Sustainable modular acoustic panels are made from a unique blend of up-cycled textile and mycelium

Posted on 02/02/2022 by Shawn McNulty-Kowal

Foresta System is a modular acoustic panel design made from a unique blend of fungal mycelium and upcycled textile material.

Mycelium is like nature’s hidden superpower. Mushrooms can be used for anything from cooking, health and wellness, and even construction. Packed with industrial-level strength, mycelium is a natural fungi material that has recently been used as building materials for various construction projects.

Designer: Mogu

From home building to furnishing needs, mycelium provides an organic, yet durable construction material. Now used to create interior acoustic panels, the Foresta System designed by Italy-based Mogu takes a unique blend of mycelium and upcycled textile materials to create modular acoustic panels.

Constructed from a mix of mycelium panels, wood branches, and nodes, the timber frame that supports the different parts of Foresta can be mechanically fixed to the wall or vertical surface. Each node also carries integrated magnets that allow the acoustic panels to be mounted on the timber frame, allowing for easy removal and assembly.

The first of its kind to integrate mycelium into its build, Foresta has been granted the winning prize of the 2022 German Design Awards for its eco-conscious and innovative design. 100% circular by design, none of Mogu Acoustic products are made with synthetic material, nodding towards the company’s “extremely virtuous manufacturing cycle,” as the German Design jury suggests.

Made entirely from fungal mycelium and upcycled textile materials, Foresta is a collection of modular acoustic panels used to minimize the acoustic levels of noisy spaces like restaurants, offices, and retail businesses. Using the latest technologies in wood processing such as product parametric modeling, robotized production lines, and advanced manufacturing, Mogu was able to combine the refined aesthetics of wooden design with the cutting-edge nature of fungal mycelium to produce a truly innovative product.

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This sustainable forest complex absorbs CO2 and produces oxygen to mitigate the effects of urbanization!

Posted on 02/02/2022 by Shawn McNulty-Kowal

Easyhome Huanggang Vertical Forest City Complex, comprised of five sustainable green towers, was built to mitigate the effects of urbanization and fight for the environmental survival of our cities.

As our cities become increasingly popular destinations for younger generations, the need to introduce sustainable and biophilic architecture has never felt more urgent. As we face urban expansion and densification, architects are taking initiative to ensure the environmental survival of our contemporary cities. Italian architect Stefano Boeri has found promise in vertical city forest complexes, a form of biophilic architecture that incorporates teeming greenery into the very structure of residential buildings. Easyhome Huanggang Vertical Forest City Complex is Boeri’s latest sustainable undertaking, a forest complex in Huanggang, Hubei, China “intended to create a completely innovative green space for the city.”

Bounded by three streets, Easyhome covers 4.54 hectares and comprises five towers, each of which connects with an open, public space. 404 different trees fill out the layout of Easyhome, absorbing 22 tons of carbon dioxide and producing 11 tons of oxygen over the span of a year. Helping to mitigate smog and produce oxygen, the trees incorporated into Easyhome also increase biodiversity by attracting new bird and insect species. 4,620 shrubs and 2,408 square meters of grass, flowers, and climbing plants are also spread throughout Easyhome’s structure in addition to the complex’s tree species.

Easyhome’s rhythmic, modular facade also lends itself to increased biodiversity by mimicking the incongruent, wild look of nature. Rising 80 meters in height, two of the five towers are residential buildings, while the other towers remain in use as hotels and large commercial spaces. As Boeri is no stranger to vertical green complexes, he has worked on many urban forestry projects. Everywhere, from Milan to Cairo, Boeri has designed forest complexes to help mitigate the harmful effects of urbanization. However, Easyhome is a new type of vertical forest.

Describing the building’s difference in his own words, Boeri writes, “the floors have cantilevered elements that interrupt the regularity of the building and create a continuous ever-changing movement, accentuated by the presence of trees and shrubs selected from local species.” In addition to the building’s undulating facades and rugged appeal, Easyhome implements a combination of open-air balconies and closed-off terraces to blue the transitional boundary between nature and human-centered environments. This incongruent configuartion of the building’s exterior also allows the greenery to grow freely in height and foliage, the way it would in natural forests.

