An interesting concept for retrofitting buildings in Sydney has been shared with us thanks to Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA). This innovative plan, which is sustainable and cost effective, is known as “re-skinning”, and can easily be applied to other aging icons around the world. LAVA developed a simple skin for the University of Technology Broadway Tower that promises to transform it into a sustainable and stunning building. “The speculative project, ‘Tower Skin’, offers a unique opportunity to transform the identity, sustainability and interior comfort of the once state-of-the-art building,” said Chris Bosse, Australian director of LAVA.
More about the project, including a video, after the break.
The three-dimensional lightweight, high performance composite mesh textile acts as a high performance ‘micro climate’. The skin generates energy with photo-voltaic cells, collects rain water, improves day lighting and uses available convective energy to power the towers’ ventilation requirements. Surface tension allows the membrane to freely stretch around walls and roof elements achieving maximum visual impact with minimal material effort. In the evening time, the Tower Skin becomes a dynamic sculpture on Sydney’s skyline, an intelligent media surface, communicating information such as performances and campus events in real time.
