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I❤️flowers

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Kloof 145 House, Cape Town, South Africa by SAOTA | Interiors by Cecile & Boyd’s | 📷 Adam Letch

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Hotel Freigeist, Göttingen, Germany | Designed by Ahrens & Grabenhorst Architekten | Photography by Sebastian Böttcher

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😈😻😼

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A loft conversion in Brussels

A successful and pretty example of rehabilitation and vertical extension to an existing building.

Private house, Brussels (Belgium) by Bruno Corbisier

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The old theatre in Borras

The «atenco Obrero» is an old theatre which was inaugurated at the end of the 19th century.   It is a registered building, with the protection of the relevant Heritage Authority.   The architect wished to enhance the symbolic value of the building and at the same time keep and respect the façade and the roof architecture, using the technical possibilities offered by new materials.

The roof was completely dismantled and reconstituted wood panels, compatible with zinc, were laid instead of the old roof deck.   ADEKA® was chosen by the architect for the roof because its aesthetic aspect is close to traditional metal slates, and because it offered a good ratio between price, quality, and laying time for this new VMZINC® product.

Théâtre Ateneu Caixa Laietana, Barcelone (Spain) by X. Vicenç, M. Batlle, M. Goni, J.Ma. Regas

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Many-to-one

Versatility and social inclusion are buzz words in the housing sector, in the quest for an antidote to the ghettoised, mono-functional universe of large housing projects. When an apartment building has a mixed programme catering for a varied population, it must favour “co-habitation” and combat the risks of spatial segregation. These two concepts may be more often talked about than put into practice, but in this project designed by the Parisian agency Brenac et Gonzales, they are taken to the extreme.

Built on the grounds of an old hospital, the building shares a programme combining social and emergency housing, shops and a day hospital with the building erected on the other side of the plot. Its occupiers and users have serious social problems: domestic violence, homelessness…

The basic volumetric design of the project is a cube from which the architects subtracted different parallelepipeds to obtain the final shape: a pedestal made up of a “mantilla” of prefabricated concrete elements, surmounted by two small towers in zinc and brick. Hanging gardens and footbridges are located on the upper floors, making the building look like a miniature town, an impression that is heightened by the variety of materials used. This heterogeneity was introduced by the client, 

Social and emergency housing complex, Paris (France) by Atelier d’Architecture Brenac & Gonzales

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VMZINC & FACADE

Origin of the project

“The opening of the large military hospital in Fort Belvoir (Virginia, USA) marked the completion of five years of interdepartmental collaboration to implement one of the largest and most motivating restructuring projects of a medical military base (BRAC – Base Realignment and Closure)”, explain the architects. The design of the five buildings that make up the complex includes zones exposed to view and others that are less visible in order to prevent patients and visitors being exposed to the daily activities of the hospital. Each building has a façade system combining glass, terracotta panels and a zinc cladding system of Dri Design cassettes, known in Europe under the VMZ Mozaik® brand. As it is highly cost-effective, the system was also used on the inside of the building, notably in the stairwells of the entrances.

Technical focus

The facade is made up of glass curtain walls combined with terracotta panels and VMZ Mozaik® cassettes in QUARTZ-ZINC®. In all, some 36,000 panels – manufactured using zinc that is one millimeter thick – were used to cover a surface of approximately 11,000 m2.

The system applied

The Dri-Design panels (VMZ Mozaik®) are made up of rectangular and square elements installed on Omega or T aluminum frame rails, and featuring neat folds that ensure continuity with joints and conceal all construction elements.

Environmental standards

Fort Belvoir military hospital has already been awarded silver LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) which certifies environmental performance and is internationally recognized. As well as zinc, selected for its environmental characteristics, the building has a heating and cooling system designed for approximately 30% energy savings. The theme of nature is used to contribute to the healing process of patients. The roofs are planted with shrubs, water is collected, the entire site is planted in lawn and natural materials such as zinc and terracotta clad the facades.

