Archinect - News

Researchers look at the possibilities of wood fly ash by-products as an alternative in rammed earth construction

2024-03-02T08:00:00-05:00

New findings published in the journal Construction and Building Materials from a team of materials researchers working at the University of British Columbia Okanagan's School of Engineering have demonstrated the sustainable qualities of using wood fly ash by-products as alternatives to traditional concrete additives.

The study was undertaken in light of some recent popularity of rammed earth construction in the architectural field, an ancient form of building whose mastery has propelled the 2022 Pritzker Prize winner Diébédo Francis Kéré and several others to prominence parallel with the industry's fight against climate change.

"Everything old is new again and that is precisely why we've been investigating rammed earth construction," Dr. Sumi Siddiqua explained to the UBCO news outlet. "There is an increasing demand for sustainable building products here in Canada and around the world, and materials like fly ash are just the start of a new and important trend."

Siddiqua’s team was...

Get Lectured: University of British Columbia, Spring '24

2024-01-18T11:05:00-05:00

Get Lectured is back for another semester with a look at the different events and programs being offered this spring at the University of British Columbia School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture in Vancouver.

Events begin on Monday, February 12 with a panel discussion on local political obstacles to affordable housing featuring professors Cameron Murray, Mark Roseland, and Thomas Davidoff. That event is followed by London-based architect Roddy Langmuir’s lecture ‘Wood for Good – Building Landscapes’ on February 28. He will be followed by Canadian practioner Chris Woodford on March 6. The semester ends with the symposium ‘Local Democracy, Community Focused or Corporately Driven?’ on March 20, followed by Jeremy McLeod’s lecture on housing and capitalism on March 28.

You can learn more about the school's events programming here.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

University of British Columbia develops ‘smart construction robots’ for basic on-site tasks

2023-12-01T12:00:00-05:00

A team at the University of British Columbia has developed “smart construction robots” for performing basic tasks on construction sites, such as lifting and moving objects. The team, led by Dr. Tony Yang from the University’s Smart Structures Lab, recently demonstrated the concept at a construction site in Richmond, British Columbia.

Photo credit: UBC Applied Science

The team’s process sees aerial drones fitted with cameras capture details that are used to create a digital twin of the construction site. AI-equipped cranes and forklifts use the information to move construction materials, such as beams and columns, around the site without a human operator.

Lead researcher Dr. Tony Yang observes as the robot decides how to navigate around the obstacle and complete its task, without n eeding a human operator. Photo credit: UBC Applied Science

“Our smart construction robots are able to recognize objects, performing detailed scans of structural components for quality assurance,” Dr. Yang ex...

Team of UBC students builds one of Canada's first near-zero embodied carbon campus spaces

2023-04-21T12:33:00-04:00

A team of students from the University of British Columbia (UBC) has built a near-zero embodied carbon building on campus using hempcrete, wood, and steel as primary materials.

Called the Third Space Commons, the project was led by Third Quadrant Design, UBC’s first green building design team. The group is comprised of 60 students from the Faculty of Applied Science and the Sauder School of Business. The building is a wooden structure spanning 2,400 square feet, made from the adaptive reuse of an existing single-family home on the campus. Every aspect of the project, from the materials to the building methods, were chosen to decrease and capture carbon emissions.

The building’s thermal insulation is made of hempcrete, a concrete substitute made of lime and hemp fibers that is effective in carbon sequestration. Its foundation was constructed with reusable steel piles, and, for most of the project, the team used light wood framing instead of engineered wood, which contains fossil fuel-derived adhesives. The team also reused many materials from other construction sites in Vancouver, including the building’s windows, solar panels, appliances, and lumber, whic...

Perkins&Will begins construction on mass timber gateway to University of British Columbia campus

2023-01-04T11:15:00-05:00

Construction is underway on the $180 million Gateway Building at the University of British Columbia, designed by Perkins&Will and Schmidt Hammer Lassen. Intended as a “principal point of entry” to the UBC campus, the design of the six-story, 267,000-square-foot mass timber building seeks to balance sustainability, personal well-being, and Indigenous collaboration.

Image credit: Perkins&Will

The scheme comprises two five-story wings connected by a central naturally-lit six-story atrium, which includes a large interconnecting staircase and lounging spaces. The building’s mass timber structure is fully expressed in the interior; a decision driven by the importance of timber for the Indigenous Musqueam people on whose territory the UBC campus sits.

Image credit: Perkins&Will

“This was the first capital project where we did what we call ‘deep engagement’ with the Musqueam,” UBC’s director of planning and design Gerry McGeough told Canada’s Journal of Commerce. “We went through a whole seri...

