UK’s First Amphibious House Approved for the River Thames, Floats on Rising Tides

Baca Architects was recently granted approval to build the UK’s first amphibious house on the banks of the Thames River in England! The test home will respond to the issue of rising floodwaters – a pressing world-wide problem caused by climate change. When faced with rising tides, the modern home will rise and float, keeping its occupants safely out of harm’s way.

The comfortable 738 square foot home will be built adjacent to the river’s shoreline, with only 32 feet of clearance should the waters rise over their normal levels. The Baca team conducted years of research to come up with a model home that would respond to flooding conditions and work with the flood to protect the home. The firm is a leader in waterfront architecture, and this an ideal site upon which to develop a flood-resistant home.

During dry times, the home will rest on fixed foundations that will keep it in place. But if flooding should occur, the entire structure will rise up in its dock, and buoy along with the flood waters. The house will be built in a flood-prone area called Flood Zone 3b, which is located on a tiny island in the Thames in Buckinghamshire.

Like other homes in Buckinghamshire, the home will be designed with a traditional pitched roof and other characteristics found in homes in the region. Although it will blend in our the outside, the home will be highly energy efficient thanks to lots of insulation and high-performance glazed windows. A surrounding garden will be planted as the first line of defense against flooding, and the home will react when the water reaches a threatening level, after providing a warning message to the residents.

The lightweight timber façade will rest between four vertical guideposts that will keep the structure in place and protected. The house is  planned for construction later this year, and it will provide a great model for dealing with flooding problems around the world.

Canada’s Gorgeous Green-Roofed VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre Opens to the Public!

Canada's brand new VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre is a flowing green building that blends into its surrounding landscape in Vancover. Designed by Perkins+Will, the billowing structure is sited amidst a thicket of tall and lush greenery, and it brings a harmonious balance between modern architecture and nature. From its rammed earth walls, all the way to the top of its green roof, this LEED Platinum building is also steeped in green building strategies that will help it achieve net-zero energy.

The design of Perkins+Will’s VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre was inspired by the organic forms and natural systems of a native orchid. The 19,000-square-foot building is organized into undulating green roof ‘petals’ that float above its rammed earth and concrete walls. The front entrance overhang darts to the sky, and a central atrium and skylight pours natural light into the center while also serving as a solar chimney that exhausts hot air. A warm wood finish bring a softness to the modern lines of the interior.

Designed to exceed LEED Platinum status, the Visitor Centre is pursuing the Living Building Challenge — the most stringent measurement of sustainability in the built environment. In addition to an expansive green roof that reduces heating and cooling requirements, the facility uses on-site, renewable sources to achieve net-zero energy on an annual basis. A photovoltaic system on the roof will generate electricity for the center, and hot water will be provided by a biomass boiler fed by dry wood waste reclaimed from the surrounding area. Measures have been implemented to sequester enough carbon to achieve carbon neutrality, and filtered rainwater is used for the building’s greywater requirements. Most impressively 100% of the blackwater is treated in an on-site bio-reactor.

Betillon Dorval-Bory’s Anabatic Office Makes Use of Natural Winds to Keep Cool In a Hot & Humid Climate

Paris-based architecture firm Betillon/Dorval-Bory has envisioned a modern facility for the new Fundecor office in the Sarapiqui region in Costa Rica. As the non-profit is dedicated to the preservation of the environment, they wanted an office that would reflect their ideals and sought ideas to maximize sustainability. Betillon/Dorval-Bory's proposal made use of climatic architecture to passively cool the Anabatic Office through natural ventilation, and the office building is carefully engineered to pull in fresh air at one side, releasing it on the other to create a constant stream of cooling and superior ventilation.

Betillon/Dorval-Bory‘s design for Fundecor’s new office began with an analysis of the site and the prevailing climatic conditions. Knowing that the tropical site would need some serious cooling, they opted for a super low-energy method that would rely on natural ventilation. Combining evaporative cooling with a venturi tube and stack effect, they designed a two-story building that would take fresh air in on one side and eject it the other.

