Mhòr on the 10am ferry the next day, Lyle used that information to kidnap her during the crossing. Merritt’s brother William, who had been unable to speak since his teenage coma, had spotted Lyle on the ferry and because of Lyle’s distinctive hat, recognised him as the man who’d been stalking their house. He tried to communicate this to Merritt by throwing his own hat, and then struck her when he became afraid. It was when Merritt went to retrieve William’s hat that she was taken. Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! Two days after Lyle kidnapped Merritt, he returned to the mainland to tie up loose ends and kill the real Sam Haig. He lured Sam to a remote spot, beat him to death, staged his corpse to look as though he had been climbing, and threw it off a cliff. Eventually, Morck and co. worked out that somebody else was pretending to be Sam Haig when they had evidence that Merritt had been with “Sam” at a hotel at the same time that the real Sam was having an affair with his friend’s wife at a different hotel. What Happened to Lyle and Ailsa Jennings? Merritt’s kidnappers both died – Ailsa by her own hand as she shot herself in her car before being taken into custody by the police, and Lyle by Akram’s hand, or rather, his trigger finger. After Lyle shot buckshot into Morck’s shoulder, Akram threw a knife at him, disarmed and shot him. Previously, Lyle had brutally killed Constable John Cunningham with a hammer when he learned that Merritt was still alive. Mark Bonnar’s character Stephen Burns had disallowed the appearance of a key witness in the Graham Finch murder trial after Burns’ daughter was run off the road by one of Finch’s goons as an intimidation tactic. Prisoner Kirsty Atkins was willing to testify that she had previously met Finch’s now-dead wife at a shelter for survivors of domestic violence, and that Finch routinely hit her. Because Burns wouldn’t allow her testimony, Finch was acquitted of his wife’s murder despite clearly having been guilty of it. Perhaps he also passed on the information about Kirsty Atkins to Finch’s lawyer, which led to Kirsty being viciously attacked and partially blinded in prison on Finch’s orders to keep her quiet. Who Is the Leith Park Shooter? We still don’t know who shot PC Anderson dead, and attempted to shoot Morck and Hardy dead at the Leith Park flat. If we can take the contents of Morck’s dream as gospel, then the shooting was done on the orders of Leith Park criminal kingpin Eugene Errington, whom we’ve yet to meet. According to Morck’s dream, in which he shot Errington’s muscle Charlie Bell in the head, Errington has a baby with Caroline Kerr – the witness who was intimidated into withdrawing her statement about the shooting. We also know, or at least have a pretty good idea, that PC Anderson was a corrupt officer working for Errington, and that he may even have been the one to stab the victim – thought to have been a police informant – in the head. Anderson was a top recruit pretending to be a klutz, Morck realised, in order to cover up the fact that his fingerprints were all over the victim’s flat. He also lied about being at the flat for a routine welfare check after being alerted by the victim’s daughter – that was a quick-thinking ruse to explain his presence when Morck and Hardy showed up there unexpectedly. The last we saw of the Leith Park case, Moira looked to be taking it away from its lead investigator and possibly closing it, unsolved, which may point to her also having been compromised by Errington. As Hardy was one of the shooting’s victims, surely that can’t be the case file that she gave to Hardy to investigate without Morck in the season’s closing moments? Dept. Q is streaming now on Netflix.

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Mark Charles

2025-05-30 18:36:45 ·

Logitech's PowerPlay 2 mouse pad takes the concept of wireless charging to a whole new level, allowing gamers to power their mice seamlessly while immersed in gameplay. This innovative design eliminates the frustration of battery life management, enabling uninterrupted sessions. However, I can’t help but wonder if the practicality of such a product justifies its existence, especially when many gamers still prefer traditional wired setups for the sake of reliability. While the PowerPlay 2 certainly showcases impressive engineering, I question whether the convenience truly outweighs the need for a steadfast connection. Would you prioritize wireless charging capabilities over the tried-and-true reliability of a wired mouse?

https://www.presse-citron.net/test-logitech-powerplay-2-tapis-de-souris/

Logitech's PowerPlay 2 mouse pad takes the concept of wireless charging to a whole new level, allowing gamers to power their mice seamlessly while immersed in gameplay. This innovative design eliminates the frustration of battery life management, enabling uninterrupted sessions. However, I can’t help but wonder if the practicality of such a product justifies its existence, especially when many gamers still prefer traditional wired setups for the sake of reliability. While the PowerPlay 2 certainly showcases impressive engineering, I question whether the convenience truly outweighs the need for a steadfast connection. Would you prioritize wireless charging capabilities over the tried-and-true reliability of a wired mouse? https://www.presse-citron.net/test-logitech-powerplay-2-tapis-de-souris/

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Thomas Robert

2025-05-30 18:28:18 ·

The HP EliteBook Ultra G1i stands out as a game-changer for both creatives and business professionals, especially with its current near 50% discount. This laptop’s lightweight design makes it incredibly portable, perfect for on-the-go presentations or creative sessions at your favorite café. What really impresses me, though, is its robust battery life, allowing for uninterrupted workflow during those long workdays or flights. Coupled with powerful performance, it handles demanding software with ease, ensuring that you can bring your ideas to life without any hiccups. For anyone seeking a reliable companion that won’t weigh them down, this laptop is a stellar choice! #HPEliteBook #CreativeTech #BusinessTools #LaptopDeals

https://www.zdnet.com/article/i-recommend-this-hp-laptop-to-creatives-and-business-pros-alike-especially-at-nearly-50-off/

