Developer HUB and investor Bridges Fund Management have revealed plans to convert a 1950s office building in London into Cornerstone, a co-living residential scheme designed by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris.
Located on the edge of the Barbican estate, the Cornerstone project will draw from the iconic Barbican architecture to transform 45 Beech Street into 174 co-living residences along with street-level commercial spaces and amenities.
“Building on the success of our previous London projects with HUB, we are joining forces again to transform an underloved office building in the heart of the city,” Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) director Hazel Joseph said.
AHMM has revealed plans for a co-living retrofit next to London’s Barbican estate
AHMM’s proposal aims to re-use as much of the building’s existing structure and facade as possible, taking a “retrofit-first approach” to minimise the need for new building works.
The studio will also primarily work within the geometric parameters defined by the original envelope, while updating the rectilinear language to create uniform apertures for each co-living apartment.
Referencing the Barbican estate, a series of arched, double-height extrusions will be introduced across the crown of the building to house additional co-living apartments.
The design will adapt the existing building’s form and insert a series of arched spaces at the top
“The architectural approach has been carefully considered, responding sensitively to the much-loved Barbican context, completing the northern frontage of the estate,” Joseph said.
The arches will be partially set back from the building’s facade and lined with an asymmetric patchwork of glazed and tile panels underneath the curved overhangs.
At street level, warm red panel accents will contrast against the building’s neutral concrete finishes to highlight commercial and collective functions.
The scheme will integrate a public cafe, a co-working space and community-focused amenities at its lower levels to improve the public realm for those who live and work in the area.
“The existing structure of 45 Beech Street will be re-used and extended, creating a new residential community with shared amenities and breathing new life into the local streetscape,” Joseph explained.
At street level, new commercial and public amenities will seek to activate the ground plane
According to HUB and Bridges Fund Management, AHMM’s proposal was developed in collaboration with the community – including Barbican residents – who were consulted through a series of workshops and events.
A website was also established to solicit viewpoints about the redevelopment, reiterating the design vision to establish a “vibrant community” that will adapt the original building and holistically contribute to the neighbourhood.
AHMM was established in 1989 by Simon Allford, Jonathan Hall, Paul Monaghan and Peter Morris in London. The studio has previously converted a 1930s block into New Scotland Yard’s headquarters in London and completed a mixed-use building in Southwark with interlocking flats.
Also adjacent to the Barbican estate, Diller Scofidio & Renfro’s proposal for a pyramidal music centre was recently scrapped when the City of London Corporation revealed its plans for a “major renewal” of the Barbican.
The images are courtesy of HUB and Bridges Fund Management.
Local studio Medprostor has covered and partially repaired a 900-year-old Romanesque church in Slovenia, placing an operable roof on top of the open structure to create a space “between a ruin and a reconstruction”.
Medprostor crafted a series of modest interventions alongside the folding roof that aim to protect the significant monastic building, located inside the fortified grounds of the historic Žiče Charterhouse.
The repairs and alterations were also intended to improve its functionality for tourism and events.
Medprostor has topped a 12th-century church with a folding roof in Slovenia
According to the studio, the project was conceived to protect the church’s immaterial qualities as an ancient and sacred place, in addition to preserving its physical remains.
“The construction and restoration interventions were carried out in such a way that they enable a chronological reading of the 900-year-old sacral space,” Medprostor cofounder Jerneja Fischer Knap told Dezeen.
“[The design] fully conforms to the requirements of heritage protection for reversibility, with less invasive and less intense interventions,” he continued.
The half-gable roof structure spans the length of the church and can be opened to the sky
“The largest intervention was the covering of the existing building with a semi-movable, folding roof,” Knap said.
“When lowered, it enables the smooth running of events in the church regardless of the season and weather, while when raised, it preserves one of the most important intangible moments of the ruin: contact with the open sky.”
Lightweight black steel, blackened wood and dark slate tiles make up the half-gable roof system, distinguishing the gesture from the church’s original masonry architecture.
Medprostor also chose restrained and rectilinear geometries for its interventions, seeking to establish a low-tech aesthetic language that could sit harmoniously against the heritage structures.
“The roof, together with its details and proportions is related to the key architectural elements of the whole church,” Knap explained. “And yet, it can also act as an illusion – a spectre in harmony with the open, ephemeral character of the ruin… [a] space between a ruin and a reconstruction.”
