Architecture Building of Serta International Headquarters

This is architecture building of Serta International Corporate Headquarters was designed by Epstein Metter Studio on 8,360 sqm constructed areas in 2009. This building located in the Prairie Stone Development of Hoffman Estates, IL. The selected site borders a protected wetlands area, resulting in all work spaces having sweeping views of the natural landscape.
The architectural composition of the building has been developed to express the two main programmatic functions: Research & Development and office work space. Each of these functions is distinctly articulated in the building massing. Located at the heart of the building are the public spaces such as showrooms, lunch room, and training Auditorium.
The building (700' long x 67' wide) has been designed to facilitate equal access to natural light, ventilation, and views of the wetlands for all employees. As a result, the building is expressed as a horizontal bar, generating a strong horizontal datum line.
To maintain this strong horizontal line, while accommodating excess program, finely detailed, projecting cantilevered bays have been developed which hover over the prairie landscape.

The structural and architectural detailing has been designed to allow each bay to slide into the building, incorporating reveals between multiple wall layers, and sandwiched between the upper and lower concrete brows. This allows the program to grow organically, while reflecting the natural contours of the site.

Future Architecture : Floating Ecopolis for Climate Refugees

According to the less alarming forecasts of the GIEC (Intergovernmental group on the evolution of the climate), the ocean level should rise from 20 to 90 cm during the 21st Century with a status quo by 50 cm (versus 10 cm in the 20th Century).



As a solution to this alarming problem architect Vincent Callebaut came up with this ecotectural marvel that could serve as a luxurious future retreat for 50,000 inhabitants seeking refuge from rising waters due to global warming. He believes the world will be desperately seeking shelter from the devastations of climate change, and hopes the auto-sufficient amphibious city will serve as a luxurious solution. To bad that right now we are close to 7 billion people and this luxurious future retreat is just for 50,000 inhabitants ( just for rich people ).



Vincent Callebaut called this project "Lilypad", but this ecotectural marvel is also called as "Floating Ecopolis for Climate Refugees". The whole structure is covered in green walls and roofs, the top portion covered in grasses with the inner portion featuring a palm oasis, and the under portion serving as a bed for natural sea planktons and oceanic plants.



Finally if you were already planning to reserve a place to this luxurious future retreat stay calm, because Vincent Callebaut hopes that "Floating Ecopolis for Climate Refugees" will make the transition from design to reality around the year 2100.

BANQ Restaurant

Wallpaper magazine voted it as the best new restaurant. Banq restaurant is located at the base of the old Penny Savings Bank, in an early 20th century building abandoned for years in Boston. After the building's reconstruction two segments emerged, the front area programmed to be a bar and the larger hall which would serve as the dining area. The architect's managed to overlap any structural problems and create a fancy restaurant out from an abandoned place. Find out how inspiration can help a project find its place in the world's best restaurants list.

Text by the Architects :



Located in the old Penny Savings Bank, Banq is a new restaurant located at the base of the old banking hall. Divided into two segments, the front area on Washington Street is programmed as a bar, while the larger hall behind serves as the dining area.



The design of the space, however, is conceptualized around another division, on the z axis, between the ceiling and the ground. If the ground needs to remain flexible as a result of fluctuating activities of the restaurant space-- two seaters, fours, and sixes, among a range of other organizations related to parties and other events-- then, the ceiling contains fixed programs that are part of the building's infrastructure-- the structure, drainage, mechanical equipment, sprinkler system, lighting, and other the acoustic systems. To that end, we have developed a striated wood-slatted system that conceals the view of the mechanical, plumbing, and lighting systems on the longitudinal axis, while offering a virtual canopy under which to dine.



The geometry of the wood slats conform to each equipment above, but are also radiused in order to smoothen the relationship between other adjoining equipment, creating a seamless landscape. The columns and the wine storage, in the middle of the hall, serve to uphold the fiction, and appear to be suspended from the ceiling. if the longitudinal axis emphasizes the seamless surface, then lateral views offer striated glimpses into the service space above, and demystify the illusion.



