The First Living Building in Texas?
The Betty and Clint Josey Pavilion, one of Texas’ most eco-friendly structures, is nestled in an unassuming native prairie landscape near Decatur. The self-sufficient 502m2 open-air pavilion is 100 percent powered by solar, uses zero air conditioning, harvests rainwater and treats all wastewater on-site. San Antonio-based firm Lake|Flato Architects designed the award-winning pavilion to meet the standards of...
Blue is the New Green
The green roof is becoming a more common occurrence in Australian development. But is there a better option? In simple terms, a green roof is partially or fully covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproof membrane. They provide a number of benefits, including thermal and sound insulation, amenity space, biodiversity, reduced water runoff...
Seamless Green Roof Conceals Community Arts Centre
Discretely nestled beneath the backdrop of the French Alps lies an eco-friendly, youth orientated community arts centre. Built into the earth and concealed by a seamless green roof design, the building sinks into the landscape and serves to preserve the breathtaking views of the Saint Egrève mountain-scape. Bordering both l’Aiguille de Quaix and col de...
Floating Green Path
Rather than the addition of a traditional balcony, a suspended green pathway has been suggested by a Polish architecture company for the third floor of an office building. Three floors above the regular courtyard, this whimsical green pathway will have the illusion of floating in the air, inviting the building’s inhabitants to momentarily leave their...
Life Inside a Dutch Windmill
Designs have been released for a Dutch silent and motionless wind turbine that doubles as a spherical apartment building for the port side city of Rotterdam. Surrounded by wetlands and built on an underground foundation will give the building an illustrious floating effect. Harvesting energy from the wind and providing 72 new residential apartments within...
2015′s Most Sustainable City
The planet’s most sustainable city in 2015 has been announced, and followed closely by London and Copenhagen respectively; Germany’s Frankfurt comes out on top. For the fifth largest city in Germany, it’s quite inspiring to see that such a large city can still accomplish such feats. On the home front, Sydney was placed 11th overall,...
Cycling through London’s City Centre
London’s Mayor Boris Johnson has just awarded an enthusiastic thumbs-up to the amended plans for the addition of a cycle path to run from east to west through central London. Officially London’s longest ever cycle path, it will stretch along the Victoria Embankment roadway reaching from Tower Hill to Paddington. Controversial for a number of...
Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital Comes to Fruition
The newly completed Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital on Brisbane’s south bank adopts a salutogenic approach to healing. The term coined late last century by Aaron Antonovsky refers to the utilisation of factors that support well-being and health, rather than those that cause disease. Aspects such as clear way finding, allusions to the surrounding environment, stunning...
The Future of France
Given the controversy that still surrounds the Montparnasse tower, completed some 40 plus years ago, it’s hard to imagine the futuristic proposal “2050 Paris Smart City,” in a realistic manner. The proposal comes about as a response to architectural responsibility to the environment, examining the role of high-rise architecture and targeting a 75% decrease in...
The Skyscraping Walkie Talkie
The much anticipated Sky Garden gracing the top of 20 Fenchurch St, London, was opened to the public on Monday. Coined the Walkie Talkie building for its swollen upper levels and subsequent resemblance to the apparatuses, the nickname has taken like a duck to water. One of the advantages of swelling the building is having...
MAD Tree-House
Tree covered terraces and translucent metallic walls line the exterior of the approved renovation plans for a residential block in Rome. After initially winning a design competition in 2010, the Beijing Architecture studio, MAD, was charged with completely overhauling the 8-storey building originally built in 1971. 4 years later MAD has finally gotten approval from...
Vertical Farming
A mix of residential living and urban farming Killing two birds with one stone, an unconventional live-in aged care facility has just been unveiled for Singapore, and combines a residential building with a vertical urban farming facility. Singapore, like many other of the world’s fast growing cities, is faced with the ever prevalent problem of...
