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The architects were tasked with building for the long-term while using present resources wisely, working with designers, consultants, builders, and craftsman to develop a space that improves the success and well-being of students. The College wanted The New Library to honor its past without just passively “blending in.” The result is an inspiring structure that preserves a human scale.

“The result — a solid and confident, yet deferential new kid on the college block,” says Allford. “The light-filled, warm-wood interior lifts spirits and fosters connections. The overarching commitment to build something that will stand the test of time can be felt in every material and detail, and from every viewpoint. This is the epitome of how to build for the long-term.”

Sited in a sensitive historic setting along the boundary wall between the enclosed Master’s Garden and open Fellow’s Garden, The New Library is a contemporary, sustainable addition to the Magdalene College campus. Its exterior consists of elegant brickwork set adjacent to the wood-and-glass gables. The older college buildings are made of load-bearing brick with timber floors and similarly gabled pitched roof structures — the architects simply translated these elements into modern forms that maintained a sense of harmony with the historic facilities.

The interior spaces are built with cross-laminated timber structural elements as well as hardwood bookshelves and tables. There’s a sense of rhythm to the layout, with all the roof lights, columns, light baffles, windows, and balustrades forming an orderly “warp and weft” throughout the space. Natural light comes streaming in at just the right angle to illuminate the library without creating glare or damaging the books. Spaces are single, double, or triple height, ranging from small and intimate study areas to awe-inspiring halls with contemplative views.

“The library is approached from Second Court, through a little doorway, and out under an old Yew tree,” say the architects. “From this shady corner, you sense the presence of the river opening out at the edge of the lawn. We wanted to make the building a journey that gradually rose up towards the light. On the way up there would be rooms, galleries, and places to perch with a book. At the top, there would be views out over the lawn towards the water. We wanted to create a variety of ways for someone to situate themselves depending on inclination. You might sit in a grand hall, a small room, or tuck yourself into a tiny private niche.”

They add: “For us, good architecture plays a variety of experiences against underlying order so as to produce harmony. The new library is based upon a logical latticework of interrelated elements. A regular grid of brick chimneys supports the floors and book stacks and carries warm air up to ventilate the building. Between each set of four chimes, there is a roof lantern bringing light down into the spaces below: air rising and light falling.”

The selection marks the first time the RIBA Sterling Prize has been awarded to a college. It’s also the first win for Níall McLaughlin Architects, who have previously been shortlisted for the prize in 2018, 2015, and 2013 for its timber Bishop Edward King Chapel.

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Built in a densely populated urban area in the middle of Oslo, Norway, the Regenerative High-Rise features a main structural frame consisting of three-story-high decks that can each support either three intermediate floor plates or three levels of versatile, varying-height pods. According to the architects, this design makes the system adaptable both horizontally and vertically. Single, double, or triple-height partitions can be inserted within each level to allow for interior layouts suited to residential, office, hotel leisure, or production uses.

The idea is that the building can be continually modified over time to suit new uses that may come up in the future. The difficulty of retrofitting old buildings is currently a major challenge for developers in cities around the world, especially in high-rises designed for a particular function, like offices or apartments. Haptic and Ramboll’s “triple-height sky villages,” as they call them, aim to bring the sense of community traditionally found in Olso’s suburbs to its urban core through mixed-use buildings that can change along with the neighborhood and the times.

The first fully realized Regenerative High-Rise even makes use of an interesting pre-existing feature onsite, incorporating a disused motor viaduct into its foundations to demonstrate how road infrastructure can be creatively repurposed.

“The natural materials bring warmth to the high-rise while also contributing to the life cycle carbon management of the development,” say the architects. “The building core has a maintenance unit at the top capable of lifting the pods and intermediate floors. This function is expected to be used during the whole life span of the building, not just during its construction. The pods also are designed to be moved and reused throughout the building to allow it to be reprogrammed over time, depending on the needs of the city.”

“The most exciting component of the Regenerative Tower is the idea of vertical land creation,” says Shonn Mills, Global Director of Ramboll High Rise. “With the tower, we are essentially producing volumes that can flex and change in use and character with the needs and requirements of the city. This makes sure the building stays competitive and relevant far longer than the normal building life cycle, which also makes it more sustainable.”

If you see high-rise timber projects like this as giant tinder boxes waiting to ignite, you might be interested to learn that recent research shows materials like glulam, CLT, and LVL are surprisingly resilient in a fire. The charring of wood creates an insulating layer that protects the inner part of the timber, leaving cross-sections of undamaged wood capable of carrying heavy loads after the fire is out. Steel, on the other hand, melts at high temperatures, and concrete collapses without its reinforcement. Produced with extreme precision, engineered wood components are also easy to assemble, and they come from a renewable source.

