USGBC’s Natural Building Competition - Alissa Wilson and Jennifer Vlasak Winning Design
Aug 21st, 2008 by contributor
In our final CU Architecture & Planning feature from the United States Green Building Council’s Natural Building Competition, we bring you the design boards created by Alissa Wilson and Jennifer Vlasak.
The Alliance for Sustainable Colorado is an organization whose mission is “to catalyze the shift to a truly sustainable world by fostering collaboration among non-profits, businesses, governments and academia.” This project is a three dimensional manifestation of the Alliance ideals, providing the client with a living, breathing building showcasing innovative technologies to inspire others to strive for net zero carbon neutrality.
The Alliance Center’s green agenda lead the project team to look to nature for inspiration. Although nature often presents itself as random and organic forms too the naked eye, it is rigidly organized when viewed at micro or macroscopic levels, with many small elements collaborating to form a larger, more complex system. Plant leaves illustrate this phenomenon well and served as the inspiration for this project.
Plant cell walls influenced the shape of the ‘pods’ that sprout off the structure, creating available spaces in the atrium and rear of the building. Living walls on the exterior of the structure cool and humidify the air as it is drawn into the building through automated windows and vents, emulated the gas exchanging stomata leaves. The program is organized around a t-shaped photovoltaic glass atrium that provides natural daylight into the new offices while absorbing solar energy, mimicking the photosynthetic process of plants. Leave veins inspired the program to create a network of interconnected spaces to cultivate collaboration. In simulating the systems of plants, this building has become a living organism in itself, capable of producing all the energy required to meet the needs of occupants.
For more details and images, check out Alissa Wilson and Jennifer Vlasak’s competition board:
Links:
- United States Green Building Council’s Natural Building Competition - Winning Design
- United States Green Building Council’s Natural Building Competition - Michele Williams and Tina Alberico: Winning Design
- United States Green Building Council’s Natural Building Competition - Abe Jayson & Levi Hyland: Winning Design
