Gehry Designed Altantic Yards project grinds forward
In the long and hard fought battle over the development of a 22-acre former rail yards site in Brooklyn, real estate developer Forest City Ratner has won the latest round. In February, a US Federal appeals court ruled in favor of the $4 billion Gehry-designed mixed-use mega project edging it forward, albeit slowly. Since it was announced in 2003, the Atlantic Yards project has moved ahead at a snails pace, mostly due to the highly organized efforts of the community opposition group Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB) that claims the neighbourhood of mostly brownstones and abandoned low-rise industrial buildings will be detrimentally transformed by the project, which, in addition to housing an National Basketball Association sports arena, a boutique hotel, retail space, offices and 6400 units of housing, will include 16 high rise towers. DDDB has waged several legal battles against the project but has lost every single one.
While the recent news is good for Ratner, the project faces other hurdles, namely the current downturn in the economy and the recent recent change of Governors for New York. Former Governor Spitzer, who resigned last week amid a sex scandal, was a huge supporter of the project. It is not know where incoming Governor David Paterson stands on the project, but many city projects are seeing their funding cut.
New London landmark for Legal & General and Mitsubishi estate company.
A new central London landmark is unveiled today as part of the regeneration of the Saint Giles area. Central Saint Giles, which is due for completion by the end of 2009, is the new groundbreaking 500,000 sq ft mixed-use scheme from internationally acclaimed architect Renzo Piano and joint developers Legal & General and Mitsubishi Estate Company.
Central Saint Giles, which replaces a redundant 1960’s office block previously occupied by the Ministry of Defence, is an environmentally friendly, sustainable, colourful development that comprises office space, retail, restaurants, cafes, residential and a new public piazza. The development, on which building work has already started, will be a pedestrian-friendly site, connecting five different regions of the West End.
On a 1.75-acre island site, the development sits in a strategic, exceptionally well-connected, location between Oxford Street and Covent Garden. The design consists of three buildings with 13 irregularly orientated, individually coloured ceramic & glass facades. When completed, Central Saint Giles will be 12 storeys tall and will comprise 393,000 sq ft of high quality office space with some of the largest floor plates (42,000 sq ft) in the West End, 27% of the site’s area is dedicated to open space and the development includes 109 residential units, 50% of which will be affordable housing.
World renowned architect Renzo Piano commented: “The architectural challenge was to create a development that brings heart and soul into a forgotten part of Central London’s urban fabric. A place that, by adding levitated, articulated and colourful buildings, physically expresses the people-focused and socially responsible credentials of modern corporate tenants”.
Bovis Lend Lease is building the scheme, Stanhope plc have been appointed as development managers and Bovis as construction managers. Fletcher Priest have been appointed as Renzo Piano Building Workshop’s executive architects to the site. The joint letting agents are Jones Lang LaSalle and Cushman & Wakefield.
Two innovative towers for City Poly Corporation
China Poly Corporation sought to create an innovative office and trade center development in Pazhou, Guangzhou, an industrial city along the Pearl River. Poly International Plaza is situated in a new commercial district. The Plaza consists of two towers, each coupled with a low-rise podium that accommodates exhibition and retail uses; the below-grade spaces include an exhibition hall and trade center. The offset core towers, which include a thin bar of office space, maximize light transmission to their interiors. On the north, the towers’ forms are defined by floor-to-ceiling glass, shaded by vertical fins, and on the south they expose their structural framework. The towers advocate sustainable design through their use of natural light; natural ventilation; floor-by-floor mechanical systems; under floor air distribution; shaded outdoor space; and green roofs.
Because the Pearl River delta has always been a dynamic nexus of trade in China, water views have a symbolic value in the project. Thanks to the towers’ innovative structural spine, and double lattice brace, the offset cores are light and transparent, and allow a high degree of openness to northern views; the glass elevators, staircases, restrooms, and terraces, are all light-filled spaces. Guangzhou’s tropical weather called for a combination of density and open green space. An abstracted Chinese garden, planted with local vegetation and organized around water elements, occupies the central space between the two towers. Water is used over the access skylights that funnel light from the garden level to the below-grade exhibition spaces. To mitigate the sun’s heat on the southern façade without blocking views, dirigible plantation teak screens that relate to the local architectural tradition are employed throughout the project. Terraces on the western sides of the towers serve the dual purpose of providing open space and blocking the setting sun. A large, central terrace at the midpoint of each tower acts as an aperture allowing wind to pass through the 35-story structures.
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- Tags: Architecture, Building, China, Chinese, Guangzhou, Innovation, Plaza, Tower, Towers
