Biodiversity

Sited on the edge of Brent’s Wembley Estate Opportunity Area, GRID Architects have designed and delivered Wembley Parade for Anthology, part of Lifestory.  © Jack Hobhouse The striking curved forms provide 192 new homes across a range of tenures and typologies, set within beautiful communal gardens that trace the edge of the nearby Wealdstone Brook. Wembley Parade contributes to an area that is developing into a great place to live and work, knitting into the London Borough of Brent’s strategic regeneration proposals. The scheme is comprised of two elements, a sweeping curved block which follows the edge of the brook and a dynamic 13-storey tower. A landscaped courtyard designed by Fabrik creates 18,500 sq ft of... More

As part of the Our Energy Our Landscape design challenge, a multidisciplinary team comprised of VenhoevenCS, DS landschapsarchitecten, and Studio Solarix developed a unique and innovative proposal that generates renewable energy while restoring natural connective routes for wildlife. The design for an ultra-light web over the motorway was created for the challenge location in the Netherlands, but it can easily be applied to other sites to become an important part of the sustainability of infrastructure and transport projects globally. This proposal offers a helping hand to small-scale ecosystems and in so doing contributes to a large-scale approach to climate change and biodiversity loss, hence The Butterfly Effect. VenhoevenCS Insect... More

The objective of the project has been the urban regeneration of an area of 8110m2 transforming what was an old abandoned sports facility into a new Urban Park. Pol Viladoms The challenges of the project have been diverse: 1- To make a Park that brings back the imaginary of plowed fields and orchards that existed in the area, promoting a very marked linearity in the elements, a cultivated nature and putting in the center the resource of plowing the soil as a tool of design and project. Pol Viladoms 2- To attain a dialogue between the Park and the biodiversity of the Turó de les Tres Creus, reserving 50% of the surface to be vegetated over time by the natural cycles with large carpets of plowed, fertile surface, stimulated... More

Nature-inclusive Amstelstroom Bridge functions as a new link in Amsterdam’s infrastructural and ecological network. Providing ample space in, on and under this bridge for a wide range of living beings to co-exist as part of urban nature, we made the integral design in a dedicated team with ecologists and constructors. Luuk Kramer Robust and richly detailedSpanning Duivendrechtsevaart, Amstelstroom Bridge functions as the entrance of the rapidly developing Amstelkwartier-area. It caters to all traffic with extra generosity for cyclists and pedestrians since these are eco-friendly modes of transportation that stimulate social interaction and a lively streetscape. From afar, the bridge shows its slim silhouette; coming closer, the... More

In Rotterdam, the Netherlands, the largest floating office building in the world has been completed. Floating Office Rotterdam (FOR) has been designed by architectural firm Powerhouse Company, commissioned by the municipality of Rotterdam, project developer RED Company, and the Global Center on Adaptation. This unique office is an inspiring example of today’s sustainable technological innovations and circular building opportunities, and will be part of a new floating park in the Rijnhaven port of Rotterdam for 5 to 10 years.    On the south-facing side of the pitched roof, solar panels have been added. On the north side, a 900 sqm. Sempergreen green roof has been installed. This green roof doesn’t only consist of Sed... More

KlokGroep has commissioned 78 spacious new-build apartments on an artificial mound in the green Dike Zone along the River Waal in Nijmegen. The spacious apartments, contained in three buildings, offer space and tranquillity close to the city and panoramic views of the river and the green landscape.    Situated on a mound The complex consists of three volumes that step up in height and increase in size, creating a sense of spaciousness and openness. Similarities in design and materials ensure that the three unite to form a close-knit ensemble. The biggest and tallest building consists of six floors and, in terms of height, appears grandly imposing beside an old orchard. The other two buildings, five and four floors in height, ar... More

Mitosis is the follow-up of a multi-awarded pilot project completed by GG-loop in 2019: Freebooter, a pair of prefabricated CLT (Cross Laminated Timber) apartments in Amsterdam, wrapped in a parametric timber louvered facade. The building was created using biophilic principles, connecting architecture with nature in order to improve the life quality of the people who use the building. GG-loop’s ambition to bring these qualities to multiple scales has resulted in Mitosis. The name Mitosis refers to the biological process of a single cell dividing itself into two identical daughter cells. It represents the modularity and the long-term adaptation of the system and serves as a metaphor for a flexible co-living organism where each residen... More

Mitosis is the follow-up of a multi-awarded pilot project completed by GG-loop in 2019: Freebooter, a pair of prefabricated CLT (Cross Laminated Timber) apartments in Amsterdam, wrapped in a parametric timber louvered facade. The building was created using biophilic principles, connecting architecture with nature in order to improve the life quality of the people who use the building. GG-loop’s ambition to bring these qualities to multiple scales has resulted in Mitosis. The name Mitosis refers to the biological process of a single cell dividing itself into two identical daughter cells. It represents the modularity and the long-term adaptation of the system and serves as a metaphor for a flexible co-living organism where each residen... More

Thanks to PCA-STREAM’s project, the complex at 173–175 Haussmann recovers urban legibility that measuring up to its exceptional location a stone’s throw away from Place de l’Étoile, magnified by a majestic entrance at the bow of the building. ©Jean-Philippe Mesguen pour PCA-STREAM ©Jean-Philippe Mesguen pour PCA-STREAM Finally brought together in a coherent manner, via an overhaul of distribution, the new complex offers floors that are flexible, open, bright, and pleasant, fitted out by RF Studio with a view to addressing the challenges of tomorrow’s workspaces. They are supplemented with outstanding common areas designed by PCASTREAM, including a triple-height atrium serving as a ne... More

Revitalising the city centre The redevelopment of the 800-metre-long Grotestraat in Nijverdal (NL) is distinctive because of its green-blue structure with a climate-adaptive wadi (bioswale) and water-bearing plant pockets around the trees. The revitalisation of the city centre and dealing with climate change go hand in hand in this project. The landscaping qualities of the surrounding area are now visible and experienceable right to the core of Nijverdal. The area covered by the project is 19,200 m2. The street is 800 meters long and 24 meters wide. The surface of the planting areas is 6.000 m2; the storage capacity is 600 m2. The surface of the climate wadi is 1500 m2. The wadi has a storage capacity of approx. 750 m3. Climate-adaptive d... More

Sustainability is at the heart of Queen Margaret University’s new RE: Locate campus project. The main building and the combined students’ union and sports centre achieved an ‘excellent’ BREEAM rating. At the time of its assessment, RE:Locate was the highest scoring university project in the UK. The campus is on sustainable parkland and aims to have as low a carbon footprint as possible and be a model of biodiversity. All materials were chosen for suitability, sustainability and durability and 10,000 square metres of Marmoleum were installed in the main campus building and in student accommodation. More

A geometric grid Recent urban developments tend to create homogeneous and generic landscapes and cities. The urban plan of the Grünewald district, which is part of the new European district in Luxembourg, was developed based on a geometric grid. The mixture of building blocks, private gardens and squares has the structure of a chessboard. The district is on the edge of a plateau, where it borders the open landscape overlooking the valley. The fragmented orchard It was challenging to provide the neighbourhood with a strong identity and to create a sense of togetherness. We developed the principle of the 'fragmented orchard' that spreads across the entire network of squares and gardens. Three types of orchards can be distinguished: an... More