The NewActon Nishi apartment complex, recently completed in Canberra, Australia, is already drawing attention as being a bit radical, Beautiful Decay reports.
Tenants and visitors enter the building through a dramatic lobby space and staircase covered with thousands of pieces of repurposed timber to "project a unique identity" that blurs boundaries while directing views and movement, according to the project's architect March Studio.
Much of the timber hangs down from the ceiling, creating a unique perspective for those looking into or out of the building. March Studio used 2,150 pieces of wood, reclaimed from local sites that include the NewAction Nishi construction site itself, and over 2,000 steel rods to create the entryway. Precast concrete benches are also a main feature of the lobby.
March Studio's design statement:
Located in NewActon, a diverse new precinct in Canberra, Nishi Commercial is a major new development housing government departments, private o?ces, a cinema and cafes. The lobby, designed by March Studio, projects a unique identity through thousands of lengths of repurposed timber, blurring boundaries while directing views and movement.
A grand stair - the stage for performances as much as idle procrastination - leads up to the HotelHotel lobby and bar. In the stair the timber is heavy, grounded, a stacked agglomeration. Freed to scatter up the walls and across the ceiling, the suspended timber ?lters exterior light and views into and from internal spaces. Spidery, pixellated shadows are cast on the ?oor and bare walls.
Photo credit: John Gollings
The stair links Nishi Commercial to Nishi Residential, a multi-storey apartment building, housing 2 ?oors of hotel rooms, wrapped around a central courtyard and light well. The ground ?oor contains HotelHotel's lobby, reception, concierge and bar, as well as retail and hospitality tenancies. On the ground ?oor of the boutique hotel, March Studio was engaged to create spaces which encouraged residents, guests and visitors to linger in what can oen be a transient space.
The walls in the hotel lobby - and the seating, the benches, the counters - are an attempt to bring the handmade into the rigorous, polished building around it. Materials - custom gluelam timber, precast concrete beams - are allowed to sit, unadorned, stacked in a simple manner, overlapping, their joints overrunning and poking out.
The singular system - the same for both materials - is stretched where needed, opened where useful, broken where forced. A large space is enveloped in this manner and then di?used, variegated by operations within these rules, to allow for spaces which have their own character. Doors that are part opening, part display, continue this language in apparently weightless steel.
This steel is picked up to lighten the bar, where stacked concrete props up sleek steel, which weaves into and halts the ?ow of suspended timber bursting up the stairs from the commercial lobby. Above the seating in front of the bar, large holes have been punched into the concrete slab capping the space. These portholes allow glimpses into the courtyard above and natural light to enter the space.
The main entrance to Nishi Residential, opposite the linking stair, was also part of March Studio's brief. Outside is a canopy which shrugs o? its weight with ?owing timber recalling the Commercial Lobby. The entrance airlock is lined on two walls and ceiling with what could be steel punchcards for an ancient mainframe.
Filling the gaps punched in these steel sandwich panels are amber marbles, thick glass which ?lters the light and warms the space. The directionality of the commercial lobby is mirrored here, in the lines of punched holes on wall and ceiling, which scatter across the rear wall and ?ow into the stacked timber of the HotelHotel library.
Check out the project below. All photos courtesy March Studio.
Photo credit: Rodney Eggleston
Project Hotel Hotel Lobby and Nishi Grand Stair Interior
Related Stories
Mass Timber | Jun 17, 2024
British Columbia hospital features mass timber community hall
The Cowichan District Hospital Replacement Project in Duncan, British Columbia, features an expansive community hall featuring mass timber construction. The hall, designed to promote social interaction and connection to give patients, families, and staff a warm and welcoming environment, connects a Diagnostic and Treatment (“D&T”) Block and Inpatient Tower.
Mass Timber | Jun 10, 2024
5 hidden benefits of mass timber design
Mass timber is a materials and design approach that holds immense potential to transform the future of the commercial building industry, as well as our environment.
Products and Materials | May 31, 2024
Top building products for May 2024
BD+C Editors break down May's top 15 building products, from Durat and CaraGreen's Durat Plus to Zurn Siphonic Roof Drains.
Construction Costs | May 31, 2024
Despite challenges, 2024 construction material prices continue to stabilize
Gordian’s Q2 2024 Quarterly Construction Cost Insights Report indicates that supply chain issues notwithstanding, many commodities are exhibiting price normalization.
Mass Timber | May 22, 2024
3 mass timber architecture innovations
As mass timber construction evolves from the first decade of projects, we're finding an increasing variety of mass timber solutions. Here are three primary examples.
Mass Timber | May 8, 2024
Portland's Timberview VIII mass timber multifamily development will offer more than 100 affordable units
An eight-story, 72,000-sf mass timber apartment building in Portland, Ore., topped out this winter and will soon offer over 100 affordable units. The structure is the tallest affordable housing mass timber building and the first Type IV-C affordable housing building in the city.
Mass Timber | Apr 25, 2024
Bjarke Ingels Group designs a mass timber cube structure for the University of Kansas
Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and executive architect BNIM have unveiled their design for a new mass timber cube structure called the Makers’ KUbe for the University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design. A six-story, 50,000-sf building for learning and collaboration, the light-filled KUbe will house studio and teaching space, 3D-printing and robotic labs, and a ground-level cafe, all organized around a central core.
ProConnect Events | Apr 23, 2024
5 more ProConnect events scheduled for 2024, including all-new 'AEC Giants'
SGC Horizon present 7 ProConnect events in 2024.
75 Top Building Products | Apr 22, 2024
Enter today! BD+C's 75 Top Building Products for 2024
BD+C editors are now accepting submissions for the annual 75 Top Building Products awards. The winners will be featured in the November/December 2024 issue of Building Design+Construction.
Mass Timber | Apr 22, 2024
British Columbia changing building code to allow mass timber structures of up to 18 stories
The Canadian Province of British Columbia is updating its building code to expand the use of mass timber in building construction. The code will allow for encapsulated mass-timber construction (EMTC) buildings as tall as 18 stories for residential and office buildings, an increase from the previous 12-story limit.