The Green Touch for Delhi's New Recreation Center and Solarium Garden

It is now beyond doubt that sustainability and energy-efficiency are being given their due importance in India, and this importance is manifesting itself in green architecture all over the country. Joining this bandwagon is a new Recreation Centre and Solarium in Delhi, to be inaugurated later this year. With all the eco-friendly aspects that are to be incorporated into its design, this Recreation centre is likely to stand out among other similar buildings.

The structure is sprawled over five acres of land, incorporating a green design that also provides a habitat of luxury in the indoors as well as the outdoors. The building is also unique for the fact that the environment created is conducive to outdoor activity throughout the year. This design has been provided by Mumbai-based architecture firm Prem Nath & Associates.

The Solarium, spread over 1 million square feet will be a multi-use destination complete with a farm, pool, gymnasium, aquatic centre and a library, all under a canopy made of enormous solar panels, a grey-water system, and passive cooling/heating design.

Glass with Aluminum

The entire structure is formed from glass and aluminum sections. Double-glazed low-e glass is held in place with high-strength horizontal fiber glass tendons and aluminum structural members. The clean construction gives way to an equally streamlined interior that is rendered clutter-free. The temperature inside the structure is regulated to meet the requirements of occupant comfort as well as to optimize conditions for the growth of plants.

The aluminum frame was designed to make the structure homogenous, lightweight and structurally stable. Photovoltaic solar panels on the roof work with the low-e glass to control temperature and reduce energy consumption, and rotating louvers on the roof help flood the indoors with ample fresh air. Meanwhile, motion sensors and LUX intensity meter sensors control lighting for efficient energy consumption.

The high gloss aluminum finish, the envelope of green landscape, the manicured lawns and the local tree plantations keep privacy intact. Trees have been illuminated with floor and trunk mounted lighters, concealed cleverly for glare-free lighting, and there are various theme indoor gardens with fruit tree plantations, sculptures, and pathways curbed with flowering plants. Some rare and exotic species of plants have been planted inside the structure as well as in the garden. Irrigation requirements within the complex will be partially fulfilled with recycled water.

Okhta Tower to be Europe's Tallest Green Building

Sustainable buildings in Europe will have a new height to scale with the creation of the Gazprom Tower, officially known as the Okhta Tower. The plan has recently been given the green signal to begin construction; it will be designed by UK-based architectural firm RMJM. Upon completion, this building will be the tallest in Europe and one among the world’s most energy-efficient.

St. Petersburg in Russia will be the home to Okhta Tower, which through its 77 storeys will cross 400 metres in height. This tower will primarily serve as headquarters to Gazprom’s oil unit, OAO Gazprom Neft, and will also be home to a concert hall, a museum, a hotel and a business centre. In the name of sustainability, this tower will incorporate multiple elements for energy-efficiency during construction.

Glass Skin

The building will be insulated by an exoskeleton, dubbed as a low-energy ‘fur coat’, and will consist of two layers of glazed glass ‘skin’ with an atrium between the inner and outer walls. This buffer zone will supply the building with natural ventilation, sunlight for interior lighting and at the same time will act as a thermal insulation by keeping the structure warm during fierce minus 30 degrees Russian winters. Trees and plants will be sandwiched between the double glass walls, which will be responsible for providing warmth in winter and lower temperatures in summer.

The outer wall will comprise of temperature-colour-changing glass panels. This tower will change colour up to 10 times a day depending on the position of the sun, and creating a dazzling scene of a 300m-tall twisting glass tower across 75 floors.

Inspired by the pentagonal plan of an ancient Scandinavian fort believed to have once occupied the site, the tower consists of a central concrete core ringed by five square interlocking floorplates. The floorplates spin on their axes as they ascend, giving the building its twisted effect. A 'cog mechanism' - whereby the five floorplates interlock - ensures the tower's stability.

Sustainability

The pentagram design of the tower maximises access to daylight and allows for spectacular views for the offices without losing heat due to exposed surface area in comparison to other structures.

Specialized water, heating and ventilation systems have also been incorporated to reduce the energy consumption levels of the building. There will be a public viewing gallery on the 70th floor.

The office floor plans will also feature a large number of social spaces and green zones that will let the workers to access leisure areas without wasting energy by using elevators for vertical transportation.

