html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" 19 shortlisted projects for the 2025 Award cycle were revealed by the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA). A portion of the $1 million prize, one of the biggest in architecture, will be awarded to the winning proposals. Out of the 369 projects nominated for the 16th Award Cycle (2023-2025), an independent Master Jury chose the 19 shortlisted projects from 15 countries.The nine members of the Master Jury for the 16th Award cycle include Azra Akšamija, Noura Al-Sayeh Holtrop, Lucia Allais, David Basulto, Yvonne Farrell, Kabage Karanja, Yacouba Konaté, Hassan Radoine, and Mun Summ Wong.His Late Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV created the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1977 to recognize and promote architectural ideas that effectively meet the needs and goals of communities where Muslims are a major population. Nearly 10,000 construction projects have been documented since the award's inception 48 years ago, and 128 projects have been granted it. The AKAA's selection method places a strong emphasis on architecture that stimulates and responds to people's cultural ambitions in addition to meeting their physical, social, and economic demands.The Aga Khan Award for Architecture is governed by a Steering Committee chaired by His Highness the Aga Khan. The other members of the Steering Committee are Meisa Batayneh, Principal Architect, Founder, maisam architects and engineers, Amman, Jordan; Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Professor of Philosophy and Francophone Studies, Columbia University, New York, United States of America; Lesley Lokko, Founder & Director, African Futures Institute, Accra, Ghana; Gülru Necipoğlu, Director and Professor, Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States of America; Hashim Sarkis, Founder & Principal, Hashim Sarkis Studios (HSS); Dean, School of Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States of America; and Sarah M. Whiting, Partner, WW Architecture; Dean and Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States of America. Farrokh Derakhshani is the Director of the Award.Examples of outstanding architecture in the areas of modern design, social housing, community development and enhancement, historic preservation, reuse and area conservation, landscape design, and environmental enhancement are recognized by the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.Building plans that creatively utilize local resources and relevant technologies, as well as initiatives that could spur such initiatives abroad, are given special consideration. It should be mentioned that in addition to honoring architects, the Award also recognizes towns, builders, clients, master craftspeople, and engineers who have contributed significantly to the project.Projects had to be completed between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2023, and they had to have been operational for a minimum of one year in order to be eligible for consideration in the 2025 Award cycle. The Award is not available for projects that His Highness the Aga Khan or any of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) institutions have commissioned.See the 19 shortlisted projects with their short project descriptions competing for the 2025 Award Cycle:Khudi Bari. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / City Syntax (F. M. Faruque Abdullah Shawon, H. M. Fozla Rabby Apurbo)BangladeshKhudi Bari, in various locations, by Marina Tabassum ArchitectsMarina Tabassum Architects' Khudi Bari, which can be readily disassembled and reassembled to suit the needs of the users, is a replicable solution for displaced communities impacted by geographic and climatic changes.West Wusutu Village Community Centre. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Dou Yujun (photographer)ChinaWest Wusutu Village Community Centre, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, by Zhang PengjuIn addition to meeting the religious demands of the local Hui Muslims, Zhang Pengju's West Wusutu Village Community Centre in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, offers social and cultural spaces for locals and artists. Constructed from recycled bricks, it features multipurpose indoor and outdoor areas that promote communal harmony.Revitalisation of Historic Esna. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Ahmed Salem (photographer)EgyptRevitalisation of Historic Esna, by Takween Integrated Community DevelopmentBy using physical interventions, socioeconomic projects, and creative urban planning techniques, Takween Integrated Community Development's Revitalization of Historic Esna tackles the issues of cultural tourism in Upper Egypt and turns the once-forgotten area around the Temple of Khnum into a thriving historic city.The Arc at Green School. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Andreas Perbowo Widityawan (photographer)IndonesiaThe Arc at Green School, in Bali, by IBUKU / Elora HardyAfter 15 years of bamboo experimenting at the Green School Bali, IBUKU/Elora Hardy created The Arc at Green School. The Arc is a brand-new community wellness facility built on the foundations of a temporary gym. High-precision engineering and regional handicraft are combined in this construction.Islamic Centre Nurul Yaqin Mosque. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Andreas Perbowo Widityawan (photographer)IndonesiaIslamic Centre Nurul Yaqin Mosque, in Palu, Central Sulawesi, by Dave Orlando and Fandy GunawanDave Orlando and Fandy Gunawan built the Islamic Center Nurul Yaqin Mosque in Palu, Central Sulawesi, on the location of a previous mosque that was damaged by a 2018 tsunami. There is a place for worship and assembly at the new Islamic Center. Surrounded by a shallow reflecting pool that may be drained to make room for more guests, it is open to the countryside.Microlibrary Warak Kayu. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Andreas Perbowo Widityawan (photographer)IndonesiaMicrolibraries in various cities, by SHAU / Daliana Suryawinata, Florian HeinzelmannFlorian Heinzelmann, the project's initiator, works with stakeholders at all levels to provide high-quality public spaces in a number of Indonesian parks and kampungs through microlibraries in different towns run by SHAU/Daliana Suryawinata. So far, six have been constructed, and by 2045, 100 are planned.Majara Residence. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Deed Studio (photographer)IranMajara Complex and Community Redevelopment, in Hormuz Island by ZAV Architects / Mohamadreza GhodousiThe Majara Complex and Community Redevelopment on Hormuz Island, designed by ZAV Architects and Mohamadreza Ghodousi, is well-known for its vibrant domes that offer eco-friendly lodging for visitors visiting Hormuz's distinctive scenery. In addition to providing new amenities for the islanders who visit to socialize, pray, or utilize the library, it was constructed by highly trained local laborers.Jahad Metro Plaza. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Deed Studio (photographer)IranJahad Metro Plaza in Tehran, by KA Architecture StudioKA Architecture Studio's Jahad Metro Plaza in Tehran was constructed to replace the dilapidated old buildings. It turned the location into a beloved pedestrian-friendly landmark. The arched vaults, which are covered in locally manufactured brick, vary in height to let air and light into the area they are protecting.Khan Jaljulia Restoration. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Mikaela Burstow (photographer)IsraelKhan Jaljulia Restoration in Jaljulia by Elias KhuriElias Khuri's Khan Jaljulia Restoration is a cost-effective intervention set amidst the remnants of a 14th-century Khan in Jaljulia. By converting the abandoned historical location into a bustling public area for social gatherings, it helps the locals rediscover their cultural history.Campus Startup Lions. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Christopher Wilton-Steer (photographer)KenyaCampus Startup Lions, in Turkana by Kéré ArchitectsKéré Architecture's Campus Startup Lions in Turkana is an educational and entrepreneurial center that offers a venue for community involvement, business incubation, and technology-driven education. The design incorporates solar energy, rainwater harvesting, and tall ventilation towers that resemble the nearby termite mounds, and it was constructed using local volcanic stone.Lalla Yeddouna Square. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Amine Houari (photographer)MoroccoRevitalisation of Lalla Yeddouna Square in the medina of Fez, by Mossessian Architecture and Yassir Khalil StudioMossessian Architecture and Yassir Khalil Studio's revitalization of Lalla Yeddouna Square in the Fez medina aims to improve pedestrian circulation and reestablish a connection to the waterfront. For the benefit of locals, craftspeople, and tourists from around the globe, existing buildings were maintained and new areas created.Vision Pakistan. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Usman Saqib Zuberi (photographer)PakistanVision Pakistan, in Islamabad by DB Studios / Mohammad Saifullah SiddiquiA tailoring training center run by Vision Pakistan, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering underprivileged adolescents, is located in Islamabad by DB Studios/Mohammad Saifullah Siddiqui. Situated in a crowded neighborhood, this multi-story building features flashy jaalis influenced by Arab and Pakistani crafts, echoing the city's 1960s design.Denso Hall Rahguzar Project. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Usman Saqib Zuberi (photographer)PakistanDenso Hall Rahguzar Project, in Karachi by Heritage Foundation Pakistan / Yasmeen LariThe Heritage Foundation of Pakistan/Yasmeen Lari's Denso Hall Rahguzar Project in Karachi is a heritage-led eco-urban enclave that was built with low-carbon materials in response to the city's severe climate, which is prone to heat waves and floods. The freshly planted "forests" are irrigated by the handcrafted terracotta cobbles, which absorb rainfall and cool and purify the air.Wonder Cabinet. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Mikaela Burstow (photographer)PalestineWonder Cabinet, in Bethlehem by AAU AnastasThe architects at AAU Anastas established Wonder Cabinet, a multifunctional, nonprofit exhibition and production venue in Bethlehem. The three-story concrete building was constructed with the help of regional contractors and artisans, and it is quickly emerging as a major center for learning, design, craft, and innovation.The Ned. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)QatarThe Ned Hotel, in Doha by David Chipperfield ArchitectsThe Ministry of Interior was housed in the Ned Hotel in Doha, which was designed by David Chipperfield Architects. Its Middle Eastern brutalist building was meticulously transformed into a 90-room boutique hotel, thereby promoting architectural revitalization in the region.Shamalat Cultural Centre. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Hassan Al Shatti (photographer)Saudi ArabiaShamalat Cultural Centre, in Riyadh, by Syn Architects / Sara Alissa, Nojoud AlsudairiOn the outskirts of Diriyah, the Shamalat Cultural Centre in Riyadh was created by Syn Architects/Sara Alissa, Nojoud Alsudairi. It was created from an old mud home that artist Maha Malluh had renovated. The center, which aims to incorporate historic places into daily life, provides a sensitive viewpoint on heritage conservation in the area by contrasting the old and the contemporary.Rehabilitation and Extension of Dakar Railway Station. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Sylvain Cherkaoui (photographer)SenegalRehabilitation and Extension of Dakar Railway Station, in Dakar by Ga2DIn order to accommodate the passengers of a new express train line, Ga2D extended and renovated Dakar train Station, which purposefully contrasts the old and modern buildings. The forecourt was once again open to pedestrian traffic after vehicular traffic was limited to the rear of the property.Rami Library. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)TürkiyeRami Library, by Han Tümertekin Design & ConsultancyThe largest library in Istanbul is the Rami Library, designed by Han Tümertekin Design & Consultancy. It occupied the former Rami Barracks, a sizable, single-story building with enormous volumes that was constructed in the eighteenth century. In order to accommodate new library operations while maintaining the structure's original spatial features, a minimal intervention method was used.Morocco Pavilion Expo Dubai 2020. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Deed Studio (photographer)United Arab EmiratesMorocco Pavilion Expo Dubai 2020, by Oualalou + ChoiOualalou + Choi's Morocco Pavilion Expo Dubai 2020 is intended to last beyond Expo 2020 and be transformed into a cultural center. The pavilion is a trailblazer in the development of large-scale rammed earth building techniques. Its use of passive cooling techniques, which minimize the need for mechanical air conditioning, earned it the gold LEED accreditation.At each project location, independent professionals such as architects, conservation specialists, planners, and structural engineers have conducted thorough evaluations of the nominated projects. This summer, the Master Jury convenes once more to analyze the on-site evaluations and choose the ultimate Award winners.The top image in the article: The Arc at Green School. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Andreas Perbowo Widityawan (photographer).> via Aga Khan Award for Architecture

The study has an oak floor and a view of the garden. The highlight of this space, however, is the red Granby Rock terrazzo strip in the wall. Designed to be the perfect backdrop for the art, the accent ends at the fireplace and is made from 70 percent recycled aggregates. Delicate shades of pink and yellow from Little Greene on the walls nearby enhance its warming effect, as do the furniture’s olive and rust brown tones.By staggering the windows, O’Sullivan Skoufoglou have provided the interior of the home with considerably more natural light. The architects also did a masterful job at creating hidden storage space. Built-in cupboards in pastel shades and a low bench in the dining area double as storage, offering plenty of space for the many items that a family with children accumulates. “We design and create storage space so that it naturally corresponds to the room’s function,” the architects say.Living room and gallery in one: This is one space where Grigoroglou and Worrall exhibit works by artists they represent, along with other pieces. The lamp is by Established and Sons, the oak floor was laid by Chaunceys. Sliding doors allow the creation of separate private spaces at times but also an open circulation at other moments. A palette of pastels: The soft shades of yellow, pink, green, and blue on the walls create a warm atmosphere. A harmonious and colorful mix of materialsThe terrazzo is not the only visually strong material in the row house. A wide variety of surfaces and textures come together to create an exciting mix—one that may not come to mind immediately, but definitely works in practice. “We were interested in robust but also playful materials that could be combined with a reduced, restrained aesthetic designed for the display of art works,” says Skoufoglou. “We experimented a lot with materials to find the ideal combinations with the brick façade.”

