All posts by Giulio

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

Brisbin Brook Beynon Architects bring Vertical Forest concept to Toronto

August 24, 2018 Giulio Leave a comment

Vertical Forest is a model for a sustainable residential building, a project for metropolitan reforestation contributing to the regeneration of the environment and urban biodiversity without the implication of expanding the city upon the territory.

The first example of Vertical Forest consisting of two residential towers of 110 and 76 m height, was realized in the center of Milan, hosting 800 trees, 4,500 shrubs and 15,000 plants from a wide range of shrubs and floral plants distributed according to the sun exposure of the facade. On a flat land each Vertical Forest equals, in amount of trees, an area of 20,000 square meters of forest.

Brisbin Brook Beynon Architects is leading a team of arborists, irrigation specialists, academics, and horticulturalists in designing Toronto’s first Vertical Forest – a green building designed specifically to manage storm water, C02, and help mitigate the heat island effect of the city. The Vertical Forest will be the perfect blend of nature and architecture. The proposed 27-storey, mixed-use building replaces the existing Design District buildings with a new village of showrooms and public spaces, defining the identity of this established design community. The project will combat pollution by increasing Toronto’s tree canopy. The vegetal system of the Vertical Forest contributes to the construction of a microclimate hosting migratory birds and insects, produces humidity, absorbs CO2 and dust particles and produces oxygen.

The tower’s vegetational elements consist of trees-half conifers, half deciduous, placed in a woven stainless steel planter. To keep track of plant growth and its requirements such as water, nutrient density, solar requirements and wind strength, a monitors system will be integrated into the building.

At ground level, a 2-storey commercial space will house design and studio-related businesses, as well as restaurants and cafes. BBB Architects Principal and project lead, Brian Brisbin, calls the design permeable, with two pedestrian walkways that will connect bordering streets to an active Piazza, creating vibrancy and visual interest.

Above the commercial podium, a total of 122 residential units are proposed. A step-up design, combined with open terrace space, will ensure that each residential unit includes an outdoor space designed with a ‘Vertical Forest’ component to contain extensive vegetation and plantings. There will also be a communal residents’ terrace on the podium which will be visible from the balconies above, that will include, a park, pool, cafe, fitness centre, and meeting rooms.

The design challenges posed by developing a building of 450 trees and 3 kilometres of planters, required the team to develop a specialized ‘plug and play’ system for the trees that controls irrigation, fertigation, and monitors hydration. Gathering metrics which are computer monitored off-site, is key to the viability of the project and will in turn assist in making more mainstream green infrastructure projects a reality.

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

FOREST CITY – the world’s first three-dimensional modern residential project

August 20, 2018 Giulio Leave a comment

Forest City, situated on four man-made islands in Iskande, Malaysia is the largest mixed-used urban environment in Southeast Asia. Designed by Sasaki Associates, the master plan for Forest City seeks to establish a symbiotic relationship between the natural environment and development. For this reason, Forest City is strategically placed around the Seagrass Preserve; a marine sanctuary which is also one of the region’s essential ecological feature.

Forest City’s layout

Around the Seagrass Preserve, there is an extensive network of complementary waterfront landscapes that gives people the chance to learn more about the region’s ecosystem and measures they can take its protection.
The city also features 31.4 kilometers of coastline with edges that mimic the natural features of Malaysia’s coastal ecosystems like shallow bays and tidal pools that support the local fisheries and provide habitat to marine life.
However, the most essential feature of Forest City is the restored mangroves spread across more than ten kilometers that not only improve the water quality but are also home to many species.

Careful, resilient planning

With the rare opportunity to build on reclaimed land comes great responsibility to ensure that development will be balanced with a robust and sustainable ecosystem. With this in mind, resiliency planning at Forest City was a central principle integrated into all aspects of the project.
Forest City is planned such that it is divided into zones. There is a preservation zone that protects the endangered seagrass beds spread across 250 hectares. In this zone, motorized boats are restricted, and human access is limited. Meanwhile, there are also opportunities for continuous monitoring, research, and conservation of the landscape.
The mangroves habitat zones, on the other hand, help to resupply part of the ecosystem that has been lost due to the urban expansion in Southern Malaysia and Singapore in the last 70 years. In fact, according to UNESCO, over the last five decades, more than 30% of Malaysia’s mangroves have been lost because of deforestation.

