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Architecture, Building Envelope, Ideas, Sustainability, Technology, Top Stories, Trends

Safdie Architects to Set New Standard for Community-Centric Airport Design With the Opening of Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore in 2019

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Features include an expansive indoor forest, the world’s tallest indoor waterfall, tree-top walking trails, restaurants, retail, and a variety of gathering places

Jewel weaves together an experience of nature and the marketplace, dramatically asserting the idea of the airport as an uplifting and vibrant urban center, engaging travelers, visitors, and residents, and echoing Singapore’s reputation as ‘The City in the Garden.’

–Moshe Safdie

Designed by Safdie Architects, Jewel Changi Airport, the newest development at Singapore’s award-winning Changi Airport, will commence a phased opening in Q2 2019. Jewel Changi Airport combines an intense marketplace and a paradise garden to create a new center – “the heart and soul” of Changi Airport. Once open, Jewel will establish a new paradigm for community-centric airport design, extending the airport’s principal function as a transit hub to create an interactive civic plaza and marketplace, combining landside airport operations with expansive indoor gardens and waterfall leisure facilities, retail, restaurants, and a hotel as well as other spaces for community activities.

Linked to the city’s public transportation grid and with open access to Terminal 1, and to Terminals 2 and 3 via pedestrian bridges, Jewel engages both in-transit passengers as well as the public of Singapore. Entirely publicly accessible, the 134,000-square-meter (144,000 sq.ft.) glass-enclosed toroidal building asserts a new model for airports as a destination for community activity, entertainment, and shopping.

“Jewel presents a new building prototype for connecting the city and the airport,” said Jaron Lubin, Principal at Safdie Architects. “Like an Ancient Greek ‘agora,’ it aligns social and commercial values to create an animated public realm destination.”

PROJECT FEATURES

The Forest Valley

To create an airport experience unlike any other, Safdie Architects integrated spatial and interactive experiences throughout a lush indoor garden and a five-level retail marketplace. The core of Jewel is the Forest Valley, a terraced indoor landscape featuring walking trails and quiet seating areas set amongst more than 200 species of plants. The Rain Vortex, the world’s tallest indoor waterfall, showers down seven stories from a central open oculus in the domed roof, compelling visitors with dramatic cascades during the day and performance light and projection experiences by night. During the region’s frequent and powerful thunderstorms, recirculated, natural rainwater will flow at more than 10,000 gallons per minute, which helps provide cooling and airflow in the landscape environment, collecting significant rainwater to be re-used in the building.

Jewel is slated to receive a Platinum rating from Singapore’s GreenMark program for environmentally sustainable buildings. An integrated system of glazing, static and dynamic shading, and an innovative and efficient displacement ventilation system was developed to achieve the required level of comfort for a diversity of activities, as well as to sustain the vast array of plant life.

Canopy Park

On the fifth level is the Canopy Park, which includes 14,000 sq.m. of attractions integrated within the garden spaces such as net structures suspended within the trees, a suspended catenary glass-bottom bridge walk, a planted hedge maze and mirror maze, and feature installations completed in collaboration with internationally acclaimed artists. The highly immersive features are designed to be both aesthetic and functional, providing pathways for traversing the space while delighting visitors with gorgeous sightlines, providing spaces for interpersonal interaction and community building, and creating a sense of wonder and discovery. Additional highlights include a topiary walk, horticultural displays, and an event plaza for 1,000 people.

Connection to the City and the World

Conceived to serve the people of Singapore and travelers equally, the building is directly connected to the Changi Bus Terminal and the airport’s Terminal 1. It is also accessible from Terminals 2 and 3 via pedestrian bridges, and the inter-terminal train crosses through the gardens, giving visitors with limited time a glimpse into the Forest Valley. The retail galleria, featuring more than 280 retail and food and beverage outlets and a 130-room hotel, develops the foundation of Jewel’s one-of-a-kind integration of marketplace and garden.

