Cliff House

Off the grid means many things to many people. The Cliff House on Muskoka Lakes, Ontario, interprets “off the grid” as grand self-sufficiency. Designed by Altius Architecture Inc, the home’s form is both integrated in the landscape’s mass and floats above it using cantilevers and floor-to-ceiling glass. The Cliff House plays with all the elements — stone, water, fire, earth, wind, and sun. Read on to find out how!









Sitting on a ledge above a lake, the mass of this 3200 sq. ft. home echoes that of the large granite boulder it rests upon. The local granite is brought inside to act as a thermal mass for the two fireplaces that bookend the living space. In the summer, prevailing breezes and thermal vent stack, along with a green roof, keep the building naturally cooled. The sun plays the key role of providing electricity thanks to a solar electric system, storage batteries, and a power inverter. There is also a solar thermal system that uses evacuated tubes to heat both the in-floor heating and solar thermal storage tanks.

There are a host of other sustainable features but what is really striking is the home’s sense of relaxation on the land. Its sensitivity in integrated design is accomplished by using design elements and materials that not only look exceptional but enhance the performance of the space.

Seoul Transforms a Freeway Into A River and Public Park

A stream runs through the center of Seoul, dividing the city into North and South, but for three decades it was totally buried beneath a busy downtown highway. In 2003, as part of a vast urban renewal project, the highway was removed and the stream was recovered and turned into a beautiful 5.8 km urban park. Demolishing roads in favor of urban parks is is a development project we can really get behind.

The Cheonggyecheon stream was formed during the Joseon Dynasty in order to provide drainage for the city. It lasted for hundreds of years until the 1940s, when the city became so populated that a shanty town popped up around the stream and began polluting the area. The stream was gradually covered over with concrete, and by 1976 a 5.6 km elevated highway was built on top of it.

Considered an example of ‘successful industrialization and modernization’, the highway remained there until 2003, when city planners tore it down to revitalize the area and help Seoul remake itself as a modern environmentally friendly city. The Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project took two years and cost around $281 million, but it has created a thriving stretch of green public space in the middle of the city.









What was once a dividing line between the north and south parts of the city has been recreated as an urban park that bridges the gap and brings people together. Over 75% of the material torn down from the old highway was reused to construct the park and rehabilitate the stream. Now fish, bird and insects have made their way back into the urban river, and the area surrounding the park is about 3.6 deg C cooler than other parts of the city.









In addition to the restoration project, Seoul has also implemented transportation planning, rerouting traffic through other corridors and adding more public transportation. As a result there has been a decrease in the number of vehicles entering the city and bus and subway use has increased. Even though the city took away one of the major thoroughfares, they were able to redirect and decrease traffic through efficient planning and expanded public transportation. Sounds like an amazing renewal project with many, many benefits.

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Gary Neville's Home, Bolton UK

Bolton Council in the United Kingdom may soon see the construction of its first zero-carbon underground home. Designed by Make Architects for green enthusiast and British football star Gary Neville, the one-story, nearly 8,000 sq ft structure has been designed to be beautiful and functional while keeping energy consumption to a minimum.

Far from classification as a drab bunker, this thoughtful design not only considers its eco-impact, but keeps in tune with the tranquil and expansive meadows and hillsides which surround it. The positioning and orientation of the property was carefully thought out, building materials will be locally sourced, and traditional building methods will be used where possible. A ground source heat pump will provide the heating and photovoltaic panels and an on-site wind turbine will generate renewable energy.Almost all of the home will be constructed into the hillside, which, according to the design firm, “enables the surrounding moorland to seamlessly flow across the roof.” The layout takes the form of a flower, with the “petals” hosting areas to eat, relax, entertain, work and play, all around a central kitchen. When lit at night, the house will leave a distinctive, glowing floral impression on the darkened landscape. Amusingly, some have compared the structure to the famed Teletubby house, which admittedly shares some aesthetic value. However, the architects at Make contend their inspirartion arose from Skara Brae, a neolithic underground settlement in Orkney.

While the house will likely be quite costly, the eco-standards it is implementing will certainly make it a worthwhile and impactful venture. The structure has already been selected as an exemplary project within the Government’s ‘Planning Performance Agreements for Renewable and Low Carbon Energy Schemes’, and it is anticipated to be so advanced that the government is considering using the scheme as a benchmark for all future zero-carbon developments. The team hopes that construction permits will be granted soon in order to commence preliminary work on the residence this year.

