LAVA

July 10, 2011

A new office fit out in Melbourne features screens designed by LAVA for Schiavello's Climate range.The workspace at 500 Collins St, Melbourne for pharmaceutical and medication delivery company, Hospira, was designed by interior architecture consultancy Artillery and used Schiavello's latest workplace program, Climate, for all 190 work-points.LAVA's 'forest' markers were chosen as the screens to accompany Climate; they were chosen in meadow, a vibrant green shade, invoking the rainforest.

 http://www.facebook.com/workclimate

Photo Credit: Andrew Iser

10 November, 2011

LAVA has created a new typology for youth hostels with the revisioning of the Berchtesgaden near Munich, Germany.
Gone are the daggy dormitory rooms and impersonal spaces of your typical hostel.The new design features individualised rooms, bold colours, local materials and craftsmanship, and multipurpose zones. The sustainable makeover includes a low energy facade, floor heating, and the installation of a bimass pellet heating system. Built‐in furniture and integrated storage avoids the ubiquitous barracks style environment.The hostel refurbishment was a unique opportunity to explore some of LAVA's  experiments in space and apply sustainable technologies to an existing building.And if you want to sleep in one of LAVA's funky new bedrooms check out the hostel site http://www.design-jugendherberge-berchtesgaden.de/

14 February 2012

LAVA designs a learning environment "from Mars" for The Sydney Story Factory, a not-for-profit creative writing center Redfern, Sydney.

http://sydneystoryfactory.org.au/

Due to be open in mid 2012 the project includes a spaceship like portal system that oscillates through the length of the interior to a leafy rear courtyard. State of the art lighting, sound and fabrication animate a display, shop and writing workshop for up to 30 students and staff. The design also allows configuration of the space to support launches, talks and events that support the not-for-profit program of the space.

19 June 2012

Football and athletics-loving Ethiopians will have a new FIFA and Olympic-standard 60,000 seat stadium in Addis Ababa thanks to a competition winning design combining local identity with new

technology.

LAVA and DESIGNSPORT collaborated with local Ethiopian firm JDAW to win the international architecture competition for a national stadium and sports village, awarded by the Federal Sport Commission, Ethiopia.

Construction is due to start in 2014. 

28 November 2012

LAVA is creating the new interior spaces for an old cabaret theatre dating from the roaring '20s. The abandoned 1920s cabaret theatre has been recently uncovered in the heart of Berlin.

The music hall theatre has been buried in 30 tonnes of rubble since 1934 when it closed, perhaps as part of a crackdown on the cabaret scene by the Nazi regime.

Discovered by accident by Dirk Moritz of the Moritz Gruppe, the three level musical hall and restaurant was a cabaret venue and featured a grand ballroom, a theatre, beautiful wall paintings and vaulted stuccoed ceilings.

Project developers, MORITZ GRUPPE, will renovate the three story building, called the SECRET GARDEN, which will comprise spaces for small scale performances and exhibitions, studios, meetings and conferences, and luxury apartments for short term and executive rental. 

They asked LAVA to work with them on the design of the spaces. 

WORLD ARCHITECTURE NEWS previews the project: WAN

9 Februrary 2013

LAVA was short listed with 5 other international firms to design the Suzhou Zoo Masterplan.

We were very excited about the opportunity to combine our interest in nature and technology. We didn’t end up winning but thought we’d share this image of the zoo reception and entrance [a 'birds nest' of bamboo] with you.

With our partners Shanghai Landscape Design Institute and Battle McCarthy we took the competition brief from being a 'zoo beside a botanical garden and lake' to becoming a hub for applied bio-tech research.

While we didn’t make special provisions for zodiac animals who knows what snakes may slither into the zoo this year!

We wish everybody a happy 2013 – the year of the snake

31 OCTOBER 2013

LAVA signed an agreement for a new technology park near Wuhan in Hubei province China last night. A ceremony was held in conjunction with the Hubei Sydney Trade and investment fair in Sydney.  A great event!!

More details soon!

23 June 2014

Last week we signed a cooperation agreement with Hubei Province government and industry. 

28 July 2014

LAVA’s design for the Mission Hill Ice Rink facade is under construction!

LAVA was asked to design the facade for an existing ice rink in the city of Haikou, attractive seaside resort and capital of Hainan province, China.

The facade design was inspired by natural elements – wind, waves, ice - movement and energy.

The fin shaped glass louvres reference the blades of the skaters inside whilst the blue/cyan colour gradient suggests icebergs.

Saturday 20 September 2014. LAVA's Sydney office is pleased to be part of the 2014 BEAMS ARTS FESTIVAL.

LAVA will create a site specific digital origami installation and there will be a few digital origami tigers on the prowl.

ONE BRIGHT NIGHT IN CHIPPENDALE takes place on Saturday 20 September 2014 from 5-10pm.

The BEAMS Arts Festival will once again immerse the laneways of Chippendale with 350 creatives working across a range of artforms under the theme of 'Utopia'.  The works will mirror both personal and collective concepts of Utopia to conceive a "wondrous paradise nestled in the heart of the CBD". 

Bosse says: LAVA is thrilled to be part of BEAM in 2014. As recent arrivals to the Chippendale precinct we love being in the centre of cutting edge creativity in this great city. As the next generation of architects exploring new typologies and approaches to sustainable design we are totally behind this year’s theme of Utopia – we hope our origami installations, inspired by nature’s own structural systems, will encourage people to see that the answer to efficient and beautiful design is found in: NATURE!

3 MARCH 2015

Construction of the new Headquarters of Philips Lighting in Eindhoven, designed by LAVA, is nearing completion. Just 5 kilometres of steel wire and 1500 panels still to hang!

29 July 2015

LAVA's concept to revitalise a brutalist residential building in Sydney is in today's Sydney Morning Herald.

