Adam Coupe Photography Limited has been selected as official construction photographer for the M25 widening project.

The four year project has involved widening to four lanes on both carriageways in particularly busy sections of the M25, initially from junction 16 (M40) to junction21a (M1) and currently from junction 21a to junction 23.  Widening is also taking place to the north of the Dartford Crossing between junction 27 and junction 30.

Adam Coupe commented "We're delighted to have been selected by the SKANSKA/Balfour Beatty JV team.  Most large construction and infrastructure projects require construction progress photography.  It's great to be involved with such a professional team in capturing both aerial photography and monthly ground based photography to document the progress of the work"  The contract involves architectural photography of all structures, civil engineering and traffic management elements within the live sections of the project.

Baca Architects has submitted a £2.6 billion feasibility study for a 20km rail connection, that includes the world’s first sail and ride station, between Amsterdam and Almere in the Netherlands.

The rail line will be buried beneath the IJmeer lake and its artificial islands. It will include at least five new stations — two underground and three above. One of these will be linked to a new canal with moorings, making it the world’s first sail-and-ride station.

The spoil from the tunnel will be used to create a new, car-free island, Pampus IJland, with 3,000 homes that will be illustrated in architectural photograpy. Some 25,000 new homes are planned for the whole area.

Robert Barker, project architect at Baca, said the limited amount of spoil meant they designed a doughnut-shaped island with a central lake. This “eye” will accommodate boats and floating homes.  He said: “The new island could be the Riviera or Amalfi of IJmeer and Amsterdam — a fantastic modern and sustainable destination for inhabitants with a love for water.”

The island will be a pilot for sustainability, being off-grid and off-mains water supply. Renewable power, rain-water harvesting and recycling will provide for the inhabitants’ needs.

The 364sq m centre was designed with UK-based architect Sprunt and features a wave-shaped roof built from triangular panels.

Floor-to-ceiling glazing provides a view through the whole building from the entrance facade. The building photographer includes seating for 185 people, an artists’ studio and a café and dining area.  An 121sq m, south-facing terrace opposite the entrance is arranged in a series of levels to provide an amphitheatre with seating for up to 100 people.

RMA has won planning for a temporary corporate hospitality venue and nightclub opposite the Olympic Park which will operate during next year’s games.  The London Thames Gateway Development Corporation granted a temporary change of use for former Highly Sprung furniture factory buildings at Swan Wharf in Tower Hamlets, as well as approving the erection of temporary structures that will feature in architectural photograpy. They will become a corporate hospitality venue and club for 3,750 people run by Gorilla Events, Mahiki and Rhubarb, who said it was the first venue of its kind to get the go-ahead so close to the Olympic Park.

Foster & Partners has unveiled expansion plans for Kuwait International Airport. The proposals include hotels and a new 140,000sq m terminal, comprising three symmetrical wings of departure gates. It will initially accommodate 13 million passengers a year and 30 planes.

Each four-storey wing will be 1.2km long, extending from a central, 25m-high space.  They will be built under a single roof canopy supported by tapering concrete columns. The roof will incorporate solar panels and glazed openings that will be captured by an architectural photographer. The maximum walking distance from the centre to the far end of each terminal will be less than 600m.  Mouzhan Majidi, chief executive of Foster & Partners, which recently announced it had been invited to bid for a new airport in Beijing, said: “The emblematic three-winged form will be as memorable from the air as from the ground — a new symbol of contemporary Kuwait, which resonates with its rich culture and history.”

Inspired by the region’s culture of welcoming, the arrival sequence has been given particular attention, with a baggage reclaim area surrounded by cooling cascades of water with construction photography. The landscaping around the airport will progress from lush oasis immediately around the building to drier desert species along the approach road. The project aims to be the first passenger terminal in the world to achieve LEED gold status. There are also plans to create a metro linking the airport to Kuwait City centre.

The mayor of London has given the go-ahead to Make’s Saatchi & Saatchi HQ overhaul.

The scheme for the redevelopment of 80 Charlotte Street and 65 Whitfield Street in central London, currently occupied by the advertising agency involving architectural photography, will see the delivery of more than 35,000sq m of office space, 4,500sq m of commercial space and 55 new homes.  Sean Affleck, partner at Make, said: “We have always believed in this mixed use project and what it will deliver to Fitzrovia.  By retaining and refurbishing the majority of the buildings we are looking to preserve the character of the area whilst bringing in new amenities for the community.”

