RainWater Harvesting Inspiration

Global climate changed, in particular global warming; Ozone depletion; Loss of habitat, and endangerment of species. 

Environmental Design and Sustainability became main factor to be addressed in most of the development. In terms of a larger scope, environment design has implications for the industrial design of products: automobile, energy re-used, solar panel and etc. 

Architecturally, Innovation became key challenge to address the environmental design on top of industrial product application.

In one of the recent project / competition winning scheme, we have proposed Landscaped Vertical Green Column in a new township development. A robust and comprehensive Green structure has been introduced as feature element which became Water Collector / Waterway. Rainwater is collected from the canopy, and drained down to the on-site detention pond, stored and to be recycled for irrigation and water features. It's also designed as temperature cooling feature to the public spaces. 

Urban farming deck has been introduced in conjunction with the Green Column, which intend to add greenery to cities, reducing harmful run-off, increasing shading, and countering he unpleasant heat island effect. 

Entire system became more sophisticated by introducing urban agro-culture with urban agriculture. Recreation Lake potentially became ground for agriculture, with the idea of Kelong to be integrated at community spaces. 

Sustainable Environment Design getting more meaningful with the idea of bringing Urban Farming closer to community. 

the ARC @ Rimbayu

The intrinsic human act of place-making is the basic principle driving the design conceptualization. Humankind’s desire to mark their presence on the landscape is the fundamental driving force - to make a place identifiable to their kind or collective group belongs to them. The collective social activities are centered around a public space associated with the community. Traditionally, this appeared in the simplest forms as: street, junction, yard; and in more elaborate urban forms as: city square, park, hall, stadium.

The Arc is conceived from this fundamental intent. At the most fundamental level, it provides shelter for community activities - the place for regular living amenity, social and recreational activities, communal and sports events.

Simultaneously, it needs to respond to the environment, particularly in addressing the sunlight, heat, humidity and rain of the tropical climate. Correspondingly, it takes the form of a tall and wide covered walkway to shelter the intended community activities. The roof solution responds to the desire to keep itself and the space below cool by sustainable means: insulating with soil and greenery. In doing so it effectively ‘replaces’ the original greenery at ground plane with an new eco-system on elevated deck that not only provides open space for recreation but also offers higher vantage points to enjoy views across a fairly flat township and the activities below. 

The slowly rising roof structure and green roof-deck is regarded as an expression of humankind’s primal nature of working from and modifying the landscape in response to place-making for a community - by putting their mark on the land - effectively conducting the act of making a landmark in the most basic form. The landmark does not need to be a symbolic object to be looked at, but should fundamentally serve the basic communal functions and as a place for human experience and encounter. This is the basic principle adopted in the design conceptualization.

Its name, The Arc, is derived from the underlying plan shape of an arc embracing the communal green open space. At the opened side, each end is lowered to provide pedestrian access by ramping up towards the green roof deck that serves an upper level pedestrian network of garden paths connecting the whole collection of buildings at two separate levels.

All above Description by: Ar Tang Hsiao Seak

Design Architects: Garis Architects S/B

(Ar Tang Hsiao Seak / Ar Ngu Ngie Woon)

Project Title: the ARC @ Rimbayu

Location: Bandar Rimbayu, Malaysia

Reinforce Space Character

Wherever possible, opportunities should be taken to create new public spaces in association with development. The comfort, safety and convenience that people experience in travelling through public spaces determines the success of that space. Public spaces should offer an attractive, safe and enjoyable environment for all and not just be designed for traffic. Well-designed public spaces should function as part of a network of pedestrian routes providing for the needs of all users.

Good architecture never be separated from landscape. The flow of indoor-outdoor spaces manipulating quality and space coherent. By Providing a clear and coherent spatial structure with distinctive landscape offering potential for diversity and vitality. Landscape Design should connect with the surrounding structure and address adjacent spaces form and character. 

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Above sketches are produced for a high-end condominium project 2 years ago. In practice, High Density Residential Development never be my favor in architecture, when everything come to dollar and cents, efficiency and layman's perception, the products / solutions always end up with ordinary approaches. Hence, landscape design always been neglected in the design process. 

Lately, after few project upset by landscape specialist, my design colleague suggested our practice should include landscape design consultancy, instead of allowing the landscape architect upset the entire ambient of the development. And we strongly believe, by considering and linking the indoor space with landscape spaces, it surely give a distinctive solutions for our future projects. 

Ya, why not, let's step in to landscape architecture!

Serpentine Walkway at SYMPHONY HILLS, CYBERJAYA

A ‘serpentine-walkway’ crawls to connect all the functional spaces and pavilions. In the journey across with meandering and shifting vistas, one will experience different aspects of the Waterway Park segments, its themes and sights of pavilions in the landscape from various angles.                        

 

Characteristics: winding (plan), twisting (3D), changing elevation & width, light and seemingly ‘floating’ over the pond.

