Work begins on Kéré Architecture's perforated brick Goehte-Institut in Dakar

Construction has begun on the Senegal headquarters of the non-profit Goehte-Institut designed by Burkina Faso studio Kéré Architecture.

Set to be built alongside former Senegal president Leopold Sedar Senghor's home in Dakar, which is now a museum, the two-storey building will be built from compressed earth bricks.

Kéré Architecture has designed the Goehte-Institut in Dakar

When complete, it will be the Senegal office of non-profit German cultural association Goehte-Institut, with spaces to host exhibitions and teach language courses.

Burkina Faso studio Kéré Architecture, which is led by architect Diébédo Francis Kéré, designed the building to reflect the organisation's ethos of cultural exchange.

It will be built around existing trees

"Visitors and employees alike are to be provided with a space that speaks to and is home to the layered and storied cultural tapestry of Senegal's capital," said the studio.

"One that is welcoming and versatile in speaking to the vast and complex history of cultural encounters and asking a diverse community to gather to define an inclusive and sustainable future."

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The 1,800-square-metre building is designed to match the scale of the surrounding, largely residential, buildings.

Its L-shaped form was created to avoid existing trees on the site and create a central courtyard-like space. A kitchen and bar will also be built alongside this courtyard.

Classrooms will be located on the upper floor

Public functions, including an auditorium, cafe and library, will be located on the ground floor of the main building and connected to the institute's offices and classrooms on the level above by a pair of spiral staircases.

It will be built from locally sourced bricks with lattices, created to allow air into the building, and topped with a roof garden covered by a steel canopy.

Kéré Architecture was founded by Kéré in Berlin in 2005. The studio recently completed an education campus in Kenya and a university in Burkina Faso. In 2017 Kéré designed the Serpentine Pavilion in London.

The renders are courtesy of Kéré Architecture.

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#all #architecture #cultural #officearchitecture #bricks #culturalbuildings #diébédofranciskéré #senegal

Modern extensions unify existing buildings at Nuremberg's House of Commerce

Berlin studio Behles & Jochimsen Architekten has renovated and extended the Nuremberg Chamber of Commerce and Industry offices in Germany, adding sandstone-clad buildings that tie in with the area's historic architecture.

Named the House of Commerce, the headquarters is located on a prominent site in the oldest part of Nuremberg, between the main market square and the medieval church of St Sebald.

The Nuremberg Chamber of Commerce and Industry headquarters have been renovated

Behles & Jochimsen Architekten was tasked with reorganising the existing headquarters to create more cohesive and practical offices for the organisation, which provides support to local businesses.

Several structures listed as historic monuments were preserved and restored as part of the scheme, while some modern additions to the site were demolished and replaced to improve circulation.

The offices are positioned close to Nuremberg's main market square

Behles & Jochimsen Architekten's additions replace buildings that were not protected and had no significant architectural merit. Those that were restored date back to the 1950s and 1960s.

The extensions follow the original building line and align with the existing eaves, while their proportions and choice of materials also respect the heritage of the site.

Behles & Jochimsen Architekten added sandstone-clad offices

"The new buildings adapt design features of the old town, such as the sandstone facade and the pitched roof with plain tiles," the architects explained.

"They pay homage to the architecture of the reconstruction after the war that characterises the townscape. The folded eaves windows respect the historic eaves heights."

The sandstone cladding varies in colour

The headquarters' main entrance was moved to the busy Waaggasse street to give it greater prominence. Now visible from the nearby market square, it is set back from the facade and framed by a sculptural portal.

A previously open area on the west side of the site was filled in, allowing an existing central courtyard to be transformed into a glass-roofed atrium.

The extensions are designed to align with the existing buildings

This four-storey atrium functions as a reception and service point for customers, as well as a flexible space for hosting exhibitions and events. It also helps to rationalise the previously complicated circulation between different parts of the headquarters.

The two new wings are positioned on opposite sides of the atrium, connected by bridges. The facades of the existing buildings remain visible behind the bridges, which recall the wooden arcades found within traditional Nuremberg houses.

An atrium is positioned at the centre of the headquarters

Inside, the new wings contain spaces optimised for flexible office use, including areas beneath the eaves which are narrower than the main floors and benefit from higher ceilings.

In the older buildings, the original spatial organisation with a more traditional arrangement of rooms and corridors has been retained.

The atrium is lit by skylights

Materials used throughout the project reflect the region's traditional building methods. The bases of the extensions are clad in dark Wuestenzell sandstone and align with the plinth of the original corner building.

