Worlds Archives

Using lasers to create a database of the world’s forests

Spotted: In the last 10,000 years, the world has lost one-third of its tree cover, with the last 100 years seeing as much deforestation as the previous 9,000. As well as depleting essential carbon sinks, this tree-felling has also proven detrimental to the Earth’s natural biodiversity. New ways of mapping and interacting with our forests are necessary to keep track of, and hopefully begin to reverse, this environmental disaster.

This is where ArborMeta comes in – using a proprietary combination of LiDAR, algorithmic analysis, and software to analyse our world’s forests in unprecedented detail.

With this technology, the company can view the above-ground biomass of an area and in turn, quantify the sequestered carbon that is stored there – our forests being the largest store of living carbon in the world. LiDAR (light detecting and ranging) is a technology that relies on lasers to measure distances and then create high-resolution models of the area it has been used on, in this case, a forest.

The idea is relatively simple. The LiDAR sends out a laser and measures the amount of time it takes to return and then works out the distance through this time versus the speed of light. This process, carried out with many thousands of beams of light and over many different positions in a forest, produces a 3D map that is unmatched in its accuracy.

ArborMeta’s three-step process of terrestrial LiDAR collection, aerial and satellite data calibration, and then machine learning generation allows for essential environmental data to be collected and understood more easily and efficiently.

MRV (monitoring, reporting, and verification) is a process by which the success of environmental projects is recorded and ArborMeta’s technology helps to reduce the labour and cost of this without compromising accuracy – whether that’s for carbon stock assessments or tracking conservation efforts.

Our forests are precious, so it’s no surprise that innovators are developing creative ways to protect them. Springwise has also spotted these microforests that are returning degraded land to productivity as well as this new approach of valuing forests as ESG assets.

Written By: Archie Cox

Reference

Architecture

Henning Larsen unveils design for world’s largest timber logistics centre

By Zarkon Group,30/10/2023

Danish architecture studio Henning Larsen has revealed plans for a mass-timber logistics hub on Flevopolder island, the Netherlands, that will be the largest of its kind in the world.

Designed by Henning Larsen, the 155,000-square-metre hub will contain offices, shuttle storage and pallet shuttle, as well as a restaurant and roof garden.

Henning Larsen mass-timber logistics centre — Trees will provide shaded seating on the roof

Expected to be completed by 2026, the Logistics Center West will be built largely from glued laminated timber (glulam) and cross-laminated timber (CLT) along with other biogenic materials.

Internally, the timber structure will have oversized columns and exposed beams complimented by light-coloured floors and furniture. Externally, the facade will be divided by rhythmic timber fins and regular openings.

Timber warehouse — Timber interiors flooded by natural daylight

The building will be surrounded by a wetland habitat and forest with a 30,000-square-metre meadow placed on its roof to increase the site biodiversity.

Planting beds, fruit trees and bushes on the building’s rooftop will provide a green outdoor space for the employees, as well as attract local species.

Regular timber fins on facade — Regular timber fins decorate the facade

A boardwalk will serve as a scenic route across the wetland, while also providing educational tools for the employees, reinforcing the integration of nature into the workplace.

With just over 40 per cent of the site to be dedicated to greenery, access to certain areas of the site will be restricted to reduce human impact and promote wildlife growth.

According to the studio, the project’s biodiversity will work to absorb CO2, filter air pollutants and mitigate heat absorption to create “a more comfortable and sustainable environment”.

Rainwater from the rooftop will be collected and stored for sustainable reuse around the building.

Logistics centre in wetland — The mass-timber proposal will feature a constructed wetland

According to the studio the project will be the world’s largest timber logistics centre. The design will aim to create an atmosphere that prioritises employee well-being through the integration of nature into the workplace. Natural light, green spaces and clean air will work to “invigorate the space and enhance focus”.

Henning Larsen is an international studio for architecture, landscape, and urbanism. Other projects set to be completed by the studio include a ferry terminal in Faroe Islands that draws on traditional Viking boats and a wooden Ørestad church with trapezoidal roofs.

The renders are by Henning Larsen

Project Credits:

Client: Bestseller
Architect: Henning Larsen (services: architecture, interior design)
Landscape architect: Henning Larsen
Engineers: Ramboll, Denc and Pelecon

Reference

Sustainable News

Allbirds releases “world’s first net-zero carbon shoe”

By Zarkon Group,28/06/2023

At the Global Fashion Summit in Copenhagen, Allbirds has unveiled a woolly sock-style trainer with a bioplastic sole that effectively adds zero emissions to the atmosphere over the course of its life, the shoe brand claims.