All images are courtesy Safdie Architects

Architecture, Building Envelope, Green Energy, Ideas, Style, Sustainability, Top Stories, Trends

PLUG-IN CITY 75

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Inhabit the Facades

Located in the heart of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, a stone’s throw away from La Seine river, this building of the 1970s is, like most buildings of this period, lacking of energy performance. A condition due to the presence of thermal bridges, bad insulation and the old standard windows. Its average energy consumption is approximatively 190KWh / m² / year.

In addition, the apartments were too small and gloomy, which led the co-owners to mandate Stephane Malka to optimize their properties.

Since the Alur law ( a new property law which relaxed planning laws, particularly those for rooftops, and introduced rent-stabilization measures ) does not allow the building to be raised, Stephane Malka Architecture decided to graft the building with a succession of extensions, bow-windows and loggias; Each inhabitant control the necessary surface area needed for its own development upon request.

The result is an extension of the dwellings on the ground floor as well as hanging gardens along with bow-windows, balconies and loggias of variable dimensions.

The structure of the boxes is made of bio-sourced wood, made from wood particles and chips, which allows them a lightness and a great flexibility of implementation on site. Modular and mounted in a workshop, each cube is directly plugged to the existing façade of the building.

The accumulation of extensions on the façade divides the energy consumption of the building by 4, and classifies the rehabilitation of this building in Paris Plan Climat Label with an average energy consumption of 45KWh / m² / year.

Thus the building is transformed and adapted to the real needs of its inhabitants;

The ground-floor accommodation stretches towards the inner garden. These extensions allow the inhabitants of the 1st floor to benefit from large private terraces opened to the sky. Thus, each cube allows two levels of extensions, one covered and one open in its top floor. Private and common interstitial terraces are thus generated by default, in negative of the loggias.

Utopia of yesterday, Today’s architectures, the mutation of cities must be built on existing heritage. “Para-Site” the city, literally, lean back against it, healing the wounds of the city and its heritage in a logic of transformation. By superposition, addition and extension of the built heritage, rather than the categorical tabula rasa.

Courtesy of  Stephane Malka Architecture

Architecture, Building Envelope, Ideas, Style, Sustainability, Technology, Top Stories, Trends

Diller Scofidio + Renfro unveils the design of the proposed University of Toronto building

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90 Queen’s Park provides an urban and cultural hub, bringing together nine previously dispersed departments—including the School of History, Music, Law, Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, Islamic Studies, Jewish Studies and a home for the new School of Cities—into a single building.

Positioned at the intersection of Bloor Street and Queens Park, 90 Queen’s Park produces a new gateway into the campus and a connector between its neighboring buildings: the Royal Ontario Museum, the 1960’s era Edward Johnson Building and two historic structures from the 1900’s – Flavelle House and Falconer Hall.

90 Queen’s Park provides an urban and cultural hub, bringing together nine previously dispersed departments—including the School of History, Music, Law, Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, Islamic Studies, Jewish Studies and a home for the new School of Cities—into a single building.

At the heart of the building is a dynamic central atrium and stair linking clusters of lounge spaces, study spaces and meeting rooms. This public commons fosters access and views between the disciplines, promoting a culture of collaboration.

90 Queen’s Park will be a central gathering space receiving visitors from all directions. The design buries the access road under the building to create a generous new entry plaza with a terraced landscape, welcoming visitors from the South and Philosopher’s Walk. A cafe and restaurant extends from the inside-out with a gently stepped hardscape and softscape marking entry from the North. At ground level, the Centre provides direct access into the Edward Johnson Building and Falconer Hall. Located on the second floor, the school of Cities’s Urban Lab forms a canopy for the Southern entry with classrooms performing the same function at the North plaza. Floating above neighboring buildings within the erosion, the Centre’s 250-seat recital hall and a flexible event space provide larger gathering spaces where visitors can enjoy views of downtown Toronto.

