Monthly Archives: December 2016

//December

Glass Tower That Might Actually be Energy Efficient

The recently completed Beijing Greenland Center, built by Chicago’s Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) may not look like a very energy efficient building at first glance, given it’s glazed façade. However, the trapezoidal shape of the windows is said to actually improve the building’s energy performance. The Beijing Greenland Center is 853 ft (260 m) high and has 55 floors. It’s located in the city’s Dawangjing business district and contains offices and 178 of apartments. There is also a multi-story retail zone attached to it. […]

By |December 8th, 2016|Modern architecture|0 Comments
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Prefab Micro Home That Can be Moved Around Easily

Kodasema, a firm from Estonia, is busy designing a tiny prefab home, which according to them can be assemble on-site in only seven hours. The home will be made of concrete, and is expected to cost around $110,000. It will also be made in a way that allows it to easily be disassembled and moved to a new location if needed.

They’re calling this home Koda, and it will measure only 326 sq ft (30.3 sq m). It’s built out of prefabricated sections made of concrete. However, only 317 cubic feet of concrete are needed to build the entire home, so despite using this material instead of a more sustainable alternative, the construction of this home still won’t leave a huge carbon footprint. No foundation is necessary on-site, and the home can be placed on a wide variety of surfaces, including asphalt and gravel, so long as it can provide a level footing. Once it’s assembled it can’t exactly be towed around, but they do claim disassembling the home with a view towards relocating it, only takes about seven hours, though a truck and crane are needed in the process. […]

By |December 7th, 2016|Prefab|0 Comments
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Icehotel That Will Stay Open all Year

The famous Icehotel, which they build every year in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, will get built for the 27th year in a row this year, since it melts into nothing each year. But this year another Icehotel was also built, and this one is built to last. The so-called Icehotel 365 is designed to remain standing and open all year, and not just during the coldest months. […]

By |December 6th, 2016|Modern design|0 Comments
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Prefab Container Home Large enough to Fit a Family

Here is another creation by Custom Container Living, the shipping container architecture firm out of Archie, Missouri. This one has a generous floor plan, and is large enough for a family to live in comfortably. […]

By |December 5th, 2016|Container Design|1 Comment
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Super Sustainable Renovation of a Cottage

The vacation home in question is located in the Lake of Bays, Muskoka region and is actually a recently renovated house from the 1960s. The renovation was done by Fourth Pig and Stone’s Throw Design and the end result is a nearly passive home, which boasts of a number of sustainable features and looks amazing inside and out.

As part of the renovation, the home has been wrapped in straw bale for insulation, and it is heated by a wood fired boiler. The latter also provides hot water for both washing and the radiant heating system. There is also a solar hot water heater, which provides hot water and supplements radiant heating. They home also features a high efficiency Energy Recovery Ventilator. […]

By |December 3rd, 2016|Green Building|0 Comments
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Easy to Assemble Flatpack Off-Grid Cabins and Homes Coming Soon

The company Leckie Studio Architecture + Design of Vancouver recently unveiled plans to start producing innovative modular cabins, which will arrive in a flatpack package and be as easy to assemble as IKEA furniture. The cabins are currently still in the design stage, but they will function completely off-the-grid and come in many sizes and styles. […]

By |December 1st, 2016|Prefab|0 Comments
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