HONORABLE MENTION
Space For…! 2021
[RE]connect
Status: Concept 2021
When the global pandemic hit, a community of city residents found themselves confined to their old, underused, brutalist office building in the city centre. Staying indoors for their safety, they had to innovate new ways of communal living within this workspace as life beyond work persisted.
Our design breathes new vitality into this ageing single-purpose structure. We introduced off-site crafted co-living pods and community platforms spiralled around a vertical helix core within the existing atrium. This core features cutting-edge magnetic elevators, shuttling users between private living spaces and shared work areas. These dynamic platforms link directly to the building’s original functions, providing access to the updated workspaces. We also punctuated the structure with vibrant green corridors, rejuvenating the former strictly business ambience.
Between these platforms, shared outdoor recreational spaces emerge, keeping a touch of normality from life before the pandemic. To ensure self-sustainability during these unpredictable times, we transformed the roof for food and energy production, embracing solar power and rainwater collection. An eco-canopy tops the structure, flourishing in the summer to shade the building while letting sunlight seep through in winter as the foliage naturally sheds.
Team: Ian Cox, Tara du Plessis & Lauren Konstantinou