Rendering by bloomimages, courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Architecture, Building Envelope, Ideas, Style, Sustainability, Technology, Top Stories, Trends

The Launch of “Burj Jumeira” – The New Icon to Dubai Skyline

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Following a record-breaking 2018 and its completion of 13 different high-rise buildings that are 200 meters and more, Dubai – the well acclaimed “World’s Capital of Modern Architecture”, is back and at it again, with the state-owned Dubai Holding recently unveiling plans for a new tower, design conceived by Skidmore, Ownings & Merrill (SOM).

The Burj Jumeira will stand 550-meters-tall (1,804-feet) in the Al Sofouh neighborhood of Dubai, home to popular Dubai landmarks, such as the Madinat Jumeirah, the Dubai Knowledge Village, and the Dubai Internet City.

Strategically situated between the world famous Burj Al Arab and the Mall of Emirates, the tower will offer top-notch amenities – nothing short of the luxury-living typical of the state. Also, the tower will be the highlight of the newly proposed urban district, a residential and commercial area that will be called “Downtown Jumeirah”.

“Burj Jumeira is bold, elegant, and dynamic,” said SOM Design Partner Mustafa Abadan. “It will tower over Jumeirah as the centerpiece of the neighborhood, and will feature a synthesized architectural and structural design.”

The tower’s flowing design emulates the regional dunes and oases of the United Arab Emirates, while its spherical observation deck is evocative of the native gulf pearl. The upper stories will have world-class sky lounges, restaurants, and observation decks with glass viewing platforms offering a unique 360-degree panoramic view of Dubai’s breath-taking scenery and the Arabian Gulf waters. The panelized metal façade system of the tower blends seamlessly into the structural system, and the central void will be used to host “social, cultural and artistic events and activities”.

 

The split-volume tower’s overall shape is similar to that of its future neighbor – the proposed 135-meter high Dubai Lighthouse of the 2017 launched Dubai Harbour project, split along the middle by a vertical void into two curvilinear masses, so much so that the supertall Burj Jumeira when completed might easily be tagged the world’s tallest standing twin towers – a position currently held by the Malaysian Petronas Towers, which stretch 452 meters (1,483 feet) into the sky.

Perhaps the most notable feature of the tower would be its base – designed completely from the outline of the real fingerprint of His Highness, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. A large reflective pool and water fountains will highlight the base’s relaxing alfresco space and the walkable covered paths linking the tower to the array of retail outlets, the Sharaf DG Metro Station and other points surrounding the site.

The tower comes among the distinctive urban projects being set up in Dubai for the approaching expo 2020 and will be an architectural wonder that will proffer a daring new vision on Dubai’s landscape.

Construction began January 31st, the same day the project was announced, with the first phase set to be completed by 2023. The new mega-project is arguably Dubai’s biggest architectural marvel yet, which will offer the highest standard of luxurious homes, office spaces, and hotels while arousing more curiosity and intrigue from residents and tourists alike.

With a portfolio spanning thousands of projects across 50 countries, SOM is one of the largest architectural firms in the world. Their primary expertise is in high-end commercial buildings including Burj Khalifa – the world’s tallest building – 152 story-tower soaring 828 meters above the metropolis of Dubai. www.som.com

Architecture, Building Envelope, Electric cars, Green Energy, HVAC, Ideas, LEED, Style, Sustainability, Technology, Top Stories, Trends, Wood

Celebrating seven successful years

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It’s been an exciting whirlwind of activity since we started out, but we feel the best is yet to come. Please join us as the ride continues.

As Ontario’s only magazine for sustainable building and architecture, we have featured some of the most prominent green builders dedicated to pushing the envelope and going above the code. There are many examples, such as Times Group, Arista Homes, Reid’s Heritage Homes, Sorbara Group of Companies, Empire Communities, North Star Homes, Minto Communities, Great Gulf Homes, The Remington Group, Sifton Properties, Strashin Developments, Cora Group, Devron Developments, RND Construction and Barbini Design/Build. The list goes on …

Over the years, as an advocate of sustainable architecture, Green Building + Architecture magazine has featured a veritable who’s who of renowned architectural firms from Canada and around the world, including Frank Gehry, Vince Callebaut Architectures, James Law Cybertecture, MAD, Gentler, Heatherwick Studio, WZMH Architects, Stefano Boeri Architetti, superkul Inc, Foster + Partners, BIG, ZAS Architects, William Dewson Architects, Kongats Architects, KPMB, Sustainable TO, Williamson Williamson, Humphreys & Partners Architects, just to name a few.

