JDS Architects' Beijing Green Visitor Center is a Sustainable Building You Can Walk On.

JDS Architects' Beijing Green Visitor Center is a modern architectural marvel that welcomes visitors to walk right on top of it. The sloped structure is slated to be built in front of a new sustainable industrial park in order to connect the parking area with the rest of the facilities. The building's envelope can be manipulated to minimize energy loss from the climate and the sun, and it will be able to generate its own energy via a rooftop photovoltaic system.

JDS Architects recently unveiled their plans for the Beijing Green Visitor Center, which will sit at the entrance to a new sustainable industry park. The building serves as a welcome area for visitors and employees and joins the existing car park to the R&D centre and the park loop. Inside the 5,000 sq m (53,820 sq ft) visitor center are multifunctional and exhibition spaces along with a reception area, VIP room, a shop, a cafe and a children’s area. The building’s volume is based on a serious of manipulations to protect it from its environs. In this way, the original rectangular box is pushed and stretched to create an undulating roof, which is characteristic of JDS Architects’ design style.

This undulation is topped with a building integrated photovoltaic system on the portion that faces the south. The stretching of the roof also serves to protect the interior from direct sunlight, glare and overheating, while still allowing for natural daylight to to enter the space. Moveable photovoltaic louvers on the south side further block direct light by absorbing it and generating energy. In the winter, the sun is low enough to reach into the interior and heat up the floors that act as thermal mass and distribute warmth throughout the interior. Rainwater is also collected and stored in an underground cistern for use in the toilets and the park. Visitors and employees can enter through the building or bypass the interior by walking over the top and gaining a different view of the surrounding park and landscaping. The sloped roof can also serve as seating and an amphitheater when required.

 

 

Wheaton College's Mars Center for Science and Technology Awarded LEED Gold Certification!

The Mars Center for Science and Technology at Wheaton College has been awarded LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Business Council for its environmentally-friendly design and extensive use of sustainable building strategies. The $42 million facility features a 1,300-square-foot green roof, energy recovering air-handling units, and extensive solar shading, which enabled it to meet one of the nation's highest green building and performance standards.

The Mars Center for Science and Technology has 12 teaching labs and 23 research labs as well as a rooftop observatory and greenhouse. The building’s green features include a 1,300-square-footgreen roof, drought-tolerant plants that conserve water, glass curtain walls to maximize interior daylighting, solar shading on glass and brims to reduce solar heat during the summer and interior lighting sensors to reduce energy consumption. The building also features energy recovery wheels in the air-handling units, which significantly reduce heating and cooling loads.

The entire campus is a testament to green design. as the green roof and landscaped plantings cover more than 65% of the project’s site. Native and adaptive species also account for more than 40% of the plants.

Speaking about the centre’s achievement, President Ronald Crutcher said: “This award reflects the commitment of the entire Wheaton community to excellence in every endeavor. The Mars Center is an exceptional facility—as a place for learning and research as well as a model for  sustainable development.”

“Our goal was to achieve silver certification,” the president added. “We exceeded that goal thanks to the support of our donors, the vision of our faculty, attention to detail of the college’s staff and our builder’s representative, The Rise Group; the expertise of our architects EYP; and the follow through of the general contractor, Bond Brothers.”

Lively Urban Cabin in Brazil Features Nest Beds and a Spherical Shelf Window

Fabio Galiezzo took a shabby shack in Brazil and transformed it into a colorful urban cabin decked out with nest beds and an awesome spherical shelf that frames views of the verdant surroundings. The original building was so dilapidated that Galeazzo propped it up with bamboo beams and columns and topped the whole place off with a series of green thermal tiles.

