‘Building Tomorrow’ presents the contemporary trends in building design and the global forces driving them forward, using Architizer’s annual A+AWARDS submissions as the benchmark. The data is creatively visualized to provide valuable insights for designers, retailers, and any industry working to create experiential designs. Download the full report for free at www.psfk.com/report/building-tomorrow.
After years in the (re)making, it appears that the age of architectural upcycling is upon us. According to in-depth research into last year’s A+Award-winning projects — available as a free-to-download report courtesy of creative analysts PSFK — an increasing number of firms are reacting against the throwaway culture proliferating in modern cities throughout the developed world, finding increasingly radical ways to reuse existing infrastructure, aging industrial buildings, and redundant materials.
According to Michael Murphy, Principal at MASS Design Group, this resurgence is beginning as the cities of North America, Europe, and parts of Asia finally start to adopt the resourceful approaches that have been practiced in the southern hemisphere for some time: “The global north marketplace is only beginning to learn from the incredible insight of the global south, where resource limitation requires the up-cycling, reuse and re-imagination of material and land for multiple and many-phased uses.”
© Iwan Baan
© Iwan Baan
© Iwan Baan
In the United Kingdom, Heatherwick Studio has produced a new icon in the realms of renovation and restoration, bringing a former paper mill back to life in the form of the Bombay Sapphire Distillery. 40 derelict buildings — many of historical significance — were regenerated as part of the plan and were supplemented by a bold new architectural statement, as the report describes: “Two intertwining botanical glasshouses were built to house and cultivate the 10 plant species that give Bombay Sapphire gin its particularity and create a focus and identity for the new complex.”
© Jonathan Leijonhufvud Architectural Photography
In Hong Kong, One Plus Partnership Limited designed their own office utilizing what they consider “the hottest design trend for the future, upcycling,” using a plethora of materials with a previous life including leftover fabrics and recycled designer furniture. The firm left old markings and worn surfaces expressed to give the space a sense of material honesty: “Old closets once destined for the dump proudly show their age with washed-away paint and weathered scratches.”
Finally, Morris Adjmi Architects’ striking office building at 837 Washington proved that an old building can find a new identity as a contemporary urban landmark. Starting with a two-story Art Modern-style industrial depot, the architects chose to extend upward with a commercial space framed by a steel frame that evokes the materiality of its historic origins — but with a modern twist. The design speaks to the post-industrial High Line nearby but forms a fresh signature for the neighborhood that is at once contextually sensitive and boldly different.
These projects demonstrate how many firms are becoming increasingly adept at adaptive reuse within dense urban areas, a specialist discipline that is only becoming more vital as our cities increase in density and land prices also increase. Significantly, though, these practical advantages are being accompanied by cutting-edge design that is as fashionable as it is pragmatic. The second lives of buildings around the world are only beginning, and they are being reborn as urban exemplars of style and sophistication.