The minimal all-grey Moonshot sneaker features an upper made using wool from a regenerative farm in New Zealand, which uses sustainable land management practices to capture more carbon than it emits.

This on-farm carbon storage offset any other emissions generated over the product’s lifecycle, Allbirds claims, making it the “world’s first net-zero carbon shoe”.

“Regenerative wool was a critical pillar of helping us reimagine how products are designed and made through the lens of carbon reduction,” co-founder Tim Brown told Dezeen.

“To me, the currently untapped opportunity for naturally derived, net-zero products is the future of fashion.”

Allbirds races to reduce trainers’ footprint

Set to launch commercially next spring, the product follows in the footsteps of the Futurecraft.Footprint trainer, which at 2.94 kilograms CO2e was reportedly the lowest-carbon trainer ever made when Allbirds and Adidas launched it in 2021.

Back then, the team focused mainly on simplifying the construction of trainers, which have an average footprint of 13.6 kilograms CO2e, and reducing the number of separate components from 65 to just seven.

This same principle was also applied to the Moonshot, which features no laces or eyelets and integrates its insole directly into the knitted upper.

Close-up of knitted upper on Allbirds shoe — Moonshot was unveiled at the Global Fashion Summit

But this time, the key advance came in the form of materials – primarily the merino wool upper sourced from Lake Hawea Station, a certified net-zero farm in New Zealand.

Through regenerative practices such as replanting native trees and vegetation, as well as maintaining soil carbon through rotational grazing, the farm says it sequesters almost twice as much carbon as it emits.

However, these carbon benefits of sustainable land management are generally not considered in a material’s lifecycle assessment (LCA).

“Frequently, the way that the carbon intensity of wool is looked at is just acknowledging the emissions, so completely disregarding any of the removals happening on farm,” said Allbirds sustainability manager Aileen Lerch. “And we think that that is a huge missing opportunity.”

That’s because it prevents brands, designers and architects, who are increasingly making use of biomaterials to reduce the footprint of their projects, from reliably calculating and certifying any emissions savings.

With the Moonshot project, Allbirds hopes to offer a template for how these carbon benefits could be considered within LCAs, using Lake Hawea Station’s overall carbon footprint as a basis.

From this, the Allbirds extrapolated a product-level footprint for the wool, which the company has so far failed to disclose, using its own carbon calculator.

Carbon calculation chart for M0.0NSHOT trainer — Carbon sequestered on the wool farm offsets emissions elsewhere in the lifecycle, Allbirds claims

As a result, there is a degree of uncertainty around the actual footprint of the trainer because it cannot currently be verified by a third party according to official international standards.

But Allbirds head of sustainability Hana Kajimura argues that this is a risk worth taking to help push the discussion forward and incentivise a shift towards regenerative agriculture.

“It’s about progress, not perfection,” she said. “We could spend decades debating the finer points of carbon sequestration, or we can innovate today with a common sense approach.”

Plastics still play a role for performance

Regenerative wool also cannot yet fully contend with the performance of synthetic fibres, meaning that to create the Moonshot upper, it had to be blended with some recycled nylon and polyester for durability and stretch.

For the midsole, Allbirds managed to amp up the bioplastic content from 18 per cent in 2021’s Futurecraft.Footprint trainer to 70 per cent in the Moonshot, using a process called supercritical foaming.

This involves injecting gas into the midsole, making it more durable and lightweight while reducing the need for emissions-intensive synthetic additives.

“In the industry right now, most midsoles have no bio content or quite a minimal one,” Lerch explained. “So it’s really a large step change in what’s possible because of this supercritical foaming process.”

Stuck to the front of the sneaker is a bioplastic smiley face badge by California company Mango Materials, which is made using captured methane emissions from a wastewater treatment facility that is then digested by bacteria and turned into a biopolyester called PHA.

The shoe itself will be vacuum-packed in bioplastic polyethylene to save space and weight during transport, which Allbirds plans to conduct via electric trucks and biofuel-powered container ships.

There is no “perfect solution” for end of life

Another area that will need further development is the end of life, meaning how the shoe’s packaging and its various plastic and bioplastic composite components can be responsibly disposed of given that they are notoriously hard – if not impossible – to recycle.

“We don’t yet have a perfect solution of what will happen at its end of life,” Lerch said. “We don’t want to make a promise of: send it back, don’t worry, buy your next shoe and move on.”