The Urban Cabin’s interior flooring is comprised of a combination of FSC-certified timber and brown granite. Since the structure sits amidst a shaded woody area, it was treated as a work of art – a la modernist painter Tarsila do Amaral. The bright colored stripes and irregular forms give the youthful home an attractive lift.
The spherical window doubles as an awesome bookshelf that draws a distinct connection between the interior and exterior, while the lovely hanging nest beds round off the project’s overall sensitivity to and celebration of nature. Outside, nautical, stretchy fabric is used to shelter the owner’s tiny vehicle and the outdoor barbecue is decked out in beautiful tiles. Although this might be a bit bright for some, we absolutely love this home.

Dubai Pearl is Another Massive and Dubious “Green Building” Project in The Gulf

 We've brought you a lot of rather dubious green building projects in Dubai, but we're hoping that the newest, the Dubai Pearl, is an exception. The $6 billion mixed-use city within a city is being planned for an area near Dubai’s new business centers, and according to the developers, the program will boast energy efficiency, “smart technology”, a column-free design, and a walkable environment that will enable community living. But we really wonder whether Dubai needs and can even support another massive residential, hotel and office complex of the Dubai Pearl’s scale.

Emerging on the site of a project that went bust several years ago, construction has been charging along on what will eventually be 20 million square feet of a “fully integrated” sustainable development. Six luxury hotels, including the MGM and the Bellagio, will anchor a “holistic luxury lifestyle” development that will include residences and offices. According to Dubai Pearl’s press office, the 40 acre (16 hectares) site will include 1 million square feet of open spaces and landscaped areas, with 15,500 parking spaces, 1500 residential units, 1400 offices and a retail zone that will eventually support a population of 30,000 people.
So how will this be a sustainable development? Dubai Pearl’s contractors have designed the master plan to ensure energy efficiency that they hope will score the complex LEED Gold certification. Recycling facilities for paper, glass and food waste will be part of the complex’s guarantee for effective waste diversion. Smart lighting features and water conservation will also supposedly minimize Dubai Pearl’s impact on the local environment.
All of this at first sounds great, but the details are rather thin. Dubai still has a glut of office and residential space despite the city’s recovery from the 2008 financial crisis, due in part to more businesses relocating in the wake of the Arab Spring. And while the local government has implemented pilot recycling programs, “sustainability” in Dubai still has a ways to go.
Like much of the Gulf, Dubai and the rest of the United Arab Emirates still rely on desalination, and it’s pretty clear that massive amounts of water will be required to keep Dubai Pearl thriving. While Dubai’s Metro is an impressive rail system, there are no stops near this complex. And information on what sustainable materials for the buildings’ interiors and exteriors is lacking. For now, Dubai Pearl’s claims to be sustainable are the classic case of a company saying, “We say we are green, therefore we are.” Until we see more details, and view evidence that responsible building practices are core to Dubai Pearl’s construction and after opening, everyday operations, we view this “sustainable development” with suspicion.

Green-Roofed Twitter Headquarters in San Francisco Also Has a Yoga Studio!

We've seen the inside of several funky corporate offices, including Google and Facebook, but Twitter might have outdone them all with their new green-roofed headquarters in San Francisco. Part of the city's plan to revitalize a seedy neighborhood, Twitter was given a tax reprieve for moving into BCV Architects' renovated 11-story art deco office building on 10th and Market street. But the new headquarters for 800 employees also reflects something of a sustainability ethos. Hit the jump for the deets and flip through the gallery for a closer look.

 In addition to the swanky green roof, which is already populated by rows of leafy vegetables and provides a nice lunch spot for the company’s jubilant employees, the new headquarters boasts a micro health kitchen stocked with wholesome food and a tranquil-looking yoga studio. Either working for Twitter is so stressful that it’s necessary to offer such calming spaces or this is just one really progressive company.
We are going to err towards the latter given the 9th floor reception desk, which looks suspiciously like it is made of recycled materials, and Twitter’s insistence that the city provide better public transportation links to the area in addition to more dedicated bike lanes. Also included in the 80,000 square feet building, parts of which are being leased out, are cafes, restaurants and a very “cool” local grocery store.