Archinect - News

Foster+Partners | Branch Technology, win NASA's 3D Printed Habitat Challenge

2017-09-05T13:23:00-04:00

The 3D Printed Habitat Challenge—NASA's three-phase, $2.5 million competition—tasks architecture firms to generate and advance the construction technologies necessary for off-world habitats. Each stage of the challenge asks the teams to design and test an individual prototypical building element that can be 3D printed within a 22-hr time frame, while considering material restraints, geometric tolerances and autonomous performance.

Final printed dome. Image courtesy of Foster + Partners.

Foster+Partners and Branch Technology have teamed up to win the latest round of competition. The firm has been tasked with producing three beams, three cylinders, and a 1.5-meter dome out of indigenous Martian regolith and recyclable materials. Their cylinder designs took first place back in May as did their 3D printed beams. They have now won the last segment of the head-to-head competition with their domed structure that was able to take double the load of a competing concrete dome in the stress tes...

Watch this 6-month time lapse drone video of the Apple Campus 2

2016-12-16T18:47:00-05:00

With all the drone construction videos of the new Apple Campus 2 (AC2) circulating on the interwebs, it's easy to lose track of what the progress has been on this Foster-designed Goliath of a project just in recent months.

Luckily this latest 4K video by Matthew Roberts on YouTube provides a handy 6-month time lapse of key campus sites, like 'the Spaceship,' auditorium/theater, primary access tunnel, research & development facility, the atrium, main parking garages, fitness center, maintenance facility, and the infamous 'mountain of dirt.'

Watch the video further below.

All images via Matthew Roberts' drone video on YouTube.

More recent AC2 news on Archinect:

Norman Foster’s First Brooklyn Project Revealed, A 7.7-Acre Red Hook Office Development

2016-06-01T17:04:00-04:00

Foster is a surprising choice for the project, as his commissions are typically flashy and in high-profile areas like midtown or the Financial District. But the sole rendering shows his signature mix of contemporary panache (glassy construction with a cantilevering portion) and contextual thoughtfulness (low-scale, boxy structures in keeping with the industrial area).

Thor Equities has announced that starchitect Norman Foster will design their 7.7-acre waterfront office complex in Red Hook. The project, which will be Foster's first in Brooklyn, will feature more than 600,000 square feet of creative office space spread across two low-scale buildings, as well as 23,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

Check out the latest 4K drone footage of the new Apple campus

2016-04-04T19:05:00-04:00

According to schedule, Apple employees will start moving into the new Apple campus –nicknamed AC2 – in about eight months. Tim Cook, the current CEO of the tech giant, called their last product launch "probably the last" to be held in the Cupertino town hall before the move.

For more on AC2, check out some past coverage:

Foster's Out, Ingels' In: BIG-Designed Two World Trade Center to House News Corp. and 21st Century Fox

2015-06-03T13:52:00-04:00

“This isn’t your grandfather’s Wall Street.”

According to a statement issued on Tuesday, the design of Two World Trade Center, which was formerly the province of Foster + Partners, is now being handled by Bjarke Ingels' firm BIG and will likely house employees of both 21st Century Fox and News Corp. The media organizations inked a non-binding agreement with developer Larry Silverstein that places them in the tower, which as of now is slated to be the second-tallest tower in the four-tower World Trade Center complex. The proposed move is significant not only because many of the towers still boast significant amounts of unleased space (the two companies would occupy 1.3 million square feet of the tower's 2.8 million total available), but because both 21st Century Fox and News Corp. represent a new type of tenant for the traditionally financially dominated area. According to Bloomberg, Christopher Jones, vice president of research at New York's Regional Plan Association said, “People were expecting financial companies to be a sub...

In Kazakhstan, a Shimmering Skyline on the Steppe

2014-08-21T13:53:00-04:00

Seventeen years ago, when Kazakhstan moved its capital here, the city of Astana didn’t even exist. [...] But after years of rapid economic growth fueled by Kazakhstan’s oil and gas riches, the skyline of Astana [...] is now punctuated by gleaming skyscrapers and Western-style shopping malls. The city has become a hotbed for architectural experimentation, attracting big names like Norman Foster and Manfredi Nicoletti who have transformed it into what locals now call “Manhattan on the Steppe.”

