Jury feedback summary
This winning entry is designed for a site in Dubai, where energy consumption is mostly spent on keeping spaces cool. The facade is pocketed with articulated prefabricated window units, angled to capture prevailing winds and prevent direct sun exposure in the brutal afternoon heat. The tower is comparatively opaque compared with the typical fully-glazed surrounding buildings of the city. According to the jury, “The project is characterized by an interesting ambiguity. It deals with the duality of cost and resources consuming construction of high-rise buildings, and an ecological approach.” The building ‘breathes’: its structural system is integrated with hollow-core concrete walls and slabs to bring cooled air through the building, channeled from floor plates to walls to flush out warm air.
Jury feedback summary
The Biorefinery is sited atop a roundabout in the London borough of Hackney. This particular location was chosen for its history of pollution and Hackney’s pledge to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040. The project displays a fantastic collection of detailed sectional, perspective, and axonometric drawings. The tower’s form is defined by a unique set of tapering tubular forms, driven by its function as a combination of mineral-recovery, biogas-production, and waste-water-recovery facilities. This set of programs is infused with office and residential spaces, gardens, and atria. The building’s apex is designed as a machine of steel enclosing mechanical elements, reminiscent of both Paris’ Centre Pompidou and the guts of a typical oil refinery.