Incredible Office In Woods

Your office is probably the place where you spend most of your time. It is thus important that we at least try to make our office space an attractive and conducive place to work in. Having beautiful art in the office environment will certainly make your office a more interesting and dynamic place to work in. You have to admire the originality of this woods office in WestChester County, United States! It is truly amazing work of art.

Unique Coffee Tables

Whether you prefer function over style or vice versa, there is a coffee table out there is an out-of-the-box coffee table design out there ready to take replace the old, boring one lying in the center of your living room. The following tables are some of the most creative and unique cocktail tables on the market or heading towards production.

Touch-sensitive Coffee Table

Stylishly sustainable design for K-12 school project

Sustainability is all everyone is talking about these days. What with resources dwindling at an alarming rate, there is a need to come up with solutions that can best bring together living with limited supply. This includes living and work space as well. Keeping sustainability in mind, design group Shortlist_0 is in the process of finalizing plans to create a school model based on the K-12 system. The project envisions making the school self-sufficient by using forms of renewable energy and making use of natural light and ventilation.

K-12 SCHOOL

More and more individuals and design groups are incorporating renewable energy into their designs. Since the cost of conventional fuel can’t seem to go down, we’re now realizing the value of alternative forms of energy. Not only is there an endless supply, but they’re cleaner as well.

This sustainable design by Shortlist_0 has been proposed for Cleveland Ohio’s latest Campus International School or CIS. The building will be constructed from beneath ground level and work its way up. The whole domed structure will sport solar panels and triple-pane glass. The solar panels, which will number 770 PV panels, will harvest the sun’s power which can then be converted into electrical energy. This will be used to power lights, heating systems and other machinery which depend on electricity. Solar thermal tubes will also be used to produce hot water. A huge 90,000kWh of energy is hoped to be harnessed. The triple-pane glasses will act as insulators and will be tinted and placed in such a way that there is no glare or extra heat.

While the school will be built from beneath the ground, the surrounding areas will be excavated and landscaped to let in natural light. Glass panes will be placed at strategic locations so as to let in sufficient air and light. The classrooms will surround a central atrium which will illuminate the area. The atrium will also be used as a gathering place for students to interact. The school will also have an internal roof garden that will cater to students of K through 12 undertaking horticultural studies.

The classroom platforms consist of 62 platforms on 135,000 sq ft of internal space. Each platform will house clusters of classrooms, labs and workrooms which will be shared by the students. The school houses an ADA ramp which is a continuous spiral beginning from the sub-level all the way to the Sky Garden at the top. Three elevators will run through the school, out of which one will access the Sky Garden.

The school will also have a protected playground for young children, street level entrance and food service.

Shortlist_0’s design is unique in that it attempts to make use of all ‘natural’ solutions. The glass-paned dome enveloping the entire structure ensures that electricity usage is minimized during the day as ample light is let in. The strategically located ventilators will bring in as much air as is needed, leaving the need for air-conditioning behind. The solar panels, meanwhile, negate the need for conventional forms of energy which means less carbon emissions.

10 sustainable projects that earned LEED Platinum certification

Depending on the merits of a building, homes, interior renovations, schools, commercial buildings and other construction for development projects, a LEED certifications is accorded. These comes in four levels, depending on the merit points of the project. There are four categories such as Platinum, gold, silver and certificate. Leadership in Energy Environmental Design or LEED was developed by U.S Green Building Council or USGBC. According to the merit points, there are some projects which have earned LEED Platinum certification and are mentioned here.

Sustainable projects

1. Net zero modern house in South Korea

Net zero modern house in South Korea

This project includes a zero energy home with green features on a 4,553 sq.ft and 3,208 sq.ft of visitors pavilion. It is located in Yongin and is the first LEED Platinum certification project in East Asia, designed by Samoo Architects. Samsaung C&T built the house with the capacity to reduce

UpTo35: The eco friendly Meta Mosaic architecture plan for student housing

The Meta Mosaic architecture plan is basically designed to fulfill the purpose of student housing in a very effective style. This eco friendly architecture basically includes the historical triangle concept combined with the use of mosaic. It solves the dual purposes in man’s life. One side the basic individual units of the house are meant for the personal residential purpose. At the same time, sufficient common area is also provided to establish a healthy interaction with neighborhood houses.