Designer: Stefano Boeri Architetti

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Sustainable, beautiful and comfy chairs that are made from stacks of factory offcut felt

Posted on 28/01/2022 by JC Torres

Surplus materials and offcuts are often reused to create art pieces that try to send a message. A new system, however, tries to turn what is considered waste into sustainable furniture for the living room that you can actually use and sit on.

The demand for clothing and furniture upholstery has probably gone up in the past few years, as more people become more attuned to well-designed products. That means more materials are used for production, which unfortunately also means more scraps are left on the cutting room floor, quite literally. While some of these materials are biodegradable or at least recyclable, one design firm is putting them to good use to create furniture that not only looks comfortable but artistically striking as well.

Designer: Stacklab

How many ways can you cut felt to turn it into something usable? Apparently, there are a lot of ways, especially if you let a machine decide. More than just a collection of designer furniture in the form of chairs, lounges, and benches, Stackabl is actually a new system that mixes machine precision with human creativity. In a nutshell, a specialized configurator software analyzes choices made by a user or a designer, like colors or dimensions, and selects high-quality felt offcuts that are then cut by robots for use in making furniture.

With limitations set by this configurator, six designers from Maison Gerard set out to create memorable designer furniture that looks almost wasteful if you didn’t know they were made from factory surplus and offcuts. Each designer expressed different ideas and influences, resulting in wildly different designs.

The Raki corner chair, for example, exudes a spirit of play and frivolity with its uneven form and non-uniform legs, while Dulces dining chair might remind you of the cake it’s named after, especially one with a sweet pink filling in the middle. The Madame chaise lounge’s predominantly red hue and sloping “shoulders” make it look exotic, while the Maxine bench’s mix of design influences is just as varied as its colors.

In addition to reusing materials that would normally be thrown away, Stackabl also puts the power and choice into the hands of regional manufacturers and designers. By keeping in touch with regional sources for these materials and allowing designers from that region to exercise their creativity, Stackabl tries to hit two birds with one stone in reducing carbon footprint while also enriching and empowering local economies.

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The Best of CES 2022 – Product Designs that Wow

Posted on 08/01/2022 by JC Torres

Here are some of the best consumer electronics we can look forward to this year or dream about in the near future.

The annual Consumer Electronics Show or CES has always been a time for companies to show off their latest and greatest consumer tech ideas and products. More often than not, it also acts as a barometer for the trends and directions that will eventually drive and affect people’s lives in the months to come, from mobile devices to AI to robots to, unsurprisingly, the metaverse. These products and concepts aren’t just pulled from thin air, of course, and they also showcase the thinking and work that goes into their design. Not all products are made equal, though, and some designs easily rise above others. Here are some of the picks this year showcasing some of the best product designs from CES 2022.

Samsung Freestyle

Smart projectors are almost a dime a dozen these days, even if they cost nearly four-digit figures. They come in all shapes and sizes, but Samsung’s latest entry into that market throws all design conventions out the window. It’s small, portable, multi-talented, and quirky. And it will be trying to put Samsung’s own smart TVs out of business.

The Samsung Freestyle is part smart project and part smart speaker, with a little bit of ambient lighting on the side. Designed for Gen Z and millennials, it cylindrical device offers almost everything you need for a video binge, including Samsung’s smart TV software. It won’t outclass larger projectors when it comes to brightness, but you’d be hard-pressed to find one that’s as portable as this. All you need is a dark room, a flat surface, and a power bank, and you’re good to go.

Designer: Samsung

(Samsung C-Labs) Prinker

Although tattoos are historically serious business, they have acquired a certain element of whimsy in the modern age. Temporary tattoos and stickers try to offer a brief glimpse into that experience but come with their own sets of problems and limitations. More importantly, they aren’t fun, which is what Prinker is trying to solve.

Born from Samsung’s C-Lab skunkworks program, the new Prinker M makes printing temporary tattoos almost magical. You can select a design from the mobile app or create your own, slide the handheld printer over your skin, and voila! Instant water-proof temporary tattoo. The sign of great product design is that you don’t have to think about how something works, and the Prinker definitely pulls that off pretty well.

Designer: Samsung C-Lab

OneLife X

The COVID-19 pandemic has made people more concerned about the air they breathe, even at home. Although they don’t exactly kill the dreaded virus, air purifiers that help reduce the risks of getting sick have surged in popularity in the past two years. The OneLife X sounds like your typical air purifier if you simply read its features, but one glance at it, and you know it’s special.

