OCC Swimming Hall

The swimming hall is conceived as a jewel box set within the forest edge.  Its metallic form floats over a granite plinth that incorporates swimming pools, hot and cold baths and allows users dramatic views across the forest floor.  The swimming hall is part of a wider sports complex, with full-size sports hall, climbing centre, ice hockey hall and external football pitches that double up as ice hockey pitches in the winter months.

OCC Serviced Apartments

The OCC masterplan sets out several distinct neighbourhoods, to allow for variety in architecture and place making.  The majority of apartments are dual aspect, benefitting from early morning sun to breakfast areas and west facing terraces and balconies for sundown.  The plots also vary in density, from rooftop apartments over the conference building down to low-rise courtyard housing.  Emphasis is placed upon open space, play and activity space to encourage interaction between the residents and conference guests alike.

Courtyard housing 

Oslofjord Convention Centre, Brunstad, Norway

A shortlisted competition proposal for the development of Oslofjord Convention Centre in Brunstad, Norway. The scheme comprises a new 2,500 seat convention centre with flexible accommodation providing hotel and serviced apartments for 800 guests or 1600 holiday apartments. The proposal also incorporates sports and leisure facilities, from swimming pool and spa to ice hockey hall and sports hall.

The new convention facility is designed to connect to the existing convention building whilst completely re-organising user movements, back-of-house and servicing and enhancing front-of-house facilities. The auditoria and meeting spaces are sized and positioned for ultimate flexibility, whilst break out space maximises views over the Fjord; Oslofjord's finest asset.

[Team; AHMM Architects, AKT, Buro Happold, GROSS MAX and Charcoal Blue]

Albion House, Ramsgate

Haptic have been commissioned by My Seaside Luxury to renovate and extend Albion House in Ramsgate. This grade II listed property is to become a 23-bed boutique training hotel including conference facilities, creating a centre of excellence for the local leisure and tourism industry. A new rooftop bar and terrace will provide spectacular views over Ramsgate harbour and house a victorian camera obscura that used to sit on Ramsgate Pier. The extension block is proposed as a vertical garden, with living walls forming each facade.  See My Seaside Luxury for further information.

Early visualisation below....

Haptic in Building Design magazine

Haptic have been featured in last week's Building Design magazine, in their feature Working Abroard...

Riga International Airport - Haptic wins first prize in international competition

Haptic, in collaboration with Narud Stokke Wiig Architects & Planners and Griff Arkitektur have won the open international competition for the new airBaltic terminal at Riga International Airport.

The competition called for “design concepts, both architectural and functional that best captured the aspirations and brand identity of airBaltic”. The first phase will accommodate 7-8 million passengers per annum, whilst the new terminal will eventually cater for 14 million passengers. The organising committee received 125 entries from 70 countries.

airBaltic Terminal, Riga

The terminal roof is inspired by the gently undulating forms of the Latvian landscape, with peaks and troughs responding to internal configuration and passenger flows. Internally, the roof soffit is composed of a hexagonal timber grid shell, with infill of timber or clear and diffused glass to control daylighting and acoustics, whilst providing dramatic variation across the entirety of the roofscape. This composition of light, shade, depth and colour is derived from the spectacular forest canopies throughout Latvia, whilst the hexagonal pattern relates to the country’s history of geometrical patternwork.

Hunting Lodge, Frønningen, Norway

Haptic have been commissioned to design a hunting lodge and associated accommodation in Sognefjorden on the west coast of Norway. The site is surrounded by some of Norway's most spectacular natural environments and has exceptional terrain for deer hunting. The £6m project will become a key international hunting destination. On our recent site visit we encountered deer, sea eagles and dolphins...a welcome break from the city! More details soon...

Haptic Shortlisted for World Architecture Festival Award 2011

Haptic, in collaboration with AU Studio have been shortlisted for the World Architecture Festival 2011 awards.  Two projects; Mountain Eco Resort and Desert Retreat have been selected in the Future Projects - Cultural category.  
The shortlist can be viewed here; WAF 

Oslo

Driscoll House, Southwark, London

Haptic are working on the refurbishment of Driscoll House; a Grade II listed hostel on the New Kent Road in Southwark. The basement and lower ground floors are to be carefully re-organised to provide communal space including a courtyard cafe, whilst the rooms, at the upper levels are being upgraded throughout to provide modern facilities, such as en-suite bathrooms. 

