Environment Both West and Ushida Findlay address environmental issues, although their work is not overtly green. Ushida Findlay use local trades and labour where possible.Thatch, tra- ditionally used for roofs in both England and Japan, was chosen for the Poolhouse. Although programmatic requirements were technologi- cally demanding — a pool with complex heating and ventilation — the setting was traditional. Thatch suited the adjacent16th century building and its mature country garden. While a swimming pool is not the best environmental practice, effort was made to keep the project as efficient as possible. Local thatch, which would have reduced transportation costs, was too weak, so French reed was used. A traditional thatching method was specified although the thatch is held in place with steel rods rather than traditional hazel spars and local thatchers were employed.Traditional thatched roofs are steep to shed water, making for large, dim attic spaces.The steeply pitched Poolhouse roof, however, breaks from tradition with a long glazed skylight at the ridge. With the Kashara Amenity Hall in Japan, Ushida Findlay aimed to create a highly efficient building with low running costs.The building’s form responds to summer and winter sun paths, preventing solar gain and allowing passive cooling with ventilation currents.The roof holds snow in the winter as insulation and the wall cladding is locally produced tile. West’s environmental approach is less obvious, as structure is the only system he is involved in. His fabric formed concrete creates substantially less waste material than traditionally cast concrete.The formwork is compact and re-useable. For the columns of a Puerto Rican house, the formwork fit into three duffle bags. Construction is low-tech and straightforward, allowing unskilled local labourers to use the method.The fabric itself is also inexpensive, especially as recy- cled material can be used. His students have built with snow fences, duct tape, and chain-link fencing.The concrete aggregate itself can be recycled material. At the Hardcore exhibition at the RIBA (March-May 2002) there were pieces of concrete with marbles, bottles, and shells in the mix — decorative but full of future possibilities. According to Kathryn Findlay, agents “channel forces and issues. filtering through personal choice in a rational manner.” Both Ushida Findlay and Mark West are agents of change for a very curvy architecture. Is this just a trend? It would seem not, as West and Ushida Findlay are developing their work seriously, finding old and new techniques appropriate. CAST provides a site for architects and engineers looking beyond planar boundaries and Ushida Findlay is creating a portfolio of precedent buildings. Ushida Findlay’s work is refreshing and new, especially in the use of traditional materials. Designs are elegantly orchestrated, bringing together program, shape and space. Mark West’s work is sculptural and evocative. His version of concrete, with a variety of textures and volumes, is pregnant with possibility. The t ime seems ripe for a change, for fluidity to enter our now rigid lives and spaces.These designers, their teams, and research provide inspiration for others to follow and inject amusement and sensuality back into architecture.
Truss Wall House, Japan, above. below, Pool House, England.
Ilona Hay is an architect in London, England currently working for Feilden Clegg BradleyAssociates. She studied architecture at the Bartlett and TUNS and is interested in interdisciplinary crossovers.
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