EDITT Tower, Singapore

Currently pending construction in Singapore, the EDITT Tower will be a paragon of “Ecological Design In The Tropics”. Designed by TR Hamzah & Yeang and sponsored by the National University of Singapore, the 26-story high-rise will boast photovoltaic panels, natural ventilation, and a biogas generation plant all wrapped within an insulating living wall that covers half of its surface area. The verdant skyscraper was designed to increase its location’s bio-diversity and rehabilitate the local ecosystem in Singapore’s ‘zeroculture’ metropolis.

Approximately half of the surface area of the EDITT Tower will be wrapped in organic local vegetation, and passive architecture will allow for natural ventilation. Publicly accessible ramps will connect upper floors to the street level lined in shops, restaurants and plant life. The building has also been designed for future adaptability, with many walls and floors that can be moved or removed. In a city known for its downpours, the building will collect rainwater and integrate a grey-water system for both plant irrigation and toilet flushing with an estimated 55% self-sufficiency.

855 square meters of photovoltaic panels will provide for 39.7% of the building’s energy needs, and plans also include the ability to convert sewage into biogas and fertilizer. The tower will be constructed using many recycled and recyclable materials, and a centralized recycling system will be accessible from each floor.

The University of Technology Sydney Tower, Sydney

Sydney’s ugliest building may soon be getting a new lease on life through to a plan to ‘reskin’ the entire tower with a high-performance photovoltaic skin. Architecture firm Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA) has proposed the retrofit, and if their plan is enacted it would turn the 1960’s brutalist building into a brilliant super-efficient eco-tower.

The University of Technology Sydney Tower has long been known as Sydney’s ugliest building (it even says so on their website). It was built in 1960 and it currently hosts the headquarters of the University.

LAVA’s proposed ‘Tower Skin’ concept would wrap the building with a lightweight composite mesh textile. The cocooned shell would then collect rain water, generate electricity and assist the ventilation system in cooling the tower. At night, the skin works as an intelligent media surface that communicates information on events in real time.

While this design is only concept, UTS is making extensive renovations on the tower with the goal of improving energy and water efficiency. Unfortunately, it probably won’t look as cool as this one. The concept design is on display at STATE. RESPOND in the Object Gallery in Sydney.
Inhabitat

Prototype for the House Arc Modular Home Unveiled

We love prefab designs, but we love seeing them come to life even more! Last July, we brought you renderings for the House Arc, a bicycle rack-inspired modular home designed by Joseph Bellomo, and now we’re thrilled to give you a peek of the prototype version which was just unveiled. Prefabricated and flat-packed into a 4-by-10-by-3 foot box, the House Arc can easily be shipped and assembled at its final destination.

The prototype is a 150 sq foot prefab home and weighs all of 3,000 pounds. Built to withstand tropical environments and nasty weather, the rounded design is like an “eggshell where you only need the minimal amount of structure and still have something that is incredibly strong,” says Bellomo. The frame is made from lightweight steel tubing and the foundation consists of a few concrete blocks. Designed to be off-grid, the home will be powered by solar panels mounted on the roof.Although not originally intended as a solution for catastrophe-wrought Haiti, Bellomo thinks his home might make sense as disastar relief housing, and is currently looking for sponsors and investors who may be interested in developing his prototype for that purpose. He says, “We’re going for a kit of parts that the average person can assemble quickly–like an IKEA house, only easier to put together.”www.inhabitat.com

SAMOO's Korean Culture Center

Talk about a beautiful building! This international competition-winning design for the Korean Cultural Center in Manhattan is set to begin construction at the end of this year. The New York City studio of SAMOO Archictects PC is responsible for this out of the box (literally) design for the new home for the Korean Cultural Service in NYC. And this elegant addition to the K-Town and Murray Hill neighborhood isn’t just another pretty face(ade) – it will be striving for LEED certification, making it a shining example of sustainable building for the area as well.To be located on East 32nd Street in Midtown, the eight-story Korea Center will house administration offices, exhibit space, gardens, artist studios, a library, a cafe and a theater for events, lectures and performances. The street facing facade is completely glass, which allows passersby to see into the center and be enticed inward by the street level exhibitions on Korean culture, including music, movies, food, technology and TV dramas.SAMOO’s winning design embodies the modern Korean sensibility of innovation in harmony with tradition. Inside, the center is dominated by three sculptural figures made from different materials – ceramic to represent Heaven, terracotta to represent Earth and milled wood to represent Humanity. Along with staying true to Korean sensibilities, the glass facade will allow ample daylighting into the interior reducing the need for artificial light.

