Newcastle Laboratory of Future Thinking

This is my currant evolution in the project, I am moving away from the whole permaculture and experimenting with the idea of biomimicry in Architecture through creating a laboratory and library.

Sustainability in buildings and construction to many people (consumers) today consists of simple installations and retrofits, of solar panels, solar hot water and energy efficient appliances. Consumers find themselves unaware, blinded to the fact that in becoming what they believe sustainable they are in fact only consuming more in materials and embedded energy. They are still on the linear path and not yet fully comprehended as to what defines true sustainable design.

As architects (or students of Architecture) we are trained to understand the core principles of sustainability and apply them to our own work to help create a closed, circular path of energy. However we are not the only professionals that are applying their skills and knowledge to the design of a more sustainable and waste free future. There is a field of study invented by Janine Benyus that incorporates scientists, (biologists, chemists), engineers, designers to help with this problem. It is BIOMIMICY research. This is an area of research that takes inspiration from the natural world, closely examining what evolution has created.

Although the term ‘biomimicry’ is relatively new (1982), inventors, artists and engineers have often turned to natural solutions for human problems.  Perhaps the best example of early biomimicry is Leonardo da Vinci, whose sketches for a “flying machine” were largely based off his observations of birds in flight.  Centuries later, the Wright brothers also observed pigeons to help develop the first plane. This type of research has also recently entered into the field of medical research, understanding the way the natural environment fights unwanted infections and using this information in modern medicines.

What I am examining here within my project is not the mimicry of form, a superficial wing of a bird or the negative mold of the surrounding environment, it is not about creating aesthetics through parametric design. Rather it is about looking deeper into what is being mimicked and understanding how and why its functions the way it does and using this information within the design process. 

This project is about creating a research facility in the center of Newcastle that examines biomimicry and its possible outcomes in the design world. Not only will this be a research laboratory devoted to bimimicry but the architecture will also invoke the theories and technologies from biomimicy. Within the program of the project there will be an intersection / collaboration with other various fields of scientific research which all can learn form one another, creating a fluid and flexible community of like-minded people.

As this is in an urban context and has a high community basis the second part of this project is a more community interactive zone consisting of a library, particular to the information gathered in the labs and specific to biomimicy in design. This space allows the public (consumer) to interact with the information, learn and be able further the inception of biomimicy into every day design practices. 

The project has three overlaying theories that manipulate the design these are:

•         biomicry which is the overriding theory and enters all areas of the design.
•          Research Patterns and Stages of Research that gives to the program design and user engagement.
•        The second law of thermodynamics which leads to entropy that explains the phenomenon of irreversibility in nature, that time is linear and everything is deteriorating. This shows in the planning arrangement of the boundaries of the program, the beginning of time shown in the labs through to the deterioration shown in the pavilions.

Example strategies for biometric building design:

Harmonize / integrate with local environment - this requires a considerable understanding of (and appreciation for) the immediate environment and its natural history

Maximize passive design and renewable energy sources - alignment of energy flows with natural tendencies, use of solar / wind, geothermal sources of energy

Harmonize building hydrology / water cycles - employ geothermal water temperature (as energy) for heating and cooling and retention and use of rainwater as available

Project scale matches environmental capability - design of projects that match the ecological footprint and capacity of the natural environment (correct building on the correct site). In a high-density urban environment it may not be possible to achieve this target.

ARCHITECTS

William McDonough + Partners (all these buildings are designed for temperate climate zones)

-         House Like a Tree

-         Ford Truck Plant, Dearborn, Michiga

-         Office Building of the Future,

Michael Pawlyn 

-         Sahara Forest Project, combines Seawater Greenhouse and Concentrated Solar Power

-         

Seawater Greenhouse

The process uses seawater to cool and humidify the air that ventilates the greenhouse and sunlight to distill fresh water from seawater. This enables the year round cultivation of high value crops that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to grow in hot, arid regions The overall process is extremely energy efficient. 1kW of electricity expended on pumping will remove 500kW of heat. Water can be produced at low energy costs (<3kWh/m3)".

-        rcr architects spain

Design

•          Special care is to be made when considering existing heritage buildings, Civic Theatre and Nesca House. Options for connecting to these buildings through the new architecture are to be examined.
•          Building proximity of the new and existing architecture are to be judged correctly, should the new connect directly into the existing or should there be a conscious gap between the new and the existing either left open or bridged with respect?
•           Materials, scale and function are to be carefully chosen as to not only respect the heritage of the site but also to enhance the heritage of the site.
•         Site and across site access are to be considered. Civic Park is an important feature within the surrounding site and it is important to make reference and possible connection to it. Also in this package of importance within the site is the Town Hall, Council Chambers and Wheeler Place, all these elements are to be referenced in the design and made connections to.

Precedence’s

-        Prisma Building

Nuremberg, Germany

Architect Joachim Eble, project architect G. Richter, Tübingen

(Greenhouse atrium)

-        Institute for Forestry and Nature Research

        Wageningen, The Netherlands

-

       mit-media-lab

Massachusetts

Architect Fumihiko Maki

(external skin of building, double skin)

rcr architectus, spain

(Small single instaulations)

Architect: Stefan Behnisch

(Atrium and offices with nature)