Architect
Uptick and PlanRadar: Two Scale-Ups Transforming Building Compliance for Life Safety
September 8th, 2021It Wouldn’t Be the First Time that Disease Reshaped our Built Environment
July 7th, 2020
Legacy Procurement Practices Continue to Hold Back the Building IoT Market
Construction methodology is still, for the most part, archaic. It starts with a strategic definition, where a business case is developed around the client’s requirements and budgets, and sites are appraised. Once the project is defined, preparation and briefing can begin, where budgets, outcomes and aspirations are refined further and feasibility can be studied. Next, […]
Taking the Next Step in Standardized Construction for an “Office 1.0” Target
“The model the [construction] industry has defaulted to is based around design and build, where responsibility to complete the building design is passed down the supply chain. It has been driven by a desire to protect investment returns and transfer risk. But it has become a barrier to innovation,” says Neil Pennell, head of design […]
WZMH Architects Take “a Critical Look at How Buildings are Built from the Inside Out”
“If you’re going to do a floor panel off an assembly line… let’s see what else we can put in the floor panel,” says Zenon Radewych, partner and principal at Toronto-based WZMH Architects. This month the firm won the Award of Excellence the Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards for a prefabricated smart building component that is […]
Step-by-Step Towards a 3D Printed Future for Construction
Moving Past the Era of Underperformance to an Age of Better Building Construction
Why is the construction industry underperforming? The skills shortage is a reason for poor quality work and slow technology uptake, labor and material costs explain high rates for the customer, and each blames the previous link in the construction supply chain for whatever is going wrong. The time has come for the construction sector to […]
On Buildings that Compute. A Proposal.
“What if the intelligent matter of our surroundings could understand us, give us feedback and communicate with us? What if the walls surrounding us were not only supporting our roofs, but had increased functionality? What if each brick, or building block, was a self-powered, decentralised computing entity that would comprise a part of an emerging, […]
Like “a Motherboard for Buildings”
The Internet of Things (IoT) is infiltrating every corner of the building. Systems like heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), lighting and access control have already been revolutionized by connectivity. More recently, elevators, windows, and furniture have been given a smart makeover. Now, a Toronto firm wants to go one step further by integrating IoT […]
Is Human Psychology Being Neglected in Our Smart Buildings and Cities?
Smart buildings and cities give great emphasis to being “human-centric” by placing occupant and resident health and safety at the top of their list of priorities. They talk about how their design goes beyond efficiency to increasing health using lighting, air quality monitoring, and a variety of other techniques but are they actually neglecting one […]