Design4D Blog

Sep 30 / 1:08pm

Densifying Suburbia

This is an interesting TED lecture on suburbia. One of the biggest impacts on reducing carbon consumption will be achieved by densifying suburbia. While some politicians seem determined to unlock the precious Green Belt land for property development we instead must be looking at ways of densifying existing low density developments. Higher densities reduce car use and make servicing the public realm more sustainable.

Our Shell house project is just one alternative solution for densifying suburbia.

http://www.ted.com/talks/ellen_dunham_jones_retrofitting_suburbia.html

Filed under // Architecture Shell House Sustainability TED

Sep 29 / 1:18pm

Scotland to have 100% renewable electricity generation by 2025!

First minister Alex Salmond has announced that by 2020 80% of electricity in Scotland will be from renewable resources increasing to 100% and more by 2025!

With excess energy being generated will this affect the way we build? At the moment the drive is towards energy efficiency, which is a good thing, but could we be going to extremes in our drive to save energy causing problems in the future?

Does it make sense to completely seal our buildings up so that artificial ventilation system are required to keep the inhabitants from getting sick?

http://ow.ly/2LwhU

Filed under // Sustainability renewable energy

Sep 28 / 11:10am

Time for the Fifth Elevation?

This video discusses the value of terrace space in a dense city environment. Green roofs in the city would not only attract biodiversity but would also reduce the over-loading of our drain systems which lead to flash flooding.

The roofs in our cities need to be made to work harder not just as places for social interaction but also as areas that can be used to harness the sun and generate power. It is definitely time for the fifth elevation to be more than a dumping ground for plant equipment!

http://blog.emap.com/footprint/2010/09/26/video-clips-from-ajmace-roundtable-future-of-the-sustainable-office/#comment-56162

Filed under // Architecture Fifth elevation Green roofs Sustainability

Sep 27 / 1:58pm

Nokia developing 3D rival to Google Street View @newscientist

Not quite sure how this will work but would be excellent if architects had a full 3D city model to be able to plug their models into and explore the environment.

It is great being able to check out a site on google street view before visiting, but a full 3D model would really open up new virtual reality design possibilities!

http://tinyurl.com/36wzptd

Filed under // Google Nokia Virtual reality urban design

Sep 23 / 8:07am

Futuristic lift mechanism

Design4D recently came across a residential lift that uses air pressure to suck the lift up the shaft. This removes the need for a motor room or a lift pit! The lift can go up to four storeys and is about a metre in diameter. A clever piece of technology for the elderly but I do feel our reliance of the lift has added to the obesity problem as architects push stairs to the back of a design even if only 4 storeys high! Where possible and realistic it is important we celebrate the staircase and therefore encourage people to keep fit as part of the daily routine of using a building.

www.newmaticelevators.com

Filed under // Architecture Design4D elevator

Sep 21 / 1:04pm

How sustainable is sustainable design?

This video at BDOnline raises the valid point that architects must consider the whole life-cycle of the materials we specify. It is no good choosing to use lamb's wool insulation if that product has then travelled around the world for processing before being installed.

With regard Fairley's comments on solar power I believe efficiency improvements will make this technology the most logical choice for localised energy generation as humans begin to harness the sun's power in the same way the rest of the natural world functions!

http://t.co/da3BYGN

Filed under // Architecture Sustainability solar power

Sep 20 / 2:21pm

An inventive home I visited during Open House weekend

Each year inaccessible buildings in London open their doors to strangers to look around. I visited a few buildings but was particularly taken by Monty Ravenscroft's self-build house in Peckham. Monty is an inventor/film maker who designs large sliding glass roofs and also created lots of inventions within his very space efficient house.

It was like walking around a larger version of our Kinematic Apartment project! There was a draw which turned into a sink, a bath under the bed, a mechanism taken from a land rover which opens the large rooflights and some clever three-dimensional manipulation of space and light to make the house a inventive joy!

http://www.peckhamhouse.com/project.php

Filed under // Architecture Kinematic Apartment Nik Hilton Open House Peckham Sliding rooflight

Sep 17 / 2:24pm

Design4D purchase building for conversion into ArtLAB!

Design4D have purchased the freehold of a two storey building in South East London for conversion into their first ArtLAB.

The building is situated opposite Goldsmiths University whom produced the likes of Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, and adjacent to the £4million refurbished Fordham Park.

The Design4D ArtLAB will enable us to explore new ideas before they reach the commercial marketplace and provide us with an opportunity to engage with the local community.

What have been your favourite exhibitions in the past few years?

Filed under // Architecture Art Design4D design property

Sep 15 / 9:33am

Please vote for our Shell House scheme which we have submitted for Innovate10 funding!

Our Shell House project was a Finalist in The British Homes Awards but requires further design development and costing in order to prove its commercially viability.

Positive comments on our grant funding submission would be gratefully received. Please take a look at:

http://www.innovate10.co.uk/video/shell-house

Filed under // Architecture Design4D Shell House design property

Sep 14 / 6:36pm

Fixing the flaws in photosynthesis @newscientist

I have always thought architects get too hung up on aesthetics and not enough on the problem solving aspects of the profession. Everything in nature to me is beautiful and yet it is just a simple evolutionary response to site, predators and sunlight. This article is interesting in raising the issue of food growth and how efficiencies need to be made to feed the expanding population. Perhaps the roofs of our Shell House scheme could be turned into allotments for growing food creating a secondary layer of landscape within the urban realm.

http://tinyurl.com/3am7srd

Filed under // Architecture Design4D Shell House Sustainability

September 2010