*더 큐브, 버밍엄의 랜드마크가 되다. [ Make Architects ] The Cube

영국의 산업도시 중 하나인 버밍엄에 새롭게 들어선
더 큐브는 기존 지역이 가지고 있는 장소성과
새롭게 형성해야할 문화에 대한 볼륨의 크기를 외피의 독특한
캐릭터에서 시작한다.
더 큐브 안에 담겨진 오피스, 자동주차 시스템, 아파트, 리테일샵, 호텔, 스파, 레스토랑, 스카이바는
전체 공간을 함축적인 상업과 문화의 공간으로 집약시키며
또한 건물을 랜드마크화 시킨다.
여기에 드라마틱하며 임펙트 강한 외피시스템은 더 큐브를 직설적으로
강한 랜드마크로 정의 시킨다.
랜드마크로 정의된 더 큐브는 기존 버밍엄의 중공업 중심의 산업지역과
소규모 핸드 크래프트 쥬얼리 산업지역을 연결하며
물리적인 지역적 공간의 한계를 확장한다.
-외피 시스템을 정의하는 알루미늄 판넬은
금색과 브론즈로 코팅된 다양한 사이즈의 판넬을
대량 맞춤 생산하여 솔리드면을 구성하며
오프닝인 커튼월과 조합된다.-

reviewed by SJ

The Cube is the final phase of Birmingham’s Mailbox development and one of Make’s largest buildings to date. Comprising offices, an automated car park, apartments, retail units, a hotel, spa, restaurant and ‘sky bar’, The Cube was conceived as a building which would never close; crafted to open up routes and views to emerging neighbouring districts and permeable to both the users of the building and the community as a whole. Pivotal to the continued regeneration of the surrounding area,The Cube’s striking appearance has had a dramatic impact on the Birmingham city skyline. The geometrical form of this 23-storey, £100 million building has remained unchanged from initial concept to completion. Its architectural language is derived from strong local references to Birmingham’s industrial heritage, celebrating the contrasts between heavy industrial metal working and hand-crafted jewellery and watch making.

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Architect: Make Architects
Location: Birmingham, UK
Client: Birmingham Development Company
Collaborators: BuroHappold, Faber Mansell Fire, Faithful+Gould, GMJ, Hoare Lea
Project Area: 42,000 sqm
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: Zander Olsen, Make Architects, Craig Holmes/Images of Birmingham, Crew Photography

A bespoke unitised cladding system encases and defines the cube form. Gold and bronze-coloured an odised aluminium panels of varying size and depth are combined with glass,creating an intricate design which is complemented by an elegant and decorative metallic fretwork screen across the open side of the courtyard. The flexibility of this cladding system also plays a key role in the building’s environmental strategy; the proportion of glass-to-aluminium varies from facade to facade, with greater solidity on the southern elevations to limit potential solar gain.

The geometry and materials of the courtyard are an unexpected contrast to the exterior; glazed unitised panels twist upwards through the central courtyard, forming adramatic full-height open atrium which is animated by thecolours of the soffits and ledges. This twisting geometry ‘explodes’ at the top to form the angular rooftop space which crowns the building.

from  archdaily