Tucked into a hillside, the building cantilevers out to the landscape and it is on this end that the facade is open to take in fresh air. On the opposite side, which is anchored in the ground, sits a parking lot that soaks up the sun. As the hot air rises off the blacktop, air is sucked from inside the building, pulling even more fresh air in from the other side.

Inside the office building, wide and open circulation hallways provide space for air to travel, while individual contained pods act as office spaces and meeting rooms. These self-contained rooms are the only ones that are air conditioned, while the rest of the space is naturally ventilated. Natural daylight is used to minimize artificial lighting, while a metal mesh facade minimizes solar heat gain on the building. Interior materials were chosen for their ability to transmit air freely through the space. Although Betillon/Dorval-Bory did not win the design competition, they did receive an honorable mention for coming up with a refreshing concept.

Stunning Prefab by the School of Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright meets modern day prefab in the stunning Mod.Fab home, developed by students at Taliesin West in collaboration with their Dean Victor Sidy and Inhabitat favorite Jennifer Siegal. The goal of the collaboration was to build a prototype prefab conducive to elegant and sustainable living within the heart of the desert landscape. It only took a single picture for us to become instantaneous fans, and from passive solar design to photovoltaic panels and SIPs we’re thoroughly impressed with the project’s sustainable elements.

The Mod.Fab prefab runs a modest 960 feet and currently stands nearly completed on the campus grounds at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture Taliesin West, located just outside of Phoenix, AZ. Sourcing suppliers local to the area, the Taliesin team decided to go with SIPs (structural insulated panels) for the surrounding structure of the Prairie Mod, which allowed them to cut down on on-site construction time while reducing construction waste.

In addition to the SIP skin, the project will use a combination of passive and active environmental control systems including natural ventilation and lighting, and a gray water recycling system along with water catchment. Solar panels are installed adjacent to the bedroom, providing both privacy and power to the project while keeping costs down since the panels did not have to get integrated into the roof. The hope is that the structure will be entirely self sufficient in the end.

The project, entirely built by the students, now sits nearly complete furnished with furniture borrowed from Design Within Reach.

Superb-A House is a Net-Zero Modular Prefabricated Home in Venice Beach

mnm.MOD builds super energy-efficient, modular homes - and their Superb-A House in Venice Beach, California is a stellar example of their prefab building system. The Santa Monica-based prefab designer has developed a patented "thermo broken" insulated wall and flooring system that allows them to create a high-performance envelope. The system allows them to reduce costs, be flexible in terms of design, and quickly assemble projects while maintaining a high level of sustainability.

mnm.MOD‘s building system relies on an advanced wall system made from recycled steel framing, incorporated insulation, and a mechanical chase to achieve high U and R values. Fabricated off-site, the walls are built according to the specifications of the house, then transported to the site and assembled there. This results in a high level of quality in fabrication, the elimination of waste and quick on-site assembly. As to the design of the home, mnm.MOD carefully plans each home according to the site, sun orientation, climate, shading and wind. The design is then translated into a series of walls that further optimize the design.

Superb-A House is a two bedroom home which features a music room and a jewelry studio on the 2nd floor. Ample outdoor living spaces expand the home and take advantage of Venice Beach’s climate. Completed in May 2011, the 2,400 sq ft home is also net-zero energy. If at the end of the home’s life it is torn down, the wall systems can be taken apart and fully recycled.

6 Green Skyscrapers in New York City! (Part 2)

One World Trade Center

While One World Trade Center is not yet complete, the massive tower will be a green beacon on the New York City skyline. Designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merill, the 1,776-foot tall building will have a fuel cell that will generate 4.8 million watts (MW) to power its various systems and will also use waste steam for electricity. Rain water will be harvested to be used in the high-efficiency cooling towers and to water the extensive greenery on the site. Water will also be the key to keeping WTC employees cool. A highly efficient Central Chiller Plant will siphon water from the nearby Hudson River, converting it to cool air for the entire site. Daylighting plays a huge role in One WTC, and sensors will automatically adjust interior lights depending on the sunlight. Even the construction process is green, with “clean diesel” construction vehicles and recycled building materials.