Restoring the ecosystem

In an effort to restore the ecosystem, Forest City re-establishes 9.2 kilometers of new mangrove habitats as well as 10.3 kilometers of mudflats and shallow coves. Estimates by United Nations Blueprint for Ocean & Coastal Sustainability state that these coastal systems can absorb carbon at a rate which is up to 50 times the rate of carbon absorbed by the same area of tropical forest.
Partners in the project, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UMP), are responsible for monitoring the various habitat conditions. Researchers are also responsible for monthly on-site audits and quarterly ecology studies. Other efforts have also been put into place including a seagrass nursery that will provide supplemental plants that will contribute in strengthening the ecosystem, and real-time assessments of the water temperature to create optimal conditions so that the seagrass preserve can thrive

According to UNESCO estimates, over 30% of Malaysia’s mangroves have been lost to deforestation over the past five decades. Forest City re-establishes 9.2 linear kilometers of new mangrove habitat, 10.3 linear kilometers of shallow coves and mudflats, and protects 250 hectares of critical seagrass habitat. Based on estimates from the United Nations Blueprint for Ocean and Coastal Sustainability, these coastal systems have the ability to absorb or sequester carbon at rates up to 50 times those of the same area of tropical forest. These various habitat conditions are being monitored in partnership with the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), with researchers responsible for providing a quarterly ecology study and a monthly on-site audit. Additional efforts include real-time assessments of water temperature to ensure optimal conditions for the seagrass preserve to thrive, and a seagrass nursery providing supplemental plants to strengthen the ecosystem.

Seagrass & mangroves – essential!

Forest City, by preserving the mangroves and seagrass, aims to reinforce their importance as essential components of the country’s coastal ecosystem. To achieve this, Forest City educates the public on the importance of both of them to the region’s tourism industry, fisheries, and their role in combating climate change.
Both of these are shallow, nutrient-rich areas that provide shelter to mollusks, crabs, fish, and shrimp. They also provide shelter to various endangered species like seahorses, sea turtles, and dugongs. They also function as nesting grounds for species of migratory birds that are native to Southern Malaysia.
In fact, mangroves support numerous food chains and protect the coastlines from erosion, storm damage, and wave effects. As a result, it also prevents the damage to seagrass beds and coral reefs that are critical for the long-term health of the country’s coastal ecosystem.
Thus, in an effort to educate people, Forest City’s environmental outreach programs also include training so that local residents can become nature guides on experts on Malaysia’s ecology.

More about the infrastructure

The success of Future City also depends on a highly reliable and efficient transportation system that can promote a walkable and compact urban environment. There are civic, and density uses organized around the transit centers such that more than 80% of the development is just a 10-minute walk from public transportation.
Forest City also has a multi-layered approach that focuses on pedestrian connections. So while infrastructure for vehicular traffic is located at the ground level, you will find a contiguous landscape that creates public space right adjacent to the transit stations at the top level.
The end result is a 4 million square meter adjoining landscape that connects all development parcels, re-establishes habitat zones, accommodates stormwater, and filters runoff. At the same time, it also offers recreational opportunities in an entirely automobile-free experience.
Sky gardens and green walls are also integrated into the city’s architecture, and the landscape of rooftops of individual buildings also create vertical open spaces allowing nature and humans to coexist.

Awards & accreditations

Forest City, the world’s first three-dimensional modern residential project, is globally recognized and has won several awards despite only three years in operations.The project in Johor’s most southern tip recently won the Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Award (SCAHSA) for the second time, and the Global Model of Green Building Industrial Park award for its fabricated construction park.

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

Sustainable Living in ReGen Villages

August 11, 2018 Giulio Leave a comment

ReGen Villages is a new visionary model for the development of off-grid, integrated and resilient eco-villages that can power and feed self-reliant families around the world.

ReGen stands for regenerative, where the outputs of one system are the inputs of another. The concept has a holistic approach and combines a variety of innovative technologies, such as energy positive homes, renewable energy, energy storage, door-step high-yield organic food production, vertical farming aquaponics/aeroponics, water management and waste-to-resource systems.