Biogenic, bacteria-powered solar cells can generate electricity even under overcast skies

2018-07-20T15:00:00-04:00

Their cell generated a current stronger than any previously recorded from such a device, and worked as efficiently in dim light as in bright light. This innovation could be a step toward wider adoption of solar power in places like British Columbia and parts of northern Europe where overcast skies are common. With further development, these solar cells—called “biogenic” because they are made of living organisms—could become as efficient as the synthetic cells used in conventional solar panels.

While this isn't the first effort to build biogenic, bacteria-powered solar cells, scientists at the University of British Columbia claim to have discovered a novel, highly cost-effective, and much more sustainable way to use the photosynthesis capabilities of certain bacteria to convert light (even dim light) to energy.

"They genetically engineered E. coli to produce large amounts of lycopene—a dye that gives tomatoes their red-orange colour and is particularly effective at harvesting light for conversion to energy," explains the UBC announcement. "The researchers coated the bacteria with a mineral that could act as a semiconductor, and applied the mixture to a glass surface. With the coated glass acting as an anode at one end of their cell, they generated a current density of 0.686 milliamps per square centimetre—an improvement on the 0.362 achieved by others in the field."

More research is needed to turn this newly discovered method into market-ready biogenic solar panels.

...

World's tallest wood building constructed in Vancouver

2016-09-16T13:10:00-04:00

The Brock Commons at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver has been topped off, making it the world’s tallest wood building. The 18-story tower, a student residence, was completed in less than 70 days using prefabricated components. The project was completed four months earlier than expected.

With a concrete podium and two concrete cores, the wood tower is 14 stories taller than any other mass timber, steel and concrete hybrid project in the world. The building was designed by Acton Ostry Architects in collaboration with structural engineers Fast + Epp and tall wood advisor Architekten Hermann Kaufmann of Austria.

“Taller wood buildings offer tremendous economic and environmental benefits,” states Cees de Jager, general manager of the Binational Softwood Lumber Council, in the press release. “The lessons learned at Brock Commons will help transform the built environment in Canada and around the world.”

Watch a time-lapse video of the construction here:

In related news:

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To solve a housing crisis, invest more in modular construction

2016-07-19T13:15:00-04:00

Researchers from the University of British Columbia have suggested that modular construction techniques are key to assuaging cities' housing shortages.

Associate engineering professor Kasun Hewage at UBC, along with PhD candidate Mohammad Kamali, conducted "the first comprehensive review of conventional and modular construction research of its kind," and found that increased factory-produced housing should make it easier for prospective renters and buyers to find a place. It would help cities provide more options that can be built "cheaper, faster and results in fewer workplace injuries," according to Hewage. Their findings were recently published in the journal Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.

Modular construction is obviously not a new method, but has a bit of a negative rep according to the researchers—the public tends to associate the method with lower-quality structures, and communities like trailer parks. But the study, which reviewed construction data between 2000 and ...

Get Lectured: University of British Columbia, Spring '16

2016-02-08T13:36:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter/Spring 2016

Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session. Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

The next featured poster comes from the University of British Columbia, School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

Listed below are upcoming events. Lectures begin at 6:30 p.m.

Feb 22
Chris Cornelius / Studio Indigenous + University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
at 1101 Pharmaceutical Sciences Building: 2405 Wesbrook Mall

Feb 29
Frank Barkow / Barkow Leibinger - Berlin
at Vancouver Playhouse: 600 Hamilton St.
Please note that this is a free but ticketed event.

March 7
Cornelia Hahn Oberlander - Vancouver
at Vancouver Playhouse: 600 Hamilton St.

March 21
Yu...

Get Lectured: University of British Columbia, Spring '15

2015-01-09T12:40:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter-Spring 2015

Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session! Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

The next featured poster comes from the University of British Columbia School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

All lectures start at 6:30pm and will take place at UBC Robson Square: 800 Robson Street. Free and open to the public.

Jan 12
Amale Andraos / Work Architecture Company, New York, and GSAPP, Columbia
Margolese Prize Lecture

Jan 19
Vikram Bhatt / Architecture, McGill University

Feb 2
Mikyoung Kim / Mikyoung Kim Design, Boston

Feb 23
Jenny Sabin / Jenny Sabin Studio and Architecture, Cornell University

March 2
Christoph Reinhardt / Sustaina...

Get Lectured: University of British Columbia, Spring '14

2014-03-19T12:52:00-04:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter/Spring 2014

Archinect's Get Lectured is up and running again for the Winter/Spring '14 term! As a refresher from our Fall 2013 guide, every week we'll feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current season. If you're not doing so already, be sure to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Our next poster comes from the University of British Columbia, School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

UBC SALA has two lectures left for the season. Lectures will take place at 6:30 pm at UBC Robson Square: 800 Robson Street. Free and open to the public.

March 24
Cristina Moreno + Erfren Grinda / AMID (Cero9) Architects

March 31
Benedetta Tagliabue / Miralles/Tagliabue Architects

For further info, click here.