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Set along the Marra Marra Creek in New South Wales, Australia, this off-grid cabin draws from the area’s fascinating history and makes smart use of a plentiful local material: repurposed 200-year-old electrical posts made of ironbark timber. From the outside, the cabin’s square, window-covered facade and large awning give it a modest and understated appearance. But not only is the inside a study in minimalist beauty — the whole project is an exercise in respect for the land, its history, and the Darug People to whom it traditionally belongs.

“In 1788, Captain Cook and his fleet entered the delta of the Hawkesbury and the sheltered bay of Sydney,” the architects explain. “At the entrance of the Dyirabun (Hawkesbury) River, he was first welcomed by the Darug People who had been living on these banks since the beginning of times. Not long after, the British colonized the Australian territory, building a network of roads and electrical lines across the vast country. The electrical posts were made of some of the finest local hardwoods. Later on, these posts were slowly replaced by steel posts.”

“The small community of Marra Marra Creek was established by settlers in the early 18th century, most probably using inmate labor to cultivate the land. However, the electrical network never reached the creek, and the community remained ‘off the grid’ and only accessible by boat at high tide until today. Marra Marra Shack is built on the land of the Darug People. We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which the house is set, their rich cultural heritage and deep connection to the country, and pay our respects to their elders past, present, and future. Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land.”

The architects augmented those 200-year-old electrical posts with spotted gum timber that grows in the Darug region for the beams of the ceiling and floor. In other parts of the space, repurposed turpentine timber from an old jetty built by settlers on the creek bank has become furniture and other small details. The cabin steps down along with the slope of the land, resulting in an interesting terraced interior around the home’s single large north-facing window. This window can also be lifted up using counterweights to open the space to the fresh air.

The only elements of the shack that aren’t made of timber are the thin fire-resistant fiber cement sheets on the facade. Instead of using energy and labor-intensive concrete footings, the architects pinned the footings to the sandstone bedrock. Best of all, both solar energy and water are collected on the roof, making the home entirely self-sustainable.

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Apex Clean Energy commissioned the eight-story, 187,000-square-foot building with a focus on sustainable materials and building methods in mind. They worked with Hourigan Group developers and architectural firm William McDonough + Partners to eco-consciously build from the ground up.

“The design of the building required an imaginative and creatively challenging process. Our direction was clear: to achieve financial efficiencies that met, or even reduced, our current obligations while setting a new benchmark in terms of sustainability,” explains John Bahouth, Apex Senior Vice President of Administration. “Fortunately, our process led to a partnership with world-renowned architect Bill McDonough, who literally wrote the book on sustainable design.”

In fact, McDonough wrote a text 20 years ago outlining the “possibility of developing healthy and creatively interactive relationships between human settlements and the natural world.”

According to their website, WD+P “have been at the forefront of the ‘green’ architecture and Circular Economy movements for more than 30 years, creating pioneering architecture and many recognized flagships of sustainable design” like YouTube’s Silicon Valley headquarters and NASA’s carbon positive Sustainability Base. The company focuses on “Cradle to Cradle Design,” a philosophy that utilizes safe and healthy materials while taking its cues from the life cycles of living organisms.

McDonough’s firm used cross-laminated timber (CLT) to construct the Apex building, which not only houses all 150 of the clean energy company’s employees but also features retail space on the ground floor. That sustainably harvested wood will help the structure realize a potential carbon benefit of roughly 3,000 metric tons compared to traditional concrete and steel builds.

“It’s essentially a wood building that will last forever and can be built quickly and efficiently and replaces the carbon intensive methods for building that we’ve used for decades,” Apex Clean Energy’s President and CEO Mark Goodwin told local media outlets. Notwithstanding its wooden makeup, CLT is known for its fire-resistance properties, making it a safe choice for a building material overall.

The exterior is clad in a high-performance envelope of DensElement weather barrier, Thermafiber rigid insulation, and a rainscreen shell. A green roof terrace helps create a bio-diverse habitat complete with built-in rainwater retention systems, and the parking lot includes charging stations for electric cars.
The HQ further reduces its environmental footprint with 875 roof and canopy-mounted solar panels for a carbon-neutral energy calculation.

“A building that has over 300 kilowatts of solar power on it — what that will do is enable Apex to be net zero in this office, so we will generate as much power as we use in the building,” Goodwin adds. “What we want to do with a building like this is show how a company like ours, which works on the utility side of the economy, how we can help show an example of transitioning in other sectors.”

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Contributing to its awe-inspiring presence is the fact that it’s three stories tall – certainly not the kind of modest structure you’d expect to come upon while walking in the woods. Designed as a vacation home for a Finnish-born client who now lives in California, the stark modern cabin is visually inspired by its setting in remote Kontiolahti, within rocky terrain full of jagged boulders.