“We acknowledge though, that the answer isn’t just to keep making more products that end up in landfill or incinerated. So we’re continuously looking at what those solutions can be.”

M0.0NSHOT net-zero trainers by Allbirds — The sock trainers feature a minimal wool-heavy design

In a bid to overcome challenges like this and encourage collaboration across the industry, Allbirds is open-sourcing the toolkit it used to create Moonshot and encouraging other companies to adapt, expand and improve on it.

“It is also about ushering in a new age of ‘hyper-collaboration’ across brands and industries to share best practice, build scale for all parts of the supply chain, to reward growers and lower costs,” Brown said.

Allbirds became the first fashion brand to provide carbon labelling for all of its products in 2020.

Since then, the company has committed itself to reducing the carbon footprint of its products to below one kilogram and its overall footprint to “near zero” by 2030.

Reference

Sustainable News

Vestre launches “world’s first” furniture made from fossil-free steel

By Zarkon Group,20/06/2023

Street furniture brand Vestre and designer Emma Olbers have produced a piece of furniture using fossil-free steel that was made without creating carbon emissions.

The Tellus bench is made from steel forged by Swedish steelmaker SSAB in its converted blast furnace, which uses green hydrogen instead of coal for heat, and so emits no carbon dioxide.

Vestre, which aims to be recognized as the world’s most sustainable furniture company, says it is the first furniture manufacturer in the world to use the fossil-free steel. Steel is one of the brand’s prime targets for slashing its carbon emissions.

Photo of a lightweight steel bench on the street of a European city against an old building — The Tellus bench is the world’s first item of furniture made from fossil-free steel

“Early estimates show that converting all our steel to fossil-free could reduce our overall footprint by around 60 percent,” said Vestre chief sustainability officer Øyvind Bjørnstad.

For designer Olbers, the goal was to lower emissions even further by using as little material as possible to make the bench. Even though SSAB’s alloy is forged without coal, there are still carbon emissions elsewhere in the value chain, such as from mining and transport, so every gram of material still has some carbon cost.

“An outdoor bench for public environments must also withstand a lot of wear and tear,” Olbers said. “We have striven to use as little material as possible but still maintain the strong construction.”

Photo of the Tellus bench by Vestre on a sandy shoreline overlooking the water — Emma Olbers designed the bench so it would use as little material as possible

Aesthetically, Olbers wanted the bench to have a “metal feel” but also look inviting, so she gave it wide armrests that would invite repose while providing enough space to rest a coffee cup.

Tellus is intended for parks and other public spaces, and can be ordered in any classic RAL colour. The bench is titled after one of the alternative names for planet Earth.

Vestre came to work with the fossil-free steel following a long-time partnership with SSAB. Bjørnstad describes the companies as having a “tight dialogue” on several sustainability projects.

Photo of the Tellus steel bench in a lush, green public park — The bench is designed for public spaces such as parks

The Norwegian brand brought in Olbers because of the designer’s dedication to sustainable practices, which Bjørnstad said involves being highly scientific and rigorous in her approach.

The Swedish designer’s previous work includes the Now or Never – 1kg CO2e exhibition at this year’s Stockholm Furniture Fair, in which she visualised the carbon emissions of common materials.

The iron and steel industries currently account for around five per cent of total global green house gas emissions. SSAB first announced its plans to make steel free of fossil fuels in 2016 and made its first batch of the alloy last year.

The material has exactly the same properties as traditional steel but is produced using a process called Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology (HYBRIT), in which green hydrogen is burned instead of coal and coke.

Photo of the Tellus bench armrest and seat in detail — The pattern in the steel sheet helps to minimise the amount of material used

Green hydrogen is obtained via the electrolysis of water, which splits the water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen and emits no greenhouse gases.

SSAB is planning to convert all of its factories in Sweden, Finland and the USA to HYBRIT and phase out its other steel products by 2045.

Doing so could reduce the total CO2 emissions of Sweden by around ten per cent and Finland by approximately seven per cent, SSAB has estimated.

Close-up photo of the Tellus bench backrest showing screw detail — Fossil-free steel has the same properties as traditional steel

Vestre’s previous sustainability efforts include introducing CO2 emissions product labelling and reusing its old fair stands for new installations.

Its production facility in Norway, completed by BIG in 2022, is described by the brand as the most environmentally friendly furniture factory in the world, with Passivhaus strategies, solar panels and geothermal wells.

Photography is by Einar Aslaksen.