To recap, we would like to stress that Green Building + Architecture is committed to showcasing the groundbreakers, with the newest, most innovative sustainable projects from around the world.

I’d like to take this opportunity congratulate all featured builders and architects and say a big THANK YOU to our advertisers who make this magazine possible, contributors, dedicated readers, and my team – which does an outstanding job each and every issue.

Giulio Marinescu

Publisher

www.gbplusamag.com

Architecture, Building Envelope, Ideas, LEED, Style, Sustainability, Technology, Top Stories, Trends, Wood

BJARKE INGELS GROUP – 79&PARK 

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Located on the edge of Gärdet, a treasured national park, Kullen makes conscious decisions to provide a sensitive, respectful form while allowing the same choices to simultaneously manifest as exceptional residences with spectacular views. In direct response to the context, the northwest and southeast corners take the heights of their immediate neighbors; while the northeast corner, farthest from the park and nominally with the worst view, is pulled upwards to grant it the most spectacular views of park and port.

The southwest point of the building extends farthest into Gärdet; and to create a humane edge between building and nature, is pushed down to the lowest profile, transforming it into a public platform with a 270 degree view of parkscape and simultaneously freeing the majority of the residential units to views of the park. The same move also ensures that the central courtyard will always receive copious amounts of sunlight. In further deference to Gärdet, the massing is visually reduced through a language of pixels, scaled to the human form.

This manipulation not only allows for a more organic expression, perfectly reflecting the surrounding landscape, but also provides a way to accomplish the building topography in a controlled and inexpensive way through the use of prefabricated units of standardized sizes.

Photos: Laurian Ghinitoiu

Architecture, Ideas, Style, Sustainability, Technology, Top Stories, Trends, Wood

The Arbour, George Brown College’s tall wood building

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Moriyama & Teshima Architects & Acton Ostry Architects

design a 12-storey wood building at George Brown College’s Waterfront Campus in Toronto

George Brown College envisions The Arbour as a landmark, tall wood, low-carbon building that will feature ecological innovation across its entire life cycle and be a model for 21st Century smart, sustainable, green building innovation throughout Canada. To support this vision, our proposed design for The Arbour is deceptively simple, straightforward and, above all else, smart.

The design of The Arbour enhances connections to neighbouring developments and the natural spaces offered by Sherbourne Common and the Water’s Edge Promenade. The soaring solar chimney signals the sustainable systems within, while the angled apex of the Tall Wood Institute speaks to future advancement of tallwood technologies and development of low carbon building methodologies.

A triple-storey atrium and ascending seat-stairs rise alongside Martin Goodman Trail and Queens Quay East tells the story of tall wood transformed through the absence of sections of CLT, strategically revealing the secrets of a multi-layered, mass wood superstructure system

The building form has been shaped and refined to maximize access to natural light and fresh air. Two solar chimneys located on the east and west facades create natural convection, drawing air up and through the building to ensure that air flow from operable windows is continually refreshed. The solar chimneys provide the driving force to draw air through the building by absorbing the solar heat gain in wooden shade elements to create the stack effect.

The plan is organized using a tartan grid to establish three parallel bars of programmable space separated by a narrow line of circulation. The mass wood structure is laid out on a seven by nine metre grid. The outer bars house classrooms, labs and administrative offices, where an outward outlook is desirable. The large span, beamless structure, enables demising walls to expand and contract, providing flexibility of sizes for a variety of learning spaces. Over time, program uses are free to change and departments to shift.

The large span, beamless structure, enables demising walls to expand and contract, providing flexibility of sizes for a variety of learning spaces. Over time, program uses are free to change and departments to shift.

