Ecological construction
An overview of projects, products and exclusive articles about ecological construction
Project • By KAAF I Kitriniaris Associates Architecture Firm • Masterplans
Urban Capacitor
The former cemetery of Nikaia is a residual space on the border between the city and Mount Aigaleo. We consider this degraded and currently unproductive area to be a byproduct of urban development, which is to say a natural component of an evolving city. Simultaneously, we interpret the space as a significant carrier of memory and an integral element of the city. The different manifestations given to this specific space over the years, up until its current usage, make it a point of reference. With the above points in mind, we recommend creating a park comprising four thematic units, as part of a wider effort to interconnect the landscape infrastructure with new, ecologically evolving platforms for activity development. Therefore the project... More
Project • By KAAF I Kitriniaris Associates Architecture Firm • Hotels
Caves & Waves
THE IDEA
A landscape characterised by sparse, mostly low and bushy vegetation. Few trees – mostly cedars - are visible in the region. A harsh, dry, rocky, Mediterranean landscape with earthy colourations. A sloping landscape, eroded at its lowest point by constant direct contact with the sea. The natural formations and cavities of the rocky terrain, created by the long-term exposure to the sea water, were the starting point for the compositional design.
KAAF
KAAF
THE MYTH
The myth unfurls through the dual meaning, firstly of the cavity, or cave, as a receptacle for residence, and secondly of water, the sea waves, as a potential natural source for producing kinetic energy capable of shaping both the actual formation... More
News • News • 6 Jul 2023
A “Timber Hat” tops a new sustainably constructed factory and office building
Rundzwei Architects has completed a new solid wood headquarters and corporate building for a family-owned business in Rottenburg am Neckar, Germany. The building is crowned by a translucent canopy of charred larch wood, a striking architectural feature described as a "wooden hat." This hat protects the structure from the elements and gives the building its distinctive shape and name.
Gui Rebelo / Estúdio Elefante
Gui Rebelo / Estúdio Elefante
The new headquarters and company building was designed for Hald & Grunewald, a specialist in the sale and rental of forklifts and industrial vehicles. The long-established family business needed a building that would combine its various activities in one special pla... More
Project • By NarrativA architecten • Private Houses
Eco, biobased villa near Amsterdam, Netherlands
The house has been designed according to the sustainable principles of biobased, ecological construction. In the design and construction of this house, we carefully looked at the orientation, the sun and the usual wind direction (for example, for the possibilities for night ventilation). The sun has a lot of influence on the shape and the layout. The house is constructed from a vapour permeable timber frame construction system, delivered on site as prefabricated elements. All the insulation materials above the ground are natural.
Martijn Heil
The plots are relative small in this project. The neighbouring home is relative close by and provide much shade in winter. The clients have therefore chosen not to create a roof overhang on... More
Project • By Heim Balp Architekten • Private Houses
House in an oak grove
A friend of ecology and economy, the House in an Oak Grove is an homage to its habitat and a modest home to its owners. Situated in the northern outskirts of Berlin, the grove is giftted with old trees and single-family houses. The home’s form embraces this environment with a young tree at the centre of its structure. Humble from the outside-in, the facade is clad with larch planks near the terrace, and is wraps around with a plaster insulation system. The wooden terrace stretches towards the garden, creating a place for intimacy and relaxation amongst nature.Following the path of the sun, the rounded rooftop points inward towards the oaks, and casts outward to the sky.It brightens the terrace with warmth and daylight.Further, the roof is d... More
Project • By HOLLEGHA arquitectos • Private Houses
A home as a vital space
What if a house were not only a home but a real vital space?
The modular house in Miraflores de la Sierra / Madrid, is a cooperation between Madrid based studio Holleghaarquitectos and the german eco-house pioneer Baufritz. It was built in 2012 as the first construction using the Baufritz-system on spanish territory.
The prefab-elements provided by Baufritz and produced in their EMAS-awarded plant in Bavaria, Germany, guarantee a completely pollutant-free indoor climate as well as a very high level of sustainability.
As an architectural firm, the relationship with Baufritz enables us to offer our clients top quality ecological architecture almost without design restrictions.
More and more people look for homes that are built res... More
Project • By Fernando Alda Fotografía • Private Houses
Floating Leaf House
Los jobos is a new and quite neighborhood at the south area of playa tamarindo community. This area is located in the ‘green corridor’ that connects tamarindo and langosta estuaries with the forests and mountains that surround tamarindo. This corridor is used by animals to come down from the mountains and have access to the water of the of the estuaries during the dry season. The property that is surround by a beautiful forest and it has a stepped slope next to the access leaving 100% of the property under the street level. Because of this, our client asked us to lift up part of the program trying to reach the views and also share a great connection with the canopies of the trees that surround the property. Social and services areas, the st... More