“In the 21st Century, buildings will be different from 20th Century”, say James Law Cybertecture International, “They are no longer about concrete, steel and glass, but also the new intangible materials of technology, multimedia, intelligence and interactivity. Only recognizing this will bring a new form of architecture to light, namely a Cybertecture.”
This enlightment gives rise to a new form of architecture – “Cybertecture”. The Cybertecture Egg is a Cybertecture building that brings together iconic architecture, environmental design, intelligent control systems, and evolutionary engineering to create the most innovative building for the city of Mumbai and for India in the 21st Century. The concept for the Cybertecture Egg was inspired by looking at the world in terms of the planet being a self-sustaining vessel with an ecosystem that allows life to exist, grow and evolve. Like our planet Earth, the building has a sustainable ecosystem derived from Cybertecture thinking to give the building’s inhabitants both a dynamic physical world and access to virtual spaces of the connected world. As with Earth, the form of the Cybertecture Egg is extruded from a sphere and evolved to create a unique and iconic building, which serves as a beacon and nucleus for the immediate central business district area known as Bandra Kurla Complex. The scheme comprises 33,000 square meters of office space stacked in 13 stories with highly intelligent building management systems and 3 levels of basement providing 400 car parking spaces. The structure of the Cybertecture Egg uses a diagrid exo-skeleton, which creates a rigid structural system allowing for large column-free floor plates and high space flexibility. The ingenuity of this form effectively reduces approximately 15% of construction material use compared to a conventional orthogonal building. This building have an ecosystem of environmental technologies that makes the project one of the most sustainably advanced designs in the world.
The building’s design attempts to decrease energy demands through passive solar design, the construction of an elevated garden to help cool the building (through a process called thermolysis) and the implementation of photovoltaic panels and wind turbines on the roof.
Even water conservation is taken care of with the incorporation of a water filtration system that recycles grey water for irrigation purposes.
Green Features
• Orientation of Building: The building is orientated towards the ideal direction vis-a-vis the sun to minimize solar and heat gain.
• Sky Gardens: Green areas of the building provide sun shading, oxygen replenishment, refuge areas for people as well as cooling for building and wetland filter beds for water recycling.
• PV Farms: Photovoltaic cells are integrated into the façade facing the sun to help provide an alternative electricity source.
• Intelligent Glass Façade: The building’s glazing has
variable fritting and tones based on sun orientation, as well as variable shading and tinting.
• Water Recycling System: The recycling of potable water is done through a combination of rain water harvesting systems, sewerage treatment and filtration, and wetland cell systems. These effectively recycle up to 20% of the water supply consumption of the building.
• Underground Water Cooling: Related to the water recycling system, the underground cooling system embedded deep underground in a reservoir provide naturally chilled water for the building’s air conditioning.
• Intelligent Building Management Systems: BMS to reduce energy use in less utilized or less occupied locations.
Within the building, there will be a series of innovative systems such as ‘cybertecture health’ which is designed to keep track of the inhabitant’s health including blood pressure and weight. The Egg is electronically monitoring workers’ health: vital signs and statistics such as blood pressure are accessible to workers electronically in restrooms, and the stats can be signaled to doctors if deemed necessary.
Maybe a touch invasive, but it seems like the architects have their hearts in the right place when it comes to looking out for the office workers.
Technology and the working environment are united in the use of ‘cybertecture reality’ which allows you to customize your favorite view and have real time scenery all around the world instead of the view the user currently has.
Courtesy of James Law Cybertecture