Aside from its use of advanced technologies like a laser plasma field to detect and purify the air, the OneLife X stands out from the crowd by being more sustainable. The filter, for example, is reusable and can easily be washed under the tap or even inside a dishwasher. The wooden outer body is also a big plus and looks handsome to boot!

Designer: OneLife

Labrador Retriever

Robots are going to be part of our lives, whether we like it or not. These machines and AI might not completely take over our jobs just yet, but they are making their way even into our homes. Most home robots, however, are either toys or vacuum cleaners, but Labrador Systems designed a new robot that is a bit more homely. And despite its name, it doesn’t resemble a dog or Boston Dynamics’ Spot, for that matter.

This shelf on wheels can bring you your medicine or carry your laundry for you, all without you having to push or pull it to submission. Although everyone can benefit from this smart roving storage, the Labrador Retriever and Caddie are primarily designed for those with more limited physical capabilities. They also won’t look out of place standing with your minimalist furniture for those times when you don’t need it at your side.

Designer: Labrador Systems

Baracoda BCool

Medical and health-related gadgets have been popping up left and right as more people become concerned and conscious about their physical well-being. That, unfortunately, also means a rise in the use of plastics and other environment-unfriendly materials that are used to make these products. Digital thermometers have become one of the most common gadgets in this category, and Baracoda is launching one that keeps an eye on the environment as much as your temperature.

The BCool thermometer eschews batteries that almost all digital thermometers use, relying instead on kinetic energy to power the tool. Give it a few shakes, and then hold it near but not on your forehead to get a reading. No skin contact is required, making it also safe to use between different people. The device probably still uses non-recyclable or non-biodegradable materials, but it’s still a positive step forward towards making common tools like these more sustainable.

Designer: Baracoda

Albert 2 Pro Foot Scanner

The ongoing pandemic has changed a lot of things in our lives, from the way we work to the way we buy things. Stores have also implemented their own systems to minimize health risks, but those don’t always work for all retail products. Footwear is particularly tricky to get right, especially without first-hand (or foot) in-person fitting. That’s where Aetrex comes in with an almost futuristic way to get your foot size and shape.

The Aetrex Albert 2 Pro looks almost like a sci-fi prop, one that you step on to potentially teleport you somewhere. In reality, it’s a 3D scanner that makes it almost trivial to find the right shoe or orthotics to fit your feet. Adding to the futuristic feel is voice control, ensuring that only your feet make contact with the scanner and never your hands.

Designer: Aetrex

Anssil Mattress

Given its name, you’d expect that everything at CES will be about electronics. Technology, however, doesn’t always involve processors, circuits, and electricity. Sometimes, the most impressive consumer tech products are those that don’t even have those, applying instead smart materials, innovative manufacturing, and, of course, good product design.

The Anssil Mattress is one example of that, using specially woven “3D” strings to replace the use of springs. The mattress does have some external electronics in the form of a cushion control that can increase or decrease the tension of those threads to soften or harden the mattress. It’s definitely an interesting and impressive demonstration of ingenious product design that doesn’t rely on hi-tech electronics and AI to function.

Designer: Anssil

Roborock Auto-Empty Dock

Robot vacuum cleaners no longer look like oddities today, and many of them are starting to look or sound similar in design and features. That includes how you often have to manually clean out the robot’s dust bin, potentially exposing you to harmful particles. A veteran in this market, Roborock has finally figured out how to minimize how often you’ll have to empty out the bin.

Roborock’s Auto Empty Dock system sucks the dust, dirt, and other unwanted things that the vacuum cleaner accumulated in its bin and transfers them into a bigger bin. That bin will eventually need to be taken out, but the 3.0L bag automatically seals itself when you’re about to do that. As an extra feature, that dock also acts as an air purifier for your room.

Designer: Roborock

LG PuriCare 360 Air Purifier

While the OneLife X definitely takes the crown when it comes to sustainability, there are times and instances where you might need a more powerful solution to protect your family’s health indoors. There are plenty of solutions available from big brands, but LG’s latest goes the extra mile by also minding the pets that live with you. And it does so in a form that doesn’t take up too much space in the room.