This sense of drama is integral to the experience, according to the architects. They want visitors to glimpse it through the trees as they approach on foot, wondering what on earth this “mystical dark object” could be. Its facade is entirely inscrutable by night, and in the daytime, it’s no less mysterious, albeit a little less intimidating.

The polyhedron-shaped building is made of prefabricated cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels, a relatively new innovation in the world of engineered lumber that’s extra strong and lightweight, enabling timber buildings to take on all kinds of shapes and sizes. The thick wood walls are also air-insulated, and all functional and utility elements are disguised within them for a minimalist effect. Even the roof is made of solid wood, oiled to protect it from the elements.

Meteorite’s interior is enchanting in a whole different way, lined with pale wood and brightened up by natural light. Transparent acrylic railings along the stairs and landings add to that sense of airiness, while hardware-free black cabinetry is set within the walls to create a visual anchor. A central atrium rises all the way to the top floor, where a 107-square-foot skylight provides unobstructed views of the stars. A net on the third floor even offers a built-in hammock for lounging, reading, and napping.

“Meteorite is not a large house, but on the inside it represents a completely new 3-dimensional open-concept way of organizing living space,” says Ateljé Sotamaa co-founder Kivi Sotamaa. “Unlike traditional houses where each room has a specific predetermined purpose, Meteorite’s architecture supports more dynamic relationships of its residents and a variety of life situations. Digital design and new prefabrication and construction technologies enable the creation of unique, aesthetically high-quality ecological wood buildings that add experiential value to their locations.”

Client Ulla-Maaria Koivula, who’s the founder and CEO of education technology provider ThingLink, had the cabin built on her grandparent’s old homestead. It was initially envisioned as a vacation home that would be visited a few times a year, but due to the pandemic and California wildfires, the family decided to live in it full-time and work from home.

”Every building materializes our relationship with the natural environment,” Koivula says. ”My inspiration to have a unique wood house built in this country sprouted from the rocky hills and rugged woods of Koli, rich in erratic boulders that also served Finland’s defense during the Winter War. Meteorite reflects the connection my soul has to Finnish nature, and looking through one of its large windows to the misty fields around takes me back to the calm days of childhood.”

“We use the house as a creative space for remote work, hobbies, and hanging out together. In the old days, families gathered into a large horizontal kitchen space to be together. We now interconnect vertically with each other and with the surrounding nature. In this time and age with effective telecommunications and speed trains to the metropolitan region, this is a paradise for us to get settled into the good life.”

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With a mind toward producing less waste while also creating new, useful, and beautiful things, repurposing has become an important part of how those in both fashion and design have come to reevaluate their respective industries.

Awards like the Design Prize recognize such efforts through their “Social Impact” category. Since 2017, this annual award has helped shine a spotlight on extraordinary design achievements that make an impact through thoughtful and eco-conscious projects.

This year, the Design Prize 2021 for social impact was awarded to Bangkok Project Studio, a Thailand-based firm led by Boonserm Premthada. Primarily based in Thailand, Bangkok Project Studio is known for their outstanding nuanced designs that often underscore the importance of nature. Past projects include an elephant museum made of upcycled bricks (themselves created from elephant dung), “The Walk,” an elevated walkway meant to highlight the importance of the often-overlooked natural world beneath our feet, and an observation tower at “Elephant World” in Thailand.

The latest project, and the winner of this year’s social impact Design Prize, is yet another feather in the cap of the Thai firm, this one in the form of a nine-meter rice tower. While this in itself may not sound very exciting, there are several things about the project that stand out and make it award-worthy. Located in a zoo in the country’s northeastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima, the imposing nine-meter tall rice tower was constructed through the intentional repurposing of five timber barns that were set to be demolished. The firm, led by Premthada, took apart the existing barns and reassembled them into something new, with an “[aim to] give new architectural language to the word ‘barn’ or ‘rice storage’ commonly found and used after the harvest season,” according to designboom.

This rethinking and reimagining of existing structures or objects has always been an important consideration for the firm, who often aims to merge their structures with their natural surroundings and connect them in some way. Here, the rice tower was created using the wood from the deserted barns, maintaining the overall essence of the their original purpose. Rising up from the ground in a new and exciting form “connecting the ground and the sky,” the tower is a testament to the importance of rice in Thailand, specifically in this northeastern region, which produces the best quality rice in the largest quantities. The repurposed wooden spire is also a monument to rice farmers, who nurture, grow, and harvest the crop while acting as its caregivers.

Through a mindful repurposing of dilapidated rural barns, Bangkok Project Studio “was inspired to give new language to the wooden barn,” creating a structure that’s multipurpose in both its messaging and practical uses. Serving as a playground for children by day and a habitat for local birds and animals at night, the structure is truly meant to be welcoming to all. Now, one of the area’s most signature features has become something new and impressive that’s not only symbolic, but symbiotic, working in tandem with its natural surroundings to create something beautiful and useful.