"Rather than freezing architecture for an eternity, I think it's much better to adapt it to current circumstances," Bosse.

READ STORY HERE

6 November 2015

We have just opened our pavilion project for the Raumwelten Symposium. The inflatable structure is made of 100kg fabric and creates a space for up to 150 people. "More with less" at its best. And it will be re-used for the next three years!

The pavilion was designed by Tobias Wallisser and his student group, with Assistant Sebastian Schott, and Prof. Thomas Hundt. It was engineered by Form TL and built by Adunic from Switzerland.

Photo:Daniel Fuchs.

6 November 2015

The first walls are up for our Bayreuth youth hostel!!! The concrete structure will be completed by mid January 2016.

The ‘Y’ shape 180-bed sports youth hostel is a yardstick for the sports hostel of the future through innovative spatial configurations, sustainability at environmental, and structural and social levels, and integrated sporting facilities.

MORE INFO

17 December 2015

Wishing all our colleagues, clients and friends a very happy Christmas.

We look forward to working with you in 2016.

Our Russ the Bus for the Sydney Writers Festival brought books alive for over 4,000 school kids in western Sydney in November.

And the book bus will feature at the Sydney Writers Festival in May 2016 at Walsh Bay Sydney. READ MORE

Photo: Peter Murphy.

21 December 2015

Half of the concrete works for our new youth hostel in Bayreuth are done!

READ MORE

5 February 2016

LAVA's Sydney harbour-inspired 'regionals' area for Heinemann at Sydney International Airport is now open!

Its the regional products duty free area and the design is based on the eroded sandstone rock faces of Sydney harbour. 

7 April 2016

New snapshot of construction underway on our Bayreuth Youth Hostel.

Tobias Wallisser, Berlin director, says: "The beam around the staircase was a difficult piece of engineering as this is an upstand beam that wraps around a void. The concrete work is done - all looks great. Now the woodwork has started."

READ MORE HERE ABOUT THIS PROJECT

21 MAY 2016

Bayreuth Youth Hostel from today's site visit. Two more weeks to 'Richtfest'!

4 June 2016

LAVA's digital origami monkeys are swinging in the trees in Chinatown, Sydney for Vivid Festival from 3-12 June.

“LAVA has previously created digital origami tigers and elephants. We were invited by the Market of Lights organiser Haymarket Chamber of Commerce to create the monkey light sculptures (in celebration of the Chinese New Year of the Monkey) to hang from the eight trees in the heart of Chinatown for local and international festival visitors of all ages to enjoy,” said Chris Bosse, director of LAVA.

The monkeys combine ancient Chinese lantern making methods with cutting edge digital design and fabrication technology, bringing east and west together through tradition and innovation.

The life size monkeys are made of a lightweight fully recyclable lampshade material, polypropylene. Low energy LED lighting bring the sculptures to life.

“LAVA is pleased to be working within the historical and culturally diverse area of Haymarket through the language of art and light with this installation. A popular figure in Chinese culture, many of the world's monkeys, apes and other primates are in danger of becoming extinct, so we also hope to draw attention to their plight,” he added.

LAVA worked with lighting designer Michael Day, Lecturer, School of Design, UTS, to create the installation.

The installation was launched during the Vivid Light Walk which features more than 60 spectacular light art installations, large-scale illuminations and mesmerising 3D-mapped building projections.

16 June 2016

LAVA Berlin team at the Topping Out ceremony of the Bayreuth Youth Hostel! 

12 OCTOBER 2016

Beacon, knowledge centre, tourist attraction and … energy storage centre.

LAVA’s winning competition entry for an energy park and energy storage building in Heidelberg, Germany for the Stadtwerke Heidelberg Energie, will commence construction in 2017.

The existing cylindrical-shaped storage centre is turned into a dynamic sculpture, a city icon, a knowledge hub on sustainable energy and fully accessible to the public with city views.

27 January 2017

LAVA's design for a new restaurant, Olio Kensington Street, in inner Sydney, is inspired by the ingredients of Sicily.. luscious green olive oil, a leisurely stroll in the afternoon. 

LAVA created a passeggiata, using Sicilian tiles, that flows through the restaurant and connects the kitchen, bar, dining and rooftop areas. This circulation system subdivides the floor area, separating serving spaces and served spaces and is also expressed in the ceiling with a layered green ribbon reflecting the layout.

Two pieces of ‘furniture’, free flowing joinery elements for kitchen and bar, and soft, dripping, LED-lit lines on the joinery, interpret the idea of flowing oil.

The restaurant is an exciting new addition to the transformation of the Chippendale area.

21 March 2017

LAVA's Bayreuth youth hostel is nearing completion with an opening due mid year.

READ MORE

2 June 2017

LAVA’s membrane pavilion showcases a new installation, ‘Inside the Flower’, an experiential medicinal garden by Australian artist Janet Laurence at the International Garden Exposition (IGA) Berlin.

LAVA collaborated with Janet Laurence to materialise her laboratory-like space of discovery, an exhibition of medicinal plants, showcasing the diversity and ambivalence of botany.

Taking Laurence’s concept design LAVA created the sculptural pavilion based on the geometric structure of a medicinal plant, a fabricated cellular environment inspired by plant anatomy.

A transparent mesh membrane made of natural cotton is wrapped around the outside of the pavilion structure. The stainless steel cupola has twelve ribs to support a central ring, with two industrial perspex skylights forming a lens. This inflated translucent water bubble connects with tubes and hanging vials of plant fluids. Five rings of curvy shelves house cellular clusters to display the plants. 

Both botanical display and performative space it allows visitors explore the plant world from the inside. 

The Pavilion is on display until 15 October 2017.

12 NOVEMBER 2017

LAVA is excited to be working with the Sydney Story Factory on its new site in western Sydney!

