Category: Design & Architecture

Community, Design & Architecture

Kamikatz Public House: Zero waste pub built entirely out of recycled waste

Kamikatz Public House, a zero waste pub and grocery store built entirely out of recycled waste, has become a central gathering space in Japan’s Kamikatsu, a town which aims to become completely zero-waste by 2020. The building, designed by the architects Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP, houses a bar, a micro brewery, and also living spaces which make ingenious use of recycled materials. From reclaimed floor tiles to … Continue reading Kamikatz Public House: Zero waste pub built entirely out of recycled waste

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Design & Architecture

Wikado Playground: Kids playground built from discarded wind turbine parts

Discarded wind turbine blades have found a second life as a futuristic-style kids playground, Wikado Playground, in the Netherlands. The Rotterdam-based playground is a maze-like structure made from five discarded wind turbine blades that have been cut up into parts and re-painted. The recycled blades make up a slide tower, a watch tower, tunnels, bridges, ramps, and slides. While wind power energy is gaining momentum as the … Continue reading Wikado Playground: Kids playground built from discarded wind turbine parts

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Design & Architecture

Sol Vespidae: Students create solar powered tiny house to be fully self-sustaining

Sol Vespidae, a collective of students from Sacramento State, have created a solar powered tiny house for flexible, off-grid living. The 400 square foot-tiny home on wheels, which was created as an entry for Sacramento’s SMUD Tiny House Competition, features a vertical wall of solar panels on the northern facade as well as a solar roof, providing the home with sufficient energy. The southern facade of the home … Continue reading Sol Vespidae: Students create solar powered tiny house to be fully self-sustaining

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Design & Architecture

Modpools: Repurposing shipping containers into all-in-one swimming pool and hot tub

Shipping containers have become eco-friendly building alternatives for everything from shopping centres, cafes, boutique hotels and urban farms, now recycled shipping containers are being used as backyard swimming pools. Canadian brand, Modpools, have created “relocatable hot pools” made from shipping containers, each of which feature a viewing window. The above-ground swimming pool is easily set up and increases water temperature at 30°c per hour even in … Continue reading Modpools: Repurposing shipping containers into all-in-one swimming pool and hot tub

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Design & Architecture

Dan Phillips makes recycled home builds possible with no waste

Dan Phillips – the creative mastermind behind cowboy boot-shaped houses and treehouses – builds these innovative spaces entirely from recycled materials. The Texas based innovator – with his passion for design, conservation and affordable housing – allows for nothing to go to waste in the building of homes, bringing new life to everything from cork, number plates, picture frames to old CDs. Dan Phillips set up his … Continue reading Dan Phillips makes recycled home builds possible with no waste

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Design & Architecture

Copenhagen International School: Sustainable school decked out in 12,000 solar panels

A new and sustainable school in Copenhagen, with a unique facade of 12,000 solar panels arranged in a sequin-like effect, is capable of supplying more than half of the school’s annual electricity consumption. The solar cells cover a total area of 6,048 square meters making it one of the largest building-integrated solar power plants in Denmark. Copenhagen International School (CIS), designed by C.F. Møller Architects, is … Continue reading Copenhagen International School: Sustainable school decked out in 12,000 solar panels

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Design & Architecture

Community Rebuilds: Providing skills to build affordable, sustainable homes

Community Rebuilds is teaching people to build affordable, sustainable homes out of materials such as clay, straw and soil, in an effort to expand knowledge about valuable natural building skills across the US. Community Rebuilds, which started life in Moab, Utah, aims to build energy-efficient housing, provide education on sustainability and improve the housing conditions of the workforce through an affordable program. Under the Community Rebuilds program, interns participate in a … Continue reading Community Rebuilds: Providing skills to build affordable, sustainable homes

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Design & Architecture

DesignBuildBLUFF: Architecture students collaborate with the Navajo nation to create sustainable housing

DesignBuildBLUFF, a University of Utah program, is bringing together architecture students with the Navajo nation to design and build sustainable homes on the Utah-based Navajo reservation. In preparation for working alongside indigenous tribes to design and build full-scale works of architecture, up to sixteen students study indigenous architecture and Southwestern vernacular during the Autumn semester, as part of the DesignBuildBLUFF program. DesignBuildBLUFF say: “DesignBuildBLUFF is about giving. Each … Continue reading DesignBuildBLUFF: Architecture students collaborate with the Navajo nation to create sustainable housing

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Design & Architecture

ContainHotel: A mobile boutique hotel made from shipping containers

ContainHotel, a boutique hotel currently located on a surf campsite in the Czech Republic, is the latest innovation in the use of shipping containers as sustainable, green buildings. The ContainHotel has been designed to be mobile, easily demountable and used as a seasonal hotel. Built by Czech design firm Artikul Architects, this green hotel was created using three repurposed shipping containers, and built to be … Continue reading ContainHotel: A mobile boutique hotel made from shipping containers

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Design & Architecture

Self-builds: Natural swimming pool made using larch wood

When a woodsman and eco-builder and a DIY natural swimming pool champion come together, you get a self-build match made in heaven – a stunning, eco-friendly organic pool made from larch wood. Woodsman, author and natural eco-builder, Ben Law, created the natural swimming pool at his home in the woods, Prickly Nut Wood, a working coppice woodland in West Sussex, UK. Ben Law enlisted the … Continue reading Self-builds: Natural swimming pool made using larch wood

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