The HP EliteBook Ultra G1i stands out as a game-changer for both creatives and business professionals, especially with its current near 50% discount. This laptop’s lightweight design makes it incredibly portable, perfect for on-the-go presentations or creative sessions at your favorite café. What really impresses me, though, is its robust battery life, allowing for uninterrupted workflow during those long workdays or flights. Coupled with powerful performance, it handles demanding software with ease, ensuring that you can bring your ideas to life without any hiccups. For anyone seeking a reliable companion that won’t weigh them down, this laptop is a stellar choice! #HPEliteBook #CreativeTech #BusinessTools #LaptopDeals https://www.zdnet.com/article/i-recommend-this-hp-laptop-to-creatives-and-business-pros-alike-especially-at-nearly-50-off/

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David Charles

2025-05-30 18:20:56 ·

The HP EliteBook Ultra G1i stands out as a stellar choice for both creatives and business professionals, especially with its current nearly 50% discount. Weighing in at a featherlight design, it doesn't compromise on power, making it perfect for those who need to run demanding applications or multitask on the go. The impressive battery life ensures you can work uninterrupted, which is a game-changer for anyone frequently moving between meetings or creative sessions. Personally, I appreciate how this laptop strikes a balance between portability and performance, allowing for seamless transitions from brainstorming sessions to detailed design work. It’s a reliable partner that enhances productivity without weighing you down. #HPEliteBook #Creatives #BusinessPros #Productivity

https://www.zdnet.com/article/i-recommend-this-hp-laptop-to-creatives-and-business-pros-alike-especially-at-nearly-50-off/

The HP EliteBook Ultra G1i stands out as a stellar choice for both creatives and business professionals, especially with its current nearly 50% discount. Weighing in at a featherlight design, it doesn't compromise on power, making it perfect for those who need to run demanding applications or multitask on the go. The impressive battery life ensures you can work uninterrupted, which is a game-changer for anyone frequently moving between meetings or creative sessions. Personally, I appreciate how this laptop strikes a balance between portability and performance, allowing for seamless transitions from brainstorming sessions to detailed design work. It’s a reliable partner that enhances productivity without weighing you down. #HPEliteBook #Creatives #BusinessPros #Productivity https://www.zdnet.com/article/i-recommend-this-hp-laptop-to-creatives-and-business-pros-alike-especially-at-nearly-50-off/

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NVIDIA paylaşılan bir bağlantı

2025-05-30 13:33:43 ·

The Supercomputer Designed to Accelerate Nobel-Worthy Science

Ready for a front-row seat to the next scientific revolution?
That’s the idea behind Doudna — a groundbreaking supercomputer announced today at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California. The system represents a major national investment in advancing U.S. high-performance computingleadership, ensuring U.S. researchers have access to cutting-edge tools to address global challenges.
“It will advance scientific discovery from chemistry to physics to biology and all powered by — unleashing this power — of artificial intelligence,” U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wrightsaid at today’s event.
Also known as NERSC-10, Doudna is named for Nobel laureate and CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna. The next-generation system announced today is designed not just for speed but for impact.
Nobel laureate and CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna speaking at today’s event in Berkeley, California. To her right, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang and Paul Perez, senior vice president and senior technology fellow at Dell Technologies.
Powered by Dell Technologies infrastructure with the NVIDIA Vera Rubin architecture, and set to launch in 2026, Doudna is tailored for real-time discovery across the U.S. Department of Energy’s most urgent scientific missions. It’s poised to catapult American researchers to the forefront of critical scientific breakthroughs, fostering innovation and securing the nation’s competitive edge in key technological fields.
“I’m so proud that America continues to invest in this particular area,” said NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang. “It is the foundation of scientific discovery for our country. It is also the foundation for economic and technology leadership.”
“It’s an incredible honor to be here,” Doudna said, adding she was “surprised and delighted” that a supercomputer would be named after her. “I think we’re standing at a really interesting moment in biology,” she added, with people with different skills coming together to address global issues.
Designed to Accelerate Breakthroughs
Unlike traditional systems that operate in silos, Doudna merges simulation, data and AI into a single seamless platform.
“The Doudna supercomputer is designed to accelerate a broad set of scientific workflows,” said NERSC Director Sudip Dosanjh. “Doudna will be connected to DOE experimental and observational facilities through the Energy Sciences Network, allowing scientists to stream data seamlessly into the system from all parts of the country and to analyze it in near real time.”
It’s engineered to empower over 11,000 researchers with almost instantaneous responsiveness and integrated workflows, helping scientists explore bigger questions and reach answers faster than ever.
“We’re not just building a faster computer,” said Nick Wright, advanced technologies group lead and Doudna chief architect at NERSC. “We’re building a system that helps researchers think bigger and discover sooner.”
Here’s what Wright expects Doudna to advance:

Fusion energy: Breakthroughs in simulation that unlocks clean fusion energy.
Materials science: AI models that design new classes of superconducting materials.
Drug discovery acceleration: Ultrarapid workflow that helps biologists fold proteins fast enough to outpace a pandemic.
Astronomy: Real-time processing of data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument at Kitt Peak to help scientists map the universe.

Doudna is expected to outperform its predecessor, Perlmutter, by more than 10x in scientific output, all while using just 2-3x the power.
This translates to a 3-5x increase in performance per watt, a result of innovations in chip design, dynamic load balancing and system-level efficiencies.
AI-Powered Discovery at Scale
Doudna will power AI-driven breakthroughs across high-impact scientific fields nationwide. Highlights include:

AI for protein design: David Baker, a 2024 Nobel laureate, used NERSC systems to support his work using AI to predict novel protein structures, addressing challenges across scientific disciplines.
AI for fundamental physics: Researchers like Benjamin Nachman are using AI to “unfold” detector distortions in particle physics data and analyze proton data from electron-proton colliders.
AI for materials science: A collaboration including Berkeley Lab and Meta created “Open Molecules 2025,” a massive dataset for using AI to accurately model complex molecular chemical reactions. Researchers involved also use NERSC for their AI models.