Reference

Sustainable News

Dalston Works by Waugh Thistleton Architects became world’s biggest CLT building

By Zarkon Group,25/03/2023

Up next in our Timber Revolution series is a look at the Dalston Works apartment complex in London by Waugh Thistleton Architects, which is the world’s largest cross-laminated timber building.

Completed in 2017, Dalston Works is a 10-storey residential development in east London that contains 121 apartments with balconies as well as two ground-level courtyards, retail and restaurant space and an integrated flexible workspace.

Upon its completion, the project became the world’s largest cross-laminated timber (CLT) building, was its uses more of the material by volume – 3,852 cubic metres – than any other building. Dezeen is not aware of any larger CLT buildings constructed since.

Rectilinear brick-clad CLT building on a corner site in Dalston — Dalston Works is a mixed-use development in east London

It was designed by local architecture studio Waugh Thistleton Architects – a Shoreditch-based timber specialist that has been predominantly working with engineered wood since 2003.

Waugh Thistleton Architects also designed Murray Grove, which was previously profiled as part of Dezeen’s Timber Revolution series.

CLT is a panel material made by gluing at least three layers of wood at right angles to each other, which is significantly less carbon-intensive than other structural materials such as concrete or steel.

The panels are characterised by structural rigidity in two directions thanks to the arrangement of the layers and are cut to size before being assembled on-site.

Dalston Works has external, party and core walls as well as flooring and stairs made entirely from pieces of CLT that were delivered to the formerly neglected brownfield site over 374 days.

Brickwork facade of Dalston Works in east London by Waugh Thistleton Architects — It is the world’s largest CLT building

“[CLT] is replenishable, beautiful, healthy, fast and economic,” Andrew Waugh told Dezeen, who co-founded the architecture studio with Anthony Thistleton in 1997.

“Timber is easy to cut and to build with, so the buildings are easy to adapt – so they last longer,” he added.

“This also makes the material easier to use as part of a prefabricated system so that we can make higher quality buildings faster and with better working conditions for those involved.”

Ground-floor courtyard within brick-clad Dalston Works — Two ground-floor courtyards feature in the design

The development is separated into several boxy volumes, while the CLT frame was clad in traditional bricks chosen to reference the Edwardian and Victorian architecture of nearby warehouses and terraced properties.

“[The brickwork] was important to the client and to the planners,” reflected Waugh. “I am happy with the way it looks but would have preferred a lightweight cladding material.”

“We needed to greatly increase the amount of timber in the structure just to hold the bricks up in the air,” Waugh explained.

Brickwork facade on Dalston Works in east London — The CLT structure is clad in traditional bricks

Despite this, Dalston Works weighs a fifth of a concrete building of its size, according to the studio, which reduced the number of deliveries required during construction by 80 per cent.

Creating a lighter core meant that the project could reach much higher than if it had been constructed in concrete, since the development sits above the underground Elizabeth Line railway.

The project’s CLT frame also has 50 per cent less embodied carbon than a traditional concrete one. This refers to the amount of energy required to produce and form a material or object.

Perspective of the sky above the brick-clad Dalston Works building — A timber core means that the building weighs less than a similarly sized concrete structure

“There wasn’t a great deal of client motivation or legislative demand for any measures beyond meeting BREEAM and building regulations,” Waugh recalled, referring to standards that limit operational emissions as opposed to embodied emissions.

“My own view is that building regulations are pretty effective – and if you have an efficient, airtight building which is passively designed to suit its location then the operational carbon demand will be pretty low, and you have to assume that we will generate it from renewable energy in the near future.”

“Lots of stuff and complex gear designed to very slightly reduce the energy demand is a bit of a waste of resources. The real issue here is reducing the use of concrete and steel – the carbon savings from doing that are immense.”

According to project engineer Ramboll, more than 2,600 tonnes of carbon dioxide is stored within Dalston Works’ CLT frame.

Nearly six years on from Dalston Works’ completion, Waugh reflected on the significance of the world’s largest CLT building.

“At the time it was an important milestone – to demonstrate that timber is a viable alternative to concrete and steel – and at scale,” reflected the architect. “But I think it’s dangerous to measure a building’s success by its size,” he warned.

Rectilinear brick-clad residential complex building in Dalston — Andrew Waugh has called for action from the UK government to encourage more mass timber architecture

Known as a long-time campaigner for the use of mass timber in architecture, Waugh said that he recently wrote a “big piece” to the UK government calling for it to invest more in sustainable architecture practices, explaining that the UK has been “left way behind” compared with various mass-timber projects being created in other parts of the world.