It’s a heritage-listed cottage built in the late 1830s. During the 1840s and 50s it was the family home of Count Lucien de Broel Plater. A wealthy nobleman who had served in the army, the Count fled Poland after helping to lead an uprising against the Russians. He lived there with his 10 sons and daughters, and opened a confectionary shop.

We are working with Berents Project Management and The Glue Society on the design. More to come soon! 

12 February 2018

LAVA is celebrating the Lunar New Year by announcing new projects in Vietnam. We've have recently won two international competitions - for a mixed-use development Tien Bo City and the Detech company headquarters. And we’re designing a residential/office tower in Van Phu, an experiential Dilmah tea shop, and, with our HCMC-based design partner Module K, a series of kindergartens.

25 May 2018

Excavations have started for the Future Energy Tower in Heidelberg!

In the coming months, the 2m deep foundations for the storage tank, which will have a diameter of 30m, will be built.

2 August 2018

LAVA' s new kindergarten is under construciton in Vinh Vietnam. Our partners are Module K.

EcoKid Kindergarten features an indoor-outdoor playful, safe and fun environment for the next generation of Vietnamese children. A 5,000 sqm series of buildings create indoor and outdoor spaces that are playful and safe while making an architectural statement. The buildings form three courtyards and playgrounds with a forest in between, with breezes from the adjacent lake adding to the natural experience. World-class interiors will educate, challenge and entertain children.

20 August 2018

LAVA is thrilled to be part of the winning team for the German Pavilion at the 2020 World Expo in Dubai, UAE!

Our partners are Cologne-based agency facts and fiction, Swiss construction company ADUNIC, and pavilion manager Koelnmesse.

Visuals and concepts will be revealed at a media conference in Cologne on 4th September!

http://www.koelnmesse.com/…/W…/Einstiegsseite-Dubai-2020.php

 

Yesterday we had a big official event at Bayreuth for the new youth hostel. The ‘Y’ shape 180-bed sports hostel will feature innovative spatial configurations, sustainability at environmental, and structural and social levels, and integrated sporting facilities and include facilities for wheelchair athletes.

The event included breaking ground to mark the beginning of construction and LAVA members who took part at yesterdays event were Tobias Wallisser, Alexander Rieck, Julian Fahrenkamp (project leader of the youth hostel) and Angelika Hermann (construction planning, youth hostel

24 September 2018

First site visit of the team for the Expo 2020 German Pavilion with the German Ambassador to the UAE, the General Commissioner, the directors of the pavilion and our planning partners.

3 November 2018

Latest image from the Energy Tower under construction in Heidelberg!

14 January 2019

Great progress on our Energy Storage Centre! Its reached about 1/2 of its total height and we're currently testing colour options. 
image is the lower part, the future tank.

23 APRIL 2019

The German Pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai has broken ground!

At the Groundbreaking Ceremony: Tobias Wallisser LAVA; Dietmar Jähn (Mitte) facts and fiction; Harald Dosch NUSSLI Adunic.

More info: 

https://www.expo2020germany.de/en/media/press-archive/groundbreaking-ceremony-in-dubai

23 May 2019

LAVA with A24 Landschafts GmbH have won a competition for the Synergy Park Lühn in Lingen, a new trade and technology park to be built on ten hectares. LühnBau announced a two-phase international architecture competition seeking: Innovation; Synergy; and Work-life balance.

Preparations for the issuing of a building permit are underway together with the master plan. LAVA will start the building design in June.

https://luehnprojekt.de

24 July 2019

Construction progress on Hainan Ocean Flower Resort!

http://www.l-a-v-a.net/projects/hainan-ocean-flower-resort/

2 NOVEMBER 2019

Caves, waterholes and campfires. These are the diverse spaces for intergenerational learning in a new purpose-built campus in Hamburg, Germany.

LAVA joined forces with urban agricultural collective Cityplot to design LIFE Hamburg, a new figure eight-shaped building of three levels that is energy self-sufficient, and brings inside and outside together into one continuous landscape.

MORE INFO

15 DECEMBER 2019

Sinous seating softens hospital entrance.

Installation shot of our new seat at Blacktown Hospital in Sydney.

The playful sculpture is made from marine plywood. The curved form and flowing lines allow for multiple seating positions and encourage interaction, communication and relaxation. The seat measures 4 m and was manufactured by FINO Joinery. The seat by LAVA was commissioned by HARC for Stage 2 of the hospital redevelopment.

In 2016 Bosse designed an 80 piece glass eel chandelier for the Hospital foyer of Stage 1 in collaboration with Leanne Taubin and glass artist Ben Edols. See: https://lnkd.in/g98AiyU

21 JULY 2020

The design for Heidelberg's new pedestrian and cycle bridge has won first prize! 

‪Tobias Wallisser says: “Its LAVA’s first major bridge and a great continuation of our efforts to make infrastructure of high public value contributing both to liveability and sustainability.”

“We are part of an incredible team – congratulations to schlaich bergermann partner and Latz + Partner.”

The IBA competition saw 14 groups in the first stage and five groups in the second stage.    

More info and images in German: https://iba.heidelberg.de/de/veranstaltungen/online-ausstellung-rad--und-fusswegbruecke-ueber-den-neckar-2-stufe

And in English https://iba.heidelberg.de/en/projects/neckar-cycle-and-footbridge

15 JANUARY 2021

Here's a timelapse showing the incredible progress last year.

WATCH VIDEO

1 FEBRUARY 2021

Tobias Wallisser and Christian Tschersich on site at the almost complete Pavilion.

15 FEBRUARY 2021

The German Pavilion has achieved structural works completion, marking another construction milestone. An average of 166 construction workers have been on the site every day since August 2019, clocking up around 472,000 hours.