Modular and off-the-shelf industrial steel products are intentionally explored in building the ‘serpentine walkway’ – erected from 4 modules of cantilevered half portals braced together by virtue of the twisted geometry.

Materials used are: cold-rolled galvanised C purlins, compressed fibreboards, galvanised steel mesh, lightweight aerated concrete blocks, polycarbonate sheets (most cost-effective, lightweight, low-maintenance material available that can twist and warp in hyperbolic paraboloid form to meet the design intent).

All above Description by: Ar Tang Hsiao Seak

Design Architects: Garis Architects S/B

(Ar Tang Hsiao Seak / Ar Ngu Ngie Woon)

Project Title: Symphony Hills Club House

Location: Cyberjaya, Malaysia

Aloni house in Antiparos by deca Architecture

The design of the house is a dual response to the particular topography of the site and to the rural domestication techniques that in the past shaped the raw ‘Cycladic island’ landscape. In the past, dry-rubble stone walls domesticated the land for agricultural purposes and were the most prominent man-made interventions in the landscape. The walls retained earth and transformed a steep topography into a series of arable plateaus.

Today, the Cycladic islands are being reshaped by a very different force: the demand for holiday homes. The design uses the precedent of earth-retaining stone walls to create an artificial landscape that is both rural and domestic in use.

The site is a natural saddle where two slopes meet. In the North-South axis the slope rises between two hills while in the East-West axis the slope drops, opening to the sea views. Two long stone walls bridge the hills allowing the house to nestle in the space within while maintaining the continuity of the landscape which flows over it. This simple strategy blurs the edges of the house and makes its mass imperceptible within the broader skyline of the island.

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w02n 2cents:

The designer smartly use the inspiration of the "Nature Forces" of the existing landscape. Impressed with the architecture idea / principle that utilise the existing context to create a new space, that gave a great architecture that consolidate historical value with new inspiration. As well as using the indegenous material with new form in architecture.

Šolta Island resort by Richard Hywel Evans Architecture

A rotating hotel is to form the centrepiece of a new resort near Split in Croatia. Designed by Richard Hywel Evans of Studio RHE, specialists in holiday resort design, the concept was proposed from a desire to provide sea views from each room.

While most of the fine details of the hotel remain under wraps WAN can reveal "the 3 storey building is a 61 metre diameter very slow moving continuous turntable rotating 1.3 times per day, and will be built of steel in sections at the huge Split shipyards which are directly opposite the Island," says Evans. "The building is entered from below at Lower Ground Level which does not rotate with the 22 metre diameter centre hub of the building which is also static containing the Reception, circulation stairs and lifts," he adds.

The full development is comprised a new build marina and resort which will include the hotel, guest pavilions and villas. The new 170 berth marina will be accompanied by a performance stage, yacht club and marine village along the water's edge.
The development is to be built on Šolta Island on a hillside olive grove allowing views across the bay, 35 minutes boat ride from Split. The project spreads across the water with villas facing the marina from across the water. Guest Pavilions made from the surrounding grove slate walls create private spaces for guests with glass fronted pavilions and swimming pools roofed with reflective aluminium wings. Four Bedroom Residences are interconnected and created from the perimeter ‘stone contour’ walls in the olive tree fields with trees rising from the swimming pools encased in glazed tubes. The centrepiece hotel itself is set in an infinity edged swimming lake which spills over into a hillside spa below. The views worthy of a rotating hotel spread across the Adriatic Sea and over to the Roman remains of a Diocletian fish farm and dramatic countryside.

Casa Kike / Gianni Botsford Architects

By coupling indigenous techniques and materials with modern design technologies and aesthetics GBA has created this intimate double pavilion for a writer in Costa Rica.

A main studio space, with library, writing desk and grand piano, is the writer’s daytime space. The pavilion’s wooden structure, sourced from local timber, sits on a simple foundation of wooden stilts on small concrete pad foundations. Roof beams of up to 10 m long and 355 mm deep allow for an interior with no vertical columns. The mono-pitched roof elevates towards the sea shore, while the interior is through ventilated via a completely louvred glazed end façade.

Set at a short distance along a raised walkway, a second smaller pavilion mirrors the first. This contains sleeping quarters and a bathroom. Externally, the pavilions are clad in corrugated steel sheeting, another locally used construction material. The overall effect is that of a building which blends with its surroundings, both visually and environmentally.All above info and images from http://www.archdaily.com

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w02n 2cents:

I do like this kind of small scale and simple structure building, and its approach tried to blend to the surrounding environment. The usage of corrugated steel sheeting give a very subtle and sophiscated ambient for the structure. The presentation of interior wall cladding and ceiling profile, and how the timber ceiling meet the timber book rack and book storage space, shown the comprehensive design and smart detailing for the pavilion. Would like to stay in this library for whole day to enjoy the ambient that created.