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    “Proud Mancunian” Norman Foster to renovate Manchester United training ground

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    Architecture studio Foster + Partners has begun work renovating the interiors of the men’s first-team building at Manchester United’s Carrington training complex.

    The renovation of the training ground located around six miles from the club’s Old Trafford home stadium commenced yesterday and is being led by Foster + Partners founder Norman Foster, who is from Manchester.
    Born in Reddish in 1935, Foster described the design as capturing “the spirit of industry, grit and ambition that exemplifies both Manchester and Manchester United”.
    “As a proud Mancunian, it is a particular honour for me to see Foster + Partners given this responsibility,” he added.
    Foster + Partners will renovate the men’s first-team building at CarringtonThe project will include a complete interior refurbishment of the building, transforming it into what Manchester United described as a “world-class football facility”.

    Foster + Partners will initially focus on creating more streamlined interiors for the gym, as well as medical, nutrition and recovery areas.
    Renders show sandy-hued interiorsRenders released by Foster + Partners show sandy-hued, open-plan spaces illuminated by floor-to-ceiling glazing and filled with potted plants.
    “When we conducted a thorough review of the Carrington training facilities and met with our men’s first team players, it was clear the standards had fallen below some of our peers,” explained club co-owner Jim Ratcliffe.
    “This project will ensure Manchester United’s training ground is once more renovated to the highest standards,” he added.

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    The renovation is the latest stage in wider developments at Carrington, where the Manchester United Women and Academy building opened in October 2023.
    The Foster + Partners project is set to last through the next football season, although temporary adaptations will be made to the rest of the Carrington site to accommodate player and staff needs during the renovation period.
    The studio has designed the architecture for previously completed sports venues including London’s Wembley Stadium, which opened in 2007, and the more recent Lusail Stadium in Qatar created for the FIFA 2022 World Cup.
    The renderings are courtesy of Foster + Partners. 

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      Largest-ever Norman Foster retrospective opens at Centre Pompidou in Paris

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      An exhibition dedicated to the work of British architect Norman Foster has opened at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, showcasing drawings and original models produced by the architect over the last six decades.

      The exhibition, which according to the Norman Foster Foundation is the largest-ever retrospective display of Foster’s work, features around 130 of the architect’s projects including the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Headquarters, Hong Kong International Airport and Apple Park.
      The exhibition was designed by Norman FosterDesigns that informed Foster’s work are also exhibited, including works by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, French painter Fernand Léger, Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi and Italian painter Umberto Boccioni, and even cars, which the architect is passionate about.
      The exhibition, simply called Norman Foster, was designed by Foster with his architecture studio Foster + Partners and nonprofit organisation the Norman Foster Foundation.
      On display are sketches, drawings and models of the architect’s buildingsCurated by Centre Pompidou deputy director Frédéric Migayrou, the exhibition aims to showcase examples of Foster’s innovation and technology, his approach to sustainability and his ideas for the future of the built environment.

      “This exhibition traces the themes of sustainability and anticipating the future,” said Foster.
      “Throughout the decades we have sought to challenge conventions, reinvent building types and demonstrate an architecture of light and lightness, inspired by nature, which can be about joy as well as being eco-friendly.”
      Examples of Foster’s work are interspersed with cars that have inspired himThe 2,200-square-metre exhibition begins with a room dedicated to Foster’s sketches and drawings, a practice he uses to communicate ideas and log design inspiration.
      “For me, design starts with a sketch, continuing as a tool of communication through the long process that follows in the studio, factories and finally onto the building site,” said Foster.
      “In 1975 I started the habit of carrying an A4 notebook for sketching and writing – a selection of these are displayed in the central cabinets, surrounded by walls devoted to personal drawings.”
      Visitors begin the exhibition in a room filled with Foster’s sketchesThe exhibition continues in a large space with partition walls that separates it into seven themes: Nature and Urbanity, Skin and Bones, Vertical City, History and Tradition, Planning and Place, Networks and Mobilities, and Future Perspectives.
      The Nature and Urbanity section explores Foster’s approach to preserving nature by building “dense urban clusters, with privacy ensured by design,” the studio said.

