Restoration

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Reviving nature: a new era of tech-driven restoration
CategoriesSustainable News

Reviving nature: a new era of tech-driven restoration

By Zarkon Group,
Reviving nature: a new era of tech-driven restoration

Spotted: In all the talk of technology to help various sectors reach climate targets, less attention has been paid to nature-based solutions. Often, nature restoration projects are met with long and cumbersome processes, which hinders fundraising, scaling, and speed.

Nature tech company Arkadiah Technology has developed a solution to bring traceability and transparency to these projects, making it easier to unlock financing and scale land restoration projects. Arkadiah has built a platform designed especially for climate mitigation projects in Southeast Asia, a region that saw greenhouse gas emissions rise faster than anywhere else in the world between 1990 and 2010.

Arkadiah’s approach uses artificial intelligence (AI), LiDAR, satellite imagery, and ground truthing to provide transparent and verifiable data. Project developers, landowners, and corporations can then use this information to streamline the deployment of nature-based climate solutions, such as reforestation projects, and quickly issue quality carbon removal and biodiversity credits.

The company has recently closed a successful seed funding round led by Golden Gate Ventures, with participation from The Radical Fund and Money Forward Venture Partners. Oriana Soryo, Head of Marketing at Arkadiah, told Springwise that the company is “now working on developing the technology and onboarding project partners and investors. Our focus is on restoration and regenerative agriculture, where there is a shortage of such high-quality carbon removal projects.”

Platforms like Arkadiah’s can help make it easier and quicker for climate projects to attract the funding they need. Springwise has spotted other platforms that are boosting essential nature-based projects, including the use of AI to unlock climate investments and prevent wildfires.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Reference

restoration unveils centuries-old wooden roof structure inside portuguese residence
CategoriesArchitecture

restoration unveils centuries-old roof structure inside portuguese residence

By Zarkon Group,
restoration unveils centuries-old wooden roof structure inside portuguese residence

Combo Studio revives Casa São Victor in Porto

 

Combo Studio breathes new life into Casa São Victor, a historical building in Porto dating back to 1880-1881 that had lost its original charm due to ill-fated interventions that compromised its architectural integrity and spatial essence. The profit-driven alterations convert the building into collective housing, overshadowing its intrinsic character. The renovation aims to uncover the building’s original attributes preserving its heritage. Originally conceived as a single-family residence, the house features high ceilings, intricate carpentry, and a central staircase crowned by a conical skylight. The project revives the original spatial quality and comfort by subtracting any intrusive elements from the interior.

 

The project centers primarily on the revitalization of the building’s interior, excluding the untouched ground-floor commercial space. Spanning four floors, the dwelling’s layout unfolds connecting the various levels through the central staircase. The first floor houses the living area and kitchen, while the second floor offers a bedroom and bathroom. Ascending to the third floor reveals another bedroom and bathroom.

restoration unveils centuries-old wooden roof structure inside portuguese residence
all images by Alexander Bogorodskiy

 

 

renovation reinterprets original architectural attributes

 

Originally conceived for an artist, a flexible studio-bedroom is devised on the top floor, offering versatility for combining sleeping areas with artistic pursuits. Along the entire length of the main wall, the design team installs a tripartite folding table, an adaptable centerpiece that can assume multiple configurations tailored to the workspace’s needs, discreetly folding into a wall paneling when not in use.

 

The restoration extends to the replacement of certain carpentry elements, such as craft baseboards and doors with their respective jambs. A restored partition wall within the water closet, unveiled during demolitions, now serves as a statement piece. In the top-floor bedroom, the removal of a false ceiling unveils the entire roof structure and a petite mansard, infusing the space with an airy expanse and natural light. Traditional materials like wood, Estremoz marble, and azulejos, along with a palette of light hues are thoughtfully chosen to visually amplify the interior’s sense of space. The aesthetic and formal features of the building’s original period act as a guide for the renovation project as elements from the past resurface, reinterpreted with a modern touch. The kitchen echoes old kitchens with grand chimneys and stone sinks, simplified for contemporary living.

