Fitzroy Farm, a new-build private house by London-based architects SHH, has now gone on site in Highgate, North London. The project features a great curling, outdoor slide, which links the kids’ bedrooms to the indoor/outdoor pool – a nice example of art influencing architecture, with inspiration for the slide coming from the Tate Modern slide installation by artist Carsten Höller.

A 13,000 sq ft new-build modernist house, located within the Highgate Conservation Area and designed by architects SHH, has now started on site, with completion due in Summer 2012.

The scheme, called ‘Fitzroy Farm’, is located on a 0.45 hectare site bordering Hampstead Heath and was approved by the Camden Planning Committee without a single objection, in spite of the site’s chequered history. A previous scheme for a neo-classical mansion on the site (by a different architect and for a different owner) received planning permission, but was abandoned due to significant local opposition to the Construction Management Plan, with upwards of 3000 objections. The Construction Management Plan was refused by Camden Council and a subsequent appeal dismissed.
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After purchasing the 14th and 15th floors of a new development adjacent to Paddington Basin, together with a roof terrace, the private owner of the empty shell duplex space commissioned renowned London architects and designers SHH to transform it into a luxurious, cool and contemporary penthouse, to serve as a London pied-à-terre for himself and his extended family. The resulting stylish and unique residence, the largest in the development and offering spectacular views over the city, is an oasis of calm, in considered contrast to its bustling, urban setting – just a short walk from Edgware Road.
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Residential complex Vrunčeva introduces a new typology of the city block unit. The modification of the block unit as laid out by the zoning legislation is the result of finding a direct answer to the spatial challenges of the site and ensuring high-quality habitation combined with excellent flexibility and energy efficiency for the building. The building is designed as a kind of hybrid of the classical block unit development and terraced structures characteristic of more open, suburban spaces.
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© Zooey Braun

A young family had its downtown Stuttgart attic apartment designed by Ippolito Fleitz Group. A generous loft-like living room area including an open space kitchen unit occupies the core of the apartment. The bare wooden roof construction was transformed into a space defining design element. By means of color and dynamic rounded shapes, its cladding forms a counterpart to the cubic nature of the furniture and equipment. Where they meet, the latter playfully submit to the beams and columns whose predominance is accentuated by lit gaps.
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© Manuelle Gautrand

This office building stands on avenue Friedland, in the immediate vicinity of the Arc de Triomphe and Place de l’Etoile, in a luxurious Parisian neighborhood.

The project was implemented in two parts: the main building on a 20 meter-wide stripe on the avenue, and an extension in the rear, between two courtyard gardens. At the ground floor level, the lobby plays on transparency between the street front and the main garden. The building in the rear of the lot is more private, and it is there that the cafeteria and meeting rooms are laid out, with garden space on both sides.
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© Jean Harixcalde

Re-structuring an old theatre of the 19th century in the heart of Paris to turn it into an interactive platform for 21st century music and arts poses a number of difficult problems. To sum them up we have conceived of a place that could cater to all the artistic activities of today, a place open to public visits but that was also a working studio where artists could actually create, produce and present.
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Worcester-based practice KKE Architects have been commissioned to design the new Breast Unit for the Acute Trust at Worcestershire Royal Hospital. The new scheme will integrate the majority of the services relating to the treatment of breast cancer in one place for the first time, so that patients are treated in an environment designed specifically with them and their clinical and emotional needs in mind. Previously the services relating to this area were dispersed not only throughout the main hospital building but in varying locations throughout the county.
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Construction start of MVRDV Glass Farm, Schijndel, Netherlands

In 1944 the small Brabant town of Schijndel which is the birthplace of Winy Maas suffered from Operation Market Garden bombings resulting in an oversized market square. In 1980 the then 20 year old Winy Maas urged the mayor to fill in the gap. Today Rembrand developers, the town of Schijndel and MVRDV start construction on the Glass Farm, a multifunctional building in the village square. The building with a total surface area of 1600m2 will contain shops, restaurants, offices and a wellness centre. The exterior is printed glass with the motive of a typical local farm; 1,6 times larger than life. Construction will be completed in December 2012.

Schijndel’s market square suffered from Operation Market Garden bombings in the Second World War and has been subject to numerous enlargements and refurbishments. Winy Maas wrote a letter in 1980, and in 2000 the city council adopted the idea of a new structure in the square between the church, town hall and main street. MVRDV since then iteratively proposed new options that could fill the gap of this unusually large village square. The Glass Farm is MVRDV’s seventh proposal for the site.

The village engaged vividly in the process resulting in heated debates, polls and polemics in the local press – by supporters and adversaries. The 1600m² building which is entirely covered by a glass facade will consist primarily of a series of public amenities such as restaurants, shops and a wellness centre.
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