The design instills generous spaces for wellbeing and sustainability into The Arbour, whose very name evokes green growth and shelter. The architects seek to instill “Breathing Room(s)” throughout the design:

 

STRUCTURAL BREATHING ROOM: An innovative structural approach will revolutionize the future of large span tall wood institutional buildings by increasing the spanning capabilities of cross laminated timber structures.

SOCIAL BREATHING ROOM: Generous social spaces are incorporated into a compact footprint by finding room for interconnectivity, community social health and choice for the building user.

SYSTEMS BREATHING ROOM: Synergistic solar chimney systems ecologically capture and harness light and air for sustainable natural ventilation. This provides passive access to fresh air and light by allowing the building to act like a tree, a living thing that synergistically captures light and air and contributes to the earth’s ecosystem in return.

Architecture, Green Energy, HVAC, Ideas, Style, Sustainability, Technology, Top Stories, Trends

The City of the Future

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UNStudio designs an integral vision to deal with future urban growth and sustainability for a test site in The Hague

UNStudio’s vision for The Hague is one of the studies made for ‘The City of the Future’, a joint initiative by BNA Research (the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects), the Delft University of Technology, the Delta Metropolis Association, the municipalities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Eindhoven, the Directorates-General for Mobility and Transport, the Environment and Water, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Ministry of Interior.
The project started in January 2018, when 10 multidisciplinary design teams were tasked with investigating new ways of city-making using five test locations in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Eindhoven. These teams included landscape architects, urban planners, mobility experts, experts in the field of circular economy, energy transition, future strategies, big data, smart cities etc. The teams worked on a level playing field together with municipalities, stakeholders and experts in the field of important innovations.
Socio-Technical City: a response to key transition issues for the future
UNStudio’s concept for the Socio-Technical City combines the two largest challenges facing the future of cities – urbanization and sustainability – and focuses specifically on the questions: how can an area like the CID, despite extremely high density in the future, be self-sufficient and energy-neutral? What does such an urban district look like? And how can you connect the technology that is required with the people who live and work there?

Gateways: Catalysts for encounter and innovation
With the elevated urban layer covering the existing railway tracks, UNStudio’s urban vision distinguishes a number of technical ‘domains’, which refer to the major transition issues of our time: energy, circularity, mobility, climate adaptation / water management and food production. These domains are then each envisioned as ‘gateways’: physical architectural interventions that offer practical solutions to the problems as well as functioning as attractive symbols for the specific themes – a geothermal power station as an icon for energy transition, a (Hyperloop) station as a landmark for mobility, a Biopolus water treatment plant as a symbol for circularity.
In this way, the Socio-Technical City bridges the gap between infrastructure and technology on the one hand, and quality of life and social well-being on the other. The model of the gateways is based on the idea that interaction is a requirement for innovation. The gateways form catalysts for meeting; they connect neighbourhoods and people and thus form breeding grounds for innovation.
Gateway Mobility: the Metropolitan Superhub
The concept for the gateways is inspired by the location itself. The existence of three intercity stations within walking distance of each other presents an unprecedented opportunity to transform this area into one Metropolitan Superhub; a system of closely linked terminals, comparable in size to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. It also provides an opportunity to create space for new forms of sustainable mobility such as the Hyperloop, with a free floating system of electric scooters, and possibly self-driving pods, interlinking the different modes of public transport.

Following the construction of the elevated urban layer, the Metropolitan Superhub can gradually become a city centre. The city grows all around it and connects to this layer, while creating a level of density that is unprecedented in the Netherlands.
Gateway Geothermal Energy Plant: an energy cathedral, city bridge, winter garden and co-working space for start-ups
The geothermal energy plant is the central location of the energy supply and as such is an important gateway for the CID. Research shows that the use of heat pumps, Heat & Cold storage systems, optimum insulation and solar panels are not enough to fully supply a compact area such as this. In order to make the district self-sufficient and energy-neutral, a solution was found by way of a system of ‘energy exchange’ with the surrounding districts. The geothermal energy plant draws energy from a hot water reservoir that is 2.5 kilometers below ground and supplies it to the surrounding low-rise districts. In return, the low-rise districts generate a surplus of energy via roof-mounted solar panels that can be delivered to the new high-rise buildings.