A dark, uniform material palette defines the interventions across the church
The studio reconstructed a demolished portion of the church’s walls and flooring, while spiral staircases were placed into existing vertical shafts to reconnect visitors to an upper-level viewing platform.
“Two staircases are connected to a new lookout point with a narrow, slightly sloping corridor leading up to it, framed by the outer faces of the [reconstructed] north wall,” Knap explained.
“The lookout point offers an essential view from above of the northern part of the monastery complex and its ruined character.”
The studio made limited repairs to the ruins, including reconstructing its partially collapsed northern wall
Slovenian architecture studio Medprostor was established by Knap, Rok Žnidaršič and Samo Mlakar in 2011, with projects spanning across the public and private sectors.
Medprostor’s interventions at Žiče Charterhouse were shortlisted for the 2024 European Mies van der Rohe Award, which has previously been won by Grafton Architects for its colonnaded teaching building for Kingston University in London.
The seven finalists for the 2024 Mies van der Rohe Award were recently revealed to include The Reggio School by Andrés Jaque, a copper-clad convent in France and a library by SUMA Arquitectura in Spain.
Development company Human Nature has received planning approval to transform a former industrial site in Lewes into a sustainable 685-home neighbourhood that will be the UK’s largest made from timber.
The Phoenix, which was granted planning permission last week, will be built from engineered timber and be the most sustainable neighbourhood in the UK, according to Human Nature.
The buildings in the Phoenix development will have engineered timber structures
“One year after proposals were announced for the transformation of a 7.9-hectare brownfield site into the UK’s most sustainable neighbourhood, the Phoenix development has today been granted planning permission, taking the visionary project a step closer to reality,” said Human Nature.
“When complete, it will be the UK’s largest timber-structure neighbourhood and a blueprint for sustainable placemaking and social impact that can be deployed at scale.”
It will be located on a former industrial site
Located in the South Downs National Park, the Phoenix will contain energy-efficient homes, public space and healthcare, retail, hospitality and industrial space, all constructed from engineered timber including cross-laminated timber.
It will be the largest structural timber neighbourhood in the UK by number of units, Human Nature’s head of sustainable construction Andy Tugby told Dezeen.
The buildings will range from two to five storeys tall and be clad in prefabricated panels made from locally sourced timber and biomaterials such as hemp.
A riverside walk will feature in the neighbourhood. Image by Carlos Penálver
Industrial structures on the site will be repurposed to house most of the community spaces, including a canteen, event hall, taproom, fitness centre, workspace and studios.
The Phoenix’ homes will be designed to be energy efficient and powered by renewable energy sourced from on-site photovoltaic panels and an off-site renewable energy facility.
Aiming to create a place for all generations and for people with mixed incomes, 30 per cent of the 685 residences will be affordable homes – 154 of which will be built to the government’s Local Housing Allowance rates and the remainder built as part of the First Homes scheme.
The Phoenix will be designed as a walkable neighbourhood that prioritises people over cars, with a mobility hub providing electric car shares, car hire, electric bike services and shuttle buses to help encourage a shift away from private vehicle use.
Public squares, gardens, community buildings and a riverside pathway that stretches the length of the site will provide space designed for interaction between residents.
The development will contain energy-efficient homes
The Phoenix masterplan was designed by Human Nature’s in-house design team with UK architecture studio Periscope and Kathryn Firth, director of masterplanning and urban design at Arup.
Developed designs for the scheme will be made in collaboration with UK architecture studios Archio, Ash Sakula, Mae Architects, Mole Architects and Periscope and engineering firms Expedition Engineering and Whitby Wood.
The Phoenix aims to provide sustainable housing to people with a range of income brackets. Image by Carlos Penálver
Human Nature is a development company based in Lewes that was founded by former Greenpeace directors Michael Manolson and Jonathan Smales.
Other timber developments published on Dezeen include a zero-carbon housing scheme in Wales by Loyn & Co and Henning Larsen’s plans for Copenhagen’s first all-timber neighbourhood.
The images are by Ash Sakula, courtesy of Human Nature, unless stated.
Pale sandstone walls bring a “warm and welcoming” feel to this columbarium in a cemetery in Radom, Poland, which has been completed by local studio BDR Architekci.
