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Looking for 3.1?

The Living Building Challenge is an ever-evolving program shaped by the incredible experiences of our project teams as they continually break new ground. Over time, feedback from a diverse array of stakeholders actively using the challenge helps us understand how to refine and improve the program to have the greatest impacts.

LBC 3.1 has been retired and new projects must register under the 4.0 standard, but existing project teams can still access 3.1 resources.

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Living Building Challenge | Living-Future.org

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Looking for 3.1? The Living Building Challenge is an ever-evolving program shaped by the incredible experiences of our project teams as they continually break new ground. Over time, feedback from a diverse array of stakeholders actively using the challenge helps us understand how to refine and improve the program to have the greatest impacts.

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Weekly schedule with visual examples on weekly deliverables.

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https://www.arup.com/perspectives/what-is-regenerative-design

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Regenerative design is an approach in which human and natural systems are designed to co-exist and co-evolve over time. The value of a regenerative design approach is in its potential to regenerate planetary health and deliver positive outcomes for both people and planet.

After millennia of human development, exploitation of natural resources and nature loss, regenerative design explores how we can restore and regenerate planetary health through the way we design our buildings, neighbourhoods, cities, and spaces. The fundamental principle is that we can both drive sustainable human development and simultaneously replenish planetary ecosystems by working in harmony with nature instead of against it.

This approach does not seek to recreate previous ecological states, but rather to understand how the built environment can perform roles within those ecosystems. For example:

Optimising a façade's design to provide habitats for local species as seen in Habitat Royale, a proposed residential building in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Reconnecting water cycles that urban hardscapes have disrupted by understanding baseline absorbency, using Arup's Global Sponge Cities Snapshot, to create new blue and green spaces that better absorb extreme rainfall.

Designing a passive ventilation system at the Eastgate Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe - emulating the way African termites regulate temperature in their mounds.

In many cases, regenerative approaches are not new concepts but draw on long-understood Indigenous and traditional ecological knowledge.

Why do we need regenerative design?

In our relatively brief time on the planet, humans have become one of the most impactful species in its history with power to irreversibly alter the Earth's systems. Extractive human activities have pushed us beyond planetary limits; the limits which underpin Earth's capacity to support all life. Consequently, we now have an urgent ethical and ecological responsibility to design the human world to support the health of the natural systems which sustain us.

Regenerative design begins with a mindset shift that reconnects humans to the wider living system, which we are part of and rely on to survive. It promotes ecological resilience and creates space for nature to continuously renew and replenish itself, nurturing a just space for human and natural life.

Applying regenerative design in practice

Turning a regenerative mindset into practice requires a fundamental shift in the values that guide our decisions and, ultimately, a reframing of economic objectives that drive growth and exploitation.

Regulations, finance and policy will be the key mechanisms that drive adoption of regenerative design to achieve planetary health. It will require ambitious objectives that have the power to reshape market incentives away from narrow, short-term commercial goals to deliver enduring benefits across the whole planetary ecosystem.

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Regenerative design is an approach in which human and natural systems are designed to co-exist and co-evolve over time. The value of a regenerative design approach is in its potential to regenerate planetary health and deliver positive outcomes for both people and planet.

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Research centre ICTA-ICP 1102 - H ARQUITECTES

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The ICTA-ICP building, located in the UAB Campus (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), is a research centre in environmental sciences and palaeontology. In accordance with the research fields of the building users, they bet, from the beginning, for a building prepared to give an ambitious response to the challenges of sustainability.

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The Dezeen guide to mass timber in architecture

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To kick off our Timber Revolution series, we republish the Dezeen guide to engineered wood, which includes CLT, glulam and dowel-laminated timber.

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Thinking of using timber in your architecture or design project? Our guide to 15 of the most popular types of wood and wood products has links to hundreds of examples for inspiration.

Ash
Ash is a deciduous hardwood that produces a beautiful pale timber with a grain similar to oak. Versatile, shock-resistant and with no odour, it is widely used for furniture and objects.