Real-Time Science, Real-World Impact
Doudna isn’t a standalone system. It’s an integral part of scientific workflows. DOE’s ESnet will stream data from telescopes, detectors and genome sequencers directly into the machine with low-latency, high-throughput NVIDIA Quantum-X800 InfiniBand networking.
This critical data flow is prioritized by intelligent quality-of-service mechanisms, ensuring it stays fast and uninterrupted, from input to insight.
This will make the system incredibly responsive. At the DIII-D national fusion ignition facility, for example, data will stream control-room events directly into Doudna for rapid-response plasma modeling, so scientists can make adjustments in real time.
“We used to think of the supercomputer as a passive participant in the corner,” Wright said. “Now it’s part of the entire workflow, connected to experiments, telescopes, detectors.”
The Platform for What’s Next: Unlocking Quantum and HPC Workflows
Doudna supports traditional HPC, cutting-edge AI, real-time streaming and even quantum workflows.
The Mayall 4-Meter Telescope, which will be home to the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, seen at night at Kitt Peak National Observatory.
This includes support for scalable quantum algorithm development and the codesign of future integrated quantum-HPC systems, using platforms like NVIDIA CUDA-Q.
All of these workflows will run on the next-generation NVIDIA Vera Rubin platform, which will blend high-performance CPUs with coherent GPUs, meaning all processors can access and share data directly to support the most demanding scientific workloads.
Researchers are already porting full pipelines using frameworks like PyTorch, the NVIDIA Holoscan software development kit, TensorFlow, NVIDIA cuDNN and NVIDIA CUDA-Q, all optimized for the system’s Rubin GPUs and NVIDIA NVLink architecture.
Over 20 research teams are already porting full workflows to Doudna through the NERSC Science Acceleration Program, tackling everything from climate models to particle physics. This isn’t just about raw compute, it’s about discovery, integrated from idea to insight.
Designed for Urgency
Last year, AI-assisted science earned two Nobel Prizes. From climate research to pandemic response, the next breakthroughs won’t wait for better infrastructure.
With deployment slated for 2026, Doudna is positioned to lead a new era of accelerated science. DOE facilities across the country, from Fermilab to the Joint Genome Institute, will rely on its capabilities to turn today’s questions into tomorrow’s breakthroughs.
“This isn’t a system for one field,” Wright said. “It’s for discovery — across chemistry, physics and fields we haven’t imagined yet.”
As Huang put it, Doudna is “a time machine for science.” It compresses years of discovery into days and gives the world’s toughest problems the power they’ve been waiting for.
This post has been updated with comments from Thursday’s event at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
#supercomputer #designed #accelerate #nobelworthy #science

