The architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry today, as with every century, focuses on certain principles that drive design. We’ll see buzzwords often referring to the type of architecture produced or its design ethos. For the built environment, community building and sustainability are at the forefront of those practices today. The following article will explore architectural projects that promote community design at its core, emphasising the works of the renowned architect Norman Foster

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Healthy communities_© 2024 Global Alliance for Behavioral Health and Social Justice

Community Design – the What and How?

It’s safe to say that COVID-19 drastically changed how architecture was perceived. Building design post-pandemic stressed community, human interaction, and the incorporation of spaces that would facilitate these interactions. Thus, community design became a bigger priority in the built environment today. 

Community design has always been something architects have paid due consideration to. The historical monuments we cherish today are almost all public buildings that have placed community and public interaction at the forefront. But what exactly do we call community design or community architecture? Any space we design that facilitates the congregation of the members of a community falls in the realm of community architecture. Community architecture, simply put, is the beating heart of architecture. It creates spaces that promote dialogue and interaction and foster communities.

But the question is, how do we design for communities? Community design, as simple as the concept, is a sensitive matter because of human beings’ sensibility and interactions. Community design always needs to be an inclusive process that takes feedback and keeps the people for which it is being designed at its centre and the deciding factor on design decisions. Community architecture is about designing spaces that allow people to congregate outside rather than stay indoors. It makes people feel seen and heard, and it makes people feel included in their context, culture, and identity. Community design allows a community to celebrate and participate in a quality space, promoting emotional connection and bringing people together.  

Norman Foster 

While most of the world considers the renowned British architect Norman Foster one of the pioneers of high-tech architecture and associates him with mostly glass and steel structures, sustainability and community design are an important aspect of many of his works. He has always strived to incorporate a natural and humanistic element into his designs using the latest technologies. He can even be credited with designing around these concepts when the terminology used to describe them didn’t exist!

Here are a few examples of the works of Norman Foster that have community design and human interaction at the heart of design:

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Commerzbank Headqaurters_©Foster + Partners

Commerzbank Headquarters, Frankfurt

The Commerzbank Headquarters in Germany, designed by Norman Foster, is a 53-storey high-rise in Frankfurt and is one of the first ecological office towers constructed. The building is designed around a central atrium that acts as the tower node, with office spaces stacked around it, which lets the surrounding offices access daylight and natural ventilation via open-able windows. However, the communal aspect of the office tower stems from the winter gardens, which are break-out spaces for the office spaces staggered across the office clusters throughout the building. 

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Commerzbank Headqaurters Plan_©Foster + Partners
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Commerzbank Headqaurters Sketch_©Foster + Partners

These winter gardens are a great place for people to connect and take a coffee break. They attempt to break from the working patterns employed mostly and offer employees accessible communal space that encourages human interaction and connection.

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© Foster + Partners

Ciudad Casa de Gobierno, Buenos Aires

Another project headed by Norman Foster with community building at its core is the Ciudad Casa de Gobierno, a city hall in Buenos Aires with offices for the mayor and around 1500 employees.

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Ciudad Casa de Gobierno Site Plan_©Foster + Partners

The project is adjacent to a park, and the design pays homage to its surroundings by integrating landscaped courtyards and walkways. The entrance to the building is through a four-storey atrium with full glazing, allowing scenic views of the park upon entry and exit. The offices in the building are internally terraced, allowing the impact of the entrance to heighten, creating visual connections with all the floor levels at multiple points.

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Ciudad Casa de Gobierno_©Foster + Partners
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Sectional 3D  of Ciudad Casa de Gobierno_©Foster + Partners

The shaded walkway at the entrance also acts as a space activator where activities like busking and dance routines or just people promenading across the shaded areas take place. 

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Ciudad Casa de Gobierno_©Foster + Partners

“The office floors are connected by top-lit circulation routes and punctuated by two large landscaped patios. The workspaces are open, the majority are naturally lit and visible, helping to improve communication between departments and promote a sense of community.” (Partners, n.d.)

HM Treasury, London

Norman Foster has been behind multiple adaptive reuse and retrofit projects, and the HM Treasury is a fascinating example. 

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A courtyard at the HM Treasury_©Foster + Partners

The Treasury, situated between Parliament Square and Horse Guards Parade, was completed in 1917 and is listed as Grade II. As with most buildings of that time, the Treasury comprised a multitude of dark corridors and underutilised spaces, which thus posed a challenge to refurbish according to the needs of modern office space. It also housed an elliptical courtyard in the centre, open to the sky, dividing the covered spaces into two, with a few courtyards branching out from the segregated building space, which were underutilised.

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HM Treasury Plan_©Foster + Partners

The design strategy then, was to open up the existing layout as much as possible, demolishing partitions, and utilising the smaller courtyards to accommodate tertiary programs like the library, café and training rooms by adding translucent roofs. The central elliptical courtyard, which was being used as a parking space, was landscaped to allow for another public space to open up in the building, allowing employees multiple avenues and locations for recreational activities.  

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Roof of the courtyard at HM Treasury_©Foster + Partners
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Cafe of the HM Treasury_©Foster + Partners

Existing light wells within the building were reconfigured to ventilate the building naturally and act as thermal shafts, expelling air from the office spaces via vents in the roof. The completed refurbishment added multiple communal spaces for the office employees, making the working atmosphere more enjoyable by providing these spaces to interact and connect.

Author

Irum is a practicing architect with a particular interest in cities and urban design. She believes cities have a profound impact on the lives of the individual and need to be rethought to build healthier purposeful communities, integrating the public realm.