To underline this strategy, certain areas of the ceiling "drip" and "slump", acknowledging the location of to place exit signs, lighting features, and other details. Below the ceiling, the functional aspects of a dining space are fabricated with warm woods and relaminated bamboo amplifying the striping affect already at play throughout the space. Striations of the ground, the furnishings, and the ceiling all conspire to create a total effect, embedding the diners into the grain of the restaurant.



Acknowledging the historical setting of the building, the ceiling hovers away from all interior walls and instead finds its support in suspension from above. Nearly running the entire width of the space, each rib of the undulated ceiling is made from unique pieces of three-quarter-inch birch plywood adhered together in a scenario that likens to a puzzle; only one possible location for each unit, formulating the continuous member. These continuous members are fastened to the main structural ribs running perpendicular to the lattice, tracing both the overall ceiling topography and the steel supports of the base building.



Spacing between the visible ceiling ribs is variable; compressing and releasing to maintain visual densities of the overall surface as seen from different angles.

Emaar water spectacle

Emaar Properties plans to build one of the largest fountains in the world as the centrepiece of its Downtown Burj Dubai project. Arabian Business reveals what the real estate giant has in store.

The fountain, which has yet to be named, will be capable of shooting water over 150 metres into the air - the height of a 50-storey building - and stretch over 275 metres - the length of two football fields.

The $218 million project will be 25 percent larger than the iconic fountains at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas.

Like the Fountains of Bellagio, Emaar's fountains will include an integral light and sound show and is expected to become one of Dubai's major tourist attractions, drawing over 10 million visitors per year.

The fountains will shoot 22,000 gallons of water in the air at any given moment and feature over 6,600 lights and 50 colour projectors.

The fountains have yet to be named and a cash prize of $27,225 has been assigned to the winner of a competition to name the water feature.

The structure is scheduled to be operational by 2009.

National Grand Theater, Beijing, China

Designed by Paul Andreu Architect, the National Grand Theater of China is Located near Tiananmen Square , the 490,485-square-foot glass-and-titanium National Grand Theater, scheduled to open in 2008, seems to float above a man-made lake.

Intended to stand out amid the Chinese capital's bustling streets and ancient buildings, the structure has garnered criticism among Bejing's citizens for clashing with classic landmarks like the Monument to the People's Heroes (dedicated to revolutionary martyrs), the vast home of the National People's Congress, or Tiananmen Gate itself (the Gate of Heavenly Peace).

The project located in Beijing with area of 149,500 m2. According to the project description, this theater is composed by an opera, a concert hall and 2 theater. It is also mentioned as a city of theaters, and as you can seen on the picture above, the complex is look like a transparent island in an artificial lake.

French architect Paul Andreu is no stranger to controversy -- or to innovative forms.

A generation ago, in 1974, his untraditional design for Terminal 1 of Paris 's Charles de Gaulle airport was criticized for its unusual curves, yet Andreu's groundbreaking, futuristic building later was seen to distinguish de Gaulle from more generic European and international air hubs. (The same airport's Terminal 2E, also designed by Andreu, gained attention in 2004 when it collapsed, tragically killing four people.)

Beijing 's daring National Grand Theater is as much a spectacle as the productions that will be staged inside in the 2,416-seat opera house, the 2,017-seat concert hall, and the 1,040-seat theater. At night, the semi-transparent skin will give passersby a glimpse at the performance inside one of three auditoriums, a feature that highlights the building's public nature.

Living Rooms

From Classic to contemporary, a few of the most inviting and stylish living rooms :


A tranquil palette characterizes a Los Angeles living room designed by Mariette Himes Gomez.

Richard Meier & Partners’ recent expansion of the Friesen House in Los Angeles involved adding a story perched on a platform straddling the original 1953 structure. Besides acting as a backdrop for the fireplace in the master bedroom, the concrete shear wall adds lateral stability to the house and supports the second story construction.