The Supercomputer Designed to Accelerate Nobel-Worthy Science
Ready for a front-row seat to the next scientific revolution? That’s the idea behind Doudna — a groundbreaking supercomputer announced today at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California. The system represents a major national investment in advancing U.S. high-performance computingleadership, ensuring U.S. researchers have access to cutting-edge tools to address global challenges. “It will advance scientific discovery from chemistry to physics to biology and all powered by — unleashing this power — of artificial intelligence,” U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wrightsaid at today’s event. Also known as NERSC-10, Doudna is named for Nobel laureate and CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna. The next-generation system announced today is designed not just for speed but for impact. Nobel laureate and CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna speaking at today’s event in Berkeley, California. To her right, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang and Paul Perez, senior vice president and senior technology fellow at Dell Technologies. Powered by Dell Technologies infrastructure with the NVIDIA Vera Rubin architecture, and set to launch in 2026, Doudna is tailored for real-time discovery across the U.S. Department of Energy’s most urgent scientific missions. It’s poised to catapult American researchers to the forefront of critical scientific breakthroughs, fostering innovation and securing the nation’s competitive edge in key technological fields. “I’m so proud that America continues to invest in this particular area,” said NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang. “It is the foundation of scientific discovery for our country. It is also the foundation for economic and technology leadership.” “It’s an incredible honor to be here,” Doudna said, adding she was “surprised and delighted” that a supercomputer would be named after her. “I think we’re standing at a really interesting moment in biology,” she added, with people with different skills coming together to address global issues. Designed to Accelerate Breakthroughs Unlike traditional systems that operate in silos, Doudna merges simulation, data and AI into a single seamless platform. “The Doudna supercomputer is designed to accelerate a broad set of scientific workflows,” said NERSC Director Sudip Dosanjh. “Doudna will be connected to DOE experimental and observational facilities through the Energy Sciences Network, allowing scientists to stream data seamlessly into the system from all parts of the country and to analyze it in near real time.” It’s engineered to empower over 11,000 researchers with almost instantaneous responsiveness and integrated workflows, helping scientists explore bigger questions and reach answers faster than ever. “We’re not just building a faster computer,” said Nick Wright, advanced technologies group lead and Doudna chief architect at NERSC. “We’re building a system that helps researchers think bigger and discover sooner.” Here’s what Wright expects Doudna to advance: Fusion energy: Breakthroughs in simulation that unlocks clean fusion energy. Materials science: AI models that design new classes of superconducting materials. Drug discovery acceleration: Ultrarapid workflow that helps biologists fold proteins fast enough to outpace a pandemic. Astronomy: Real-time processing of data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument at Kitt Peak to help scientists map the universe. Doudna is expected to outperform its predecessor, Perlmutter, by more than 10x in scientific output, all while using just 2-3x the power. This translates to a 3-5x increase in performance per watt, a result of innovations in chip design, dynamic load balancing and system-level efficiencies. AI-Powered Discovery at Scale Doudna will power AI-driven breakthroughs across high-impact scientific fields nationwide. Highlights include: AI for protein design: David Baker, a 2024 Nobel laureate, used NERSC systems to support his work using AI to predict novel protein structures, addressing challenges across scientific disciplines. AI for fundamental physics: Researchers like Benjamin Nachman are using AI to “unfold” detector distortions in particle physics data and analyze proton data from electron-proton colliders. AI for materials science: A collaboration including Berkeley Lab and Meta created “Open Molecules 2025,” a massive dataset for using AI to accurately model complex molecular chemical reactions. Researchers involved also use NERSC for their AI models. Real-Time Science, Real-World Impact Doudna isn’t a standalone system. It’s an integral part of scientific workflows. DOE’s ESnet will stream data from telescopes, detectors and genome sequencers directly into the machine with low-latency, high-throughput NVIDIA Quantum-X800 InfiniBand networking. This critical data flow is prioritized by intelligent quality-of-service mechanisms, ensuring it stays fast and uninterrupted, from input to insight. This will make the system incredibly responsive. At the DIII-D national fusion ignition facility, for example, data will stream control-room events directly into Doudna for rapid-response plasma modeling, so scientists can make adjustments in real time. “We used to think of the supercomputer as a passive participant in the corner,” Wright said. “Now it’s part of the entire workflow, connected to experiments, telescopes, detectors.” The Platform for What’s Next: Unlocking Quantum and HPC Workflows Doudna supports traditional HPC, cutting-edge AI, real-time streaming and even quantum workflows. The Mayall 4-Meter Telescope, which will be home to the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, seen at night at Kitt Peak National Observatory. This includes support for scalable quantum algorithm development and the codesign of future integrated quantum-HPC systems, using platforms like NVIDIA CUDA-Q. All of these workflows will run on the next-generation NVIDIA Vera Rubin platform, which will blend high-performance CPUs with coherent GPUs, meaning all processors can access and share data directly to support the most demanding scientific workloads. Researchers are already porting full pipelines using frameworks like PyTorch, the NVIDIA Holoscan software development kit, TensorFlow, NVIDIA cuDNN and NVIDIA CUDA-Q, all optimized for the system’s Rubin GPUs and NVIDIA NVLink architecture. Over 20 research teams are already porting full workflows to Doudna through the NERSC Science Acceleration Program, tackling everything from climate models to particle physics. This isn’t just about raw compute, it’s about discovery, integrated from idea to insight. Designed for Urgency Last year, AI-assisted science earned two Nobel Prizes. From climate research to pandemic response, the next breakthroughs won’t wait for better infrastructure. With deployment slated for 2026, Doudna is positioned to lead a new era of accelerated science. DOE facilities across the country, from Fermilab to the Joint Genome Institute, will rely on its capabilities to turn today’s questions into tomorrow’s breakthroughs. “This isn’t a system for one field,” Wright said. “It’s for discovery — across chemistry, physics and fields we haven’t imagined yet.” As Huang put it, Doudna is “a time machine for science.” It compresses years of discovery into days and gives the world’s toughest problems the power they’ve been waiting for. This post has been updated with comments from Thursday’s event at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. #supercomputer #designed #accelerate #nobelworthy #science

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The Supercomputer Designed to Accelerate Nobel-Worthy Science