Located in the centre of Radom Municipal Cemetery – one of the largest cemeteries in Poland – the columbarium has 2,000 storage niches for funeral urns, organised across six chambers that surround a central open-air chapel.
The chambers are enclosed by sandstone-clad walls of varying heights and designed by BDR Architekci to provide space for “peaceful reflection” without religious references.
The columbarium comprises six chambers organised around an open-air chapel
“We tried not to refer to symbolism or look for metaphors,” BDR Architekci co-founder Konrad Basan told Dezeen.
“We focused on the function, the material, the proportions. We wanted to build a place open to people, full of greenery, with its own structure and order,” Basan added.
The site is accessible from all directions in the cemetery, with paved routes weaving between each of the chambers and around curved areas of planting.
The chambers provide 2,000 niches for the storage of funeral urns
In each of the open-topped chambers, four walls filled with niches surround a central space with trees and a bench. There is also an opening leading to the central chapel.
“Creating such a large columbarium required space organised in a clear and welcoming way,” said Basan. “That’s why we divided such a large burial area into six smaller chambers, giving it a sense of intimacy.”
Openings in each chamber lead to the central chapel
Built with a concrete structure, the pale sandstone cladding of the complex was selected due to its locality to Radom and its use on the facades of many important buildings in the city.
Alongside the new chambers, BDR Architekci also clad an existing 1980s pre-burial house with matching sandstone to unify it with the rest of the complex.
“We wanted it to be warm and welcoming, but also for the stonemasons’ craftsmanship to be evident in the way it was cut and laid,” explained Basan.
“As a result, the columbarium clearly contrasts with polished black marble tombstones [in the surrounding cemetery],” he continued.
Each chamber is also finished with trees and a bench
In the open-air chapel, a wall features a verse from The Laments by the Renaissance author Jan Kochanowski who lived nearby.
“The only element that was consciously designed to carry any specific message was the use of a quote from lament number eight,” explains Basan.
“It seems that the columbarium is a suitable background not only for it but particularly for the course of a funeral,” he said.
Sandstone was chosen for the cladding due to its locality to the site
BDR Architekci was founded in 2015 by Basan, Paweł Dadok and Maria Roj and is based in Warsaw.
Other cemetery projects featured on Dezeen include a visitor centre for the Netherlands American Cemetery by Kaan Architecten and a ceremonial hall at Longshan Cemetery in China.
Architect: BDR Architekci Team: Konrad Basan, Paweł Dadok, Maria Roj, Michał Rogowski Investor: Municipality of Radom Structural engineer: TMJ Projekt Services engineer: Joanna Szczudlik Electrical engineer: Jarosław Maleńczyk Landscape architect: La.Wa Architektura Krajobrazu, Łukasz Kowalski
US studio Inaba Williams Architects has created two mirrored houses with courtyards in Santa Monica, California that are clad in white stucco and have net-zero energy use, according to the studio.
Completed in 2023, the twin five-bedroom houses measure 3,900 square feet (362 square metres) each and are divided by a privacy wall and rectangular lap pools.
Inaba Williams Architects has completed two white-stucco-clad houses in Santa Monica
Brooklyn-based practice Inaba Williams Architects followed strategies laid out in Title 24 – California’s Building Energy Efficiency Standards – to create net-zero emissions houses “better suited to our future climate conditions”.
“Having far fewer windows, the buildings reduce heat gain and energy use, while allowing residents to enjoy indoor outdoor living,” the studio told Dezeen. “With less need for air conditioning and generous access to landscaped areas, they offer a more natural, less tempered experience with the environment.”
The two structures are mirrors of each other and are divided by a courtyard with a privacy wall in the middle
Set on 40-foot (12-metre) wide lots, the linear homes measure only 20 feet (6 metres) at their widest, leaving plenty of space for outdoor areas on either side of the house for residents to enjoy.
Residents enter from a small courtyard on the outside street-edge corner of the lot into a rounded entryway that passes directly into the main exterior courtyard.
The studio said the home has achieved net-zero emissions
At the northern end of the site lies a small two-storey volume that holds a media room and a private suite.
Moving deeper into the house, the living, dining and kitchen areas are collected into an open-plan space with windows and sliding doors that look onto the outdoor areas – including a dining patio – which bring daylight in from three sides.
The white of the exterior continues inside
A bedroom suite, garage, and a secluded zen garden hold the southern edge of the site.