With the integration of such technologies, ReGen Villages holds a potential in changing some of the challenges of a growing population, increasing urbanization, scarcity of resources, the growing global food crisis as well as reducing the global CO2 emission and reducing the burdens on municipal and national governments in dynamically changing planetary and economic times.

ReGen Villages is all about applied technology. Already existing technologies are simply being applied into an integrated community design, providing clean energy, water and food right off the doorstep. ReGen Villages adds not only environmental and financial value, but also social value, by creating a framework for empowering families and developing a sense of community, where people become part of a shared local eco-system: reconnecting people with nature and consumption with production.

“Our modern lifestyle is utterly unsustainable and this calls for more resilient solutions for the future,” explained EFFEKT partner Sinus Lynge. “The technology already exists, it is just a matter of applying science into the architecture of everyday life.”

There are five principles behind the ReGen Villages: “Energy positive homes. Door-step high-yield organic food production. Mixed renewable energy and storage. Water and waste recycling. Empowerment of local communities.”

Homes in these gorgeous communities are totally designed for sustainable living. They’re powered by photovoltaic solar panels, but passive heating and cooling systems take pressure off the electrical use of each house. Families grow their own vegetables and fruit in connected greenhouses. Together, the houses form a “shared local eco-system.”

Villages include several public squares that are equipped with electric car-charging stations, and there are also vertical aquaponic farming spaces. The community shares water storage facilities and waste-to-resource systems. In addition, there are areas for livestock, communal dining, playgrounds, and community learning centers.

ReGen Villages already has plans to take their vision to the next level with the first community to be built in the Netherlands. They’re also planning pilot projects in Sweden, Germany, Norway, and Denmark, with plans in the early stages for communities in China, Africa, and the United Arab Emirates.

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

Safdie Architects completes its Eiling Residences in China

August 11, 2018 Giulio Leave a comment

Located on a broad hillside site adjacent to Chongqing’s well-known Eling Park, the design for the Eling Residences grows out of and echoes the dramatic natural topography of the site.

The buildings are organized with terracing villa units climbing the rock slopes and stepping up to the crest of the hill where, along the ridge line, two dome-shaped structures overlook the city. The location and organization of the low-rise terraced buildings endows each of the 126 apartments with natural daylight and affords uninterrupted views of the Yuzhong Peninsula and the Yangtze River. Interwoven with the buildings is a lush landscape comprised of cascading gardens, terraces, overlooks, stairs and promenades for the residents to enjoy.

At the western edge of the site, a prominent 4-story clubhouse stands as a beacon for the project, signifying the entrance to both Eling Park and the development.

The terraces of the hilltop units provide uninterrupted views to the Yangtze River and city beyond. Each terrace serves as an extension of the apartment, maximizing residents’ access to light and air. Planters are integrated along the length of the terraces, and climbing plants will grow up the trellises to provide additional shading.

Complementing the sloped low-rise buildings is an intricate landscape system, which interweaves terraces, gardens, trellises, overlooks, stairs, and promenades throughout the site. The combination of landscape and architecture works together to evoke the character of lush, hanging gardens, integrating the project site with the green oasis of Eling Park.

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

“Svart” – the World’s First Energy Positive Hotel Concept Above the Arctic Circle

August 5, 2018 Giulio Leave a comment

“Svart” is the first building to be built after the energy positive Powerhouse standard in a Northern climate. Not only does this new hotel reduce its yearly energy consumption by approximately 85% compared to a modern hotel, but it also produces its own energy – an absolute “must” in this precious arctic environment, the architects say.

Building in such a precious environment comes with some clear obligations in terms of preserving the natural beauty and the fauna and flora of the site. It was important for Snøhetta to design a sustainable building that will leave a minimal environmental footprint on this beautiful Northern nature. Building an energy positive and low-impact hotel is an essential factor to create a sustainable tourist destination respecting the unique features of the plot; the rare plant species, the clean waters and the blue ice of the Svartisen glacier, says Founding Partner at Snøhetta, Kjetil Trædal Thorsen.

A minimal footprint

The circular body of “Svart” extends from the shoreline by the foot of the Almlifjellet mountain and into the clear waters of the Holandsfjorden fjord. The circular shape provides a panoramic view of the fjord and an experience of living in proximity with nature.