Scandinavia’s premiere design festival 3 Days of Design began with a quartet of Danish brands—Anker & Co., Kvadrat, Erik Jørgensen, and Montana—11 years ago. In editions since, its hundreds of brands and twice as many events take over Copenhagen, spilling out of the Scandi city’s storefronts, showrooms, museums, and restaurants. This year, most events are open to the public and are set to take place June 18–20.Join NowAD PRO members enjoy exclusive benefits. Get a year of unlimited access for $25 $20 per month.ArrowNew to the event? Or thrilled to return to one of the world’s most inspiring design locations? AD PRO’s got you covered, with all the must-sees and should-do’s at 3 Days of Design 2025, as well as hot tips on where to rest and restore amidst the buzzy fair.What to know about 3 Days of DesignAll events are free, but visitors are encouraged to download the 3DD app and register via a QR ticket system for more seamless access to all the fun. Getting from event to event is also a breeze: Copenhagen is one of the world’s most bike-friendly cities—and it’s quite walkable too. (Check the fair’s Design Walks program for specially coordinated tours.) For further jaunts, the city’s metro system allows for easy transfers between districts—although taking a boat from neighborhood to neighborhood is an even better way to see the sights.Where to eat, drink, and stayThe UNESCO World Capital of Architecture is the living heart of Scandi chic, so you might as well stay at a historic MCM landmark: Arne Jacobsen’s 1956 SAS Royal, said to be the world’s first design hotel and refreshed in 2018 by Space Copenhagen as the Radisson Collection Royal Hotel, Copenhagen. Meanwhile, Swedish architect Gert Wingårdh’s Nobis Hotel is an elegant respite just off of Tivoli Gardens, and the freshly renovated Villa Copenhagen emits quintessential Danish ease within the city’s former Central Post & Telegraph Head Office.For cozier surrounds, check into Hotel Sanders, an antique-layered retreat by Brit firm Lind + Almond. Or for a bit more future-focused, try the houseboat hotel Kaj, floating just minutes from the Opera House.Foodwise, start your day with the city’s beloved bakeri culture. Brave the crowds for an early-morning cardamom bun at the landmark Juno the Bakery and the crisp kouign-amann at Andersen & Milland. Come lunchtime, score a sandwich at Lille, which slices up a revelatory rye bread fit for a picnic Smørrebrød feast on the water, or stop by Selma, where the menu changes with the season. Then top off your evening with a glass or two at natural-wine hot spot Pompette.Design happenings not to missOut and aboutMikkel Karstad, pictured, will be chefing it up in the Kvadrat showroom (Pakhus 48, Klubiensvej 22) throughout 3 Days. Photography courtesy of KvadratOne of Heather Chontos’s new rugs for Layered, which will be showcasing at Copenghagen’s Kismet Café. Photography courtesy of LayeredThe 3 Days of Design 2025 design festival celebrations will begin on June 16, at Frama’s chic Bar Vitrine aperitivo. The following evening Copenhagen-based label Louise Roe will preview new products, including a wall lamp, blown-glass vase, and stone table, at an alfresco cocktail party in its courtyard. On June 18, 3 Days of Design officially kicks off at the Vipp Garage HQ, where the studio will unveil a guesthouse installation and line of limited-edition products, both designed in collaboration with AD100 Studio KO. From there, make like a local and take a quick bicycle ride to Louis Poulsen’s showroom for a special light installation by Danish fashion designer Henrik Vibskov. That evening, Kvadrat and Vitra’s joint launch party at the former’s showroom in Nordhavn will fete new textile launches, including an attractive, high-performance acoustic curtain. Afterwards, stop by Audo House—the private residence, concept shop, restaurant, and garden, all decorated by furniture company Audo—to see it freshly renovated at the hands of local talent Norm Architects. The house is open June 18 through 20—and Audo is hosting an evening soirée there on June 19. Meanwhile, Swedish brand Svenskt Tenn’s 3 Days of Design debut at a private apartment in Christianshavn will also be a must-see, especially for Josef Frank aficionados.

