carbon emissions

Yet another Zon-e Architects project, located in a mining town in the heart of the Cantabrian Mountains, Spain. This housing project is state-funded and is the first new residential development in the region for 25 years. If you look at it closely, you'll notice that the form of the building comprises two masses perpendicular to each other. Why, you might ask. The architects have decided that the building form takes precedent from the jagged mountains, which at times become geometric. Slate is used for the building to keep its colour and material in context with the surrounding. Since it is a social housing for miners, the black facade looks like coal thus absorbing the daylight. Each residence will occupy the different 15 apartments in terms of plan & internal size although the external building looks uniform. One sure thing is that they will all have the view of Asturia's landscape.

you say lattice, I say lettuce

The site for the City Hall in Noain (northern Spain) is located in-between a heavily built urban area and a car park. Due to this, ZON-E Architects decided to create a common ground between the two spaces landscapes. Looking at the building, the viewer will notice that it's composed of different layers. A strict geometric layer and a organic lattice. The inner layer is strictly geometric, is formed by a double translucent skin separated by a buffer zone which helps passive cooling and natural day lighting for the building. Meanwhile, the organic shape consists of an external membrane in a metallic lattice. The idea is that, creeping vegetations will grow up the lattice and change the appearance of the building at different times of year thus helping with solar shading and being deciduous will allow for passive heating in the winter. The architects didn't just stop there; they installed a geothermal heat pump, 70m below the building to create electricity. Overall, with all these sustainable technology, the building's carbon emissions have been reduced by 60%.