Security

The site is located on the suburban edge of Kunshan High-Tech Zone, within an area planned as an industrial park. When we first visited, the area was still largely vacant land. A small canal along the western edge connects to the Wusong River a short distance to the south; downstream it becomes Suzhou Creek, which flows through Shanghai and joins the Huangpu River at the Bund.

The Tammisto Electricity Substation site in Vantaa has served the Helsinki metropolitan area as a central power grid hub for decades. The oldest systems on the site needed modernization to improve their reliability, capacity, and safety. To achieve this, the Finnish main grid operator, Fingrid Oyj, constructed a new building to house a 110 kV Gas-Insulated Switchgear (GIS) system, replacing an extensive, ageing air-insulated switchyard. The project also included the construction of new powerline structures, fences, a backup power generator, extensive landscaping, and fresh greenery. The construction process was carefully phased to minimize disruptions to ongoing substation and grid operations, and to ensure a smooth transition. The project also allows for future expansion of the substation’s capacity, future-proofing it for the growing need for electricity.

As civic buildings, fire stations are highly functional and technical facilities, unusually embedded in residential communities for citizen safety. At once practical and symbolic, contemporary fire stations serve a critical public service while conveying important civic values within a neighborhood.

Donzenac landscape is strongly characterized by its medieval village perched on a hill overlooking the Maumont valley. The village and the bell tower are visible from the site dedicated to the new fire station and overlook the lowland mainly composed of low-quality constructions in the foreground and resplendent forests in the background. The site is located in the plain, near the watercourse whose floods frequently inundate the place.

“Fukuyama higashi police station Ekimae KOBAN” is a police box of Fukuyama higashi police station, located in front of Fukuyama Station, Fukuyama city, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. Our proposal won the competition to design a new police box in front of the Station. According to Fukuyama Station Area Design Plan 2019, this area will be surrounded by high-rise buildings of offices and hotels. Therefore, our proposal was to design the police box at a human scale to reduce distances between spaces and people.

First 3D-Printed Construction in Chile. The University of Bío-Bío, on its Concepción Campus, has completed the first 3D-printed construction carried out in Chile and the southern cone of Latin America. Raising a small surveillance cabin, which tests the new additive manufacturing technology that promises to revolutionize construction, and demonstrates the advances of the UBB in this technological development. By creating a mixture optimized for printing with local materials and creating construction elements with an industrial robot, which now expands its reach with a large-format printer that allows for complete houses.

In keeping with its function, the new building presents itself as a modern fire station and complements the fire station campus with the large fire vehicle hall and the rescue control center. The striking building is located at the intersection of the two main roads, in close proximity to the Fulda River, and obviously refers to its identity as a new rescue control center. The expression of the building is independent and appropriate for a rescue control center.

Like quarried out of a block of red sandstone, the monolithic structure of the new fire station is positioned parallel to the B9 expressway. The building asserts itself independently and at the same time interacts with the surrounding streets. According to the motto – show what you do – the fire brigade occupies the functional and flexible plateau with its daily operations. The cube is harmoniously embedded in its new location with optimal traffic connections and fulfills its significance as the prelude and southern entrance to the city of Germersheim.

The new fire station brings together six previously independent firefighting units at one strategically located site on Langenalberstraße. The project was designed with the goal of implementing circular construction and sustainable planning in accordance with the »Cradle to Cradle« principle.