역사적인 우체국 앞, 60년대 지어진 오래된 담배가게는 새로운 패스트푸드 레스토랑, 맥도날도로 리노베이션 된다. 가로밀착형 건축환경은 외부 대부분을 글래스 커튼월로 디자인하며 새로운 건물의 가시성 확보와 내외부를 밀착시키는 투명성을 확보한다. 또한 인상적인 눈길을 끄는 화이트 스틸 (나선형)계단을 통해 파빌리온과 같은 심미적인 건축환경을 조성한다. (1층의 서비스 영역과 2층 식당을 연결하는 동선역활)
기념비적인 우체국과 관계유지를 위한 건축은 섬세한 디테일, 그리고 우체국으로 확장되는 뷰포인트를 충족시키기 위해 가능한 최소한의 코어 디자인과 입면 전체를 투명한 유리로 마감한다. 자연스레 1층은 가로환경과 연속된 공공성을 구현한다.
파사드의 다른부분, 금색으로 산화피막을 씌운 알루미늄 펀칭판넬(gold-anodised aluminium)으로 마감된 부분은 거대한 픽셀이미지를 구현한다. 사람들, 군중의 이미지를 재현, 내부 벽체에도 이러한 패턴을 반복한다. 음식 판매를 위한 레스토랑 뿐만 아니라 영업종료 후 야간시에도 외부 보행자들에게 매력적으로 어필할 수 있는 장면을 제공한다.
가로환경을 위해 발전기와 같은 각종 설비는 옥상에 재배치된다.
reviewed by SJ,오사
This McDonald's restaurant featuring a perforated golden facade and a grand spiral staircase was designed by Dutch firm Mei Architects to replace "the ugliest building in Rotterdam".
Located on Coolsingel, one of the city's most popular shopping streets, the two-storey structure was conceived by Rotterdam-based Mei Architects as a golden pavilion with a facade of pixillated imagery.
McDonald's had already occupied the site for 45 years, but until now the restaurant had been housed within a glass structure originally built in the 1960s as a cigar shop.
Rotterdam's residents previously voted the building the ugliest in the city, so the council was keen to demolish it. But McDonald's still had 40 years on the lease, so it was decided that a new building would be constructed in its place.
"Our task was to redesign the McDonald's and make it blend into its surroundings," explained studio founder Robert Winkel.
Team Mei: Robert Winkel, Menno van der Woude, Michiel van Loon, Robert Platje, Ruben Aalbersberg
Contractor: BVR Groep
Structural engineer: Adviesbureau Roelen
MEP: Sweegers & de Bruijn
Facade: Glasimpex, VPT Versteeg
Stairs: WV trappen
Fire safety: Grontmij
Interior design: NivOO3
Unlike the old building, which was built against the wall of a historic post office building, the new fast-food restaurant stands in the centre of the pavement to make it look more like a pavilion.
The majority of its exterior is glazed, providing views through the building. This allows passersby to catch a glimpse of the white steel staircase that spirals up from the service area on the ground floor to the dining room upstairs.
"The new building volume has been carefully detailed and articulated to open up views of the monumental post office behind it," said the team.
"As a result, the pavilion has the most compact possible core, with glazed facades all around," the architects added. "A fully transparent lobby, with entrances on three sides, makes it seem as though the public space flows through the building."
Other parts of the facade were clad in panels of gold-anodised aluminium, dotted with small heart-shaped perforations. Together, these form a pixellated image showing a crowd of people, which also continues on the inside walls.
"As McDonald's is open day and night, 24/7, its appearance after dark is important," explained the team. "By day the building is inviting to shoppers, while in the evening it glows to attract the nightlife crowd."
Mei Architects was also tasked with improving the environment around the building. The office's main intervention was to relocate the power boxes for utilities and traffic regulation from the street to the restaurant's rooftop.
The team also created fixed outdoor seating so that diners can eat outdoors, using the same street furniture already used in some of Rotterdam's existing public spaces.
Photography is by Jeroen Musch, apart from where otherwise indicated.
from archdaily