#10 Oude Liersebaan 266 · 2570 Duffel · Belgium t +32 (0)15 30 85 00 · f +32 (0)15 30 86 00 www.reynaers.com · [email protected] Spring 2012 REYNAERS ALUMINIUM N.V. REPORT #10 TOGETHER FOR BETTER REPORT Magazine by Reynaers Aluminium for architects and investors ÁMBAR CENTRE Geometry at its best Focus The synergy of collaboration UNIVERSITY OF LUCERNE A striking complete makeover

#10 Edition Spring 2012 Publisher responsible: Birgit Huybrechs Production: A10, RSM Co-Publishers STRONG PARTNERSHIPS At Reynaers we strongly believe that success is always the result of a close collaboration between people. Our architectural projects are the living proof of the synergies we have created with all our different partners. We are thankful for the fact that we are recognised as developer of reliable and inspiring aluminium building solutions to the dreams and ambitions of architects, project developers, investors and fabricators all over the world. Whenever a project meets the highest...

in this issue interview 4 THE VISION OF GRAHAM STIRK Hans Ibelings in conversation with the top British architect SHOWCASE 14 Here you can discover some exciting new projects that incorporate Reynaers joinery FOCUS 18 THE SYNERGY OF COLLABORATION Together for Better projects 24 32 ENGINEERING AND INNOVATION CENTRE, SANTANDER HÖFÐATORG, REYKJAVIK A fine addition to Reykjavik’s centre Geometry at its best 40 46 NUI GALWAY ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, GALWAY UNIVERSITY, LUCERNE A striking complete makeover of a former post office building An impressive entrance to the NUIG North campus innovations 54...

The humanity of industrial craftsmanship A conversation with Graham Stirk 5 Graham Stirk has worked with Richard Rogers for more than twenty-five years, on projects ranging from LLOYD‘S of London in the early eighties to Leadenhall Building today. For this tenth issue of Reynaers Report, Graham Stirk, who joined Richard Rogers Partnership in 1983 and is a senior partner with Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners since 2011, talks about his office – ‘We believe that we can develop a complexity from really simple diagrams’ – and why he believes that ‘sometimes the standard needs questioning.’ Text: Hans...

3 One Hyde Park in London’s centre opens up views between Hyde Park and the bustling retail area Knightsbridge 6 in scale, the more distance there is from that central core to the external wall, and then it is not necessarily the right solution. But if we have to place the core anywhere else, we have to build up a very, very strong narrative as to why we think it’s beneficial to explore some other form of organisation. It’s not an architectural thing where we say, “Well, we always do this,” because we can’t win that discussion. We have to actually demonstrate that it will enhance a particular...

Upon completion the Leadenhall Building will be 47 storeys high 4 7 © british land ‘Whatever decision we’re taking today will not necessarily look like that in the future’

8 3 Graham Stirk (right) with colleagues in his office in London ‘Contributing to a wider society is immensely important; and it’s very much like the structure of our office, where everything is treated with equal attention, and where twenty percent of our profits goes to charity. I don’t think there’s any other company structured that way, because none of the partners have equity – we have just one firm. That was set up over twenty years ago, before I became a director. In many traditional architectural practices you have 2 Leadenhall building in the cityscape of London to buy your way in, through...

9 ‘Our weekly design meetings are a fantastic forum, because they pool resources and intellect so as to tackle problemS’ tough, and it’s not an easy process. When I was younger, we used to have people like Peter Rice and Tom Barker in these meetings, which meant there was a high level of criticism. ‘You’ve always got to be careful not to terrify people into this process. Things are done with a smile but we have difficult times too. I think it would be a dead system if it was not honest.’ Site specific According to Mr. Stirk, restraints and restrictions do not impede architecture. ‘The most difficult...

something very specific and gives the building a sense of individuality without us trying to say that we will make it different.’ This was also true for the Lloyd’s building nearly thirty years ago. ‘What everyone forgets about Lloyd’s of London is that it sits on a very irregular site. Moving the services to the outside gives it flexibility, but one of the key things was that there was a restriction on how much space it was possible to build, with a five-to-one plot ratio. Moving all of those services which couldn’t later be converted into office space to the outside took them out of the calculation....

11 3 View of the central wings of the Lloyd’s of London building overlooking the courtyard

12 3 The Bodegas Protos building is characterised by its roof building at the front. We said we wouldn’t do three buildings, we would do one.’ ‘The idea was to develop a roof, and the transparency of the façades reinforced the roof. This was also born out of wanting to engage with the town. We used local stone because it was cheaper than anything else we could get, and the roof only costs something like one million euros. It’s just this wonderful efficiency and economy of means, this fusion of technology and craftsmanship. It took us back into some of the early days of the Reliance Controls factory...

13 ‘The question is how to allow a building to have a dialogue with the city, with those people who are not using it’

SHOWCASE 14 Photography: Wim Tholenaars

Green headquarters rotterdam (NL) — In 2011, Dam & Partners created a huge office complex in Rotterdam, housing the energy company Eneco. The complex consists of three curved volumes surrounding a central atrium. These days, an energy company is obliged to have a sustainable building for its headquarters; and the company which developed the complex, OVG, sees sustainability as part of its philosophy. The building uses underground thermal storage and the southern façade has an integrated solar energy system. On its roof, both flat solar panels and solar trackers have been installed. Reynaers contributed...