UpTo35 - Meta Mosaic

Apart from resolving the housing issue, the Meta Mosaic also provides the vegetable roof gardens and a large common space which can further be used for various other flexible uses by the students. The flexible Meta Mosaic housing project efficiently contributes to the society by doing different functions. Ultimately, it leads to useful planning and cost cutting medium of building houses. Further, each student unit of the house is decided with dimensions of 6.30 meters depth and 2.80 meters wideness. The size of each student unit is made sufficiently enough to solve all the needs of them. The flexibility in design process enables the developer to easily join the two big rooms and convert them into single big room assembled with one bathroom facility. Besides, a large spacious kitchen and larger bedrooms are also provided.

Each level of building is extended via long corridors and hence a person can easily have interaction with neighbor living in side portion. On the other side, the folded design of the house can easily provide the shaded facility to the roof gardens, which is one of the main highlights of the Meta Mosaic housing plan. Overall, roof gardens can be efficiently used by students as a gathering point or growing vegetation and so can efficiently contribute to environment protection.

The four major plots situated in the middle are provided with larger garden areas. So, it is said that students can effectively accommodate some other needs such as fitness area, reading space, cafe house and many more. On the other side, the community space is designed at basement level for all smaller portions of the housing. The facility of extended parking style is especially provided to seventeen and twenty level of the house. However, the parking area can easily be made bigger by including two other levels of the building i.e - fifteen and sixteen. The entire structure of the building enables the student to have control access of the areas.

The entire construction of the building is divided into two major categories. First, the prefabricated slabs and secondly, the load bearing interior walls made of concrete. The use of sand land brick as a main ingredient of concrete walls provides a reasonable medium of establishing affordable insulation purpose of the house. Besides, a normal soothing temperature is maintained inside of the house. The outer panels and windows made up of wood material, and are linearly attached to light weighted pyramid shaped wooden arrangements. The triangular shaped pockets, which acts as a breathing cavities helps to maintain proper ventilation of the house, by protecting each loggias from direct sun-rays. Hence, they act as winter gardens at times. As a result, student can easily enjoy the warm of sun during winter times.

Though the Meta Mosaic housing is entirely made environment friendly but still some mechanical set up is done, so that student can adjust them as per their needs. A special facade is provided which appears as series of leaves. They basically help to adjust the position of the main sunshade leaf to adjust the winter garden shades as per the requirement. The gas condensing boilers and solar panels majorly contribute towards maintaining the heating condition of the house. The photovoltaic system is also one the main highlights of the Meta Mosaic project of housing. Therefore, the purpose of electric power use is also solved efficiently.

Besides, the water-saving plumbing machines and the grey water recycling set up is extremely beneficial part of the house. This entire project made it possible to use the recycled water for some secondary applications like in toilet. Finally, such an arrangement is made that the effluent of the toilet ultimately goes to the waste water system. Hence, the Meta Mosaic housing plan is so much advanced from conventional housing designs in terms of various beneficial features.

The incredible and green cooling system at Eco-tower in Acapulco city

Acapulco is a city where climate is scorching hot all year round. Environmentalists believe that the amount of heat received by this city can be utilized as a handy resource. One only needs to use it efficiently and upgrade the infrastructure accordingly. The architecture and structural detailing can be tweaked and improvised to use this surplus heat. This is a great way to create renewable energy resources to combat energy scarcity and price rise. The high temperature entails use of cooling system for prolonged hours in the city. They are installed in almost every apartment in Acapulco. If renewable energy sources were used for cooling instead then the energy use can be reduced.

Eco-tower in Acapulco city

The project

An ecologically sustainable residential complex is being proposed on the beach, situated just near the Acapulco seashore. There is a vacant square in front of the beach where the complex will be constructed. The location chosen is absolutely great, it gives a view of the beach as well as the city. There are also many hotels in the vicinity.

A cubes rhythm design was chosen to create the structure. The cube design was planned to emulate a tree. The resulting apartments in this structure are really eco friendly. The building also has considerable thickness, it is quite wide. The project was an entry in the international competition, Acapulco Green Tower. It is conceived by Vasily Zeleznakov from the Far East national Technical University. The project was among the top ten finalists at the competition.

Innovation in the design

The building designed has several plate-like flat and thin structures jutting out. You can also say that it looks like cards stacked on top of each other, only with substantial space in between. Just like a tree, the wind blowing through the building cools its interiors considerably. The space lets the air stream flow through inside. Also, the interiors are made such that they have a natural barrier from direct sunlight. Only the soft and reflected sun rays flow inside the apartments.

The windows are conceived such that they cool down the entire building and shield the residents from the blistering sunny weather outside. They are done up with fotoelements which work like the venetian blinds. These fotoelements also generate energy. No one living in this building will require a cooling system for long hours, thereby helping to conserve energy and also cutting down on cost of living. The building can also produce electricity on its own, another feather in the cap.

