Ecca collection

Corlett Drive

105 Corlett Drive is a striking commercial building in the Johannesburg suburb of Birnam housing the innovative advertising agency The Creative Counsel. A two-storey office building sits above a three-storey car parking podium on three double-volume cones clad in lacquered steel “scales” from ArcelorMittal. These, together with high-specification glazing of the office space, comprise a dynamic architectural envelope that reflects the ever-changing sunlight, the sky and surrounding landscape, adding an element of high drama to an otherwise serious looking structure.

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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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IKEM Z7

The prestigious IKEM (Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine), the Czech Republic’s largest centre for clinical research, is located in the Kunratice forest, on the southern side of Prague. The softly curving pale green exterior of the new Z7 laboratories pavilion sits comfortably, in visual harmony within this woodland location.

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