The cost of construction is estimated at to $2.4bn. This cost will be borne jointly by Gazprom's subsidiary Gazprom Neft ($1.4 billion) and the St Petersburg City Administration ($1 billion).

Wise Green Glass Facade For Unilever's Northern Europe Headquarters

Unilever, the world’s second largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company after Procter & Gamble recently acquired for itself, a new headquarters for its Northern Europe faction. Located at HafenCity, Hamburg, on the banks of the Elbe River in Germany, the edifice is designed by Behnisch Architects and combines modern architecture with sustainability and energy-efficiency.

Dual Exterior: Inner Glass “Skin” & Outer Plastic “Cocoon”

Inner Glass Skin

Rather wisely, the building combines climate conservation and transparency through its exterior glass facade. This façade comprises solar control glass from Interpane, which allows optimum levels of daylight transmission. On the ground floor, the generous glazing in a pillar-beam design serves the same purpose. This brings down the operating costs for indoor artificial lighting.

Moreover, the façade also prevents the interiors from heating up excessively during summer, thereby reducing the need for air conditioning. Conversely, the insulation value of 1.1 W/m2K (as per EN 673) retains requisite warmth inside the building.

In some parts of the building, a cold sound-insulation facade, using laminated sheet glass provides protection from increased noise levels.

Outer Plastic Cocoon

The glass facade is protected from the rough sea air by a single-layer, fully transparent plastic cover called a “plastic cocoon”. This outer skin helps reduce heat gain and control wind effects. The space between the facades is ventilated and is able to supply draught-free fresh air through open windows.

Interiors

The interiors of the Unilever HQ are designed like a vertical village. Multiple levels connect with each other, lacing throughout the huge daylit atrium. The spa, stores, and café on the first floor are open to the public, extending the social context of the building to the city. The upper stories link private and public workspaces with large informal seating areas around the central atrium. The open floor plan uses an atrium to anchor satellite workspaces. The building is designed to provide space for 1,200 Unilever employees. The interior uses a cooling system controlled by a chilled concrete ceiling. The thermal mass effect facilitates effective cooling with significantly reduced energy requirement. The daylighting is controlled manually and with built-in glare-control measures. Acoustic control has been tailored to keep the atrium sound levels comfortable. A special hybrid ventilation system is implemented in the buildings.

LED

A system of SMD LED or surface mount LED lights was developed and installed to save nearly 70% of the energy of halogen lighting.

Awarded for Sustainability

This building received many prestigious awards like “The Golden Environment Award of the HafenCity Hamburg GmbH”, “The WAF (World Architecture Festival Award)”, and “The International Bex Award (Building Exchange Award). All these clearly exemplify the outstanding sustainability and modern architecture efforts of this Green corporate office.

Eco-Green Hotel Afloat in Water – The Ark

That every modern building on the face of this earth seeks to be a sustainable entity is an oft-repeated and well-established fact. Interestingly, this trend is now finding its way even through buildings built on water. And as if in testimony, a gigantic arch-shaped hotel named “The Ark” has been built on sea water by the Russian architectural firm Remistudio, in collaboration with the International Union of Architects’ programme titled “Architecture for Disaster Relief.”

The core concept behind the architecture of this unique building is safety and protection from extreme environmental conditions and climate change.

Sprawled over a total site area of 4500 m2, this building can withstand extreme floods caused by rising sea levels, and floats autonomously on the surface of the water owing to its arch-shaped structure. The Ark is also designed to be a bioclimatic house with independent life-support systems, including elements that ensure a closed-functioning cycle.

Make-up of The Ark

Timber arches and steel ropes used in construction provide structural solidity to the building. The framework is covered by a special foil made of Ethyl TetraFluoroEthylene (ETFE) - a strong, highly transparent foil, self-cleaning, recyclable, highly durable, economical, and lighter than glass. The foil itself is fixed to the framework by special metal profiles, which also serve as solar collectors for water heating and as gutters that collect rainwater from the roof surface. A prefabricated frame allows for fast construction.

The cupola in the upper portion collects warm air which is gathered in seasonal heat accumulators to provide uninterrupted energy supply for the whole complex. The heat from the surrounding environment – the outer air, water or ground – is also used. The building can produce extra power for supplying to adjacent houses and for “green” means of transport.

