The public plaza at 1221 Avenue of the Americas will become a dynamic public space – an inviting meeting place where people can enjoy the open air and views of surrounding landmark towers.

Hollaway Studio has designed the world’s first purpose-built, multi-storey skatepark in Folkestone, UK, as part of a major ongoing programme to regenerate the seaside town. The landmark building features three skateparks, a climbing wall (the tallest in the south east of England) and a boxing ring. It opens to the public this month.

The pandemic has heralded a fundamental rethink of our public realm showing that a fresh approach is needed to designing the spaces between buildings with multifunctional and long-life but adaptable solutions, ready to meet climate change requirements – as the trade association Interpave explains.

Designed by RVAD Studio, the design of Tagh Behesht in the city of Mashhad, Iran, began with an investigation into the architectural history of bazaars in the Western Asia country. The unbreakable bond between the city bazaars and the foundations of the economy has led to these Greater Middle-Eastern markets taking on an important and consistent role in people’s daily lives.

‘The doughnut effect’ – a familiar occurrence in Austrian communities. It slowly draws traffic away from town centres via local suppliers on the periphery, leaving the centre to die out. This new community centre, however, is fighting back against this doughnut effect.

For the longest time, Calgary, Canada’s third-largest city, resisted the very notion of design. Then, as Santiago Calatrava was called in to build the Peace Bridge, things started to change. And firms such as the marc boutin architectural collaborative (MBAC) are now able to propose – and build – projects that would not have been considered 15 years ago.

Sally Lewis describes the start of her career as an exploration of what architectural education could offer. She was a practicing Architect in South Africa by the mid-‘90s, but turned to urban design thanks to a scholarship to study in the UK. By the turn of the millennium, she had completed an MA in urban design and was in the UK for good, building up her career with roles at the likes of Llewellyn Davies, John McAslan + Partners, CABE and HTA. Here, we find out about Sally’s time in South Africa, discover the designs she’s worked on here in the UK and learn more about the opening of her firm, Stitch Architects.

Interface®, a worldwide commercial flooring company and global leader in sustainability, to-day unveils its latest nora® by Interface rubber flooring designs – norament 926 castello and norament 926 kivo – featuring a modern design aesthetic.