Projects

5 Buildings that Pushed Sustainable Design Forward in 2022

These schools and office buildings raised the bar for low-carbon design, employing strategies such as mass-timber construction, passive ventilation, and onsite renewable energy generation.

Projects

Speed and Sustainability: The Luisenblock Shows What’s Possible with Mass Timber and Prefabrication

The new office building for the German Parliament was erected in mere months using a building system based on prefabricated wooden units.

Projects

In Three Buildings Around the World, Old Methods Find New Purpose

In France, Sweden, and China, architects are drawing on old techniques like biomaterials and natural airflow to build the next generation of sustainable buildings.

Projects

Frederick Fisher and Partners’ Municipal Building is a Green Systems Champion

Santa Monica City Hall East features state-of-the-art green building systems behind its straight-laced facade.

Projects

In France, A Hempcrete Sports Center Demonstrates the Material’s Promise

Designed by local firm Lemoal Lemoal, the relatively modest center is the first public building in France made of this sustainable material.

Projects

Six Architecture Projects that Raised the Bar on Sustainability in 2021

Featured in Metropolis throughout the year, these projects represent our industry’s best efforts at tackling climate change.

Projects

A Bold New Environmental Center Helps Redeem a Former Brownfield Site in Chicago

The Ford Calumet Environmental Center at Chicago's Big Marsh park is part classroom, part museum, and all about environmental remediation.

Projects

A Recyclable Recycling Center in Switzerland by HWM Architects

Fully demountable, a municipal waste drop-off center near Lucerne is green in form and function.

Projects

Toronto’s Sculptural Stormwater Treatment Plant Sparks an Interest in Infrastructure

Designed by gh3 architects, the geometric structure uses architecture to help the public better understand their watershed.

Projects

In Salford, U.K., a Government Building Makes a Statement in Brick

Three New Bailey features a high-tech brick cladding that’s inspired by Victorian factories and the city’s cotton-weaving heritage.

Projects

A Water Utility Office Designed to Rival Most Museums

Smithgroup achieves an engineering miracle in the Washington, D.C., Water headquarters.

Projects

Three Proposals for Chicago’s James R. Thompson Center Delight in Postmodern Possibility

Speculative designs from Eastman Lee Architects, Perkins & Will, and Solomon Cordwell Buenz won a competition to reimagine the Helmut Jahn-designed building, though its future is far from certain.

Projects

Thomas Heatherwick Selected to Design Luxury High Line Condo

The new residential complex, to wrap up in 2020, will feature a bubbly facade of faceted bay windows.

Projects

KieranTimberlake’s New Fortress-Like London Embassy Neglects Public Space

Where civic buildings tend to invite their publics inside, this embassy expertly keeps people out.