Sustainable Design Centre for London 2012

Back to Tap has learned that Siemens will be building a sustainable design centre in the heart of London in preparation for the Olympics. The question on our minds is if the centre will actually address some of London's most pressing issues, including the worst urban air quality in all of Europe and an antiquated and wasteful sewerage system, among other problems.

According to Siemens Chief Executive Andreas J. Goss, the project “aims to create an attractive focal point that celebrates London’s ambition and leadership in green technologies and sustainability" and she hopes that the project "will act as a catalyst for wider community involvement in the debate about how we best address the challenge of climate change in our cities.” Does this sound familiar?

Two years ago, the city of Vancouver's own Olympic sustainability project seemed to echo the same passion for sustianability, but in the end if turned out to another VANOC White Elephants. Will London's corporate financed sustainability fare any better than the real estate bubble tragedy that the Olympic Village has been for the City of Vancouver?

Set to open in early 2012 the centre in the Royal Victoria Docks, it is proposed that the centre will be a flagship for East London’s Green Enterprise District. This part of the city is alternatively represented as the Silicon Valley of the UK and a Green Enterprise District, so it is a little confusing for casual observers. Do "green" software servers run on air or solar energy?

Designed as a showcase of urban sustainability, and including an office, an exhibition and education facility, Siemens project will showcase new technology from around the world and new ways of living and working in the spirit of sustainable sustainable urbanism. The interactive exhibitions and events will be open to the public - yet just how open remains to be seen. Siemens' project is still very much private property development, and in spite of members of the public being permitted to enter the space when they are invited, this will not in fact be a public space.

The space is projected to attract around 100,000 visitors a year, with school groups, and visiting research teams being a key component in the mix. Based on the dynamic centre Siemens is hoping to realise, one wonders if the financiers behind Vancouver's second convention centre could have used their imagination a little and provided a more engaging space for the public, alongside corporate conferences and over-priced inspirational speakers.

In terms of raw technology, the centre will showcase UK sustainable design and construction technologies, and will maximise the use of natural daylight, incorporating high performance glazing, photovoltaic panels, energy efficient lighting and metering. Rainwater harvesting, water efficient appliances, ground source heat pumps and solar water heating will all be integral to the design and the building will be constructed using recycled steel and industrial by-product cement. Sustainable drainage and water efficient landscaping are also part of the plans to create a relaxing waterside environment around the building.

According to Anne Keogh, the building complex will serve as a living model for London homeowners, archtiects and designers with research facilities supporting new green businesses. How this will work in practice remains to be seen.

Siemens is in the enviable position of having a testing ground for many of these projects with the Masdar City project in Abu Dhabi. The Masdar project is business led initiatives to create a sustainable satellite city using new green technology. While few countries or cities have the money to build from nothing, both of these projects drive home the need for investment in innovative approaches to sustainable urban design and more equitable living in one of the world's wealthiest cities.

Moshe Safdie and Design for Humanity

At Back to Tap, we like to imagine that all architects and designers genuinely care about the world around them and how people interact with the buildings and objects they create. If people are going to go to the trouble of designing and building homes, offices and entire cities, it is important that they consider the people who inhabit these spaces.

The way we interact with water is particularly important. The way water enters our homes - the pipes and taps we use, and the way it leaves, and is filtered and returns to its source, has a huge impact on the environment, our health and well-being.

This symbiotic relationship between design, architecture, the environment and our health has frequently been ignored. We hope that in the future, more thinkers like Mosh Safdie will drive changes in the water and the built environment impact on our daily lives and the environment. We would love to read about any other inspiring designs.

Submerged Arcology: innovative ways to clean plastic from our seas

Back to Tap always enjoys learning about innovative solutions to plastic pollution and waste, and we enjoyed a number of this year's entries to the Evolo 2011 Skyscraper Competition. In particular, the Submerged Arcology by Serbian architects Milorad Vidojevic, Jelena Pucarevic, and Milica Pihler. The ocean going column is designed to catch plastic waste for removal from the seas and recycling.

While this is a concept, it reminds us of Zigloo's Gyre Seascraper. With oil rigs and offshore gas drilling platforms being built left and right, one wonders when we are going to take seriously the need to clean-up our oceans and become aware that environmental stewardship is at least as important as exploiting the resources around us?

Photo© Milorad Vidojevic, Jelena Pucarevic, Milica Pihler

Photo© Milorad Vidojevic, Jelena Pucarevic, Milica Pihler

Photo© Milorad Vidojevic, Jelena Pucarevic, Milica Pihler

Building for Water in the Sky

Dear to Back to Tap’s heart is the issue of pollution from water delivery services, as building design evolves to reflect new technological capabilities, and as people seek to re-connect with the concrete world around them, water is certain to play a role. Already, celebrity architects are incorporating water into buildings in exciting ways, and the next step will be the adoption of creative water designs for everyday use.

In Singapore, as buildings rise skyward, so do parks and water features, with the Sands Skypark perched 57 stories above the ground. If humans are going to continue expanding skywards, water must always accompany them.

Rendering of Sands Skypark by Safdie Architects. Courtesy of Marina Bay Sands.

Moving from the monumental architectural use of water by architects from Frank-Lloyd Wright to Zaha Hadid, designers are now thinking about water systems at the household level. Designs for porous concrete, green roofs, grey water recycling systems, and innovative irrigation systems are changing the way we use, recycle and dispose of water.

Artist's impression of Dubai fountains, by Emaar

Culture, Nature & the Future

How will we adapt to the future without plastic? Are people ready to accept that we must change patterns of consumption in order to protect the environment and repair the damage that has already been done.

In this TED Talk, cultural historian and ethnographer Wade Davis describes the interlinking webs of belief and ritual which link humanity - it is through connecting with these universal values and humanism that attitudes towards the Earth and its resources can hopefully be changed.

Enjoy the talk and we hope you will get in touch with Back to Tap to start a discussion on some of his points.