'Don't Move, Improve!' : NLA's London Refurb Competition

"Roof Garden Apartment, Shoreditch, London by Tonkin Liu and Richard Rogers, 2007. Image credit: Mike Tonkin"

Time Out London, NLA and The Building Centre have invited submissions for a competition to find the best and most innovative home extensions in London - 'Don't Move, Improve!'.

The competition was open to architects and homeowners who had completed home extensions in London within the last five years, as well as to architects and designers with creative ideas for creating more space to live. This included building on top of, underneath, on the side or back of buildings, as well as ideas such as green roofs which provide additional space to sit outside as well as improving insulation.

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AMA: Suburb Eating Robot

Andrew Maynard Architects: The Suburb Eating Robot

Andrew Maynard, is an architect based in Melbourne Australia, raised and educated in Tasmania. His firm, Andrew Maynard Architects (AMA), was established in 2002 and is quickly being recognised for his unique work and experimental conceptual designs. The grounded ethics and morals which surround Andrews work are a refreshing inspiration to both students and the profession. The project below is CV08, or the suburb eating robot, and I quote: "the CV08. CV08 is a robot that consumes the abandoned suburbs through its front 2 legs. It processes the materials and fires off compacted recycling missiles to awaiting recycling plants. CV08’s middle legs and one rear leg follow the front legs to terra-form the newly revealed earth with native Flora and Fauna. Vast stocks of the Flora and Fauna are stored within CV08 in carbonite sleep until they are required to colonise what was previously suburban wasteland".

So that's that sorted then.

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Dwell Magazines REBURBIA

A very interesting competition for reinvigorating the suburban sprawl: What would a McMansion become if it weren’t a single-family dwelling? How could a vacant big box store be retrofitted for agriculture? What sort of design solutions can you come up with to facilitate car-free mobility, ‘burb-grown food, and local, renewable energy generation? REBURBIA looks at options for designing future-proof spaces and systems using the suburban structures of the present, from small-scale retrofits to large-scale restoration—the wilder the better! http://www.re-burbia.com/

Bumper Crop: Converting Parking Lots to FarmsDesigned By: The MillerHull Partnership
http://www.re-burbia.com/2009/08/06/bumper-crop/

FROG’S DREAM: McMansions Turned into Biofilter Water Treatment PlantsDesigned By: Calvin Chiu

http://www.re-burbia.com/2009/08/05/the-frogs-dream-suburban-eco-water-management/

Urban Sprawl Repair Kit: Repairing The Urban FabricDesigned By: Galina Tahchieva

http://www.re-burbia.com/2009/08/04/sprawl-building-types-repair-toolkit/

2009 Festival

A huge “THANK YOU”, you to everyone who supported the inaugural Open House Galway Festival: the architects and volunteers who gave their time over the weekend; the steering group who delievered Open House Galway, the businesses who supported us with time, labour and finance; the Councils and Harbour Company who made us very welcome; our partners the Irish Architecture Foundation, Open House Dublin, Open House London, The Galway Harbour Company and the RIAI . A particular thank you must go to Gearoid McDonagh (McDonagh Bros. Carpentry Services, Barna) for all our site works, David Kelly (Ambient Age) for web design and hosting, Simon J Kelly+ Partners, Architects for administration, ALL3D.ie 3d visualisation company for provision of full time coordinator

A final thank you must go to you the public who came in such great numbers.

Le Meas,

Festival Steering Group

Open House Galway Discription

 ‘Open House, Galway’, seeks to raise the public’s awareness of the built environment. We seek to inspire the public through examples of great design in order to allow them to engage with the built environment, to appreciate the impact it has on all our lives, and how it can be improved upon.