The theme of Expo 2020 Dubai, “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”, is divided into three subthemes, each with its own district: sustainability, mobility and opportunity. The German Pavilion, in the sustainability section, has a prominent position on the main thoroughfare of the Expo, very close to the host United Arab Emirates Pavilion and Al Wasl Plaza, which forms the heart of the Expo site. 

Its eight months to go until Expo 2020 Dubai opens in October 2021.

3 MARCH 2021

How do you design a building that can cope with hot desert heat?
Located in the challenging environment of Dubai our goals for the German Pavilion @expo2020 were to be sustainable, reduce resource consumption and increase circularity.
In close cooperation with climate engineers Transsolar we developed a concept of graded temperature zones. Combining a human centred design perspective with energy efficiency, the building unfolds with the graded temperature zones creating a transition from the exterior climate to the fully air conditioned spaces. This avoids heat stress for visitors - a new approach to conditioning indoor climate that helps to save energy.

30 MARCH 2021

Listen to this great conversation betweeen the architects of the Italian and the German Pavilions at #expo2020dubai.

Featuring Christian Tschersich Senior Project Architect LAVA and Carlo Ratti from CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati!!

LISTEN HERE

1 JULY 2021

Expo 2020 Dubai opens in October! The German Pavilion is in the final stages of installation. We can't wait to share the final images with you.

Christian Tschersich, LAVA senior project architect, speaks with Michiel Raaphorst from V8 architects, architect of the Dutch Pavilion in this chat. Listen here

1 SEPTEMBER 2021

Fantastic image of the German Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai - almost finished and just a month to opening.

25 OCTOBER 2021

CNN Travel features the German Pavilion as one of the most spectacular pavilions.

READ MORE

20 DECEMBER 2021

Interni magazine has done a great two page piece on the German Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai. 

In the December print issue of Interni. READ MORE

9 February 2022

LAVA's Stuttgart office designed the 6,000 square metre marketplace for the new Terminal 3 at Frankfurt Airport, currently under construction. It features organically-shaped ‘island’ seating areas and a sculptural ceiling of aluminium tubes bringing daylight deep into the area.

Explains LAVA director Alexander Rieck: “In 2016 LAVA started work on the atmospheric design. We based it on our research into the natural flow of passengers and the process of way-finding and shopping”.

“Like islands in a fast-flowing river, lounge areas allow rest and relief from the movement of people. Located under the sculptural cloud tubes, they allow travellers to receive the full spectrum of natural sunlight. This is important for wellbeing and allows people to readjust their biorhythm according to the actual time.”

“The design of the reflective cloud itself is also informed by the flow of passengers and on fabrication algorithms.” 

Have a look at the website: https://terminal3.frankfurt-airport.com/en/highlights-of-terminal-3/a-great-place-for-passengers-to-spend-time

Construction update on the project: https://terminal3.frankfurt-airport.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Videos/_CLIPS/20211205_Clip_THG_Marktplatz_EN_NEU.mp4 

16 JULY 2022

Great progress - installation of helix stair and cable net has commenced.

Turning a functioning storage tower into a public attraction! LAVA's Energy Storage Tower in Heidelberg. 

30 March 2023

It was a grey and windy day when 20 architects and engineers from LAVA and Wenzel + Wenzel gave the 286 steps of the helix staircase of the Heidelberg Energy Storage Centre a good workout! 

In one hour, quickly going up and down three times they each took 1716 steps - equivalent to 100 floors - testing the staircase vibrations in real time. A real time check with a moving load.  They got great exercise and enjoyed wonderful views ... The next stage as the project takes further steps towards completion.

More details:

The vibration test was a special event - it is often done with bridges or church towers, but normally covered by a DIN norm or not done at all for other buildings. It was a first experience for many of the architects.

Commissioned by PFEIFER Group (which celebrates its 444 jubilee year this year) Professor Goldlack from the University of Wuppertal set up site sensors directly connected to a computer.  The 20 participants quickly walked up the staircase with heavy steps, at one arm length distance from each other, without stopping until they reached the top. Three times!!! On the way down they continued the fast pace, to simulate the speed of people fleeing the building.

And yes, good news of course - the staircase passed.

13 APRIL 2023

The concept for the German Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan was revealed at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action in Berlin. The pavilion, entitled "Wa! Germany", will showcase the concept of circular economy for a more sustainable society. 

Together with our partners GL Events and facts and fiction the pavilion seeks to be a truly circular experience, from the architecture and the exhibition, to the garden and the surroundings. We follow the formal language of the circle in the logo, exhibition and architecture. The guiding metaphor is in every aspect of the design: circularity. 

The concept is out now – more information read here

8 June 2023

Yes! LAVA loves bicycles.

A recent article in BauNetz on the 'Day of the Bicycle' drew on several project by architects around the world working to make cycling infrastructure more extensive, safer and more comfortable worldwide. LAVA's first prize design for Heidelberg's new pedestrian and cycle bridge over the Neckar River was one of them. HEIDELBERG BRIDGE

According to the United Nations, the bike is a simple, affordable, reliable, clean and environmentally friendly means of transport. A symbol of sustainable transport that conveys a positive message for sustainable consumption.

READ MORE

3 July 2023

The Zhejiang Gate Towers project (now renamed the "Wisdom Towers') has been recently completed. 

LAVA's original design of the two towers was based on the Chinese characters for ‘gate’, and featured a shimmering façade of fins. Working with our partners SOL and ZIAD we submitted our designs in 2014/2015.

READ MORE IN DESIGNBOOM IN 2016

15 March 2024

The design for the Kuwait Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka Japan was announced recently.

Designboom says: "The Kuwaiti delegation unveils the pavilion design for World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan. Picking up on Kuwait’s characteristic landscape and traditions, the structure features a distinctive silhouette with two symbolic wings inviting visitors inside. High ceilings, transparent roofs, and layered spaces complete the architecture, while premium materials are seamlessly integrated with lush greenery and state-of-the-art technology."

