China's Green-Roofed Samaranch Memorial Museum Was Inspired by the Olympic Rings

While the 2012 Olympic Games are taking place in London, construction of a new green-roofed Olympic museum in Tianjin, China is also underway. Dedicated to former International Olympic Committee (IOC) chairman Juan Antonio Samaranch, the new Samaranch Memorial Museum will feature exhibits to commemorate his legacy as well as the influence of the Olympics in China. Dutch firm HAO and Beijing firm Archiland International designed the museum, which will be surrounded by a lush new park and will feature 5 Olympic-inspired rings, a rooftop photovoltaic system, and geothermal heating and cooling.

HAO and Archiland International won first place earlier this year with their Olympic-themed museum. Working with the concept of the 5 Olympic rings, the firms formulated a plan composed of a two-ring figure eight-like building surrounded by 3 sunken ringed buildings. The first ring of the main building is slightly raised so visitors can walk through the entrance courtyard and into an exhibition space dedicated to the influence of the Olympics on China. The second ring is dedicated to the work of Juan Antonio Samaranch, who was a strong supporter of the Beijing Olympics.
Surrounding the main building are three sunken spaces that provide more space for events and rotating exhibitions as well as administration and research. The museum will be located in a newly constructed park with other symbolic rings representing the 204 IOC members. To minimize impact, the figure eight-shaped museum will topped off with photovoltaic panels to generate up to 76% of the building’s energy needs. Additionally, a geothermal heating and cooling system will reduce energy used for hot water and climate control. Construction began this summer in Tianjin and the project is expected to be completed in 2013.

Google’s New Super-headquarters in London

 Google has gone to great lengths to make their offices fun for employees, but those working at the new super-headquarters in London have the best deal of them all. Not only are the enormous 160,000 square foot facilities decked out in re-purposed furnishings designed to recreate the comfort of a London townhouse, but the 9th floor rooftop garden features small allotments that allow employees to grow veggies and herbs! This is not the first Google project undertaken by PENSON, but it is certainly their most sustainable - just a few requirements shy of meeting LEED Platinum.

 Located in Renzo Piano’s Central St. Giles Building in Covent Garden, the new super headquarters feature a series of indoor and outdoor workspaces, a gymnasium and dance studio, along with several restaurants, cafes and comfortable rendezvous areas. These are all themed spaces that feature many recycled furnishings that allowed the designers to keep costs low. Also, in keeping with Google’s in-house policy, no toxic materials were used and many of the floors and trimmings are comprised of certified wood.
Among the workspaces are outdoor balconies or “secret gardens” fronted by trimmed hedges that provide a solar screen and some privacy (not to mention some good old-fashioned greenery!) But talk to anyone on the street and they’ll tell you that the rooftop allotments are among the most enviable feature of this new corporate headquarters. Employees have to sign up for a waiting list to use the allotments, and anyone who neglects theirs will be booted out. But once they’re in, they can nurture root vegetables and herbs in small tubes made from responsibly-sourced timber and cook them at home.