Portfolio 2023

Kama Koska PORTFOLIO

Landsec appointed Gensler for architecture and landscape design services together with the rest of the design team to reposition Portland House. The task was to revitalise the existing 1960s commercial building, to refurbish the office space and to clean the building’s facade to celebrate its heritage. The existing public realm has many obstacles and level changes which needed to be addressed. The barriers and existing street clutter had to be removed and the level changes made even to create a more permeable ground floor and inviting public realm.

On top of that we have introduced a new massing of 15 storeys from Bressenden Place to provide more flexible office space in the heart of Victoria. The program included an accessible rooftop restaurant and bar, offering a new destination with views across the Capital. The ambition for the development is to set a new standard for sustainable office buildings in Westminster. The repositioning of Portland House is an opportunity to understand that the current tall building has to make an impact. The vision for the design is to:

• Create a building that demonstrates exemplary standards in the renovation of existing structures in terms of energy performance and wellbeing, which can serve as an example to others.

• Deliver an ecologically-focused ultra-low carbon development with minimised demand met by clean energy systems.

• Demonstrate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through design, procurement and construction, with a clear focus on driving embodied carbon reductions.

• Incorporate circular economic principles and strategies, challenging the use of resources and the concept of waste, improving resource efficiency and designing for longevity.

• Deliver a design that inspires ecologically sound behaviour and serves as a symbol for the surroundings at all scales.

Demolish everything Build new Addition and adaption

REPOSITIONING REDEVELOPMENT

Client: LANDSEC PORTLAND HOUSE DEVELOPER LIMITED

Architect: GENSLER

Landscape Architect: GENSLER

Restaurant Experience: SNOHETTA

Planning Consultants: GERALD EVE

Structural engineers: ARUP

Sustainability + BREEAM: ARUP

Wind & Microclimate: ARUP

MEP engineers: WATKINS PAYNE

Wind Tunnel: RWDI

Flood risks & Water Resources: WATERMAN

Facade Consultant: FMDC

Facade Access and Maintenance: D2E

Gensler

Vertical Transportation: D2E

Cost consultants: GARDINER & THEOBALD

Traffic, Transport & Waste Management: MOMENTUM

Ecology: GREENGAGE ENVIRONMENTAL

Fire consultants: EXOVA Noise: HANN TUCKER

Townscape Assessment: TURLEY

Consultation: KANDA CONSULTING

Verified views: MILLER HARE

Cycle Facilities: FIVE AT HEART

Daylight and Sunlight: POINT 2

Daylight Analysis: an-imo

Portland House is located on Bressenden Place in Victoria, within the City of Westminster. Victoria Station, just 5 minutes walk away, is London’s busiest transport interchange.

Victoria St.

Bressenden Pl

Buckingham Palace

PORTLAND HOUSE

Victoria Station

St James’ Park Station

Vauxhall BridgeRd

Nova Place

Aerial view of the site

The proposal sees the opening-up of the facade on Bressenden Place and the reversal of its geometry to respect the curve of the road.

Symmetry and equidistant proportions are important for the integrity of the existing building. The scale of the proposed extension has been carefully considered. It was essential that the extension responds

Existing Proposed

Height & Relationship with Context

The extension respects the height of neighbouring buildings, in particular Eland House and 171 Victoria Street, and has been carefully tested in townscape and strategic views which have been presented in the planning submission.

Surrounding townscape building heights

Eland House 171 Victoria Street Victoria Street

Cardinal Place

The new intervention will consist of an office extension up to level 14, including the extension of the lobby into a double height space connecting ground and first floor; and a new rooftop destination for food & beverage.

In order to accommodate these changes some interventions to the existing building will take place, altering its massing. A partial removal of the West facade and complete removal of the building crown will need to take place.

EXISTING BUILDING INTERVENTION PROPOSAL

NEW MASSING EXTENTS

Rooftop Bar

Rooftop Restaurant

Office Extension

Ground Floor Extension

View from the North

Portland House is surrounded by urban objects and obstacles that act as a barrier to its surroundings, and disrupt important pedestrian passageways.

Through the public realm enhancements, the proposal removed a number of urban obstacles and consolidated others within the building creating a coherent and permeable space which benefts from an improved pedestrian fow. To achieve this, level access is provided in addition to the streamlining of the immediate public realm.

Existing obstacles Proposed improvements

Existing Proposed

• Acceptable conditions around most of the development

• Entrances show conditions above acceptable

• Business walking and distress conditions present towards the West

Wind Test Tunnel Results

Ambition to improve existing wind condtions in the surrounding

I took part in few wind tunnel tests at Milton Keynes to review the impact of wind on the surrounding. It was determined that the new massing improves existing conditions. Acceptable results were retained along the North passage in both summer and winter. The tests also confirmed acceptable ‘Standing’ and ‘Sitting’ conditions were achieved in summer, as shown below in the diagrams.

• ‘Strolling’ or better conditions around the entire development

• Additional mitigation can be added to improve areas for seating.

Sitting

Standing

Strolling

Comfort Criteria Business Walking

Distress limit for general public

Distress limit for able-bodied

Flow studies

The location of the main entrances to the building will determine the pedestrian flow within the lobby area. The aim is to keep areas as efficient as possible and also allow space provision for lounge areas and retail spaces. The journey of the visitor should be an enjoyable experience.

Wind tunnel test results supported the decision about final location of the entrance doors.