A lighter Schweinstaler sandstone used across the upper portion of the facades includes subtle tonal variations. Simple roof tiles were chosen to match those found on neighbouring buildings.

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Oversized windows, which are flush-mounted into the stone cladding, introduce a modern detail to the facades. The windows fold over the building's eaves, with further skylights illuminating the interiors from above.

The building's interiors feature natural and hard-wearing materials such as the pale-green stone used for flooring and counters in the atrium. Jura stone used for the corridors and staircases references the floors of the old buildings.

Flexible office spaces feature in the new wings

Light-coloured walls and wooden doors create a warm and muted atmosphere in the offices. Oak-framed ceiling panels with integrated lighting optimise the acoustics in these spaces.

Behles & Jochimsen Architekten was established in 1999 by Armin Behles and Jasper Jochimsen and has worked on several projects involving the conversion of listed historic buildings.

Oak-framed ceiling panels optimise the acoustics in the offices

In Perth, OMA and Hassell also recently took on the challenge of preserving and extending a group of heritage buildings.

The five existing buildings, which date back as far as the 19th century, were restored and linked by contrasting, contemporary structures to create a museum that celebrates the history of Western Australia.

The photography is byMarcus Bredt.

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Project credits:

Client: Nuremberg Chamber of Industry and Commerce for Middle Franconia

Project management: GCA

Architect: Behles & Jochimsen Architekten

Team: Armin Behles, Laura Casado Albo, Jenny Dittrich, Matthias Hänsch, Jasper Jochimsen, Iva Kocheva, Bela Schwier, Simon Stahnke

Tendering and construction management: GanzWerk

Structural engineering: LAP Leonhardt, Andrä und Partner

Mecanical engineering: Rentschler Riedesser

Electrical engineering: Raible + Partner

Building physics: Müller BBM

Fire protection: Oehmke + Herbert

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Hooba Design Group wraps Tehran office building in a brick-clad "second skin"

Architecture studio Hooba Design Group has completed a brick-clad office building in Tehran, with a scooped-out central void to bring natural light deep into the building.

The Hitra Office and Commercial Building is located at a road intersection of the Valenjak neighbourhood of Iran's capital, and combines two floors of glazed commercial space with five red brick-clad office storeys.

The Hitra Office and Commercial Building was designed by Hooba Design Studio

For the local practice, two of the key aims of the project were to bring as much light as possible into the building and offer a public space back to the city.

Instead of taking the typical approach of filling the site and placing a light well in the building's centre, the Hitra Building's "void" has been moved to its southern edge, creating a scoop in the building that draws in light and overlooks a new public square.

The building's facade comprises tiered layers of brick. Photo is by Khatereh Eshghi

"Based on the built-up regulations and municipal laws of Tehran, each building has turned into a passive member in the city," Hooba Design Group founder Hooman Balazadeh told Dezeen.

"The main criteria of this project was to reevaluate the morphology of a typical office building to improve the quality of natural light and views without altering the optimum built area," he continued.

"The Hitra Building's morphology increases the surface area of the building in contact with the city and connects people to the office zone through the welcoming entrance."

The exposed sides of the bricks were painted turquoise to create a lenticular effect. Photo is by Deed Studio.

The paved public square in front of the building negotiates its sloping site with a series of stepped areas, with a staircase ascending to the commercial units and a ramp leading around to the office entrance in one side of the building.

The distinctive "second skin" of the building, created using a brick-clad steel frame, was designed to allow the glazed area of the building to be maximised while preventing overheating.

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"The brick layer is designed as an attempt to not only include but also camouflage various elements within and behind," Balazadeh told Dezeen.

"The Hitra Building tries to have the minimum expression of different elements and materials in their surrounding environment and on a larger scale, the city," he continued.

The facade allows light to fill the interior. Photo is by Khatereh Eshghi

This brick skin gently steps outwards as it rises up the building, helping to break up its scale with a series of lintels indicating the floor plates.

Inside the offices, circulation is housed in the north-eastern corner, with larger meeting spaces placed close to the scoop in the facade to take advantage of the additional light and views it creates.

Turquoise bricks can be seen from the interior

A similar strategy of using a double skin of glass and brick was used in another recent project by Hooba Design Group: an office building for the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran.

Elsewhere in the city, the studio also built an office building that used brick combined with glass inserts.

Photography is byParham Taghioff unless stated otherwise. The top image is by Deed Studio.

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