Urbanism

In the southwest of France, facing the Pyrenees Mountain, the “Complexe de la République” built in 1975 in Pau, had been declining for several years due to the dilapidation of its covered market, flanked by a squat office building in very poor condition. After an international competition, the Ameller Dubois’s studio project was chosen by proposing a global response, taking charge of all the ambitions raised by this operation, both in terms of image and use, architecture, and urban planning, dedicated to the Pau’s population. The project's exceptional location has been rediscovered as a destination, attractive and seductive, to bring the district back to life. © Franck BROUILLET Combining in a singl... More

Located in the Uktus Mountains next to the forest park, Shishimskaya Gorka is a residential quarter in the southern part of Yekaterinburg. It is one of the highest locations in Yekaterinburg, offering a view of the city centre and having one of steepest reliefs city-wise. The area was host to factory buildings and workers’ settlements in the 18th and 19th centuries. All the buildings were wooden, and due to frequent fires the district was rebuilt many times. In the Soviet times it saw active construction — first wooden houses were built, later prefabricated ones. Caption In 2013 KCAP, a Netherlands based bureau, designed a master plan for Shishimskaya Gorka residential quarter, commissioned by Brusnika development company.... More

The proposal is designed to adapt to the surrounding context in a precise, simple and respectful way to the existing topography. Situated between a natural and an urbanised landscape, the shape closes to the north, extending the alignments of the surrounding buildings and protecting the housing block from the noise coming from the limits of the road. On the contrary, it opens to the south to approach the scale of the central park, allowing its extension within space, reducing the impact of the urban density planned for the site. The volume is distributed to generate attractive collective spaces based on three spatial concepts that correspond respectively to three different scales: a central patio for students; several garden terraces on a... More

The urban rehabilitation of the Suettaz district in Nyon includes the replacement of a dilapidated housing complex that no longer meets current standards and comfort by 4 new residential buildings with efficient and modern apartments. CCHE Designed for its inhabitants, the new district will offer affordable housing in a quality living environment. A great deal of attention is paid to the quality of the outdoor amenities, in order to establish the site in a green neighbourhood, offering numerous landscaped and car-free spaces to the public and the inhabitants. CCHE CCHE CCHE     More

Situated on the edge of a forest and a river, this currently unbuilt site marks the end of a residential area in Epalinges. The upper planning identifies this area as a site to be densified by mixed uses. The issues at stake include the creation of an urbanization that complements the existing neighbourhood and protects the natural environment. Hiris Images After an assessment of the site and its context, CCHE developed a project that combines the objectives of the higher planning and the natural assets of the site. The programme contains housing supplemented by premises for complementary activities for about 100 inhabitants and jobs. CCHE CCHE The careful urban integration of the future constructions limits the impact on t... More

BBB led the restoration and expansion of Holy Rosary Catholic Church, as well as the restoration and relocation of the historic Adas Israel Synagogue. The projects were coordinated with and integral aspects to the construction of Capitol Crossing, Property Group Partners’ transformative 2.2 million SF mixed-use development comprised of five new buildings in downtown Washington. Caption   Capitol Crossing closes a three-block-long gash in the city’s urban core created by the construction of I-395 in 1969. Built on a 7-acre highway-spanning platform, the development has re-opened a major east-west corridor, reconnected downtown pedestrian destinations, and helped to restore Pierre L’Enfant’s 1791 master pla... More

The National Urban League is a historic civil rights organization dedicated to economic empowerment to elevate the standard of living in historically underserved urban communities. The new building is a collaboration of private, public, and state organizations, and will house the Urban Civil Rights Museum Experience and the National Urban League Institute for Race, Equity and Justice in addition to the National Urban League’s headquarters. Caption The building will also feature retail, 90,000 SF of office space, and 171 affordable apartments to be constructed with support from New York State Homes and Community Renewal. The rational and urbane articulation of the curtain wall and massing expresses the different uses on 125th Str... More