Recycled Cardboard Interior

The British menswear label Smithfield recently teamed up with furniture designer Peter Masters to create an eclectic and 100% recycled interior for their new Manchester shop. The dynamic space uses mailing tubes and shipping boxes as elements of digital-age styling, recycling them into incredible wall coverings, light fixtures, hanging sculptures, and clothing displays.

Peter Masters runs a company called Burnt Toast that specializes in clean-lined, well-crafted objects, and he has also created interiors for a variety of clients including the UK based store Habitat and sportswear label Adidas. Burnt Toast’s deconstructed aesthetic, which can been seen in their designs for chairs and tables, coordinates well with the upscale urban fashion at Smithfield. Although the corrugated interior is intentionally minimal, a designer’s eye can tell that there was considerable planning behind these well chosen forms.The concept behind Brunt Toast’s interior is that the cardboard components can be reused in a variety of configurations without added materials or cost. As the fashions change through the seasons, the store will also continue to look fresh. The store’s relaxed, but mature aesthetic compliments the clientele that visit The Northern Quarter neighborhood in Manchester.

All the cardboard components are made from 100% recycled materials and are sourced from Romiley Board Mill. All of the wood used in the construction came from MRC, a Manchester wood recycling company. Smithfeild’s store blog states that “the focus behind the shop, both interior and contents, is that to stand out from the crowd it shouldn’t cost the earth.”

Besides the tubes and boxes, there are cardboard animals watching over the fashions. The dogs were inspired by the collie in the Smithfield logo. The company chose this breed to represent them, because they are synonymous with hard work and a fiery temperament. The store carries a host of Scandinavian and European brands including: Wood Wood, Spitfire Design, On Tour, Organic label Knowledge Cotton Apparel, Dunderdon and local brand Three Crowns.

High Line "HL" Park, New York

An elevated park in the sky built on top of the skeleton of an old rail system? It may have sounded impossible only five years ago, but today, the eagerly awaited High Line elevated urban park officially opens for thousands of New Yorkers looking to escape the hubbub of the city below!Here at Inhabitat, we have been following the journey of the High Line for the past several years and were super excited to get a sneak peek yesterday of the new park, which was renovated / designed by James Corner Field Operations, Lead Designer, with starchitects Diller Scofidio + Renfro. We were thrilled to get a chance to scope out the High Line yesterday as we’ve been waiting for this for ages!), so check out our pics below!

The High Line was originally constructed in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District in the 1930s to lift dangerous freight trains off of city streets. Abandoned in the 1980’s the High Line went into decay and disrepair and was rediscovered in popular consciousness in 2000, after acclaimed photographer Joel Sternfeld captured the beauty of the industrial relic in photos: overgrown with wildflowers — an abandoned human structure essentially reclaimed by nature in a matter of 20 years.
The City of New York was originally planning to tear down the High Line, but a group formed, called ‘Friends of the High Line’, to protect, preserve, and renovate the High Line. This eventually lead to a design competition, and the commissioning of landscape architects James Corner Field Operations and architects Diller Scodifio + Renfro to rehabilitate this abandoned space into a lush, green, elevated paradise for Manhattanites.

Renovations spanned a time frame of several years (with another section yet to be complete until 2010), but visitors to the park yesterday all seemed to agree that it was well worth the wait.So what was our verdict? Well, while we view slick renderings of concepts for urban green spaces almost everyday, it is an entirely different thing to actually step into a completed project and see it with our own eyes. We weren’t sure if it was going to be possible for a starchitect-designed renovation to maintain the simple, stark beauty of the original, overgrown High Line – the one that had captured the imagination of so many Manhattanites in 2000. But we were impressed and pleasantly surprised!

The feeling at the High Line today was one of excitement, optimism and pride that our city was able to take something that was just a gleam in our eyes a few years ago and turn it into something that we, and hopefully generations to come, can enjoy. For New Yorkers like myself, who are just witnessing the beginnings of an urban space revolution, the High Line is a tangible manifestation of what the future could look like.

That being said, you’re probably wondering what it looked like. The most prominent features of the long and winding park are the preserved rail tracks that poke out through the porous layer of concrete that has been cut away in strips here and there emphasizing a linear aesthetic. Lush shrubbery, reedy grasses and watercolor-hued flowers surround the rust-red tracks in a way that seems deliberate yet natural. Farther down along the meandering pathway, sunbathers relaxed on blocky wooden chaise lounges, some of which have casters that look like they can roll right along the tracks (although they can’t, we tried). Vistas that were unseen to most New Yorkers, like a view of the clubs in the Meatpacking district from above and peeks into the posh lofts that are at the same level as the High Line were visible, for the very first time, from here.