Parys House / Nadine Engelbrecht Architect

Parys Huis is a quietly resolved home that excels in balancing simplicity, climate response, and personal meaning, standing apart within a restrictive estate through calm detailing and a deep connection to its occupants and place.

SPPARC Studio Unveils Design for Residential Conversion of Former Ravenscourt Park Hospital in London

SPPARC architecture and design studio has revealed plans to renovate the former Ravenscourt Park Hospital in Hammersmith, London, which has stood vacant for two decades. The building, originally named the Royal Masonic Hospital and designed by Thomas S. Tait, is regarded as one of the first major modern buildings in the UK and was Europe's largest independent acute hospital when it was opened by King George V in 1933. Built to provide low-cost treatment for Freemasons and their families, the 260-bed facility operated until 1994, reopened as an NHS hospital in 2002, and was permanently closed in 2004. According to the recent announcement, the Grade II listed landmark, currently on Historic England's Heritage at Risk register, is intended to be repurposed as 140 new homes, a 65-bed care home, and spaces available for public hire.

The Built Environment as a Third Teacher: Architectural Play in Japanese and Chinese Kindergartens

In contemporary Japanese and Chinese kindergarten design, architects are transforming the interior spaces from a simple container into an active, multi-sensory environment. This shift seems to follow Studies in developmental psychology that suggest that a child's experience of space begins with a sensorimotor engagement through touch and manipulation. Thus, they place a strong emphasis on the use of materials and the approach of learning through play. Architects seem to be moving beyond traditional classrooms, into environments that are tactile, stimulating, and rooted in their specific contexts. The buildings themselves become tools for education, encouraging children to learn and explore through direct physical engagement.

Mana Workplace / IKSOI

Mana, Studio Iksoi's workspace, does not seek to overwrite its history but to engage with it. Retrofitted within an abandoned factory that belonged to Dhawal and Mansi's father, this 2000 sq ft. workspace is an evocative exploration of memory, discovery, and design. The intervention is subtle yet profound—retaining the site's original footprint while raising the ground level, IKSOI has created a space where the familiar becomes unfamiliar, and where walls once enclosing functions, now invite curiosity. Neither a mere restoration nor a stark reinvention, Mana exists in the in-between, where architecture becomes a quiet dialogue between what was and what could be.

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