“The UK is behind in terms of timber because we have a government that does not prioritise carbon reduction – and is heavily influenced by lobbying from both construction companies and the manufacturing industry,” said the architect.

“Architects need to start driving demand – seeking out opportunities to design in timber and build a market. Designers need to prioritise carbon reduction in their work and start reconsidering how they think about success in the buildings they design.”

The photography is courtesy of Waugh Thistleton Architects.

Illustration by Yo Hosoyamada

Timber Revolution

This article is part of Dezeen’s Timber Revolution series, which explores the potential of mass timber and asks whether going back to wood as our primary construction material can lead the world to a more sustainable future.

Reference

Architecture

World’s Best Design Details: Bendheim’s Bespoke Glass Façades

By Zarkon Group,16/02/2023

Architizer’s A+Awards Best Firm categories allow design firms of all sizes to showcase their practice and vie for the title of “World’s Best Architecture Firm”. Start an A+Firm Award Application today.

Architecture is shaped by form, transparency and light. Today, glass is one of the key materials specified to control what we experience inside a building, from views and daylight to heating and cooling. Glass has been used for thousands of years, holding both practical uses and cultural meaning. A major turning point came with the advent of the float glass process, invented by Sir Alastair Pilkington in 1952, which used a molten tin bath to produce a continuous ribbon of glass. Now, architects are working with manufacturers to rethink conventional building envelopes and construction techniques.

Bendheim is one of the world’s foremost resources for specialty architectural glass. Founded in New York City in 1927, the family-owned company offers in-stock and custom glass varieties for interior and exterior building applications. In the early 1980s, Bendheim began its Architectural Glass division with new tempering and lamination processes to transform hundreds of decorative glass varieties into safety architectural glass products. Bendheim now maintains production facilities in New Jersey and a Design Lab in New York City. The following projects showcase Bendheim’s products in architecture across the United States, from residential to cultural projects.

Devon Energy Center

By Pickard Chilton, Oklahoma City, OK, United States

The Devon Energy Center was designed to create a focal point for the company and the city by integrating civic-scaled spaces. The headquarters consolidates Devon’s Oklahoma City-based workforce into a single facility. Rising fifty floors, the tower’s unique three-sided footprint allows it to be viewed from all of greater Oklahoma City. The curtain wall is composed of state-of-the-art continuous floor-to-ceiling glazing and a highly articulated mullion system.

Defining an urban edge between business and arts districts, the auditorium is a prominent, multi-use venue designed to support private and public events. Bendheim was brought on with double-glazed, solar channel glass to create feature exterior walls with angle cuts at the entrance. The SF-60 framing system was utilized for setting the glass.

Shaw Center for the Arts

By Schwartz/Silver Architects, Baton Rouge, LA, United States

Made to house Louisiana State University’s Museum of Art, this project also included studio art facilities, a regional performing arts facility with a 320 seat main stage, a hundred-seat black box theater, and a dance recital theater. An historic older building, the “Auto Hotel,” houses classrooms, offices, curatorial spaces, and a gallery for the LSU School of Art. The innovative Bendheim channel glass rainscreen creates a highly recognizable façade, while protecting the building and the works of art it houses from the elements.

The façade features approximately 40,000 square feet of the channel glass. Most of the flanges face outward, adding texture to the building. There are 2-inch gaps between the channels, and the glass rainscreen sits approximately 6 inches off a layer of waterproof aluminum. The resulting varied texture emulates the shimmering surface of the nearby Mississippi River. The unique flange-outward design adds visual complexity, while preventing wind and rain from accessing the metal panels behind the channel glass.

Swiss Embassy Residence

By Rüssli Architects AG, Washington, DC, United States

Looking out with a view to the Washington Monument, this residence was made as a multifunctional microcosm of living and working space as well as rooms for official receptions and for the staff. The strictly geometrical structure of the Swiss Embassy is a cross-shaped volume on a massive, rectangular base. The outer sides of the cross, which are part of the base too, and the the resulting exterior spaces are allocated to adjacent areas.

Bendheim’s U-profile channel glass, contrasting with slate-trimmed grey concrete, produces a crisp, clean effect in this cross-shaped design. The complex features 10,000 square feet of tempered, low-iron, sandblasted, solar textured channel glass. The Swiss Embassy residence operates at high levels of efficiency, consuming half as much energy as a typical building structure. The project also conforms to the LEED Silver green building standard.

