Ecca collection

Kameha Hotel

You do not need to go in to the Kameha hotel in Bonn, Germany, to know that you have arrived somewhere special. Set in a curve of the Rhine in the suburb of Oberkassel, it looks across the river to some of the main elements of the city, or in the other direction to the Siebengebirge mountains. It is a low-lying building, rising only to a maximum of six floors, which makes the most of its position. Luxurious rooms enjoy magnificent views, and the entire hotel is centred on a gigantic transparent hall, that pays tribute to the great glasshouses of the 19^th Century, but using 21^st Century technology.

Images courtesy of Tomas Riehle, Köln (Germany)

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GDF Suez

The striking and somewhat stark appearance of the 800MW GDF Suez coal-burning power plant at Wilhelmshaven, in northern Germany, reflects the fact that this is one of the most modern and efficient power plants of its kind in the world.

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Swedish Pavilion - Shangai Expo

Designing the Swedish Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo was a slightly less daunting task than designing many of the other pavilions, because it had a clearly defined function. What makes these projects so difficult in general is the almost entirely open-ended nature of the brief – they have to convey something about the national character, and house an exhibition, but beyond that and the physical limitations of the site, it is possible to do anything. In the case of the Swedish Pavilion, however, there was at least a requirement to house meetings with potential trade partners, and this gave the design more of a functional programme than is customary.

Images courtesy of August Wiklund, Sweco, & Petter Eldin

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