CONTEMPORIST

Astral Media Office Interior by Lemay Associés

Posted: 27 Oct 2011 02:00 PM PDT

Lemay Associés designed a new office interior for Astral Media in Montreal, Canada.

Description from the designers:

Astral Media relocated approximately 350 employees to four (4) floors in the heart of the action in downtown Montreal. The goals of this large-scale project included elaborating new furniture standards, fitting up flexible meeting spaces and optimizing employee interconnectivity in a contemporary, energetic and versatile working environment.

Based on the client's four different business units (radio, television, advertising and digital media), our concept was inspired by key broadcasting industry words such as influence, communication, movement and exchange. The concept plays on the contrast between the medium and the message and manifests itself by means of undulating and pixelated graphic interventions.

The project's main challenge consisted in guiding the client's transition toward a youthful and modern image and accommodating a large number previously dispersed employees in a single open and standardized space.

Aside from workstations, we fitted up a main reception area, various meeting spaces (conference and meeting rooms, agora, etc.) as well as common services (dining room, lounge, café, copy centre) on each floor. In order to create a rhythm and a gradation throughout the playful 6,000 m2 space, each floor was identified with its own colour and the levels were linked by a central glass staircase.

Astral Media's new flexible, functional and bright premises provide a human working experience and favour communication between employees.

Visit the Lemay Associés website – here.

Photography by Claude-Simon Langlois

Olympic View House by BC&J Architecture

Posted: 27 Oct 2011 05:41 AM PDT

BC&J Architecture have sent us images of the Olympic View House they have designed on Bainbridge Island in Washington State.

Description from the architect:

The Olympic View House house is a two story home designed for a couple newly retired from careers in academia on the East Coast of the United States. The site constraints included steep slopes, drainfield setbacks and a zoning variance. The resultant building footprint reflects these constraints in a manner which ultimately accommodated the Owner’s goals for the house.

The house is 2,700 sf and includes all main floor living for day to day functions for aging in place. The upper floor consists of a media area, office, piano and guest bed/bath rooms.

The house is a contemporary expression of Northwest Regionalism with both accommodation of serious weather conditions and aesthetic considerations for massing, light and presence. The house commands views of Port Orchard Narrows and the Olympic Mountain Range beyond through a membrane of glazing rather than conventional punched window openings. The glazing membrane in-turn allows the solid massing elements of the house to be expressed and meaningful.

A thoughtful use of both exotic materials such as Ipe and clear hemlock as cladding and ceilings respectively and more cost effective choices such as Hardi Artisan and Hardi Panel bring together a blended palette. This articulation of this material palette simultaneously proves to be both warm and substantially grounded.

The strength of the center core of the building is emphasized by a framework of battered bases on each corner. The tops of the bases are held short of the roof plane by two feet allowing the roof to appear to float above the body of the house. The roof then acts as more of a canopy allowing light to penetrate the building at all times during the day and be a lantern for the streetscape at night.

Visit the BC&J Architecture website – here.

Photography by Martin Bydalek