Above, a family room and terrace sit at the top of the staircase in the centre of the plan. Two suites are located on the rear of the site, while the primary suite takes up the rest of the level with a private embedded balcony.
Wood flooring was used for the top floor
“The courtyards are the focal point of the side-by-side homes,” the team said. “Following the Energy Standards’ option to use glass on just 20 per cent of the exterior surface area, the limited amount of glazing is concentrated around these central outdoor areas. “
Positioned to maximize daylight, the courtyards and auxiliary areas capitalise on the coastal location’s mild climate and can be used every day.
Windows were strategically placed to maximise light and limit heat gains and losses
“Similarly, taking into account the solar path, the building massings let ample sunshine into the courtyards over the day and year,” the team said.
The all-white houses have simple materials to accentuate their forms, with stucco on the exterior. White walls and terrazzo and hardwood floors feature on the interiors. The coving along the ceiling is made of glass fibre-reinforced concrete from a local vendor.
The houses were constructed under California’s Title 24 guidlines
Outside, brick pavers are set in a herringbone pattern that provides a soft geometrical detail to the smooth forms and green planted beds add color and texture.
Combined with the low glass-to-surface area building envelope, root-mounted solar panels help the homes meet California’s Zero Net Energy criteria, however hitting performance metrics wasn’t the team’s driving force.
“We think the more approaches there are to creating a sustainable future the better, and the Standards could have a cumulative climate benefit,” the studio said. “Just as the New York 1916 Zoning Resolution shaped the highrise tower type, California’s Energy Code can help shape the house type by being a framework for experimenting with its form and layout.”
“Its requirements can be guidelines to think inventively about climate-oriented design – to evolve our collective thinking about the type in a positive way.”
Exterior walls provide privacy for extensive outdoor space
Other recently built courtyard houses in Santa Monica include a brick house centred around a decades-old olive tree by Woods + Dangaran and a cedar- and zinc-clad L-shaped home by Walker Warner Architects.
It’s crucial that whoever wins the upcoming general election prioritises fixing the UK’s energy-inefficient housing, but the message doesn’t seem to be getting through to our political leaders, writes RIBA president Muyiwa Oki.
Last summer, as temperatures soared and the sun beat down relentlessly, people around the UK sweltered in their homes.
A few months ago, with near zero-degree temperatures, many of us found the reverse, struggling to decide whether to turn on the heating and bear the rising energy costs.
Despite our best efforts to stay cool or keep warm, our outdated built environment and energy-inefficient homes meant that escaping the stifling heat or freezing cold was nearly impossible. For some, it was not just uncomfortable – it was desperately dangerous.
It is clear something needs to be done
The state of Britain’s ageing homes has become a national shame, and it is clear something needs to be done.
Stark warnings about rising temperatures hit the headlines this month. For the first time on record, global warming breached the critical 1.5-degrees threshold over a 12-month period. In the UK, it was the second-hottest year on record, as we suffered heatwaves and floods. Unfortunately, these trends are set to continue.
We know decarbonising the built environment is crucial to reducing carbon emissions and mitigating rising temperatures; our buildings are responsible for almost 40 per cent of global energy-related carbon emissions. The time to act is now.
With 80 per cent of the buildings that we’ll use in 2050 already built today, we must prioritise bringing these up to scratch – and we need to start with housing. The UK has among the oldest and least energy-efficient housing stock in the whole of Europe, with 19 million homes in dire need of retrofitting.
Yet, this message doesn’t seem to be getting through to our political leaders. On the very same day that the news broke about terrifying temperature rises in 2023, it was announced that Labour is cutting back on funding promises for home-insulation projects should the party win the upcoming general election. The previously announced £6 billion a year to retrofit 19 million homes has been dropped, with plans now to spend £6.6 billion over 5 years, equating to £1.3 billion a year.
It follows prime minister Rishi Sunak’s September announcement that he would be scaling back key green policies – including postponing a ban on oil and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) boilers to 2035 and scrapping energy-efficiency improvements for the private rented sector.
To do nothing would be to condemn the population to many more decades of substandard housing
This general election year is a chance to reset the dial and treat the climate emergency as the urgent, existential threat that it is. To do this, we need the next government to set out a national retrofit strategy – a well-funded, long-term plan to make homes more energy efficient and climate resilient. Not only would this reduce our climate impact, but it would also create jobs, boost green skills and improve prosperity up and down the country.
