Jerry House by Onion is built around an indoor playground. Layers of springy nets stretched across an atrium at the centre of this beach house in Thailand by Bangkok studio Onion create a vertical playground that can be used to travel from the top floor to the bottom (+ slideshow).
Onion designed the interior of the holiday home at Cha-Am Beach for a family with four sons, who wanted a playful space that encourages a different way of living from their main residence in Bangkok. The studio based the design on the popular Tom and Jerry cartoons, imagining the space as "a big piece of cheese" full of holes and a continuous circulation route like a Möbius strip, which "would be a desirable route for Jerry to run away from Tom Cat.
" "Jerry House is thought of as the object that children would yearn for and that increases the meaning of having a holiday at Cha-Am Beach for the parents," explained Onion design director Arisara Chaktranon. Laverstoke Mill by Thomas Heatherwick for Bombay Sapphire. Dezeen Wire: Thomas Heatherwick has designed a distillery and visitor centre for gin brand Bombay Sapphire at an abandoned mill in Hampshire, England.
Construction has already begun on the renovation, which includes the addition of two curved greenhouses for growing the ten botanical herbs and spices that Bombay Sapphire use to flavour their spirits. Named Laverstoke Mill, the centre is due to open in autumn 2013. Thomas Heatherwick has been in the news a lot this week, after his Olympic cauldron was unveiled at the opening ceremony of the games. See all our stories about the designer » Here's some information from Bombay Sapphire: Bombay Sapphire Gin Unveils Plans for “Home of Imagination” in Hampshire, UK Visionary designer Thomas Heatherwick to restore historic site into distillery and visitor center for iconic gin brand Bombay Sapphire® gin, the world’s number one premium gin by value1, unveils plans for its distillery in Laverstoke Mill, Hampshire.
King Abdullah Financial District Metro Station by Zaha Hadid. Zaha Hadid appointed to develop plans for new London airport. News: Zaha Hadid Architects has been appointed by the Mayor of London to help develop plans for a major new airport in the southeast of England.
Hadid's firm will work alongside UK-based engineers Atkins and Pascall+Watson, the architects who designed Terminal 5 at Heathrow airport, to prepare a submission to the UK government about the future of aviation around the capital. "This work is essential to deliver the most integrated transport solutions for London and the UK," said Hadid. "It will enable London to maintain its position as one of the world's most important economic, commercial and cultural centres, outlining the city's future growth and development, which has always been founded on global connectivity.
" The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: "It is absolutely imperative that work to progress a new hub airport in the southeast is completed as soon as possible. The government has set a timetable that dawdles, when dash should be the order of the day. Socio economic impacts. World's first mobile research centre opens in Antarctica. News: the world's first mobile research facility, designed by British firm Hugh Broughton Architects, has officially opened on the floating Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica.
Above: photography by Hugh Broughton ArchitectsTop: photograph by station chef Antony Dubber The Halley VI Antarctic Research Station is designed to be relocated inland to avoid being stranded on an iceberg as the ice shelf drifts towards the sea. Huge tractors towed the modules on their ski-like feet over a prepared ice track to their current site. Designed by Hugh Broughton Architects with AECOM and constructed by Galliford Try for the British Antarctic Survey, the £25.8 million station is built to withstand extreme winter weather and is raised on hydraulically elevated feet to stay above the many metres of expected snowfall.
Above: photograph by British Antarctic Survey Above: photograph by Hugh Broughton Architects Above: photo by Sam Burrell See all laboratories » Arboretum Playground by Taylor Cullity Lethlean. Giraffe Childcare Centre by Hondelatte Laporte Architectes. A gigantic yellow giraffe pokes its heads out from the roof of this nursery and childcare centre in Paris by French studio Hondelatte Laporte Architectes (+ slideshow).
The larger-than-life statue appears to act as a supporting column, as its body pushes up through a cantilevered upper storey so that only legs, a long neck and a head can be spotted by passers-by. "The idea is to animate the urban landscape by using a child's imagination," explains Hondelatte Laporte Architectes. The aptly named Giraffe Childcare Centre accommodates a 60-bed childcare facility and a nursery for up to 20 children, in addition to playgrounds on each of its three levels. As well as the giraffe, the playgrounds feature a white bear and a parade of huge ladybirds, all constructed from concrete.
"Through their affable form, the lively animal sculptures invite us to live our dreams," say the architects. Photography is by Philippe Ruault. Here's some project details from the architects: Qihoo 360 Headquarters by David Ho.