The tower takes shape as two sets of overlapping cylinders, clad with prefabricated panels intended to evoke clouds. PROJECT The Butterfly + First Baptist Church Complex ARCHITECT Revery Architecture PHOTOS Ema Peter When you fly into Vancouver, the most prominent structure in the city’s forest of glass skyscrapers is now a 57-storey edifice known as the Butterfly. Designed by Revery Architecture, the luxury residential tower is the latest in a string of high-rises that pop out of the city’s backdrop of generic window-wall façades.  The Butterfly’s striking form evolved over many years, beginning with studies dating back to 2012. Revery principal Venelin Kokalov imagined several options, most of them suggesting a distinct pair of architectural forms in dialogue. Renderings and models of the early concepts relay a wealth of imagination that is sorely missing from much of the city’s contemporary architecture, as land economics, zoning issues, and the profit motive often compel a default into generic glass-and-steel towers. The earliest concepts look starkly different—some evoke the Ginger and Fred building in Prague (Frank Gehry with Vlado Milunić, 1996); others the Absolute Towers in Mississauga (MAD with Burka Varacalli Architects, 2009). But one consistent theme runs through the design evolution: a sense of two Rilkean solitudes, touching.  On each floor, semi-private sky gardens offer an outdoor place for residents to socialize. Client feedback, engineering studies, and simple pragmatics led to the final form: two sets of overlapping cylinders linked by a common breezeway and flanked by a rental apartment on one side and a restored church doubling as a community centre on the other. The contours of the floorplan are visually organic: evocative of human cells dividing. The roundness of the main massing is complemented by curvilinear balustrades that smoothly transform into the outer walls of each unit. It’s an eye-catching counterpoint to the orthogonality of the city’s built landscape. The two adjacent buildings—built, restored, and expanded as part of a density bonus arrangement with the city—help integrate this gargantuan structure with the lower-rise neighbourhood around it.  The Butterfly is a high-end, high-priced residential tower—one of the few typologies in which clients and communities are now willing to invest big money and resources in creative, visually astonishing architecture. That leads to a fundamental question: what is the public purpose of a luxury condo tower?  A public galleria joins the renovated First Baptist Church to the new building. Serving as a welcoming atrium, it allows for community access to the expanded church, including its daycare, full gymnasium, multi-purpose rooms, overnight emergency shelter, and community dining hall equipped with a commercial kitchen. Whatever one feels about the widening divide between the haves and have-nots in our big cities, this building—like its ilk—does serve several important public purposes. The most direct and quantifiable benefits are the two flanking buildings, also designed by Revery and part of the larger project. The seven-storey rental apartment provides a modest contribution to the city’s dearth of mid-priced housing. The superbly restored and seismically upgraded First Baptist Church has expanded into the area between the new tower and original church, and now offers the public a wider array of programming including a gymnasium, childcare facility, and areas for emergency shelter and counselling services for individuals in need.  The church’s Pinder Hall has been reimagined as a venue for church and community events including concerts, weddings, and cultural programming. The Butterfly’s character is largely defined by undulating precast concrete panels that wrap around the building. The architects describe the swooping lines as being inspired by clouds, but for this writer, the Butterfly evokes a 57-layer frosted cake towering above the city’s boxy skyline. Kokalov winces when he hears that impression, but it’s meant as a sincere compliment. Clouds are not universally welcome, but who doesn’t like cake?  Kokalov argues that its experiential quality is the building’s greatest distinction—most notably, the incorporation of an “outdoors”—not a balcony or deck, but an actual outdoor pathway—at all residential levels. For years the lead form-maker at Bing Thom Architects, Kokalov was responsible for much of the curvilinearity in the firm’s later works, including the 2019 Xiqu Centre opera house in Hong Kong. It’s easy to assume that his forte and focus would be pure aesthetic delight, but he avers that every sinuous curve has a practical rationale.  The breezeways provide residents with outdoor entries to their units—an unusual attribute for high-rise towers—and contribute to natural cooling, ventilation, and daylight in the suites. Defying the local tower-on-podium formula, the building’s façade falls almost straight to the ground. At street level, the building is indented with huge parabolic concavities. It’s an abrupt way to meet the street, but the fall is visually “broken” by a publicly accessible courtyard.   The tower’s layered, undulating volume is echoed in a soaring residential lobby, which includes developer Westbank’s signature—a bespoke Fazioli grand piano designed by the building’s architect. After passing through this courtyard, you enter the building via the usual indoor luxe foyer—complete with developer Westbank’s signature, an over-the-top hand-built grand piano designed by the architect. In this case, the piano’s baroquely sculpted legs are right in keeping with the architecture. But after taking the elevator up to the designated floor, you step out into what is technically “outdoors” and walk to your front door in a brief but bracing open-air transition.  The main entrance of every unit is accessed via a breezeway that runs from one side of the building to another. Unglazed and open to the outside, each breezeway is marked at one end with what the architects call (a little ambitiously) a “sky garden,” in most cases consisting of a sapling that will grow into a leafy tree in due course, God and strata maintenance willing. This incorporation of nature and fresh air transforms the condominium units into something akin to townhouses, albeit stacked exceptionally high.  