Main Access

Predominant flow Lobby Area

North-South Access @ Existing Building

North-South Access @ Extension

North-South-West Access @ Existing Building

North-South-West Access @ Extension

View from the North-West - Bressenden Place

Single Tenant

Tenant 01: 1,561sqm

Two Tenants

Tenant 01: 494 sqm

Tenant 02: 1,048 sqm

Three Tenants

Tenancy Splits

Typical Lower and Upper Levels

Tenant 01: 494 sqm

Tenant 02: 402 sqm

Tenant 03: 521 sqm

Single Tenant

Tenant 01: 979sqm

Two Tenants

Tenant 01: 480 sqm Tenant 02: 480 sqm

Typical Lower Levels

Test fit studies were carried out as a tool to understand the potential of the floorplate.

1:8m2 density

Level 3-14

Net Area 1,522 Sqm 16,383 Sf Seat Count (1.4m Desks) 190

Occupancy Density 1:8 Sqm 1:86 Sf

Support Spaces 524 Sqm 5,640 Sf % of Net Area 34%

Meeting rooms Collaboration areas Focus/phone booth Copy/print Vend/breakout Comms room Stores etc

1:6m2 density

Level 3-14

Net Area 1,522 Sqm 16,383 Sf Seat Count (1.4m Desks) 248

Occupancy Density 1:6 Sqm 1:66 Sf

Support Spaces 341 Sqm 3,671 Sf

% of Net Area 22%

Meeting rooms

Collaboration areas

Focus/phone booth Copy/print Vend/breakout Comms room Stores etc

Typical Upper Levels

Test fit studies were carried out as a tool to understand the potential of the floorplate.

1:8m2 density

Level 16-27

Net Area 959 Sqm 10,323 Sf Seat Count (1.4m Desks) 120

Occupancy Density 1:8 Sqm 1:86 Sf

Support Spaces 396 Sqm 4,263 Sf % of Net Area 41%

Meeting rooms Collaboration areas Focus/phone booth Copy/print Vend/breakout Comms room Stores etc

1:6m2 density

Level 16-27

Net Area 959 Sqm 10,323 Sf

Seat Count (1.4m Desks) 160

Occupancy Density 1:6 Sqm 1:65 Sf

Support Spaces 320 Sqm 3,444 Sf % of Net Area 33% Meeting rooms Collaboration areas Focus/phone booth Copy/print Vend/breakout Comms room Stores etc

The new extension needs to be structurally independent from the existing building. In order to avoid placing concrete cores within the new office space, bracing elements have been proposed which combined with the column grid will provide the stability required.

These elements will be comprised of 2 vertical columns tied together with lateral elements. It is important that the columns do not land on top of the pile cap of the existing building but to work with a new piling system. The further apart these columns are, the better they will perform and support the new extension.

The proposed bracing configuration sits behind the glazed facade and presents the fewest diagonal elements, reducing the impact on office floor area and visual obstructions.

The pattern of the bracing contributes also as

a feature element, subtly present at the north and south facades, without overpowering the elevation. This is read as being part of the ‘mechanism’ of the new extension.

TOB +111.050

Roof Edge +109.900

Level 29th +106.000

Level 27th +95.140

Level 16th +59.950

Level 2nd +15.140

Level 1st +10.350

Typical Low Rise Core

Typical Mid Rise Core

Lifts serving current floor

STREET

Typical High Rise Core

Mid Rise Passenger Lifts

The material palette for the project is simple and has as few materials as possible. The existing brutalist building lacks contrast that depth and shadow would bring to the façade. Therefore, dark grey (almost black) metal is a good addition to the current palette.

At early stages of the design process, the façade was proposed to be made out of pre-cast concrete, however in order to reduce weight and therefore be able to control the depth of the façade the proposal is to use glass reinforced concrete (GRC).

The existing pre-cast elements of the façade remain however all windows and sills are removed.

The existing facade of the tower is uplifted by:

• jet-wash / cleaning of the precast concrete elements

• sealing joints to be replaced

Existing Proposed

Facade Materiality Concrete and

• new window systems

metal

• rails to be cleaned and potentially painted or capped

Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin

Sheperds Building, London

Source: https://www.morrisand.company

Economics & Masters Building UNAV, Pamplona

Source: ArchDaily.com

Image by: Ruben Perz Bescos

Sipan Residential Building, Tehran

The Crown

AREA OF MY RESPONSIBILITY FROM STAGE

Unused opportunity

Portland House is currently the third tallest building in the City of Westminster. It is surpassed only by the Millbank Tower, completed in the same year (1963 )and the Victoria Tower of the

Palace of Westminster (1860), both located on the riverbank of the river Thames. The building presents uninterrupted views of the City of London, 360º all around the floorplates.

There is an opportunity to take advantage of the height and location of Portland House, creating a rooftop destination open for public access and delivering a new London experience.

To deliver this, the proposal consolidates the plant equipment located at the roof using the new

extension of the building and a new plant floor at level 2 to minimise the need for equipment at the top. By doing this, the remaining space can be repurposed for a rooftop restaurant & bar.

The existing tower terminates with a crown of closely spaced vertical precast concrete fins, that are appropriate to the current rooftop as an enclosure.

However, to change the function of the rooftop

means to rethink the crown so that it is an appropriate enclosure for new uses, and a meaningful conclusion to the top of the tower.