The New York Times Building

The New York Times Building, though not LEED certified, is a sustainable and energy-efficient building incorporating a slew of green technologies that provide energy savings of 30 percent. Designed by Renzo Piano and FXFOWLE, the tower has a curtain wall, fully glazed with low-e glass, that maximizes natural light while a ceramic-rod screen helps block direct sunlight and reduce cooling loads. Sensor-controlled shades reduce glare, and more than 18,000 individually-dimmable energy-efficient light fixtures supplement the daylight. Forty percent of the building’s energy comes from a natural gas cogeneration plant, and multiple air flow features help the structure require less cooling. To top it off, more than 95 percent of the structural steel is recycled.

Condé Nast Building

Located at 4 Times Square, the Condé Nast Building, like the New York Times Building, is not LEED certified, but is most definitely a green tower. Completed by Fox & Fowle Architects (the firm now known as FXFOWLE) in 1999, the Condé Nast Building uses eco-friendly gas-fired absorption chillers that are coupled with a high-performing insulating and shading curtain wall, negating the need for heating or cooling during most of the year. An air delivery system provides twice as must clean air as required by the city building code, solar power and fuel cells provide clean energy, and recycling chutes serve the entire building.

6 Green Skyscrapers in New York City! (Part 1)

From passive house brownstones to LEED-seeking public libraries, New York City is full of green buildings. As private residences or nondescript offices, most of our city's sustainable buildings go unnoticed by tourists and New Yorkers alike, but that doesn't mean our skyline is devoid of green. In fact, our cityscape is dotted with more eco skyscrapers than you probably realize. The Empire State Building, the New York Times Building, and the in-progress One World Trade Center are just a few of the sustainably-built Big Apple towers.

Bank of America Building (One Bryant Park)

The most sustainable skyscraper in New York City, the Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park is LEED Platinum certified, and it was the first tower in the world designed to achieve that rating. Designed by Cook+Fox Architects and built by Tishman Construction Corporation, the building features a long list of sustainable and energy-efficient elements. Quite uncommon for a tower of its size, the building, completed in 2009, employs a system for rainwater catchement and reuse, greywater recycling, energy efficient building systems, and high performance glass which maximizes day-lighting and minimizes solar heat gain and loss. But it’s most innovative feature is the state-of-the-art, onsite 4.6-megawatt cogeneration plant that provides clean energy for the building, significantly reducing it’s dependance on the NYC grid.

Empire State Building

Just last fall, New York City’s most iconic building received LEED Gold certification. After undergoing a massive $100 million green upgrade (part of a larger $550 million renovation), the Empire State Building is now one of the Big Apple’s greenest buildings. The retrofit included replacing the 80-year-old building’s windows with double hung operable windows and installing an energy efficient heating and cooling system, which will help cut the building’s energy consumption by more than 38 percent and should save $4.4 million in energy costs. On top of this, eco practices, like green cleaning and recycling programs, have been implemented throughout the building.

Hearst Building

Having received its LEED Gold certification upon completion in 2006, the Hearst Tower was New York City’s very first green skyscraper. Designed and built by Foster + Partners, the striking 46-story blue tower sits atop the original stone base that was finished in 1926. During construction, nearly 85 percent of the materials removed from the building were recycled for future use, and the tower uses 26 percent less energy than a traditionally designed building. A rainwater collection system on the roof annually diverts 1.7 million gallons of water from becoming runoff waste, and the lighting is controlled by sensors, automatically adjusting to the amount of daylight. A whopping 90 percent of the structural steel used in the tower is recycled, and the diagonal-grid structural design improves efficiency.