LAVA's partners on the project are: NUSSLI Group construction, insglück content concept and exhibition design, with schlaich bergermann structural design, Japanese architect of record Tokuoka Sekkei and Japanese construction company Mugishima Construction.

READ MORE HERE

10 June 2024

The Kuwait pavilion at Expo 2025 is garnering media attention.

The Kuwait pavilion is featured in Dezeen in its overview of "the thirteen most interesting national pavilions that will form Expo 2025 Osaka in Japan"  READ MORE and in Global Design News READ MORE

28 July 2024

Our two pavilions for EXPO 2025 in Osaka Japan have been mentioned in recent media stories on the most exciting pavilion designs.

Archdaily did a piece on the German Pavilion citing the circularity theme visible throughout the entire design. READ MORE

Global Design News has written up the German Pavilion saying: "The pavilion’s architecture and spatial design utilise seven round wooden structural elements, immediately conveying the theme of circularity." READ MORE

My Modern Met previewed "15 Incredible Pavilion Designs for Osaka Expo 2025". The Kuwait Pavilion is the first national pavilion mentioned one of 15 "architectural jewels".    READ MORE

28 September 2024

Fantastic night shots of the German Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka taking shape!

June 29, 2011

LAVA’s competition design for a new airBaltic terminal in Riga integrated Latvia’s provincial beauty with the future of air travel.

Inspired by regional imagery - linden trees, amber and ladybugs - it is infused with global concerns: sustainability, ease of movement, environmental efficiency, commercial viability, connectivity and leisure.

The terminal’s ovoid form recalls the Latvian ladybug and appears to float above the landscape. Two thirty-metre high amber-coloured ovoid windows flank the main entrance that face stands of oaks and linden trees.  Nature and artifice meld in the central courtyard with its grand oak tree.

The geometry of the terminal structure is based on surface tension. Services are located centrally, below the building, designed with long-term operation and maintenance in mind.

Sustainable features abound: low-carbon, geothermal heating/cooling, tri-generation, water collection and circulation for re-use, maximized natural light, passive design principles, flexible solar roof and even resident bees are used as environmental indicators.

This Hub of the Future embraces cutting edge technologies for the 21st century, with a design like a 'piece of amber on the forest floor catching a stray sunbeam'.

LAVA collaborated with Dale Jones Evans and Aspasia Sagiotis on the design.

29 November 2011

LAVA and ARUP received a ‘Jury Special Mention’ in an Australian competition to design relocatables - classrooms for the future.
LAVA and ARUP`s proposal was one of 116 submissions exploring diverse ideas for future proofing relocatable learning spaces.
Relocatables are the decades old, utilitarian solution to changing demographics, remote community needs, and disasters such as fires, floods and cyclones. However often they are perceived as cheap, dull, unattractiveand unpleasant spaces.
ARUP and LAVA want to turn this idea upside down and create prefabricated spaces, that are sustainable, practical, cost-effective and at the same time fun and exciting to be in.
The aim of the ideas competition was to produce effective spaces for 21st century learning that are sustainable, integrate with the landscape and connect with the school environment, suitable for prefabrication and mass customisation.
The exciting solutions are on show from 12 – 22 December 2011 at the Wunderlich Gallery, University of Melbourne.
The Future Proofing School competition was funded as an Australian Research Council Linkage Project. 

http://www.msdincubator.com/gallery/

19 April 2012

LAVA's vision for the proposed headquarters of the Green Climate Fund in Bonn is described as having 'maximum impact' and 'an ideal working environment'. 

GREEN CLIMATE FUND

21 July 2012

Today Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO, Governor of New South Wales, officially opened the Martian Embassy in Sydney.

She loved the whale/time tunnel interior created by the LAVA team with our amazing partners Will O'Rourke and The Glue Society. 

The Martian Embassy was designed as an immersive space of oscillating plywood ribs brought to life by red planet light and sound projections for The Sydney Story Factory, a not-for-profit creative writing centre for young people in Sydney. Cath Keenan, pictured with Chris Bosse, is the director of the Factory.

The design is inspired by the stuff great stories are made of - Moby Dick, H. G. Wells' Time Machine and 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick.

The concept is to awaken creativity in kids, so the design acts as a trigger, firing up the engines of imagination. It’s an intergalactic journey - from the embassy, at the street entrance, to the shop full of red planet traveller essentials, to the classroom. By the time kids reach the writing classes they have forgotten they are in “school”.

21 Februrary 201

LAVA have realised their first bridge design in Europe, a pedestrian bridge in Rotterdam, inspired by the efficiency and beauty in nature’s geometries.

FDN Engineering and Construction have named it the ‘Bosse Bridge’ and the 19m long bridge made from nine cubes of concrete has just been constructed in Rotterdam.

FDN’s demonstration project aims to show that ultra high strength concrete bridges with a very thin concrete deck are possible. It can carry a twelve tonne vehicle and the modular system means a bridge 30m x 5m can be transported in twenty-foot containers to all parts of the world economically.

LAVA's design references branching structures and the playful railing brings together LAVA's core interest in nature, technology and man.

FDN also have a Bionic Bridge design inspired by LAVA's Bionic Tower.

MORE INFO

21 Februrary 2013

LAVA and Moritz Gruppe have been nominated for the MIPIM Awards 2013 in the Futura category with THE:SQUARE³.

We’re up against just 3 others - Herzog & de Meuron, Lundgaard & Tranberg and Jahn. Winners will be announced at MIPIM in Cannes on 14th March. 