Architect R2 Studio used solid ash to create a staircase with a perforated plywood bannister in a London domestic extension while Hannah clad an off-grid cabin in upstate New York with infested ash wood. In Valencia, Francesc Rifé Studio used ash throughout the interiors of a facial and dental clinic named Swiss Concept (above).
See projects featuring ash › Bamboo
Bamboo is a type of grass rather than a tree but its fast-growing canes are widely used in architecture and design both in their natural state and processed into wood-like lumber and fibres.

Bamboo canes are used for the structure, walls and doors of this clothing factory in Colombia by Ruta 4 (above), while designer David Trubridge has reissued his Cloud lighting collection using bamboo strips instead of plastic.
See projects featuring bamboo › Beech
Native to Europe, beech is a hard, heavy, fine-textured hardwood widely used in furniture making and as a flooring material. It is also commonly used as a veneer and the timber is suitable for steam bending. Beech wood ranges from creamy white to pink or red in colour.

Designer David Ericsson created the Madonna chair from solid beech for Swedish brand Gärsnäs while Peca designed cylindrical furniture with beech wood dowels (above.)
See projects featuring beech › Cedar
This coniferous softwood is weather-resistant, making it suitable for cladding including shingles as well as outdoor furniture. It has a fragrant aroma and insect-repelling qualities.

The wood comes from a handful of species of genuine cedar trees that grow at high altitudes including Lebanon cedar and Cyprus cedar.

Additionally, there is a range of American conifers that are commonly described as cedars, including western red cedar and Atlantic white cedar, which are technically different species.

Cedar-clad buildings are particularly common in America. Bates Masi Architects used oversized cedar shingles for the cladding of this home in the Hamptons (above and top) while HGA Architects and Engineers covered these Vermont dwellings in cedar boards.
See projects featuring cedar › Cherry
The wood of the cherry tree has a warm reddish colour that darkens with age. It is fine-grained and easy to work, making it a popular choice for furniture and homewares as gives a rich tone to interiors.

Azman Architects used cherry wood to create partitions in a London apartment while John Pawson paired the timber with limestone for his Jil Sander store in Tokyo (above.)
See projects featuring cherry › Chestnut
The sweet chestnut tree produces timber with a brown or reddish-brown colour and a coarse texture. It is suitable for outdoor uses including cladding, shingles, decking and outdoor furniture, as well as for indoor furnishings and objects.

Architect K-Studio used chestnut wood for the lattice of a Greek holiday home, (above,) while designer Mikyia Kobayashi built an electric mobility scooter from the timber.
See projects featuring chestnut › Cork
The bark of the cork oak tree has come into favour in recent years as a material for both architecture and design projects. As well as having a pleasantly musty smell it has good insulation properties and is fire resistant, making it appropriate for internal and external cladding.

Its noise reduction properties, sponginess and durability make it suitable for flooring as well while the sustainable way cork is harvested without damaging the tree gives it good environmental credentials. On top of this, cork can be recycled.

Architect Matthew Barnett Howland demonstrated the versatility of cork by building a recyclable house from the material, (above,) while Jasper Morrison is one of the designers who has used cork conglomerate to make furniture.
See projects featuring cork › Douglas fir
Native to western North America, Douglas fir is an evergreen conifer. A softwood, it is a type of pine rather than a true fir and is commonly grown as a Christmas tree. Its timber is pinkish to red in colour.

Douglas fir, which is also known as Oregon pine, is widely used in construction. Architectural uses include the cladding on this barn-like house in England (above) by Elliott Architects and the exposed structure of this cabin in the Netherlands by Crafted Works.
See projects featuring Douglas fir › Larch
Larch is a deciduous conifer that grows throughout the northern hemisphere. The heartwood is usually red or brown in colour. Tough and durable with waterproof qualities, larch is widely used outdoors for fencing and cladding as well as boat-building.

