We would like to share with you the installation progress on HyBrid Architecture and Assembly’s first Seattle-installed cargo container building in the Georgetown Neighborhood.
All twelve of the containers for the two office buildings were craned into place in less than four hours. HyBrid calls this design the “c3600″ and says it is based on a 2004 proposal for a “c2500″ Urban Mini Tower.
Our friends over at HyBrid Architecture and Assembly are, as we speak, craning into place Seattle’s first cargo container buildings. Here is their official press release.
SEATTLE‘S FIRST CARGO CONTAINER BUILDINGS CRANED INTO PLACE IN GEORGETOWN
“Cargotecture” by HyBrid Architecture is an affordable, sustainable and modular alternative to traditional construction
SEATTLE, WA - June 18, 2009 - Seattle-based HyBrid Architecture announces the assembly of Seattle’s first buildings constructed of recycled cargo containers in the Design District of the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle on Thursday, June 18 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The two buildings are the future home of office space and a retail showroom gallery for a local interior design firm. While the modules will be craned in place on Thursday they represent the structure of the buildings only. Interior finishes, insulation, kitted parts, and utilities will be installed on site for opening in Fall.
The container building system, which HyBrid has coined “cargotecture”, is an affordable and sustainable alternative to traditional site construction. This particular project features two three-story buildings structurally based on 12 cargo containers, providing about 7,200 square feet on this 7,000 square foot lot.
Winner of the 2009 Character Approved Award, sponsored by USA Networks, Jennifer Siegal is changing the way people look at materials and manufacturing. Founder and Principle of the Office of Mobile Design, Siegal is dedicated to the design and construction of responsible, sustainable and beautiful homes. Watch the video above to learn more about how OMD is taking great strides towards a more efficient and sustainable future.
Dubbed “the Sundial”, the Green Lighthouse is the first place competition entry that will soon become a shining new “beacon” for sustainable design and carbon neutral building. Designed by Christensen & CO Arketekter A/S, this new facility for the Faculty of Science at the University of Copenhagen uses its cylindrical shape and adjustable facade louvres to invite sunlight to twist throughout the building during the day. Expected to be completed in 2009, the Green Lighthouse will incorporate solar energy, rainwater harvesting, natural ventilation systems and re-insulation. The green clad building will also be finished just in time for the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
Engineered by COWI, this commercial building consists of 950 sq. meters over three levels with meeting facilities, student services and a faculty club. The Green Lighthouse is in a class all its own for commercial buildings.
According to the architects, “the building, that seamlessly merges the fields of architecture, engineering and groundbreaking technologies into one exciting building, takes a holistic approach to architecture, light, healthy indoor environment and sustainability.”
GreenFab previously featured the work of Christensen & CO Arketekter A/S in Affordable, Energy Efficient Housing in Allerod.
The Tacoma Housing Authority (THA), located just south of Seattle, is pursuing its first modular housing project in the hopes of bringing affordable and sustainable homes to an economically diverse community. THA will be constructing Hillsdale Heights, a 110-unit housing community, on the former Hillsdale Lumber sawmill site. The community will include 60 low-income rental units, 50 affordable for-sale townhomes, a small community center, trails and green space.
Designed by GGLO of Seattle and manufactured by Guerdon Enterprises of Idaho, the project aims to combine modular technology with sustainable design systems to achieve LEED Silver certification and the new Evergreen Sustainable Development Standard.
So, after a few weeks off, I have returned from the land of Fire and Ice to share with you just a bit more on what makes Iceland a truly inspiring country. Aside from the obvious natural beauty, Iceland is making great strides to becoming the world’s leader in clean energy technology and production. While walking down the streets of Reykjavik, I ran into a couple of city workers that are paving the way for a new electric car charging station.
According to the New York Times, at a Reykjavik conference this week, Driving Sustainability ‘08, Iceland announced plans to team up with Mitsubishi Motors to supply the country with a fleet of tiny i-MiEV electric cars (which have a range per charge of about 100 miles with lithium-ion batteries). Scheduled to go on sale in Japan in the summer of 2009, Iceland is likely to be the first European country to have i-MiEVs.
This decision is in the wake of a hydrogen-based fuel conversation that has been loosing momentum since it began. According to Iceland’s foreign minister, Ingibjörg Sólrún Gisladóttir, “We see Iceland as the world’s laboratory for a decarbonized future,” She was talking about the country’s plan, announced in 1998, to become to the world’s first hydrogen-based energy economy.
GREENFAB WILL BE TAKING A SHORT BREAK as I travel to Iceland for a two week photography trip with my dad. This trip has been a dream of mine so when I RETURN THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 15th I will be anxious to share with you all that I have learned from the land that produces 70% of the nation’s primary energy from renewable sources.
Iceland is an island of thundering waterfalls, barren highlands, smoldering volcanoes, gushing geysers, bubbling mudpots, soothing thermal pools, the largest icecap outside the poles and not to mention the coolest turf houses in the world.
Here are a few articles that help explain the major role Iceland will play in our global future as we try to understand and use energy responsibly and efficiently.
>> MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY ENERGY AND TOURISM SPEECH
>> ICELAND’S ENERGY ANSWER COMES NATURALLY
>> ICELAND’S HYDROGEN SHIP HERALDS FOSSIL-FREE FUTURE
Click here to see BEAUTIFUL IMAGES from all of Icelands landscapes
WE’LL BE BACK IN TWO WEEKS!
The image above is a manipulation of a Daniel Bergmann original photograph
GreenFab had previously shown the progress leading up to the opening of MoMA’s “Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling” but we have yet to share some of the opinions of those that seem to be less impressed with MoMA’s efforts to explain the history behind prefabricated dwellings and the five international architects’ take on “the future”.
