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© BICUBIK IQON, ECUADOR BJARKE INGELS GROUP (BIG) © Nigel Young/Foster + Partners
MOL GROUP HEADQUARTERS, HUNGARY FOSTER + PARTNERS
The new headquarters for MOL Group in Southern Budapest has now opened, designed by Foster + Partners in collaboration with Finta Studio. The new building consolidates the company’s Budapest operations in a single location, and is an “integral part of MOL Group’s sustainable vision for 2030.” The 28-storey building’s lower floors house restaurants, a gym, conference centre and other facilities for staff, while the flexible offices spaces are located on the upper levels. Greenery “travels through the heart of the building,” from the central atrium to the rooftop. The offset service cores create large, flexible areas that encourage collaborative patterns of working. Using cutting edge technology to control light levels, temperature and views, these workspaces are “finely calibrated to create an ideal working environment,” said Fosters. “Low and zero carbon technologies” include integrated rooftop photovoltaic panels, ground source heat pumps and a greywater recycling and rainwater harvesting system. The building is reportedly on track to achieving LEED Platinum and BREEAM Excellent certifications, “setting new benchmarks both for Budapest and Hungary.”
Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has completed its first building in South America – IQON, the tallest building in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito. Traditionally a city of dense, low-rise buildings, the skyline of Quito was re-imagined following the relocation of the city-centre airport. Client Uribe Schwarzkopf employed BIG in 2017 to design a 390,000 ft2 mixed-use residential building, including 215 residences, commercial units, office spaces, and a variety of amenities. IQON has been designed as a vertical community, and an extension of the neighbouring La Carolina Park. The exposed concrete facade simultaneously functions as the building’s structure, which features a curved corner, wrapped by terraces that continue around the building’s perimeter. Individual ‘pixels’ are stacked 32 floors high and rotated to provide the “best possible views of the park, city and the Pichincha volcano.” The ground floor plaza includes public spaces, retail units, and public art, and acts as a pathway connecting the park to the rest of the neighbourhood. Other amenities include an integrated “lap pool” and roof terrace, gym and squash court, spa, a bowling alley, entertainment rooms, and business centre. Greenery has been integrated throughout the building “in order to take advantage of Ecuador’s temperate climate and ecology.” Quito’s biophilia is carried from the public spaces below into the private domain of each home via the sculptural planters that are integrated into the architecture of the building. IQON is the first mixed-use building in Quito to have a preliminary EDGE certification, granted by GBCI (Green Business Certification Inc) and IFC (International Finance Corporation).
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ADF JANUARY 2023
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