Institute of Contemporary Art

By Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Boston, MA, United States

The ICA was the first museum to be built in Boston in 100 years. The 65,000 square foot building includes temporary and permanent galleries, a 330 seat multi-purpose theater, a restaurant, bookstore, education/workshop facilities, and administrative offices. The site is bound on two sides by the Harbor Walk, a 47-mile public walkway at the water¹s edge reclaimed from Boston’s industrial past. The ICA offers the city some of its ground floor footprint in exchange for rights to cantilever over city property with a 18,000-square-foot gallery illuminated by an uninterrupted skylight.

A 504 Rough Cast channel glass façade envelopes the upper level of the Institute of Contemporary Art on three sides. The glass rainscreen is functional, protecting the building from harmful moisture damage, as well as being aesthetically pleasing. The glass is illuminated from the top, allowing the entire upper level to glow at night and to act as a beacon over the harbor.

C-Glass House

By deegan day design, Marin County, CA, United States

The C-Glass House is an elegant retreat in northern California. Set on a spectacular site, the residence opens to a panoramic view of Tomales Bay and the open ocean, while bracing against winds from multiple directions. C-Glass House brokers between the Leica-like precision of high modern glass houses and the cinematic wireframe of the Case Study generation. The home was also inspired by artists’ explorations of glazed enclosures as much as it is to the precedents of Johnson and Mies.

The C-Glass House opens up to a panoramic vista but also modulates and reflects back on architecture’s evolving role in the American landscape. Affixed in Bendheim’s SF-60 framing system, solar textured channel glass defines the house’s exterior, creates privacy, and diffuses the strong Californian sunlight. Captured at the top and bottom, the tempered channel glass spans the height of the house, seamlessly turning corners without the need for extra metal supports.

Visual Arts Building, University of Iowa

By Steven Holl Architects and BNIM, Iowa City, IA, United States

SHA and BNIM designed the new Visual Arts Building for the University of Iowa’s School of Art and Art History. It provides 126,000 square feet of loft-like space for all visual arts media, from ancient metal-smithing techniques to the most advanced virtual reality technologies. The building replaces an original arts building from 1936, which was heavily damaged during the 2008 flood of the University of Iowa campus. Seven vertical “centers of light” are carved out of the building’s volume filling the interior with natural light and ventilation.

Channel glass by Bendheim soars at 20 foot heights throughout the project. The combination of Bendheim’s 504 Rough Cast™ channel glass texture with translucent insulation inserts delivers ideal daylight, as if filtered through a translucent cloud. With no glare requiring shades or other window treatments to block it, classrooms, studios, and lounge spaces are flooded with natural light that appears to have no direct source. The idea was to create evenly dispersed light that would make the best possible atmosphere in which to work and create.

Reference

Sustainable News

The world’s first commercial CO2-to-methanol plant

By Zarkon Group,24/11/2022

Spotted: Methanol (CH3OH) is a chemical building block used in hundreds of everyday products, including plastics, paints, and car parts, as well as a clean-burning fuel. However, methanol production itself is not clean – it is produced in an energy-intensive process that usually begins with natural gas: a fossil fuel. Now, Carbon Recycling International (CRI) is working on a way to change this with a production process that uses captured waste carbon dioxide and hydrogen gases.

CRI has recently completed the world’s first commercial-scale CO2-to-methanol plant, located in Anyang, Henan Province, China. The cutting-edge facility uses Emissions-to-Liquids (ETL) technology developed by CRI and first demonstrated at its pilot plant in Iceland. This process uses carbon dioxide that is recovered from existing lime production emissions, and hydrogen recovered from coke-oven gas. The waste gases are captured at their point of emission and transferred to the gas conditioning system, where impurities are then removed to produce carbon dioxide. At the same time, hydrogen is generated by water electrolysis using a renewable electricity source.

Björk Kristjánsdóttir, CEO of CRI, explains, “We are proud to have successfully realised this important project and to bring our environmentally friendly, ETL technology into the global market. This technology can support large-scale reduction of carbon emissions and help facilitate the energy transition.”

To meet the goal of zero carbon, it is going to be necessary to find low-carbon methods for producing basic materials. Springwise has also spotted a method for making protein out of methane and turning waste CO2 into carbon fibre and wastewater treatment chemicals.

Written By Lisa Magloff

Reference

Interior Design

Studio Sofield completes interiors on world’s skinniest supertall skyscraper

By Zarkon Group,16/11/2022

Studio Sofield has completed the interiors of 111 West 57th Street, also known as Steinway Tower – a supertall skyscraper designed by SHoP Architects in New York City.

