City of Science

Developed in collaboration with Building Design Partnership | London, UK; Richard Rees Consultancy | London, UK; Burlando Architettura | Genoa, Italy

Our entry for the neighbourhood surrounding the new City of Science sought to turn current constraints and weaknesses into opportunities and strengths, through a robust, responsible, and innovative urban and architectural design approach that enriches its urban context. The location, linking two important green lungs and a number of existing landmarks. Within this urban structure, the City of Science with its new green infrastructure, would have become the backbone to this new neighbourhood.

The stacking of these hexagonal profiled elements rising above the surrounding warehouses would have created an important statement within the site, providing a new visual stimulus for the neighbourhood and a new vertical dimension to the surrounding urban space. More importantly, the scheme was planned to provide a mix of upmarket, affordable, and social housing typologies to foster the creation of a socially and economically diverse neighbourhood. The design sought to reinterpret passive energy strategies that are typical of sustainable Mediterranean architecture, through the play of setbacks and projections, solids and voids, the integration of screen façades and the creation of temperate interstitial spaces.