Sustainable architecture
An overview of projects, products and exclusive articles about sustainable architecture
News • News • 13 Mar 2024
Studio Egret West develops plans for new Passivhaus homes
London-based multidisciplinary architecture and design practice Studio Egret West has developed plans for thirty-eight Passivhaus homes in Swindon, England. The sustainable development is centered around the concept of “allotment living”. A variety of housing typologies will reinterpret the locality’s pitched-roof building vernacular and embrace Passivhaus (also known as Passive House) performance standards of energy efficiency.
Studio Egret West
The new development will provide community allotments — community gardens — that encourage residents to garden together, grow food, and build community. The site aims to respond to and connect with the wider natural landscape, including numerous green spaces... More
News • News • 7 Mar 2024
New Beijing City Library by Snøhetta appears like a fantastical temple for books
International and transdisciplinary architecture and design practice Snøhetta has completed the mammoth Beijing City Library. Located in the Chinese capital’s Tongzhou District, the project expresses a transformative vision for the concept of a library in the current digital age.
Yumeng Zhu
Tongzhou District lies approximately 20 kilometers (around 12.5 miles) from the center of Beijing and is considered the eastern gateway to the capital. Once an area with a number of smaller villages, Tongzhou has been transformed as part of an ambitious masterplan and is very much an extension of Beijing’s vast urban fabric. The library is one of three new cultural buildings in the district and part of a drive to establish To... More
News • News • 5 Mar 2024
Metropolitan station in Lublin designed as one of the most sustainable projects of its kind in Poland
Warsaw-based architecture studio Tremend has completed Dworzec Lublin, a new metropolitan station in Lublin, Poland, with distinctive openwork pillars holding aloft a decorative canopy roof. The station is at the core of the multidimensional Integrated Transportation Center infrastructure project in Lublin, the capital city of Lublin Voivodeship (a province in south-eastern Poland). A main transport hub in the center of the city, it is designed to be one of the most sustainable projects of its kind in the country.
Rafal Chojnacki
Rafal Chojnacki
Dworzec Lublin connects urban, regional, and national transport networks. Its canopied platforms include terminals for road transportation; underground parking is available for ca... More
Project • By Studio Alvise Stramare • Offices
16 | Office Building in Italy
Our latest office project involves renovating a 60's building and adjoining a new extension to wrap up the original volume. Rather than opting for a completely new construction, we agreed with the client to reuse and extend their former office to achieve their strict sustainability targets.
Federico Farinatti
Caption
Caption
Caption
We wanted to find a new way of using broad workplaces, somewhere between the absolute open space layout typically adopted by some American corporations and the more classical box-adjoining strategy. We came up with the idea of not defining the areas occupied by the distinct departments: we proposed instead to use the 98-meter-long building as a gradient from the quietest to the most rumorous... More
News • Detail • 14 Feb 2024
Detail: The planned disassembly of a temporary wooden sports hall in Zurich
Swiss architectural practice Itten+Brechbühl AG (IB) has completed the “Sporthallenprovisorium Gloriarank” — temporary sports hall Gloriarank. Located in the center of Zurich, the prefabricated wooden structure will provide an interim sports facility during the development of Forum UZH, a new education and research center for the University of Zurich (UZH).
Yohan Zerdoun Photography
Scheduled for realization during the next decade, Forum UZH is a significant part of the large-scale transformation of Zurich’s university quarter. To complete the project, it is necessary to remove four existing sports halls — they will be replaced by new sports facilities in the Forum UZH center. In the m... More
News • News • 12 Feb 2024
Restrained architecture of new wellness retreat by Studio A+ emphasizes closeness with nature
Studio A+ has completed the Mu Feng Yue Hot Spring Hotel, a wellness retreat located in Fengxi New City, Shanxi Province, China. The hotel’s restrained architecture emphasizes a closeness with nature, from its rustic facade to the meticulous landscaping.
Archi-translator
Archi-translator
More than a physical structure, the hotel is defined by the careful placement of a series of walls that compose and frame its myriad spaces. “These walls fold and unfold the spatial experience, integrating the ‘environment’ with its larger context,” says Studio A+. A sunken courtyard gives the impression of a structure that emerges from and is a part of the land. The building’s board-formed concre... More
Project • By Harikrushna Pattani & Associates • Private Houses
Concrete House In Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad Bungalow Design:
Nestled in the heart of vibrant Ahmedabad, a striking contemporary bungalow emerges, masterfully weaving together wood and concrete in a symphony of aesthetics and sustainability. This 6000 sq. ft. residence, perched on a 380 sq. yd. plot, redefines urban living by seamlessly blending nature and design.
Harikrushna Pattani & Associates
Harikrushna Pattani & Associates
Harikrushna Pattani & Associates
Sustainable Architecture:
Exposed concrete walls offer strength and a modern touch, while expansive wooden decks and beams exude warmth. Sunlight dances through strategically placed slats, creating a mesmerizing effect on polished concrete floors. Vertical gardens and potted plants soften... More
News • Specification • 6 Feb 2024
10 public structures that make use of salvaged wood
Salvaged wood, also known as recovered wood, is typically a by-product of a construction project or milling process. It can also include fallen trees and waste wood that has been discarded, perhaps destined for landfill or to burn for heating. Salvaged wood differs from reclaimed wood — wood that has been used previously and is then “reclaimed” from barns and old buildings as an example. However, the two terms are frequently used interchangeably. Recycled wood usually refers to wood that has been salvaged — this often comes from construction waste and fallen/damaged trees.
