Naturalis, the Dutch National Biodiversity Center, designed by Neutelings Riedijk Architects, is currently under construction. The stone cladding and the white concrete friezes, designed by fashion designer Iris van Herpen, are now being set on the exterior façade of the building. The spatial quality of the atrium is already visible. Guillem Colomer (COFOarchitects) worked as an architect in this project during his years at Neutelings Riedijk Architects.

The new design forms a sustainable ensemble of existing buildings and new-build, with each activity housed in a specific form. The central atrium connects the various parts of the institute: the existing offices and depots with the newly built museum and laboratories. The design of the atrium consists of a three-dimensional concrete structure in the form of interlocking molecules as a lace of ovals, triangles and hexagons. The filtered light that enters through the circular windows as a ‘glass crown’, reinforcing the monumentality of the space.

Naturalis will open its doors in 2019.
View the design at the Neutelings Riedijk Architects website.

Photographer Daria Scagliola has photographed the recently finished interior of the Talisman Travel Agency in Breda, The Netherlands.

In the latest project by COFO architects, in collaboration with interior designer Pim Bangert, a renowned brewery building is transformed into the headquarters of an exclusive travel agency. The monumental space presents a unique character in which the main original features were kept. New furniture pieces are strategically displayed to accommodate the new functions while enhancing the overall monumental effect.

View project.

Construction of the new-build Little C project has started in Rotterdam. This new neighbourhood combines different functions in a high density development. Guillem Colomer (COFO architects) collaborated with CULD in this project as project architect.

The Coolhaven waterfront area is a potential urban stepping stone in the city of Rotterdam. A programmatic mix of housing, office, commercial and medical commercial spaces is planned to take place on this rare open space in the center area of Rotterdam. The proposed development of the urban campus is based on the systematic development of a fine grain of buildings with a small scale that relates logically to the human scale. To embed the site into the city existing pedestrian and cycling routes are incorporated, alignments of adjacent streets are respected. The programmatic and public space connections with the surrounding urban quarters will be optimised. The interface between public and private space will be made soft and gradual by way of porches, balconies and relief in architecture.

View project.

Text credits: CULD

The definite design for the renovation of the M&I apartment in Sabadell (Barcelona) has just been presented. This integral update will transform a family apartment into an ideal place for an empty nester couple. The removal of walls opens up the living area and introduces daylight into the open kitchen and into the bathrooms. This wet zone will be fully enclosed by a robust cupboard with open niches that allow the entrance of daylight. The natural light filtering through the bathroom’s textured glass and into the intense blue tiles will create a unique bathing experience.

The construction works will start in spring 2019.

The plan to transform the interior of a housing block, currently occupied by a dilapidated warehouse, into a blossoming three-dimensional garden has just been publicly presented. COFO architects and art curator Piet de Jonge developed the ‘Rocky Garden’ proposal with the support and input of the local community. In this official presentation the project was shown to the municipality and other key stakeholders from the neighbourhood.

The garden aims to improve the social cohesion in a bleak neighbourhood. During the entire process there have been intensive design workshops with the residents. A participative plan has been developed to make a successful self-sustained initiative with more than eighty enthusiastic volunteers.

The next phase in the process will be to apply for the CityLab 010 and the Democratic Challenge programmes in order to support and finance the project.

View project.

The interior design for the Talisman Travel Agency in Breda is a careful and meticulous process. This week the materials and colours for the furniture were chosen in collaboration with the client.

In the proposal an intermediate mezzanine floor defines two different spatial qualities, which organizes the two main functions. Each level will be treated with a coherent material and colour composition to provide a unique environment. The double-height event space, downstairs, will have four big furniture pieces with a clear presence. These will be treated with bamboo patterns and a warm and varied colour palette, as if they were acquired on the remote and exotic travel experiences that the company provides. The upstairs area with workplaces and more daylight will have a bright atmosphere with a light blue colour palette and colder materials.

Construction will start next month and the agency is set to open its doors on March 2018.

View project.

Yesterday took place the first in a series of design workshops to discuss the proposal of a community garden in Coolhaven. The neighbours, art curator Piet de Jonge and COFO architects worked on feasible, participative plan to develop the garden. An inventory was made of the skills and capacities available within the community and their main needs and wishes were incorporated into the strategic design.

The proposal, initiated by COFO architects and Piet de Jonge, is to transform the interior of a housing block, currently occupied by a dilapidated warehouse, into a blossoming three-dimensional garden. The garden provides a sustainable and affordable solution to remove the debris of the warehouse by reusing it. The place-specific design that is achieved by reusing the material will give the garden a unique identity, contributing to the collective pride of the local community.

The garden aims to improve the social cohesion in a bleak neighbourhood. The series of design workshops with the residents is therefore an intrinsic part of the process and an essential step towards achieving this social goal. In the coming months the plan will be presented to the municipality and neighbourhood stakeholders.

View project.

COFO architects has been nominated for the LAMP Lighting Awards 2017 in the category of urban and landscape lighting with the project ‘Back to the Future’. This proposal focuses on an interactive urban lighting system for an out-of-use power plant in Barcelona.

The power plant site and its surroundings currently form a downtrodden industrial area with no urban quality. The proposal establishes a grand metropolitan boulevard that works at the scale of the territory. It crosses beneath the monumental towers to connect city and neighbourhood with the sea, establishing a diagonal axis. Its strong identity ensures its functionality both in the current non-urbanised state and in a future urban scenario.

The metropolitan boulevard is paved with an interactive lighting technique. Reflections on the rough glass pavement depend on the physical stimuli registered by the extra-sensible membrane that are amplified via the bright graphane net. The interaction of people, atmosphere and ground becomes visible in this multi-layered ever-changing carpet. The ‘Back to the Future’ lighting proposal forms part of a bigger project: a strategic design to transform the power plant into an attractive, cultural and productive metropolitan hotspot. The project can be viewed here.

The courtyard of the Nostra Llar School in Sabadell (Barcelona) has been transformed into a stimulating place with sensory learning. COFO architects participated in this project as architecture advisor to the school and the parents association. Through an intense team effort, a strategy to improve the courtyard’s climate and function was implemented. A light canopy has been set to provide shade during the hot summer days. Big colourful circles have been painted by the parents on floor and walls to organise the space and brighten the grey courtyard. Games and workshops can now be organised in the different circles, encouraging the open-air realisation of learning activities. The courtyard becomes an active element of the school.

For more information on the project, please contact Guillem Colomer at info@cofoarchitects.com

Guillem Colomer (COFO architects) has been nominated for the prestigious ARC16 Young Talent Award given by Dutch magazine De Architect. He has been selected due to the recently delivered project 'Workshop for the Mind', in which a former print shop was transformed into a Buddhist centre. The strategic design allowed the community to build their own centre by means of a participative process that consolidated a genuine collective identity and created an exceptional bond between users and space.

View Guillem's nomination video.
View project 'Workshop for the Mind'.