restoration unveils centuries-old wooden roof structure inside portuguese residence
in the top-floor bedroom, the removal of a false ceiling unveils the entire roof structure

restoration unveils centuries-old wooden roof structure inside portuguese residence
the project revives the original spatial quality by subtracting any intrusive elements from the interior

restoration unveils centuries-old wooden roof structure inside portuguese residence
the house features high ceilings, intricate carpentry, and a central staircase crowned by a conical skylight

restoration unveils centuries-old wooden roof structure inside portuguese residence
spanning four floors, the dwelling’s layout unfolds connecting the levels through the central staircase

Reference

Monitoring ecosystem restoration in high resolution 
CategoriesSustainable News

Monitoring ecosystem restoration in high resolution 

By Zarkon Group,
Monitoring ecosystem restoration in high resolution 

Spotted: The World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) new initiative, Giving to Amplify Earth Action (GAEA), seeks to raise $3 trillion (around €2.7 trillion) every year to scale and replicate successful conservation and restoration projects around the world. Helping to connect people and organisations running the projects with funders and other supporters is the Restor network. 

Restor provides analytic support and a global network of individuals, agencies, and companies whose goal is to support restoration at scale through collaboration and sharing of best practices. Scientists provide insight and help project managers apply the latest research to each conservation or restoration site.  

Conservationists seeking information on a particular plot of land can use Restor’s expertise and access to satellite imagery to assess land cover, annual rainfall, levels of carbon in the soil, and biodiversity. Satellite imagery is available from up to 10 years in the past, and project teams can add data and photos to track the progression of a site’s restoration.  

The platform includes a searchable map of projects, divided into categories of tree nurseries, botanical gardens, seed banks, offices, suppliers, educational centres, and wells or pumps. There are more than 130,000 projects across 140 countries, and interested parties can set up a personal or organisation-level account to connect with the many others around the world – including funders and subject area experts – working towards healthier, sustainable environments. 

Fintech is providing a range of innovative solutions to the climate crisis, with innovations spotted in Springwise’s archive including a startup helping organisations assess the financial value of biodiversity and a platform supporting farmers through the transition to regenerative agriculture.

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference

These Are The World's Best Architectural Renovation, Repositioning and Restoration Projects
CategoriesArchitecture

These Are The World’s Best Architectural Renovation, Repositioning and Restoration Projects

By Zarkon Group,
These Are The World's Best Architectural Renovation, Repositioning and Restoration Projects

For its 11th season, Architizer has created a suite of sustainability-focused A+Awards recognizing designers working toward a better future. Start your submission today. 

For many architects, renovation, repositioning and restoration projects are some of the most significant career challenges. Repurposing a structure, particularly one that has fallen into disrepair, can lead to myriad difficulties. Many of us who have undertaken such projects know all too well the ever-lengthening list of problems that become exposed when work commences on any adaptive reuse undertaking. However, what is life without its challenges? 

Despite its recent positioning in the headlines, adaptive reuse and restoration are not only about striving for a more sustainable architectural practice. Adaptive reuse plays a huge role in preserving the history of our communities and the hard work and dedication of our peers. Such projects are complicated and push the skills of architects and designers to the limits forcing us to explore new and old technologies and strategies — thrusting us out of our comfort zones. The results of such devotion to a project, of course, are buildings and environments that are truly unique and wonderful. 

Architizer’s mission is to celebrate the incredible work of architects worldwide. Throughout our annual A+Awards, renovation, restoration, repositioning, and adaptive reuse projects are shown the esteem they deserve by being evaluated side by side with their new build counterparts, and it is these A+Awards winners from our 2022 competition that were judged to be winners by a renowned jury of their peers. Proving that within our community, your project doesn’t need to be 100% new to be extraordinary.  

Shajing Village Hall

By ARCity Office, China

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Institutional-Government & Civic Buildings

Photographs provided by ARCity Office

Abandoned over a decade ago and set for demolition in 2019, the Gangtou Diesel Power Plant, originally built in 1980, had little to no hope of revival. However, when the architects discovered the plant, the impressive building was given a new lease of life. The derelict building has been transformed into a much-needed modern ancestral hall that has become a place to immortalize and celebrate the time-honored history and culture of the community. 