And there is a People’s Choice Award – please vote for us – you have until 11th March 2013. The link will redirect you to our project.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE: 

Three skyscrapers of gold, silver, and bronze make up THE SQUARE ³, a new mixed use development inspired by sport that revitalises a beautiful but underdeveloped urban quarter in Berlin. 

With a theme of Life, Nature, Sports the development by Moritz Gruppe is just nine minutes from the centre of Berlin and located near Europe’s largest urban nature reserve and a sports hot spot. 

10 December 2013

LAVA has designed a display suite for a new mixed-use tower in Sydney that merges natural materials and fluid harmonious space with high tech fabrication technologies. The freeform furniture and curvy walls and ceilings take the visitor through a journey of the new building. 

The marketing suite design combines LAVA’s creativity and innovation with PTW’s longstanding track record in the delivery of world-class buildings.

9 July 2014

Attraction, seperation and alignment - flow simulations inspired the design of the Philips Light + Building pavilion.

LAVA’s latest project used gaming industry algorithms and natures’ swarming principles for the layout.

The sculptural pavilion, at the 2014 Light + Building international trade show in Frankfurt, used a ribbon-based routing concept derived from visitor flow simulations.

Natures’ swarm principles are found in both animal and human group behaviour. In unfamiliar buildings, cities and emergencies, for example, people will follow others but still keep their distance. Flocks of birds clearly reveal these principles of attraction, repulsion and alignment. 

They used a combination of custom-made and open-source code and algorithms used in the gaming industry. 

LAVA was involved in the initial concept and layout for the pavilion. The idea was to create a brand experience that united all Philips business groups, from consumer to professional lighting, in one fair stand. An elliptical ribbon route wrapped four elements: entrance with special light installations, a light-dome, market-arena and a VIP grandstand.

Watch it here

1 August 2014

Thanks to our partners with the Greenland Centre: Brookfield Multiplex and UTJ Interiors. Good to work with you! And of course PTW!

24 SEPTEMBER 2014

The letter ‘Y’ is the shape of a new youth hostel in Bayreuth, Germany.

LAVA’s design is a yardstick for the sports hostel of the future through innovative spatial configurations, sustainability at environmental, and structural and social levels, and integrated sporting facilities.

LAVA chose the letter ‘Y’ shape because the geometry creates a building shape that interweaves interior and exterior space and generates a connective and beautiful central space offering expansive views and multiple openings to the sport fields and gardens. The central atrium is a hub for offline and online entertainment, interaction and communication. Here a skylight provides natural daylight to a central amphitheatre that connects the different levels, whilst horizontal and diagonal sightlines direct guests to different building functions.

There are flexible room walls with contemporary modular ‘built-in furniture’ elements; and rooms, grounds and sports fields are all wheelchair accessible. 

Construction on the new 180-bed hostel starts in early 2015.

17 July 2015

An official breaking ground event was held with to mark the beginning of construction of the Bayreuth Youth Hostel in Bavaria Germany.

LAVA unveiled renderings, perspective sections, elevations, diagrams of toilets, showers and guest rooms, and showcased a mock up of rooms at the official construction ceremony.  LAVA directors and team members plus the Lord Mayor of Bayreuth, the president and the directors of the Bavarian chapter of the German Youth Hostel Association and members of the Bavarian Parliament attended the event.

The ‘Y’ shape 180-bed sports hostel will feature innovative spatial configurations, sustainability at environmental, and structural and social levels, and integrated sporting facilities and include facilities for wheelchair athletes.

Pictured are Tobias Wallisser, Alexander Rieck, Julian Fahrenkamp (project leader of the youth hostel) and Angelika Hermann (construction planning, youth hostel).

VIDEO

30 October 2015

Construction has started on our high rise towers in Hangzhou, called the Zheijang Gate. 

6 November 2015

Russ the Bus is now on the road taking books to kids across western Sydney. LAVA transformed an old bus into a vibrant reading space.

More images soon.

Photo: Prudence Upton

24 November 2015

LAVA has designed an installation of 145 digital origami elephants for the Thailand (Small) Festival of Light which opens on 15 December, 2015. The festival will commemorate the 2015 Bangkok bombing.

The elephants will be installed on one of the skywalks that run up above street level at Ratchaprasong Junction, in the heart of Bangkok, site of the bombing. 

21 December 2015

KACST HQ ... New pictures of our construction-site in Riyadh.

Up up and away ...the tower is growing and more than 50% of the concrete works are done! 

READ MORE

12 January 2016

Archkids has featured our bus of books... MORE HERE

And so too has Archello .. MORE HERE

For more info on the mobile book library CLICK HERE

5 February 2016

Up, up and away - our Zheijang Gate is fast taking shape!!!!

21 MAY 2016

LAVA's 38 tree-loving fire-red Monkey Light Sculptures will be the highlight of the Market of Lights 2016 in Haymarket Sydney from Friday 3 – Sunday 12 June 2016.

http://www.haymarketchamber.org.au/node/2520

26 MAY 2016

Our Secret Garden Project in Berlin is fast taking shape, with the topping out ceremony due in June.

The re-modelling of the historic 1920s building will feature a stunning two-storey ballroom with beautiful stucco applications and wall paintings. Plus a new two-storey metal-clad penthouse addition.

SECRET GARDEN

10 June 2016

LAVA has unveiled a new project under construction in China.

LAVA’s masterplan for the mixed-use development consists of five buildings housing offices, residential, and retail. It features fluid building masses, improved positioning of the towers from different viewing directions, logical pedestrian movement and the removal of cars from the complex.

The twin towers form an iconic entrance to the city of Hangzhou. The high-rise towers are an interpretation of the Chinese characters meaning ‘gate’ or entrance to a city. Utilising extensive view studies the tower ensemble was positioned so it is recognisable as a twin structure, a gate, from both near and far. LAVA articulated the façade as two groups of long vertical fins wrapped around the buildings, a shimmering façade of fins. Fluid lines create zones within the tower elevations, whilst different colours of glass and varying depths of vertical fin elements generate refracted light effects animating the façade.

