AEWORLDMAP.COM (3,000+ posts)

Images: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Building: Mérida Factory Youth Movement (Mérida Factory)
Location: Mérida, Spain
Started: 2009
Completed: 2011
Cost: £1.200.000 or $1,279,200
Area: 3090 m²
Canopy Thickness: 1 meter

Client: JUNTA DE EXTREMADURA
Architect: Selgas Cano Arquitectos
Contractor: PROCONDAL
Structural Engineer: BOMA, LANIK

Skatepark: GESTALTSKATE

AE Interests: Space Truss Systems (or Space Frames) are used to span the length of the cloud-like canopy. These systems are structural frames with spheres for connections that are better accommodating for point loads. Lighting within the canopy illuminates during the night with white, orange, and green colors, which also provide safety at nighttime, unlike most skateparks. The site also features an integrated skatepark within the foundation, a 30ft tall climbing wall, restrooms, interior spaces, and a huge variety of activities outside.

Articles: [1, 2, 3]

[Essay]

Images [1, 2, 3, 4]

Building: The Great Glasshouse
Location: Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK
Client: National Botanic Garden of Wales

Started: 1995
Completed: 2000
Area: 5,800m²
Cost: £8,940,800 (Around $9,590,528)
Architect: Foster + Partners

Landscape Architect: Gustafson Porter
Structural Engineer: Anthony Hunt Associates
Environmental Engineer: Max Fordham & Partners

AE Interests: The Great Glasshouse is the largest single-span glasshouse in the world, with a glazed roof with a length of 99 meters and a width of 55 meters. Prime example of sustainability in design by the consideration for rainwater collection and biomass boiler usage to burn timber trimmings as the greenhouse’s primary heat source. A computer system monitors the climate of the inside and outside of the glass and reacts to exterior conditions by adjusting individual glazing panels’ angles to minimize energy consumption when controlling the interior climate. The dome is supported by tubular steel beams and aluminum glazing that maximizes light transmission for the plants it houses while minimizing the necessity of materials for the project.

Articles: [1, 2, 3, 4]

Essay

*Original post by Cristina Calderon on January 26, 2010