Inspiration for the project

The idea was to create a structure that is similar to a tree. What is great about a tree is that its structure is not jam packed, there are gaping spaces in between the branches. This open network allows for wind to pass through thus cooling it down. If such a design can be applied to residential constructions then the energy required for cooling it would be decreased drastically. The household expenses with come down and energy will be conserved.

Green Megastructures: Flowerbed Hotel by MVRDV

Aalsmeer, a city in the outskirts of Amsterdam, Netherlands have been famous lately because of a mega structure that is developing in the location. This structure is the Flowerbed Hotel developed by Dutch architecture firm MVRDV. But wait, it’s not just a stunning hotel, but also a giant greenhouse. Read more to know why this is a Green Mega structure:

Flowerbed Hotel

The Mega structure

This 19.5000 meter square hotel has been developed by MVRDV which is also a conference centre apart from a theme park and business hub. The entire entrance has been devoted to flowers and this is the reason that the theme park has been dubbed as the ‘Blooming Holland theme park.’ This greenhouse shell consists of a series of buildings stacked together. The main area includes 280 hotel rooms and suites. The entire structure is stacked inside a greenhouse.

Each room will have a floral theme and the huge parking space with a capacity of 140 cars will ensure that the area is fully utilized. Over 2 meter square of land has been designated for flower beds apart from 1.6 meter square conference center. The spacious lobby will be divided into three zones: public zone for visitors, a private zone for hotel guests and a mixed zone for interaction between hotel guests and visitors. The sun collectors along with windmills and flowerbeds in the interiors of this hotel would ensure that the whole building receives its energy and power from renewable and natural energy resources. Aimed at reducing carbon footprint, this hotel would be a mega structure.

What makes it mega?

Developer: The developers of the Flowerbed hotel is a Dutch architectural firm MVRDV, which aims at building a mega structure which is not just renowned for its structural significance but also because of its ecological importance. The aim of structuring this building is to develop a giant powerhouse that combines the power of natural resources in a flower-covered hotel. The project developer of this structure is kloos2.

Estimated cost: The precise estimated cost of this building is not available at this moment, but the architectural firm is ensuring that every material used on this structure is of the best quality and satisfy the visitors without compromising on the ecological balance.

Purpose: Commercial

Surface Area: The total surface area of this hotel is 19.500 meter square which includes the hotel and conference center which will have flowers all around. This hotel will be located near the “Blooming Holland theme park” which is currently under construction. It is assumed that the hotel would serve as hosts to tourists and business travelers. A total of 2.100 meter square of land has been devoted to flowerbed while a 550 meter square of fitness center would be the health area of this hotel.

Construction Time: It is estimated that the building would be constructed by the end of 2012, although at the present pace the building might be constructed before the deadline.

The flowerbed hotel would be a greenhouse with a glass shell encapsulating the entire structure including guest room, fitness center, lobby and the conference center. The lobby would have several in-house plants and an indoor garden. A part of this lobby would be open to visitors to enjoy the surreal beauty of flowers. This hotel is the complementary addition to the theme park which is also dedicated to flowers.

Eco credentials

The flower gardens of this structure will be integrated to the hotel and unlike other hotels; this hotel would run primarily on solar and wind energy as its major power sources. Apart from this, the flowerbed hotel with have living walls for regulating temperatures and providing fresh air. This innovative hotel with 280 guests rooms will feature roof and terraces that would have solar panels or the photovoltaic panels which would entrap solar energy and channel it in the form of power to lighten up the entire place and provide heated waters. Windmills will use wind as the renewable source of energy. An underground heat and cooling storage system would ensure that the entire complex receives required energy.

The flowerbed hotel is a special development that also focuses on regional ecology. Therefore, even though the entire complex would have a glass hood, yet the sun collectors, windmills and underground storage would result in excellent energy performance. This building is also an addition to MVRDV’s green structures which already include the Spijkenisse Public library (built on ecological terms).

Overall, this building is not just a mega structure, but a green mega structure that reflects the need of protecting ecology and using renewable sources of energy efficiently.

5 Examples of recycled shipping pallet architecture

Recycling, reusing and reducing, is the shibboleth of the eco conscious these days. The three R’s are being implied in every possible way and on almost every object. The creative architects and designers are also incorporating the recycled materials in creating brilliant masterpieces. The shipping pallets, which acquire almost half of the total amount of hardwood produce, are thrown away after being used for a single time. The eco conscious designers have used the thrown away wooden pallets to create some marvelous architectural forms. Few of them are listed below.