The construction is inspired local vernacular architecture in the form of the “fiskehjell” (A-shaped wooden structure for drying fish) and the “rorbue” (a traditional type of seasonal house used by fishermen). The rorbue reference translates into the hotel’s supporting structure, which is built from weather resistant wooden poles stretching several meters below the surface of the fjord. The poles ensure that the building physically places a minimal footprint in the pristine nature and gives the building an almost transparent appearance.

The poles of the hotel double as a wooden boardwalk for visitors to stroll in the summer. In the winter, the boardwalk can be used to store boats and kayaks, reducing the need for garages and additional storage space. The height of structure also allows for paddlers to paddle under the hotel corpus.

The precious nature surrounding the hotel can only be accessed by boat and there are plans to introduce an energy neutral boat shuttle from the city of Bodø to the hotel.

An energy optimized design

To reach the Powerhouse standard, several cutting-edge design choices have been made. For example, the architects have conducted an extensive mapping of how solar radiation behaves in relation to mountainous context throughout the year to optimize the harvest of energy. The result of the study has been an importance premise for the circular design of the hotel, and both hotel rooms, restaurants and terraces are strategically placed to exploit the Sun’s energy throughout the day and seasons. The hotel’s roof is clad with Norwegian solar panels produced with clean hydro energy reducing the carbon footprint even further. Due to the long summer nights of this area, the annual production of solar energy will be significant.

Secluded terraces provide a shadow play in the façade of the hotel while also ensuring privacy. The facades protect against insolation from the sun in the summer when the sun is high in the sky, removing the need for artificial cooling. During the winter months, when the sun is low in the sky, the large windows of the façade allow for a maximum of insolation to exploit the Sun’s natural thermal energy.

Materials with low embodied energy have been used to reach the Powerhouse standard. Embodied energy is the amount of energy that is required to produce, transport, build and replace materials and products that go into a building. Embodied energy is highest in materials produced with energy derived from fossil fuels. The use of wood in construction and cladding minimizes the environmental impact of the building, and typically energy-intensive materials such as structural steel and concrete have been avoided as much as possible.

The hotel also uses geothermal wells that are connected to heat pumps. These are used to heat the building, thus reducing the building’s total energy consumption.

“ We believe that energy-positive buildings are the buildings of the future. An energy-positive building is a building which during its operational phase generates more energy than what was used for the production of building materials, its construction, operation and disposal. The building is therefore transformed from being part of the energy problem to becoming part of the energy solution. “

Snøhetta’s founder, Kjetil Trædal Thorsen

About the Powerhouse standard and the Powerhouse collaboration

Powerhouse is a collaboration between Snøhetta, Entra, Skanska, the ZERO Emission Resource Organization and Asplan Viak. The term “Powerhouse” is used to describe so-called “plus house” buildings that are built by the Powerhouse collaboration. “Plus houses” are energy producing buildings that, in the course of a 60 year period, will generate more renewable energy than the total amount of energy that would be required to sustain daily operations and to build, produce materials and demolish the building.

ABOUT SNØHETTA

For over 25 years, Snøhetta has designed some of the world’s most notable public and cultural projects.

Snøhetta is currently working on a number of projects internationally including the Le Monde Headquarters in Paris, the Cornell University Executive Education Center and Hotel in New York, and the Calgary’s New Central Library in Canada. In 2018, Harvard House Zero, the most ambitious net-zero energy retrofit to date will be completed for the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Among its many recognitions, Snøhetta received The International Architecture Award and The Global Award for Sustainable Architecture in 2010. In 2016, Snøhetta was named the Wall Street Journal’s Architecture Innovator of the Year.

