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Australia's greenest building or just a colourful box?

The recently completed Pixel building has achieved the title of 'greenest building in Australia. It is the first office building in Australia to be completely carbon neutral, receiving a 6 star energy rating and the highest Green Star score ever awarded by the Green Building Council of Australia. Incorporated into this colourful 'green' box are large photovoltaic panels and wind turbines on the roof used to generate power, a green roof, a reed bed water treatment system to filter grey water and use this as the building's main water supply, 100% fresh air system, fixed shading panels to target northern sunlight while blocking it from the west, as well as extensive recycling and many other sustainable features. In short, the building is packed with so many green features and sustainable technologies, it ticks all the boxes.

studio505 and Grocon are the ones who have put this little green 'package' together. Situated on the old Carlton United Brewery site, the building's facade is vibrant and eye-catching. One could argue, however, that apart from this colourful facade, all there is behind it is a 'green' glass box. Joe Rollo, author and newspaper writer, wrote in his review of the Pixel building that [referring to the facade] "This coat of many colours, like Joseph's, serves mainly to screen what you could argue is a piece of non-architecture...this skirt is in essence a piece of applied decoration, a bit of film-flam, disposable even, created to draw attention to what is a modest and expensive, at $6 million, little building."

The argument that there is no real innovative formal architectural language presented in this building is an interesting one. But does this even matter? Do the numerous sustainable features overshadow the fact that the building is just a box clad with colourful aluminium panels? 

Images courtesy of www.indesignlive.com

Yes, it might be Australia's greenest building, but besides that, some might argue that it's not much else. What do you think of the Pixel building? Is it just a colourful glass box, or it more than that? Share your thoughts.

Matters of privacy - does privacy matter?

RMIT's new Design Hub is currently well on its way in the building process. Situated at the old Carlton United Brewery site, the new Design Hub, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year, is going to be the new building for RMIT research and post-graduate students of all design disciplines.

The Design Hub, by Sean Godsell together with Peddle Thorpe Architects, is incredibly interesting in how it incorporates sustainable technologies. A key design element is found in the facade, also known as the 'second skin', which is comprised of a lattice of 16,000 sand-blasted glass cells which act as photovoltaic solar power collectors, tracking the sun's movement to help shade and power the building. The building will also integrate a subfloor air distribution system, rain water harvesting, monitoring and display of live energy consumption, as well as several other sustainable technologies.

The interior will all be open-plan, with research warehouse spaces, meeting spaces, exhibition spaces, a lecture theatre and the like all coming together to form and encourage an open learning environment. RMIT Vice Chancellor, Professor Margaret Gardner stated in the article, "Work to begin on RMIT Design Hub," that the Design hub will be a "centre for collaboration". Part of the open-plan design are the kits of moveable furniture that can be arranged differently depending on the particular needs of the user. This, however, raises some questions on privacy. With the interior arrangement being all open-plan, is this sufficient for students to carry out their research? While the planning is based around the idea of encouraging a friendly, open environment, sometimes there is a need for private areas where personal study can be done, or even where groups can discuss ideas without interrupting others.

North Elevation

West Elevation

in progress...

Images courtesy of Sean Godsell Architects & www.greencities.org.au

While the Design Hub is going to be used primarily by research and post-graduate students, do you think it is going to be a issue that there are no enclosed class rooms for private group consultation or personal study? Share your opinion.

Green Brain - Melbourne's future?

RMIT’s Building 22, also known as the Info Corner, has been recently completed. The design follows the already existing Storey Hall addition to RMIT, which was completed by ARM in 1996. Located right on the of Swanston and LaTrobe streets, the building’s addition proves to be an eye-catching green facade.

Known as the Green Brain, the design is an extension of the Penrose tile pattern which makes up the facade of Storey Hall. This annex, however, is based upon interest of the Penrose pattern and its incredible efficiency and flexibility in design. Contrary to the rigid form of the Penrose tile used on Storey Hall, ARM explores how they can use the pattern in a more elastic, softened way. Howard Raggatt, founding director of ARM, states that their intention was to use the Penrose tile and give it that “field quality in a fully three-dimensional way.”

Raggatt also adds “…this little fragment is another example of how cabbagy architecture could rule this world!”

Images courtesy of a-r-m.com.au & Architecture Australia magazine

While this addition is only one factor of the overall design, it poses the question, Is the future of architecture destined to boast green brain-like buildings and facades?

Share your opinion. What do you think of ARM’s extension to RMIT Building 22?

Welcome

Hi guys and welcome to our blog!

We will be updating posts weekly, and will be posting links on facebook and twitter for those you who join us on there.

To kick-start our blogging, for the month of May we will be looking at recent projects in Melbourne that we've found people are talking about, so we thought we'd move the discussions to our blog.

Keep checking back for updates and make sure you leave your comments!

Cheers...