Of course, this strategy requires ambitious government investment, but we at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) believe there are clever ways to incentivise homeowners to make their properties greener. A financing strategy to make energy-efficiency upgrades affordable for all homeowners and landlords before they feel the benefit of reduced energy bills will be a crucial piece of the puzzle.
In its 2020 Greener Homes report, the RIBA – along with many other organisations – recommend looking at tax incentives such as a sliding scale of stamp duty, with the most energy-efficient homes accruing significantly less tax than the least energy efficient, and tax rebates for a period after purchase to encourage homeowners to make energy-efficiency upgrades, recognising that they are most likely to make upgrades just after buying a house rather than getting round to it at a later date.
Equally, in the private rented sector, landlords should be incentivised to make energy-efficiency upgrades by being able to claim part of these against their income-tax liabilities.
Putting funding aside, retrofitting has to be done properly to avoid unintended consequences like damp and mould. To achieve this, we must prioritise a fabric-first, whole-house retrofit approach, using architects’ expertise to ensure changes are made in the right order and at the right time. Possible measures include insulating lofts and walls, draught-proofing doors, windows and floors, using double or triple glazing, integrating smarter appliances and making changes to heating and energy systems such as heat pumps and solar panels.
A retrofit revolution will create jobs. Just installing external insulation to all England’s interwar homes, built between 1919 and 1939, could create 5,000 full-time jobs every year until 2032. But it also demands good organisation – a systemic method of decarbonising homes, with defined typical upgrade packs for different housing types. Training will be required to upskill the construction workforce across the country to carry out the work efficiently and effectively.
A nationwide retrofit programme on this scale may be unprecedented, but we need to see the bigger picture. Millions of us live in damp, draughty homes that are leaking energy and money, and to do nothing about it would be to condemn the population to many more decades of substandard housing. I sincerely hope the next government turns this challenge into an opportunity to demonstrate global climate leadership and turbocharge our green economy.
Muyiwa Oki is the president of the Royal Institute of British Architects and an architect at construction company Mace.
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Spanish studio Fran Silvestre Arquitectos has created a minimalist white house in Alicante, which winds through the landscape to enhance its relationship with the outdoors.
Named Sabater House, the Spanish dwelling unfolds through a series of intersecting, elongated forms that ascend upwards over its 780-square-metre site.
Its slim volumes adapt to the site’s natural topography, navigating existing large trees and framing a series of terraces and courtyards.
Fran Silvestre Arquitectos has created a minimalist white house in Alicante
According to Fran Silvestre Arquitectos, the sprawling design takes cues from local pathways that are carved into the terrain and lead to a hermitage.
“We were struck by how these winding paths adapt to the terrain, generating a very interesting architecture,” Fran Silvestre Arquitectos told Dezeen.
“This was the starting point to develop a home on a plot with similar characteristics in terms of width and slope of the land.”
Sabater House winds through the landscape
Sabater House is designed for a client who wanted a home to accommodate his large family while ensuring “enough independence to guarantee the privacy of all family members”.
To accomplish this, each floor of the home features a distinct programme.
Each floor of the home features a distinct programme
The highest level, described as the “nighttime area” of the home, features five bedrooms and bathrooms oriented to look out to the sea above the tree line.
Meanwhile, the middle floors contain an open-plan kitchen, dining and living area with floor-to-ceiling windows framing views out to the garden and outdoor swimming pool.
The house winds around existing trees
The living spaces are stretched across the long and narrow floor plan in a bid to avoid compacting them and open them up to the outdoors.
“The project is drawn with a very clear geometry of straight elements that are joined by a soft radius of curvature,” said the studio. “Each piece has a relationship with the environment.”
Accommodated on the lower level are the pool basin, a wine cellar, storage facilities and additional sleeping quarters.
With each floor stacked at an angle to create a zigzagging floor plan, a series of courtyards, terraces and bridges are created, further opening the relationship with the outdoors.
The middle floor features open-plan living spaces
“Something unexpected about the house for us is the character of the interstitial spaces between the blocks and how they envelop you,” explained Fran Silvestre Arquitectos.
“The first acts as an access garden that directs you towards the entrance door, and the second as one of the main terraces. They are versatile spaces that allow you to make the most of the different orientations.”