Digital Editions

Summer 2018

July 6, 2018 Giulio Leave a comment

Architecture, Building Envelope, Green Energy, HVAC, Ideas, LEED, Style, Sustainability, Technology, Trends

evolv1

June 28, 2018 Giulio Leave a comment

Canada’s first Zero Carbon Building – Design project

The uniquely modern evolv1 urban office building in Waterloo, Ontario, is the first-ever project to receive a Zero Carbon Building – Design certification under CaGBC’s Zero Carbon Building Standard. The certification means evolv1 has demonstrated design excellence and provided documentation indicating that the project has:

 Modelled a zero carbon balance for future operations

 Incorporated a highly efficient energy and ventilation system to meet a defined threshold for thermal energy intensity

 Designed onsite renewable energy systems capable of providing a minimum of five per cent of building energy consumption

Due to be completed Summer 2018, the vision for this three-storey, 110,000 sq.ft. commercial multi-tenant office building is the realization of a collaboration between the Cora Group, Sustainable Waterloo Region, the David Johnston Research + Technology Park and anchor tenant EY. It is one of 16 participants in CaGBC’s Zero Carbon Building Pilot Program.

evolv1 received its ZCB-Design certification in April 2018. CaGBC spoke with Adrian Conrad, Chief Operating Officer of the Cora Group, about the vision for the project and how this landmark achievement as part of the Zero Carbon Building program is making a real difference in shaping a sustainable future.

A new benchmark for sustainable design

“Our original vision was to design and build a building that was net positive energy at similar costs to conventional construction – and we were determined to prove it was possible,” said Conrad. With this goal in mind, evolv1’s project team – including Stantec, which designed the building, and construction firm Melloul-Blamey – employed a highly integrated design process that incorporates both active and passive systems to optimize value against construction cost. The building’s design includes elements aimed not only at maximizing its energy efficiency, but at producing more energy than it consumes:

 High-performance building envelope

 Geo-exchange / variable refrigerant flow (VRF) HVAC system

 Triple pane glazing

 Solar wall for preheated ventilation

 Combination of carport and roof-mounted photovoltaics producing 700kw of electricity for the grid

 Three-storey green wall, promoting improved indoor air quality

Once complete, the building’s performance will be measured over its first 12 months of operation in order to demonstrate achievement of a zero emissions balance, which would allow it to earn a Zero Carbon Building – Performance certification.

In addition, evolv1 is targeting LEED Platinum certification, further positioning the building at the leading edge. “We are excited to be setting this new benchmark within the design and construction industry,” Conrad added.

An eye on the future of green building

For the Cora Group, the pursuit of a ZCB-Design certification for evolv1 represents both an investment in a greener future and an opportunity to underscore the company’s history as a sustainable builder for more than a decade.

“First and foremost, we want to make a difference,” Conrad said. “When we heard about the CaGBC Zero Carbon Building certification, we saw a tremendous opportunity to measure our efforts against a progressive new building standard and to pilot our project within a program that is capturing attention from across the country and indeed, around the world.”

He noted that the Cora Group’s participation in the Zero Carbon Building Pilot Program has enabled the project team to learn from others who share their vision and philosophy, as well as to contribute to broader industry knowledge about low-carbon construction.

And with its location within Waterloo’s Idea Quarter, on the doorstep of the soon-to-be-completed ION Light Rail Transit system, evolv1 is gearing up to be a hub for next-generation innovation and the millennial workforce.

The hope, Conrad said, is that the building’s ZCB-Design certification will be an important seal of approval, signalling to premier tenants that the Cora Group is a leading provider of high-quality, sustainable, green spaces, and ultimately changing the way procurement is done.

“We envision a day where zero carbon building design will be on the top of a tenant’s wish list when searching for office space,” he said.

Realizing a shared vision

Given the fact that the evolv1 project team is essentially breaking new ground with the Zero Carbon Building Program, a critical piece of the puzzle has been the utilization of the integrated design process to ensure alignment among everyone involved, from the building owner, to the architectural and engineering teams and sustainability consultants, to the contractor and sub-trades.

“Probably the biggest piece of advice we can offer is to get everyone on the same page from the very beginning,” he said, adding that the project has been a true team effort. “In the early days of the project, there was a lot of consensus-building among the parties involved to ensure our vision was properly communicated and shared.”

This shared vision has also been helpful in navigating the uncertainty of working with governments, utilities and the associated red tape to figure out the details of a new initiative. Adhering to zero carbon principles requires an additional level of attention to detail at every step of the design and construction process, making it even more important to have all hands on deck, Conrad noted.

Validating the financial feasibility of zero carbon building

evolv1’s ZCB-Design certification through the CaGBC is a third-party validation of the Cora Group’s belief that it is financially possible to build within a conventional business model while using low-carbon building strategies with minimal impact on the environment, Conrad said.