Projects using larch include Arklab's twin houses in Germany that are clad in untreated larch and a house in Scotland by Mary Arnold-Forster Architects that is clad in burnt larch (above.)
See projects featuring larch › Maple
There are around 200 species of maple, ranging from shrubs to large trees identifiable by their pairs of winged seeds and five-lobed leaves.

This deciduous hardwood is widely harvested for timber, which has a fine grain and ranges in colour from white to golden or red. The wood is used for a variety of indoor purposes including furniture and objects and is particularly prized as a flooring material for sports halls and dance venues.

Designer Thomas Heatherwick created a modular desk with wooden planter legs made from maple (above), while architect Naturehumaine clad a staircase in angular panels of solid timber as part of a renovation of a Montreal apartment.
See projects featuring maple › Oak
There are around 500 different species of oak tree, many of which produce hard, durable, versatile timber that can be used structurally, for external and internal cladding, for doors and windows and furniture and flooring.

Architect Thomas-McBrien used oak to clad the interior of this kitchen extension in London (above), while this off-grid cabin by Out of the Valley has a structure of oak beams constructed using traditional joinery techniques.

Oak furniture includes Cecilie Manz's Workshop table for Muuto, which has a solid oak frame and an oak veneer top.
See projects featuring oak › Pine
There are dozens of species of pine. It is a coniferous softwood, often with a yellow or reddish colour and containing many small knots that give pine objects and interiors a rustic look, plus a distinctive sharp scent.

Many types of pine trees grow quickly, making their wood cheaper than other timbers. This partly explains pine's widespread use in construction and joinery. More hardwearing than other softwoods, pine is also widely used for flooring and staircases.

Architectural uses include the slatted cladding on this beach house in Chile by LAND Arquitectos (above), and this Swedish lakeside house by Dive Architects, while design projects that use pine include a furniture collection by Studio Sløyd that attempts to revive interest in a type of timber that has fallen out of fashion in recent years.
See projects featuring pine › Spruce
Spruce is a genus of evergreen coniferous tree native to the northern hemisphere. One of the most widely used of all timbers, spruce wood is often confused with pine but is generally lighter and softer with a creamy white, pale yellow or red-brown colour.

A softwood, spruce is easy to work with and is used extensively in construction, including structural elements and internal and external cladding, in the production of plywood and in carpentry.

Architectural uses include the cave-like interior of this suite at a luxury resort in Greece designed by Tenon Architecture and the panelled interior of Kvadrat's design studio in Copenhagen (above) by Caruso St John.
See projects featuring spruce › Sycamore
Sycamore is the name given to a range of deciduous hardwood trees including the European sycamore, maple sycamore and American plane. It is often confused with maple and has similar-shaped leaves and winged seeds.

The timber is white to light brown with a fine grain, sometimes featuring a speckled pattern.

Susceptible to rot if it gets wet, the timber is not generally used for construction or outdoor purposes but as it has no odour and does not stain it is widely used for kitchen implements as well as furniture and objects.

Designer Faye Toogood used sycamore for a range of furniture while architect Giles Reid used the timber for a bar in a Japanese restaurant in London (above).
See projects featuring sycamore › Walnut
Walnut is a dense hardwood that polishes well and often has an attractive colour and an intricately patterned grain. It is particularly suitable for carving and furniture making while walnut veneers are prized by luxury car brands and cabinet makers.

Popular varieties include European (also known as English) walnut and black walnut, which is native to the USA.

Furniture that makes use of walnut includes the 50th-anniversary edition of Arne Jacobsen's Lily Chair, which is finished in a walnut veneer, while architect Scott Whitby Studio designed a bedroom that features bespoke walnut furniture (above.)
See projects featuring walnut ›

Numerous material products are made from wood and there are many ways of treating wood to change its appearance and performance. Here are some of the best-known.
Blackened wood
Blackened wood is increasingly popular as a way of finishing natural timber, particularly for cladding and furniture. The surface of the timber is blackened by singeing it.
Cross-laminated timber
Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is an engineered construction product made of strips of wood bonded together with their grains at right angles to each other for rigidity. It can be used for small buildings like the woodland cabin by Otraum Architects (above), and is strong enough to use structurally, including for tall buildings such as the proposed 13-storey Dock Mill tower by Urban Agency.
Plywood
Plywood is made of thin veneers of wood glued together with crisscrossing grains to produce sheets that can be used for internal cladding, structures and even for external use when protected from the weather adequately, plus a wide range of products.