The interiors mark the full completion of the 1,428-foot-tall (435-metre) skyscraper, which is the second tallest in the Western Hemisphere, and the skinniest in the world with a height-to-width ratio of 24:1.

Steinway tower interiors with modern furniture and view of central park — Studio Sofield completed interiors for Steinway Tower in Manhattan

Sited on a street bordering Central Park in Midtown that has come to be known as Billionaire’s Row, the skyscraper has views looking north and south.

New York-based Studio Sofield designed the interiors for the skyscraper as well as the adjacent Steinway Hall, which is connected to the tower.

The 91-storey skyscraper has 46 residences, with an additional 14 held in Steinway Hall, as well as a variety of amenities, and was developed by JDS Development Group and Property Markets Group.

Steinway Tower lobby inteirors with pianos — The design included interiors for the lobby spaces that connect the tower and Steinway Hall

“With 111 West 57th Street, I set out to create interior architecture that was unmistakably and quintessentially New York,” said Studio Sofield founder William Sofield.

“While celebrating the vibrancy of today, I am a historian by nature and sought to honor and evoke the splendor of our city’s gilded age.”

Steinway Tower lobby interiors gilded frames — Studio Sofield wanted the public interiors to reflect the “gilded age” of New York City

Interiors designed by Sofield includes the “block-long lobby sequence” that connects the two aspects of the tower. Here, the studio restored the original flooring of the Steinway Hall and used limestone, marble, blackened steel and velvet accents.

Murals in bas-reliefs of gold and silver leaves depict architectural landmarks of New York, and elephants were depicted elephants roaming through the city as a”tribute to the history of pianos”.

Steinway Hall swimming poool — The swimming pool room has full-height windows

Another room in the lobby sequence was outfitted with bronze mirror cladding that leads to a “domed salon” lined with banquet seating.

On 58th street, a residence entrance featuring a granite porte-cochere with grillwork doors inspired by “the bronze filigree on the building’s exterior”.

Steinway hall room — Steinway Hall was renovated using themes from the original building

The bar area and the swimming pool are also in the hall structure. According to the studio, the bar was based on the “legendary King Cole Bar with its chic bar” with an ornamental balcony and skylights that further the material references to the original building.

Elevator vestibules for the tower were completed using custom-made doors by artist Nancy Lorenz. The swimming pool is 82 feet long (25 metres) and is housed in a double-height room with floor-to-ceiling windows.

In the skyscraper, the residences each occupy at least a single floor. Each home has a central room where the views to the north and south are prioritised, and these rooms lead to a “signature great hall, which often spans the full width of the tower,” according to the studio.

Grey oak and macauba stone were used for the flooring and nine-foot-tall doors separate the room.

Steinway Skyscraper interiors — The skyscraper’s residences have wooden and stone floor

Hardware for the doors as well as other features like the freestanding bathtubs and the fixtures were sourced from long-standing US manufacturers such as PE Guerin, which, according to the studio, is the “country’s oldest architectural hardware firm”.

Other supertall skyscrapers – defined as one between 984 and 1,969 feet (300 and 600 metres) – designed by SHoP Architects include the Brooklyn Tower in Downtown Brooklyn, which is nearing its way to completion, having topped out earlier this year.

Billionare’s Row – the name for the luxury skyscrapers on 57th Street near Central Park in Manhattan, continues to see new developments, with New York studio ODA announcing the construction of a “fractal” skyscraper on the street.

The interior photography is by Adrian Gaut with exterior photography by David Sundberg.

Reference

Architecture

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

By Zarkon Group,25/10/2022

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.

Reference

Sustainable News

Tower in Ontario becomes world’s tallest retrofitted Passivhaus structure

By Zarkon Group,23/10/2022

ERA Architects has refurbished a postwar social housing building in Hamilton, Ontario, making it the largest residential building in the world to achieve Passivhaus EnerPHit certification.

ERA used the North American elaboration on European Passivhaus standards for energy efficiency to retrofit the Ken Soble Tower, an 18-storey apartment building constructed in 1967.

tallest retrofitted passivhaus — Ken Soble tower is the tallest retrofitted Passivehaus in the world. Photo by Codrin Talaba

The firm also added elements that address issues of social welfare for the elderly and changing health requirements since the coronavirus pandemic.