The new LG PuriCare 360 air purifier combines some of the company’s best features in this category. Pet Mode, for example, pulls in even strands of fur and hair that could cause allergies or breathing problems. It also has AI that detects which part of the room has the most air contamination and automatically rotates to face the problem head-on.

Designer: LG

XGIMI Aura

The Samsung Freestyle might be cute and portable, but when it comes to a serious cinematic experience, it might fall short of a few desirable specs. It stops at 1080p Full HD content, for one, and really requires you to have a dark place to watch in. If you want the full shebang, XGIMI’s new Aura 4K Ultra Short Throw Laser Projector will do nicely.

Yes, it’s quite the behemoth of a project, so you’ll probably want to keep it in a single place. Its sleek exterior and slightly curved top do give it a bit of charm and won’t mar the pristine interior design you’ve chosen. More importantly, its close range means you won’t have to set it up in the middle of the room when you need to use it.

Designer: XGIMI

Honorable Concepts

Not all the impressive things on the CES 2022 showroom floor made the cut, especially those that lean more towards the conceptual side of the fence. Here are some “honorable mentions” of designs we do wish would become a reality sooner rather than later.

Razer Project Sophia

Razer’s idea for a modular desk will save many creatives and workers not just time but also space and money. A single desk that can be reconfigured at a moment’s notice to fit your needs sounds like a fantasy waiting to happen. That it looks like the dashboard of some futuristic ship or console scores bonus points for design and tech geeks.

Designer: Razer

Movano Ring

Smart rings aren’t completely new, but they have yet to become the stylish and discreet accessories that their non-smart counterparts have been for centuries. Movano’s design, aimed at women, certainly makes it look like a luxury item, but it is serious business in keeping tabs on the wearer’s health. It will definitely be interesting when Movano finds a solution that will allow that same ring to monitor not just your typical biometrics but also your blood sugar level without having to draw your blood.

Designer: Movano

Dell Concept Luna

CES 2022 is unsurprisingly flooded with new laptops, but even ASUS’ take on the foldable laptop pales in comparison to Dell’s bold concept. A sustainable and repairable laptop probably goes against all business sense for a PC maker, but the long-term benefits to the environment probably make it the most important gamble Dell could ever take. It doesn’t have to happen all at once, though, and any step forward could still benefit the planet and consumers in the long run.

Designer: Dell

BMW iX Flow Concept

Forget flying cars, at least for a while. BMW’s iX Flow envisions a future where a vehicle can be more than just a status symbol but also a fashion statement. Of course, E-ink technology will still have to catch up, but it’s only a matter of time before we see a full-color version of this intriguing idea.

Designer: BMW

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Dell envisions a sustainable laptop, allowing you to replace parts, creating a design you could grow old with

Posted on 07/01/2022 by JC Torres

Dell is checking all the right boxes for a laptop that is not only environment-friendly but also potentially immortal.

Laptops revolutionized the computing industry by making personal computing more portable, but it also came at the expense of some flexibility and sustainability. Unlike towering desktops, not everything inside a laptop can be easily upgraded, much less replaced when broken. Many laptops makers probably prefer that status quo, but Dell is boldly pushing an idea that could mean it will eventually sell fewer laptops.

Designer: Dell

Today, you can upgrade or replace a laptop’s memory and storage, but that’s pretty much it. You can’t upgrade the processor, add a graphics unit, or even easily replace the keyboard after years of wear and tear. That’s not even considering the materials and processes used in manufacturing these devices, which involve a lot of plastics and a lot of components that eventually end up being a lot of waste.

Dell’s Concept Luna laptop throws all of that out the window, envisioning a portable computer that would appeal to almost everyone, from the expert PC modder to the environment-conscious consumer. The company is trying to apply multiple strategies across the pipeline to not only reduce the laptop’s carbon footprint but, ultimately, also make it as long-lasting as any desktop that can get repaired or upgraded bit by bit.

The ideas that Dell has are quite interesting. In addition to using more recyclable materials, like flax fiber instead of plastic laminate, the company is also looking into shrinking the size or number of components like the motherboard to reduce the amount of energy used to manufacture them. Smarter placement of those components can also lead to better passive heat dissipation, removing the need for plastic fans inside.