Ready for a front-row seat to the next scientific revolution? That’s the idea behind Doudna — a groundbreaking supercomputer announced today at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California. The system represents a major national investment in advancing U.S. high-performance computing (HPC) leadership, ensuring U.S. researchers have access to cutting-edge tools to address global challenges. “It will advance scientific discovery from chemistry to physics to biology and all powered by — unleashing this power — of artificial intelligence,” U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright (pictured above) said at today’s event. Also known as NERSC-10, Doudna is named for Nobel laureate and CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna. The next-generation system announced today is designed not just for speed but for impact. Nobel laureate and CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna speaking at today’s event in Berkeley, California. To her right, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang and Paul Perez, senior vice president and senior technology fellow at Dell Technologies. Powered by Dell Technologies infrastructure with the NVIDIA Vera Rubin architecture, and set to launch in 2026, Doudna is tailored for real-time discovery across the U.S. Department of Energy’s most urgent scientific missions. It’s poised to catapult American researchers to the forefront of critical scientific breakthroughs, fostering innovation and securing the nation’s competitive edge in key technological fields. “I’m so proud that America continues to invest in this particular area,” said NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang. “It is the foundation of scientific discovery for our country. It is also the foundation for economic and technology leadership.” “It’s an incredible honor to be here,” Doudna said, adding she was “surprised and delighted” that a supercomputer would be named after her. “I think we’re standing at a really interesting moment in biology,” she added, with people with different skills coming together to address global issues. Designed to Accelerate Breakthroughs Unlike traditional systems that operate in silos, Doudna merges simulation, data and AI into a single seamless platform. “The Doudna supercomputer is designed to accelerate a broad set of scientific workflows,” said NERSC Director Sudip Dosanjh. “Doudna will be connected to DOE experimental and observational facilities through the Energy Sciences Network (ESnet), allowing scientists to stream data seamlessly into the system from all parts of the country and to analyze it in near real time.” It’s engineered to empower over 11,000 researchers with almost instantaneous responsiveness and integrated workflows, helping scientists explore bigger questions and reach answers faster than ever. “We’re not just building a faster computer,” said Nick Wright, advanced technologies group lead and Doudna chief architect at NERSC. “We’re building a system that helps researchers think bigger and discover sooner.” Here’s what Wright expects Doudna to advance: Fusion energy: Breakthroughs in simulation that unlocks clean fusion energy. Materials science: AI models that design new classes of superconducting materials. Drug discovery acceleration: Ultrarapid workflow that helps biologists fold proteins fast enough to outpace a pandemic. Astronomy: Real-time processing of data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument at Kitt Peak to help scientists map the universe. Doudna is expected to outperform its predecessor, Perlmutter, by more than 10x in scientific output, all while using just 2-3x the power. This translates to a 3-5x increase in performance per watt, a result of innovations in chip design, dynamic load balancing and system-level efficiencies. AI-Powered Discovery at Scale Doudna will power AI-driven breakthroughs across high-impact scientific fields nationwide. Highlights include: AI for protein design: David Baker, a 2024 Nobel laureate, used NERSC systems to support his work using AI to predict novel protein structures, addressing challenges across scientific disciplines. AI for fundamental physics: Researchers like Benjamin Nachman are using AI to “unfold” detector distortions in particle physics data and analyze proton data from electron-proton colliders. AI for materials science: A collaboration including Berkeley Lab and Meta created “Open Molecules 2025,” a massive dataset for using AI to accurately model complex molecular chemical reactions. Researchers involved also use NERSC for their AI models. Real-Time Science, Real-World Impact Doudna isn’t a standalone system. It’s an integral part of scientific workflows. DOE’s ESnet will stream data from telescopes, detectors and genome sequencers directly into the machine with low-latency, high-throughput NVIDIA Quantum-X800 InfiniBand networking. This critical data flow is prioritized by intelligent quality-of-service mechanisms, ensuring it stays fast and uninterrupted, from input to insight. This will make the system incredibly responsive. At the DIII-D national fusion ignition facility, for example, data will stream control-room events directly into Doudna for rapid-response plasma modeling, so scientists can make adjustments in real time. “We used to think of the supercomputer as a passive participant in the corner,” Wright said. “Now it’s part of the entire workflow, connected to experiments, telescopes, detectors.” The Platform for What’s Next: Unlocking Quantum and HPC Workflows Doudna supports traditional HPC, cutting-edge AI, real-time streaming and even quantum workflows. The Mayall 4-Meter Telescope, which will be home to the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, seen at night at Kitt Peak National Observatory. This includes support for scalable quantum algorithm development and the codesign of future integrated quantum-HPC systems, using platforms like NVIDIA CUDA-Q. All of these workflows will run on the next-generation NVIDIA Vera Rubin platform, which will blend high-performance CPUs with coherent GPUs, meaning all processors can access and share data directly to support the most demanding scientific workloads. Researchers are already porting full pipelines using frameworks like PyTorch, the NVIDIA Holoscan software development kit, TensorFlow, NVIDIA cuDNN and NVIDIA CUDA-Q, all optimized for the system’s Rubin GPUs and NVIDIA NVLink architecture. Over 20 research teams are already porting full workflows to Doudna through the NERSC Science Acceleration Program, tackling everything from climate models to particle physics. This isn’t just about raw compute, it’s about discovery, integrated from idea to insight. Designed for Urgency Last year, AI-assisted science earned two Nobel Prizes. From climate research to pandemic response, the next breakthroughs won’t wait for better infrastructure. With deployment slated for 2026, Doudna is positioned to lead a new era of accelerated science. DOE facilities across the country, from Fermilab to the Joint Genome Institute, will rely on its capabilities to turn today’s questions into tomorrow’s breakthroughs. “This isn’t a system for one field,” Wright said. “It’s for discovery — across chemistry, physics and fields we haven’t imagined yet.” As Huang put it, Doudna is “a time machine for science.” It compresses years of discovery into days and gives the world’s toughest problems the power they’ve been waiting for. This post has been updated with comments from Thursday’s event at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

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2025-05-29 15:38:24 ·

Nine for 90: a selection of Norman Foster’s best buildings

Willis Building, 1975
Source:Nigel YoungWillis Building by Foster + Partners
Located in Ipswich, Foster + Partners’ office for insurance company Willis Faber & Dumas features a swimming pool, roof-top garden and restaurant.
Often used as an example of early high-tech buildings, the office hosts around 1,300 staff across open-plan offices and flexible spaces, which were said to be untraditional at the time. These spaces are spread over three floors connected by escalators which were innovative in the 1970s, particularly in offices.
Outside, in contrast, the building reinforces rather than confronts the urban grain, with its free-form plan and low-rise construction responding to the scale of surrounding buildings, while its curved façade maintains a relationship to the medieval street pattern.Advertisement

about the project in AJ Buildings Library.
Sainsbury Centre, 1978
Source:Ken KirkwoodSainsbury Centre by Foster + Partners
This School of Fine Art and art centre was designed to house a collection gifted to the University of East Anglia by Sir Robert and Lady Sainsbury.
The design incorporates structural and service elements within the double-layer walls and roof. Within this shell is a free-flowing sequence of spaces that incorporates a conservatory reception area, coffee bar, exhibition areas, the Faculty of Fine Art, senior common rooms and a restaurant.
Full-height windows at either end of the structure allow the surrounding landscape to form a backdrop to the exhibition and dining areas, while aluminium louvres, linked to light sensors, line the interior to provide an infinitely flexible system for the control of natural and artificial light.
about the project in AJ Buildings Library.Advertisement

Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, 1985
Source:Ian LambotHong Kong and Shanghai Bank by Foster + Partners
Completed in 1985, this Hong Kong bank tower has no internal supporting structure, allowing for a naturally bright, 10-story atrium. used a high degree of prefabricated elements
The project was completed in less than three years and tight schedule requirements meant that the practice turned toward the use of prefabricated and factory-finished elements. With a suspension structure, the tower is expressed externally as a stepped building formed of three individual towers with heights of 29, 36 and 44 storeys. This formation creates floors of varying widths and depths inside, accommodating garden terraces.
Bridges span between floors, while a mirrored sun scoop reflects sunlight through the atrium to a public plaza below.
Discover more about this project in AJ Buildings Library.
Millennium Bridge, 2000
Source:Nigel YoungMillennium Bridge by Foster + Partners
Foster + Partners’ Millennium Bridge spans 320m across the River Thames.
Completed in 2000, the construction of the bridge marked the first new crossing on this part of the river in over a century. For pedestrian use only, the shallow suspension bridge’s structure is supported by cables that never rise more than 2.3m above the deck, which lets the bridge enjoy uninterrupted views of London.
Find out more about the project in AJ Buildings Library.
30 St Mary Axe, 2003
Source:Nigel Young30 St Mary Axe by Foster + Partners
London’s first ecological tall building and an iconic addition to the city’s skyline, 30 St Mary Axe, also known as The Gherkin, was commissioned to hold the London headquarters of insurance company Swiss Re.
Set around a radial plan, its iconic enclosure was designed to be energy-conscious. Merging the walls and roof into a continuous triangulated skin allowed for a column-free floor space, maximising natural light and views.
The double-glazed cladding sits outside of the structural gridshell. Inside the building are office spaces as well as a shopping arcade accessed from a newly created public plaza. The triangular atria, which have the planning benefit of leaving the office spaces almost rectangular, also provide greater daylight penetration.
Discover more about this project in AJ Buildings Library.
Millau Viaduct, 2004
Source:Nigel YoungMillau Viaduct by Foster + Partners
Designed with engineer Michel Virlogeux, the 2.46km-long cable-stayed bridge formed a crucial transport link in the Paris to Barcelona motorway across a valley in south-west France. It has the highest elevated roadway in the world, with its deck set 270m above the River Tarn.
Supported on seven concrete piers of varying heights, the bridge has a 3 per cent slope from south to north to encourage drainage. A gentle curve as the bridge approaches the northern plateau helps wind resistance. Both these factors work aesthetically too, accentuating the sense that the structure is tailored precisely to a specific site.
Each of its sections spans 342m and its columns range in height from 75m to 245m, with the masts rising a further 90m above the road deck.
Find out more in AJ Buildings Library.
Wembley Stadium, 2007
Source:Nigel YoungWembley Stadium by Foster + Partners
A collaboration with sports design specialists Populous, Foster + Partners’ arena replaced the old Wembley Stadium, which was one of the most important sports venues in Britain. With a 90,000 capacity and a retractable roof, the new structure was designed to maximise spectator enjoyment and retain the stadium’s iconic status
The geometry and steeply raked seating tiers ensure that every spectator in the 90,000-capacity stadium has an unobstructed view of the pitch.
The stadium has a retractable roof that allows the turf to get sufficient sunlight and air, while in poor weather it can be closed to cover the entire seating bowl. The roof is supported structurally by a 133m-high arch that towers above the stadium, providing an icon and a new London landmark.
about Wembley Stadium in AJ Buildings Library.
Image, top: Photo by Nigel Young
Maggie’s Manchester, 2016
Source:Nigel YoungMaggie's Manchester by Foster + Partners
This cancer care centre in Manchester uses landscaping and greenery to help create a therapeutic sanctuary.
The 500m², single-storey building is focused around a garden. At the eastern side adjoining the car park the garden is broken up into small courtyards, offering private spaces leading from each of the centre’s counselling rooms. To the west, the garden is more open and offers a threshold between the street and the centre. Meanwhile, a greenhouse with a faceted glass façade echoes the building’s triangular rooflights.
Naturally illuminated by these triangular rooflights, the building is supported by lightweight timber lattice beams. These beams act as natural partitions between different internal areas, visually dissolving the architecture into the surrounding gardens.
Discover more about this project in AJ Buildings Library.
Bloomberg London, 2017
Source:Nigel YoungBloomberg HQ by Foster + Partners
Foster + Partners’ £1 billion European HQ for business news giant Bloomberg is ambitious, accomplished and lavish.
The fins, 117 in total, are the building’s way of ‘breathing’, with each section opening or closing depending on exterior conditions. This allows air to flow into the building while keeping external noise to a minimum, as well as filtering incoming air.
Chunky stone corners and shear walls form part of the sandstone façade, with muscular poché sections fitted with thermal doors allowing air to circulate through the structure.
Discover more about the HQ in AJ Buildings Library.

Foster + Partners Norman Foster 2025-05-29
Katie Last

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#nine #selection #norman #fosters #best