Ciot

By Bando x Seidel Meersseman, Brooklyn, NY, United States

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Commercial-Showrooms

In a former armaments factory on the Brooklyn waterfront, Montreal-based stone supplier Ciot has a new home designed by Bando x Seidel Meersseman. The beautiful slab gallery is unrecognizable from its past life, with a bright and meticulous showroom and gallery gaining an air of drama and sophistication under its mono-chromatic refurbishment.

Biodome Science Museum

By KANVA, Montreal, Canada

Jury Winner & Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Museum

Photographs by Marc Cramer

Housed in the former Velodrome constructed for the Montréal 1976 Olympic Games, the Biodome first opened in 1992 and is one of Canada’s most visited museum spaces. KANVA was appointed to take on the momentous task of reviving the structure to bring the building into alignment with other museums and bio facilities being constructed today. By adding additional floors, extracting new voids and rethinking the visitor journey, the Biodome, Planetarium, Insectarium, and Botanical Garden will continue to thrive and educate in an advanced intelligent environment.

CME Center

By Krueck Sexton Partners, Chicago, IL, United States

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Commercial-Commercial Interiors (>25,000 sq ft)

Photographs by Kendall McCaugherty

Located in Chicago’s business district, The CME Center lobby is a renovation project that reimagined an existing commercial lobby that had been in continuous use for the last forty years. The aim was to transform the obsolete lobby in response to the local need for livable urban spaces with authenticity and comfort. The drastic repositioning seeks to attract the next generation of users in a modern, bright, technologically advanced environment designed for work, collaboration and interaction.

Rue de la Gauchetière Loft

By Future Simple Studio, Montreal, Canada

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Apartment

Photographs by Felix Michaud

Using the box within a box scenario, The Rue de la Gauchetière project restores a loft apartment that sits within a 100-year-old heritage building. The design, while inherently industrial, seeks to integrate nature and family living into a space that is decisively urban. At once object and architecture, the glazed wooden bedroom volumes are crafted as a bespoke kit of parts, including everything from ceiling panels and mullions, to flooring and furniture. A tactile material pallet of walnut plywood, brick, warm greys, rough concrete, glass and mirror emphasizes the airiness of the space while greenery adds a contrasting natural dimension.

South 2nd

By Murray Legge Architecture, Austin, TX, United States

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Residential Additions

South 2nd is a surprising addition to an existing single-story American ranch house. The new 900-square-foot building is connected to the current house through an adjacent link and contains home offices on the ground floor and a further bedroom and bathroom suite above.

The home rises above the urban sprawl of the 1960’s American suburb. By building vertically, the structure’s tiny footprint retains the valued outdoor space. The roof is topped with a linear clerestory structure that runs the house’s length, bringing diffused natural light into the upper floors.

Nil Dos House

By Valentí Albareda Studio, Spain

Jury Winner, 9th and 10th Annual A+Awards, Residential Interiors (<3000 sq ft)

Photographs by José Hevia

Beginning its life as a warehouse for a small construction company Nil Dos House was a dark and dingy place. However, the saving grace of the unique home was the under-utilized covered courtyard that, once uncovered, filled the residence with air and light. Embracing the building’s natural materials, the designers retained the unique character of the space with points of interest in every room. Juxtaposed against the traditional warehouse aesthetic is a beautifully crafted interior exquisitely detailed in timber and glass. The seemingly floating platform dissects the space elegantly without blocking any coveted light, which flows unimpeded into the room’s rear to provide a bright and calm primary bedroom.

The Moving Kitchen

By J.C. Architecture, Taiwan

Popular Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Transport Interiors

Photographs by Kuo-Min Lee

Bringing life to a seventy-year-old semi-retired train J.C. Architecture has created an exceptional restaurant experience. Salvaging carriages from retirement, three train cars hold a fifty-four-person moving restaurant. Fitted with a full-size kitchen, bar, lounge and dining room, guests to the moving venue can dine in luxury while experiencing the breathtaking mountainous or oceanic sea views determined by which side of the carriage you choose. The Moving Kitchen is a spectacular and successful example of adaptive reuse. 

For its 11th season, Architizer has created a suite of sustainability-focused A+Awards recognizing designers working toward a better future. Start your submission today. 

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