The building makes a single energy system. The form of the cupola assists in creating an air-eddy at the outer surface around the central bearing, where the wind power and tornado generators are placed. The form of the building allows for placement of photoelectric cells at an appropriate angle to the Sun.

The base of the building is shell-like in structure, devoid of ledges or angles, rendering it very suitable for climatically and seismically sensitive regions. A load-bearing system of arches and cables allows weight redistribution along the entire corpus in case of an earthquake.

Green Touch

• Lush vegetation helps provide good quality of air and a source of food.
• All plants are chosen as per the principles of compatibility, illumination and efficiency of oxygen production
• A transparent roof allows for penetration of sufficient light for the plants in ther interiors.
• The design uses solar panels and a rainwater collection system to provide occupants with power and water.

Green Centre of Attraction: Art Science Museum

Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands is a popular standout point for business and entertainment in Asia, that adds to its credibility by providing space for 2,560 hotel rooms, rooftop Sands SkyPark, convention and exhibition facilities, the best shopping mall in Asia, world-class celebrity chef restaurants, a casino, a Paiza Club for premium players, an outdoor event plaza and so on. What’s more, the new Eco-friendly development in this area – the ArtScience Museum – has tripled its attractiveness.This ArtScience Museum, the first of its kind the world over, was inaugurated at Marina Bay Sands on February 17th, 2011. The shape of this ArtScience Museum is that of a bloomed lotus flower or a single palm with 10 fingers. This contemporarily designed Museum aims to become the heart of the growing art & science movement as well as the premier venue for international exhibits.

The Museum will display innovative and modern works in art and science on three floors of gallery space across over 4,800 square meters. There are 21 galleries in all. This project will attract not just tourists but also encourage cutting-edge practices as part of a new economy.

Museum – The Palm & its Energy-efficiency

Because of its palm-like appearance, the Museum is fondly known as “The Welcoming Hand of Singapore”. There are ten fingers on this palm, attached to a unique round base in the middle. The tallest "finger" stands 60 meters above ground. Each one of the ten fingers that extend out in the palm-like museum has a generous skylight that illuminates the interior walls with ample daylight.

Air conditioning grills built into the floor help save energy by cooling only the air up to the visitor’s height, rather than the entire space. Called air stratification, the technique is gaining popularity with engineering firms.

The ArtScience Museum incorporates several interesting features to make use of natural resources as efficiently as possible. The museum’s dish-like roof channels rainwater through the central atrium of the building, creating a 35-meter water drop into a 4,000 sq.m lily pond at the lowest level of the building. Rainwater is recycled and redirected through the water feature to create a continuous cylindrical waterfall. The rainwater is also recycled for use in the museum’s bathrooms as part of Singapore’s Green Mark program.

At night, the same dish transforms into an amphitheatre, enthralling audiences with awe-striking light and laser shows and fireworks with the city in the background.

Material such as Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP), typically used in high-performance racing yachts - which has never been used in a project in Singapore – has been used for the construction of this architectural wonder.

Flitter Glass in a Green Icy Cube: Optical Brilliance

An ice-cube of a building, standing tall like an iceberg in Iceland is quite the object of attention and unsurprisingly so. And what with the building being Green and using glass rather generously to achieve this end, it is indeed an architectural marvel.

This building has been erected at the Icelandic Institute of Natural History at Gardabaer, Iceland, a public institution conducting diverse research and monitoring of nature. Research is focused on botany, ecology, taxonomy geology and zoology.

This new building hosts offices for 50 scientists, features a library and a specimen collection, and is part of a much larger master plan for the Urridaholt development, which is sweeping up awards for both architecture and sustainability.

This research facility was designed by the Icelandic firm ARKÍS. It is spread over a site area of 5.199 m2 and with 3.515 m2 as its gross floor area. Built of concrete encased in fritted glass, it gives the impression of a glacier in the Arctic region when the sun shines bright.

Interestingly, the architecture of the institute is inspired by the bodies of insects and the nearby Mount Keilir, which is mirrored prominently in the front of the building. The building is divided into three parts by two fissures that visually reduce the building mass and communicate the gradual rhythm and human scale of the streetscape.

The fissures contain glass-walled walkways highlighted by bright green walls that break up the office environment for employees as they walk from one part of the building to another. The primary use of the fissures is to provide the institute’s employees with breaks from the office environment on their way through the building. When passing through the fissures, one comes into strong visual contact with the surrounding elements - light, weather, sky and horizon.