The Master Plan creates a transit-oriented district in Southeast Washington DC connecting a revitalized community to the Anacostia River Park system, with a new mixed-use neighborhood built on principles of sustainability and post-pandemic wellness and livability. Caption Columbian Quarter is a new, mixed-use, transit-oriented neighborhood for Southeast Washington DC, connecting established neighborhoods and creating significant housing and employment opportunities linked to the city's Metro system. The development offers the opportunity to create a "15-Minute Neighborhood," an innovative planning model which promotes complete and connected neighborhoods where residents can meet most or all their daily needs within a short walk or bik... More

The architectural firm Natureza Urbana has just completed an extensive urbanrevitalization at the historic center of São Luís – Maranhão, focused on qualifyingpublic spaces, improving the interlocution with the existing heritage and boosting thelocal micro-entrepreneurs market. The projects were part of a program created to revitalize the historic city center of thestate capital of Maranhão, financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).The firm led 3 important renovations: one at ‘Praça da Misericórdia’ (Mercy Square),other at ‘Praça da Saudade’ (Saudade Square) and another at Fonte do Bispo(Bishop's Fountain), an area around a bus station on Vitorino F... More

The architectural firm Natureza Urbana has just completed an extensive urbanrevitalization at the historic center of São Luís – Maranhão, focused on qualifyingpublic spaces, improving the interlocution with the existing heritage and boosting thelocal micro-entrepreneurs market. The projects were part of a program created to revitalize the historic city center of thestate capital of Maranhão, financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).The firm led 3 important renovations: one at ‘Praça da Misericórdia’ (Mercy Square),other at ‘Praça da Saudade’ (Saudade Square) and another at Fonte do Bispo(Bishop's Fountain), an area around a bus station on Vitorino F... More

Cinque Terre's Comeback: How Vernazza Rebuilt ItselfWhen a biblical storm rolled across the Cinque Terre, northwest Italy’s string of five historic coastal villages (Porotfino, Monteroso, Vernazza, Corniglia, and Riomaggiore), last October, the floods carried fishing boats all the way to Morocco—and almost wiped the prettiest village, Vernazza, off the map. Pritzker Prize–winning British architect Richard Rogers, who has vacationed in the town for more than 50 years, is spearheading (with Italian architect Ernesto Bartolini and Roberto Castellani) a master plan for the public areas that is funded by nonprofit organizations such as Save Vernazza. The Rogers' Plan for the Reconstruction and Requalification of Vernazza has... More

Sava Activities is an on-going public urban design project aiming to reintroduce the riverbanks of Zagreb’s Sava River to the daily life of the city. Initiated as a competition proposal in 2015, the project had been developed around the flood related characteristics of the river. Unlike the other European capitals which are established around a river, Zagreb’s urban growth had been formed with a tendency to move away from Sava. As the wildest branch of Danube, Sava River historically had harmed and destructed Zagreb, but now regulated with the construction of the embankment; its riverbanks carry the potential to be rethought as vital urban spaces of Zagreb. Due to increasing water levels which occur several times a year, no pe... More

The abandoned industrial zone in the center of the city of Zagreb has occupied for decades the spaces that now give us the opportunity for the first systematic town planning after a long time.  The zone extends between Branimirova and Vukovarska streets and the railway and bus station. This area of 45 hectares is one of the most important spatial potentials of the City of Zagreb, only a 15-minute walk from the centre. For comparison, this area is twice the size of the Old City of Dubrovnik. The reconstruction of the Gredelj zone is an opportunity to solve one of the biggest urban problems in Zagreb, which is the disconnection between the north and the south. Because of the railway tracks these two parts of the city are connected at o... More

"We collaborated with A4 Studio in creating solutions for repurposing obsolete industrial areas in District 10 of Budapest. This architectural visualization work was commissioned for the preliminary phase: the developers had to take a closer look at the location to check exactly what can be done here, how can they utilize the opportunities. This image is an office and recreation area concept." More