[18] sustain’ JULY/AUGUST 2012

Design and Architecture News

Lab experiment in urban agriculture

After more than six years of research in the urban agriculture field, the Agricultural Urbanism Lab has now been launched by SOA Architectes, Le Sommer Environnement and the Bureau d’Etudes de Gally. Other experts working on various aspects of the same theme from different perspectives have joined them.The Lab is a non-profit-making

organisation, whose goal is to create and develop an inter-disciplinary platform for the exchange of knowledge and skills in the urban-agriculture field, with the task of: contributing to the capitalisation and sharing of knowledge on urban farms and agriculture; treating architecture as a framework for federative experimentation in the development of agriculture in the urban environment; developing relations between professionals in the construction, urban planning, eco-technology and environmental and biological fields to develop synergies; and formalising the existence of a “Vertical Farm and Urban Agriculture” standard of excellence by bringing together the actors involved.

Creating dynamic open spaces: Gensler’s Istanbul Financial Centre masterplan approved

Seamless effect for Wakefield Civic CentreA distinctive and contemporary identity has been created for the new Wakefield District Council Civic Building, which has now been officially handed over to the local authority.The Civic Building, developed through the English Cities Fund and designed by Cartwright

Pickard, features an innovative design to the building using anodised aluminium panels in a special Analok shade, supplied by Sheffield-based Panel Systems. This method was used in order to meet the architect’s aspirations for a seamless appearance of a single sheet of aluminium to the external façade of the building.A number of environmental initiatives have been incorporated, including a rainwater-harvesting

system and biomass boiler, which help to achieve a BREEAM rating of Excellent.

The Turkish Minister for Environment & Urbanism, Erdogan Bayraktar, has announced approval of the Gensler-designed masterplan for a new 69ha financial district in Turkey – Istanbul Financial Centre.Gensler’s planning teams in London and

Los Angeles created a unique vision for the client, Emlak Konut, based on Turkey’s historical powerhouse, Topkapi Palace. Working with local architect and planner, Ozguven Architecture and Construction and Imar Planning and Project Consulting Inc Ltd, the concept incorporates bold references to the medieval and walled communities of old Istanbul, using colonnaded courtyards and open spaces, as well as a hierarchy of gate systems to provide a subtle yet secure architectural landscape whereby, security is paramount but a sense of community prevails.“We’re incorporating best practice around

planning, design and sustainability,” said Ian Mulcahey , Principal and global practice area leader for Planning and Urban Design of Gensler’s London office.

Expanding Turkey’s economic capabilities

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‘Living laboratory’ wins for green innovationFeatured in the March/April issue of sustain’, the Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence (ACCE) at Algonquin College in Ottawa has now won the Academic Leadership Award for green building innovation. The award was presented at the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) National Conference in Toronto.The landmark building consolidates under

one sizable green roof the College’s building design & construction technology programs. Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects in collaboration with Edward J Cuhaci and Associates Architects, ACCE is a showcase

of sustainable design where real-time monitoring of the building’s operations is part of the curriculum for students and on display for the public.“The many sustainable design features of

this building serve as visible expression of the building’s identity as an energy-efficient structure,” said Donald Schmitt, Principal with Diamond Schmitt Architects. The Centre features a lively interplay

of landscape elements – different ecosystems expressed along a vegetative ‘ribbon’ of park, garden spaces, an undulating green roof and the bio-filter wall.

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News in Brief... PCKO Architects has been

announced as the winner of Peabody’s architectural competition: 150 homes for 150 years. The practice will now be commissioned to develop its winning design to a full planning application which will include a mix of affordable and market homes in Plaistow, Newham. Christopher Strickland, Peabody Chairman, said that PCKO’s scheme “successfully addressed Peabody’s aspiration to promote sustainable and diverse

communities by designing buildings that offer contemporary living for today and adaptable homes for tomorrow and set these within a series of spaces that build on each other to create a real sense of place.”