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“The word ‘Oku’ relates to the concept of space within and often hidden.” This is the company’s statement, and it’s what visitors to their website are first greeted with upon entering the world of Oku Space. And truly, it could be considered the underlying ethos that defines all the Aussie duo’s pieces. The goal of founders Nick Rennie and Dustin Fritsche is to first and foremost create quality furniture, though their emphasis on creative (and sometimes quirky) design is what initially catches the eye and draws buyers in.

The two had been sharing a workshop for years before they founded Oku Space, and given their combined expertise, it only seemed logical for them to enter the furniture making arena. This first line of theirs consists of 11 eclectic, beautifully made pieces that give off a high-end vibe without feeling too precious to be utilized in everyday life. The collection is also timber-focused, proudly showing off the creators’ craftsmanship and ability to imagine furniture that’s so much more than the sum of its parts as it captivates the eye and takes everyday, practical seating to the next level.

The star of the show is the OS1, a dining chair with a deceptively midcentury modern shape that marries the clean lines and sparse aesthetic found in several of the collection’s other pieces. But what really sets the OS1 apart is its stackability. Though extremely functional, it’s pretty much the furthest thing from those rigid metal folding chairs or hotel ballroom monstrosities that offer neither comfort nor style. Instead, it’s lovely both as a stand-alone object and even more so when combined and stacked with its fellows, thus creating a new shape all its own.

The stackability of the OS1 is also important from a sustainability perspective, as both Rennie and Fritsche hope to develop their furniture responsibly and with minimal waste. As Rennie says, “[With chairs] as whilst most fundamental is the comfort, they need to be functional as well, and this is why I think the stackability is so important.” He goes on to add that “the benefits especially from a shipping perspective [are] really important as it allows us to minimize the possible carbon footprint of the object.”

With the trifecta of functionality, sustainability, and style on their side, Oku Space is destined to be a success in producing quality high-end furniture that lasts a long time. For now though, you can catch us lounging on chairs featured in this delightful debut collection.

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Australian firm Koichi Takada Architects uses biomimicry as the guiding principle in all its designs, including its new Solar Trees Marketplace in the Minhang district southwest of Shanghai, China. The complex takes one of Chinese culture’s most revered and ancient public spaces and modernizes it without compromising the characteristics that make it special. The firm wanted to retain the feeling of discovery and connection to the country’s historic open-air markets with a design that was friendly to both humans and the environment, taking cues from Mother Nature’s own creations.

The result is nothing short of stunning. Currently in the late stages of construction, the three-story mixed-use development features 32 architectural “trees” rising from the ground to form an artificial canopy above hundreds of modular market stalls. Visitors will wind through indoor and outdoor spaces, the timber “branches” above providing shade, shelter from the rain, and a surface for solar panels to power the facility.

50 living camphor trees planted outside signal the beginning of a green corridor that will run down the length of the new Shanghai Tian An Caobao Road Area Residential Masterplan. Ultimately, pedestrians will enjoy a boulevard lined with 3,000 trees and shrubs indigenous to Shanghai, with the color coding of different plantings identifying various neighborhoods and guiding residents home.

“The inclusion of modular market stalls will bring a sense of authenticity to the contemporary development, referencing their history as social and cultural gathering spaces and allowing a new generation to gather at its heart,” says the firm. “Reflecting the Chinese tradition of making guests feel at home — bīn zhì rú guī — the marketplace will generate a powerful sense of community and integrate the private and public domains.”

For the shape of the facility, the Koichi Takada team turned to Shanghai’s nearby forests. The marketplace is a symbolic visual bridge between nature and the city, softening the edges and contributing to a healthier, more livable urban environment in what has long been one of the world’s most polluted cities. It’s due to be completed by the end of 2021.

“We want to humanize buildings in the district, to be more engaging to the public and contribute to the regeneration of communities and their neighborhoods,” says principal architect Koichi Takada. “We want architecture to celebrate cultural identity, along with encouraging pedestrian activities and a more walkable and livable city.

Last year, Koichi Takada Architects showed off a similar approach with Sunflower House, a series of single-family dwellings designed specifically for Italy’s sunny Tuscan climate. Those homes utilize a rotating design and solar roof to maximize sun exposure for energy production and minimize heat gain inside.

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Tokyo-based Klein Dytham Architecture was tasked with designing the three new cone-shaped buildings full of kid-centric features. With its name translating to “stick up” in Japanese, PokoPoko has a decidedly playful look about it, with each roof pointing in a slightly different direction. The architects wanted it to have a lighthearted feel that drew from organic shapes, including the contours of the nearby mountains.

