UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND GLOBAL CHANGE INSTITUTE BY HASSELL

The Global Change Institute is a $32 million building designed by HASSELL which meets the world’s most advanced levels of sustainability.

The building demonstrates sustainable technological research and pilots innovative sustainable building solutions. The building has been designed to work with the natural environment and will operate as a zero-energy and carbon neutral workplace.

It will be naturally ventilated for most of the year and generate and store all its own power on-site through renewable solar energy sources that are pollution-free. All excess power will be delivered back to the national grid.

The GCI Building also represents the first Australian use of structural Geopolymer concrete, a low-carbon product produced with significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions than conventional concrete.

The building moves away from a framework of consumption of the world’s resources to one that contributes to the restoration and regeneration of the environment.

It will also act as a live research site, with the building systems and occupants used to assess optimal comfort conditions in low-energy buildings for the sub-tropics.

The building features an operable sun shading system that tracks the sun and protects the glass louvres which encourage natural ventilation. The air flows across occupied spaces to the central atrium which acts as the building’s lungs, discharging warm air through its thermal chimney.

The translucent ETFE atrium roof allows natural light into the interior while insulating from the sun’s heat. Optimal natural lighting is supported by environmentally-friendly LED lighting.

The building is cooled with chilled water flushed through the exposed sculptural precast floor panels. Rainwater storage of 60,000 litres services the hydronic cooling system, kitchen and shower.

A green wall, bush tucker garden and bio-retention basin breathe life into the building’s green ethos, and UQ’s St Lucia campus pedestrian links provide easy access by foot or bike.

Location: Brisbane QLD, Australia 
Architects: HASSELL 
Area: 3,865 sqm 
Year: 2013 
Photographs: Angus Martin

PRODUCTION HALL TRUMPF HETTINGEN BY BARKOW LEIBINGER

Trumpf GmbH the world largest manufacturer of high tech machine tools will be expanding their existing branch factory near the village of Hettingen in the Swabian Alb.

Situated in a picturesque valley this will be the second addition undertaken by Barkow Leibinger the first (shops and offices of 1500 sqm.) was done in 2009.

A new master plan anticipates the construction of new production and assembly in four phases.

In July 2013 the first of these phases, a new production hall with 3400 sqm, was realized after only 13 months of construction.

Organized as a simple repetitive shed construction of seven bays the production hall is bracketed by two stories of offices (to the north) and a drive-through loading bay (to the south).

For the production and assembling of oversized flatbed laser machines a column free and flexible space was required. The bays measure 24m in width and 13m at the highest point of the shed.

The steel framework of the roof construction allows north-facing skylights within the structural depth; together with the 3m high strip window at ground level they provide daylight for the working areas.

The permanent long façade facing the Lauchert Creek and valley is articulated as a gently folded origami of corrugated metal and glass to scale the factory building to the neighboring singlefamily houses with pitched roofs.

The office front is integrated into the shed volume but has a mater of fact gridded façade.

The roof as a 5th facade is planted with local vegetation to better integrate into the scenic valley.

Location: Hettingen, Germany 
Architects: Barkow Leibinger 
Architect In Charge: Frank Barkow, Regine Leibinger 
Project Team: Tobias Wenz (project architect), Andreas Lang, Hiroki Nakamura, Ina Reinecke, Florian Steinbächer, Ludwig Uphues 
Construction Management: Kerler, partner architekt ingenieure 
Structural Engineer: IB Breinlinger 
Mechanical Engineer: Henne & Walter 
Energy Design: Transsolar Energietechnik GmbH 
Electrical Engineering: Müller & Bleher 
Building Physics: Horstmann, Berger 
Landscape Architect: Capatti Staubach 
Underground Engineering: Ingenieurbüro Beck 
Area: 3,400 sqm 
Year: 2013 
Client: TRUMPF GmbH & Co. KG 
Photographs: Ina Reinecke

STONEHENGE VISITOR CENTRE BY DENTON CORKER MARSHALL

Located 1.5 miles to the west of the stone circle at Airman’s Corner, just within the World Heritage Site but out of sight of the monument, the new visitor centre is designed with a light touch on the landscape – a low key building sensitive to its environment.

Sited within the rolling landforms of Salisbury Plain, the design consists of a subtle group of simple enclosures resting on a limestone platform, all sheltered by a fine, perforated, undulating canopy. Three pods, finished in different materials, provide the principal accommodation. The largest, clad in sweet chestnut timber, houses the museum displays and service facilities. The second largest, clad in glass, houses the educational base, a stylish café and retail facilities.

Located between these is the third, by far the smallest and clad in zinc, which provides ticketing and guide facilities. Oversailing them all, and resting on 211 irregularly placed sloping columns, is a steel canopy clad on the underside with zinc metal panels and shaped with a complex geometry reflecting the local landforms. Local, recyclable and renewable materials have been used wherever possible.

The material palette includes locally grown sweet chestnut timber cladding and Salisbury limestone. The new building allows Stonehenge to have dedicated facilities on site for education and interpretation for the first time, with museum-quality exhibits that tell the story of the 5,000 year- old monument. From the new centre, visitors can either walk to the monument or take a ten-minute shuttle ride. During the trip the henge emerges slowly over the horizon to the East.

Sustainable Design

The building is sensitively designed to sit lightly in the landscape. Reversibility – the ability to return the site to its current state – was a fundamental design concept. The modern construction, using slender steel columns and lightweight framed walls, and semi-external spaces allow the depth of foundations to be minimised.

Other green features include:

- An open loop ground source heating system that pumps underground water through a unit to extract/inject heat energy. This enables the building to be heated and provides some cooling without the need for fossil fuels.

- Fully insulated cavity walls – the timber pod is constructed of structurally insulated panels (SIPS), which enables efficiencies in construction whilst minimising material waste and ensuring the building is well insulated.

- Mixed mode ventilation – the building will be naturally ventilated whenever external conditions allow, switching to an efficient mechanical ventilation system that enables the heat energy in the exhaust air to be ‘recovered’ and transferred to the supply air, thereby reducing the load on the heating plant and saving energy.

- “Grey water”, including rainwater collected from the roof of the building, will be used for the bulk of water required at the visitor centre, e.g. for flushing toilets. Other water – e.g. for drinking – will be drawn from the aquifer, a local and renewable resource.

- The facilities will use on-site water treatment for sustainability and to avoid intrusive trenching for connections to water and sewer mains.

Location: Stonehenge, UK

Architects: Denton Corker Marshall

Project Associate: Angela Dapper

Structural Engineers: Sinclair Knight Merz

M&E Consultant: Norman Disney Young

Quantity Surveyor: Firmingers

Planning Supervisor: Chris Blandford Associates

Landscape Architects: Chris Blandford Associates

Exhibition Designers: Haley Sharpe Design

Project Managers: Gardiner + Theobald

Steelwork contractor: S H Structures

Main contractor: Vinci Construction

Cost: £ 27M

Year: 2013

Client: English Heritage

Photographs: Peter Cook