The suites feature a custom counter with a sculptural folded form. Inside each unit, the space can be expanded and contracted and reconfigured visually—not literally—by the fact that the interior wall of the secondary bedroom is completely transparent, floor to ceiling. It’s unusual, and slightly unnerving, but undeniably exciting for any occupants who wish to maximize their views to the mountains and sea. The curved glass wall transforms the room into a private enclave by means of a curtain, futuristically activated by remote control. The visual delight of swooping curves is only tempered when it’s wholly impractical—the offender here being a massive built-in counter that serves to both anchor and divide the living-kitchen areas. It reads as a long, pliable slab that is “folded” into the middle in such a way that the counter itself transforms into its own horseshoe-shaped base, creating a narrow crevice in the middle of the countertop. I marvel at its beauty and uniqueness; I weep for whoever is assigned to clean out the crumbs and other culinary flotsam that will fall into that crevice.  A structure made of high-performance modular precast concrete structural ribs arcs over a swimming pool that bridges between the building’s main amenity space and the podium roof. The building’s high-priced architecture may well bring more to the table than density-bonus amenities. On a broader scale, these luxe dwellings may be just what is needed to help lure the affluent from their mansions. As wealthy residents and investors continue to seek out land-hogging detached homes, the Butterfly offers an alternate concept that maintains the psychological benefit of a dedicated outside entrance and an outrageously flexible interior space. Further over-the-top amenities add to the appeal. Prominent among these is a supremely gorgeous residents-only swimming pool, housed within ribs of concrete columns that curve and dovetail into beams.   The ultimate public purpose for the architecturally spectacular condo tower: its role as public art in the city. The units in any of these buildings are the private side of architecture’s Janus face, but its presence in the skyline and on the street is highly public. By contributing a newly striking visual ballast, the Butterfly has served its purpose as one of the age-old Seven Arts: defining a location, a community, and an era. Adele Weder is a contributing editor to Canadian Architect. Screenshot CLIENT Westbank Corporation, First Baptist Church | ARCHITECT TEAM Venelin Kokalov (MRAIC), Bing Thom (FRAIC, deceased 2016), Amirali Javidan, Nicole Hu, Shinobu Homma MRAIC, Bibi Fehr, Culum Osborne, Dustin Yee, Cody Loeffen, Kailey O’Farrell, Mark Melnichuk, Andrea Flynn, Jennifer Zhang, Daniel Gasser, Zhuoli Yang, Lisa Potopsingh | STRUCTURAL Glotman Simpson | MECHANICAL Introba | ELECTRICAL Nemetz & Associates, Inc. | LANDSCAPE SWA Group (Design) w/ Cornelia Oberlander & G|ALA – Gauthier & Associates Landscape Architecture, Inc. (Landscape Architect of Record) | INTERIORS Revery Architecture | CONTRACTOR Icon West Construction (new construction); The Haebler Group (heritage) | LIGHTING ARUP (Design) & Nemetz (Engineer of Record) | SUSTAINABILITY & ENERGY MODELlING Introba | BUILDING ENVELOPE RDH Building Science, Inc. | HERITAGE CONSERVATION Donald Luxton & Associates, Inc.| ACOUSTICS BKL Consultants Ltd. | TRAFFIC Bunt & Associates, Inc. | POOL Rockingham Pool Consulting, Inc. | FOUNTAIN Vincent Helton & Associates | WIND Gradient Wind Engineering, Inc. | WASTE CONSULTANT Target Zero Waste Consulting, Inc. | AREA 56,206 M2 | BUDGET Withheld | COMPLETION Spring 2025 ENERGY USE INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 106 kWh/m2/year | WATER USE INTENSITY (PROJECTED) 0.72 m3/m2/year As appeared in the June 2025 issue of Canadian Architect magazine The post The Butterfly takes flight: The Butterfly, Vancouver, BC appeared first on Canadian Architect.

The Swiss Federal Railways’ repair works in Zürich are being lightly transformed for new commercial uses Workers at the Swiss Federal Railways’ (SBB) central repair works in Zürich used to climb the roof of its halls and practise handstands. It was as good a place as any to do gymnastics: out in the open air, with a view to the Käferberg rising across from a tangle of railway tracks and the river Limmat. A photograph from 1947 survives in the SBB archives, showing a light turf growing on the roof – most of the buildings that make up the works had been constructed about 30 years earlier, between 1906 and 1910 – and a group of young apprentices exercising under the stern supervision of a foreman. The photograph captures the beginning of the repair works’ heyday. SBB was formed in 1902, the result of an 1898 referendum to nationalise the nine major private railway companies operating in Switzerland at the time. The construction of the Zürich repair works began soon after, with an office building, a workers’ canteen, shower rooms, workshops, stores and carriage halls laid out across a 42,000m2 site flanked by Hohlstrasse to the south‑west and the railway tracks connecting Zürich Central and Altstetten stations to the north‑east. Here, rolling stock could easily be redirected to the works, and transferred into its functional, skylit brick halls with the use of a lateral transfer platform.  In the postwar decades, the works came to employ upwards of 800 staff, and served as the SBB’s main repair works, or Hauptwerkstätte – there were smaller ones in Bellinzona, Chur, Yverdon-les-Bains and other locations, established by the private railway firms before nationalisation. In the same period, SBB gained international fame for its early electrification drive – the landlocked confederation lacks fossil fuel deposits but has hydropower aplenty – and modern industrial design. The Swiss railway clock, designed in 1944 by SBB employee Hans Hilfiker, is now used in transit systems around the world, and the network’s adoption of Helvetica for its graphic identity in 1978 contributed to the widespread popularisation of the typeface – long before the first iPhone.  