Boris Johnson approved the plans, which had previously been turned down by Camden Council, at a public hearing last night.

He said: “The capital’s ad-land, centred around Charlotte Street, has developed an international reputation for creativity and I have no doubt that its redevelopment can only be good news for both the West End and the wider London economy.”

Approval of the scheme will see developer Derwent making a £1.6 million contribution to Crossrail.

Rafael Viñoly’s plans for a football academy on a 32ha site opposite Manchester City’s Etihad stadium have been submitted to the local authority for approval.

Plans were submitted after six weeks of consultation. They include a 7,000-seat stadium, a training facility for 400 players, offices, a media centre and 18 football pitches.  The site is part of a wider regeneration project involving the football club, Manchester City Council and New East Manchester.

Brian Marwood, chief football operations officer of Manchester City, said: “It is important to also make clear that the development and recruitment of youth talent is at the heart of our long term strategy of building a successful and sustainable football club for the future.

“The opportunity to build a world class facility supported by a well researched youth development plan would be a significant step in the realisation of that strategy.”

Building work has started on a £12 million care home in east London, designed by Penoyre & Prasad for East Thames housing association.  Ninety-eight apartments are split across two buildings with a shared courtyard. The buildings also contain communal facilities including a residents’ lounge, laundry, a hairdresser and support services that will create strong architectural photography from an architectural photographer.  The mixture of one and two bed secure apartments are being built in Gidea Park by a partnership between East Thames and Havering Council.  The scheme will be built to meet Code for Sustainable Homes level 4. Photovoltaic panels will provide 20% of the energy used by the development.

Alan Holloway, partner at Penoyre & Prasad, said: “The site layout with its non-orthogonal buildings is conceived to provide a real sense of place.  “The buildings will provide a stimulating, yet secure and reassuring contemporary living environment for older people.”

Paris-based AWP and Swiss architects HHF have won a competition to design a series of pavilions along the river Seine in Carriere-Sous-Poissy that will be well suited to interior photography.  The buildings would be located among 113 hectares of public green space, located near Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye.  HHF’s plans include a visitor’s centre, a restaurant an observatory and a dozen smaller follies with different uses.

PRP has won planning approval for a new community facility and park in Myatt’s Field North, in Lambeth, south London.

The scheme will see the creation of one of the largest new parks in London outside the Olympics.  PRP associate director Richard Harvey said: “The community centre is designed to slip under the new park and achieve a Breeam ‘very good’ rating.”

Harvey added that the building was designed to maximise solar gain - useful for interior photography, while the sloping grass roof would provide thermal mass and public amenity space.  The centre will feature a cafe, creche, function and community rooms, music room, IT suite and a management office for the estate.

Maccreanor Lavington is bidding to build a series of homes in east London that its backers claim is following a US initiative where homes are sold for a fraction of the going rate to keep them affordable for years to come.

The practice has teamed up with developer Igloo and the East London Community Land Trust, a not-for-profit housing organisation, for a £50 million-plus Homes & Communities Agency scheme to turn a former hospital in Mile End into more than 300 homes.  The Maccreanor Lavington team wants to make one third of its homes affordable, with the remaining 200 put on the open market for sale. Of the affordable homes, a third will be put on the open market but at 25% of their true market cost. The scheme would be the first of its kind in London.

“They are predominantly three-bedroom houses and they will be available to people if they have a joint family income of up to £30,000 a year,” said East London Community Land Trust project director Dave Smith.  Smith said the trust was being advised on its bid by US housing group Champlain Housing Trust which was set up in 1984 to create affordable housing in Burlington, Vermont often captured in architectural photography.  The scheme allows owners to pass homes down to other family members or sell them to the trust with the vendor taking a maximum 25% slice of the amount the home has increased in value between it being bought and sold.

“The legacy is permanent affordable housing,” Smith added.  Proposals for community land trusts have already been backed by London mayor Boris Johnson, who, in his 2008 election manifesto, said he wanted a “network of community land trusts to give hope to people” priced out of owning their own home.  Maccreanor Lavington associate Kevin Logan said architects should prepare to look at land trusts as new work sources.  “It’s a very interesting model and I’m sure architects will be working more with them in the future,” he said. “It sits well with localism and the idea of local neighbourhood planning.”