Flitter Glass

The upper floors of the building are enveloped in a double-glazed facade that assists the building’s natural ventilation scheme, day-lighting and weather shielding. The glass used for this building is fritted with a specially designed pattern that resembles the formation of ice crystals. The crystallized pattern on the glass facade diffuses light as it enters the building, reducing both - glare from the harsh northern sunlight as well as heat gain. Glass gives a most spectacular view of the surroundings.

Sustainable Features

Sustainable design features of this building include a sustainable drainage system running in and around the site. Permeable surfaces for parking and swales for filtering and slowing down the flow of surface water are also provided in this building. The building’s green roof is laid with local turf and moss, and serves as a filtering mechanism for rainwater, as added insulation and a natural habitat for birds and native insects.

The double facade facilitates natural ventilation. Each office is equipped with at least two operable windows - upper and lower, improving the flow of fresh air through the space, from the air gap of the double facade.

Honours

The master plan for Urridaholt development has received numerous international recognitions and awards for planning and advanced sustainability measures, including the Award of the Boston Society of Architects and the Nordegrio Award. It also received the second prize at the 2007 LivCom Awards.

Not Ash, Just Green! – ACC’s Cement House

In recent times, nearly every corporate office building in the world has been bitten by the Green bug; energy-efficiency and sustainability are architectural buzzwords and no construction can remain untouched by these all-essential features.

This phenomenon has found its way to India as well, and the best example in recent times is the ACC headquarters in Mumbai. The country’s leading cement company received the LEED India New Construction - Gold rating award for the “Cement House” late last year. ACC received this prestigious award at a specially organized ceremony during the Annual Meet of Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) at the Chennai Trade Centre in Chennai.

Cement House is not a newly constructed building. It is a renovated building, enhanced with multiple features for sustainability and eco-friendliness. Cement House was the first project in the country to be registered under the criterion ‘major renovation of an existing building’. Cement House heralds the legitimacy of the belief that only new constructions can be part of the Green Building brigade.

The building has also received a Five Star rating for being the most energy-efficient in the category of energy-efficient office buildings. This rating has been conferred to it by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Ministry of Power, Government of India.

Central Atrium

The renovation architects unlocked a central shaft in the core of the building to serve as a ready-made grand atrium around which offices on each floor are laid out. The ample use of glass imparts a sense of space by merging the outside world with the interiors. The absence of partition walls, the wide glass windows and a huge central atrium have together facilitated the penetration of natural daylight, making artificial lights redundant for the most day.

The asbestos sheet roof has been replaced by a polycarbonate sheet and the atrium has been extended to the basement level for more and more daylight to enter. The atrium is enveloped by glass railings on three sides for maximum transparency and landscaped at the basement level to maximise the green area. The central atrium is equipped with a fire-fighting system as a measure of safety.

A central service core is used to house the HVAC and air-handling units (AHUs) on all floors and run other utilities like the chiller pipes, plumbing and drainage lines, and electrical and data cables. The service core now opens out into the sky-lit atrium. The design of the entire office revolves around the concept of this atrium and allocation of spaces around it.

The existing windows (1,320 × 2,080 mm) with wooden frames have been expanded to 1,320 × 3,000 mm sizes and renovated into more sleek aluminium open-able casement windows using double glazed units (DGU).

Green Roof

Three unused terraces in the building have now been transformed into verdant green roof gardens with plush grass, cobble-stone pathways, flowers, thick foliage and even some palm trees. Native plant species have been chosen as a measure to conserve water. The bright glass windows with these adjacent green terraces offer a refreshing view to the building occupants.

Power Conservation

Optical and motion sensors control the lighting in the workspaces, based on occupancy. Similarly, a new air-conditioning system regulates the flow of cool air depending on ambient temperature and occupancy levels in different areas of the building. The use of solar water heaters together with daylight harvesting and intelligent lighting and control systems help reduce overall energy consumption by 25 per cent.

Water Conservation

Project Orchid cuts down overall water consumption of the building by 50 per cent. All sinks are fitted with sensor-based, water-efficient plumbing fixtures. A sewage treatment plant recycles used water which is then channeled for use in the terrace garden, landscaped areas and water closets. Indoor plants are selected for their low water requirements. Rainwater is harvested effectively.

