Europe – Page 3 – PLP Architecture

House of Representatives, Nicosia, Cyprus

The design for the new Cyprus Parliament House was won in an international competition. The site is at Monument Square, on the route from Nicosia’s Old City to the palace of the Cypriot President.

The scheme responds boldly to its elevated location, drawing on the ancient Greek imagery of the agora – the market and place for public assembly – and the amphitheatre, the place where debates take place. The architecture of the building is informed by the extreme climate of Cyprus, where summer heat can be extreme. The floor of the debating chamber, sunk into the hill, is contained in a circular drum which is at the heart of the complex. The drum is set on axis with Monument Square. Its double wall is clad in alabaster panels, wood screens and clear glass. The layered wall controls the admission of light and heat. Symbolically, the glowing drum acts as a beacon on the Nicosia skyline.

Sberbank, Moscow, Russia

PLP Architecture was commissioned by Russia’s oldest and most respected bank, Sber, to develop an innovative repositioning and visioning framework for the business that reconsiders everything from its branding to its environments. Building on Sber’s recognised core strengths and values, PLP provided a range of creative services to help enable a new, ambitious and sweeping transformation into a tech company, which will see Sber embark on the biggest change in its 180 year history.

123 Zeil, Frankfurt, Germany

Located in the heart of Frankfurt’s historical city centre, the design of the boutique hotel/retail building affirms its key presence on one of the city’s most prestigious shopping streets.

The building completes the frontage of a highly active public plaza. Contextually and programmatically, the relationship with the ground is very important. The building is lifted allowing the public space to flow continuously. Similarly, at the top, a floating pavilion containing a restaurant hovers above the main volume. Between the two volumes, an open air public terrace overlooks the historical city.

Oakwood Timber Tower 2, The Lodge, The Netherlands

The design extends an earlier collaboration between PLP Architecture, Smith and Wallwork engineers and the Centre for Natural Material Innovation at the University of Cambridge. The 130m proposal for the World’s tallest State-of-the-Art all timber tower for Provast; a client involved in many socially responsive designs.

Endesa Headquarters, Madrid, Spain

Located north-east of Madrid’s city centre in the Campo de las Naciones commercial district, the Endesa headquarters in Madrid fuses innovative workplace design with a highly progressive environmental programme. Won in international competition, the project was seen by the client – the largest electricity provider in Spain – as an opportunity to mark its commitment to low-energy design and the development of a sustainable approach to building services.

Danube House, Prague, Czech Republic

The new precinct River City Prague, formerly a disused railway yard, links the Karlin district to the Vltava Riverbank. The new buildings frame a pedestrian zone and public park along a bio-corridor. Danube House, the first and flagship building anchoring the recently established district, forms a natural landmark, a gateway to River City when arriving from historic Prague.

World Trade Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The renovated World Trade Center project is a case study showing how a 1960s structure, anti-urban in its form, can be reconceived as a project which initiates the regeneration of a whole quarter of the city. The WTC Amsterdam is located in the most attractive area of South Amsterdam adjacent to WTC/Zuid, the main railway station. It forms the gateway to the city’s ambitious new masterplan devised by the city authorities to turn Zuidas into a dense business and residential quarter reinforced by new cultural, educational and recreational facilities. However, the existing buildings of the World Trade Centre – four 1960s office slabs connected by lower structures and open courtyards – were dark and unwelcoming.

New Tchaikovsky Theatre, Perm, Russia

The city of Perm is, after St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia’s third great city of music. Its existing ballet and opera theatre is a 19th century interior enclosed within a classical facade built in the 1950s. The building is set within a park in the middle of the city.

De Hoftoren – The Hague, The Netherlands

Chosen through an international competition, the design features a single tower and low bar building clad in vertical slabs of light sand coloured stone. The design has become the centrepiece of the city’s urban redevelopment near the Central Station. The project encompasses offices, a conference centre, a restaurant and a ground floor arcade looking onto a central courtyard garden. The green of the central garden courtyard, bounded by the tower, unifies the scheme.

Tour First (Formerly Tour CB31) La Défense, Paris, France

This project, won in an international architectural competition, involves a re-massing and full refurbishment of the tower CB31 of 1974, in La Défense, The building is one of the tallest in La Defense and the new silhouette is clearly visible on the skyline. Besides its new visibility from afar, the new design carefully reconfigures the public space at the base, reinforcing the connections of the building to its surroundings.