Then there’s also the element of repairability, which is made easier by having only four screws to access internal components and using no adhesives. Components can be removed easily and replaced, or perhaps even upgraded with a newer part. All in all, the Concept Luna represents the holy grail of sustainable computers and is probably years away from becoming a reality.

Dell admits that the concept only touches on what is possible, not what is feasible or, more importantly, profitable. A sustainable laptop would ultimately mean people will buy fewer new laptops if they could just upgrade or replace parts of the laptop they already own. Of course, Dell could build a business around selling parts or services, but that might still be less profitable than the status quo that isn’t doing our environment any favors.

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Orbital Marine Power’s latest renewable energy project is a tidal turbine that can provide electricity for 2,000 homes!

Posted on 04/08/2021 by Shawn McNulty-Kowal

Tidal turbines are some of the most efficient renewable energy producers, offering predictability, reliability, and low-cost upkeep (albeit following an expensive construction period). Harnessed by free-floating turbines or ones contained within barrages, tidal energy produces power from ocean surges during the rise and fall of tides. Orbital Marine Power, a renewable technology company, recently launched their very own tidal turbine called O2 off the coast of Orkney, Scotland.

O2 is a 74-meter, free-floating, 2MW tidal turbine that will be able to provide sustainable, renewable energy for the next fifteen years with the potential to fulfill an annual electricity quota for around 2,000 homes across the UK. Stationed in the Orkney Isles, O2’s location was specifically chosen for the powerful tidal currents resulting from the confluence of the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. In fact, O2 is anchored in the Fall of Warness, a location known for its high-tidal energy, reaching tidal flow velocities of 3 m/s, or around six knots. Taking advantage of the sea’s perpetual tidal energy, Orbital Marine Power cabled O2 to one of Orkney’s onshore electricity networks to begin collecting and generating renewable energy. In building O2, Orbital Marine Power equipped the vessel with a two-bladed pitching hub, 1 MW nacelle, and a 20m rotor to allow for bidirectional navigation and optimize tidal flow.

Orbital Marine Power is a privately held company that found support in public lenders and various green initiatives from the Scottish government and E.U. to help fund O2’s launch. Michael Matheson, a supporter of O2 and cabinet secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport notes, “With our abundant natural resources, expertise and ambition, Scotland is ideally placed to harness the enormous global market for marine energy whilst helping deliver a net-zero economy…The deployment of Orbital Marine Power’s O2, the world’s most powerful tidal turbine, is a proud moment for Scotland and a significant milestone in our journey to net-zero.”

Designer: Orbital Marine Power

O2 has the potential to generate enough power for 2,000 homes across the UK.

Following a lengthy and expensive construction process, O2 was built to harness energy from tides and produce power.

The 74-meter long turbine features a two-bladed pitching hub, 1 MW nacelle, and a 20m rotor.

Dynamic power cable connections are located on both ends of the turbine, connecting it to onshore electricity networks.

O2 also comes complete with boarding and loading decks so researchers can delve into the science behind acquiring tidal power.

The tidal turbine is located in the Fall of Warness, a high-tidal energy environment resulting from the confluence of the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea.

Orkney’s coast is known for high tidal action.

This handcrafted iPad Pro Stand carved from a single piece of wood comes with a magnetic Apple Pencil holder!

Posted on 03/08/2021 by Shawn McNulty-Kowal

Sculpted into a shape that permits ergonomic usability and comfort, the iPad Pro Stand from Yohann boasts a final form that allows for multi-angled usage, achieved by reducing the light, thin profile to its bare necessities.

Keeping track of all of our smart electronics and their accessories can get messy. Depending on what you use them for, smart appliances guide us through the week and keep us on top of our personal and work-related agendas. 2016’s Apple Pencil, for one, was designed for iPad Pro but has a tendency of getting lost. Yohann, a sustainable brand passionate about crafting wooden Apple accessories, created a wooden iPad Pro Stand with a built-in Apple Pencil holder so there will always be a place to store it.

Click Here to Buy Now!

Stationery in general gets lost all the time. Our favorite pens fall into hard-to-reach cracks and our pencils roll under our beds, never to be seen again. The iPad Pro Stand from Yohann features an exact slot for your Apple Pencil to slink into when not in use.

