Cable Suspended Sod Roof
Dotted around the valleys near Creede our eye was caught by traditional sod roofed potato cellars. Not only did they sit well in the landscape, but they used regional materials intelligently to create an authentic, inventive eco-architecture. Our green roofs are hung on cables traditionally used for mining activities, using a fraction of the material a beam would to support the considerable snow loads and additional load of by a green roof. By in addition earthlinking the buildings and using geo-thermal heat, we have brought this home-grown technology current.
Green roofs have significant benefits both for the public/community and for the individual building owner. Primary public benefits include controlling stormwater runoff, improving water quality and improving air quality. The most significant benefits of green roofs for building owners are reductions in building operating costs, significantly longer roof life and lower life-cycle costs for the roof, and increased property value.
The green roof serves as a filter to reduce pollutants in the water and also to lower the temperature of the water that is eventually returned to the watershed.
Although a green roof initially costs more than a conventional roof — $10 to $20 per square foot for a green roof versus $5 to $10 per square foot for a conventional roof — they more than make up for that difference over time. Green roofs extend the lifespan of the roof membrane significantly by protecting it from sunlight and temperature variations. As a result, green roofs can conservatively be expected to last two to three times longer than a conventional roof. Experience with green roofs in Germany shows that 40+ and 50+ life spans for green roofs should be expected.
Because of their insulating properties, green roofs reduce the heating and cooling costs for buildings by at least 10 to 15 percent. A Canadian study showed that a 6-inch extensive green roof can reduce heat gains by 95 percent.
On the banks of Willow Creek, green roofs will also improve the aesthetic quality of the buildings, to soften them and integrate with the native prairie landscape, using desert plants which need low or no maintenance.
The steel structure of the indoor arena however quickly becomes expensive if asked to take on a sod roof in addition to snowloading. Structures that carry load through pure tension (hanging) require a fraction of the material required by bending structures such as beams or trusses and provide an efficient way of carrying an extensive green roof in addition to non-uniform snow loads.
Flexible Masterplan
It may be still snowing in Creede, but here at 51% studios we’re working hard at work on the development of the sustainable masterplan for the Upper Rio Grande Event and Recreation Complex [formerly known as, and still encompassing, the Mineral County Fairgrounds] which has been made possible by the El Pomar Grant Award.
Phase 1, which included remediation, relocation of willows and the outdoor arena, is complete and has affored the community of Creede a safe, beautiful and windfree place to rope and ride.
For upcoming events and news, do also take a look at the MCFA’s newly launched website: www.upperriogrande.org
City Year London
Give a year. Change the world.
City Year unites young people of all backgrounds for a year of full-time service, giving them skills and opportunities to change the world. Here at 51% studios we are proud to be working closely with City Year to plan and implement their first office and training spaces in London’s Shoreditch.
In a recent article in the Guardian, Sophie Livingstone writes: “Our experience at City Year over the last 20 years is that young people are transformed through both the full time nature of the programme – they spend ten months with us – and because they can, to paraphrase the Gandhi quote used by David Cameron today, ‘lose themselves in service’. They serve every day from 8am–6pm as tutors, mentors and role models in schools, having an impact on childrens’ attendance, behaviour and performance in maths and English, as well as providing them with role models to whom they can aspire.
That double benefit, to both the young people and the communities they work in, has been seized on by Barack Obama, whose endorsement of City Year is our biggest recruiting tool amongst young people in London, and it’s a concept that has huge potential for tackling pressing problems in the UK.”
Recycling Concrete in Dungeness
Planning laws do not allow anything new to be built on the Ness unless on the footprint of a previous structure. At 51% studios we took this one step further and retained the existing concrete floor slab of the building to be removed. The Crosley Building was a large shed used for material testing and was contaminated with lead and asbestos, so there was no otpion to reuse it, but the slab we discovered was just stong enough to act as a foundation raft for our new build, which meant also we did not need to dig foundations.
We did, however, need a service trench to connect the new Crosley building and the former Generator to the Air Source Heat Pump located in the workshop. We were impressed by this home-made scaled-up version of the builders chalk line the concrete cutters used for setting out.
51% shortlisted as AA Masterplan Architect
51% studios has this week been shortlisted with four other firms for the role of masterplan architect for the Architectural Association, which has recently aquired the leases of a number Grade 1 listed buildings in Bedford Square in addition to those already held for the historic buildings at 34–36.
Others on the shortlist are Donald Insall Associates, Richard Griffiths Architects, Witherford Watson Mann and Wright & Wright.
Out & About