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      Referencing a critic’s comment that the external appearance of Foster’s projects could be categorised as having a smooth “skin” facade or expressing its skeletal structure, the Skin and Bones portion of the exhibition showcases projects that illustrate the relationship between structure, services and cladding.
      In the Vertical City section, the studio showcases how it created “breathing” towers by designing open, stacked spaces.
      The exhibition features around 130 Norman Foster projects”We were the first to question the traditional tower, with its central core of mechanical plant, circulation and structure, and instead to create open, stacked spaces, flexible for change and with see-through views,” said Foster.
      “Here, the ancillary services were grouped alongside the working or living spaces, which led to a further evolution with the first ever series of ‘breathing’ towers.”
      It showcases projects spanning Foster’s six-decade-long career”In the quest to reduce energy consumption and create a healthier and more desirable lifestyle, we showed that a system of natural ventilation, moving large volumes of fresh filtered air, could be part of a controlled internal climate,” the architect continued.
      The History and Tradition section aims to provide insight into examples of historic and vernacular architecture that influenced Foster, while the Planning and Places portion explores masterplanning and placemaking in urban spaces.
      The exhibition is on display at the Centre Pompidou in ParisTowards the open exhibition space’s exit, the Networks and Mobility section displays examples of transport and infrastructure and leads to the final room, Future Perspectives, which exhibits concepts for future methods of travel and communication.
      On display are details of autonomous self-driving systems and designs for habitats on Mars and the moon that were developed with NASA and the European Space Agency.
      Foster recently spoke with Dezeen about his views on sustainability in architecture, in which he said “there are lots of dangerous myths”.
      The photography is by Nigel Young from Foster + Partners.
      The Norman Foster exhibition is on display at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France, from 10 May to 7 August 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Norman Foster creates angular retreat in Martha's Vineyard for “friends of the Foster family”

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      Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning architect Norman Foster has designed the Foster Retreat in Martha’s Vineyard as a holiday home for his friends and those of the Norman Foster Foundation, which features furniture designed by the architect for Karimoku.

      Named the Foster Retreat, the mono-pitch roofed building in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, was built opposite Foster’s US home.
      The building draws on traditional wood structuresThe home was formed from a series of angled steel beams that are connected by timber beams with smooth timber louvres enclosing an outdoor patio space.
      According to Foster, the holiday home’s shape was informed by North American barn structures, with large amounts of timber chosen to reference Martha’s Vineyard’s traditional wood-boarded structures and its sustainability credentials.
      Pale wood was used inside Foster Retreat”The retreat takes inspiration from the generous wooden barn structures of North America and combines that tradition of timber construction with a small amount of steel in the form of skinny portal frames which touch the ground lightly,” said Foster, who is the founder of UK studio Foster + Partners.

      “Wood was the obvious choice not only for reasons of sustainability but also as a direct reference to the traditional buildings that characterise the island.”
      The building has a visible gridThe site levels around Foster Retreat, which will be used as a private residence for friends of Foster’s family and of the Norman Foster Foundation, were contoured to hide the building from the roadside and situate it within the landscape.
      The studio also added indigenous plants to the site, as well as a bank of solar panels that together with “a high level of insulation and shading” helps the building be more sustainable, according to Foster.
      Norman Foster designed the NF Collection for KarimokuInside the building, the holiday home has white walls with pale wood panels and wooden floors.
      To match the pared-back material palette of the house’s exterior and interior, Foster designed a wooden furniture collection named NF Collection together with Japanese furniture brand Karimoku.

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      The collection comprises a dining chair, two stools, a lounge chair, a sofa, and a dining table, all of which feature pale “skeletal” timber frames and padded upholstery.
      “The wood-based furniture I designed for Karimoku is an extension of the philosophy behind the building,” Foster explained.
      “lt has always seemed to me that there is a commonality between the American Shaker Movement and traditional Japanese furniture. Given my own admiration for the qualities of historic Japanese architecture, there are evident cultural links.”
      The furniture has skeletal frames and white padding. Photo is by Chuck ChoiThe collection was developed as Foster had trouble finding suitable furniture for the space.
      “When we started to think about what type of furniture could best fit in the spaces created in the Foster Retreat, Martha’s Vineyard, we realised that there was no single specific collection in existence that could be used for the different uses of the building, so I decided to develop a bespoke family of furniture,” Foster explained.
      “Timber was a natural choice to match the spirit of the building.”
      Foster Retreat was designed as a private residenceFoster Retreat is Karimoku’s seventh case study project, which sees the studio work together with architects on bespoke furniture collections.
      “I see the collaboration with NF as an important step for us as a brand – not only do we venture into a new area with the case at Martha’s Vineyard, but we also show how the brand can accomodate a more diverse furniture collection, showcasing the unique design languages of the individual studios, yet still maintaining a red thread throughout the collection in the use of materials, excellent craftsmanship and high quality,” Karimoku creative director Frederik Werner told Dezeen.
      The collection marks Karimoku’s seventh case study. Photo is by Chuck ChoiThe NF Collection will also be shown in an exhibition at Karimoku Commons in Tokyo, the brand’s retail and showroom space. Karimoku was one of a number of Japanese brands that showed at this year’s Salone del Mobile furniture fair as the focus on the European market grows.
      One of the world’s best-known architects, Foster leads the UK’s largest studio Foster + Partners. The studio’s recent projects include 425 Park Avenue, which is the “first full-block office building” to be built on Park Avenue in over 50 years, and the tallest building in the EU, the Varso Tower in Warsaw.
      The photography is by Marc Fairstein unless stated otherwise. All photography courtesy of the Norman Foster Foundation.
      The Norman Foster x Karimoku exhibition is at Karimoku Commons from 21 October to 9 December. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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