Prefab Homes Shipping container

Though ugly on the docks, shipping containers can be turned into something beautiful. The SG Blocks Harbinger Prefab is constructed of five containers. That means the steel frame can withstand hurricanes and earthquakes. Its also eco-friendly with FSC-certified woods, solar panels, rainwater recycling and a resource monitoring system from Agilewaves. Best of all, this funky home took under five hours to assemble after a month of fabrication, and it doesn’t look too much like the raw materials. To call one of these your home, it would take a day and a crane to install up to 12 containers, and the Lawrence Group, who designed the SG Blocks home, says it costs 15 percent less than a typical home constructed of wood.

sustainable library in Kazakhstan

Sustainable library uses computer modeling techniques to lower energy requirement.

BIG Architects have unveiled plans of an incredible library that is to be developed in Kazakhstan. Dubbed, Nursultan Nazarbayev, the library design will be comprised of four parts – a circle, a rotunda, the arch and the yurt. The structure will offset or maximize solar glare depending on the climate and the need.

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The designers minimized the cooling load on the design using some advanced computer modeling to calculate thermal exposure on the building envelope. The overall design of the library makes some parts receive more light than others, which needed the designers to create a geometric pattern of the entire structure to regulate solar gain.

The recycled Win Desk

If you were told that a recycled desk would cost you $5000, then you would obviously think we are crazy or kidding. But that’s no ordinary desk. The creative folks from Reestore have once again conjured up recycling innovation with aviation trash to create a desk out of an old airplane wing. Dubbed Deborah, it looks unusual for an office desk, but the appeal of setting your files on an old Boeing 747 wing is an alluring prospect indeed.

Initially crafted for business tycoon Theo Paphitis, Reestore is now going commercial with this expensive, yet exclusive desk. Supported by stainless steel legs and topped with toughened glass, the desk measures in at 2100mm x 1000mm x 900mm.

Recycle and reuse is a concept that is not very popular in the aviation industry and that is one of the reasons why it gets plenty of slack. I guess Reestore is giving them a whole new way of reducing waste and making some profits too!