sustainable architecture

German architects Christ Christ have added box-like rooms and an outdoor cinema to the roof of a house in Wiesbaden.

House S: extension + conversion

This construction assignment is a central topic of today’s urban development: the roof area as building site which can be covered with independent buildings– urban compression by utilization of roof areas as valuable building land.

Raleigh’s Contemporary Art Museum chose its new home in the city’s Depot District carefully. Located in a former produce warehouse, the project calls attention to the city’s history of railroad transportation and red brick architecture while emphasizing its commitment to sustainability and adaptive reuse. Led by Brooks + Scarpa Architects, the project included renovation of the existing 21,000-square-foot structure and the addition of a 900-square-foot entry pavilion. The glass-enclosed lobby reinterprets the location of the original building’s loading dock with an expanded and folded canopy that announces the building’s new purpose and balances the effect of daylight on its interiors.

As they settle into their semester routines, University of Pennsylvania students may notice flora unexpectedly sprouting from the roof of longtime campus building Steinberg Hall–Dietrich Hall. This Wharton School of Business facility was the last commission of McKim, Mead & White, and the green roof belongs to a 1,300-square-foot rear entry pavilion just completed by Voith & Mactavish as part of a second major renovation. Although the Philadelphia-based architects’ limestone and mullion detailing caringly respects the original 1952 design, the green roof also represents a sustainable 21st-century perspective.