Each one of the cone-shaped roofs is made of local timber, stretching up to a steel and glass skylight. The architects chose pine lumber skinned with plywood sheets for both strength and visual appeal, while the interior cladding has been dotted with textural knots.

Each cone has its own function. The middle cone hosts cooking activities using fresh ingredients grown on the premises and offers food-related workshops to keep both kids and parents entertained. Features include a giant wood-log pizza oven. The second cone contains a white netted structure allowing kids to climb all the way up to the skylight or dive into a ball pit at the base, enabling playtime even when it’s rainy outside. The third cone is a relaxation zone where parents can get a drink, sit by the fire, or read a book while they keep an eye on their roughhousing children. A ring of glass at the base of each cone offers panoramic views of the woods outside.

“PokoPoko can be both a lively and a peaceful place, seamlessly connecting to the forest outside, making one feel like having spent a day in nature even on a rainy day,” the architects explain. “The project has been an instant success, and the hotel and clubhouse have been in demand as people look too to take timeout from Japan’s cities and head to the countryside for staycations which are conducive to social distancing.”

PokoPoko looks a lot like a larger version of Jikka, a picturesque retirement home by architect Issei Suma designed for a group of women in the rural prefecture of Shizuoka. With its teepee-like design and loads of intelligent accessible features, including a spiraling tub that a wheelchair user can roll right into, Jikka captured the imagination of the world when it made its internet debut in 2016. But, alas, being a private home, it was never going to be open to the public.

If you love that storybook feel and want to experience it for yourself, PokoPoko is the place to go. They’ll be open to the public sometime later this summer, so keep an eye on the resort website to make reservations when they’re available.

The post Fairytale Clubhouse Rises from a Clearing in a Japanese Forest first appeared on Dornob.

Built in 1950, the 26-story Pirellino Tower hosted the headquarters of Italian tire company Pirelli until 2015, when it was abandoned over concerns about its ability to withstand earthquakes and its environmental performance. The site itself, set in a prime urban location, is currently underutilized and not very pedestrian-friendly. Boeri’s plan aims to revive the area, creating a new hub for events and exhibitions.

While the Pirellino Tower’s renewal champions the value of reusing old buildings rather than demolishing them, it will also become a cultural symbol for a new era of architecture and development that prioritizes meeting current and future environmental and social emergencies over all else. The two towers will be connected by a stunning multi-story glass bridge stretching over the Via Melchiorre Gioia, one of Milan’s busiest roads, and act as an extension of the nearby Biblioteca degli Alberi, a public park and botanical garden.

Stefano Boeri’s residential timber tower will be quite a sight with its layers of trees and shrubs contrasting with the glass and steel of the older tower beside it. Covering a surface area of more than 18,000 square feet, that vegetation will change colors with the seasons, absorb 14 tons of carbon dioxide, and produce nine tons of oxygen every year. It’ll also be covered in nearly 30,000 square feet of photovoltaic panels providing at least 65 percent of the building’s energy needs. And since the tower’s design is predominantly made from wood, another 3,600 tons of carbon dioxide will be saved during the construction process.

The regeneration project, helmed by development firm COIMA, will be the first in Italy to align with the new post-COVID Next Generation EU guidelines to meet the highest standards of sustainability. The collaborative design was chosen from a shortlist of 70 concepts as the winner of a 2019 international architecture competition. While it’s just the latest of many Italian projects for Stefano Boeri, Pirelli 39 represents Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s first time working in the country.

“As much of our work focuses on the future of cities, the Pirelli 39 project presents a great opportunity to develop a new model of mixed-use development and sustainable urban growth,” says Elizabeth Diller, partner at Diller Scofidio + Renfro, adding that “the project combines the adaptive reuse of heritage buildings with environmentally-responsible new construction, and a vibrant ‘living’ cultural destination devoted to the art and science of plants.”

“In such a difficult period, this project relaunches the vision of a forward-looking Milan and bravely faces the great challenges of the climate crisis,” says Stefano Boeri.

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Thanks to surprisingly simple processes that form chemical bonds between atoms in cellulose, some types of engineered wood now outperform tried and true (but environmentally harmful) materials like steel and even high-tech titanium alloys when it comes to strength, fire resistance, and impact resistance. Now, ultra-tall wooden projects are in the works all over the world, including the world’s tallest hybrid timber tower.

The Atlassian Sydney Headquarters in Sydney, Australia will be 40 stories and 590 feet tall once complete in 2025. Designed by SHoP in partnership with structural engineering firm BVN, the skyscraper will serve as a new headquarters for technology company Atlassian, which develops software and collaboration tools. Set to house thousands of workers, the building will feature a timber core wrapped in a glass facade, and will include a mix of outdoor and indoor spaces with access to large planted terraces and natural ventilation.

