CONTEMPORIST

Cascading Creek House by Bercy Chen Studio
18 Kowloon East by Aedas
Pupa by Liam Hopkins

Cascading Creek House by Bercy Chen Studio

Posted: 07 Nov 2011 02:04 PM PST

Bercy Chen Studio have designed the Cascading Creek House in rural Texas.

Cascading Creek House was conceived less as a house and more as an outgrowth of the limestone aquifers of the Central Texas geography.

The roof is configured so as to create a natural basin for the collection of rainwater, not unlike the vernal pools found in the outcroppings of the Texas Hill Country. These basins harness additional natural flows through the use of photovoltaic and solar hot-water panels. The water,electricity and heat which are harvested on the roof tie into an extensive climate conditioning system which utilizes water source heat pumps and radiant loops to supply both the heating and cooling for the residence. The climate system is connected to geothermal ground loops as well as pools and water features thereby establishing a system of heat exchange which minimizes reliance on electricity or gas.

Beyond the technological, the form and siting of the house subtly addresses the social issuesof American suburbia. The surprisingly low profile of the house in relation to the street offers a critical alternative to the morphology of massive suburban homes in Texas—one looks down upon the water-collecting roofs of the house upon entering from the street. In contrast to the unassuming face towards the street, the residence presents itself generously towards the wilderness below, embracing nature without overwhelming it.

The primary formal gesture of the project inserts two long native limestone walls to the sloping site, serving as spines for the public wing and private wing of the house. The walls and the wings they delineate shelter a domesticated landscape that serves as an extended living space oriented towards the creek below and protected from the torrents of water draining from the street above during sudden downpours characteristic of the area. The siting of the boundary walls and building elements was informed by the presence and preservation of three mature native oaks.

Against the constant datum of the imperceptibly sloping roof, the floor terraces along the contour of the land to define the interior into discrete spaces increasing in volume height away from the relative compression of the entry hall. Each wing of the house terminates with the roof cantilevered from a single column that frees up the exterior walls to be fully glazed, flooding the tall and open volume of the living room with daylight and offering generous views of the pool deck and the wooded silhouettes of the Texas Hill Country beyond.

Visit the Bercy Chen website – here.

18 Kowloon East by Aedas

Posted: 07 Nov 2011 04:22 AM PST

Aedas have designed 18 Kowloon East, a 28-storey mixed-use building with offices, retail spaces and a carpark in Hong Kong.

Description from the architects:

The project is a 28-storey mixed-use building with offices, retail spaces and a carpark. A design with efficient office floor plates and a rational box were requested by the client.

Kowloon Bay, once dependent on manufacturing, is undergoing transformation of rejuvenation. With the building located in a community with dense industrial blocks, instead of providing another office tower entirely wrapped in a coolly glazed skin, the design investigates the possibility of providing an environmentally sustainable design in such an industrial area. The target is to contribute a greening effect to the neighbourhood and enhance the quality of life for users in the building as well as the pedestrians on the street level.

With 'green' as the theme, the final design introduces extensive planting at the carpark floors located at the lower portion of the tower. In addition to the visually greening effect to the neighourhood, the planting also filters the air and improves the air quality within the carpark. Hopefully, the suspended particulates in the air can be reduced and the design is able to provide carpark users a more pleasant experience.

Visit the Aedas website – here.

Pupa by Liam Hopkins

Posted: 07 Nov 2011 03:00 AM PST

Pupa is a habitat by Liam Hopkins of Lazerian. Located within Bloomberg’s London headquarters, it is made from reclaimed cardboard and pallets.

Description from the designer:

The form and aesthetics are inspired by natural habitats – cocoons, bee hives, spiders nests and weaver birds nests. The ceiling assumes the appearance of a shelter; snug and cave like, but also references the vaulted ceilings of church naves.

The numbers which can be extrapolated from Pupa reflect the almost Sisyphean task faced, whether by human, bird or insect, to create these sort of structures:

3,972 triangular cardboard borders make up frame
3,972 triangle inners fill the exoskeleton providing the cover
180 wooden pallets taken apart for chair frame and legs
11,000 nails removed from wooden pallets
252 leather offcuts from make up the chair seats

Constructed in triangular sections Pupa utilises the structural and acoustic properties of cardboard. Computer design techniques were used to generate the form and the individual components were then extracted from the virtual model to create flat layouts that are glued together by hand.The original Bloomberg cardboard arrived in damp bales so was pulped and re-constituted at a John Hargreaves factory in Stalybridge using machinery originally installed in 1910.

Commissioned for Bloomberg Philanthropy by art and design agency Arts Co, 'Waste Not, Want It' is a series of specially commissioned art and design projects made almost entirely out of Bloomberg's waste.