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The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) has awarded two British Columbia projects with the 2015 Innovation in Architecture award for their use of wood and steel: Michael Green Architecture's Wood Innovation Design Center in Prince George has been deemed to be an exemplar for tall timber buildings, while Patkau Architects' origami-inspired One Fold research project illustrates the structural potential of folding steel sheets. A closer look at both projects, after the break.
A three-member jury called the projects “extraordinary examples of true innovation… innovation that is significant, repeatable and applicable to the profession.”
Wood Innovation Design Center (WIDC) / Michael Green Architecture
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The WIDC is the first tall wood building in Canada. The eight-story building stands 29.5 meters-tall and is the tallest contemporary timber building in North America.
"The firm argues that building with wood sourced from sustainably managed forests offers designers a rapidly renewable, low energy, and carbon-sequestering alternative to conventional building materials. Greater use of timber for large structures would significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide," stated the RAIC in a press release.
One Fold / Patkau Architects
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An experiment aimed to push the boundaries of material strength to weight ratios, One Fold's self-supporting thin shell structure is lightweight, durable, demountable and recyclable, making it easily distributed and fabricated. It requires almost no secondary support structures.
“It is an efficient structure that embodies a minimal ecological footprint,” say the architects. “More than this, it represents an attention to material that finds beauty in structure and structure in beauty, promoting that aspiration within architecture generally.”
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News via RAIC