RIBA Prize for Sustainability goes to Cobtun House
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.18.05
First of all, we are impressed that the Royal Institute of British Architects has a sustainability award. Secondly, forgive the vernacular or the damning with faint praise but the design doesn't suck, although it would not win a RIBA award if it was not "environmentally friendly, heated with solar panels and insulated with old newspapers. But perhaps its most unusual feature is the Cob wall which gives the house its name. People have been building with cob, which comprises mud, stray, clay and sand, since the 13th century. The technology may be primitive, but, says Cobtun House’s owner, Nick Worsley, this cosy home is “a daily pleasure to live in”.View a ::RIBA gallery here and the ::RIBA award announcement here all via the ::Sustainablog Scoop here
Deck Prism From Mystic Seaport for Do It Yourself Basement Lighting Project
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Bette Midler's Hulaween Party for the Planet
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See also the Cardboard School that won a RIBA award, which we mentioned here.
Nice. Seems to be moving toward Wright's affordable designs. Most incorporated endemic materials of construction: local limestone; earth; pine, and concrete for example. One such home, of which photos regretably have not been published, in Middleton WI., has the open glass side facing south (reminiscent of this Cobtun design), in a semi-parabolic curve (top view). The focal point of the parabola, on a below zero day, is warm enough for sunbathing. Time for these award winners to look back at the old master for a few lessons about material selection and orienting to the landscape.