The top level contains the bedrooms
Fran Silvestre Arquitectos was founded in 2005 by architect Fran Silvestre. The studio is known for its minimalist style, which is applied throughout Sabater House.
Its previous projects that feature its signature pared-back style include an overhanging Hollywood Home and a residence with a T-shaped roof in Valencia.
Biomaterials have the potential to significantly cut carbon emissions but designers should approach them with caution to avoid creating a whole new set of problems, warns Sioban Imms.
The vision of a civilisation based on biomaterials is compelling: products, clothes and buildings made from materials that have been “grown”, rather than derived from polluting, extractive fossil industries. The promise is not only lower emissions, but products that are more in tune with the environment – manufactured objects that are part of the natural cycle of life. And consumers are willing to pay a premium for such ostensibly “sustainable” products – 12 per cent more, according to a recent study by Bain.
However, in a bid to gain competitive advantage, marketing narratives surrounding biomaterials are regularly inflated or gloss over important details. Prefixing “bio” to a material name conjures a sense of being natural, compostable, and better all round for personal and environmental health.
Marketing narratives surrounding biomaterials are regularly inflated
But these claims can unravel, or at least become complicated, when researching a little deeper than the material classification, product name and strapline. A report from RepRisk found a 70 per cent increase in incidents of greenwashing between 2022 and 2023. Incoming legislation in the EU is specifically targeting this issue.
The definition and terminology around biomaterials is still evolving. For clarity, we’re not talking here about biomaterial designed for implanting into the body, but biologically derived materials used in product, fashion and architecture.
Often grown using living micro-organisms like yeast, bacteria, cellulose and mycelium, they can be finely tuned at the nanoscale by engineering DNA sequences to produce specific properties. For example, UK company Colorfix tweaks the DNA of bacteria so that they excrete coloured pigments for dyeing textiles. Microbial manufacturing organisms like these tend to be fed, fermented and modified in controlled environments.
The substitution of fossil-derived, high-carbon materials for biomaterials is urgently important. A recently published study by Radboud Universiteit in the Netherlands concluded that biomaterials reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by an average of 45 per cent compared to fossil-based materials.
But biomaterials are not a magic bullet to the multi-faceted nature crisis industrial civilisation is causing. Especially important is avoiding what are sometimes called “regrettable substitutions” – whereby one material is replaced with another that merely introduces a new set of problems.
For example, BioCane disposable food packaging is an alternative to plastic food packaging made from bagasse – pulped sugarcane-fibre, a waste product from the sugar industry. The design is geared to express its natural origins and circularity, from the subtly flecked, neutral colour and matte finish to the embossed logomark featuring a plant within a gradated circle.
Biomaterials are not a magic bullet to the multi-faceted nature crisis
However, for BioCane to be grease repellant (so it doesn’t fall apart before you’ve consumed the contents) it needs an oleophobic coating, unlike plastic packaging. BioCane uses a polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) for this coating. PFAS are termed “forever chemicals” due to their damaging long-term persistence and accumulation in the environment – not to mention our own bodies.
BioPak, which produces BioCane, transparently publishes information about this on its website, highlighting it as an industry-wide problem. The company also includes a timely pledge to phase out PFAS-containing packaging by June 2024, which happens to coincide with a move to phase out PFAS by the Environmental Protection Agency in the US.
Not all manufacturers are as responsible; it’s common to find unlisted additives – or perhaps a fossil-based lamination to improve a material’s durability – under a headline claim of biological origins.
Bioplastic is another material experiencing significant growth, partly driven by high oil prices making fossil-fuel-derived plastic less competitive. Most bioplastic is made from ethanol, commonly sourced from corn, wheat or sugarcane. Sugarcane, for example, is planted in monocultures in tropical and sub-tropical countries like Brazil. The sugar is extracted, fermented and distilled to produce precursor chemicals for bioplastics.
But to assess the environmental value of using this bioplastic, we need to know about how the crops are managed – for example, the pesticides and synthetic fertilisers used to increase crop yield, the land-clearance practices, and the effect on food prices if the bioplastic became widely adopted. At the end of the product’s life, specialised infrastructure for disposal will need to be in place, further complicating the picture.
Biodegradable bioplastic would seem to offer a solution to the worst ravages of plastic – the alarming buildup of microplastic pollution across the world. How much better if the material could be absorbed back into the environment?
