Sustainable architecture
An overview of projects, products and exclusive articles about sustainable architecture
News • News • 22 Jul 2024
Atelier L’Abri’s design for minimal wooden pavilion embraces sustainable regeneration and self-sufficiency
Montreal-based architecture and construction studio Atelier L’Abri has completed the Melba Pavilion as an integral addition to its Maison Melba project. Located in the village of Frelighsburg in southern Québec, Maison Melba is a venue that promotes sustainable agri-food initiatives and culinary creativity on a human scale. The new Melba Pavilion is an unembellished, minimal wooden construction that supports the site's small-scale vegetable production and contributes to its ecological autonomy. The rustic design embraces the philosophy of sustainable regeneration and self-sufficiency.
Atelier L’Abri
Alex Lesage
Alex Lesage
The 45-square-meter (484-square-feet) pavilion sits alo... More
Project • By KAAF I Kitriniaris Associates Architecture Firm • Wellness Centres
Kalloes
This project involves the complete transformation of the interior structure and the one and only façade of the existing envelope of a 100 sq.m. wellness & aesthetics venue. The core idea was to create two robust curved vertical linear levels, developing from the frontage to the garden area, running through the entire space. The first level occupies one side and its surface is cladded with eco-cement, whereas the second level occupies the opposite side and its surface is cladded with natural oak veneer.
Yohann Fontaine
Yohann Fontaine
The two levels are connected by means of vertical fixed and sliding glass panels made of ribbed glass, an ideal solution for preserving privacy and underscoring the core idea of alte... More
News • News • 16 Jul 2024
Kindergarten in Villacurí, Peru, showcases use of traditional materials and building techniques
Architects Betsaida Curto Reyes of Estudio Copla and Ander Bados Sesma of Atelier Ander Bados have collaborated on the design of a kindergarten in Villacurí in the heart of the Peruvian desert. The project is part of an initiative for All Hands and Hearts, a non-profit international disaster relief organization. The area’s school had not been rebuilt since Peru’s 2007 earthquake. Today, the school is an acclaimed example of educational architecture and a showcase for the use of traditional materials, building techniques, and sustainability.
Estudio Copla
Estudio Copla
Eleazar Cuadros
Located in Peru’s Ica region, Villacurí is described as a human settlement that came about as... More
News • News • 11 Jul 2024
Jateen Lad works with rural Pondicherry communities and local resources to build ambitious and spirited community centre
The Sharanam Centre for Rural Development is a project by architect Jateen Lad. Located in Pondicherry in south-eastern India, the centre is constructed from manually pressed earth blocks made from the site’s red soil. It was built by local people who learned on the job and provides a much needed multipurpose and spirited facility for rural communities.
Jateen Lad
Drawing by Alexandre Rossignol & Arianne Pizem
(Main building axonometric: 1. Palmyra avenue; 2. Green amphitheater; 3. Entrance ponds; 4. Reception area; 5. Vestibule; 6. Multipurpose hall; 7. Granite thinnai + stage; 8. Vault pond; 9. Circular hall; 10. North verandas + terraces; 11. South verandas + courtyard; 12. Director’s office + roof gard... More
News • News • 9 Jul 2024
Sunny ParkLife building by Austin Maynard Architects embraces community and sustainability
Australian architectural studio Austin Maynard Architects has designed ParkLife, a sunny apartment building in Brunswick, an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Australia. Seeking to transform the approach to high-density urban living, the strikingly poetic building’s design prioritizes social, economic, and environmental sustainability.
Tom Ross
Tom Ross
Austin Maynard Architects acted as both architect and developer for the project. ParkLife is part of the Nightingale Village in Brunswick — The Village is a collection of six neighboring buildings (designed by local architects) that embrace social, environmental, and economic factors. ParkLife comprises thirty-seven one-, two-, and three-bedroom homes as well as... More
News • News • 5 Jul 2024
Carr completes robust and breathable commercial building in Melbourne
Melbourne-based architecture and interior design studio Carr has completed a robust and breathable commercial building in Collingwood, an inner suburb of Melbourne, Australia. The design of “116 Rokeby” echoes the area’s industrial materiality combined with a pragmatic approach to sustainability. The building’s beautifully brutal facade with its strong architectural repetition is both utilitarian and refined.
Rory Gardiner
Carr
Collingwood has a history of art and creativity that dates back to the early 20th century. Once home to warehouses and factories, providing creative minds with affordable spaces in which to work and live, the area’s gradual gentrification has been shaped by its a... More
News • Specification • 1 Jul 2024
10 office buildings that showcase demountable construction
Demountable buildings are important to fostering environmentally friendly and sustainable practices, and to driving circular design and construction. The concept of “design for disassembly” is increasingly finding favor among architects. The conventional demolition of a building is often harmful to the environment, releasing airborne contaminants, polluting water ecosystems, impacting biodiversity, consuming excessive amounts of energy through the use of heavy machinery and equipment, and disposing of materials in landfill sites. Design for disassembly promotes the recovery and reuse of materials, thereby minimizing waste and the embodied carbon emissions associated with new projects; from an economic perspective, rising materia... More
News • News • 27 Jun 2024
Empowering Bangladeshi women, “Green Field” factory inspires workers to feel at home
Dhaka-based Nakshabid Architects has designed the Green Field factory of Karupannya Rangpur Ltd in Alamnagar, Rangpur, Bangladesh. The factory’s environment is one that entices its workers to visit for recreation at the weekend. More than just a place of work, Nakshabid Architects sought to create a compound in which workers from surrounding communities enjoy a homely atmosphere — the integration of nature into the design helps make this possible.