The use of salvaged wood (and reclaimed or recycled wood) helps to lessen demand for new timber, conserve natural resources, and minimize c... More
News • Specification • 31 Jan 2024
10 commercial buildings using rainwater harvesting systems to help meet water requirements
A sustainable approach to building design is increasingly part and parcel of architectural practice. The construction of buildings can impact negatively on the environment: using raw materials, generating waste, and emitting carbon. To mitigate this, a number of green building standards and rating systems have been developed, for example, BREEAM, LEED, and DGNB. As technology, innovation, and ecological expertise progress, today’s standards are continually tested, with buildings perceived as “more dynamic and interactive structures [including] the concepts of living, regenerative, restorative, and adaptive buildings.” The goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions through a building’s design is often discussed and h... More
News • News • 23 Jan 2024
School in Noisy-le-Grand by r2k architecte blends progressive environmental and educational design principles
Oiseau Lyre, a school in the French commune of Noisy-le-Grand, is exploring a Finnish-inspired pedagogical method of learning. Designed by Grenoble-based r2k architecte, Oiseau Lyre is an energy-positive building made from wood that offers a diversity of shared spaces. The school provides a framework for active pedagogies — active learning — based on cognitive research.
ERIETA ATTALI
ERIETA ATTALI
The spatial design of Oiseau Lyre includes introducing the latest educational expertise of Nordic schools alongside lessons learned from Lab-École — this Quebec “School-Lab” initiative is based on a combination of physical environment, physical activity and well-being, and nutrition. Nordic p... More
News • News • 18 Jan 2024
Lofty timber canopy welcomes commuters at new Brent Cross West station
The eastern entrance of newly opened Brent Cross West station in North London is an impressive timber-hybrid structure that combines sustainability and biophilia. “The Arbour” is a gateway to Brent Cross Town, a large-scale urban regeneration project that aims to be net zero by 2030. The Arbour station entrance was co-authored by Studio Egret West and shedkm with Studio Egret West evolving the design through its detail and construction phases. A lofty timber canopy was developed to fit between and connect two adjacent future office buildings. (Studio Egret West and shedkm are the architects for office building 4 and office building 3 respectively — both designs will incorporate timber construction technologies.)
Garet... More
Project • By Alexander Symes Architect • Private Houses
Music Room
Music Room is a home for a family of 3, including a music composer/creative producer, located in Glebe on Gadigal Land. After their previous architect terminated the project wishing to no longer pursue single dwelling projects, the clients approached ASA with an approved DA and a desire to create a sustainable, healthy home that could meet their complex brief. The home is sited next to the “Sze Yup Temple” where burning of ink printed pray papers creates an unpleasant and unhealthy air quality at particular prevailing winds. The brief of the project required; fitting into this conservation zone; managing the air quality of its neighbour; managing acoustics of music production; being adaptable to be a multigenerational household;... More
News • News • 3 Jan 2024
MODU’s design for a mixed-use office and retail center in Houston tempers the hot Texan climate
Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary architecture and design practice MODU has completed Promenade, a 15,000-square-feet (1,394-square-meter) mixed-use office and retail center in Houston, Texas. The use of self-cooling facades, tall “fins” that offer shade, and overhanging trellises, are central to tempering the effect of the hot Texan climate and improving outdoor comfort. In addition, these features provide Promenade with a uniquely visual exterior.
Naho Kubota
MODU
At Promenade, tenants avail of both indoor and outdoor areas, with exteriors that are also healthy green spaces. “The planted gardens connect people to their surroundings and extend the indoor activities of working and shopping outdoors,&rdquo... More
News • Detail • 18 Dec 2023
Detail: atelierjones completes Heartwood, the first tall mass timber workforce housing building in the US
atelierjones has completed the design of Heartwood, a 67,000-square-feet (approx. 6,225-square-meter) mass timber workforce/middle income housing project in Seattle, USA. Located in the city’s mainly residential Central District, the eight-story Heartwood building was designed for Community Roots Housing, a Seattle-based non-profit organization. It is the first Type IV-C International Building Code (IBC) workforce housing building to be built in the US. Breaking ground in April 2022, Heartwood was completed in late 2023.
Lara Swimmer Photography
The anticipated demand for taller mass timber buildings led to three new construction types being added to the 2021 International Building Code: IV-A (18 stories), IV-B (12 sto... More
News • News • 14 Dec 2023
Benthem Crouwel Architects designs a circular and energy-neutral building at Amsterdam Science Park
Amsterdam-based Benthem Crouwel Architects has designed a circular and energy-neutral building at Amsterdam Science Park. Named LAB42, it is the University of Amsterdam’s (UvA) new central hub for digital innovation and AI. The multifunctional building is constructed in a way that is entirely flexible, sustainable, and demountable.
Photo: Jannes Linders
Amsterdam Science Park is a collaborative initiative of UvA, the municipality of Amsterdam, and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. LAB42 houses students, staff, and researchers from UvA’s Informatics Institute, the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation, and the Innovation Center for Artificial Intelligence. The building also hosts busines... More