Bartlett Summer Show 2011 - Unit 7

The Bartlett Summer Show is now on, closing this Saturday 9th July.  Degree Unit 7, taught by Haptician's Tomas Stokke and Scott Grady, is exhibiting on the mezzanine - please take a look!

Mountain Bar - Switzerland

The spectacular Swiss landscape, whether summer or winter, speaks for itself. Our intention for this contemporary mountain bar, is to embrace the landscape by creating an architecture that makes the most out of the views and that employs natural materials where possible.

Conceived as a stone folly that is inhabited on a temporal basis, the bar is divided into two components. The permanent stone gable, chimney and wall suggests the basic enclosure and incorporates all service functions. The temporary timber structure is then inserted "in season" to create a flexible open space for bar, events or exhibitions.

This is a place to relax or meet. The mountain bar provides a short breather during the day or a place to settle in for the evening and is thus functional and yet homely...early visuals below...

New hapticians

We would like to welcome Janice Lau and Angela Lo to our London office.

Haptic Architects / Allford Hall Monaghan Morris shortlisted for the Oslofjord Convention Centre in Brunstad, Norway

[site photograph of existing buildings]
Haptic Architects & Allford Hall Monaghan Morris are one of five teams shortlisted for the Oslofjord Convention Centre in Brunstad, Norway. The team also includes Gross. Max, AKT II, Buro Happold and Charcoal Blue.

The £160m project is for a new 2,500 seat conference centre with associated restaurants, bars, six hectare sports-park and 80,000m2 of hotel/apartment accommodation.

The new facilities will occupy a prominent location both culturally and physically within Brunstad and builds upon the current large facility which was first built in the 1950s. Once completed the Oslofjord Convention Centre aims to be Europe’s premier conference centre.

The team will now submit a detailed design for the project and the winner will be announced in October 2011. The winning team will develop the Convention Centre in stages up to 2020.

Other teams shortlisted are:
 - Niels Torp Arkitekter / Bjørbekk & Lindheim
- Dyrvik Arkitekter / Østengen & Bergo
- Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter / Kristiansen og Bernhardt arkitektur / 
  Asplan Viak / KanEnergi
- A-lab / COWI

Jøssingfjord, Norway

Haptic's recent competition entry for a cultural centre in Jossingfjord references its mineralogical riches of the surrounding rocks and lakes, whereby black Ilmenite is mined and used to produce white pigment, found in toothpaste, paints and many food products. 

Enveloped in a charred, blackened timber shell, the building is characterised by two pitched roof forms, one dramatically cantilevering over the landscape and housing the primary exhibition space. Internally, spaces are formed in a whitened timber shell, floating over a cast concrete retaining structure.

The siting of the building, against the rock edge, frees up the former industrial site to create a landscaped park, addressing the river and providing external exhibition space. A former stone folly is capped by a elegant light installation, which demarks the entrance to the building. The form of the building is orientated so that exhibition spaces address key views, such as the infamous 'Helleren' houses. Rather than defining an epic panorama, the architecture samples particular moments, connecting intimately with the environment.

Expo Hotel Fornebu

More visualisations for the Expo Hotel... 

Haptic's new London office

Haptic have moved!  You can find us at 77 White Lion Street, close to Angel tube station.

New Haptician

Haptic would like to welcome Aleksandra Danielak to our team. Aleksandra joins our team in Oslo and will be working on a variety of projects including Tønsberg Estate Agent and Aker Expo Centre. 

Manufactured Landscapes & Kristiansund

Haptic, in collaboration with Narud Stokke Wiig Architects & Planners have been commissioned to design a new 4,500m2 service building and fire station at Kristiansund Kvernberget Airport. The service building is the first building as part of a major new upgrade of the airport, with runway extensions and major excavation and landfill areas.

The project fits in well with Haptic's ongoing interest in Manufactured Landscapes. Photos below from the first site visit.

Mountain Eco Resort

Inspired by a dramatic context of dark basalt mountains and enveloping sand dunes, this proposal is conceived as a collection of sculpted building forms that respond to the grain of the rock formations, gathered around a protected courtyard space. The enclosure wraps up the hotel rooms to provide controlled views to the surrounding landscape, whilst its form channels prevailing winds through the structure and works with water features to cool the building through evaporative cooling. The envelope, with high thermal mass is mediated with stone louvres which provide shading to recessed balconies and rooftop terraces.

The wider energy strategy employs a tri-generation plant for cooling network and hotel hot water, solar thermal energy solutions, photovoltaics and a biological waste and water treatment plant.

visualisations above, by Gruff Ltd and 42 Architects