  Military hospital, Fort Belvoir, Virginia (USA) by HDR Dewberry - Dan Friedman

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Outside looking in

It has been a long time since life in Ougrée, in the suburbs of Liège, has been ruled by the sound of sirens from metal production factories. Today, the deserted industrial zones are being taken over by a new urban fabric. In tune with tradition and in harmony with the environment, the 20 homes in this residential complex designed by Nicolas Prebenna and Eric Gaillard pay discreet homage to the architecture of the old mining villages through the use of brick and by its general appearance. “The guiding principles from beginning to end for this social housing project were quality and longevity,” the architect explains. Separated by covered entrance stairways clad in ANTHRA-ZINC®, which emphasise their autonomy, the housing units, also clad in ANTHRA-ZINC®, open onto the courtyard and the street “in order to optimise the access of heat and light”. On the street side, bow windows surrounded in QUARTZ-ZINC® interlocking panels mark the entrance to the complex and set off the brick gables while creating an elegant contrast with the dark lines of the standing seam.

Social housing, Ougrée (Belgium) by Nicolas Prebenna and Eric Gaillard

 Please find more projects by clicking here.

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Light and noble materials

Private house in Verrières-Le-Buisson (France) by Nomade Architectes

 “Air et Lumière VELUX” Model Home 2020 - Photographer: Adam Mørk  

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FACADE & ZINC

Origin of the project

 “Extraordinary riches and luxury” are what the investors in this hotel intended to show when they named it bajoński, which means “phenomenal” in Polish. Luxury is represented here by a zinc facade and by wooden windows treated as threedimensional forms. By contrasting two types of aesthetic and geometry, this building demonstrates the elegance that can be created by juxtaposing two noble materials: zinc and wood.

Zinc was selected for its aesthetic qualities, for its durability and because it is maintenance free. The building also had to be adapted to a strict urbanization plan which in particular demanded that the hotel be aligned with a circular plaza. This meant a special design to form an arc. In order to optimize space, the building was designed “as a compact block with a slight slant, overhanging the ground floor which follows the same alignment”. This choice imposed the use of a reinforced concrete structure which also answered the severe constraints imposed for fire safety.

Technical focus

Horizontally laid standing seam was chosen as a technique to make installation of zinc easier on the curved and inclined sections, and because it allowed for finely detailed finishings on flashings.

Bayjonn hotel, Sopot, ul. Powstańców Warszawy 7, (Poland) by A-Plan bis Sp. z o.o

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VMZINC & FACADE

Green facades

The concept of planting greenery on roofs is now being extended to facades.

As well as creating a grid of greenery and contributing to better thermal regulation in buildings, these facades are often chosen for their aesthetic qualities.   When combined with zinc, they create a natural effect with contrasting and complementary colors.

Please click here to see more projects.

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Little black dress

How do you avoid vanishing into the crowd?  How do you avoid merging into the cityscape? For individuals as for buildings, whose size or other exceptional features do not make them stand out, the answer often lies in the choice of clothes. In Hamburg the 5-storey office building project designed by LHD Architects has opted for dark ANTHRA-ZINC® with interlocking panel cladding as its style statement. Situated at the end of a row of blocks of flats and beside an elevated suburban railway line, the building fulfils its role as a landmark by means of the cladding on its side wall – a choice further emphasised by the gathered openings into the righthand side of the façade. Between the monolithic block thus formed and the openings, a row of deep and narrow embrasures provides a rhythmic transition. The wooden frames of the windows add a touch of warmth. These details are the important touches which mark the success of a declared purpose.

In a word, elegance.

Residential and office building in Hamburg (Germany) by LHD-Architekten, Hambourg

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Private House in Sydney (Australia) by Fox Johnston

With a view across the ocean to the horizon, and set in a perfectly landscaped garden, this house (which is permanently occupied) has everything the heart could desire. It is designed to please the senses, but is also practical, built with solid, durable materials which require minimum maintenance and take on the patina of time. Bluestone, glass and wood are combined with ANTHRA-ZINC® on the building envelope and in the structure of the interior spaces. These choices reflect the environmental requirements of the owner, who asked the architect to install broad sun screens and high-performance insulation in the roof and walls, particularly on the upper storey, where the insulation is encased in the zinc cladding.

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Private house in Aveiro (Portugal) by Sonia Cristina Lopes da Cruz

Contractor: Duarte & Vieira Copyright : Paul Kozlowski

Surface aspects: ANTHRA-ZINC Technique: Standing Seam 

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Colourful apartment in Copenhagen | photos by Céline Hallas via My Scandinavian Home

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