At the turn of the millennium, SBB was turned into a joint‑stock company. All shares are owned by the state and the Swiss cantons, but the new company structure allowed the network to behave more like a private enterprise. Part of this restructuring was an appraisal of the network’s sizable real-estate holdings, which a new division, SBB Immobilien, was set up to manage in 2003. Around the same time, the Hauptwerkstätte in Zürich was downgraded to a ‘repair centre’, and plans were drawn up to develop the site, which was vast, central and fashionably post‑industrial – and so ripe for profitable exploitation. The revenue generated by SBB Immobilien has only become more important to the network since then, as its pension fund – long beset by market volatility and continuous restructurings – relies heavily on it. When, in 2017, SBB and the city and canton of Zürich organised a competition for the redevelopment of the old repair works, Swiss architecture practice Baubüro In Situ was selected as winner ‘for its expertise in adaptive reuse, sustainable circular practices and participatory approach’, says an SBB Immobilien spokesperson. For SBB, it was important that the redevelopment, now dubbed Werkstadt Zürich, made use of the railways’ enormous catalogue of existing materials and components. (SBB even has its own online resale platform, where, for example, four tonnes of gravel, a disused train carriage or a stud welding machine can be acquired for a reasonable sum.) For the canton, it was imperative that the scheme make room for local manufacturing in line with a broader drive to bring production back into a city dominated by services.  Founded in Basel by Barbara Buser and Eric Honegger in 1998, Baubüro In Situ (previously Baubüro Mitte) was in a unique position to meet such a brief, as it operates alongside what it terms its three ‘sister companies’: Unterdessen (founded in 2004, to organise ‘meanwhile’ uses for buildings and sites), Zirkular (established in 2020, focusing on materials and circular construction), and Denkstatt Sàrl, an urban think tank run by Buser and Honegger together with Tabea Michaelis and Pascal Biedermann. All informed the masterplan for Werkstadt Zürich, which will complete its first phase this year.  The Zürich offices of the four companies have been housed in various spaces on the repair works site since 2017, while the project has been ongoing. For the past year, they have had a permanent home on a new mezzanine level constructed around the internal perimeter of the works’ cathedral‑like carriage hall. This level is accessed via two central staircases composed of reused components from SBB’s network – I‑beams of various profiles, timber, metal tube railings – which, as has become a trademark of Baubüro In Situ’s work, come together in an artfully mismatched whole. ‘The main thing this office does is as little as possible,’ says Vanessa Gerotto, an interior architect at the firm. SBB still uses parts of the site, as is evident from train tracks that crisscross it. ‘They do repairs in some of the halls,’ explains Gerotto. ‘But they have reorganised, relocated and compacted their repair sites,’ so that approximately 18,450m2 have been freed up for commercial use at Werkstadt Zürich, including a swathe of units in the carriage hall. Here, as in other areas where they are no longer needed, SBB’s tracks have been retained but filled in with concrete and smoothed over.  Businesses have slowly filled Werkstadt Zürich as new units have been completed, and are mostly rarefied, small‑scale producers of luxury consumables: there is a chocolatier, a granola‑maker, a micro‑brewery, a gin distillery and a coffee roastery, as well as a manufacturer of coffee machines. The first commercial tenant, however, was somewhat more in keeping with the original programme of the site: the Swiss outdoor equipment brand Transa moved its repair workshop into one of the spaces in Werkstadt Zürich’s magazine building, to the south of the site, in 2023. Here, a team of 13 craftspeople repair and waterproof Gore-Tex clothing, backpacks, tents and sleeping bags that individual customers either drop off or mail to them, or that official partnering brands send directly to the centre.  ‘The Transa team is currently working on a new set of curtains for the Baubüro In Situ’s offices across the yard’ This part of Werkstadt Zürich was also the first to be renovated. Baubüro In Situ, working closely with colleagues at Zirkular, undertook a substantial interior fit‑out of the triple-height space, located in the western part of the magazine wing. A new timber mezzanine was added to maximise use of the space for the client, who did not require a double-height ground floor space. This was designed to be structurally independent from the shell of the building, so that the listed structure was not impacted.  However, the weight of the mezzanine necessitated new foundations, which needed to support a load of 100kN per timber support. There were not any suitable concrete elements available on site at Werkstadt Zürich, so the teams opted for what Zirkular architect Blanca Gardelegui admits was an ‘experimental’ move, reusing concrete from a demolition site in Winterthur. Here, slabs were cut using a diamond blade saw and stacked on site using a crane. ‘Additional work,’ explains Pascal Angehrn, architect at Baubüro In Situ, ‘came from the temporary storage of the blocks,’ and their transport. Once the blocks had been fitted into place, new concrete nevertheless had to be poured around the timber supports. This meant that, although efforts were made to reuse a wide variety of components and fittings – heaters, doors, plumbing fixtures, lights and stone windowsills – the fit‑out did not meet the architects’ own best‑case scenario of 50 per cent greenhouse gas savings, compared with using new materials and components for the renovation. Instead, they calculated the savings to sit at around 17 per cent. ‘Concrete is one of the most challenging materials to recycle,’ says Gardelegui. ‘The idea is not to do something perfectly, but to learn from the process.’ Finally, the teams introduced a wide staircase into the centre of the space, using the timber from the cut-out mezzanine flooring to make up its steps. Upon moving in, the staff at Transa’s repair centre embraced the architects’ spirit of reuse, creating their own furniture from pallets, and uplholstering with insulation cut‑offs. Tobias Stump, a member of staff at the centre, explains that their team is currently working on a new set of curtains for Baubüro In Situ’s offices across the yard.  ‘The idea is not to do something perfectly, but to learn from the process’ Werkstadt Zürich has the atmosphere of a creative testing ground, where materials get shifted around and reconfigured as needs and uses change. There is genuine camaraderie among the new commercial tenants: they make curtains for each other; organise monthly ‘open factory’ days; and have even recreated the 1947 photograph of the gymnasts on the roof. But antics on the roof may not be viable much longer. The next phase of Werkstadt Zürich involves the construction of vertical extensions atop the halls and magazine wing, densifying the site for further financial gain. Bland, brand new residential towers loom just off site, a little further up Hohlstrasse. Altstetten is gentrifying rapidly, part of the city’s continual remaking of itself.