More big players wanting a slice of that yummy Astana cake: Kazakhstan’s Astana World Expo 2017 Competition Attracts Big International Names

After Foster's departure, Pushkin Museum hires Moscow architect for expansion

2014-07-02T14:18:00-04:00

The Russian architect Yuri Grigoryan, and his firm Project Meganom, have been chosen for the long-delayed 22bn ruble ($640m) expansion of the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow. The new design replaces a controversial proposal by the British architect Norman Foster that required the destruction of historic buildings, upsetting preservationists. Foster pulled out of the project last year.

Previously: Lord Foster withdraws from Moscow museum expansion

Norman Foster buys back architecture firm stake from private equity group 3i

2014-06-30T15:29:00-04:00

Founder Norman Foster... sold a 40pc stake in the firm for £84m in 2007 when commercial property valuations were soaring. The private equity group is selling its stake back to Foster & Partners for £108m, plus a further £40m interest payment. Foster & Partners faced a challenging environment during the recession and while estimates valued the business at £300m in 2007, it had amassed a debt burden of £340m by the year ending April 2009.

Winners of the "NORMAN FOSTER In the 21st Century" giveaway

2014-03-17T18:13:00-04:00

A few weeks ago, Archinect had another monograph giveaway for Arquitectura Viva's "Norman Foster In the 21st Century". The most recent and longest installment in AV's monograph series, the book features 50 works and projects by British architect Norman Foster that were developed in the 21st century.

The lucky winners who'll receive the "Norman Foster" monograph are:

David I. - Detroit, MI
Andrew H. - Cambridge, MA

Congrats, David and Andrew! Thanks to everyone that participated.

For more details about the book, click here.

Foster + Partners to design second, taller Philadelphia skyscraper for Comcast

2014-01-15T15:23:00-05:00

Six years after Comcast Corp. moved into the tallest U.S. skyscraper between Manhattan and Chicago, the cable-TV and Internet giant expects to break ground this summer on an even taller, more dazzling $1.2-billion tower. [...] One of the world's leading architects, Britain's Norman Robert Foster, has designed the trophy building with a host of innovative features.

Norman Foster unveils plans for elevated 'SkyCycle' bike routes in London

2014-01-02T19:25:00-05:00

Gliding through the air on a bike might so far be confined to the fantasy realms of singing nannies and aliens in baskets, but riding over rooftops could one day form part of your regular commute to work, if Norman Foster has his way. Unveiled this week, in an appropriately light-headed vision for the holiday season, SkyCycle proposes a network of elevated bike paths hoisted aloft above railway lines, allowing you to zip through town blissfully liberated from the roads.

Gehry and Foster selected to design Phase 3 at Battersea Power Station

2013-10-23T15:00:00-04:00

On behalf of the shareholders of Battersea Power Station, Battersea Power Station Development Company announces that Gehry Partners and Foster + Partners, two of the world’s most innovative and renowned architectural practices have been chosen to design Phase 3 at Battersea Power Station. This will be architect Frank Gehry’s first building in London.

Phase 3 will be one of the most exciting areas of the Battersea Power Station development, otherwise known as the High Street. Being a retail pedestrian street it is the gateway to the entire development and the new Northern Line extension. Phase 3 will comprise two residential development zones located either side of the High Street. Both architectural practices are collaborating on the High Street; Gehry Partners is designing the residential buildings to the east of the High Street, with Foster + Partners designing the residential buildings to the west. In total, Phase 3 will comprise 1200 residential units, a 200 room hotel overlooking both the town square and the Power Station, 350,000 sq. ft. of retail and restaurant space, a 15,000 sq. ft. library and further leisure space.

Frank Gehry, founder of Gehry Partners commented;
“Gehry Partners is honored to have this wonderful opportunity to collaborate with our respected colleagues Foster + Partners on this seriously importan...

Cupertino council clears huge Apple 'spaceship' campus for liftoff

2013-10-16T11:31:00-04:00

Apple's proposed new spaceship-shaped headquarters got a super-charged blast-off Tuesday night when the Cupertino City Council voted unanimously to approve the 2.8-million-square-foot behemoth beside Interstate 280, fulfilling a dream of co-founder Steve Jobs, hatching an iconic landmark for Silicon Valley, and promising more congestion in an already traffic-challenged region for decades to come.

Photos of new models of Apple's new headquarters are unveiled

2013-10-11T17:01:00-04:00

"The concept of the building,'' said Oppenheimer, "is collaboration and fluidity. It'll provide a very open-spaced system, so that at one point in the day you may be in offices on one side of the circle and find yourself on the other side later that day.''

Putting digital images to work for Foster + Partners

2013-10-08T18:38:00-04:00

This sponsored post is brought to you by OpenAsset:

OpenAsset has enabled Foster + Partners to create a world class, easy to use architectural image library. Image resources used in projects and for reference are now available to all staff at the click of a mouse, no matter where in world they travel. This case study presents how Axomic worked with Foster + Partners to create this key business tool, and how the practice is saving time and putting its digital images to work.

How OpenAsset helps Foster + Partners make the most of their digital images
Foster + Partners had been seriously grappling with digital asset management (DAM) for almost a decade before being introduced to OpenAsset. The practice had previously invested in a solution when only a handful of (largely media-industry focused) image libraries were available. While this system was not rolled out to a wide user base, it enabled the practice to structure its data and organize its thoughts around DAM systems, helpi...

Apple headquarters plan moves forward; Foster + Partners seek architects in Cupertino

2013-10-04T11:50:00-04:00

The Planning Commission in Cupertino, where Apple has its current headquarters, endorsed the project this week. It now goes to the City Council, which is expected to vote on it on Oct. 15.

As news spreads that Apple's new Cupertino headquarters moves closer to approval, Foster + Partners pushes forward with recruiting architects for the high-profile California project. See their current job openings here.

Norman Foster-designed warehouse, featured in James Bond film, joins UK heritage list

2013-09-27T20:26:00-04:00

A yellow-roofed warehouse that featured in a James Bond film has been given listed status. The Spectrum building, formally the Renault Distribution Centre, in Swindon, was designed by Sir Norman Foster and features yellow steel 'umbrella masts' and a yellow roof around the single-storey glass-walled warehouse. Built in 1980, the building featured as the backdrop to scenes in the 1984 James Bond film, A View to a Kill. It has been given Grade II* listing.

Lord Foster withdraws from Moscow museum expansion

2013-08-19T09:55:00-04:00

Renowned British architect Norman Foster has resigned from a proposed expansion to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow. In a statement released on Thursday, Foster + Partners claimed it had formally resigned from the project more than two months ago. In 2009, the Russian government approved Foster's plans and agreed a sum of $650m (£415m) to modernise and expand the museum. But the project subsequently stalled.

Foster + Partners Among Finalists for London Met Police HQ

2013-07-30T20:40:00-04:00

Five London-based architecture firms—including Foster + Partners—have been shortlisted in the RIBA-organized design competition to create the new central London Metropolitan Police HQ. The facility will replace the existing New Scotland Yard building.

The shortlist was announced by the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, and the Metropolitan Police Service today and includes these five teams:

Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
Allies and Morrison
Foster + Partners
Keith Williams Architects
Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands

‘Bamboo Lakou’ Wins the Architectural Association’s 2013 Foster + Partners Prize

2013-06-27T17:29:00-04:00

London's Architectural Association School of Architecture and Foster + Partners have announced the winner of the 2013 Foster + Partners Prize, presented annually to the AA diploma student whose portfolio best addresses the themes of sustainability and infrastructure. The recipient is selected jointly by the AA and Foster + Partners at the end of each academic year. This year’s prize has been awarded to John Naylor, of Diploma Unit 16, for his project ‘Bamboo Lakou’.

Apple is rumored to hire Foster to revamp its retail stores

2013-04-11T15:01:00-04:00

Sources close to the project said Foster + Partners... is helping Apple on the retail store design brief.

Bohlin Cywinski Jackson has reached out to us about an error in the cited article at Marketing Magazine...

The Regent Street and Fifth Avenue Apple Store were not designed by Eight Inc., but by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. We also continue to have a very collaborative relationship with Apple Inc., and are fortunate to be working with their Retail Development Team on many new stores worldwide.

Foster + Partners completes Bedouin tent-inspired Jordan Airport

2013-03-27T13:32:00-04:00

Foster + Partners recently added another international airport to its portfolio, the just-opened Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan. According to a press release, the flight hub boasts a “highly effective passive design, which has been inspired by local traditions,” namely a canopy of shallow concrete domes that mitigate Amman’s hot climate and mimic forms in Islamic art.

Foster + Partners Designs Tile Showroom on Madison Square Park

2013-01-17T14:30:00-05:00

Lord Norman Foster, the hyper-modern British Pritzker Prize winner, is having a moment in New York, with numerous projects underway across Manhattan. But his latest hews away from the slick techno-futurism for which Lord Foster is best known, instead embracing a city landmark at one of our most famous intersections.

Foster + Partners has picked up yet another project in New York, an 18,000-square-foot showroom for one of Spain's largest tile and ceramics makers. Located at one of Manhattan's most popular intersections, it is a strikingly understated building for the Pritzker Prize winner.

Unveiled> Engel & Volkers Headquarters

2013-01-15T11:37:00-05:00

Richard Meier & Partners’ mixed-use building was selected in an international competition topping submissions by Foster + Partners and Zaha Hadid Architects. The challenge, Bernhard Karpf, associate partner-in-charge, said was to create a hybrid building that was “like a city in itself,” which creates “property lines” that carves out distinct areas for rentals, offices, and shops, but still comes together in a unified and coherent design.

Sky Gardens Add Drama to $750 Million Park Avenue Tower

2012-12-26T20:15:00-05:00

The Park Avenue tower rises from a monumental covered plaza to two setbacks, where the 42-foot-high garden levels expose those massive, dramatic building supports. The top two floors of the tower, tentatively planned to rise 49 stories, form a glass- roofed garden. Elevator shafts morph into glowing blades that slice the sky above the roof.

Watch Koolhaas; Hadid; Rogers Stirk Harbour; and Foster pitch their proposals for the new L&L Tower

2012-11-19T12:32:00-05:00

The series of videos below offers a fascinating insight into how this generation of "starchitects" behaves under pressure, as they each pitch to win one of the most high-profile competitions in recent years: a new tower for L&L Holding Company on Park Avenue in New York. The site has such daunting neighbours as Mies van der Rohe's Seagram building, and it will be the first full-block office tower to be built on the street in almost half a century.

In San Francisco, Life Without ‘Starchitects’

2012-11-16T13:35:00-05:00

Developers in San Francisco are loath to take architectural risks because the city’s approval process for new development is long and rigorous, perhaps the most onerous in the country, architects say. It’s hard to fault their caution when you consider how small San Francisco really is — 47 square miles (Manhattan alone is 23 square miles) — with much of the area consumed by neighborhoods zoned for single-family homes.

Norman Foster Designs His First U.S. Apartment Building

2012-11-14T11:09:00-05:00

From William Zeckendorf’s work with I.M. Pei and Minoru Yamaski in the 1960s and ’70s to his grandsons’ projects with the likes KPF and, most notably, Robert A.M. Stern, who created both the brand new 15 Central Park West and the newly renovated 18 Gramercy Park South, the Zeckendorfs have a thing for high design.

Foster + Partners has just designed its second apartment tower in North America, and first in the U.S., for Zeckendorf Development. They are the same developer who worked with Robert A.M. Stern on 15 Central Park West, considered the best-selling condo building of all time. Can Lord Norman and his sleek 44-story tower top that?

The Next 100 – Foster + Partners re-imagines Grand Central Terminal for 2013 Centenary

2012-10-19T12:36:00-04:00

Within the station, the proposal creates wider concourses, with new and improved entrances. Externally, streets will be reconfigured as shared vehicle/pedestrian routes, and Vanderbilt Avenue fully pedestrianised. The proposal also creates new civic spaces that will provide Grand Central with an appropriate urban setting for the next 100 years.

Foster unveils major redevelopment plan for Toronto

2012-10-16T15:38:00-04:00

Riding on the tailwinds of last week’s Mirvish + Gehry announcement, Oxford Properties Group today announced plans for the large-scale redevelopment of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and its surrounding areas. Dubbed "Oxford Place," the project will include much more than a refurbishing of the convention centre. Oxford plans to build four towers: one residential, one office and, of particular interest, two for a hotel that would serve a proposed casino...