Built in 1849 as a workhouse for the poor, St Clements Hospital, which is part grade II listed, closed in 2005.

What are community land trusts?

A Community Land Trust (CLT) is a non-profit, community-based organisation that develops housing or other assets at permanently affordable levels. It does this by separating the value of the building from the value of the land, estimated as being 65% of the average house price in London.

The CLT retains ownership over the land and fixes the resale price of houses below the market rate, so that home-buyers can have an initial subsidy and every generation thereafter can also afford the homes.  The idea has been used extensively in the US, most notably in Burlington, Vermont, where two land trusts merged to form the Champlain Housing Trust which looks after 1,500 apartments and more than 400 owner-occupied homes.  The trusts were founded by the City of Burlington in 1984 to provide affordable, safe housing for families with low to moderate incomes.

Page Park was appointed by Scottish Opera to improve the theatre’s front-of-house space. The new building will feature a series of stacked foyers, linked by a central staircase with a gilded balcony providing access to the auditorium.  Practice founder David Page praised the building’s “late-Victorian spirit”.

 

Scottish practice Nord has submitted plans to the city council for a revamp of Royal Exchange Square in Glasgow for developer Glenerrol.  The firm wants to tear down a sandstone terrace in a courtyard behind the square, featured in architectural photography and replace it with a mixed-use scheme featuring a 100-bedroom hotel - that will no doubt create strong interior photography, retail, bars, restaurant and casino.

Nord partner Alan Pert, who split earlier this year from co-founder Robin Lee, told the Glasgow Urban Design panel: “The proposal will connect levels throughout and fill the existing space which is currently unused.”  Pert said facade retention had been considered for the sandstone terrace but added: “We are not condemning the structure. However, our preferred option is demolition to ensure the project is viable.”

He told the panel, which advises the council on controversial planning applications, the proposals will replace “dark and dingy” existing courtyards which are currently being used for parking and refuse collection.

The Wangjing Soho complex near Beijing Airport has been hailed as a bright beacon to welcome visitors to Beijing.

Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, the project will consist of two towers up to 200m in height embracing each other at varying angles that will be captured, when complete in architectural photography. The interplay is enhanced by a dynamic external skin which varies in density to create a shimmering effect.  When finished the projects will have more than 521,000sq m of floor area, with three levels of retail, shopping and restaurants connected by three-storey high atrium.  The Wangjing Soho project is expected to be completed in 2014.

New pictures of the Apple Campus 2 designed by Foster & Partners have been made available by the Cupertino, California, planning department.  Glass will have to be developed specially for building’s circular design, which is said to facilitate natural ventilation which will be illustrated in architectural photography by an architectural photographer.

The doughnut-shaped building will contain 260,000sq m of offices and R&D space, research facilities of 28,000sq m, a 1,000-seat auditorium and a gym that will be captured in interior photography.

The site will also include multi-storey parking and substantial landscaping including extensive planting of new trees.

The building, with a strong dose of retro sci-fi, looks set for approval. Cupertino’s mayor Gilbert Wong gave it his enthusiastic endorsement after Apple chief Steve Jobs personally presented it to the council in June. Wong said: “There is no chance we are saying no.”  The new headquarters could be complete by 2015.

Terry Farrell & Partners has unveiled its futuristic vision for the transformation of Park Royal City in west London.

The area around Old Oak Common is earmarked to become Britain’s first “high-speed rail super hub”, together with 12,000 new homes and a waterside park.  Terry Farrell said: “High Speed Rail is not just a transportation strategy it’s a nationwide economic catalyst that requires creative place making.

“This is an incredibly exciting opportunity to reshape and unblock the development of a critical part of north-west London, and crucially to have a huge impact on the country as a whole.”  Farrells’ masterplan was prepared as part of Hammersmith & Fulham Council’s submission to the Department for Transport, backing the government’s plans for a new high-speed rail line from Birmingham to London.

Revised plans by Foster & Partners for a £500 million mixed-use project in Bishopsgate, east London, have won planning aproval.

The 111,000sq m project, formerly known as ‘Bishops Place’ and developed by Hammerson, is now known as ‘Principal Place’ and has been redesigned to feature two blocks instead of three towers.  Hackney Council’s planning committee approved the scheme, paving the way for development of the 50-storey residential skyscraper - boasting 243 private apartments – and a 16-storey, 57,000m² office building.

The ‘City Fringe’ project includes a new square surrounded by shops and restaurants and the restoration of 233 Shoreditch High Street, the popular Light Bar, which would have been demolished under the previous scheme.

David Atkins, Hammerson chief executive said: “The support from the planning committee signifies the importance of Principal Place in the continued regeneration of Hackney. The scheme will deliver high quality office accommodation alongside a landmark residential tower in a convenient, vibrant location.”  Law firm CMS Cameron McKenna will take around 18,580m² of the office space.

Allied Works Architecture has won an international competition to design a National Music Centre in Calgary.

The New York practice’s designs for the 12,500sq m project have been unveiled.  The building, due to open in 2014, will create a Canadian home for the understanding of music through collections, programmes and collaborations across the country.

“We have worked tirelessly over the last two years to create a space unlike any other in the world,” sais NMC president Andrew Mosker.  “We’re ecstatic with the results and with the experience we had working with Allied Works, GEC and the rest of the team. We truly believe this building will join the ranks of iconic architecture in Canada.”

The design pays homage to the western Canadian landscape - the crags and canyons of the Rocky Mountains, the hoodoos of southern Alberta and the vast open prairies.  It will be built around the condemned King Edward Hotel which closed in 2004 but remains part of Calgary’s musical history after serving as a hotbed of blues music for decades.

“It was important to us to respect the King Eddy,” sais architect Brad Cloepfil. “While reclamation and restoration is certainly necessary, we didn’t want to scrub it too clean. We don’t want to scare the ghosts away.”  One of the more unique features of the building is a two-storey bridge that will be used as an performance space.

Comprising Corten shells on steel legs, the scheme spells the station’s name, Steeles West, in giant metal letters projecting from the roof.

Alsop worked on the concept with the Spadina Group which includes Canadian architects Stevens Group and IBI.  It is the first TTC subway station ever built outside the borders of the City of Toronto and once complete in 2015 will largely serve the city’s York University.

Terry Farrell & Partners, working together with EC Properties, has submitted plans for the £8 billion revamp of Earl’s Court and the West Kensington opportunity area in west London.  The application includes outline plans for the 31ha site, as well as detailed plans for the Seagrave Road area.

At Seagrave Road the existing car park will be replaced with 808 homes centred around a garden square where detailed design work is being carried out by John McAslan & Partners, Paul Davis & Partners and Patel Taylor.  Farrell said: “We have developed a masterplan that draws inspiration from the surrounding communities to create ‘Four Villages and a 21st Century High Street’ which will bring new homes, health & education facilities, as well as remarkable new open space to London.”

Overall the masterplan will see the creation of 7,500 new homes as well as offices, hotel space, a primary school, library, health centre and 9.5ha of public open space.  Both applications will be considered by Hammersmith & Fulham council, while the masterplan will be considered by Kensington & Chelsea only.

The building was designed for the Beth Shalom liberal Jewish community, which will now apply for planning permission and intensify fundraising efforts for the construction.  Munich’s central synagogue was destroyed by the Nazis during Kristallnacht in 1938.

A £63 million replacement by Saarbrücken-based architects Wandel Hoefer Lorch opened in 2006 on the 68th anniversary of the infamous night that foreshadowed the Holocaust.  Serving the wider Jewish population, it incorporated a museum, community centre and memorial to the 4,500 Munich Jews murdered by the Nazis.

Plans for a £14 million student centre and library extension by Patel Taylor have been submitted.  The scheme, for Essex University, follows a previous collaboration between the architect and client with the Ivor Crewe lecture hall.  The latest proposal will include an ‘integrated learning centre’, designed to allow creative learning using the latest technology, a new 24-hour reading room, a Students Union media centre, and a one-stop shop for student services.

The library extension will provide additional collection space and study areas, as well as library archive space.  Other firms involved in the project , which is due for completion in the Autumn of 2013, include engineer Techniker and consultants Fulcrum Mott Macdonald, Cyril Sweet and Potter Raper Partnership.