“We all knew it was possible, but we’ve now proven it is absolutely, financially possible to build a Zero Carbon commercial building, and to do it solely through private capital funding,” he said. “The Cora Group is exceedingly proud to be recognized by CaGBC and to have evolv1 become the first project in Canada of its kind to be Zero Carbon Building – Design certified.”

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

ZAHA HADID ARCHITECTS

June 27, 2018 Giulio Leave a comment

Morpheus, a new flagship hotel for the City of Dreams resort in Macau

Asia’s most popular entertainment destination, Macau welcomed more than 32 million tourists in 2017, with visitor numbers increasing every year. Located in Cotai, Macau, City of Dreams is a leading integrated resort including casino, two theatres, shopping district, 20 restaurants and four hotels.

Informed by the fluid forms within China’s rich traditions of jade carving, the Morpheus’ design combines dramatic public spaces and generous guest rooms with innovative engineering and formal cohesion.

Conceived as a vertical extrusion of its rectangular footprint, a series of voids is carved through its centre to create an urban window connecting the hotel’s interior communal spaces with the city and generating the sculptural forms that define the hotel’s public spaces.

Linked at ground level with the surrounding three-storey podium of the City of Dreams resort, the Morpheus houses 770 guest rooms, suites and sky villas, and includes civic spaces, meeting and event facilities, gaming rooms, lobby atrium, restaurants, spa and rooftop pool, as well as extensive back-of-house areas and ancillary facilities.

The design resolves the hotel’s many complex programmes within a single cohesive envelope. Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) was commissioned to build the hotel in 2012. At that time, foundations were already in place of a condominium tower that did not progress.

ZHA designed the Morpheus as a simple extrusion of the existing abandoned foundations; using this rectangular footprint to define a 40-storey building of two internal vertical circulation cores connected at podium and roof levels where the many guest amenities were required.

This extrusion generated a monolithic block making best use its development envelope that is restricted to a 160m height by local planning codes. This block was then ‘carved’ with voids.

The underlying diagram of the hotel’s design is a pair of towers connected at ground and roof levels. The central atrium in-between these towers runs the height of the hotel and is traversed by external voids that connect the north and south facades. These voids create the urban window that links the hotel’s interior communal spaces with the city.

Three horizontal vortices generate the voids through the building and define the hotel’s dramatic internal public spaces; creating unique corner suites with spectacular views of both the atrium and the city. This arrangement maximises the number of hotel rooms with external views and guarantees an equal room distribution on either side of the building.

In-between the free-form voids that traverse the atrium, a series of bridges create unique spaces for the hotel’s restaurants, bars and guest lounges by renowned chefs including Alain Ducasse and Pierre Hermé.

The atrium’s twelve glass elevators provide guests with remarkable views of the hotel’s interior and exterior as they travel between the voids of the building.

As one of the world’s leading hotels, the Morpheus’ interior spaces necessitated a high degree of adaptability to accommodate the many varying requirements of its guest amenities. The building’s exoskeleton optimizes the interiors by creating spaces that are uninterrupted by supporting walls or columns.

The world’s first free-form high-rise exoskeleton, its rich pattern of structural members at lower levels progresses upwards to a less dense grid of lighter members at its summit.

Morpheus draws on a ZHA’s 40 years of research into the integration of interior and exterior, civic and private, solid and void, Cartesian and Einsteinian. Space is woven within structure to tie disparate programmes together and constantly make connections.

Viviana Muscettola, ZHA’s project director explains, “Morpheus combines its optimal arrangement with structural integrity and sculptural form. The design is intriguing as it makes no reference to traditional architectural typologies.

“Macau’s buildings have previously referenced architecture styles from around the world. Morpheus has evolved from its unique environment and site conditions as a new architecture expressly of this city.

“The expertise of all members of the Morpheus team has created new possibilities for architecture,” continued Muscettola. “The comprehensive parametric model combined all of the hotel’s aesthetic, structural and fabrication requirements and will radically change how our built environment is planned and constructed.”

