SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE: INNOVATIVE PROJECTS
The construction industry is by far the biggest contributor to pollution on our planet and is responsible for almost half of the energy used in the world. This is why the architectural community should focus on strategies to reduce energy consumption in buildings and in their construction.
Indeed, as creators of space, we are the guardians of the temple that is planet Earth. We are aware of this at Arpio Architects and greener solutions are actively researched and legislated to be part of sustainable architecture. Before telling you about it, let's take a tour of the world of innovative eco-friendly projects which have succeeded in impacting the architectural sphere and which inspire us deeply.
Timber Tower - Toronto
This revolutionary project is based on the observation that metropolises are riddled with towers of steel, concrete and glass. Logically, if you walk around town and suddenly see a tower made of wood and plants, it will create an interesting contrast.
Quality life means living in a healthy environment. It also means living in a healthy city.
For the past five years, wood has experienced a new life in taller buildings thanks to solid wood products. Indeed, engineered wood construction is considered the “Next Big Thing” of construction in the 21st century. To begin with, the process of creating structural engineered wood products consumes much less energy than steel, cement or concrete and produces less greenhouse gases during manufacture. In addition, wood stores carbon on its own (about one ton per cubic meter), which gives it, compared to other building materials, a lighter overall environmental footprint. Thus, the structure of the Tree Tower is mainly made of solid wood panels, with a mixture of CLT, concrete and steel where it is needed, and is a testament to the use of wood products from engineering in vertical structures.
Also, Canada is known to be a pioneer in modular and prefabricated construction, efficient on the one hand and visually interesting on the other. A prime example of this process is Moshe Safdie's famous Habitat 67. Inspired by the latter, the "Tree Tower" uses a modular construction process, where pre-fabricated and pre-cut CLT panels are assembled into modules off-site in an indoor facility. Once the work on the site, with the foundations, the ground floor and the base core, is completed, all modules, including equipment and finishes, are delivered to the site and put in place with a crane. During the process of stacking the modules, the wooden facade panels are installed and sealed. By opting for a fully modular and prefabricated construction, the process is faster, less noisy, reduces waste and allows a high degree of quality control as most parts of the building are assembled in a controlled indoor environment.
With its 18 floors which rise to 62 m high, its 4500 m² of residential areas and 550 m² of public areas with café, nursery, etc. Toronto's Tree Tower symbolizes an ecological system for wooden skyscrapers of the whole world. The warm and natural look of this material and the plants growing on its facade give life to the building, which should be seen as a catalyst for future residential buildings which are "more efficient to build" and "greener for our environment" than common construction methods.
BBVA Tower - Mexico
Since its inauguration in 2016, the BBVA Tower has gradually become an icon of Mexico City and a benchmark for the citizen of the capital. It is not only a modern, eco-friendly and smart property, but also a place that commemorates, celebrates and draws attention to global themes of great relevance with an innovative and eye-catching lighting system. For this reason, Edificios de México recognized it as “Building of the year 2019”.
Beyond its avant-garde design, the characteristics of the BBVA tower which make it worthy of recognition are legion. First, the 50 meter deep foundations, the six mega-columns that distribute the weight of the tower, the inverted V-shaped macro-frames that absorb energy in the event of an earthquake and protect the entire building structure, are some of the earthquake-resistant features that make the BBVA tower one of the safest in Mexico and Latin America.
In addition, this building aims to be environmentally friendly in its design and operation, which is why LEED certification has always been considered, which translates into savings and recycling of water consumption and a reduction in water consumption. energy consumption, in addition to seeking to improve the final aspects of the quality of life and comfort of building users. From the second half of 2018, the BBVA Tower integrated a lighting system into the building that complies with eco-efficiency standards and the BBVA group's strategy to reduce energy consumption, as it is powered by the wind energy, generating no additional consumption.
Le 1000 tree complex - Shanghai
Sometimes architects can really let their imaginations run wild and make their dreams come true. Thomas Heatherwick is one of the lucky few who manages to build his ambitious vision with the 1000 Tree Complex in Shanghai, another example of sustainable architecture. Designed by the Heatherwick studio for developer Tian An China, 1000 Trees is designed not only as a building but also as an element of topography and takes the form of two tree-covered mountains, populated by hundreds of columns. Rather than hiding the columns that provide structural support, the columns emerge at the top of the building like large planters, each containing a handful of trees.
As the name suggests, 1000 Tree Complex is distinguished by the hundreds of plants that emerge from its staggered, pixelated surface. The trees are housed in giant pots that rest atop structural concrete columns placed across the mountain.
The huge project will not only cover more than 300,000 square meters, but will also go beyond the mere notion of being just another block of skyscrapers in the Chinese metropolis. Thus, it is a neighborhood complete with schools, kindergartens, shopping centers, offices and apartments, gathered in the community of Heatherwick, inspired by nature, looking like a hill, covered with vegetation. lush abundant. Each pillar is crowned by a tree, surrounded by more than 400 planted terraces.
California Academy of Science - San Francisco
Following the widespread destruction of the buildings by an earthquake in 1989, a consultation was held for a new California Academy of Science. Design a major cultural and scientific institution in San Francisco, a city with a strong collective vocation for the environment also meant finding a language that would immediately express this shared vision of the present.
Today, the Academy stands on the Golden Gate Park site of its predecessor and recovers two existing buildings as well as a new structure. The entire 37,000 square meter complex is like a part of the park that has been cut off and raised 10m above the ground. This “living roof” is covered with 1,700,000 selected native plants and planted in specially designed biodegradable coir containers. The roof is flat around its perimeter and, like a natural landscape, becomes more and more undulating as it moves away from the edge to form a series of domes of different sizes that rise from the roof plane and allow constant ventilation. of the building.
In terms of sustainability, the building adopts underfloor heating, which reduces energy by 5-10%, and heat recovery systems that capture and use the heat generated by HVAC equipment, thereby reducing energy consumption. heating energy. Also, the humidity of the ground, combined with the phenomenon of thermal inertia, cools the interior considerably, thus avoiding the need for air conditioning in the public spaces on the ground floor and the research offices along the facade. Add to that glazing that reduces heat absorption levels, reverse osmosis humidification systems, and the use of glass and skylights for daylighting and ventilation.
You get it, durability was definitely a key aspect of the design. Indeed, one of the ten green building projects of the San Francisco Department of the Environment aims to achieve LEED platinum certification. In fact, buildings consume between 30% and 35% less energy than established by standards.
Through the evocative spaces, the large green roof that breathes and the successful coexistence of high dissemination and research activities, the new headquarters of the California Academy of Sciences wanted, using architecture, to convey its passion for knowledge. of nature and the fact that the earth is fragile.