New vertical fins on the existing structural grid resonate with the previous expression, whilst

responding to depth increases and providing increased solar shading with a stronger rhythmic expression. Replacing heavy precast members with lighter weight fins releases load capacity for new rooftop uses.

STEP 1 RECREATE THE CROWN

STEP 2 CREATE AN ENCLOSURE

Atop the new crown is a new rooftop pavilionthe top level of the proposed panoramic rooftop restaurant.

Taking cues from Portland House’s sibling the Met-Life (Pan Am) building, a strong horizontal roof plane creates a more sensitive response to

the architecture and respects the integrity of the existing building. The calm horizontal line means that the massing appears integrated and not overtly emphasised, minimising the impact of the additional height.

Met Life (Pan Am) Building - New York 1963

Portland House - London 1963

A series of studies have been undertaken in order to develop a position to identify the best approach to address uses, architectural and contextual requirements.

The challenge has been to get the top of the building to respond to the rigour of the rest of the building and achieve the important qualities identified by the team and the Council, such as symmetry and consistency.

Variables such as the length, width, frequency and materiality of the vertical elements have been identified to mediate between the right level of openness to create a destination space and the right level of solidity to create ‘The Crown’ of the building.

Principles:

• Symmetry

• Read like a Crown

• Differentiation from level 27 Variables:

• Overall: Solidity & Openness

• Rhythm: Constant vs Gradient

• Materiality: Concrete vs other (metal)

• Elements: Width & Depth

The approach taken was never to replace the crown of the building with something completely new and alien to the rest of the building, but to reinterpret the existing vertical elements. The first step taken was distributing a single vertical element along the perimeter, in varying

distances. A gradient approach would provide flexibility to control which areas would have more exposure to light and views. A constant rhythm follows the modulation of the facade and feel like a more natural addition.

Constant Gradient

Variable 2: Materiality

Two materials have been considered for the new fins: metal elements stand out clearly as a new addition, marrying with the materiality of the new window frames; concrete elements continue the massing of the building more clearly, moving away from a glass box approach.

Metal elements Concrete elements

in order to achieve a maximum visibility from the inside and at the same time have a sense of solidity from the outside. Another important factor is how much do the fins project outwards from the facade line creating a greater sense of depth.

Chosen Direction of Concrete Fin

A constant rhythm of concrete elements was selected as the preferred option following the studies. The principles for this option are as follows:

• Respecting the existing character and materiality.

• Constant regular rhythm.

• The elements follow the facade grid.

• Solid appearance from the outside.

• Maintaining exceptional views from the inside.

• Elements 450mm wide and 1m deep.

• Elements overshadow the glass facade.

• Glass line set in to create deeper reveals.

Material Amendments to Planning Application

Change of levels to introduce external terrace

The design principle set for the consented scheme was to create a solid frame around the crown. However the vertical elements did not change, the top horizontal band had to be reduced in depth to reveal panoramic views from the terrace. Due to structural changes the lower band has been reduced as well with changed materiality to metal in order to create a consistent strong line around the building.

The driving factor for the adjustments to the Crown was to keep the top of the Crown at the same height as the consented scheme and the existing condition. This allows the proportions of the Crown to remain intact in relation to the rest of the building. As indicated in the adjacent diagram, by lowering level 29 the safety balustrade was created providing the opportunity to create external access to the emerged terrace. Presented change resulted in requirement to submit amendments to planning application because of the significant change to the facade and levels.

Clear heights and levels

In order to reduce load on the existing perimeter columns all the plant equipment and BMU from level 29 were located on the roof. The largest machine is a 16 meters long and 3.5 meters high emergency power generator. The consented top of the building height sets the top limit of the generator location. The diagram below shows how the generator and the roof build up are pertruding into the restaurant reducing the clear height in the space between the cores.

Clash Detection Tool

Coordination with other disciplines

The total internal Gensler team consisted of 12 people. Including the consultants, the total team grew to around 30 professionals. There were 3 main Revit models to calibrate and coordinate: Mechanical and Electrical, Structural and Architectural. The image below is an example of how the team coordinated the design. Highlighted in red was my scope of the model and in green columns modelled by structural engineers. The image below shows clashes between Architectural and Structural models. By updating the facade panels, the clash was resolved. The crown apart from basement was the most complicated element of the building, not only from the structural and plant point of view but also because of the planning constraints in regards to the visual aspects of the facades, overlooking into Buckingham Palace gardens, consented views restrictions, Hyde Park light pollution from the rooftop bar and overall building height.

Perspective sections of the final model

Level 29 - Bar with 360 degrees viewing terrace

Sample of Technical Documentation Plans of level 29 Bar and level 28 Mezzanine

SCALE: 100 GA PLAN -LEVEL 28M 01

BOH-03 (Chemical Resistant Plant Rooms)

FLOOR SKIRTING WALL CEILING

FA-02 FA-02 Cove Skirting to 100mm height PT-03 (to 3m height, CO-01 above) PT-26

BOH-04 (Plant Rooms with waterproofing requirements FLOOR SKIRTING WALL CEILING

PT-12 PT-12 UP TO 600MM CO-01 PT-26

BOH-05 (UKPN Access -Ground Floor) FLOOR SKIRTING WALL CEILING

FA-01 FA-01, Cove Skirting to 100mm height PT-02 PT-25, painted with PT-04 BOH-06 (Retail) FLOOR SKIRTING WALL CEILING

