Conceptual "Living Building" Project Displays Integrated Design, Sustainability and Innovation

http://www.weberthompson.com/eco-laboratory.html


SEATTLE – Dec. 3, 2008 – Weber Thompson today announced that Eco-Laboratory, a conceptual high-rise project designed by four young designers at the firm, won the 2008 Natural Talent Design Competition at Greenbuild the USGBC's annual International Conference and Expo in Boston.

Eco-Laboratory is a theoretical project set at the corner of Western Avenue and Vine Street in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood, adjacent to the historic Belltown Cottage Park and the Belltown P-Patch, a community garden. The conceptual design envisions a residential building and expanded garden, merging the existing neighborhood amenities – such as the neighborhood market, vocational training facility and a public sustainability educational center – into a financially viable residential development.

Travelodge Hotel from 86 shipping containers

Inhabitat » TRAVELODGE HOTEL MADE FROM SHIPPING CONTAINERS

I wish I could read Dutch! This man's ideas

are simply incredible - and so versatile

http://www.vandkunsten.com/uk/Projects/housing/1-35.t

There's a great photo slideshow up on flickr as well

Beginning drawings

A snapshot of where we are now with the conceptual drawings

More Cargo housing

MoCo Loco - Boucher/Grygier

This time using refrigerated truck beds (insulation included - something we should look into). Amazing at how "normal" they look with just a paint job, no fancy covering added to the outside to make them fit in.

And the interior photos are amazing.

NC Sustainable Building Design Competition - we can't use this project

Just finished reading the requirements for the competition - each team has to design a duplex for a specific lot to be built with Self Help assistance. The fact that it's got to be a duplex, in the 4,000 sq footage range, to be built in the RTP area and climate really would have us doing alot of work that wouldn't be usable for this project.

Oh well. But it's still a great way for the State and various schools to promote awareness of Sustainable Design. Something this 600 mile long state that keeps increasing population so much needs to be looking at, almost as much as they need to do some serious re-evaluation of their transportation systems and what the future needs to be focusing on.

Here's the entry guidelines for the competition if anyone is interested in reviewing them.
http://www.advancedenergy.org/sbdc/challenge/2008%20requirements_final.pdf

Also talked to Dmitry, he's graduated so we'll need to find someone else to help with the drawings and renderings.

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Everything old is new again

Of course this was in 1934, today's pricing would be a little higher.

Modern Mechanix » Boxcar Homes for $3 Per Month

Boxcar Homes for $3 Per Month

AN INNOVATION in living quarters is represented in a boxcar village which has recently sprung up in New York City.

Inhabitants of this unique village, pictured below, pay only $3 a month rent, or $6 a week for room and board—reasonable enough in these hard times.

Each boxcar—there are 40 in number— is equipped to sleep four men with respectable comfort, and has a wood stove, washing accommodations, and a carpet.

When good times come back—which won’t be long now—the village will probably be abandoned.

Alert business men, however, or leaders of groups of organized unemployed should take a tip from this project and petition the heads of their local railroad for the use of old box cars and spurs. A very useful community can be built from the bodies of old box cars, as they are in the most cases very well built to carry grain and other perishable bulk commodities, and hence make easy buildings to convert into livable homes. Being tight they are easy to heat. A winter’s supply of wood for the community can be had by wrecking other cars.

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