Bar Code: Low Energy Nightclub
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07.18.07
I struggled with the title for this post; calling a nightclub "low energy" conjures images of people asleep in the banquettes or draped over the bar. Bar Code in Vauxhall is anything but, and on July 21 will celebrate a year of low energy design.
According to architects Woods Bagot, it is so efficient that it runs on " about the same amount of energy it takes to make a cup of tea.” Dezeen says The club employs LED lights that emit very little heat and so reduce the need for air conditioning, and has fridges that open from the top to minimise cold air escape. (TreeHugger looked at top opening fridges earlier, they really work)
According to the Architects: Most clubs require air-conditioning to manage the heat given off by the lighting system, but Bar Code uses LEDs, which emit virtually no heat at all. The club uses natural ventilation and only in the hottest nights in July is air-conditioning required.
It was designed by Rob Steul, Principal at Woods Bagot, an international architectural firm, on behalf of Troy Wears, owner of Bar Code.
Commenters at Dezeen question the veracity of some of the statements: "surely, if someone orders a cup of tea, the bar will require all that energy just to make the cup of tea, so the rest of the bar surely can’t be running on ZERO energy?
Secondly, I see a sound system there, with rather large speakers. I know from experience these require a lot of energy - they can easily overload a poorly installed power loop. I’ve never heard of a tea-kettle doing the same."
But sounds like fun anyways. ::Bar Code via ::Dezeen
Surely this can't be considered 'real' architecture. There are people in some of those photographs and one of them even has a face.