The architects explain that “the building is cutting-edge in its application of Mass Timber Construction (MTC). MTC is one of the most hopeful technologies in moving the construction industry toward real solutions to the global climate crisis. The novel hybrid timber structure is significantly lower in embodied carbon and offers a substantial reduction in the building’s carbon footprint. This is assisting Atlassian’s goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.”

“SHoP/BVN found an elegant way to tie a structural element of the building to one of the building’s most aesthetic attributes: the facade. The tower includes a steel exoskeleton that supports the mega floors between neighborhoods. The current design also incorporates an electricity-generating system with self-shade capabilities to reduce direct heat gain internally. Combined with the use of mass timber, the innovative facade enables the project to leverage Sydney’s temperate climate to help reduce carbon emissions and generate on-site energy.”

The project aims to achieve 50 percent less embodied carbon in construction compared to conventional building, and 50 percent less energy consumption using solar panels in the vertical facades to generate renewable power on-site. That means it can operate on 100-percent renewable energy from day one, while also making use of fresh air and Sydney’s temperate climate to keep itself cool.

The race to build “the world’s tallest timber tower” has grown increasingly tight in recent years. One building might achieve the title only to be supplanted by another within months. The current record holder is the 18-story, 295-foot-tall Mjøstarnet by Voll Arkitekter in Norway, completed in 2019, and the one before that was the 18-story, 174-foot-tall Brock Commons Tallwood House in Vancouver, British Columbia. Once complete, the Atlassian will be nearly twice as tall as either of these projects.

The post World’s Tallest Hybrid Timber Building Set for Construction in Australia first appeared on Dornob.

In an effort to promote more eco-friendly building practices and reduce the risk of annual wildfires, California has opened the doors to a new competition encouraging the creative use of mass timber products.

Well established in Europe and increasingly accepted in Canada as a viable building material, mass timber most commonly comes in the form of structural panels, posts, and beams made by using glue or nails to press several layers together. For extra strength, the wood grain of each layer is stacked perpendicular to those next to it. California is the largest consumer of engineered wood products west of the Mississippi River for a variety of reasons, yet none of the materials are made in-state. Now planners and developers are looking at ways mass timber might help solve other state problems such as limited housing, pollution, and wildfires.

Another benefit of mass timber construction is a lower rate of carbon emissions. The production of mass timber yields less CO2 than steel or concrete, and perhaps even better, the finished product helps store carbon within buildings, keeping it from ever spilling out into the atmosphere. Andrew Ruff from Gray Organschi Architecture, a leading proponent of the laminated wood revolution, explains that “the typical steel and concrete building has an emissions profile of 2,000 metric tons of CO2. With mass timber you can easily invert so you are sequestering 2,000 tons of CO2. Instead of adding to climate change, you are mitigating climate change. That’s the goal.”

Mass timber is produced using a variety of materials, many of which have traditionally been less desirable by building materials production companies, including the wood from relatively small-diameter trees and trees that are dead or dying due to insects or disease. For California, this creates an opportunity to clear out underbrush that could potentially contribute to future wildfires — an increasing problem within the state.

In short, mass timber is super strong, fire-resistant, aesthetically pleasing, and able to work both alone and alongside other materials as a structural element.

With this information in mind, the WoodWorks Wood Products Council recently sparked a competition offering designers and architects an opportunity to present their best mass timber projects. With $500,000 on the line, four projects ended up receiving funding, while two others were acknowledged through honorable mentions.

“Increased use of mass timber can benefit forest health and rural economic development while reducing carbon emissions related to construction in California,” says Jennifer Cover, president and CEO of WoodWorks. “The winning projects further highlight the design possibilities of timber and encourage wider adoption of its use throughout the state and across the country.”

The California College of the Arts Campus Unification Project in San Francisco, presented by Studio Gang Architects, received $200,000 for their campus expansion plan that fit neatly with the larger project goals for remaining carbon neutral.

The Skid Row Housing Trust also received $200,000 for a multi-housing structure intended to house low-income groups in Los Angeles. Michael Maltzan Architecture designed the 77,190-square-foot, 14-story building, which will include 150 studio apartments in a project called “The Fifth.” In the past, building codes across the country have been a major contributing factor in the slow acceptance of mass timber, with many requiring significantly more expensive steel or concrete materials for buildings over six stories high. But in places like L.A. where land is sparse and expensive, cost-effective construction has become key.

Another $40,000 was awarded for the new headquarters at the Orange County Sanitation District — a 109,000-square-foot hybrid building that will also rely on steel for some structural elements. Naturally, the mass timber in this project will be left highly visible as an inspiration for other builders.

The fourth award went to the Sunnydale Development Company, who was awarded $40,000 for a community center within San Francisco’s Sunnydale and Visitacion Valley neighborhoods. The space will provide family programs and recreation services for youth in an area known for being economically distressed in recent years.

