New Spaces 09 EN

6 Thinking the Future I Chris Bosse’s aim is to shift the boundaries of structure and architecture. By using wraparound membranes, he can transform the faceless office blocks of the concrete era into sustainable and habitable low-energy buildings. The tower’s new façade The “tower skin” will attractively package the outmoded administration block of Sydney’s University of Technology. Chris Bosse’s architectural practice is called the Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA) — and his latest project has “lava” written all over it. Generally referred to as the ugliest building in Sydney, the Broadway Tower is a 32 storey administration block belonging to the University of Technology (UTS). Also known as the UTS Tower, it is now slated for a spectacular makeover. By night it will then shimmer on the Sidney skyline as though moulten rock were gliding down its surface. Alternatively, the university will be able to use the façade as a giant display surface for a changing series of graphic designs. Built in 1969, the Broadway Tower has been blasted by its critics as pompous, arrogant and detested ever since its cornerstone was laid. The planned facelift, however, should put an end to the vilifi cation. LAVA proposes to wrap a special membrane around the existing building by means of a special steel framework construction. This so-called “tower skin” is a light and fl exible composite mesh textile made of nylon and ethylene tetrafl uoroethylene (ETFE). The surface tension of the membrane will make it stretch snugly around the walls and the roof elements of the building, thus achieving maximum visual impact with a minimal usage of materials. Once in place, this cocoon will serve a number of purposes: aesthetic, by giving the 1960’s concrete façade a much-needed revamp; technical, by creating a microclimate beneath the membrane that will serve to improve the building’s lighting and ventilation; communicatory, by using LEDs on the outer skin to transmit all kinds of messages; and, fi nally, ecological, by collecting energy like a huge array of solar panels and channelling rainwater for re-use. The idea has quickly attracted admirers, and the UK’s The Independent newspaper is already wondering whether LAVA might not be willing to sheathe the Barbican Centre in London or even the entire central district of Croydon in a kind of “gigantic condom”. Architectural experts are also impressed: LAVA was presented at the World Urban Forum with the Re- Skinning Award, part of the UN sponsored ZEROprize, for its UTS Tower design. The award honours “market-disrupting improvements in the design and development of retrofi tting and re-skinning technologies that improve the energy effi ciency and habitability of older buildings”. All that remains now is for UTS to give the go-ahead. There are already plans and fi nancing for redeveloping the city campus; the burning question now is whether the university has the innovative daring to implement the tower skin project. First, however, it intends to spend AUD 120 million on a new Business School designed by Frank Gehry. Yet when Gehry was at a podium discussion in Sydney, the fi rst question from the fl oor was: “Why don’t you help us do something about the awful Broadway Tower instead?”

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