Mud Volcano Research Center at Sidoarjo

Perched on the eastern fringes of Java, the capital of Indonesia is Porong, a sub-district and home to Sidoarjo mud, the mud volcano is active since 2006. The initial step from the Government came in the form of a prevention program to block the hole using a large ball made of concrete. Further on, the Government decided to construct a dam guarding the regions affected. Those evacuated from the danger zone will be brought under a resettlement program soon. However, funds and infrastructural gaps came in the way of relief and rebuilding work.

Sidoarjo Mud Volcano Research Center

The disaster wrecked havoc on almost thirteen settlements and their inhabitants submerging a large area under mud flowing at the rate of almost 127 cubic meters per day. It was the magnitude of the loss which triggered the birth of the Sidoarjo mud volcano research center that is dedicated to monitoring the mud contents for agricultural usage and the overall implications on water. The prime focus of the project borders around optimization of the mud for the people, natural resources and land. The ultimate objective remains to infuse fresh hope into people affected by the Sidoarjo mud. Here is a quick overview of the ends served by the institution.

The materials used in building the center included bricks, paved blocks and concrete mix. The latter, in particular, was drawn from Sidoarjo sludge sewage but the manufacturing process is similar to those used for constructing other ordinary buildings. Materials generated from the sludge at Sidoarjo do not have to undergo the combustion procedure, thereby slashing the expenses significantly and minimizing the inevitability of other resources.

A workshop is being run to communicate the high points about getting materials from the sludge at Sidoarjo to be used as a principal construction component. Hence, common populace, in general, get to know a lot about recycling the waste from the sludge which they can apply later on for large scale productions and learn to add a new boost to the financial health of the society in which they are living. As an added bonus, the research center together with facilities for the common people, will create a new benchmark in the development of the urban base both space and economy wise.

The Sidoarjo sludge research center, through its presence, ensures that the sludge dubbed as waste is used for pumping out a regular supply of alternative construction materials thereby reducing the detrimental and serious risks hanging over the region’s environment.

As newer and fresher resources pour in from the neighboring areas to join the stock new materials for construction work or alternative sources of energy, the overall operational and building cost is expected to take a plunge below in terms of the budget.

With a research center for recycling used materials around, people in Sidoarjo are expected to benefit hugely in terms of knowledge expansion. The noble strategy adopted by the center to derive support from alternative sources of energy is also insightful and teaches a good many points about conserving the environment, hitherto not known to the local people.

Music of Nature designed for Latvian hotel

What should be the look of a music-themed upscale hotel? Designer Radim Tkadlec seems to have an answer with this design that blends the best of nature and human creativity. On the first look, as you can see in the above image, it appears like an imaginary scenery out of some fiction book. But, this is something that can be realized as well. Tkadlek's design is an official entry for an international design ideas competition for a music-themed upscale hotel in Jurmala, Latvia. And, if everything goes in his favor, then the dune-shaped hotel embracing the greeneries could become a reality soon.

Nature of Music

The new design is inspired from many factors. The first is music itself. The owners of a music-themed hotel may try to make his customers happy by playing the best music of the time. But, his/her wishes may not be fulfilled unless the ambiance is also supportive of music. Tkadlec has proposed to create such an ambiance with his design, for music is all about harmony and not-just the sound. And it sounds better when heard in a natural ambiance.

The shape of the hotel is inspired from a natural process of deformation that makes the soil appear like a dune. And special care has been taken to ensure that the building's visual connection with the ground is not disrupted. For this, a fully covered green roof has been planned. This will not only keep the building cool and provide an ambiance supportive of a musical experience, but also soak the rainwater which can be collected and stored for irrigating the many plants surrounding the hotel.

Also, the design proposes an elaborate scheme for trees and green areas surrounding the hotel. such a surrounding replete with multiple natural elements could be modified for different purposes depending on the intensity of daylight and weather conditions. The details of the costs and other materials required for realizing this design has not been provided. However, the new design can be seen as an illustration of the recent changes that have been happening to modern architecture.

One can say that the color of new age architecture is now green. But don't take the 'green' literally. The new trend symbolizes the growing Eco-consciousness of new designers. Unlike the past, they now seek to achieve zero-energy dependence on external sources in their new creations. For this, they are employing alternative energy sources like the sunlight and the wind for providing electricity to the new buildings. Measures for increasing the energy efficiency like insulating the walls and creatively using natural day light are taken. Also, more environment friendly materials and low maintenance materials like glass and steel are used for construction. It is very much certain that the new design will also employ such measures.