An honorable mention went to the Tahoe Regional Arts Foundation’s 75,000-square-foot freeform mass timber building, with a design set in the forest and intended for indoor and outdoor performances, exhibitions, and festivals.

A second honorable mention went to WRNS Studio’s 640,000-square-foot two-story mass timber project on Microsoft’s Silicon Valley campus, which also includes a living roof.

The post California Competition Highlights Potential for Mass Timber in Architectural Design first appeared on Dornob.

Freestanding offices, studios, guest quarters, playrooms, and other structures can add a lot of functionality to your property with a surprisingly small amount of work. Prefabricated options are almost instantaneous, especially if they aren’t hooked up to utilities. If you’re really handy, backyard additions are often small enough to DIY, or you can hire an architect to come up with something a little more robust. But the best part about designing these small structures is the chance to think outside the box.

With “Herald Garden Studio,” a multipurpose backyard addition in Wellington, New Zealand, Parsonson Architects demonstrates how fun it can be to experiment a little bit with visuals and materials. And hey, as long as you aren’t violating any local ordinances, why not break out beyond conventional aesthetics and bring in some elements that contrast with your existing home?

The architects began with the small two bedroom Victorian cottage house occupied by the clients: a couple and their two young sons. They knew immediately that trying to add onto this compact home would run the risk of dwarfing it, and that it was already feeling a bit cramped by close neighbors on either side. What the property did have going for it, however, was a long and narrow backyard. The property measures 243 square meters (2,616 square feet), with just enough room to leave a small outdoor space between the home and an addition.

The new garden studio feels fresh and contemporary without creating too much visual tension with its surroundings, thanks in large part to the materials chosen to build it. A shed-style roof creates an interesting angle for the front, as amplified by the frame of its covered porch. Using transparent corrugated plastic roof panels, the architects created a protected space that still lets in plenty of light. Two oversized glass doors swing out to welcome guests, facilitating an easy transition between indoors and out. Multiple complementary tones of warm wood add to the studio’s cozy feel.

The design team explains that “the new studio is designed to provide flexible additional space such as catering for children’s play, as a place for a peaceful retreat, study, or overflow accommodation. Whilst it is separate from the house at the end of the rear yard, it is visually connected and linked by sheltered outdoor space. The main space of the studio faces north, with a bathroom and storage area at the rear and a mezzanine sleeping/play/storage area above. The studio sits above the ground on timber piles, with a deck extending northwards back towards the house. The deck is cut around an existing olive tree on the Westside.”

“Both the deck, pergola, and the main interior space have been conceived as one triangulated structure, stitching together the spaces and reinforcing the interior-exterior connection, while relating to the delicacy of the surrounding vegetation. Materials are unadorned and raw but carefully assembled.”

While the budget isn’t specified, it’s not hard to imagine pulling something like this off at a modest expense, especially if you reclaim materials like windows and doors at a local building supply resale shop.

The post Angular Backyard Office Adds Space to a Victorian Cottage House first appeared on Dornob.

Now, those products include entire houses.

Dozens of tiny house kits are available on Amazon at any given time, from the most basic of shipping container houses to surprisingly complex modular creations. Most of these kits aren’t exactly going to arrive in two days or less with Prime shipping, but you can still have them delivered to your door.

If you’re feeling adventurous, you can buy any one of these models today for as little as $4,000 — and yes, the shipping is often free. While some are more like sheds or backyard offices, others are perfectly suitable for people who need a small but livable full-time residence.

Allwood Arlanda XL – $9,990

This simple, modern 227-square-foot kit is pitched by its manufacturer as an ideal backyard addition, for use as a home studio or office. With its contemporary styling, it’s particularly suitable for environments where classic cabin styles would look out of place.

The company adds that “a number of folks had asked whether a separate sleeping room or bathroom can be added to the original Arlanda floor plan. So now we have it. This timeless urban design is an alternative to classic log cabin-styled structures. It works well in a variety of surroundings. Just like the original smaller Arlanda, this XL version can also be set up on [the] rooftops of multi-story buildings. Assembly of this product takes a full day for two adults. Do it yourself directions come with the kit and only minimal tools are needed. Small window on left side of cabin not included. This Cabin Kit includes all the parts and hardware except the roof shingles and foundation materials.”

Modular Mobile Container House – $14,999

Three stacked containers are arranged to provide two levels of living space and a terrace in this kit by XIANGXING. It’s pretty bare on the inside, but it does come with plumbing, wiring, and insulation built in, so you can take it from there and really make it your own. Not much information is available on this one’s Amazon page, unfortunately, so you’ll probably have to contact the manufacturer with questions.