Birch plywood is particularly prized due to its fine grain and silky appearance.

Architects Diana Salvador and Javier Mera used plywood to build a cabin in Equador for themselves beside a river in Puerto Quito (above), while Toledano + Architects used steam-bent plywood to create a sinuous partition in this Paris apartment.
Steam-bent timber
Some types of wood can be formed into curves by subjecting them to steam, which softens the material and allows it to be bent in a mould. Steam-bent timber is widely used to produce furniture as well as cladding and features such as bannisters.
Chipboard
Chipboard, also known as particle board, is a cheaper engineered product consisting of small pieces of wood bonded together into boards.
Oriented strand board
Oriented strand board (OSB) is made of larger strands of wood arranged so their grains run in different directions and then compressed and bonded. It can be used for larger architectural projects, like this house in Alicante, Spain (below).

Recent popular wooden projects on Dezeen include a cork and cross-laminated timber extension to a traditional Catalan house, a pair of timber-clad cabins on a coastal hillside in Chile, a cosy woodland cabin in Finland and a wooden tofu factory in the mountains of eastern China.

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The Dezeen guide to wood in architecture, interiors and design

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Thinking of using timber in your architecture or design project? Our guide to 15 of the most popular types of wood and wood products has links to hundreds of examples for inspiration. Ash Ash is a deciduous hardwood that produces a beautiful pale timber with a grain similar to oak.

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Text description provided by the architects. Yusuhara Machino-eki is a complex of a market selling local products and a small hotel with 15 rooms. Combining the two different functions via atrium, a new core facility was born for the town of 3,900 in the mountains.

Yusuhara is widely known as the town facing a main road used by Sakamoto Ryoma, a high-minded warrior of the region who contributed to the initiation of the Meiji Restoration (big political reform). Along the road, there existed a number of greenrooms called "Chad Do" for travelers, which functioned not only as restrooms but also as a kind of cultural salon, serving teas free of charge. As an attempt to respect this history, we used thatch as the material, which is deeply related to "Cha Do," which worked as a medium to connect the past with the present.

Glass fittings are used for the lower part of the building, including the market's entrance facing the front road, which can be open at any hour of the day, and on top of it come piles of the straw unit in the module of 2,000×980mm, an unprecedented form for a curtain wall. Normally in a thatched roofing, thatch is fixed vertically against the foundation, in which its cut ends face towards outside. In this building, however, the bunch of thatch is bound horizontally to the foundation, with which the cut end won't be exposed to rainfalls, and will last long. As another device, pivots are set on the steel mullion at the both ends of each thatch unit, so that it can rotate and take in fresh air from outside, which will the maintenance of the thatch easier.

For the interior, we used logs of cedar tree with some remained astringent skin. The remain of the astringent was controlled by the pitch of the bark peeler, so that some nuance was added to their texture. Using rough-textured materials, such as thatch and log, we tried to create a new characteristics of Yusuhara.

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Yusuhara Marche / Kengo Kuma & Associates

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Text description provided by the architects. Yusuhara Machino-eki is a complex of a market selling local products and a small hotel with 15 rooms. Combining the two different functions via atrium, a new core facility was born for the town of 3,900 in the mountains.

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Text description provided by the architects. Even at first glance the Wadden Sea Centre gives the impression of a building that has emerged from the ground, drawing a soft, long and clear profile against the Wad- den Sea's infinite horizon.

With a thatched roof and facades, the Wadden Sea Centre provides the area's many visitors with a humble yet significant starting point for their visit. Dorte Mandrup has created a modern building in perfect harmony with the Wadden Sea's nature and his- tory.

