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Cool Threesome

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

German architects build an Indian research station in the Antarctic. The inauguration of the New Indian Research Station Bharati, designed by bof Architekten based in Hamburg, is planned for 2012. The fa�ade construction that has to withstand abnormally extreme conditions was also made in Germany.

Prototype for the Desert

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Siemens Group is making headlines with a major building project again. New corporate headquarters designed by Henning Larsen are to be built in Munich, while new headquarters designed by the British architects Sheppard Robson are currently also being built in Masdar City. Both new constructions are striving for top sustainability ratings.

Passive house 'plus' - Open House in Hamburg

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The IBA (International Building Exhibition) Hamburg 2013 is approaching fast: Completion of the Open House in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg - a passive house for communal living with a particularly low primary energy demand - is scheduled for this winter.

Breakfast cereal lab

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The research and development centre of a breakfast cereal manufacturer is the first building in Switzerland to have been awarded Platinum Certification in the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system developed in America. The materials used to heat the new building, which is being built by a member of the Nestl� Group, include waste from coffee roasting.

Living in ex-corporate headquarters

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Gerling Insurance Group gave up its former headquarters in the middle of Cologne five years ago. The complex will now be converted for residential use according to plans by the architects kister scheithauer gross. A point of special interest is the energy renovation concept devised for the partly listed buildings.

Demonstration of energy-efficient building

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The foundation stone for a new demonstration and research building for the ZAE Bavaria was laid in W�rzburg at the beginning of October 2011. Numerous future technologies developed by the ZAE in the past years are to be tested in the new building designed by the architects Lang Hugger Rampp from Munich.

From forest to city

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The recyclability of temporary structures is becoming increasingly important. A particularly radical option is the Zero Emission Pavilion designed by the architects PARTNERUNDPARTNER for the 3rd Climate Week in Hamburg at the end of September.

New dimension in passive housing

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Eisenstadt is the capital of Austria's Burgenland and home to the largest passive housing complex in the state so far. Located in an area called Kirch�cker, the residential complex contains a total of 155 apartments, 71 of which are to be realised in the first construction phase. The complex was designed in line with the specifications of the Austrian sustainability advancing building standard 'klima:aktiv'.

A university building as an eco-exhibit

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

It is particularly important with energy-efficient educational buildings that they transmit their functionality to both users and observers. A joint German-Polish research project is now aiming to establish exactly how a building can most effectively be turned into an 'exhibition piece' for sustainable construction.

Reference for renewable resources

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Rammed earth, goat's-hair rugs and recycled oak wood are just some of the natural construction materials used by the Agency for Renewable Resources (FNR - 'Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe') in their new offices in the northern German town of G�lzow. The building - designed by matrix architektur (Rostock, Germany) - is now the subject of a detailed FNR publication.

Renovation of the Deutsche Bank skyscrapers in Frankfurt

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Opened in 1984, Deutsche Bank's twin towers have long become the symbol of Frankfurt's banking sector. As well as redesigning the interiors, the building equipment will also be updated, with the aim of considerably improving the energy efficiency.

Inartificial sustainability

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The new Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts building is just as sleek as it is generous. The three-storey building designed by London's SheppardRobson Architects is only the second educational building that has met BREEAM, the highest British sustainability standard.

Triangle of sustainability

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

In H�rsholm, north of Copenhagen, what may well be Denmark's most environmentally friendly kindergarten has opened its doors. The triangular construction from the architects Christensen & Co. doesn't just generate more energy than it needs, it also offers children optimal conditions with plenty of sunlight throughout.

Passive house XXL in Krems

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The largest passive office building in Austria was opened in lower Austria's Krems. The design for the large new building in Krems' little old city comes from the architect offices AllesWirdGut and feld72.

Los Angeles goes green

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Growing algae for energy efficiency reasons: this and other exceptional solutions are part of the renovation concept that US design team HOK and Vanderweil used to win the competition "Next Generation Design 2011"for Metropolis magazine.

London 2012: a Games eco-check

Fri, 13 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT

In London the preparations for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games are ramping up. In order to find out what environmental impacts the Games might have and how one can find savings potential, the Games' organisational committee has released the first of three sustainability reports.

"Passive" office building in Aarhus completed

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT

From 2019 onwards, all new public buildings in the EU will have to be near zero-energy buildings. The practical implications of this energy standard can be seen in Aarhus, Denmark: A recently completed new office building for the city administration, designed by C. F. M�ller Architects, not only complies with the passive house standard but also uses solar energy to cater for its heating, cooling and electricity requirements.

Northern Beauty

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The German Energy Agency (dena) has announced the winner of the competition "Germany's Most Beautiful Sustainable Houses". Winner in the Northern region of Germany was completed in 2008 from plans by NeuStadtArchitekten's car-free "climate protection commune on Kornweg".

Going Platinum with Libeskind

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Not very many premium properties are built in Germany without a sustainability certificate these days. This also applies to "K�-Bogen", a building based on the designs from Daniel Libeskind, which is currently being erected in the Dusseldorf Court Gardens. The aspiration is to achieve LEED Platinum status.

World's third-largest solar power roof system inaugurated

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Philippsburg in the Baden-W�rttemberg region has not only recently become home to one of South-West Germany's nuclear reactors: the photovoltaic system on the roof of Goodyear Dunlop's logistics centre - at around 7.4 megawatts - is the largest solar power roof system in the country.

Double-win for Arup Associates

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Arup Associates has been awarded the title "Sustainable Designer of the Year" in the Sustainability Awards 2010. Moreover, the practice received the "Sustainable Project of the Year (over �10M)" Award for its BSkyB HQ project in West London.

A large home - even for smaller inhabitants

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Office buildings in industrial areas have not been known for sustainable building - up until today. The Soho 2.0 building complex in the east of Innsbruck, Austria, is, however, paving a new way forward - not only in the field of energy efficiency but also with an eye for mixing up the use of its interior.

Art Nouveau meets passive house

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Brussels is regarded as the home of art nouveau, and it is now also home to what is probably the first art nouveau house with passive certification. The building was constructed by R2D2 Architectes in the suburb of Ixelles. It is the first social housing building to meet these energy criteria.

Aga Khan Award 2010 announced

Thu, 09 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The five winners of the Aga Khan Award 2010 - the most important architectural prize in the Muslim world - were announced in Doha recently. They include two European projects.

Construction of a psychiatric unit and medical management centre

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMT

This project involves the construction of a 20-bed admission unit for voluntary commitment and the medical management centre for the "Les Deux Vall�es" psychiatric sector in Montpon-M�nest�rol, planned by Arodie Damian Architectures. The Agency works in the fields of health, the service sector, housing, teaching and culture, paying particular attention to the environmental management of projects.