The energy gateway is not only a geothermal power plant, but also a bridge that connects neighbourhoods, a winter garden and co-working space for start-ups. But above all it is a symbol for energy transition: an energy cathedral.
Gateway the Biopolus: urban irrigation system with wadis, water squares, canals and waterfalls
In Socio-Technical City the Biopolus forms another gateway, a circular system that provides local food and water supplies. The Biopolus ensures that the waste water from the new part of the city is purified and the nutrients that are released are used for the cultivation of crops. Waste water is pumped through tubes to the highest level, after which it flows to the lowest level via various purification processes, producing drinking quality water which then enters the system again. The localized cycle is complete.
The Biopolus is however not merely a water purification plant, it is also an urban farm, a vertical park and an emblem of the circular economy.

Gateway Climate Adaptation: Water plazas
Climate change presents significant risk factors for the area, such as flooding and overheating. Where currently rainwater, waste water and grey water are all disposed of through one drainage system, in the Socio-Technical City this is separated into different systems. Waste water is drained through underground pipes, however the relatively clean rain water is re-used and made visible in the form of water features in public spaces: an irrigation system of canals, water plazas and waterfalls.

Architecture, Ideas, Style, Sustainability, Technology, Top Stories, Trends

Zaha Hadid Architects

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Zaha Hadid Architects selected to build

Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye smart city west of Moscow

Render by Flying Architecture

Zaha Hadid Architects working with TPO Pride Architects (Russia) have been selected as one of the consortiums to build the new Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye neighbourhood.

The jury of the invited competition also selected two further consortiums to develop the project: Nikken Sekkei (Japan) with UNK Project (Russia); and Archea Associati (Italy) with ABD Architects (Russia).

Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye will include new homes for 66,500 residents in addition to new schools, medical clinics, transport infrastructure and shopping districts, as well as new civic and cultural institutions. The neighbourhood will also accommodate 800,000 square metres of office space for Moscow’s growing financial, consulting, legal and auditing sectors.

In total, 4 million square metres of new buildings will be developed in Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye over 460 hectares to the west of Moscow. A third of the neighbourhood will be parklands and forest bordering the Moscow River with a  30-hectare lake at its centre.

With Moscow’s population increasing by more than 3 million people (over 30%) to 12.4 million in the past 20 years, Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye is integral to accommodating the Russian capital’s continued growth without increasing congestion in the centre of the city.

As an important new residential, employment, civic and cultural hub to the west of Moscow, a new 19km metro line is scheduled to begin construction in 2020 to connect Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye with the Shelepikha interchange station of Moscow’s Metro system.

Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye will be a global benchmark for smart, sustainable cities. Supported by the EDF Group’s platform for 3D simulations of energy and urban scenarios, the project will optimise the consumption and production of sustainable local energy sources while integrating electric mobility, new technologies, services and infrastructure to increase connectivity and efficiencies.

Zaha Hadid Architects’ proposal for Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye is a phased development designed to enhance residents’ interactions with each other, with nature and with new technologies.

Founded on research and studies that conclude people’s well-being and happiness increases from greater interaction with their local community, the design creates a diverse ecology of spaces for living, working, education or leisure that encourage engagement and communication.

 

Smart technologies are embedded within the urban fabric of Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye. Its design also enables residents and visitors to unwind with their families, friends and the natural world that permeates through the heart of the city; creating an urban environment of ecological technology that seamlessly integrates natural and human-made systems.

Christos Passas, project director at Zaha Hadid Architects, explained: “Working with specialist teams in Russia and Europe, we developed a people-centric design for a smart interconnected city that brings people together not only through innovative technology but also through organising the public realm; building a community that integrates the natural aspects of the site with principles of openness and inclusivity in high quality architecture suited for the 21st century.”