John Hayes MP, Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, has announced new investment in the National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural, recognising the need

PHOTO courtesy Gensler

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sustain’ JULY/AUGUST 2012 [19]

For more design stories, visit sustainmagazine.com

Two-tower landmark offices for Calgary

Lighting up world- beating garden show

A touch of culture for Southend Pier

A ray of light for learning environment

for high-level skills to support the growth of the UK’s creative and cultural industries. The Design Council will work closely with Creative & Cultural Skills to support development of the Skills Academy. Creative & Cultural Skills’ National Skills Academy will work in partnership with industry and education to deliver careers information, advice and guidance for young people; develop alternative entry routes into the creative industries; and provide high-quality professional development. Year one

activity for the new Skills Academy for Design will kick off in late 2012 with a new careers programme for young people considering a career in design, along with research and pilots looking at different routes into the sector.

A major public exhibition – The Developing City – will display top architects’ visions of the City of London in 2050. The Square Mile will become greener with more parks and verdant riverside walkways while the buildings

will have to become taller to accommodate continued growth, they say. The exhibition explores the relationship between the architecture of the City of London and its success as a global mercantile centre. The exhibition, which takes place at The Walbrook Building – a Foster + Partners’-designed building on Cannon Street – is now open and will be running until 9 September. The exhibition will feature 40 scale models of recent and proposed schemes in the City. In addition,

three teams of architects, supported by consultants and property professionals, are displaying their ‘Visions for 2050’ in response to a series of drivers of change, including governance, climate change and banking regulation.www.thedevelopingcity.com

Centennial Place is a new landmark for the city of Calgary, Alberta. Located at the northwest of the downtown city core, the development’s two striking towers signify that this is the very best in sustainable office design. It achieves a level of connectivity with the city not previously seen in Calgary, linking to both the existing commercial infrastructure and, eventually, to the adjacent planned residential neighbourhoods.Designed by WZMH Architects for

long-time client Oxford Properties, Centennial Place is the largest commercial LEED Gold development in Canada. The complex’s two towers – one of 40 storeys and the other 24 storeys – provide 97,080sq m of office space, clad in a high-performance glazed façade that minimises solar ingress and heat gain. Rainwater collection, grey water

re-use for irrigation, high-efficiency motors in the mechanical plant and occupancy sensors are active elements of a design that also utilises the building’s structural form to create the best internal environments while minimising energy requirements.

A new 350sq m cultural centre commissioned by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council and designed by Scandinavian practice White arkitekter, working in partnership with London-based architect Sprunt, has been dramatically craned onto Southend Pier.The new cultural centre is the first structure added to the pier head since 2000.

Sited at the far end of the pier, the challenge of this project has been building onto a Listed and fragile structure in an offshore environment. The superstructure is built of recyclable steel; original timber decking will be reused to build the timber plinth it sits upon; the building envelope achieves a high level of insulation and air tightness; the building also achieves 10% renewable energy with the provision of air-source heat-pump technology, mechanical ventilation and a heat-recovery system.

It’s not every day that a school is designed by the Teachers & Faculty. However, in the case of Coopers Edge Primary in Gloucestershire, the entire development and design process was handled by the school’s board of Governors. Working with local architect Roberts Limbrick, the Governors decided the most important

feature of the school was creating a covered courtyard to be known as the “Village Square”. Nearby Fabric Architecture Limited provided the design solution with a 500sq m bespoke canopy. This structure has no steel masts touching the ground and is built using Silicone Glass Weave – a low-maintenance fabric alternative to ETFE. The structural framework and canopy over-sail the buildings and connect back into the frame of the building through a series of trusses. For maximum light exposure, 15 conical head-rings were manufactured using

polycarbonate. Each of the conics acts as a light well for the area below – flooding it with an abundance of natural sunlight – even on overcast days.

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Bath-based landscape architect, Grant Associates, led a world-class British design team to complete the £500M Gardens by the Bay in Singapore. A rich fusion of nature, technology,

environmental management and imagination, at 101ha, Gardens by the Bay is one of the largest gardens of its kind in the world. It includes the dramatic Supertrees: 25 to 50 metres in height these vertical gardens light up at night and power the Cooled Conservatories – two giant biomes designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects containing mediterranean and tropical climate plants; and Horticultural gardens with the themes ‘Plants and People’ and ‘Plants and Planet’. More amazing images of this project

online at: www.sustainmagazine.com

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More architecture stories at sustainmagazine.com

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