The first of September is a good reason to learn something new. In the fifteenth edition of our Projects of the Week digest, we have gathered six architectural lessons: learning from the Vikings how to use the natural form of timber in a structure, exploring how an installation can frame a landscape on Kizhi Island, and doing the maths in Los Angeles to see how 19 studios can fit on a 418 m² site.
Kizhi in Close-Up The Lens | Design Wood Home | Kizhi Island, Russia
A timber installation at the northern tip of Kizhi Island acts as a frame for views of the historic ensemble. Its position was carefully calculated so that, from a particular viewpoint, the site’s principal monuments align visually into a single composition. The inner contour echoes the silhouette of the churches' domes, while the rhythmic timber-slat skin references the traditional wooden shingles once used to clad the domes of northern Russian churches.
A Green Valley for an Office City WeDoctor Green Valley | gad | Hangzhou, China
Covering approximately 580,000 m², the campus brings together the headquarters of the pharmaceutical company WeHealth Group, offices, housing, and retail spaces. Between the buildings, the architects created a central green valley open to the public. Planting extends across terraces and public platforms at different levels, forming a layered landscape. The various parts of the complex are connected by ground-level routes, underground passages, and skybridges.
A Walk Above Production The Plank Factory | Luca Fontana | Vancouver, Canada
This timber-processing factory is designed to make its production process visible to visitors. A pedestrian route runs across its planted pitched roofs, allowing people to observe timber being processed below. The roof forms reference the traditional wooden architecture of Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast.
High-Density Supportive Housing Loma Verde | Lehrer Architects | Los Angeles, USA
This permanent supportive housing complex stands on a site of just 418 m²—roughly half the size of an average single-family residential lot in Los Angeles. The six-storey building accommodates 19 studio apartments for people with lived experience of homelessness, as well as social worker offices and a rooftop garden. The apartments measure approximately 25−28 m² and each includes a kitchen, bathroom, and natural ventilation system.
A House Built on Viking Principles Cabin Sande | Helen & Hard Architects | Randaberg, Norway
The 112 m² house is framed by 18 whole spruce trees, excavated together with their roots. The idea draws on Viking-era Norwegian shipbuilding, where the natural junction between trunk and root was used to strengthen timber structures. Each tree was dried, scanned, and individually processed using robots while retaining its natural form. From the home’s main living space, a window more than nine metres wide opens towards the Atlantic Ocean.
A Spa Shaped by Level Changes Chongqing Bay Clubhouse | OTN | Chongqing, China
This 4,066 m² clubhouse occupies a site with an elevation change of almost 40 metres. The architects used the challenging topography as the basis for the plan, distributing spaces across several levels and turning movement between them into part of the spatial experience. The lobby, restaurants, lounges, swimming pool, and wellness areas are linked by stairs and lifts, while the terraces look out over the Yangtze River and Chongqing.