Pre-Cut Timber Frame Vermont Cottage – $16,047

If you’re looking for something a lot more rustic, Jamaica Cottage Shop offers its 16 x 20 timber frame post and beam cottage with a loft. The kit includes all lumber, 29-gauge corrugated metal roofing, a pine door, window and fastening hardware, and detailed step-by-step plans. The cottage itself is made of rough sawn hemlock and eastern white pine wood.

Expandable Container House with Solar Energy – $36,800

This shipping container house kit by Weizhengheng features a galvanized light steel frame and solar panels on the roof. You can choose a 20-foot or 40-foot length, and installation is ultra quick, taking just about two hours to set up. Using a container as the base makes it easy to transport, waterproof, fireproof, and wind-resistant, and the company recommends using it as a home, dorm, camp, classroom, library, shop or whatever else you might need a little extra space for on your property.

ECOHOUSEMART Laminated Log House Kit – $63,965

This 3-bedroom contemporary log cabin kit is just as well-suited to urban and suburban neighborhoods as it is to the woods, and it’s plenty large enough for a family at 1290 square feet. Made to order using engineered wood, the kit includes essential elements like structural posts, beams, casing, framing lumber, rafter systems, ceiling boards, and eaves. Just remember that you’ll have to add your own windows, doors, plumbing, and electrical to this one.

ECOHOUSEMART Timber Frame Kit – $49,612

Another model from ECOHOUSEMART offers contemporary looks, 2 bedrooms, and 1 bath in 1,149 square feet. This one comes with all the same basic materials needed to get started, but again, you’ll have to supply the rest yourself.

Cliff Prefabricated Modular House – $115,000

On the more expensive end is this 774-square-foot, 3-bedroom modular house with its own sauna and built-in terrace. Best of all, it comes equipped with plumbing, wiring, and insulation, so you just assemble the parts on your foundation, hook them up to the grid, and you’re ready to go.

The tiny home’s Amazon description reads: “Cliff is a modular house perfect for accommodation for friends and family members overnight. It also can successfully be used to accommodate larger groups of people in ski-resorts or rent the units out in Airbnb, or as a private lake-house for a romantic weekends. These modular houses are suitable in different climate areas all around the world. The idea of a Cliff is to offer more space with smaller measurements of the building [while] taking advantage of smart-home technology for a more eco-friendly approach.”

The post Our 7 Favorite DIY Tiny Homes on Amazon first appeared on Dornob.

These carpenters are said to be descended from Maya, son of the “divine engineer” deity Vishwakarma. For millennia, they’ve handcrafted everything from utensils to chariots to ships, organizing into guilds where fathers passed on their techniques as master craftsmen to their children. More impressive still, every family, religion, and region has its own style.

But, as the designers note, “traditions cannot outlive time,” and there are concerns that the Sutradhar art may not survive things like mass deforestation, the increasing cost of wood, and the amount of labor required to complete each piece. The government has even suggested that the craftspeople start using plywood in place of timber.

Occupying the first floor of a retail shop in a market complex, “Timber Rhyme” invites visitors to walk through and experience the piece in full and contemplate how the artform must evolve to remain relevant and accessible in the modern world. It’s made of digitally fabricated plywood ribs that are connected in a waffle-like pattern to achieve unique curvatures.

Once assembled, they’re almost self-supporting, with black metal bars connecting them to the ceiling in some areas and transparent acrylic supports holding them aloft in others. The design is reminiscent of the “Superdesk” created for an office by Clive Wilkinson Architects, but the possibility of functional use is far less important here — almost an afterthought.

The architects explain: “Represented through the ribbon that pours itself into space, ‘variety in a unified continuum’ nourishes our concepts. The ribbon is envisioned to blur the boundaries between the static, the movable, and the art both in and on these components of the built space. [The] role of static elements like partition screens is obfuscated with that of movable furniture. Propounding as a functional art space, a series of ‘wooden ribbons’ twist and turn to form the display shelves, sitting spaces, meeting tables, and other design elements each flowing into the other. This transcends the interior into an art-landscape.”

“This amalgamation of technology for cost, time, and ease of making with an advantage of old craft is a win-win situation for all stakeholders of the project. The retail shop becomes a setting befitting for a dialogue between the carpenter, the end-user, and the retailer, [thereby] deepening social engagement. As plywood-carpentry meets its entropic spiral, ‘Timber Rhyme’ hopes to create an opportunity to re-imagine [the] craft of the traditional curves as an inexhaustible source of inspiration for the next generation of torchbearers of intricate carvings.”

Photos show the piece before it was put into use in its retail context, but it would be nice to see it in use, too. In any case, it’s a thought-provoking meditation on the resiliency of craft and tradition in a rapidly changing world.

The post Timber Rhyme: A Flowing Wooden Desk Inspired by Ribbons first appeared on Dornob.