N/A (By tenant) N/A (By tenant) PT-02 on partitions CO-01 on existing core walls N/A (By tenant)

BOH-07 (BOH Lift Lobbies, Storage Rooms above basement) FLOOR SKIRTING WALL CEILING

BOH-08 (New Stair Cores)

FLOOR SKIRTING WALL WALL PROTECTION CEILING

FA-01 FA-01 Cove Skirting H:100mm PT-02 full-height PT-25, painted with PT-04

FA-06, Stair Nosings FA-07 FA-06 Cove Skirting to 100mm height, RAL 7021 PT-02 full-height New UPVC railings, to match existing stair finish PT-15 to stair soffits, to match existing stair finish BOH-09 (Cleaners Closet)

FLOOR SKIRTING WALL CEILING

BOH-10 (BOH with access floor requirements)

WALL PROTECTION CEILING

TL-01 SK-04 PT-02, TL-03 to mop sink wall full height PT-26 TEN-01 FLOOR SKIRTING WALL CEILING

FA-06 treads and risers, FA-07 nosings FA-06 Cove Skirting to 100mm height, RAL 7021 PT-02 full-height Existing UPVC railings, metal to match wall PT-02 PT-26

AP-01, finish by tenant SK-02 (existing & new core wall, interior partitions) PT-25 to existing core walls, painted with PT-06 PT-06 to new core walls CL-01 in office areas, CL-03 to existing perimeter

PT-16 (Fire Protective Spray) To be applied all existing basement soffits where indicated by dashed line extent in conjunction with ceiling finish noted

0885_001-GEN-XXX-XXX--SH-A-86000 drawnchecked status

0885_001-GEN-XXX-XXX--SH-A-84000 GA PLAN LEVEL 28M-29 008.7638.000

0885_001-GEN-XXX-XXX--SH-A-85000 PORTLAND HOUSE WESTMINSTER, LONDON, SW1E 5RS

P0909.11.2020STAGE 4 BACKGROUND FREEZE RKDW P1010.12.2020FOR COORDINATIONRKDW P1126.01.2021STAGE 4A SUBMISSIONKKDW

SCALE: 100 GA PLAN -LEVEL 29 02 P0104.10.2019ISSUED FOR INFORMATIONMdOSC P0218.10.2019STAGE 3 50% SUBMISSIONMdOSC P0331.01.2020STAGE 3 DESIGN FREEZEAHSC P0413.03.2020STAGE 3 100% SUBMISSIONAHBF P0507.05.2020STAGE 3 100% SUBMISSIONRSCK P0629.05.2020STAGE 3 100% RE-SUBMISSIONJVBF P0722.06.2020STAGE 3 CLOSE OUTGLDW P0805.10.2020MID STAGE FREEZEKKDW

1 GENERAL ARRANGEMENT 110000-119999 PLANS SETTING OUT 04.10.2019

AP-04 N/A PT-02 to 3m height, CO-01 above PT-26 CARPARKING COLUMNS TYPE A TYPE B PT-08 to all sides PT-10 to all sides rev lvl/loc

FOS KK GEN XXX A-113800 128 DR

0885_001-GEN-XXX-XXX--SH-L-86000 Tel +44 (0) 20 7073 9600 Fax +44 (0) 20 7539 1917 Thomas More Square London, LND E1W 1YW England United Kingdom LAND SECURITIES PROPERTIES 100 VICTORIA STREET LONDON, UK SW1E 5JL As indicated@A0 P11 26/01/2021 11:24:34 0885_001

S4 2020 PREVIOUS DRAWING NUMBER: PH-GEN-XX-28-DR-A-113800

BOH-03 (Chemical Resistant Plant Rooms) FLOOR SKIRTING WALL CEILING

(By tenant) PT-02 on partitions CO-01 on existing core walls N/A (By tenant)

BOH-07 (BOH Lift Lobbies, Storage Rooms above basement) FLOOR SKIRTING WALL CEILING

FA-01 FA-01 Cove Skirting H:100mm PT-02 full-height PT-25, painted with PT-04

BOH-08 (New Stair Cores)

FLOOR SKIRTING WALL WALL PROTECTION CEILING

FA-06, Stair Nosings FA-07 FA-06 Cove Skirting 100mm height, RAL 7021 PT-02 full-height New UPVC railings, to match existing stair finish PT-15 to stair soffits, to match existing stair finish BOH-09 (Cleaners Closet)

FLOOR SKIRTING WALL CEILING

BOH-10 (BOH with access floor requirements) FLOOR SKIRTING WALL CEILING

AP-04 N/A PT-02 to 3m height, CO-01 above PT-26

TL-01 SK-04 PT-02, TL-03 to mop sink wall full height PT-26 TEN-01 FLOOR SKIRTING WALL CEILING

AP-01, finish by tenant SK-02 (existing new core wall, interior partition PT-25 to existing core walls, painted with PT-06 PT-06 to new core walls CL-01 in office areas, CL-03 to existing perimeter

CARPARKING COLUMNS TYPE A TYPE B PT-08 to all sides PT-10 to all sides

FA-02 FA-02 Cove Skirting 100mm height PT-03 (to 3m height, CO-01 above) PT-26 PT-16 (Fire Protective Spray) To be applied to all existing basement soffits where indicated by dashed line extent in conjunction with ceiling finish noted