Biodegradable doesn’t mean a material will break down in the environment over useful timescales
The market opportunity for biodegradable plastics is alluring, and forecasts predict that they will account for the majority of the bioplastics market – 62 per cent, by 2028. This opportunity is attracting investment and also the potential for greenwashing as companies vie for a competitive advantage over others.
But biodegradable doesn’t mean a material will break down in the environment over useful timescales. A 2022 UCL study of supposedly “home compostable” bioplastics revealed that 60 per cent did not fully degrade within the tested timespans – a finding that unravels the whole purpose for investing in compostable packaging.
Claims relating to bioplastics were at the crux of a recent legal case brought against US biotech firm Danimer Scientific Inc. The manufacturer of biodegradable products had claimed that its proprietary plastic material Nodax PHA is able to biodegrade not only in industrial composting facilities but in landfill and in the ocean.
Danimer’s share prices rocketed, sparking an investigative report in the Wall Street Journal, which stated that “many claims about Nodax are exaggerated and misleading, according to several experts on biodegradable plastics”. Danimer refutes this statement, but what came out in court was that the company performed biodegradability tests on Nodax in a powdered form, which doesn’t relate to real-world product formats like bottles that have variable thickness.
The legal case was eventually dismissed, but nonetheless the alleged greenwashing spiked Danimer’s share price, shaking investors’ trust in the company and having knock-on effects for the wider industry.
Going forward, manufacturers will need to be transparent about what goes into their products. In the EU, legislation tackling greenwashing in product labelling will come into effect in 2026. The new law is a direct response to the rise in misleading claims that companies use.
When specifying a biomaterial, it’s important to dig into its provenance
It comes after a study commissioned by the bloc found that 53 per cent of green claims on products and services are vague, misleading or unfounded, and 40 per cent have no supporting evidence. In the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority has published the Green Claims Code – a six-point guide to help businesses ensure they are not unwittingly misleading customers.
These two initiatives highlight the importance of using the right language when promoting products and materials, and as the impact of the EU’s legislation ripples through the industry, there will be a natural calibration to more transparency.
The takeaway for designers is that, as ever, the picture is complex. When specifying a biomaterial, it’s important to dig into its provenance, as well as to look at the material use and disposal. The allure of the “bio” prefix from an ethical – and marketing – perspective may be strong, but must be taken along with some healthy scrutiny.
Sioban Imms is a colour, material and finish (CMF) and sustainability strategist with a background in design and manufacturing. She is co-founder of consulting agency Substance and a contributing editor at trend forecasters Stylus and WGSN.
The photo, of MarinaTex designed by Lucy Hughes, is courtesy of the University of Sussex.
Dezeen In Depth If you enjoy reading Dezeen’s interviews, opinions and features, subscribe to Dezeen In Depth. Sent on the last Friday of each month, this newsletter provides a single place to read about the design and architecture stories behind the headlines.
Seoul studio AOA Architects has created Hoji Gangneung, a series of uniquely shaped concrete dwellings linked by a raised, circular path in the South Korean countryside.
Located in Gangwon-do, Hoji Gangneung includes a family house for the owner and three guesthouses, along with a communal building.
Five buildings are arranged around a raised concrete ring
AOA Architects designed one of the four homes with an octagonal shape and central courtyard while another, named the Round House, has a semi-circular end.
The remaining two dwellings and the communal building have rectangular floor plans and differ from each other by their roof shape.
AOA Architects designed each structure with a different shape
The communal building has a mono-pitch roof and one rectangular house has a regular gable roof. The final house, named the Long House, features a gable roof with a raised central section topped with a skylight, creating an elongated light well.
“Every building has its own shape, size and character, allowing guests to enjoy each space distinctly through shadow play,” said AOA Architects principal Jaewon Suh.
Hoji Gangneung is located in the countryside in South Korea
AOA Architects took cues from countryside structures, such as warehouses and cabins, when designing Hoji Gangneung, aiming to create a project that references its surroundings while establishing itself as something new.
“The main concept and goal of the design is to build something familiar and also unfamiliar in a rural area,” Suh told Dezeen.
“For some, the Octagonal House looks like a nomadic tent and feels like an octagonal pavilion, the Long House looks like a milk carton or a grain warehouse, and the Round House looks like a slender piece of wood or a face with a hat, but these associations do not matter.”
