Design & Architecture

(Images: Dezeen)

Warehouses, schoolhouses, and factory buildings repurpose well into lofts and art studios, but draftiness and patchy temperatures often come with the terrain. Berlin architecture firm Davidson Refaildis devised this concept, Selective Insulation, to help with this problem. The result: a thermally cloistered space for desk work, built around a window. Installed in the Old School House in Hexham, UK-an 1849 structure where it is "difficult to maintain warm working conditions for much of the year,"-this angular pod creates an insulated microenvironment.

Design & Architecture

IKEA’s plans to build their largest retail store in the southern hemisphere, have apparently just received New South Wales government approval to proceed. Reports suggest it will require a short stroll of just 2.5 km (1.6 miles) to wander from the store’s front entrance, past all the famous flat-pack merchandise, to the cash register. This store will be 37,000 square metres (for comparison, the largest IKEA in Stockholm is said to cover 50,000 sq m).

There are several intriguing environmental aspects to this announcement, which we explore below.

Design & Architecture

Last week, Construmat, the leading construction fair held in Barcelona, Spain, every two years, attracted some 153,000 visitors. Amongst the most interesting works exhibited was the Casa Barcelona,an innovative, social and sustainable housing proposal.

Design & Architecture

You probably came across some of Ekobo's elegant and colourful kitchen accessories made from bamboo. If you like their work, which incorporates ethical production and eco-friendly materials, check out the MELLO stools. Glossy, minimalist and funky looking, the bamboo poufs are stackable, come in two sizes and the many bright colours that are typical for Ekobo products.

Design & Architecture

Michael Falco for The New York Times

Times are tough all over, and even the normally over-the-top New York Times homes section is getting the message. The theme today is the Three Hundred Dollar Makeover, full of tips that one might find in Craft or Make but the Times? It is hit or miss- making a "rug" on the floor with duct tape? And really, nobody has painted stripes on the walls since the seventies.

Design & Architecture

Composite materials are wonderfully handy -- they can be used in hundreds of applications -- but what about the materials' environmental footprint? Happily, there is a composite material that, when compared to its traditional counterpart, has a much smaller impact, and it can be used for almost anything; I've seen this material being used to construct everything from furniture to parts for cars. FlexForm Technologies has created a line of natural composite materials with a very attractive set of properties.

Design & Architecture

If you like it colourful and silky, eco-friendly and hand-crafted, Rajboori has just the things for you. These luxurious eco silk textiles brighten up any home with a bit of Indian colours and modern designs.

Design & Architecture

photo: Artisans Consortium International

Ahh they don't build things like they used. The glory days of European architecture make the cheaply built mega-mansions of late a difficult pill to swallow. For a glimpse of what once was you need only jaunt over to Italy to see the stunning ancient architecture built in the glory days of Venetian society. The Artisans Consortium International (ACI), a group of classically trained plaster artisians is bringing this ancient green art of plastering to some modern buildings.