The Wadden Sea Centre - the gateway to the UNESCO World Heritage Site - has recently been inaugurated on February 2. The Wadden Sea Centre conveys the story of one of the world's most unique and significant natural resorts that, among other things, ensures that 15 million migratory birds are able to forage on their flight be- tween North and South.

After eighteen months of intense work to convert and expand the original building, the new exhibition centre has now been finished and comprises of 2,800 square meters for exhibition and communication activities. Through large glass panels a number of the rooms are fully integrated with the outdoor exhibition area as well as with the sur- rounding landscape.

"From the very beginning we have chosen an integrated approach to the architecture and exhibition - for example, we have been conscious about the use of daylight throughout the exhibitions as well establishing contact with the surrounding land- scape", Dorte Mandrup, founder and owner of Dorte Mandrup A/S says.

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Completed in 2017 in Ribe, Denmark. Images by Adam Mørk. Even at first glance the Wadden Sea Centre gives the impression of a building that has emerged from the ground, drawing a soft, long and clear...

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Inside the world's first 3D printed house in raw earth

Tecla, a revolutionary 3D printed house designed by Mario Cucinella Architects in collaboration with specialists WASP and unveiled this month in Italy, is made entirely from raw earth

Mario Cucinella Architects has built the world's very first 3D printed house made entirely from raw earth. Named 'Tecla', and built in collaboration with specialists in the field WASP, the structure demonstrates the point where natural materials meet technology and has just been unveiled in Italy's Massa Lombarda region, near the city of Ravenna.

'Adopted from one of Italo Calvino's Imaginary Cities, one that is forever taking shape, the name 'Tecla' evokes the strong link between past and future combining the materiality and spirit of timeless ancient dwellings with the 21st-century world of high-tech production,' say the architects.

Revolutionary technology

The building was created with the cutting edge of current 3D printing technology, and as a result the team was able to construct its 60 sq m in a mere 200 hours. This was helped by the fact that the structure was designed to be entirely self supported - it requires no other framework structure and can hold its own weight. A minimalist approach in material use - effectively, the whole house is created out a single material in one go - means the risk of complications on the building site are low helping things move more efficiently and faster.

Sustainability in this 3D printed house

Built in situ using locally sourced materials, Tecla is an exemplar of a zero-waste product. Local soil was used for the 3D printing 's raw material and on top of this, the sriking, tactile shell is wholly biodegradable - demonstrating how smart architecture can look good but also be in the technological avant-garde and support a low-carbon approach at the same time.

The composition of the earth mixture used in the build was created in direct response to the local climatic conditions. This means that thermal performance has been optimised too, 'balancing thermal mass, insulation and wall ventilation within the envelope,' explain the architects.

Streamlined aesthetics

The streamlined approach with construction is mirrored in an appropriately strong aesthetic. The house appears coherent, with the same visual style both inside and out. The environment feels natural and warm, with gentle colourings and a tactile surface finish that is friendly to the touch. The internal spaces - a living area, a bedroom and bathroom - feature tailor made, built-in furniture to match the overall aesthetic, allowing at the same time enough free, open space for customisation and flexibility if needed.

'Fitted furnishings are produced as part of the 3-D printing process enabling occupants to make instant use of these dwellings,' say the architects. 'This was an important consideration for Mario Cucinella Architects because the studio wanted to use 3-D printing technologies to address both acute housing emergencies, for which the rapid construction of TECLA housing is especially suitable, and the longer-term housing crisis around the world.' §

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Inside the world's first 3D printed house in raw earth

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Inside the world's first 3D printed house in raw earth Tecla, a revolutionary 3D printed house designed by Mario Cucinella Architects in collaboration with specialists WASP and unveiled this month in Italy, is made entirely from raw earth Mario Cucinella Architects has built the world's very first 3D printed house made entirely from raw earth.

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IBUKU has pioneered a new design vocabulary, making our own rules along the way, and offering new solutions to the world through our journey. Today,…

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New Directions in Construction Technologies 

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New Directions in Construction Technologies 