The Washington Post recently published an article titled “Walls That Talk, and Repeat Themselves” that raises some interesting points about the story MoMA is telling about prefabricated design and construction. Here are a few highlights:
The team that brought us BedZED back in 2002 has released yet another zero carbon housing product called ruralZED earlier this year at EcoBuild in Earls Court, London. The ZEDfactory installed their new affordable, zero carbon home in only 3 days. ruralZED is a high quality housing system combining micro-generation and small biomass technologies that help achieve a Level 6 in England’s Code for Sustainable Homes. What makes this product unique is that the ZEDfactory has built into their system the ability to upgrade from a Code 3 to a Code 6 for 70% of all UK building sites.
ruralZED is made of a hybrid laminated timber frame flexible enough for a variety of master plan options at fixed prefabricated kit prices with volume discounts. Minimizing its demand on resources, ruralZED catches sunlight, wind, fresh air and rain using tried and tested energy systems.
Garrett and Dustin Moon of Portland, Oregon (although they are really from my home state of Washington) are building what promises to be one of the first Living Buildings in the country. GreenFab highlighted their project, The Commons, back in April to share with you what very few people are attempting to do in this country when LEED is not enough.
The Commons is “designed to reach beyond today’s highest green building standards and become the first U.S. home to meet the Living Building Challenge. The Commons will generate all its own energy without fossil fuels, reclaim all its water, be free of unhealthy materials and be a place of beauty and community.”
Hot off the press, Garrett has just published a paper, Sustainable Architecture: an overview of equitable and efficient spaces that helps to identify and explain sustainable design processes and applications. The document is half a survey of sustainability and its applications and half a case study of their project, The Commons. This is a MUST READ!
Although it was completed a year ago, Sean Godsell’s Glenburn House is still worth revisiting. Nestled within the rolling hillsides approximately 1.5 hours drive north east of Melbourne, Australia, the Glenburn House is a beacon of sustainable design. The building skin includes solar collectors for generating electricity and hot water. Other passive features include double glazing, rainwater harvesting and digital power management.
The house is a long, linear gesture carved into an undulating landscape. This linear plan is enhanced by the architects’ barcode motif. Within the home, a series of organized spaces results in a coded arrangement that is unique to the client. Somewhat of a “tectonic thumbprint” for living.
Dockside Green is a 15-acre master-planned waterfront community in Victoria B.C. consisting of three neighborhoods designed to create a sense of belonging and true environmental sustainability. Targeted for LEED Platinum, Dockside Green’s principles of New Urbanism, smart growth, green building and sustainable community design are the driving forces behind this development project.
Synergy, designed by Busby Perkins+Will, is the first phase of the overall Dockside Green development to be completed and includes 95 homes in two condo buildings, townhomes and commercial space. Recently, Synergy achieved 63 points out of a possible 70 for a LEED Platinum certification. To reach this highest LEED rating to-date, Synergy incorporated a number of innovative sustainable systems. Read on to learn more.
Located on a brown-field site on Bermondsey Street in London, Carmarthen Place SE1 incorporates sustainable building practices, historic vernacular and contextual sympathy into a prefabricated, timber clad urban infill project. Designed by architect Emma Doherty with AiR, the project consists of two 2-bedroom homes and an artist’s studio.
An innovative solid wood panel system was chosen for its total cassette system panels complete with insulation, breather membranes, batons, cladding and pre-fitted fenestration and doors. The large panels were craned, erected and bolted together on-site in just 12 days. The laminated solid wood panels are 100mm thick and form the breathable structural skeleton of the building as well as the finished interior surface. Internal staircases were made on-site using English Oak and are bathed in light piercing through double height voids covered in glass. Deep set windows and boxed protrusions give framed views on the top two floors while high-level windows on the ground floor create a sense of privacy. Complete with a sedum green roof, Carmarthen Place SE1 is the first project in the UK to be developed using Riko’s sustainable system.
“Visionary architect Dr. David Fisher is the creator of the revolutionary Dynamic Tower, the world’s first building in motion. The Dynamic Tower heralds a new era of architecture: Buildings in motion will challenge traditional architecture, becoming the symbol of a new philosophy that will change the look of our cities and the concept of living.
The Dynamic Tower offers infinite design possibilities, as each floor rotates independently at different speeds, resulting in a unique and ever evolving shape that introduces a fourth dimension to architecture, Time.
The Dynamic Tower is environmentally friendly, with the ability to generate electricity for itself as well as other buildings nearby making it the first building designed to be self-powered, it achieves this feat with wind turbines fitted between each rotating floor. An 80-story building will have up to 79 wind turbines, making it a true green power plant.
The Dynamic Tower is also the first skyscraper to be built entirely from prefabricated parts that are custom made in a workshop, resulting of fast construction and of substantial cost savings . this approach known as the Fisher Method, also requires far less workers on construction site while each floor of the building can be completed in only seven days, units can also be customized according to the owners needs and styles.”
Danish architects Tegnestuen Vandkunsten have developed a low-cost modular housing prototype that was the product of a 2004 competition to create affordable units without sacrificing architectural quality. This prototype will help their Danish client launch the next 124 courtyard homes. There are four different courtyard housing types, derived from 5.2×5.2 meter modules, gathered around a communal space. Each kitchen window opens out onto these intimate landscapes. The facades of each building are carbonized (baked or heat-treated) wood and aluminum.
The concept is called ”bedre billigere boliger (bbb)” and literally translates to mean “better cheaper housing”. Creating an affordable project with high architectural detailing was a challenge. One design area the client chose to spend money on was the windows. By putting more money in all the windows, the overall quality of the project could be raised in one single move.
Marmol Radziner
Living Homes
Michelle Kaufmann
Alchemy Architects