TOB FFL+111.05

LEVEL 30R FFL+109.55

11

LEVEL 29 FFL+103.81

Verified

Views prepared for the planning application

submission

Views towards Victoria underground station and Bressenden Place

BEFORE BEFORE

Verified Views prepared for the planning application submission

AFTER AFTER

View from Hyde Park towards Buckingham Palace. Portland House in the background

Competition for Yandex Headquarter in Moscow

Yandex is a Russian Google. They are well known in Russia and broader Asia and in some respect used even more often than Google. The task for the competition was to design the New Yandex Campus positioned in a single consolidated location. This was a major opportunity for creating a workplace that represents the ethos of Yandex as a whole. The New Campus was to attract, retain, and develop the best talent by engaging with the wider academic and research community. Therefore it was crucial that the concepts were based on real-user feedback, and that the organisation of spaces were undertaken from the viewpoint of the staff. This was not only to increase the productivity and efficiency of the workforce, but also to encourage a collaborative and creative working environment.

We envisioned the New Yandex Campus to be an inclusive and dynamic environment, that reflects what Yandex stands for as an icon of innovation. We found that the client’s staff are youthful and dynamic, and want a work-life balance. Therefore a relaxed, but focus-driven work area will form the backbone of the scheme. This would then be supplemented generously with access to nature, and with spaces and functions to develop a healthy lifestyle. Through strategic spatial design, the project encourages interaction with colleagues both for social activities and for collaboration. Through choreography of creative functions, the building provides for a regenerative and recreational work environment.

The compositional solution of the road-path network takes into account the placement of objects of social activity on the site and possible pedestrian movements.

Main entry to the site held from the Kosygina street and departure from the Academic Zeldovich Street. The design was to include terraced floors at the back of the building, which will link low rising public and high rising residential buildings within the area.

Organization of transport and pedestrian traffic on the site: Main pedestrian flow is going to happen at the front of the site, while all transport moves at the back and below ground. Service and citizen transport separated on two different flows. This solution reduces the risk of congestion upon entering and leaving the site.

The Kernel and the Platform

Based on careful analysis of brief, and also on our accumulated knowledge of workplace design, we have established 2 core concepts that run through the design of the entire project. With this we have created the Kernel, a modular base unit that represents the way Yandex operates. The second was inspired by the rich context and the wishes of Yandex to fully embrace the public. The Platform, is the way the Kernels are organised to form a functional building, and also represent how it gives back to the community.

Kernel

A kernel is the core component of an operating system. Using interprocess communication and system calls, it acts as a bridge between applications and the data processing performed at the hardware level.

1 the inner softer part of a seed, fruit stone, or nut

2 a whole seed of a cereal a kernel of corn 3 a central or essential part

4 chiefly dialectal : a fruit seed

5 mathematics : a subset of the elements of one set (such as a group) that a function maps onto an identity element of another set Techopedia / Merriam-Webster

Approaching the design from the real-user perspective, we set out to create a base module that works as a building block for the entire project. This unit contains all the necessities for a functional working environment, with a good mix of focusdriven, social, and collaborative elements. We call this the Kernel, an essential part of the technically driven workplace:

20% PRIMARY CIRCULATION

23% SUPPORT AREAS

57% WORK AREA

THE “KERNEL” CONTEXT RESPONSE

This unit contains all the necessities for a functional working environment, with a good mix of focus-driven, social, and collaborative elements.

20% PRIMARY CIRCULATION

23% SUPPORT AREAS

57% WORK AREA

OPTIMISED WORKPLACE

The Kernels are strategically arranged upon the site in order to maximise space efficiency and daylight access into the workplace

We invite views and nature into the site, and embrace the residential and academic context towards Southeast

A FOCAL POINT COMMUNITY RESPONSE GENTLE YET POWERFUL

A heart is naturally defined, at the location where activities and circulation converge

The views and daylight access of neighbouring residences are maintained or improved. The public space becomes an extension of the park

The architecture and spatial experience in tandem, forms a memorable composition that is powerful, but gently embraces and enhances the context

Towards City and Nature

Towards Neighbourhood

| Basic Spatial Unit

A flexible frame informed by function, efficiency, and user well-being.

The Kernel has a width of 24 meters with access to daylight and views on either side. With a generous floor-to-floor height of 4.2meters, this arrangement ensures that every part of the office block receives a good level of light. We sought to ensure the new working environment is an upgrade from the current offerings. The plan is set around a 1.5 meter square planning grid, with a suggested exposed ceiling system of 0.75 meter square grid. Together, this provides for ultimate flexibility of space planning and a fully futureproof building that can adapt to the evolution of Yandex in the long run.

Platform

A platform is a group of technologies that are used as a base upon which other applications, processes or technologies are developed.

1 plan, design

2 a usually raised horizontal flat surface especially : a raised flooring 3 a place or opportunity for public discussion

4 operating system: the computer architecture and equipment using a particular operating system.

Open workspaces and collaborative areas

Urban farming

Coffee points

Recreation Support spaces

The three exterior courtyards situated under the lightwells would be surrounded by retail and communal services, for use both by Yandex staff and by the public.

Yandex Museum will have a prominent street presence, where the Education Centre and Sports Blocks each gain their own significant entry sequence by way of the undulating landscape, leading up to level 01.

The staff and visitors are led effortlessly to the sunken main entrance, where a shared lobby, Food Court and a lush internal garden welcomes. From there, the staff can choose to travel via the Hyperlinks, or shortcut their journey through the evenly distributed lift cores.