The secure lip allows the iPad Pro to remain stationary on the stand. The Apple Pencil holder features magnetic ends to ensure secure storage and that you’ll never lose your Apple Pencil again. The stand itself is handcrafted from a single piece of wood for a solid and durable structure that ages well and stands the test of time. The iPad Pro stand features a winged back for multi-angled use.

Navigating our library of smart electronics and accessories can become as overwhelming as managing our photo library. To help declutter our desks of wires and gadgets, Yohann crafted the iPad Pro Stand with a built-in Apple Pencil holder.

Following their handcrafted and high-quality design process, Yohann built the stand to be ergonomic, intuitive, and long-lasting. Illustrators and graphic designers can draw on their iPad Pros using the stand as a bolstered. Best of all, we love how the magnetic Apple Pencil holder snaps onto place and that’s a feature we’ll be toying with it for a while!

Designer: Yohann

Click Here to Buy Now!

The iPad Pro stand can even remain upright on soft surfaces, perfect for nighttime Netflix-binge sessions.

The precise slot for your Apple Pencil ensures that it won’t go missing.

Breathtaking residential building in Mexico comes with its own vertical forest and solar panels on its terrace

Posted on 22/07/2021 by Sarang Sheth

Living The Noom’s design is everything you want from a building – an unusually beautiful organic structure, covered with a lush tone of green brought about by the vertical forests running along its surface, and running almost entirely on renewable energy.

Designed by Mexico-based Sanzpont Arquitectura, ‘Living In The Noom’ puts you in the lap of nature and luxury. Its sanctuary-esque design focuses on three broad pillars – Wellness, Sustainability, and Flexibility. The community features multiple 4-storeyed houses with a uniquely alluring triangular shape, characterized by vertical bamboo channels and a vertical forest growing on the outer facade of the building. Finally, the structure culminates in a terrace on the fifth floor that has solar panels for harvesting energy, and an urban garden where the residents can grow their own food.

A winner of multiple architecture awards, the Noom project focuses on creating a community for people that focuses on their individual needs. This meant visualizing the entire project as something multi-faceted, rather than a building made of boxes that simply ‘contained’ their occupants. Aside from giving Noom’s residents a stellar home to live in, the project even comes with amenities like greenery (70% of the project’s area is covered in nature – the buildings occupy just 30% of the overall space), as well as rejuvenation centers, meditation areas, parks, pools, workshop-centers for art, and even the organic garden for healthy eating.

The project integrates bioclimatic and sustainable strategies such as rainwater harvesting, wastewater separation, wetland for greywater treatment, biodigesters, compost area, and more notably the vertical forest on the outside of each building, which aside from providing a touch of greenery, also filters/purifies the air coming through into the house, and helps reduce the temperature of homes – a phenomenon more commonly known as the Heat Island Effect.

The overall Noom community comprises 3 buildings of 5 stories each. The apartments on each floor are 120 and 60 square meters, having 1, 2, or 3 bedrooms. The unique layout allows each room to have access to ample indirect sunlight. The design of the house also promotes natural ventilation to renew the indoor air and ensure an optimal level of comfort. The architects at Sanzpont say that their unique layout helps reduce energy consumption (lights and air conditioning) by as much as 85%. For the rest, solar panels on the roof and a high-efficiency LED artificial lighting system helps power the buildings at night.

‘Living In The Noom’ is a Platinum Winner of the A’ Design Award for the year 2021.

Designers: Sanzpont Arquitectura and Pedrajo Mas Pedrajo Arquitectos

This sustainable home produces energy and stores excess solar power in two Tesla powerwalls!

Posted on 08/07/2021 by Shawn McNulty-Kowal

An essential pillar of AMA–Austin Maynard Architects is sustainability. Whether that be achieved through solar energy, Tesla batteries, external Venetian blinds, or all the above–building homes that leave small footprints on our environment is something of the utmost importance for the architects at Austin Maynard. Finishing work on their Garden House, the team of designers has built their most sustainable house yet, one that works as a power station, producing more sustainable energy than it uses.

On average, the Australian home uses 19 kWh of energy on any given day. Turning that statistic on its head, Garden House produces 100kwh of energy with help from a 26 kWh Tesla battery. Finding the future of home sustainability through this sharing of energy, Garden House is powered by solar energy and powers the block’s shared energy grid. Since many Australians utilize solar panels to power up their homes, Garden House is in good company on a narrow street filled with garden oases and blooming greenery. Careful not to disrupt the natural terrain in and around the house’s lot, AMA developed Garden House’s layout and connected pavilions based around the network of pre-existing garden spaces and trees. This set the stage and literally the foundation for the home’s commitment to producing more sustainable energy than it requires to run.

