Breaking Ground: The Architectural Projects Beginning Construction

Construction has begun on the new Magdi Yacoub Global Heart Centre in Caro’s health and medical research zone. With views of the Pyramids of Giza, the centre will serve as an outpost of the Aswan Heart Centre, providing free, leading treatment for patients suffering heart conditions in Egypt and beyond. It will include 300 beds, diagnosis and treatment facilities, rehabilitation departments and an outpatient clinic. It will also feature an accident and emergency department. All will be connected by multiple landscaped courtyards to enhance wellbeing.

Image courtesy of Foster + Partners

After a four-month delay, construction has begun on Uncommons, a $400m mixed-use development designed by Gensler for Matter Real Estate Group. Designed to provide “sustainable work and living”, it will include 830 residential units alongside 500,000 square feet of office space, a cinema and entertainment complex, restaurants and cafes. The scheme also includes health facilities, a conference centre and a pedestrian trail. Phase one is set for completion in 2022.

Image courtesy of Matter Real Estate Group

Construction has begun on Kuwait’s new Palace of Justice, a striking 25-storey building that is set to become a “symbol of fairness and integrity” for the country. Hosting 123 courtrooms as well as standard and automated parking for 3,000 vehicles, the building with cover 192,000 square metres, including 100,000 square metres of office space. The exterior features cantilevered wings that are designed to represent the scales of justice, while a central, gold-lined plaza will form an open concourse to the space.

Image courtesy of PACE

In August, Stilt Studios began construction on Tiny Tetra House, a Kickstarter-funded tiny house built out of recycled materials, including Tetra Pak cartons, which are formed into flat and corrugated sheets for the roof and walls. Designed to not only promote circular economies but also serve as a prototype for the house, which will be available for sale in October, it will be available to let as a holiday home from November.

Image courtesy of Stilt Studios

After years of delays, construction has finally begun on phase one of HS2, the high-speed rail line that is set to cut travel times across England. Phase one will run between London Euston and Birmingham Curzon Street, with work initially covering viaducts, tunnels and stations at Euston and Old Oak Common. As part of phase one, a number of vent shaft structures will be constructed along the 10-mile-long Chiltern tunnel, including Grimshaw’s Amersham vent shaft headhouse in Buckinghamshire, pictured.

Image courtesy of Grimshaw