© Sergey Omelchenko via Unsplash Older buildings possess irreplaceable quality, architectural value, and history that new buildings may lack. However, they are often neglected due to perceived renovation costs or structural integrity. With the right plan, these buildings can be transformed into valuable investments. Below are seven of the best strategies for making good investments in aging buildings. 1. Assess Structural Stability Thoroughly Even if you have not yet enrolled in a project, it is critical to understand the building’s structural integrity. Have a structural inspector or engineer examine any major foundation issues, load wall defects, roof, or plumbing issues. The report will tell you how much you need to repair and the estimated renovation cost. Consider also a building’s listings as historic, zoning codes, and compliance. There will be buildings under preservation or heritage statutes, which can be very restrictive in what can or cannot be modified. Knowing about such constraints upfront can allow you to plan better and spend your budget more appropriately. 2. Consider Adaptive Reuse This is an innovative way to transform existing building structures, such as old churches, schools, or textile mills, into thriving business offices or community spaces. The adaptive reuse supports the concept of sustainable architecture. Besides preserving the uniqueness of a building, it provides several economic and environmental advantages. Innovative reuse of older buildings, like redeveloping an aging warehouse as a hip loft space or an unused church as a shared workplace. This will tap into marketplace niches, reinterpret former designs for new purposes, and reduce demolition waste expense since existing infrastructure can be used. It will also likely be tax-credit qualified in most instances, making it a worthwhile investment. 3. Go Smart with Technology Integration With smart thermostats, lights, security systems, and energy monitoring systems included, the performance and appeal of your newly renovated building can be significantly enhanced. Upgrades help consumers be more practical, increase operational efficiency, lower energy expenses, and provide the high-tech benefit that distinguishes your building. Upscale renters willing to pay more for smart living experiences can also find smart features appealing. One example is the remote management features, such as the HVAC, which add more functionality to a property. Smart locks at the entry points also increase safety levels. 4. Going Green to Draw Modern Tenants © Pedro Miguel Aires via Unsplash Green restoration might give the structure more appeal to environmentally sensitive residents and lower future energy bills. When renters choose to live or rent, sustainability becomes a consideration, so green facilities are a significant advantage.  Use green materials, including insulation, and install energy-efficient appliances. Having those properties green-certified by LEED or ENERGY STAR will make those buildings even more marketable. Not only does that give your project respectability, but it will also make you a beneficiary of government incentives. 5. Mixed-Use and Flexible Occupancy Design Flexible, mixed-use design is one way to de-risk revenues and maximize rental yield. Split your building into office suites, co-living, pop-up event spaces, and retail storefronts. Modular furniture, movable partitions, and plug-and-play utility infrastructure facilitate flexible build-outs. It helps tenants arrange space to fit their needs, providing more opportunities. For example, ground floor cafe space can generate spill-over foot traffic for upstairs shared office tenants, and weekend community workshops that generate buzz and additional revenues. Diversification minimizes vacancy risk and allows you to re-mix tenants based on shifting market demand. 6. Emphasize Unique Architectural Elements Older homes possess unique design elements not found in new homes, like arched windows, detailing, ornamentation, or exposed brick. Rather than concealing these elements, emphasize them as part of restoring your property. This will make interested individuals see the building as one with great sentimental value, especially when you capture the historic relevance of the design. Emphasizing a property’s unique architectural elements can differentiate your property from the rest in an oversaturated housing market. The architectural elements give a property character and individuality that cannot be achieved in newer homes. 7. Involve the Community and Build Local Support Engaging residents, owners, and heritage organizations early in the conversion process can create goodwill among residents and ownership about the project’s success. Community support is especially helpful in getting permits, zoning variances, or adjustments because local backing carries much weight with city planning measures. Open a forum to provide regular social media updates or even a poll to engage people and their input to inform the stakeholders and become informed themselves in the process. If people feel heard and considered, they are more apt to be ambassadors for your work and spread good word-of-mouth. Endnote Transforming aging buildings into successful investments requires vision, planning, and respect for their heritage. Revealing structural integrity, location, sustainability, and visionary reuse, buried value in older structures can be unleashed. You need to plan the project well and work closely with competent contractors who will make the re-creation excellent. Adaptive Reuse by ArchEyes Team Leave a comment

A home on Billy Joel’s longtime Long Island estate just changed hands for $7 million, the New York Post reports. The news of the sale comes days after the Grammy-winning musician canceled all of his scheduled concert dates to undergo physical therapy for normal pressure hydrocephalus, a brain disorder that affects hearing, vision, and balance.Spanning five acres, the parcel was part of Joel’s 26-acre Centre Island compound, dubbed Middlesea, which he began assembling in 2002. The recently sold beachfront dwelling is referred to as Middlesea’s gatehouse—though it is much more impressive than that humble name connotes. The 5,565-square-foot structure comprises a historic gatehouse and a carriage house that were combined to form the five-bedroom, four-bathroom residence that stands there today. Two kitchens, two primary suites, and a heated gunite swimming pool are among the home’s impressive amenities. A spacious pergola-shaded outdoor dining area looks out at the water, as does a screened-in patio equipped with a built-in barbecue area.Billy Joel’s Houses: Inside the Musician’s Impressive Real Estate PortfolioThe “New York State of Mind” singer recently purchased a sprawling Hamptons estateThe “Piano Man” listed his entire Middlesea estate in 2023 with a $49 million price tag. According to the Post, the remainder of the compound will drop in price to $39.9 million following the sale of the gatehouse. The property’s recently renovated main house is a 20,000-square-foot manse complete with a bowling alley, an indoor pool, a wine cellar, a spa, and a salon area. An additional guesthouse, a helipad, a floating dock, and acres of surrounding land round out the impressive compound, which boasts 2,000 feet of Oyster Bay Harbor water frontage. The property is not far from where the singer grew up in the nearby Oyster Bay hamlet of Hicksville.Join NowAD PRO members enjoy exclusive benefits. Get a year of unlimited access for $25 $20 per month.ArrowThe musician, who “hopes to be able to resume performing as his recovery progresses,” as a source told People, also owns properties in East Hampton and South Florida.