The architects behind Garden House ensured that the home utilized passive building techniques, filling out the roof with solar panels in addition to outfitting the inside with double studded wall insulation, underfloor insulation, formed from an insulated concrete slab. Even the building materials used were chosen for their sustainable edge, opting for recycled bricks to build the home’s linked pavilions behind its shingled white garage. Inside, the home does not require any gas for internal insulation of any kind–hot water, space heating and cooling, hydronic heating, and pool heating is all supplied through highly efficient heat pumps. In addition to being a fully automated smart home that runs on two Tesla power walls, the designers also did not disrupt the lot’s original landscape and natural greenery in building Garden House.

Tucked away in a lush paradise of a backyard, Garden House is a lot more than meets the eye. At first glance, Garden House’s garage showcases a humble home with a pentagon frame wrapped in optic white shingles. Beyond the garage, linked brick pavilions connect family rooms and bedrooms and appear as separate buildings entirely, joined only by mirrored glass corridors that reflect the surrounding leafy gardens. Each pavilion was designed to break up the bulk of the home into four smaller scale zones. Inside each section of the home, concealed doors grant access to the whole home as well as the garden. Open balconies and lofty kitchen doors open up to the gardens, filling the home and its garden with a paradisal air.

Designer: Austin Maynard Architects

Using the home’s side entryway, the humble garage transforms into a lush backyard garden joined by concealed brick pavilions.

From the street, Garden House appears as a simple, pentagon-shaped home wrapped in optic white shingles.

Beyond the garage, Garden House blossoms into the family home that it is, accommodating five family members.

The home’s linked brick pavilions house bedrooms and family rooms that are connected by mirrored glass corridors.

The inside of the home features brick interiors for a rustic look in an otherwise extremely modern home.

Two Tesla power walls store the energy acquired from the roof’s solar panels.

Lofty doors and huge windows bring the family even closer to their backyard oasis.

Natural sunlight fills the halls and bedrooms throughout Garden House.

Ash black metal accents brighten natural wood cabinetry work.

Exterior Venetian blinds keep bedrooms from overheating due to the overflow of natural sunlight.

LEGO is experimenting with sustainable bricks made from recycled plastic bottles

Posted on 23/06/2021 by Shawn McNulty-Kowal

Since 2018, LEGO has been making strides towards sustainability initiatives including removing single-use plastic from their boxes and producing specialty elements from bio-polyethylene, a natural polymer sourced from sugarcane. Today, the iconic toy company reveals its latest sustainability effort, a prototype brick produced from recycled PET plastic. Derived from discarded plastic bottles, LEGO’s new sustainable prototype marks the culmination of three years worth of testing over 250 variations of PET plastics. The result, a LEGO brick constructed entirely from recycled materials that meet an array of different requirements, including safety, quality, play, and perhaps most exciting, clutch power.

Following a year of testing and reassessing of different PET formulations, LEGO will consider moving onto a pilot production phase, which would bring the recycled LEGO blocks into product boxes to hit the shelves for purchase. Sourced from a single one-liter PET plastic bottle, LEGO’s patent-pending PET formulation can produce ten 2×4 bricks, using a custom compounding method to ensure classic LEGO structure and secure linkage. Currently, the prototype is a blend of recycled PET plastics and additives that work to strengthen the recycled plastic and in turn meet specialized LEGO requirements. Vetted by the USA’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as well as the European Food and Safety Authority (EFSA), LEGO’s new recycled composition guarantees the same quality building blocks we’ve come to expect from the mega toy company.

Speaking on the brand’s latest step towards producing sustainable and recycled building blocks and the prototype’s proximity to pre-existing bricks, LEGO’s Vice President of Environmental Responsibility notes, “We are super excited about this breakthrough. The biggest challenge on our sustainability journey is rethinking and innovating new materials that are as durable, strong, and high quality as our existing bricks — and fit with LEGO elements made over the past 60 years. With this prototype, we’re able to showcase the progress we’re making.”

Designer: LEGO