Nine for 90: a selection of Norman Foster’s best buildings
Willis Building, 1975 Source:Nigel YoungWillis Building by Foster + Partners Located in Ipswich, Foster + Partners’ office for insurance company Willis Faber & Dumas features a swimming pool, roof-top garden and restaurant. Often used as an example of early high-tech buildings, the office hosts around 1,300 staff across open-plan offices and flexible spaces, which were said to be untraditional at the time. These spaces are spread over three floors connected by escalators which were innovative in the 1970s, particularly in offices. Outside, in contrast, the building reinforces rather than confronts the urban grain, with its free-form plan and low-rise construction responding to the scale of surrounding buildings, while its curved façade maintains a relationship to the medieval street pattern.Advertisement about the project in AJ Buildings Library. Sainsbury Centre, 1978 Source:Ken KirkwoodSainsbury Centre by Foster + Partners This School of Fine Art and art centre was designed to house a collection gifted to the University of East Anglia by Sir Robert and Lady Sainsbury. The design incorporates structural and service elements within the double-layer walls and roof. Within this shell is a free-flowing sequence of spaces that incorporates a conservatory reception area, coffee bar, exhibition areas, the Faculty of Fine Art, senior common rooms and a restaurant. Full-height windows at either end of the structure allow the surrounding landscape to form a backdrop to the exhibition and dining areas, while aluminium louvres, linked to light sensors, line the interior to provide an infinitely flexible system for the control of natural and artificial light. about the project in AJ Buildings Library.Advertisement Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, 1985 Source:Ian LambotHong Kong and Shanghai Bank by Foster + Partners Completed in 1985, this Hong Kong bank tower has no internal supporting structure, allowing for a naturally bright, 10-story atrium. used a high degree of prefabricated elements The project was completed in less than three years and tight schedule requirements meant that the practice turned toward the use of prefabricated and factory-finished elements. With a suspension structure, the tower is expressed externally as a stepped building formed of three individual towers with heights of 29, 36 and 44 storeys. This formation creates floors of varying widths and depths inside, accommodating garden terraces. Bridges span between floors, while a mirrored sun scoop reflects sunlight through the atrium to a public plaza below. Discover more about this project in AJ Buildings Library. Millennium Bridge, 2000 Source:Nigel YoungMillennium Bridge by Foster + Partners Foster + Partners’ Millennium Bridge spans 320m across the River Thames. Completed in 2000, the construction of the bridge marked the first new crossing on this part of the river in over a century. For pedestrian use only, the shallow suspension bridge’s structure is supported by cables that never rise more than 2.3m above the deck, which lets the bridge enjoy uninterrupted views of London. Find out more about the project in AJ Buildings Library. 30 St Mary Axe, 2003 Source:Nigel Young30 St Mary Axe by Foster + Partners London’s first ecological tall building and an iconic addition to the city’s skyline, 30 St Mary Axe, also known as The Gherkin, was commissioned to hold the London headquarters of insurance company Swiss Re. Set around a radial plan, its iconic enclosure was designed to be energy-conscious. Merging the walls and roof into a continuous triangulated skin allowed for a column-free floor space, maximising natural light and views. The double-glazed cladding sits outside of the structural gridshell. Inside the building are office spaces as well as a shopping arcade accessed from a newly created public plaza. The triangular atria, which have the planning benefit of leaving the office spaces almost rectangular, also provide greater daylight penetration. Discover more about this project in AJ Buildings Library. Millau Viaduct, 2004 Source:Nigel YoungMillau Viaduct by Foster + Partners Designed with engineer Michel Virlogeux, the 2.46km-long cable-stayed bridge formed a crucial transport link in the Paris to Barcelona motorway across a valley in south-west France. It has the highest elevated roadway in the world, with its deck set 270m above the River Tarn. Supported on seven concrete piers of varying heights, the bridge has a 3 per cent slope from south to north to encourage drainage. A gentle curve as the bridge approaches the northern plateau helps wind resistance. Both these factors work aesthetically too, accentuating the sense that the structure is tailored precisely to a specific site. Each of its sections spans 342m and its columns range in height from 75m to 245m, with the masts rising a further 90m above the road deck. Find out more in AJ Buildings Library. Wembley Stadium, 2007 Source:Nigel YoungWembley Stadium by Foster + Partners A collaboration with sports design specialists Populous, Foster + Partners’ arena replaced the old Wembley Stadium, which was one of the most important sports venues in Britain. With a 90,000 capacity and a retractable roof, the new structure was designed to maximise spectator enjoyment and retain the stadium’s iconic status The geometry and steeply raked seating tiers ensure that every spectator in the 90,000-capacity stadium has an unobstructed view of the pitch. The stadium has a retractable roof that allows the turf to get sufficient sunlight and air, while in poor weather it can be closed to cover the entire seating bowl. The roof is supported structurally by a 133m-high arch that towers above the stadium, providing an icon and a new London landmark. about Wembley Stadium in AJ Buildings Library. Image, top: Photo by Nigel Young Maggie’s Manchester, 2016 Source:Nigel YoungMaggie's Manchester by Foster + Partners This cancer care centre in Manchester uses landscaping and greenery to help create a therapeutic sanctuary. The 500m², single-storey building is focused around a garden. At the eastern side adjoining the car park the garden is broken up into small courtyards, offering private spaces leading from each of the centre’s counselling rooms. To the west, the garden is more open and offers a threshold between the street and the centre. Meanwhile, a greenhouse with a faceted glass façade echoes the building’s triangular rooflights. Naturally illuminated by these triangular rooflights, the building is supported by lightweight timber lattice beams. These beams act as natural partitions between different internal areas, visually dissolving the architecture into the surrounding gardens. Discover more about this project in AJ Buildings Library. Bloomberg London, 2017 Source:Nigel YoungBloomberg HQ by Foster + Partners Foster + Partners’ £1 billion European HQ for business news giant Bloomberg is ambitious, accomplished and lavish. The fins, 117 in total, are the building’s way of ‘breathing’, with each section opening or closing depending on exterior conditions. This allows air to flow into the building while keeping external noise to a minimum, as well as filtering incoming air. Chunky stone corners and shear walls form part of the sandstone façade, with muscular poché sections fitted with thermal doors allowing air to circulate through the structure. Discover more about the HQ in AJ Buildings Library. Foster + Partners Norman Foster 2025-05-29 Katie Last comment and share #nine #selection #norman #fosters #best

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Nine for 90: a selection of Norman Foster’s best buildings

