A 10-storey building on Finchley Road is held up by a stone exoskeleton, an arrangement its designers describe as a world first. The project, called Petra Heights, sets stone not as cladding but as a primary structural element for a mid-rise London block, marking a rare technical experiment in urban construction.
Petra Heights was designed by Groupwork with engineering input from Webb Yates, the teams behind the project said. The building’s highly distinctive exterior places stone on the building’s face where it performs load-bearing duties rather than serving only decorative or protective functions.
Elsewhere in London, the week saw a landmark domestic work moved into public hands, as Richard and Su Rogers’ seminal 22 Parkside house was "gifted to the nation." The transfer secures public stewardship of a major modernist residence in the capital.
Technology news included Apple’s long-rumoured folding device, launched this week as the iPhone Duo. The company said the phone has the largest screen of any iPhone and represents the first major change in the product’s form since 2007.
In New York, memorial events for the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks included a drone recreation of the Twin Towers. Design studio Drift and architect Shigeru Ban used 2,977 drones to form the twin silhouettes, and coverage this week also revisited the buildings that have been constructed at the World Trade Center site during Lower Manhattan’s rebuilding.
With the NFL season starting, designs for four stadium projects were revealed, outlining new or revamped arenas planned for teams in Washington DC, Kansas City, Charlotte and Jacksonville.
The most-viewed design projects of the week included a house composed of clustered monolithic forms, a barn-like timber home in Slovakia and a bathhouse installed in a canal boat. Dezeen’s weekly podcast this week focused on Dyson’s first electric toothbrush, and the site’s regular roundup gathers the top stories each seven-day cycle.
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