Staff and Visitor Main Entry at B1 Office

Grand Internal Atrium

To Education Block at L1

Education Block Car Drop-Off

Pick-up & Secondary Entry Retail and Services Open Public Courtyard

Sunken Gardens with Daylight Access to B1

Sunken Gardens with Daylight Access to B1

Yandex Museum

Exploded Axonometric of Public Realm

The visual access from the public courtyard into the Food Court and gardens will create an inclusive mood, emphasizing the community driven goals of Yandex. At the same time, the lush internal arrangement will be secured by design, creating an exclusive atrium within the building, accessible only by Yandex staff. This dichotomy is blended incrementally through the 3 external courtyards, where amenities, services, and retail functions open up to the public. The Sports and Education blocks are also situated here, to be accessed by staff and the public alike. Vegetation systems in each garden will respond to different season of the year. Therefore according to the name of the garden there will be planted different trees and bushes.

The suggested facade system emphasizes on simplicity of construction and maximises access to daylight and views. Glare is one of the key annoyances for a technically driven workplace, which we sought to control by means of a series of slender louvres.

These louvres open up towards view at a perpendicular angle, where at an angle it works as a preventive measure for glare. The materiality is envisaged as natural timber, further strengthening our desire to bring a natural touch to the work environment, and bring warmth via the diffused light reflected off the louvres.

We envisaged the public realm as a space that would be activated throughout the work day and into the evening. This would attract not only the immediate neighbours, but also the larger community of the University Campus and Institutions.

By facing the public space and retail functions towards the Northwest, and by containing them within the courtyards of the building, we have effortlessly sheltered the bustle of this area from the more quiet and calm residential neighbourhood.

The overhang of the building poses a unique opportunity to enhance the iconic image of the building, by introducing dynamic light installations.

| Roofscape

The roofscape solution of the building is dictated by the terraced architectural form.

It is proposed to plant meadow flowers on the roof, trees in pots and small shrubs, the ones who can survive in the cold winter and hot summer temperatures.

Plants offered for planting are Oliva, Birch, Japanese Maple, Boxwood, Dogwood Cotoneaster, Heather.

During extremely cold temperatures it is proposed to temporarily remove plants to the internal garden of the building.

Beauty Experimental Academy Competition

Bonjour!

14 Rue Royale, Paris

Next project is the competition for an innovative beauty academy located on 14 Rue Royale in Paris. The existing building including surrounding properties are listed. The task was to create modern, open space without affecting the buildings except one facade. The program and strategy for the project was prescribed by the client. Sample of uses are shown on the plans on the next pages.

Since the building is a typical French housing it has fairly small floorplates and it is 5 levels high in total. The concept was to create connectivity between the floors and uses by creating feature stairs looking like a sculpture from the outside - the heart of the building. To minimize the visual impact on the surrounding listed buildings the new extension with a staircase was hidden’behind a green wall. The circulation areas are around the internal courtyard and the spaces are located towards the outside of the floorplate. The design is very light, subtle and not dominating in its appearance. The use of light, pastel colours and natural materials give a great background to the creative beauty activities happening in the building.

Cross Section

Longitudinal Section

Merci!

ONE FAIRCHILD

Highgate Shoreditch Hotel is a 33,900-sqm mixed-use development located in the heart of London, Shoreditch, an area of dynamic social, physical and economic change.

Positioned at the southern point of the Shoreditch Triangle on a site not currently fulfilling its potential. The development will become a key addition to East London’s creative community, the local economy and nearby residents in Hackney.

Designed by Gensler, the scheme pays tribute to Shoreditch’s rich industrial legacy while delivering a contemporary piece of architecture that consists of commercial office space, shared amenities, food & beverage, events spaces and a 200-room hotel, defined by glass volumes stacked on top of one another to break down the scale and resonate with the rhythm of the urban grain.

Through its conscientious mix of uses, Highgate Shoreditch Hotel will introduce an important interplay between places to work, meet, eat, drink and enjoy, creating a number of different activities collected together as a microcosm of the neighbourhood. It will also contribute to Shoreditch’s wider regeneration programme, producing new jobs for the area, boosting the local economy and driving forward improvements to the physical environment for the London Borough of Hackney.

SITE STRATEGY

The site stands at an important gateway into the borough, marked by the Great Eastern Street / Shoreditch High Street / Commercial Street road junction. This forms one of three nodes that define the Shoreditch Triangle. The nodes are important infrastructural junctions that frame the triangle, with all three featuring tall elements.

Shoreditch has undergone so much physical, social and economic change in the last few decades that it’s barely recognisable from the industrial manufacturing and residential neighbourhood it used to be, which for the most part, has been replaced with creative agencies, tech start-ups and independent shops, bars and restaurants.

This location provided a fantastic opportunity to add to this diverse economy with a building that complements Shoreditch’s mixture of activities while remaining within the scale of the nearby City of London.

SITE STRATEGY

The heat map demonstrates the differentiation of heights within the project’s context and the fluid continuity between different tall building clusters in The City to the South.

Based on a detailed context analysis and early massing studies, it became apparent that a tower typology would be unsuitable for the site. Despite its close proximity to tall buildings, the design attempts to create a building form more in sympathy with the character of Shoreditch, with the following design directives:

• Install transparent and porous building frontages to enliven street activity & vitalise neighbourhood life

• Create a diverse collection of building uses to cater for local economic demand

• Integrate public shared events space at mid-levels, sensitive to the surrounding townscape

• Open a semi-public neighbourhood lounge & club space at the top of building

• Alleviate traffic on Fairchild Street through shared managed public space

• Continue the economic, social and cultural development of Shoreditch & The City.