The largest public housing building in Hamilton, a city southwest of Toronto on Lake Ontario, the tower was in a state of disrepair and selected for renovation by the Canadian National Housing Strategy’s Repair and Renewal Fund.

The apartment complex will continue to serve low-income and senior residents under the portfolio of CityHousing Hamilton.

Constructed in a simple brutalist style, the tower is one of the thousands of such buildings built in Canada in the period following the second world war.

The structure is now certified under the Passivhaus EnerPHit category, particular to retrofitted buildings.

In order to achieve the status, ERA updated the cladding of the structure to ensure thermal performance and airtightness. R38 overcladding was used on top of the existing concrete in order to minimise changes to the envelope.

“The resulting cladding design includes a 150-millimetre-thick mineral wool EIFS system, not widely used in the local market, complete with an integrated drainage layer and new fluid-applied air barrier membrane,” said the architects.

Canadian-made, fibreglass-framed, Passivhaus-certified windows were used to maximise the effectiveness of the mechanical systems.

A “five stage” cooling system was used throughout the building. This includes the glazing, the low-emissivity interior shades, ceiling fans, a centralised ventilation system, and decentralised Variable Air Volume Units.

The architects acknowledged that centralised cooling systems are not typical for Passivhaus, also known as Passive House in North America.

“The Passive House standard can at times be at odds with Ontario’s humid climate and local building code,” said ERA.

“The design team identified a high risk of overheating due to high relative humidity in the regional climate zone,” the studio continued. “As such, a centralised air conditioning system was integrated into the design, with resulting impacts on the Passive House energy budget.”

The studio also said that consideration of changing environments due to climate change were factored into the building’s design, such as using 2050 projected climate data.

To address the standards of living for an elderly population, ERA implemented a number of socially minded design programs. For example, a new solarium with views over the harbour and a green roof were added along with “barrier free” suites, high-contrast wayfinding, and expanded community space on the public ground floor.

Aspects of the heating design are also geared towards resident well-being.

“If power and heat were lost on the coldest day of the year, residents could shelter in place for up to four days, as compared to four hours in a building adhering to the minimum requirements of the Ontario Building Code,” said ERA.

Regarding the aspects of the design informed by the coronavirus pandemic, the studio said that it used “best-in-class” individual suite ventilation to account for direct fresh air delivery.

ERA Architects’ sister non-profit, The Tower Renewal Partnership, has been collecting data to work towards national implementation of such restoration processes.

Other Passivhaus projects in Canada include WKK Architects’ proposed 1075 Nelson Street skyscraper in Vancouver, which, when finished, will become the tallest of its kind building in the world.

Project credits:

Architect team: Graeme Stewart, Ya’el Santopinto, Mikael Sydor, Carolina Streber, Rui Felix, Leah Gibling, Danielle McIntyre, Abbi Kusch, Lauren Marshal
Structural: Entuitive Corporation
Mechanical: Reinbold Engineering Group
Electrical: Nemetz (S/A) and Associates
Landscape: ERA Architects
Interiors: ERA Architects
Contractor: PCL Construction
Passive House consultant: JMV Consulting & Transsolar Klimaengineering
Third-party Passive House certifier: Herz & Lang
Envelope: Entuitive Corporation
Elevator: Soberman Engineering
Code: LMDG Building Code Consultants
Commissioning: CFMS West Consulting
Hazardous materials: Pinchin Limited
Security/telecommunications: Zerobit1
Construction consultant: SCR Consulting

Reference

Worlds

Devon Energy Center

By Pickard Chilton, Oklahoma City, OK, United States

Shaw Center for the Arts

By Schwartz/Silver Architects, Baton Rouge, LA, United States

Swiss Embassy Residence

By Rüssli Architects AG, Washington, DC, United States

Institute of Contemporary Art

By Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Boston, MA, United States

C-Glass House

By deegan day design, Marin County, CA, United States

Visual Arts Building, University of Iowa

By Steven Holl Architects and BNIM, Iowa City, IA, United States

Shajing Village Hall

By ARCity Office, China

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

Ciot

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

Biodome Science Museum

By KANVA, Montreal, Canada

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

CME Center

By Krueck Sexton Partners, Chicago, IL, United States

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

Rue de la Gauchetière Loft

By Future Simple Studio, Montreal, Canada

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Apartment

South 2nd

By Murray Legge Architecture, Austin, TX, United States

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

Nil Dos House

By Valentí Albareda Studio, Spain

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

The Moving Kitchen

By J.C. Architecture, Taiwan

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

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