| Architecture Student Chronicles

Waste House Construction, Brighton, UK

April 15, 2014April 15, 2014 by Architect

Case study of Waste House in Brighton | Grand Parade Campus

Waste House is being constructed in the Grand Parade Campus of University of Brighton. Brighton is town in the southeast of England, UK. Duncan Baker Brown and Cat Fletcher are leads in the project. It is a challenging project. This house is going to be used as a studio for postgraduate design students. It will be open to public for viewing. The aim of the project is to demonstrate how waste can be efficiently used for the construction purposes without having to compromise on the quality.

Materials selected for the Waste House Project

Roof – solar roof (Solar PV tiles have been used on the roof.)

Sky harvester – Natural light source

Rainwater harvesting

Timber from local sustainer sources

Second hand timber

Since it is second hand timber and that its strength cannot be determined, the structural engineer assumes that the timber is of the weakest type and compensates in the design accordingly.

Walls

Lightweight prefabricated panels = lots of insulation

Reuse waste materials such as Hemp, glass, earth, tins, straw, carpet tiles

Heavy weight prefabricated panels = lots of heat storage

Chalk wall – 10 tonnes of chalk used + 10% clay

(Although only 100% chalk would mean better wall strength)

Google Acquiring Smart Home Energy Management company Nest Labs for $3.2 Billion

January 24, 2014January 14, 2014 by Architect

Internet giant Google is acquiring smart home and connected devices company Nest Labs for $3.2 billion. Nest Labs is best known for designing modern connected thermostats and smoke detector systems. Nest Learning Thermostat launched in 2011 is an automated HVAC controller which learns your habits and helps you save energy. Nest Protect is an internet-connected smoke and carbon monoxide detector which can me remotely monitored.

Google is ready to enter the young and fragmented active sustainable systems, home automation and green tech industry, and leverage its global platform reach to take it by the storm. Google had hinted about its plans for its own home connected platform Android @Home.

The agreement is currently pending government regulatory approval, which wouldn’t really be a hurdle for Google at this point.

Google recently bought Nest, a smoke alarm and thermostat combined. I wonder if this will happen… pic.twitter.com/uGDDBsJW8C

— Give Me Internet (@GiveMeInternet) January 22, 2014

Which tools are responsible for shaping our cities?

September 14, 2013 by Architect

Identifying factors responsible for shaping our cities

Studying and analyzing the growth of towns at a superficial level gives us a complete idea of the growth of towns and its division of towns depending on its size and population.

To study the growth of towns in depth and to identify the reasons for the development of towns and cities for the way they developed, three tools have been studied. These could be used as design tools for the design of new towns.

Transportation Planning
Land use planning
Food

Interesting facts about how food shaped our cities

We consume good wherever we go since it is our need for survival.

For consumption we need to produce…

With more and more people moving into the cities, the natural landscapes are being destroyed.

We consume meat.

Animals are fed which increase the need for more crop production to feed animals and then animals are consumed by us.

By 2050, it is estimated that twice of us are going to live in the cities. So, there will be 6 billion hungry carnivores to feed by 2050
Read more

The future development in Brighton and Hove

July 27, 2013 by Architect

The redevelopment of Brighton and Hove

30 years ago, sea side towns like Brighton were dead. The towns and cities around Brighton are being reborn. These are exhilarating times. New settlements are springing up. South and south east pressure is increasing because people are moving out of London.

Cities are densely populated and the density is on the rise. Controversy is raging. It is the crucial time for Brighton and Hove.

It is estimated that the population of Brighton will increase 22000 in the next ten years.

3 radical developments altering Brighton seafront

1) 176m high spike – designed by the people who designed London Eye

2) At the Marina, far east end of the city, huge 40 storey tower – centre of more than 850 new apartments with some restaurants and shops.

3) Far west of the front – most controversial project – a plan to rebuild King’s sports centre along with another 750 more flats.