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ABOUT LAVA

LAVA is thrilled to collaborate with you on your next project, bringing our expertise in merging nature and technology to create sustainable and innovative designs. Our philosophy centers on seamlessly integrating modernity with natural surroundings, utilizing organic geometries and integrated landscapes.

We prioritize climate control through sustainable energy sources for year-round comfort. Our commitment to sustainability is driven by the ethos of 'ACHIEVE MORE, WITH LESS' — designing with efficiency in mind. With a global presence and offices in America, Australia, Asia, and Europe, we are ready to work around the clock and travel for workshops on short notice.

Let's build a better future together

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GERMAN PAVILLION EXPO 2020

The German EXPO Pavilion features a ‘vertical campus’ design consisting of separate modules that converge at a spacious atrium

with a stage and restaurant, creating an impressive structure that reflects the country’s underlying theme.

The structure is made up of shifted mirrored boxes with a floating roof arranged on a multileveled layout. The pavilion will comprise

A mix of program, including restaurant, auditory, plaza, main show hall, biodiversity lab and terrace, future city lab and terrace, energy lab and terrace, queueing and pre-show.

CITY GARDEN HCMC

The residential development comprises six towers of varying heights.

Using nature’s structural systems achieves good passive solar orientation, maximising views, sun shading and integration of landscaping. façades provide both privacy and protection against solar radiation. Horizontal bands of glazing offer panoramic views across the city.

The towers are considered state of the art design and construction in Vietnam. They are popular because of their international quality, aesthetics and amenities, and respect for Vietnamese culture.

SOME OF OUR PROJECTS

JEJU HILLS HOTEL RESORT

Client:Undisclosed
Location:Jeju, KoreaStatus:Design Development 2011Partners:Arup, WoonyangSize:77m, 600,000 m2

CENTRAL PARK HCMC

Gently elevated curving pedestrian walkways are patterned on the 19th century railway tracks built by the French. Sunken gardens provide performance and play spaces and connect to an underground shopping area linking to the new metro station. Artificial trees provide shelter and harvest water and energy.

The site has always been about transportation. It had the first train station in south east Asia. The design references both this history and future mobility, with Vietnam’s first metro station opened underneath. Known locally as ‘September 23 Park’ it also hosts the important annual spring festival.

The metaphoric ‘railway lines’ remind visitors of the old urban fabric, provide directional paths, maximise the park's existing greenery, increase access to diverse functional areas and delineate a mix of active and passive spaces. They end with a dramatically twisting steel sculpture that further memorialises the transport history.

Artificial plants will complement the existing landscape. ‘Water purification’ trees collect rainwater to be recycled and used for watering, drinking fountains and fire hydrants. ‘Ventilation trees’ reduce heat and create fresh air. ‘Solar trees’ feature solar panels angled to optimise radiation and store power, and info screens, charging docks, and WIFI routers.

LAVA won Gold in the 2019 Sydney and NY Design Awards; won "Future Project of the Year" in the Ashui Awards Vietnam in 2019; and The 2020 GOV Design Awards, Gold for this visionary project

BAYREUTH YOUTH HOSTEL

LAVA’s concept for the sports hostel located in Bayreuth, Germany is:

1. International - the design creates a feeling of the place and combines it with modern design elements

2. Innovative – a new spatial configuration of the whole sports facility, individual room modules, material use and design.

3. Integrated – inclusive ‘barrier-free’ building, grounds and facilities

LAVA chose a ‘Y’ shape for the 180-bed hostel because it cleverly generates a connective central space and interweaves the interior and exterior spaces, offering expansive views and multiple accessible openings to the sports fields and gardens.

The central atrium is a hub for offline and online entertainment, interaction and communication. A skylight provides natural daylight to a central amphitheatre that connects the different levels, whilst horizontal and diagonal sightlines direct guests to different building functions.

There are flexible room walls with contemporary modular ‘built-in furniture’ elements; and rooms, grounds and sports fields are all wheelchair accessible.

The designer age means Gen Y travellers want funky design, access to online and community, unique experiences, not just a clean bed and shower.

LAVA’s design is a yardstick for the sports hostel of the future through innovative spatial configurations, sustainability at environmental, and structural and social levels, and integrated sporting facilities.

ZHEJIANG GATE TOWERS

LAVA’s masterplan for the mixed-use development, currently under construction, consists of five buildings housing offices, residential, and retail. It features fluid building masses, improved positioning of the towers from different viewing directions, logical pedestrian movement and the removal of cars from the complex.

The high-rise towers are an interpretation of the Chinese characters meaning ‘gate’ or entrance to a city. Utilising extensive view studies the tower ensemble was positioned so it is recognisable as a twin structure, a gate, from both near and far. LAVA articulated the façade as two groups of long vertical fins wrapped around the buildings. Fluid lines create zones within the tower elevations, whilst different colours of glass and varying depths of vertical fin elements generate refracted light effects animating the façade.

A third 90m high tall building and two pavilions are placed around the central public space.

ECOKID KINDERGARTEN

The kindergarten near Hanoi, Vietnam, unfolds with three semi-circular buildings over three levels linked by bridges generating a series of interconnected indoor and outdoor spaces that are playful and safe while making an architectural statement. The series of buildings form three courtyards with a forest in between, with breezes from the adjacent lake adding to the natural experience.

The design language - organic shapes, simple architectural lines, primary colours, different facades/windows coded by age – is all about growth. It’s child-friendly without being childish.

An education project for the future generation challenges us to question the ways we teach and learn. Rather than a sterile box with a teacher in front and kids in rows listening, LAVA created a learning environment where discovery, curiosity, interaction with nature and activity-based learning are encouraged to promote children's holistic development.

This vision is realised through a design based on nature and its structural geometries that inspires playful exploration of the world.

LAVA won Gold in the 2019 Sydney Design Awards for the Kindergarten under "Architecture - Public or Institutional" and a Commendation for Educational Architecture in the International Chapter Architecture Awards, AIA