SHOREDITCH TO THE NORTH

THE CITY TO THE SOUTH SITE

SITE STRATEGY

The building will mediate between its two neighbouring communities; Shoreditch and The City, two distinct environments in which very different activities, personalities and atmospheres exist.

The concept focuses on creating a building within its context that showcases the diverse mix of activities in the area.

Key decisions made in the design strategy are a direct response to the project’s location, producing a building form that sits fittingly amongst a cluster of existing or permitted tall buildings. The strategy also responds to the rhythm of the urban grain and the variety of activities, personalities and atmospheres that exist in the area.

MASSING - A NEW MIXED USE BUIDLING TYPE

The massing is formed by a sequence of volumes that relate to the grain and the multiple uses and users in Shoreditch.

Stacked on top of each other, the location, proportions and dimensions of these volumes are defned by the activities that will exist within them and their planes ofset to diferentiate these uses.

This arrangement generates a distinctive visual relationship between the volumes and their context. The shifts between volumes create visually distinct edges, ledges and terraces that animate the perception of the building from the surrounding area, with diferent perspectives on its form, depending on the position of the viewer.

The base aims to encourage pedestrian accessibility with a change in volume after the frst level. The second datum is a similar height to existing buildings in the area such as the Tea Building and Shoreditch House.

The building’s tallest elements are located at the southwest corner of the site with the aim of moving the height away from Shoreditch High Street and Holywell Lane to reduce the impact on the adjacent plots.

The Southwest corner has two volumetric moves that interrupt the verticality and tallness of the building while still achieving a clean, crisp corner.

ORIENTATION AND MATERIALITY

The materiality takes inspiration from the local urban grain with a raw, gritty and dynamic appearance. The façade design is rational, timeless and allows the right amount of transparency to create a dialogue between the inside and the outside. The base appears solid and robust with concrete which will age well and unite with its surroundings in time.

Mid-levels combine the expression of the concrete structure, with black metal fenestration and glass. The dark metal intends to remind the viewer of the factories, warehouses and loft buildings that once stood nearby. The façade colour gets lighter as the building ascends, culminating in a glass volume lightly cantilevered at its highest point.

Dark grey pre-cast concrete panels are assembled at the base and lower levels of the building. At upper levels, the solidity continues with glassfibre reinforced concrete, a much lighter material that provides the same quality finish and colour as the concrete to create continuity.

All framed glass is black metal which harmonises the concrete and the glass. The tallest volume is articulated with vertical aluminium that emphasises the slenderness of the volume and acts as a crucial shading element to achieve the desired energy model.

FINAL DESIGN, LEVELS

'THE MARKET' - LOWER GROUND FLOOR

'THE MARKET' - GROUND FLOOR PLAN

'THE MARKET' - LEVEL ONE PLAN

The final design consists of a 200-room hotel and 11,866-sqm of creative office space, covering an overall area of 29,640-sqm of floor space in total.

The scheme is defined by three glass boxes. The base, called ‘The Market’, is highly permeable and accessible to pedestrians.

The mid-terrace level called ‘The Shed’ offers gathering space for lectures, presentations and other amenities. Finally, the top box named ‘The Sky lounge’ offers a more intimate and exclusive space where visitors can enjoy views of London.

FINAL DESIGN, LEVELS

THE OFFICE - LEVELS 2 TO 4

THE OFFICE - LEVELS 5 TO 6

'THE SHED' - LEVEL 7

Levels 1 – 2 | The Market

The base comprises of shared space that can be enjoyed by the local community, with restaurants, break out spaces and other ancillary areas to the hotel.

Levels 3 – 6 | Office

Flexible office space that can be adapted to suit a diverse mix of tenants but following the reoccurring needs of spaces for a creative and contemporary community.

Levels 7 – 9 | The Shed

A triple height shared communal space for office workers, with gathering areas, food & beverage and breakout space. Activities such as conferences, talks, lectures, events, art exhibitions will animate this space.

Level 10 | Events Space

The events space continues with a series of multi-purpose rooms that extends out to a roof terrace. This space functions as banqueting, meeting and shared events space associated with the hotel.

Levels 12 – 25 | Hotel

The hotel, with guest rooms on intersecting volumes that encourage openness and maximise views. A fitness centre for hotel guests is located on level 13, with an outdoor terrace for meditation, yoga, group or individual sessions.

Levels 26 – 29 | Sky Lounge

Special guest rooms are located on levels 26 and 27. The spatial quality of these rooms will be enhanced, with maximised views. The Sky Lounge on level 28 will be a small and intimate space, its principal aspect being to deliver panoramic views orientated mainly to the west, south and east, capturing outstanding London views.

