Water features bring movement, sound, and visual relief to urban environments. Fountains cool public squares. Reflecting pools anchor building entrances. Water walls mask traffic noise in city centers. But water damages most building materials over time. Metals corrode. Natural stone erodes. Timber rots. Even conventional concrete suffers from freeze-thaw cycling, efflorescence, and chemical attack from … Read more
Buildings consume nearly 40 percent of global energy, with heating and cooling accounting for the largest share. Standard insulation materials—expanded polystyrene, mineral wool, polyurethane foam—have remained largely unchanged for decades. They insulate adequately but come with trade-offs. Thickness requirements eat into usable floor space. Moisture management demands careful detailing. Fire performance varies widely between products. … Read more
The Jabal Omar Development rises in the heart of Makkah, just steps from the Masjid al-Haram. The project spans over 5,000 square meters and ranks among the largest urban developments in the holy city . The masterplan includes 40 high-rise buildings constructed across seven phases, with construction beginning in 2011 . The Address Jabal Omar towers alone … Read more
Zell am Harmersbach, a small town in the western Black Forest region, holds architectural layers stretching back centuries. Half-timbered houses sit alongside Art Nouveau details. Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque structures define the town square. The Stork Tower, the town’s landmark, has stood for roughly 700 years . The town hall building itself, with its gabled roof, … Read more
The Rob and Melani Walton Center for Planetary Health at Arizona State University rises from a triangular lot in Tempe like a giant cracked-open geode. Clad in a shell of glass fiber-reinforced concrete, the building’s paneled facade draws direct inspiration from the saguaro cactus that dots the Sonoran Desert landscape . This is not a building … Read more
The construction industry’s environmental footprint has prompted material innovation. Traditional concrete production accounts for approximately 8% of global CO₂ emissions, with cement manufacturing as the primary contributor. Green GRC+ emerges as a solution to this challenge, offering a low-carbon alternative without sacrificing performance. Glass Reinforced Concrete (GRC) already provides environmental advantages over conventional concrete through reduced material usage … Read more
The construction industry faces a critical challenge with waste generation, particularly in specialized manufacturing sectors. Glass Reinforced Concrete (GRC) production, essential for modern architectural facades, inevitably produces offcuts and leftovers during panel fabrication. These remnants have historically been discarded as industrial waste. Austrian facade specialist Rieder has fundamentally challenged this linear approach through the development … Read more