Tower Skin, a speculative transformation of the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) tower in Broadway, has won an award in the ZEROprize Re-Skinning Awards competition. The proposal from Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA) to re-skin the UTS tower aims to transform the identity of the brutalist-style high-rise and reduce its carbon footprint.
LAVA has developed a simple, cost-effective and easily constructed building skin that forms a translucent cocoon to create a micro-climate. The skin can generate energy with embedded photo-voltaic cells, collect rain water, and improve the distribution of natural daylight. It can also use available convective energy to power the building’s ventilation requirements, reducing HVAC dependency. The skin could be applied to other similar existing structures inexpensively, contributing to a low-cost, efficient way to beautify cities everywhere.
Zerofootprint, an organization in the global fight against climate change, announced the winners in Rio de Janeiro as part of the World Urban Forum 5 taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil March 22-26, 2010. Partner in the award is the United Nations Habitat, World Urban Campaign.
The ZEROprize Re-Skinning Awards are intended to stimulate market-disrupting improvements in the design and development of retrofitting and re-skinning technologies that enhance the energy efficiency and liveability of older buildings.
Tower Skin offers the opportunity to transform the identity, sustainability and interior comfort of a once state-of-the-art building and can be applied to 1960s icons across the world.