Site location

Height heat map analysis Buildings in Shoreditch and City of London

CONSENTED VIEWS

CONSENTED VIEWS

PREVIOUS PROJECTS

Reebok Concept Store

Master Thesis 2013

Internet is changing the retail experience, and how we shop. The role of the storefront is changing. It may not be devoted to physical sale anymore. The currency of value would be the experience. Designing these shopping experiences is about creating opportunities to facilitate impulse purchases. According to paradoxof choice: too much choice results in confusion and indecision. The perceived value of product must come from the user experience. Reebok Concept Store is an attempt to create a sport equipment retail place combined with product fabrication area and space for active entertainment to test the products on the site. In this thesis Computer Aided Design, Voxel Space, Additive Fabrication, Computer Aided Manufacturing, product customization technology, body scan, and the specification of fabrication process in architectural scale were applied in t he design process to achieve a final result – the Concept Store dedicated to sport. The result indicates that this way of performing the design process enables more discussions on high level design issues, supports more effective design operations and creates new field for architectural expression. This thesis suggests that designers can benefit from the use of objects in voxel-based design environments.

To promote activities happening in the store, the building is situated in the ‘passive’ type of space - one of the biggest shopping mall parking outside Warsaw, Poland. People living in the city orientate with the use of the Cartesian space. People living among nature have spatial intuition and orientation in relation to objects and localities and perceive the space as a web of paths (Nomads). An organic shape of the building was designed to imitate sport tracks but also to stimulate the users’ sense of orientation.

COMMUNICATIVE MOMENT

CREATIVE MOMENT

STRUCTURING MOMENT

The architecture of the store is created in voxel-based design environment. Voxel is a space unit to which different materials and resolution can be assigned. This environment combined with fabrication technology enables the creation of shapes which were difficult to build before. The building construction process is similar to 3d printing, which already is widely used for product fabrication. Sport equipment exhibition is designed in the wall. This intervention incorporates user experience with the purchasing process. Clients are invited to explore the store’s space and find new equipment ‘hidden’ on many levels. The store’s structure works as a diagnostic station where clients’ movements are scanned and diagnosed. This information is later needed for producing customized, personalized sport equipment in the store. Before purchasing the client has a great opportunity to test the products.

Typical for Poland sun angle has direct impact on the building’s shape. The slope for winter sports is situated on the North side of the building letting the snow last longer.

differentiated resolution of the building structure allows intelligent distribution of material properties which contributes big savings it can also be used for creating various sport tracks

The web of paths, the organic floor plans and the outside and inside slopes create a very dynamic space which is tested by the users. Walls inside the building act as rock. Different resolutions of the wall material create diverse environments for the sportsmen.

FIRST FLOOR PLAN

GROUND FLOOR PLAN

Barge Restaurant

on the Vistula river 2013

The restaurant was designed on the occasion of the football tournament, Euro 2012, organised in Poland and Ukraine.

The restaurant is built on a floating barge on the river and it is connected with the pedestrian bridge.

The restaurant’s 2nd level space is being customized by the designed conveyor system. It forecasts the number and density of the tables needed for an exact event.

The restaurant also has a smart roof which reacts to the sunlight. Kinetic modules open or close depending on the weather and conditions inside the restaurant.

CityOlsztyn Square Competition

2013

The most important element of the city square is a monument created by Xavery Dunikowski. The square design idea was to emphasize the monument’s importance. Lines on the floor indicate the time and tragic events which occured in this area. The floor pattern deformation is designed in such way so that main space axis have been kept. The computer script developed during the design process enabled the designers to manipulate the deformation of the linear patterns and to create a new composition of the square.

Robotic Canopy

2012

The project combines the kinetic and performative aspects of design with basics of robotics to create conceptual construction of responsive environments.

It is a modular tessellated geometry that may be adopted to different city plots. The whole structure is supported by servo motors driven columns. Several alternative sequences of movement are provided in the prototype model. The mechanism is controlled by Arduino programmable controller.

Coworking Building

Madrid

Competition 2011

The Hive is a platform that encourages people to meet and establish a potential future collaboration. The Hive is a place where one can choose the people to work with. It is a collaboration catalyst.

All freelancers are welcome to the public space, where they socialize with others and after some time they can choose to collaborate. They can become members of a specific group or create a new group and thus extract a work region for themselves inside the building. This region can extend in time, forming a larger group by accepting more members.

Additional layers of honeycomb structure are added when more area is needed. If the number of coworkers decreases in the future, some parts of the building can be disassembled, decreasing the maintainance costs.

Parametric Bench

2009

The aim was to explore the potentials of a fully integrated design process which incorporates digital techniques from very early stage starting with the use of programming and scripting (in Rhino Monkey) as design strategy leading to digital fabrication as the construction technique. For the bench fabrication styrofoam panels cut in the thermal plotter were used. The final prototype was created in scale 1:1. The bench is suitable for two people. Its elements rotate around a common axis creating two opposite seats so that users while sitting can talk face to face.

a/ 2a /2 a a a - main input - specific proportion of the user’s height additional input - width of the user’s loins

a/ 2 2a/ 3 a/ 3 a/ 3 a/ 3 a/ 3

a/ 6 a/ 3

90 degrees rotation of the elements

bench sections created from generative procedure

Kokon Lamp 2011

KOKON is a garden lamp. It was designed to manifest the importance of night insects to our environment. It uses low energy consuming LED light that does not give off ultraviolet light — unlike fluorescent and incandescent lights, which attract, trap and kill bugs. This lamp will not disturb evening pests while pollinating plants and maintaining gardens at night.

Made of natural materials Kokon lamp can become a part of the garden by letting it grow into the surrounding nature. Then its lighting function would be replaced and turned into shelter for insects.

BLUE ELEMENTS INDICATE THE LARVA IN THE FORM AND BRIGHT COLOR

TIME INFLUENCE ON THE WOODEN VERSION OF THE KOKON LAMP

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