Construction on the twin towers starts in 2017, and the other buildings are under construction now.

29 July 2016

LAVA’s new  ‘regional products duty free area’ has opened at Sydney International Airport.

Its an abstract representation of Sydney Harbour with headlands, inlets, coves and beaches. Featuring living Australian bush, the cave-like shelves create an experiential showcase for regional Sydney products.

READ MORE

2 November 2016

LAVA has designed the recently opened digital technologies exhibition “Out of Hand: Materialising the Digital” which runs at the Powerhouse Museum Sydney until June 2017.

The immersive space is a trajectory through the history of digital manufacturing, featuring works by more than 60 artists, designers and architects from around the world, including Zaha Hadid, Iris van Herpen and Ron Arad.

4 February 2017

Our Tigers are on display at the inaugural Toronto Light Festival until March 12

http://www.torontolightfest.com 

11 April 2017

The facade of Tower C of our Zheijang Gate project in China is almost finished! 

READ MORE

4 August 2017

BREAKING GOOD - BEACON OF HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

LAVA's new energy storage tower for Stadtwerke Heidelberg (SWH) in Heidelberg, Germany has broken ground.

LAVA’s design will transform the new water tank, a cylindrical-shaped storage centre, into a dynamic sculpture, a city icon, a knowledge hub on sustainable energy, fully accessible to the public, a strong symbol of the transition towards renewables.

MORE DETAILS

29 January 2018

LAVA's Youth Hostel has recently opened in Bayreuth, Germany.

It’s the new generation of youth hostels - beyond just a clean shower and bed.

LAVA’s concept for the sports hostel is:

1. International - the design creates a feeling of the place and combines it with modern design elements 

2. Innovative – a new spatial configuration of the whole sports facility, individual room modules, material use and design.

3. Integrated – inclusive ‘barrier-free’ building, grounds and facilities

LAVA chose a ‘Y’ shape for the 180-bed hostel because it cleverly generates a connective central space and interweaves the interior and exterior spaces, offering expansive views and multiple accessible openings to the sports fields and gardens.

MORE INFO

3 May 2018

Chris Bosse is in Hanoi to sign the design contract for the Grandeur Palace Pham Hung, a new mixed use complex for living, working, shopping and leisure.

A skydeck connects three towers and provides communal facilties such as pools and barbecue areas, jogging tracks and cafes and waterfalls.

13 June 2018

LAVA's Kindergarten in Hanoi with our partners Module K is fast taking shape...here's a walk through from a recent site visit.

 https://veer.tv/videos/vinh-kindergarden-lava-and-modulek-site-visit-june-2018-177083?utm_source=url

14 August 2018

Our Story Factory Parramatta project is fast taking shape - our client imagining the future space via virtual reality glasses!

MORE INFO

22 September 2018

Campus Germany EXPO 2020 was just launched in Dubai – LAVA is proud to be part of an outstanding team to represent Germany.

MORE INFO

25 October 2018

LAVA has won an international competition for a five star hotel, 250 luxury condotel and 300 apartment apartment tower in Hanoi for the Nam Cuong Company.

29 November 2018

 Tobias Wallisser with the Raumwelten and students of architecture at the Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design and the Stuttgart Technology University of Applied Sciences designed this temporary, pneumatic structure.

https://www.raum-welten.com/english/pavilion/

https://www.mfg.de/aktuelles/…/1022-erfolg-auf-ganzer-linie/

Photo: Film- und Medienfestival gGmbH / Daniel Fuchs

16 January 2019

Our Hainan Ocean Flower island is blooming from the air

Check out the project here: READ MORE

27 APRIL 2019

Latest construction shot of the KACST headquarters. Its finished on the outide!

30 May 2019

LAVA, with schlaich bergermann partner and Latz + Partner, are through to the 2nd round of a competition to design a new foot and cycle bridge over the Neckar River. Commissioned by the City of Heidelberg and the International Building Exhibition (IBA) Heidelberg the aim is to create a comfortable, fast and safe route with open and green spaces along the bridge.  

The minimalist design is a restrained bridge, coming from the Ochsenkopf along the eastern edge of the gneiss over the tops of the trees. Above the Neckar, the bridge widens to a seating landscape with balconies on the northern shore leading directly over the water. The ramp to the bridge, which climbs on a rampart, protects the middle of the Gneisenauplatz square from the street and the pedestrian and cycle paths are consistently intersection-free. The design sensitively integrates urban and green spaces. 

A second competition stage due in March 2020 will again include citizen participation. 

Image credit:  
schlaich bergermann partner / Laboratory for Visionary Architecture / Latz+ Partner  

2 August 2019

LAVA, with partner ASPECT Studio, has won the international competition to design the 16 hectare Central Park in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, with construction due to start in 2020.

Gently elevated curving pedestrian walkways are patterned on 19th century railway tracks built by the French. Sunken gardens provide performance and play spaces and connect to an underground shopping area linking to the new metro station. Artificial trees provide shelter and harvest water and energy.

30 NOVEMBER 2019

KACST construction update! The interior taking shape.

MORE INFO

5 March 2020

We've just had the topping out ceremony of the German Pavilion EXPO 2020 Dubai. A traditional wreath with ribbons is lifted up, completing the topping out ceremony.

Great interview by Tobias with Art Papers on the German Pavilion at Expo 2020 - and all things LAVA.

Art Papers is an Atlanta-based magazine - the interview first appeared in ART PAPERS “Energy Structures” Spring/Summer 2019 edition.

https://www.artpapers.org/tobias-wallisser-expo-2020-lava-…/

© Deutscher Pavillon EXPO 2020 / Björn Lauen

18 DECEMBER 2020

LAVA's latest project in Berlin is a four level building pioneering a new creative hot spot near the former East German broadcasting centre.

