User:Archisfun1998/sandbox

= Office Ou =

Office Ou is an award winning Toronto based architecture and landscape design firm. The firm's Co founders Nicolas Koff, Uros Novakovic, and Sebastian Bartnicki met as university students and formed the firm together, priding themselves on their efforts to bring awareness to the physical connections architecture creates and the socials connections between the users and their natural environment. Office Ou considers buildings to have a direct connection to the natural and cultural context the site provides. This emphasis on site awareness has led them to practice sustainable methods of architecture, as seen in their award winning K-house.

Nicolas Koff, OAA, OAQ
Co Founder of Office Ou

Koff studied at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving a duel Master of Architecture (M.Arch) and Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) in 2010.

Before co founding Office Ou, Koff worked with innovative international architecture firms such as Beijing firm MAD, France's Ateliers Jean Nouvel, Zeidler in Toronto Canada , and Field Operations in New York, USA , where he participated in working on the firms Qianhai Water City competition entry. His passion for sustainable design lead him to work as a research associate at the University of Pennsylvania where he collaborated on creating a cross-disciplinary course focusing on environmental sustainability.

Koff's understanding of the positive impact sustainable architecture can have on its surround environment. This is evident in his role of project manager for the acclaimed net zero K-House located in Hamilton Ontario.

Besides practicing at Office Ou, Koff also lectures at University of Toronto and is in the process of writing a book examining productive urban landscape typologies and their cultural root relationship.

Uros Novakovic
Co Founder of Office Ou

Novakovic received his Master of Architecture (M.Arch) degree from the University of Waterloo in 2013. His passion for design is equally fueled by his passion for researching the connection between architectural practice and ideology. Specifically, he finds interest in exploring the aesthetic implications that come within the philosophy of Salvoj Žižek.

Prior to co founding Office Ou, Novakovic also worked with sustainability based firms, such as Shanghai's A00 Architecture, New York's Kiss + Cathcart , and D.A Dizajnarhitektura in Belgrade - where he acted as the lead designer for the Faculty of Biology building at University of Belgrade.

Currently Novakovic and Koff are collaborating on a book focusing on the Productive Urban Landscapes, which is set to be published by Routledge. Previously, Uros has co-authored scholarly articles related to global public health, published in peer-reviewed academic journals.

Sebastian Bartnicki, OAA
Co Founder of Office Ou

Sebastian Bartnicki graduated from McGill University in 2010, where he received his Master of Architecture degree (M.Arch). The firms website describes Sebastian's role within the firm is to execute the project visions throughout the multiple stages of the design and construction process. His comprehension in architectural visualization aid in allowing both clients and contractors to better understand and participate in the design process.

Prior to co founding Office Ou, Sebastian worked with NGA Architects and KPMB Architects in Toronto, and acted as a construction admin for the Mike and Ophilia Lazeridis Quantum-Nano Centre at the University of Waterloo , where he developed considerable experience in programming buildings that house complex functional programs.

Garage Gem
Built: 2019

Location: Toronto

Photographed by: Adrian Ozimek

Built in 2019, the Garage Gem is an example of a revitalization project within larger movement of revitalizing the Toronto laneways in efforts to create social spaces in areas that are neglected. Large cities such as Toronto are shifting away from the modernistic use of garages for the purpose of cars. The development of public transit infrastructure allows for people in dense urban cities to move around without the need from individual cars. The need for garages in an urban city has become rapidly unsuccessful in land management. The under-utilized laneways of the city are often run down and neglected by the community, however the Garage Gem aims to bridge the connection between social relationships within the community and people’s relationship with their environments.

The flex-use space offers an open plan, allowing for programs to vary from a functional garage to an office space to a three season entertainment space to host guests. Designed with sustainability in mind, Office Ou utilized wood construction for the detached laneway project and embraced it by highlighting it with exposed Douglas-fir on the interior. The Cedar siding allows for the project to blend into its urban context of cedar fencing, with the consideration that after a few years of weathering the cedar will match seamlessly with its surroundings. The warmth of the Douglas-fir is paired with dark steel framed windows and doors to compliment. The project also uses large conservatory doors to allow for a direct visual and physical connections to the surrounding landscape and community.

K-House
Built: 2015

Location: Ancaster, Ontario

The K-House was built in 2015, and uses building methods that are untraditional to today's construction methods. . The Private resident home was designed sustainably, and when fully constructed was near net zero. Office Ou used 16" thick prefabricated panels of Straw to achieve an insulation rating of R-40. The Facade of the building is a mixture of charred Eastern White Cedar and magboard. These natural materials were selected to challenge the need for engineered materials to protect the home's exterior.

The home also features passive cooling and heating methods which help is achieve its low energy consumption. Utilizing passive ventilation strategies, Office Ou designed the building to suit the Canadian climate where the temperature often fluctuates depending on different times of the year. This connection between the architecture and the environment ties back to Office Ou's beliefs in exploring peoples social relationship with their surroundings.

Utilizing the roof of the building, Office Ou created a roof garden full of native plant species. This Architectural move creates an inside-outside connection on the second story of the house, allowing for residents to step outside and connect to their environment by tending to the garden. The building blends into its natural environment with subtle moments of overlap between new technology and traditional landscape.

Sejong Museum Gardens- National Museum Complex of South Korea
Project Stats: Under Construction

Project Date: 2016

Location: Sejong, South Korea

Office Ou was selected the winner of South Korea’s International Competition for the National Museum Complex Master Plan of the New Administrative City (Sejong City). Their submission was selected from eighty other entries competing for the opportunity to plan the two million square feet national museum complex in Sejong and design three of the buildings within the complex.

Their design concept allows for specific site relationships to occur and influence the materiality for each museum building. Throughout the site, a consistent architectural language and explore changes in scale and density of the diverse landscape. Office Ou adaptation of the on-site fruit trees influenced their decision to pursue an orchard model of framework for the children’s museum- one of the three buildings they are designing. Incorporating fruit trees in public and semi public spaces such as the court yard and roof creates social space s and materiality connections to the wood constructed building. Over time as growth of the trees occur the relationship will grow a stronger bond.

Awards
2020 - Ontario Association of Architects Best Emerging Practice Award

2020 - Exhibited at La Plateforme, Grenoble, France

2020 - Land and Housing Corporation of South Korea 3rd Generation New Towns, Honourable Mention

2020 - Lety u Pisku Memorial to the Roma and Sinti Victims of the Holocaust, Finalist Design

2020 - City of Istanbul Taksim Square Urban Design, Finalist Design

2019 - Exhibited at Pavillon de L’Arsenal, Paris, France

2019 - Profiled in “Architectures en Fibres Végétales d’Aujourd’hui”, D. Gauzin-Muller, Editions Museo

2019 - FIBRA International Awards Finalist

2019 - City of Seoul Gukhoe Daero Urban Masterplan, Finalist Design

2018 - Canadian Architect Award of Excellence

2018 - 1st Place Winning Design, Smichov Elementary School

2018 - Design Exchange Emerging Designer Award

2018 - Runner-up Jeju Geology Park Masterplan Competition

2018 - Profiled in “Canadian Contemporary: The Northern Home”, H. Jenkins, Images Publishing

2017 - City of Hamilton Award of Excellence in Architecture

2017 - Azure’s Top 10 Architecture Firms Breaking New Ground

2017 - Canadian Architect Emerging Talent

2017 - The Globe and Mail: Meet Canadian Architecture’s Unlikely New Idols

2016 - 1st Place Winning Entry, National Museum Complex of South Korea international competition

2015 - 1st Place, OISTAT Theatre Architecture Competition

2015 - Treehugger Top 10 in Green Architecture