A concrete ring elevated above the grassy landscape connects the five buildings, a decision the studio made to prevent the need for multiple paths.
“A circular shape was the best gesture to connect the five buildings at once,” Suh said. “As a result, while avoiding typical countryside alley shape and showing the main concept of the design, an artificial circular raised walkway was created.”
The buildings are made from textured concrete
According to the studio, the choice of concrete also deliberately juxtaposes the grassy landscape below.
“By raising a walkway slightly from the land, a tension between the gently floated concrete walkway and weak grasses of the land occurs,” said Suh.
AOA Architects covered the interiors of the homes in wood
The buildings are all built from textured concrete and topped by corrugated metal roofs.
In the communal building, the concrete structure is left exposed. Large glass doors spanning one wall open onto the concrete walkway and give views of the dwellings.
The concrete structure of the communal building is left exposed inside
The interiors of the houses are finished with wood to add a sense of warmth and “make one feel that they have entered a box of musical instruments”, according to Suh.
AOA Architects was founded in 2013 by Jaewon Suh and Euihaing Lee. The studio previously designed a Minecraft-themed apartment in Seoul with a stepped roof and red- and white-tiled exterior.
Elsewhere in South Korea, architecture studio Atelier Koma recently created a concrete chapel and YounghanChung Architects designed a two-storey study space for a retired university lecturer.
This week on Dezeen, aerial images showed construction progressing on projects involved in the Saudi mega-development Neom, including The Line megacity, Oxagon port and Sindalah island resort.
In a bid to prove the controversial project was moving forward, The Line’s chief operating officer Giles Pendleton shared the images in a LinkedIn post titled “Neom is real”.
Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos revealed designs for Neom’s Xaynor members’ club
The aerial shots revealed excavations for The Line, which will comprise two 170-kilometre-long skyscrapers set 200 metres apart, as well as preparation works on the Oxagon development and hotels being constructed at Sindalah.
In other Neom news, the development also revealed the designs for its beach-side members’ club Xaynor, courtesy of Mexican studio Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos.
Folkform exhibited Masonite furniture at this year’s Stockholm Design Week
We reported live from Sweden this week to share exclusive previews of products, installations and events taking place at Stockholm Design Week.
The first day of our Dezeen Live blog from the event included new lighting and furniture collections from Färg & Blanche, day two saw a spotting of actor Will Ferrell and our day three coverage included an installation of Masonite hardboard furniture by design studio Folkform.
The Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic medals were unveiled this week
Also this week, French jeweller Chaumet unveiled the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic medals, which feature rear faces embedded with a piece of the Eiffel Tower.
The fragments were removed from the iconic monument during various renovation works during the 20th century and preserved. For the medals, the hexagonal pieces have been stamped with the emblem of the Paris 2024 games.
The Las Vegas Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium will host this year’s NFL Super Bowl
In other sporting news, the NFL Super Bowl will take place this weekend at the 62,000-seat Las Vegas Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium in Nevada, which opened in 2020.
Designed by Manica Architecture, the stadium’s cylindrical shape and black metal exterior were informed by the sleekness and power of sports cars.
Polestar 4 is the first mass-market car to have no rear window
After launching in China last year, the five-door electric SUV coupé Polestar 4 has now gone on sale in Europe and Australia, making it the world’s first mass-market car without a rear window.
Created by Swedish automaker Polestar, the car has a roof-mounted rear camera that gives a more reliable picture than rear-view mirrors in standard coupés.
Ryan Scavnicky believes making the Oklahoma City skyscraper the tallest in the US sends the wrong message
Following the news that Californian architecture studio AO and developer Matteson Capital plan to build the US’s tallest building in Oklahoma City, architecture critic Ryan Scavnicky argued that the project sends the wrong message.
“Legends Tower is a very 20th-century way to say that you are squarely entering the 21st century of cultural and economic change,” he wrote in an opinion piece for Dezeen.
An angular home in Los Angeles was among the most-read stories this week
Popular projects this week included a Los Angeles house clad in white aluminium screens, a home in Japan with a blackened wood and corten steel exterior and a minimalist Tokyo apartment with interiors lined in local wood.
Our latest lookbooks featured brightly coloured home renovations and playful houses with indoor slides.
This week on Dezeen
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