Edinburgh Park G4 Office, Edinburgh

The flowing sectional diagram, expressed in the side elevations, delays a conclusion of ‘front or back’ until, finally, in New Edinburgh’s office, it opens towards the heart of the park.

As an “object building”, all vantage points are considered important. From within a cubic mass the building is poised with a latent energy, a tension between the self-contained, static form and something ready to burst into life. Neighbouring buildings are expressed either as ‘solid’- contained within walls or ‘void’- floors apparently floating. Here the qualities of solid and void, wall and floor are fused. The traditional Japanese line-symbol for cloud, usu-kasumi, expresses these fluid properties. While every culture builds its landscape to some extent, few have transmuted their skies into architecture, with perhaps the exception of Japan.

Client: EDI

Budget: £1m

Status: competition 2001