Here at KWA, we stay deep in the trenches of building multifamily housing projects, but we still find the time to stop and smell the roses; well in this case it’s pretty genius craftsmanship that we appreciate.
“Wow, Why Didn’t I Think of That?” is our selection of unique buildings, chosen by our employees, that meet the following criteria:
1) Innovative
2) Inspirational
3) Makes you say, “Wow, why didn’t I think of that?”
Pertamina Energy Tower in Jakarta, Indonesia
The Pertamina Energy Tower is slated for completion in 2020 and will belong to the state-owned energy company of Indonesia. The 1,640-foot, 99-story tower will include a performing arts and exhibition pavilion, a mosque and a central energy plant.
The tower will create its own energy through a huge funnel at the top that pulls in wind which moves a series of vertical turbines inside to create electricity. Architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP are also considering utilizing the subterranean steam below Jakarta to provide geothermal energy as well. If the firm is able to generate both wind and geothermal energy, Pertamina could be the first energy-positive supertall building in the world.
Source: Equipment World
Federation of Korean Industries Headquarters in Seoul, South Korea
The new Federation of Korean Industries tower will feature solar panels on the full height of its façade. These solar panels are designed to both reduce excessive heating and cooling, as well as collect energy through photovoltaic (PV) panels.
The panels will be angled at 30 degrees toward the sun up to the 50th floor, approximately 240 meters up, allowing the panels to collect power to meet the building’s electrical needs. Underneath the panels, the windows are angled at 15 degrees downward to minimize direct sun radiation and glare. Together, both sets of panels create a striking, rippled effect. The roof is also fitted with PV panels to maximize the surface area to collect power.
Source: KHL International Construction
North Atlanta High School in Atlanta, Georgia
Architecture firm Cooper Carry transformed an 11-story building formerly occupied by IBM, into a newly created high school for 2,350 students in north Atlanta. The building now houses administrative offices, a media center, cafeteria and academic classrooms. Nearby parking lots were transformed into sports fields. A 9-story annex will be demolished to make room for a new structure that will house a 600-seat main theater, a black box theater, music rooms, a 2,100-seat gym and an auxiliary gym.
Each grade occupies two stories connected by one large stairway. While the interior had to meet Atlanta Public Schools’ requirements for construction materials, each grade has a signature color which can be seen from the image above.
Source: Building Design + Construction
University of Guiana Library in Cayenne, Guiana
At the center of the University of Guiana campus is the university library building enclosed by a timber lattice frame. The frame allows the building to open up to the rest of the site, while the peripheral space situated between the lattice and the concrete building provides an additional area for students to congregate. This space is referred to as the “gallery.”
To protect students from the region’s intense heat, the double-layer façade also increases visual comfort by minimizing glare and ensuring that diffused light spreads in a homogeneous manner.
Source: designboom
The Breathing Shelter at the Vienna University of Applied Arts
The Breathing Shelter is a pavilion designed to adjust to different climate conditions, with its main feature being flexibility to its environment. The formal language used in this project is a form-finding process looking for suitable configurations that allow the building itself to be a kinetic model.
Three modules are able to breathe independently, reacting according to interior needs. This movement allows airflow, which is able to balance the interior temperatures. The model also changes its basic position depending on the season. In the summer the folds are relaxed, during the winter season the modules are completely contracted to reduce the volume of the space in the building, helping to keep the temperature as high as possible.
Source: eVolo
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