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AA students' Big Shed Assembly Workshop
Architectural Association students demonstrate the potential of low-value local timber
A bravura performance
Steel-frame construction has enabled Populous and Arup to deliver the complex geometries of their Leeds Arena to a tight budget
Womens Designer Galleries, Selfridges by Jamie Fobert Architects
Jamie Fobert Architects layer of marble is the complete antithesis of the classic department store floor
Domino web agency headquarters, Turin, by Marc Architects
Italian practice Marc Architects made innovative use of perforated steel flooring to bring new light into an office building refurbishment
Waltham Forest College by Richard Hopkinson Architects and Platform 5 Architects
Richard Hopkinson and Platform 5 Architects have completed a £3 million refurbishment of Waltham Forest College, breathing new life into an existing 1930s building to create new formal and informal education and meeting areas.
Stratford Shoal, east London by Studio Egret West
A steel and titanium leaf structure will greet Olympic visitors to Stratford International
Canopy for Roman site, Cartagena, Spain by Amann Cánovas Maruri Architects
Madrid-based Amann Cánovas Maruri Architects has completed a new canopy for an archaeological site in Molinete Park in Cartagena, south-eastern Spain.
Open House in Hamburg by Onix Architekten
This Passivhaus for communal living produces more energy than it uses.
Linlithgow Burgh Halls in West Lothian, Scotland, by Malcolm Fraser Architects
Architect completes refurbishment and extension of community halls in West Lothian
Day centre, Noordwijk
Onix Architects has built a care centre in the Netherlands out of bricks that were rejected for their irregular form
SBEC sustainability centre finds ways to push the envelope
The Sustainable Building Envelope Centre has been established to harness the building fabric to generate energy. Here is a look at its ambitions and some of the key technologies under development
The Shard: pointers on reaching the top
The team working on Renzo Piano’s Shard at London Bridge used modular techniques to rise to the challenges of building Europe’s tallest tower
Vauxhall Spring Gardens light poles by DSDHA
Dramatic LED lighting changes colour to mark the entrance to a historic London site
KfW-Westarkade banking HQ, Frankfurt, by Sauerbruch Hutton
Sauerbruch Hutton’s glazed offices feature a technically innovative approach to passive ventilation
Primary school library by Kéré Architects
This building in rural Burkina Faso makes innovative use of clay pots in its ceiling to aid lighting and ventilation
Metropol Parasol in Seville by Jürgen Mayer H
One of the world’s largest wooden structures has been built in Spain to house Roman ruins, a farmers’ market, cultural events and a café
Steel steps up to satisfy thermal mass demands
Despite belief to the contrary, thermal mass can be achieved in steel-framed as well as concrete buildings
Crystal amazes as sustainable urban showcase
The Crystal, a dramatic urban sustainability centre built for Siemens in east London’s docklands, uses an innovative steel framework to enable its complex crystalline form
Victory House, London by Ben Adams Architects
Ben Adams Architects has transformed an anonymous office building at the northern end of Tottenham Court Road with a series of subtle interventions.
Inca public market, Mallorca by Charmaine Lay and Carles Muro
Charmaine Lay and Carles Muro have created a radical new public market building for the city of Inca in Mallorca, which wraps the town square up on to the roof of the building.
Olympic Sailing Village by HTA Architects
HTA Architects’ athletes’ village in Dorset mixes traditional materials with an up-to-date approach to energy generation
Watergate Farm, North Oxfordshire by James Gorst Architects
James Gorst Architects has completed the first phase of a project set around a courtyard on a farm in north Oxfordshire.
De Korhoenders sheltered housing
Wingender Hovenier Architecten’s brick residential building for disabled youth in the Netherlands provides a careful balance between communal and private space
Care centre’s fearless symmetry
The unconventional geometry of CZWG’s Maggie’s Nottingham is made up of simple steel elements
BIG unveils 'driverless city' plan
BIG Architects’ futuristic proposal uses a carpet of LEDs to create a public space shared by people and cars
McLaren Production Centre by Foster & Partners
Foster’s latest building for McLaren echoes the practices earliest projects in its showcasing of technology
Constructing a precast load-bearing facade
The cladding concept of Sergison Bates’ and Jean-Paul Jaccaud’s Geneva housing and creche building
Living With Lakes Centre, Sudbury, Canada
A new sustainable lakeside research lab in a landscape damaged by nickel mining is 77% more efficient than conventional building
Snøhetta’s Wild Reindeer Centre pavilion
A striking timber pavilion provides shelter to observe wildlife in Norway’s harsh mountain landscape
Does Part L 2013 spell death for renewables?
A focus on building fabric instead of renewables is the most cost effective approach for housing, says Mel Starrs
Debate: Should the coalition scrap Breeam?
Yes, says Jonathan Hines, it is holding back progress; but Mel Starrs says it is vital to ensuring that sustainability remains on the agenda
The cost of Part L
The demands of compliance with the new Part L regulations could result in additional costs in the short term creating a challenge for architects with demanding clients.
Tectonics
House of straw brings a sustainable harvest
White Design’s BaleHaus explores the use of prefabricated straw panels for mass housing
Span house comes out of woodwork
Using a modular typology of timber and glass, Friend & Company has reinvented an Eric Lyons Span house in south-east London
Bennetts Associates’ Edinburgh rock
Edinburgh University’s Potterrow development draws on the city’s traditional stone building form to provide an airy home for its philosophy, psychology and language science departments
Supporting character
Brickwork plays a starring role in articulating the exterior and interior spaces of Lundgaard & Tranberg’s Royal Danish Playhouse in Copenhagen
Hadid’s Chanel pavilion proving to be a classic in plastic
Inspired by the iconic Chanel 2.55 handbag, Zaha Hadid’s Mobile Art structure reshapes the way polymers can be used by architects
Nottingham students put this South African community on a learning curve
Nottingham University students designed a timber-framed building for a South African nursery school and then built it in seven weeks
Surface tension at Hongluo Clubhouse near Beijing
The Hongluo Clubhouse, by Beijing-based MAD Office, uses curved steel sections to create a roof structure that blurs boundaries with the surrounding landscape
The Eon house and the architecture of climate change
The half a semi-detached house built to 1930s Building Regs and monitored for energy efficiency at the University of Nottingham is an architectural experiment that could benefit millions of British homes
Morphosis Architects’ cooling runnings at the Federal Building in San Francisco
Morphosis Architects’ US Federal Building in San Francisco uses concrete’s thermal mass and natural ventilation
Benson & Forsyth’s Nottingham Pod finds its place in past and present
Aluminium proved the versatile solution when it came to integrating this a mixed-use hotel and retail scheme with the city’s medieval layout