Urban Gestalt: The Z dimension to the vision of a green urban district

As a unique approach toward the creation of an Eco-friendly retail cum residential district at an uncommon location, the Urban Gestalt project has been proposed to be a part of the Los Angeles Cleantech Corridor Competition 2010. Designers Francisco Alarcon Ruiz and Gilbert Atick have focused on proposing a Clean-tech corridor plan that will not only support a green economy but will also incubate small businesses, enhance cutting-edge research and development of new environmentally friendly technologies, and large-scale manufacturing and assembly of such technologies. Thus, Urban Gestalt is not just a green building but is a neighborhood, as well as a block.

Urban Gestalt

Inclined to take up a completely different option, the project intends to aim at the LA river site area instead of the proposed site options. The reasoning behind choosing this site option is to support the entire LA river basin's restoration efforts being done by various government groups. This ignored basin area just exists as a brutal concrete channel or storm drain that the project aims to revitalize and heal initially in an urban and then in an architectural manner. This LA Clean-tech area has always been viewed from the X or Y dimension and the Urban gestalt project wishes to provide a Z dimension viewpoint to it.

Inspired by the 1960s project by Yona Friedman, Urban Gestalt includes the plan to set up a multilayer structure along the LA river that has exclusive building types, open spaces, and circulation. The project plan focuses on building infrastructure to connect northern with the southern side so the distance can be covered by metro, as well as by car. The car infrastructure will majorly remain for parking, but with time, can aim to become a social and public space. In addition, the new metro line will connect to the existing Metro Gold Line and Blue Line, along with future metro lines.

Since the project aims at green architecture, self-sufficient recyclable and carbon-neutral units (called cells) will be manufactured on-site and set up at the required location. Focusing on longer life cycles of buildings, these cells can be used as single units and can also be combined into multiple units as and when changes in the infrastructure are required. Each single unit is usable to create a single-family house or small office, while a larger unit configuration can create a multifamily house, learning center or hospital building. The limitless Z dimension, which is the height of the structure, will be incrementally developed in a way to initially connect the whole structure to the existing city infrastructure, while opening new vistas for both horizontal and vertical expansion in future.

As traditional structures would start getting replaced, the new Clean-tech corridor may turn into a multi-element Urban Gestalt with a specialized transit network, neighborhood housing, hospitals, schools and universities, and commercial buildings and offices. With an emphasis on unblocked pedestrian pathways, the project plans at developing a connection between the city downtown and east side. The complete infrastructure aims at developing an ultimate super porous structure with three-dimensional streets and pathways, and an above-the-city and top-of-the-river carpet structure layer acting as artificial landscape. The otherwise lazy river area is planned to be developed as a happening place for future agricultural, transportation and recreational opportunities. With a vision to make LA as one of the most advanced cities, Urban Gestalt includes proposals to make the entire development an energy self-sufficient project.

Solar Oasis - where deserts can sustain life

The designer of this architectural design called the Solar Oasis believes that all places on the surface of Earth have the requisite elements that are needed to sustain life and likewise, our planet also has enormous quantities of energy that can never be exhausted. The Solar Oasis project is based on this principle in which the designer aims to create an oasis in the middle of the arid and lifeless Namib Desert in Namibia, which is too hot and dry to sustain life. This technologically advanced Solar Oasis would make used of the local environment to create within its physical being an oasis that can support human, plant and animal life.

Solar Oasis

This amazing proposal highlights how modern-day technology can be used to manipulate even the most adverse situations into something worthwhile by making the most dreaded uninhabitable places, a haven for life! In this Solar Oasis, technology has been added in which the moisture from the air is pushed through a huge chilling manifold. The dryness of the Namib Desert is caused by the fact that the moisture-holding air that comes from the Atlantic Ocean does not reach the interiors of the desert as the mountains along the fringes of the deserts deflect the air and push it downwards. Hence, the moisture never reaches the desert making it virtually uninhabitable as water is the sole requirement for sustainability for plants and animals. However, the Solar Oasis would change the situation, by using the moisture from the air to make the interiors of the oasis a green and habitable protected island.

This island would have water which would be able to sustain plant life as well as the exotic fauna of Namibia. The condensed water produced by the outside air would be sufficient to nurture life on the otherwise dry desert. The Solar Oasis would also be used for making new discoveries in the field of agriculture and the production of clean energy. This mini island would enable cooperation amongst people of different cultures and harmony. The Solar Oasis would be a great example to the world to find new places to inhabit as people are overcrowding and overpopulating only a limited area of the Earth. Now people can think of inhabiting expansive deserts that span across countries and reduce the load on the cities. This would indeed be a great way to convert the most driest places into the most luscious and green ones!