When is a home addition not a home addition? When it is done as elegantly as the Lilyfield House in Sydney, Australia. Nobbs Radford Architects created this subtle modern extension, drawing inspiration from the humble original cottage, with its flanks clad in narrow wooden weatherboards, while still managing to convey a functional, standalone character. Starting from the original 19th-century weatherboard house, this modern addition evokes the ad-hoc add-on spirit embodied by decades of extensions. This addition nearly doubles the living space and maintains the spirit of the original pitched roof design without mimicking it.
North America’s first platinum certification for multi-family residential awarded in Calgary
A small scale project in Calgary, Alberta has made the large-scale achievement of earning the first LEED Platinum certification for a multi-family residential. The Vento, designed by Busby Perkins and Will in conjunction with green developers, Windmill Development Group, is a three-storey inner-city development comprised of 20 two-storey town houses atop several ground level retail outlets.
The site incorporates several sustainable elements designed with regard to the city’s constant sunny climate, hot dry summers and cold dry winters. Heat recovery ventilation is used to reduce energy consumption, stormwater treatment and re-use provides excess water for the apartments and the development has been finished with recycled and recycleable materials.
LEED is a North American standard created by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) used to measure the sustainability of building practises and award projects with an eco-approach to design.
The award of Platinum LEED status was awarded to the development’s apartments and marks a significant achievement in the advancement of ecological housing in Canada. The Vento is the first of two phases of redevelopment of the neighbourhood and the first of a series of green developments Windmill is to develop.
We have a passion for following future-forward architecture that pushes the envelope of environmental design. Imagine our excitement when we saw these recently released photos of Taiwan’s Next Gene 20! The project challenges 20 acclaimed architects to design 20 villas along the north-east coast of Taiwan. The selected architects include big international names such as MVRDV, Graft, Kengo Kuma, and Julien De Smedt as well as 10 up and coming Taiwanese architects. The designs showcase an impressive array of styles ranging from minimalist modules to elaborate biomorphisms, yet they are all united around the common goal of integrating seamlessly with their environment. These results are the fruit of an exciting cultural exchange, and they provide some cutting edge concepts for the future of architecture.
The Next Gene 20 project was developed by Genuine Group as a way to foster an exchange of ideas between Eastern and Western architects. Each design takes great strides to integrate harmoniously with its immediate environment. The results of this year’s Next Gene20 emanate these ideas with stunning, innovative designs. Above, ‘Floating Courtyard’ by Ray Chen, cuts a modern silhouette with its sleek facade.