Courtesy of Nakshabid Architects
Courtesy of Nakshabid Architects
Nakshabid Architects
Established in 1991, Karupannya Rangpur Ltd is a Bangladeshi-based handmade rug manufacturer that seeks to provide sustainable employment opportunities and empower women i... More
News • News • 14 Jun 2024
31/44 Architects designs London house filled with architectural character
31/44 Architects designed “Six Columns” as a home for studio co-founder Will Burges. Sited on a previously undeveloped side garden on a residential street in south-east London, the house is imbued with architectural character, twisting and stepping to make best use of its trapezoidal plot.
31/44 Architects
Nick Dearden
Six Columns (the house has six) draws upon a number of architectural references, including California’s exploratory Case Study Houses and a conversation with English architect Peter Aldington at his 1960s Turn End house in Buckinghamshire, England, that inspired the home’s more informal design. “Six Columns captures the optimistic spirit of post-war American experiments in hous... More
News • News • 21 May 2024
Surman Weston veils self-build Peckham House in hit-and-miss brickwork
London-based architectural studio Surman Weston has completed its first self-build project in the vibrant south-east London neighborhood of Peckham. The aptly titled “Peckham House” stands apart, its monolithic form softened by the use of hit-and-miss brickwork — the distinctive veil envelops a home that is delicately handcrafted.
Jim Stephenson
Surman Weston
Peckham House is the first self-initiated project by Surman Weston with the studio in the role of client, architect, and contractor. For directors Tom Surman and Percy Weston, it was an opportunity to move beyond the parameters of a typical architectural project — the role of contractor, in particular, stirred a passion for craftsmanship and m... More
News • News • 20 May 2024
Filippo Taidelli Architetto designs transparent “knowledge hangar” near Milan
Milan-based Filippo Taidelli Architetto designed the Roberto Rocca Innovation Building as part of the campus of Humanitas University, an international medical school. Located in Pieve Emanuele, a comune in the Italian region of Lombardy and part of the Metropolitan City of Milan, the new building is characterized by its transparent facade and wooden load-bearing construction. The design concept is that of a “knowledge hangar”, a structure with reconfigurable spaces that respond to Humanitas University’s ever evolving needs and the rapid pace of technological innovation.
Giovanni Hanninen
Filippo Taidelli Architetto
Described as “a place of learning and exchange where science and innovation meet the... More
News • Detail • 10 May 2024
Detail: Red facade and triangular plot create distinctive apartment building in Barcelona
Barcelona-based architectural studios MIAS Architects and Coll-Leclerc have completed the development of a distinctive apartment building complex containing 72 social housing units. The building is defined by its triangular plot and red facade, a reference to the area in which it is located.
MIAS Architects and Coll-Leclerc Architects
Adrià Goula
La Marina del Prat Vermell is a neighborhood in the Sants-Montjuïc district of Barcelona. The area was once home to a number of textile colonies. Established in the mid-19th century, these colonies lay to the south of Montjuic (a hill with historical significance in Barcelona), close to the sea. Fabrics were dyed and then laid out on meadows to dry. The ground acquire... More
News • News • 8 May 2024
Snøhetta completes Norway’s first naturally climatized mixed-use building
Global transdisciplinary architecture and design practice Snøhetta has completed Norway’s first naturally climatized mixed-use building. Vertikal Nydalen is located in the Nydalen neighborhood of Oslo, a former industrial area by the river Akerselva. The visually appealing and dynamic structure incorporates a simplified and self-sufficient climate system, based on research into sustainable energy solutions.
Lars Petter Pettersen/Snøhetta
Snøhetta and Lala Tøyen
Over the course of several decades, Nydalen has transitioned from an industrial area into a modern business hub. The site on which Vertikal Nydalen sits had been used as a car park. In a bid to transform the neighborhood into a vib... More
Spark Lodges at YDD Resort
The project was initiated due to the popularity of summer river-trekking at Jinkeng Village, a chill-out place where people would love to find a comfortable lodge to stay overnight compared to a tent. Given the fact that the village is part of Liuyang (Hunan, China), a city world-renowned for its fireworks industry, the concept of fusing contemporary industrial materials with natural and rural surroundings began to take shape.
EERI
EERI
EERI
EERI
The translucent polycarbonate panels on the roof are the most eye-catching feature of the exterior. This inexpensive material displays different visual textures at different angles and lighting conditions, forming the profile together with pine plank... More
Project • By Wallmakers • Cultural Centres
Nisarga
Nisarga Art Hub is an initiative by a family of musicians to make a community residency where people can interact and congregate for art and cultural events. The site was near a paddy field, with the traditional “Kerala Roofs” being the only feature crowding the horizon around it. Even though these traditional roofs are famous for being the ideal insulators and temperature regulators, it’s a waning feature in contemporary architecture today, simply because the darkness they bring is not suited to the modern man’s comfort and aesthetics. Thus, the idea to break open the roof to accommodate skylights that stream in the light was conceived.
Syam Sreesylam
Syam Sreesylam
The 35° angle of the ro... More