The transparent cube features a light-flooded atrium - a way to create community right from the start.

Nalepaland will have highly flexible office spaces with up to 5,000sqm units per floor – an inspiring working environment for innovative minds.

READ MORE
WATCH VIDEO

20 JANUARY 2021

We are about to finish the #CAMPUSGERMANY building!

With eight months to go until Expo 2020 Dubai opens in October 2021, structural work on the German Pavilion site is almost finished.

An average of 166 construction workers have been on the site every day since August 2019, clocking up around 472,000 hours as they erected CAMPUS GERMANY under the supervision of construction firm NUSSLI Adunic.

The German Pavilion has a prominent position on the main thoroughfare at the Expo, very close to the host United Arab Emirates Pavilion and Al Wasl Plaza, which forms the heart of the Expo site.

11 FEBRUARY 2021

From sketch to building: the key idea behind our design for the German Pavilion was clear from the earliest concept sketches: its an ensemble rather than a single-building body.

The interconnected building blocks not only refer to the EXPO2020DUBAI motto "Connecting minds, Creating the future", but also embody the central theme of CAMPUS GERMANY representing Germany as a platform for fostering the exchange of views and ideas, networking and communication.

CONCEPT TO COMPLETION

1 MARCH 2021

Another milestone with the bike and footpath bridge over the Neckar! The Heidelberg Municipal Council decided to commission the first-placed team from the two-stage competition – schlaich bergermann partner, LATZ UND PARTNER LANDSCHAFTSARCHITEKTUR and us – with further planning services up to approval planning. If all goes well, construction can begin in 2023.

Our second IBA (international Building Exhibition) project in Heidelberg.

To the project page and online exhibition of the IBA: https://lnkd.in/eDA8qAv

13 MARCH 2021

NY magazine Interior Design has done a story on our Eco-kindi with Module K - "nurturing a lifelong love of smart, friendly, and environmentally responsible design."

https://lnkd.in/g6_uXcX

18 MAY 2021

Some interesting stories on the German Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Tobias Wallisser and Christian Tschersich talk about the design in this article in "Souq", magazine of the Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry.  READ MORE

What is the German Pavilion "Energiewende" (energy transition) initiative?? Gulf News explains the background.  READ MORE

The pavilion promises to be a 'moving' experience says Ambassador Peter Fischer in this article in the Khaleej Times READ MORE

And watch this drone footage showing the German Pavilion from a bird's eye view
READ MORE

25 August 2021

Christian Tschersich, LAVA's project director for the German pavilion, will be speaking at "Design the change", a series of talks organised by INTERNI magazine as part of their Creative Connections event in Milan on 9 September. 

The panel includes designers of various pavilions at Expo 2020 Dubai at the Università degli Studi of Milan. Its part of INTERNI's activities organised for FuoriSalone 2021, Milan Design Week, (4 - 19 September 2021).

READ MORE

1 OCTOBER 2021

LAVA directors Tobias Wallisser and Alexander Rieck with Pavilion Project Director Christian Tschersich at the opening of the German Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai!!! 

LAVA's other director based in Sydney, Chris Bosse, couldn't make it due to covid restrictions!

Exciting moment for the whole LAVA team and our partners facts and fiction, NUSSLI Group and Koelnmesse GmbH.

1 NOVEMBER 2021

Exciting to see construction on our energy storage tower for Stadtwerke Heidelberg GmbH is well under way!! Great to see the top being reached!!

Great collaboration with Transsolar KlimaEngineering and schlaich bergermann partner sbp.

3 February 2022

Exciting to see progress on our Energy Storage Centre in Heidelberg!

The tower glowing in the morning sun and the elevator shafts under construction. The crown has been completed! Next will be the panoramic restaurant! 

Shots taken in January by Miriam Gruber

READ MORE

28 MARCH

Only 2 more days left to go before Expo 2020 closes!

20 NOVEMBER 2022

Amazing image of our new energy storage centre in Heidelberg!!!  The pretensioned cable net which supports the helix staircase which leads to the roof of the 56m high structure. Wait till you see the views over the city!

6 APRIL 2023

We're super excited to announce that facts and fiction (creative agency) and GL events (construction) with LAVA has won a Europe-wide tender for the German Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan.

The winning concept was chosen by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK), the ministry responsible for German participation at Expo 2025. 

Watch the live stream of the winning concept design on 13 April – 10:00 CET WATCH HERE

26 May 2023

The concept for the German Pavilion Expo 2025 Osaka: an ensemble of cylindric buildings reflects on the motto “Mutually shaping a circular world”. 

20 June 2023

Our Heidelberg Energy Tower recently featured on the TAGESSCHAU German TV News.

The report was on the "Energiewende" (turnaround in energy policy) and Heidelberg Tower appears from 12:25 onwards.

WATCH HERE

15 OCTOBER 2023

Last week, the Wa! Germany project team gathered in Berlin to discuss the latest progress and LAVA presented the schematic design and the open space planning with plans and floor plans. We looked at the plant list, planting plan, and tree placement. And material samples, which making the vision of the project more tangible. A 3D animation brought to life the restaurant, shop and VIP area. 

10 APRIL 2024

LAVA particpated in the ground breaking ceremony for the German Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka. 

From left to right:

Thomas Quemin GL events; August Keller GL events; Christian Tschersich LAVA (Laboratory for Visionary Architecture); and Andreas Horbelt facts and fiction GmbH

Photocredit: German Expo Pavilion / Tasseer Badri

18 June 2024

Pavilion construction under way! The German Pavilion on Yumeshima Island, the Expo 2025 Osaka site. 

12 September 2024

The German Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka taking form!