Atelier Ten drives towards absolute zero carbon
Atelier Ten director Claire Maxfield is having been arguing that “absolute zero carbon” is something more ambitious than just “net zero carbon”. Maxfield reckons that instead of purchasing offsets or treating the subset of emissions to try to bring the company’s emissions down to zero, “we need to aim for buildings with no emissions at all”.
“It’s big, hard, and borderline unachievable today. But as a guiding principle, it will lead us in the right direction,” wrote Maxfield on social media.
Atelier Ten also recently partnered with Blix Architecture to present a white paper on the relationship between the Australian Government’s national wellbeing framework and architecture and urban design fields last month.
The white paper claimed that it was important to implement a national wellbeing framework for the built environment. It aims to highlight how architects and urban planners plays a key role in enhancing community wellbeing through thoughtful design.
The paper also aims to serve as a guide for integrating wellbeing into every aspect of urban and architectural planning. It argues that social factors are as important as environmental sustainability in design decisions. Full white paper here.
Two green businesses that are changing the game with AI
US based Urban Machine, uses AI and robotics to locate and extract nails, screws, and staples from reclaimed construction grade lumber from construction and demolition projects. The company can produce high quality locally sourced lumber for builders and designers through the process, and developers, contractors and demolition companies can rent the robot for onsite projects to reduce local landfills. The AI can also calculate the quantity and quality of wood recovered at each location, according to an article in Circularity Weekly.
In the Loop is another company, this time in the clothing resale business, that uses AI to streamline identifying clothing, processing, and listing second hand items – just through a few photographs of a garment. Brand, size, category, specific measurements, materials, and a detailed description can be generated for the user. The program keeps clothes out of landfills and allows clients to list five times as many items in the same amount of time to list one.
Amazon and Vena Energy
Amazon and Vena Energy this week announced the commercial operation of a new 125 megawatt renewable energy project in Woleebee in western Queensland.
The Wandoan solar farm has more than 250,000 solar photovoltaic panels able to power over 60,000 Australian homes every year. The continuation of the partnership’s solar farm, Wandoan South Solar 2, is forecasted to achieve commercial operation by Q3 of 2026 with approval for 650 MW of solar power and 450 MW of battery storage.
Lendlease to build one of the city’s biggest projects
Lendlease is clear to start construction on one of London’s biggest projects, the rebuild of the ITV’s former studios on the South Bank to be developed by CO-RE and Mitsubishi Estate.
Architects for the £700 million ($A1.35 m) project is Make, which The Fifth Estate visited in London early in January (story coming soon) just ahead of the approval.
The project is replacing a former 24-storey tower at 72 Upper Ground with two office blocks of 26 and 13 storeys.
According to media reports the project was opposed by locals on heritage grounds for its scale and proximity to heritage buildings such as the National Theatre and the IBM Building, currently being revamped by Multiplex for Stanhope.
Make’s founding partner Frank Filskow said in Building: “Our design marries the sensitive architectural narrative of the area with modern market requirements. We’ve picked up on the horizontal layers of our modernist neighbours, echoing their sculptural form while ensuring that wellbeing, daylight, and natural ventilation is a priority for the new tenants.
“The two buildings will bring extensive amenity in the form of a high-quality commercial and arts-led development and give back 40 per cent of the site to create new biodiverse public spaces, including a new route to the riverfront, and two new garden squares.”
Jobs
Event management company Cedar Mill Group has appointed Belinda Judd as its chief financial officer.
Prior to her new gig, Judd was the group controller for retailer Koala. She has also held roles as the head of finance for entertainment company TEG, finance manager of ASM Global and the group finance manager for NOVA Entertainment.
Cadbury
Cadbury has agreed to use about half of its recycled plastic for its chocolate blocks, bars and other wrappers.
Rollout of its recycled materials wrappers will begin in the first quarter of 2024, starting with chocolate blocks before expanding into bars such as Cherry Ripe, Crunchie, Twirls, and Roses and Favourites.
See a previous article on the company.