The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) has awarded two British Columbia projects with the 2015 Innovation in Architecture award for their use of wood and steel: Michael Green Architecture's Wood Innovation Design Center in Prince George has been deemed to be an exemplar for tall timber buildings, while Patkau Architects' origami-inspired One Fold research project illustrates the structural potential of folding steel sheets. A closer look at both projects, after the break.
A three-member jury called the projects “extraordinary examples of true innovation… innovation that is significant, repeatable and applicable to the profession.”
Wood Innovation Design Center (WIDC) / Michael Green Architecture
The WIDC is the first tall wood building in Canada. The eight-story building stands 29.5 meters-tall and is the tallest contemporary timber building in North America.
"The firm argues that building with wood sourced from sustainably managed forests offers designers a rapidly renewable, low energy, and carbon-sequestering alternative to conventional building materials. Greater use of timber for large structures would significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide," stated the RAIC in a press release.
One Fold / Patkau Architects
An experiment aimed to push the boundaries of material strength to weight ratios, One Fold's self-supporting thin shell structure is lightweight, durable, demountable and recyclable, making it easily distributed and fabricated. It requires almost no secondary support structures.
“It is an efficient structure that embodies a minimal ecological footprint,” say the architects. “More than this, it represents an attention to material that finds beauty in structure and structure in beauty, promoting that aspiration within architecture generally.”
News via RAIC
