DIMSCALE in Arrebita's studio + Visit to Sanitana factory

Last week DIMSCALE went to Porto to work directly with Arrebita Porto's team on the pilot project, that is about to enter the work on site phase. The work was developed in Arrebita's office in the historical center of the city, with both José Paixão and the fourth team composed by Sarah, Ruth, António and Madalena. Later, Arrebita's engineers Rita and Daniel joined our work session. 

We worked with the team on the revision of all written and drawn information, correcting inconsistencies and lacks of information. Was also planned the list of works to present to the contractor and made the compatibilization between all the different specialities. 

This work session was extremely useful because it allowed to make the final adjustments on the projects before its construction phase, avoiding misunderstandings on site and safeguarding the correct execution and the final quality of the project.

During the work session, we were visited by a TV crew from the Portuguese public channel RTP. The journalists were making a story about Arrebita project to be integrated on the TV show "Portugal Aqui Tão Perto", to be broadcasted all around the world through RTP International. The story will also be integrated on the main RTP channel (RTP 1), in the TV show "Aqui Portugal". The shows will air, respectively, tomorrow at night and next Saturday afternoon.

The journalist interviewed Sarah, that spoke about her experience as part of one of the international work teams, and Artur Sousa, that represented DIMSCALE as one of the partners of the project. In this interview, DIMSCALE had the chance to explain why it is important to be a partner of social projects like Arrebita - this is an opportunity to be part of a project that is making an effective difference in the social rehabilitation field and to be in contact with several different people and distinct ways of looking at Architecture.

Having been the first corporate partner of Arrebita, the work that is being done by DIMSCALE is a case study on the cost control approach to social rehabilitation projects in Portugal. In spite of being a project supported on materials and services donations, Arrebita has a real cost. This cost should be optimized and controlled, in order to have future references and for the project to meet with the current rehabilitation market.

On the next day, we were invited to join Arrebita on the visit to Sanitana's factory. Sanitana is one of the most recent Arrebita's partners, that accepted to be part of the project as a material provider. The visit to the factory was conducted by part of the commercial team of Sanitana and it included the complete visit to the production lines of both sanitary crockery and vinyl bathtubes, with the complete explanation of both processes' operation.

Part of DIMSCALE's work on the project is to establish some of the contacts with the needed partners to become materials providers, leveraging the knowledge of our team in this area and the set of contacts we have within these companies. Sanitana was one of the cases in which DIMSCALE intermediated the contact with Arrebita Porto.

ARCHITECTURE REFERENCES - The Shard, Renzo Piano

The Shard
London, UK
Renzo Piano, Italy

Year: 2012

"Renzo Piano, the project's architect, met criticism from English Heritage, who claimed the building would be "a shard of glass through the heart of historic London", giving the building its name, the Shard. Piano considered the slender, spire-like form of the tower a positive addition to the London skyline, recalling the church steeples featured in historic engravings of the city, and believed that its presence would be far more delicate than opponents of the project alleged. He proposed a sophisticated use of glazing, with expressive façades of angled glass panes intended to reflect sunlight and the sky above, so that the appearance of the building will change according to the weather and seasons. The building features 11,000 panes of glass, with a total surface area of 56,000 square metres (600,000 sq ft).

Following the destruction of the World Trade Center (WTC) in the terror attacks of 11 September 2001, architects and structural engineers worldwide began re-evaluating the design of tall structures. The Shard's early conceptual designs were among the first in the UK to be progressed following the publication of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) report into the collapse of the WTC. The building was designed to maintain its stability under very onerous conditions.

The Shard contains premium office space, a hotel, luxury residences, retail space, restaurants, a five-storey public viewing gallery, and a spa. The public viewing gallery is located between the 68th and 72nd floors, with its highest section at a height of 245 metres (804 ft), and is expected to draw over two million visitors a year. In addition, a shorter building, known as London Bridge Place, will be built nearby, replacing the former London Bridge House and completing the London Bridge Quarter development.

In addition to the tower, major improvements are underway in the London Bridge rail and Tube station and the surrounding area. As part of a Section 106 legal agreement, these improvements will include a new public concourse, as well as a public piazza, a museum, and local housing and regeneration programmes."
- text from Wikipedia.com

ARCHITECTURE MIDDLE EAST - Kingdom Tower, AS+GG Architecture

KINGDOM TOWER (under construction)

Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

 

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

 

Under Construction

Expected height: 1.000 m 
Expected total area: 530.000 sq m
Expected cost: 1,2 billion USD

Text from Archdaily.com:
"Over 1,000 meters with a total construction area of 530,000 sqm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture are currently in design development phase for Kingdom Tower. Slated to surpass Burj Khalifa by 173 meters (coincidently which Adrian Smith also designed while at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill) Kingdom Tower is the centerpiece of the $20 billion dollar Kingdom City Development, with the tower itself expected to cost $1.2 billion dollars. Featuring a luxury hotel, office space, serviced apartments, luxury condominiums and the world’s highest observatory the tower’s foundation drawings are complete with the piling currently being tendered."


"On 10 October 2012, Kingdom Holdings awarded contracts totaling $98 million. Kingdom Holding Co. has signed a deal with Subul Development Company for the sale of land in the Kingdom Riyadh Land project for $66.5 million. The Kingdom Riyadh Land project, a mixed-use commercial and residential development, will generate more than $5.33 billion of total investment and will house up to 75,000 people. The final master plan contract was awarded to Omrania & Associates and Barton Willmore. Bauer, a German Foundations equipment manufacturer and contractor was awarded a US $32 million contract to support the initial phases of construction of the Kingdom Tower. This includes the installation of 270 bored piles with diameters of 1.5 meters and 1.8 meters."
^{- Text from Wikipedia.com}

Access the project's article on Wikipedia to more information.
All photos are property of AS+GG Architecture.