Lawrence Ho, chairman and CEO of Melco Resorts said, “From the very beginning, we shared ZHA’s vision and determination to push boundaries. Morpheus offers a journey of the imagination. From the curved exterior to the dramatic interior spaces, it pleases the eye and excites the senses: a contemporary masterpiece to be enjoyed by many generations to come.”

Morpheus Hotel: Environmental Engineering
Solar gain is minimised by the use of high performance glazing. The building’s exoskeleton provides additional screening from the sun. The atrium’s middle areas are not served by air conditioning, only zones used by guests and staff – such as lobbies, bridges and restaurants – are air conditioned.
Melco Resorts has applied long-life specification throughout the Morpheus Hotel to strictly limit requirements for maintenance and replacement. All the hotel’s exterior panel fabrication was procured locally to the highest international standards, reducing unnecessary transportation and making full use of local expertise and equipment.
Additional active solutions have been implemented to increase energy efficiencies including the air handling units with high efficiency variable speed water-cooled chillers and thermal wheel energy exchangers to recover energy

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

International Living Future Institute certifies Bill Fisch Forest Stewardship and Education Centre the first Living Building Challenge project in Canada

June 27, 2018 Giulio Leave a comment

York Region’s Bill Fisch Forest Stewardship and Education Centre has been awarded Living Building Challenge certification by the International Living Future Institute; the most rigorous sustainability standard in the world.

“A truly inspirational example of forest stewardship and regenerative building construction, the Bill Fisch Forest and Stewardship Education Centre integrates with the local ecology and becomes one with its forest neighbors,” said Amanda Sturgeon, CEO of the International Living Future Institute. “The Centre is a model example of humanity’s ability to reconcile our relationship with nature.” From the beginning, The Regional Municipality of York conveyed to DIALOG that they wanted the new 370 sq m (4000 sq ft) building to be “the greenest education centre ever built”. To achieve this goal, DIALOG brought together an interdisciplinary team that included architects, engineers, and interior designers, as well as forest education experts, arborists and ecologists to design a building that would be net-zero energy, net-zero water and offer an inspired place of learning with a projected 90-year life-cycle.
Targeting the Living Building Challenge (LBC) was a natural fit for the project since the ideals of the certification closely aligned with both York Region and DIALOG’s own beliefs.
“When we learned about this project we said to ourselves – what a great opportunity! We can bring all of our understanding, our ideals, our integrated design methodology, and our passion together in one symbolic project”, says Craig Applegath, DIALOG Principal in Charge.
According to the International Living Future Institute, “Living buildings give more than they take, creating a positive impact on the human and natural systems that interact with them.” Successful projects demonstrate excellence in seven performance areas called petals over a minimum of 12 months of continuous occupancy.

Place – Restoring a healthy interrelationship with nature.
Water – Creating developments that operate within the water balance of a given place and climate.
Energy – Relying only on current solar income.
Health & Happiness – Creating environments that optimize physical and psychological health.
Materials – Endorsing products that are safe for all species through time.
Equity – Supporting a just and equitable world.
Beauty – Celebrating design that uplifts the human spirit.
Meeting the red-list requirements for a Living Building under the Materials petal was the most challenging aspect of achieving this certification. This required the complete elimination of 20 chemicals of concern which include carcinogens, toxinogens, mutagens, persistent bio accumulative chemicals, and hormone disruptors. A materials advocacy letter was issued to approximately 10,000 suppliers to request health product declarations and environmental product declarations for all products.
The use of wood in the design was integral to the building’s performance and appropriate to its function as a Forest Education Centre. The structure was built almost entirely of laminated and Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT), all of which was FSC sustainably harvested or recycled wood, and was designed to be easily disassembled and recycled in the future when BFFSEC comes to the end of its useful life—like the project’s exterior wood cladding, which was salvaged and repurposed from the old Cascades warehouse in Toronto at the end of its life.
“Opportunities of this sort don’t come along very often. We knew if we wanted to do a LBC building, this was our chance. It’s a nice flat site, incorporates natural storm water management, natural infiltration, and at the same time this site demands that you do something special”, say Charles Marshall, Sustainability Consultant at DIALOG.
The resulting building has met all seven petals of the LBC, and was granted its certification on May 17, 2018. BFFSEC is the first LBC certified project in Canada, the second outside of the US, and one of only 21 buildings achieving full LBC certification worldwide.