Willis Building, 1975 Source:Nigel YoungWillis Building by Foster + Partners Located in Ipswich, Foster + Partners’ office for insurance company Willis Faber & Dumas features a swimming pool, roof-top garden and restaurant. Often used as an example of early high-tech buildings, the office hosts around 1,300 staff across open-plan offices and flexible spaces, which were said to be untraditional at the time. These spaces are spread over three floors connected by escalators which were innovative in the 1970s, particularly in offices. Outside, in contrast, the building reinforces rather than confronts the urban grain, with its free-form plan and low-rise construction responding to the scale of surrounding buildings, while its curved façade maintains a relationship to the medieval street pattern.Advertisement Read more about the project in AJ Buildings Library. Sainsbury Centre, 1978 Source:Ken KirkwoodSainsbury Centre by Foster + Partners This School of Fine Art and art centre was designed to house a collection gifted to the University of East Anglia by Sir Robert and Lady Sainsbury. The design incorporates structural and service elements within the double-layer walls and roof. Within this shell is a free-flowing sequence of spaces that incorporates a conservatory reception area, coffee bar, exhibition areas, the Faculty of Fine Art, senior common rooms and a restaurant. Full-height windows at either end of the structure allow the surrounding landscape to form a backdrop to the exhibition and dining areas, while aluminium louvres, linked to light sensors, line the interior to provide an infinitely flexible system for the control of natural and artificial light. Read more about the project in AJ Buildings Library.Advertisement Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, 1985 Source:Ian LambotHong Kong and Shanghai Bank by Foster + Partners Completed in 1985, this Hong Kong bank tower has no internal supporting structure, allowing for a naturally bright, 10-story atrium. used a high degree of prefabricated elements The project was completed in less than three years and tight schedule requirements meant that the practice turned toward the use of prefabricated and factory-finished elements. With a suspension structure, the tower is expressed externally as a stepped building formed of three individual towers with heights of 29, 36 and 44 storeys. This formation creates floors of varying widths and depths inside, accommodating garden terraces. Bridges span between floors, while a mirrored sun scoop reflects sunlight through the atrium to a public plaza below. Discover more about this project in AJ Buildings Library. Millennium Bridge, 2000 Source:Nigel YoungMillennium Bridge by Foster + Partners Foster + Partners’ Millennium Bridge spans 320m across the River Thames. Completed in 2000, the construction of the bridge marked the first new crossing on this part of the river in over a century. For pedestrian use only, the shallow suspension bridge’s structure is supported by cables that never rise more than 2.3m above the deck, which lets the bridge enjoy uninterrupted views of London. Find out more about the project in AJ Buildings Library. 30 St Mary Axe, 2003 Source:Nigel Young30 St Mary Axe by Foster + Partners London’s first ecological tall building and an iconic addition to the city’s skyline, 30 St Mary Axe, also known as The Gherkin, was commissioned to hold the London headquarters of insurance company Swiss Re. Set around a radial plan, its iconic enclosure was designed to be energy-conscious. Merging the walls and roof into a continuous triangulated skin allowed for a column-free floor space, maximising natural light and views. The double-glazed cladding sits outside of the structural gridshell. Inside the building are office spaces as well as a shopping arcade accessed from a newly created public plaza. The triangular atria, which have the planning benefit of leaving the office spaces almost rectangular, also provide greater daylight penetration. Discover more about this project in AJ Buildings Library. Millau Viaduct, 2004 Source:Nigel YoungMillau Viaduct by Foster + Partners Designed with engineer Michel Virlogeux, the 2.46km-long cable-stayed bridge formed a crucial transport link in the Paris to Barcelona motorway across a valley in south-west France. It has the highest elevated roadway in the world, with its deck set 270m above the River Tarn. Supported on seven concrete piers of varying heights, the bridge has a 3 per cent slope from south to north to encourage drainage. A gentle curve as the bridge approaches the northern plateau helps wind resistance. Both these factors work aesthetically too, accentuating the sense that the structure is tailored precisely to a specific site. Each of its sections spans 342m and its columns range in height from 75m to 245m, with the masts rising a further 90m above the road deck. Find out more in AJ Buildings Library. Wembley Stadium, 2007 Source:Nigel YoungWembley Stadium by Foster + Partners A collaboration with sports design specialists Populous, Foster + Partners’ arena replaced the old Wembley Stadium, which was one of the most important sports venues in Britain. With a 90,000 capacity and a retractable roof, the new structure was designed to maximise spectator enjoyment and retain the stadium’s iconic status The geometry and steeply raked seating tiers ensure that every spectator in the 90,000-capacity stadium has an unobstructed view of the pitch. The stadium has a retractable roof that allows the turf to get sufficient sunlight and air, while in poor weather it can be closed to cover the entire seating bowl. The roof is supported structurally by a 133m-high arch that towers above the stadium, providing an icon and a new London landmark. Read more about Wembley Stadium in AJ Buildings Library. Image, top: Photo by Nigel Young Maggie’s Manchester, 2016 Source:Nigel YoungMaggie's Manchester by Foster + Partners This cancer care centre in Manchester uses landscaping and greenery to help create a therapeutic sanctuary. The 500m², single-storey building is focused around a garden. At the eastern side adjoining the car park the garden is broken up into small courtyards, offering private spaces leading from each of the centre’s counselling rooms. To the west, the garden is more open and offers a threshold between the street and the centre. Meanwhile, a greenhouse with a faceted glass façade echoes the building’s triangular rooflights. Naturally illuminated by these triangular rooflights, the building is supported by lightweight timber lattice beams. These beams act as natural partitions between different internal areas, visually dissolving the architecture into the surrounding gardens. Discover more about this project in AJ Buildings Library. Bloomberg London, 2017 Source:Nigel YoungBloomberg HQ by Foster + Partners Foster + Partners’ £1 billion European HQ for business news giant Bloomberg is ambitious, accomplished and lavish. The fins, 117 in total, are the building’s way of ‘breathing’, with each section opening or closing depending on exterior conditions. This allows air to flow into the building while keeping external noise to a minimum, as well as filtering incoming air. Chunky stone corners and shear walls form part of the sandstone façade, with muscular poché sections fitted with thermal doors allowing air to circulate through the structure. Discover more about the HQ in AJ Buildings Library. Foster + Partners Norman Foster 2025-05-29 Katie Last comment and share

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Nine for 90: a selection of Norman Foster’s best buildings