Blueprint Awards 2017: The winners
Best Non-Public Project – Commercial
Winner: Zaha Hadid Architects, UK
Port House, Antwerp, Belgium
Judges’ Comments
‘For a commercial project it is a unique, stunning and bold architectural statement in a very remote location, that impresses through its extravagance.’ Ben van Berkel
‘The Antwerp Port Authority re ects?a beautiful historical layering of architecture that is based on intelligent research of the site and context.’ David Adjaye
A former fire station in Antwerp was repurposed, refurbished and extended to create the Port House, accommodating a new headquarters for the Belgian city’s port authority. The historic listed building required careful renovation to retain its original character, which is contrasted by a glittering vertical extension supported by a pair of concrete cores.Rather than positioning the additional spaces necessary to house the organisation’s 500 staff alongside the existing building where they would be hidden from view, the architects placed them above it, where an unbuilt tower forming part of the original design would have stood.
The extension is informed by its context, with the rippling water of the harbour and the city’s involvement in the diamond trade providing cues for the faceted surface. The fire station’s former central courtyard is covered with a new glazed roof that transforms it into a bright reception area from which visitors can access a public reading room and library. The new extension is reached from glazed lifts and an external bridge that provides panoramic views of the city and port. Blueprint contributing editor Herbert Wright visited the project and said: ‘The immediate reaction is shock and awe, in the sense of witnessing overwhelming power with spectacle. The thrill of science-fiction made real, a strong thread in ZHA’s output, has never been stronger than in the Port House.’
Highly Commended
Antonini Darmon, France
Extension of the CTLES, Bussy-Saint-Georges, France
Ruiz Pardo – Nebreda, Spain
Puma Energy El Salvador Headquarters, San Salvador, El Salvador
Commended
Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, China
Sulwhasoo Flagship Store, Seoul, South Korea
Finalists
Antonini Darmon, France
Extension of the CTLES, Bussy-Saint-Georges, France
dn-a architects, UK
Thames Tower, Reading, UK
EAA – Emre Arolat Architecture, Turkey
Maslak No. 1 Office Tower, Istanbul, Turkey
Jonathan Clark Architects, UK
Battersea Dogs & Cats Veterinary Hospital and Centre of Excellence, London, UK
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, USA
Harbin Bank Headquarters, Harbin, China
Make Architects, UK
St James’s Market, London, UK
MVSA Architects, The Netherlands
Danzigerkade 165, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, China
Sulwhasoo Flagship Store, Seoul, South Korea
Panshine Interior Design Co., China
YaokaiAnluan Court & Exhibition Center, Shenzhen, China
PLP Architecture, UK (Interior and exterior architect. Concept by AL_A)
Sky Central, London, UK
Ruiz Pardo – Nebreda, Spain
Puma Energy El Salvador Headquarters, San Salvador, El Salvador
Zaha Hadid Architects, UK
Port House, Antwerp, Belgium
Category sponsored by: DELTALIGHT