Energy-efficient Materials

Materials selected for use in flooring, ceilings, furniture, wall coverings, carpets, partitions and so on have been chosen for their recycled content or recyclable properties. These are also certified by their respective manufacturers as non-toxic. Similarly, low Volatile Organic Compound (Low VOC) paints, adhesives and sealants have been used to maintain a healthy indoor environment.

Waste Management

Waste will be segregated into dry waste and wet waste; dry waste will be diverted to recycling haulers while wet waste will be further processed to generate organic compost on site.

The open office plan includes modern furniture, well equipped conference halls, meeting rooms and breakout areas on every floor. Each conference room is equipped with the best in telephone conferencing, video-conferencing and overhead projectors. The spacious new canteen with a state-of-the-art kitchen, along with a mini-gym and coffee lounges on every floor further enhance the appeal of the building.

Beyond Green Buildings: Green Cars and Green Carparks

Mumbai as a city needs no introduction to most Indians. Populous, cosmopolitan, fast-moving and diverse are some of the common adjectives used to describe this city. The sheer population of the city – well over 14 million people – often maims the local transportation facilities, and renders it insufficient. This increases the use of personal vehicles, hence adding to problems of parking, pollution and traffic jams.

In the light of these well-known problems of the city that is Mumbai, Tata Motors – owned by arguably the most respected business house in the country – has introduced the Nano EV, an electric vehicle, as a plausible solution.

There’s more. The Tata Corporation have planned to build a new building – Tata Towers in the city, with a unique vertical car parking facility. These residential towers, designed by Seth Ellsworth & Jayoung Kim are to have 930 residences for Tata employees and a parking space for 4,050 cars. The towers will also boast of several energy-efficient features.

The vertical parking system exploits the height of each building, and will permit cars to move up and down in vertical cores on small platforms. Residents can park their cars in their own gardens. Vertical parking enables maximum use of available space and also frees up space for a more pedestrian-oriented ground plane, allowing for parks and recreation areas.

The towers could eventually become a parking resource for other buildings as well, linked horizontally through skybridges.

The towers will have alternate energy sources such as solar power-collecting louvers, building-integrated wind turbines, tri-generation, and an algae farm which produces biodiesel. These energy sources will provide enough power to fuel the residences and also recharge the electric vehicles.

A truly outstanding initiative for the benefit of the common man and his environment, yet again from the Tatas.

Vivanta Hotel: Green-Roof and Gleaming Glass Facade

WOW Architects Pte Ltd has created yet another architectural marvel, and this time it is nothing less than the Vivanta Hotel from the Taj Group, a Glass Palace in every sense. The extensive and innovative use of glass in this building makes it stand out as unique and exceedingly attractive.

The Green Roof is unarguably the most outstanding feature of this building. Apart from this, there is a whole gamut of eco-friendly products and processes incorporated into the structure.

Vivanta is the recipient of several awards at the Architectural Design Awards 2010. Besides, the design of the Vivanta as the best in the ‘Commercial’ category and the ‘2010 Building of The Year’ award was a winner from among 180 global entries.

Vivanta is located at Whitefield in Bangalore, India. It is an extension of the surrounding Bangalore’s International Technology Park (ITPL) and provides a networking platform for the young IT professionals working at the Tech Park.

Green-roofed Mobius strip
This premium hotel has 200 rooms in three storeys. It sports a rather opulent roofed promenade in the shape of a Mobius strip, a three-dimensional twisted loop that has a two-dimensional flowing surface. This strip envelops the public amenities of the hotel. The podium of the hotel is designed in the shape of a mobius strip so as to maximise site coverage. The twists and folds of the strip enhance the perception of space and blur the distinction between building, ground, architecture and and landscape.

Colourful Glass Facade

The glazed exterior facade of the building offers views to scenic beauty and provides lighting for the rooms. A range of high performance reflective glass with varying tints enables maximum energy efficiency through a reduction in the need for both artificial lighting as well as air conditioning.

In the banquet halls, faceted walls fold up to the ceiling, enveloping guests in rhythmic portals. An abstracted Indian motif grafted onto a sound absorption surface aids unobtrusive acoustic comfort.

Eco-friendly features

• All the building material was sourced locally, thus addressing the need for reduction in carbon footprint.


• Rainwater is harvested and channelled for reuse in landscape irrigation.