You Can Now Visit the Small House Where Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë Were Born The newly renovated Brontë Birthplace in Bradford, England, was the three sisters’ home until 1820, when the family moved to a nearby parsonage The Brontë children were born near this fireplace, pictured mid-renovation. Matt Gibbons / Brontë Birthplace In the early 19th century, three sisters were born in a small house in northern England: Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë. Each one would grow up to become a pivotal figure in English literature, with Charlotte writing Jane Eyre (1847), Emily writing Wuthering Heights (1847) and Anne writing The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848). Now, that house in Bradford, England, where they were born has been restored and reopened to the public as a museum—and soon-to-be hotel. On May 15, Queen Camilla visited the village of Thornton to open the Brontë Birthplace in an official ceremony. After a year and a half of fundraising and renovations, the house is now a functioning educational center. Come July, its bedrooms will also be open to overnight guests, according to the Guardian’s David Barnett. The Brontë Birthplace pictured in 2008 Tim Green via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY 2.0 “This house is no longer just a place of literary history,” says Katharine Barnett, chair of the Brontë Birthplace, in a statement from the museum. “It is a living, breathing space filled with creativity, education and community pride.” The novelists’ parents were Patrick and Maria Brontë, an Irish clergyman and a Cornish gentlewoman who married in 1812. They had two daughters, Maria and Elizabeth, before moving to the Thornton house in 1815. Charlotte was born in 1816, Emily in 1818 and Anne in 1820. A brother, Branwell, was also born in 1817. When Anne was just three months old, Patrick was appointed the reverend of a nearby church, and the family moved to the Haworth parsonage. The two eldest children died soon after, but the younger four children survived. As they grew older, they also thrived as playmates, inventing “invented imaginary worlds together and [writing] about them in tiny books,” per the Brontë Parsonage Museum. Queen Camilla and Christa Ackroyd touring the Brontë Birthplace on May 15, 2025 Matt Gibbons / Brontë Birthplace By the mid-19th century, the three sisters were publishing novels under the pseudonyms Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights would become two of the most renowned books ever written in English. After the family left the sisters’ birthplace, the building was repurposed several times. It has served as a butcher’s shop and a cafe, which shuttered during the pandemic, according to the Guardian. With the building up for grabs, a group of advocates—including journalist Christa Ackroyd and Brontë relative Nigel West—raised the £650,000 (more than $700,000) needed to purchase and renovate it. Every four years, the United Kingdom chooses a “City of Culture,” and this year’s selection is Bradford. Camilla opened the Brontë Birthplace as part of her honorary visit to the chosen city. A crowd gathered to welcome her. As Tom Golesworthy, a resident of Leeds who attended the opening ceremony, tells the Telegraph & Argus’ Brad Deas, “It makes you proud to be British.”The Haworth parsonage already attracts nearly one million visitors each year, per the Guardian. The Brontë Birthplace team hopes that those visitors will now add the Thornton house, which is only six miles away, to their itineraries. When the Brontës lived in the home, all six children likely slept in the house’s largest upstairs bedroom, while their parents slept next door, reports the Guardian. Both rooms, as well as a third that was added to the house later, will be available for overnight stays. “This will be the only place in the world where you can sleep in the same room that the Brontës slept in,” West tells the Guardian. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Apartment Barjanska / Arhitekti Počivašek PetranovičSave this picture!© Urban PetranovičApartments•Ljubljana, Slovenia Architects: Arhitekti Počivašek Petranovič Area Area of this architecture project Area:  68 m² Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2025 Photographs Photographs:Urban Petranovič Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project Manufacturers:  Bulthaup, HAY, LUMİNA, VitrA, VolaMore SpecsLess Specs Save this picture! Text description provided by the architects. We have renovated an apartment in one of the residential buildings typical for the 1960s, located in a very central neighbourhood of Ljubljana. The existing floor plan was fragmented into many small spaces, with the kitchen accessible only through the living room.Save this picture!The main idea of  the renovation was to combine all the living areas into an open, unified space that encircles a freestanding monolith, clad completely in Carrara marble. This stone core consists of a fireplace and a marble bathroom.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The large window, now in an angular position, has slightly reduced the size of the loggia, but significantly enlarged the living area that now smoothly extends into the kitchen and dining area.Save this picture!The unity of the living area is emphasised by the choice of colours and materials. The light grey shade of the polyurethane flooring repeats itself in the wall plaster and the built-in furniture, as a neutral envelope of the whole dwelling.Save this picture!We have also designed the furniture - a dining table and two low storage elements from the same family and materiality – stainless steel legs with birch plywood surfaces. Leftover marble was use to create a small club table.Save this picture! Project gallerySee allShow less Project locationAddress:Ljubljana, SloveniaLocation to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this office MaterialStoneMaterials and TagsPublished on May 29, 2025Cite: "Apartment Barjanska / Arhitekti Počivašek Petranovič" 29 May 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1030619/apartment-barjanska-arhitekti-pocivasek-petranovic&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save世界上最受欢迎的建筑网站现已推出你的母语版本!想浏览ArchDaily中国吗?是否 You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream