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MARS WINS!

United Kingdom Architecture News - Nov 22, 2013 - 19:32   1890 views

MARS WINS!

#  MARS WINS COMPETITION, SIGNS CONTRACT FOR BRAND HQ

An international jury selects the intricate design by MARS Architects as the winning proposal amongst 369 entries from 63 countries. The 8800 sqm project strategically folds the diverse program of the Walltopia sports brand headquarters around large climbing atriums. Located along Sofia's main axis the building claims a prominent position in the capital's urban fabric while fully integrating with the surrounding landscape.   

As stated by the Foster + Partners led jury: "[MARS Architects] entry has been able to achieve a flawless integration of a complex program with a spectacular user experience" ...more at www.M-A-R-S.asi

#  TALK:  'MARS ON WATER' AT THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, NY 

Neville Mars talks about grassroots planning strategies for Mumbai, as presented in the BMW Guggenheim Lab exhibition on display now. 

Sign up for the last remaining tickets or watch the intro video here: http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/calendar-and-events/2013/12/01/rainwater-harvesting-neville-mars/2590  

Sunday December 1, 2013 @ 6:30 pm, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum NYC … more at : Manifesto United Mumbai 

MARS WINS!

A MARTIAN LANDSCAPE

As Europe is pulling out of an enduring economic recession, emerging markets like Bulgaria provide some refreshing vitality. In particular Walltopia, one of the leading climbing and activity brands in the world, reveals a rare passionately forward-looking mentality. This clearly translated in the kind of futuristic competition brief that immediately appealed to us. The program, consisting of climbing and brand head offices as the two main components, is supplemented by a diversity of functions from leisure and entertainment to health and wellness that together provides an inspiring range in activities that we somehow needed to accommodate under one roof. Our first decision was that the sports activities, and specifically the climbing walls, should be folded through the entire office program in order to achieve a constant crossover. Employers are submerged by the product they are selling, while the large climbing voids become the light wells that make a deep building possible. In fact, the project reveals the outer limits of what can be achieved with these climbing walls as sculptural interior spaces. While for the climbers we had the objective to create one continuous climbing experience that is both challenging and yet extremely easy to read and navigate. The underground training vaults for beginners forms the backbone from which the three large climbing gorges of increasing complexity naturally branch off. One could climb uninterrupted from one corner to other, through a highly intricate space of walls that offer an increasingly complexity. The climbing surface is actually extended to the outer skin of the building: a perforated aluminium panel system that can be fitted with climbing grips to provide temporary outdoor climbing paths. Although the main volume of the project is the result of basic parameters such as sun angles, views and site conditions, tilting the front facade in a sharp overhanging inclination creates the most challenging conditions for advanced climbers. Environmental concerns helped us define the final configuration. The large front facade blocks sound for the main avenue, while the slope prevents the activity park behind the building to be too shaded. Connecting the different branches of the building into a single roofscape extends the activity with a large green surface allowing people to climb up right to the rooftop bar and restaurant. One of the three atriums doubles as a green house that opens up in the summer. Here park, garden and artificial climbing interior blend into one. It is our ambition that as we implement the sustainable concepts, this building will achieve a new level of integration where an experiential architecture becomes one with the urban and natural landscape. 

 

> via www.M-A-R-S.asia