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Products & references

Innovations and new developments in the building products market, together with built examples of how they are used.

Concept residential house in Salzkammergut
Advertorial How can environmentally friendly living be combined with high living standards? The new Solarlux concept house in Salzkammergut, Upper Austria, provides answers to this question. The building, which is constructed almost entirely from timber, is designed as an atmospheric place where modern and sustainable architecture can be experienced with all the senses. Architect and expert in solar construction Dr. Peter Kuczia achieved this not only by carefully integrating the house in the unique mountain landscape, but with large, movable glass fronts that create seamless transitions between the indoors and outdoors, a loggia that functions as a climate buffer zone and building technology that relies fully on regenerative energy sources, among other things. The low-tech ventilation concept was developed together with Thomas Auer, professor of building technology and climate-friendly construction at the Technical University of Munich.
Eintauchen in die faszinierende Unterwasserwelt
- Colour
- Products
Sustainable Acoustic Ceiling Design
Acoustics are not only important for concert halls. Wherever people communicate, work or learn, room acoustics play a crucial role.
- Exteriors, landscape

Building envelope

The Rebirth of a Multi-Storey Car Park
One of Switzerland's largest reuse projects is currently under construction in the southeast of Basel. Commissioned by the cantonal property management authority, the architectural practice Parabase is planning around 150 flats using the concrete elements from a demolished multi-storey car park.
Hemp Lime: All-Natural Solid Construction
Hemp lime defies traditional construction material categories. With its effective eco-balance and indoor climate benefits, the material is gaining popularity - even in the concrete industry.
Housing for the homeless often consists of stacked contain ers. While the overnight shelter designed by Hild und K utilises prefabrication, thoughtful details adorn the robust building through which the Munich-based office conveys impres sions of warmth and home.
- Colour
- Prefabrication, modular construction
Timber room modules supported by a timber frame plinth construction constitute a pilot project for future-proof building designed by Riehle Koeth. They developed an ice storage system for use as a thermal battery.
- Prefabrication, modular construction
With its industrial facade and concrete room module loadbearing structure, the highrise building in Poblenou refers to the history of the former factory district. The high degree of prefabrication shortened construction time to only three weeks.
Textured prefabricated concrete elements emphasise the modular character of the new pharmaceutical company headquarters at the urban fringe of Køge. They provide the necessary thermal mass to enable safely storing medicinal products.
- Prefabrication, modular construction

Sustainable construction

Museum of Ceramic Art in Yixing
The new UCCA Clay Museum advances the millennia-old tradition of artisanal ceramics the Chinese metropolis Yixing is renowned for. An armour of red clay tile encloses the exhibition spaces and the open timber roof constructions above them – an expressive space for the presentation of modern ceramic art.
Mixed Massive: The Potential of Brick- Earth Block Masonry
A research team at the Technical University of Braunschweig is investigating the building construction potential of solid, load-bearing external walls made from bricks and earth blocks. The objective is to combine both types of masonry unit in the optimum way.
Aesthetics of Reuse: Climate-Positive Circular Timber Frame Construction
Timber buildings are truly sustainable only if they are designed to be reversible and use rapidly renewable, biogenic insulation materials. A research team has tested how this works in practice.
- Sustainable construction
- Natural construction materials
A Serpentine for the Serpentine
Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo of Lanza Atelier are designing this year's Serpentine Pavilion in London. A conversation about borders, beauty, and the human body as habitat.
"We Have Forgotten the Proper Techniques for Building with Earth"
Mariam Issoufou began early on to make earthen architecture socially acceptable in West African cities. In this interview, she discusses her experiences with this natural material, postcolonial museums, and the future of architectural education in Africa.
- Sustainable construction
- Natural construction materials
Solid Recycling - Developing Sustainable Strategies
Xavier Ros is one of the four founding partners of the Catalan architecture firm Harquitectes. An interview:

Projects from our partners

Interiors

Eight Times More Sport
ASP Architekten has designed the eight-court sports centre, one of Europe's largest sports hals, in Monheim am Rhein. Hybrid structures and a selective use of materials characterise the new sports facility.
- School
„How Can We Combine Sufficiency with Wealth?"
EMI Architekt*innen from Zurich offer residential designs that allow for individual adaptation. Elli Mosayebi, a partner at the firm, explains how this approach fits perfectly into the age of globalisation and digitalisation.
- Interiors
Free Jazz in the Hair Salon
The Salt Salon in London blends hairdressing rituals with club culture. Recycled metal panels and 3D-printed speakers create an immersive spatial experience. Ben Hayes and Theo Games Petrohilos report on the productive interplay between analogue and digital design.
Sacred Houses: Transforming Architecture of Faith
Existing conditions are challenging. Churches are places with a specific history and a strong identity. Reusing and rededicating such structures requires tact, sensitivity, courage, and a reasonable budget.
Steam Machine in the Poplar Forest
The Wulingshan Eye Stone Spring bathhouse by Vector Architects is an unexpected combination of industrial aesthetics and poetic beauty.
- Exteriors, landscape
Building with Waste Wood
Researchers at the University of Kassel are developing new building technologies with waste wood particles based on compression and 3D printing.

Light and illumination

The Art of Resource-Conscious Building
Indian practice Anupama Kundoo Architects has earned international recognition for its visionary, resource-aware approach to building. In this interview, its founder explains how climate, local materials, and a focus on people can unlock new architectural possibilities.
Greenhouse at Expo Park Shanghai
Delugan Meissl transforms a former steel factory into an oasis for people and nature, a symbol of the shift towards renewable energy.
Light for Learning
Light has an impact on how we feel, how we work - and how we can learn better. The following concepts show how schools and educational institutions benefit from individual lighting design.
- Light, illumination
- Products
Essay: Bridge Construction, Quo Vadis?
On 14 August 2018, the Morandi Bridge in Genoa collapsed and 43 people fell to their deaths. With so many lives lost, this collapse is a frightful tragedy and of almost traumatic significance for structural engineers working in bridge construction. We do not know exactly what occurred, but we have many questions. How could that happen? What risks do structures of this generation hold in general? What can we do, what must we do, to guarantee their safety? As yet, there are no official answers but suspicions about the causes and the knock-on effects for bridge construction are intensively discussed among industry professionals. These events are a painful reminder to engineers of the great responsibility they carry with their work and everyday decisions.
- Light, illumination
- Structural engineering
Interview: Roger Narboni - Night is Something Fantastic
Roger Narboni is a pioneer of urban lighting design. With his studio Concepto near Paris, he develops lighting masterplans projects for cities all over the world. At the centre of his work is the belief that lighting should be developed for people, not for buildings.
- Light, illumination
Specialist know-how: Demolishing major bridges
The demolition of bridges over narrow valleys or close to superstructures carrying traffic requires new demolition concepts.
- Light, illumination
- Structural engineering

Prefabrication and modular construction

From Serial Logic to Architectural Expression
Projects such as the Federal Environment Agency headquarters in Dessau or the temporary residence of the Federal President in Berlin show: For more than two decades Sauerbruch Hutton have been advancing timber construction both in terms of materials and systems. How much repetition can a building tolerate - and where does architecture begin when applying serial production methods? Four modular construction projects offer answers to this question.
- Prefabrication, modular construction
How can a narrow infill site in the inner city be redensified as simply as possible? A modular housing structure in Cologne by Aretz Dürr Architektur offers an efficient answer with a compelling design based on minimalist elegance.
- Redensification
- Prefabrication, modular construction
Lobster and Fish for the Masses
With the new Fish Market, 3XN/GXN have created a landmark for Sydney. The elegantly curved timber roof spans the largest trading hub for fish and seafood in Australia.

Exteriors and landscape

Architecture is Merely the First Layer of a House
An interview with Lukas Burkhart and Ognjen Krašna:
The Architectural Gardener
Baubotanik understands building as a dynamic, ongoing process. This plant-based architectural approach, says Ferdinand Ludwig, can also make architecture more resilient.
Built Geology
With the Atacama Regional Museum in Copiapó, Max Núñez reinterprets the natural desert landscape while creating a new urban meeting place in the historic mining city.

Digital planning

AI Needs Context
In this interview, Michael Drobnik - head of the Design Technologies department in Basel - explains why good data structures matter more today than the models themselves.
- Digital planning
FlectoLine - Responsive Fibre-Reinforced Facade Elements in Practical Test
Facades that react automatically to environmental influences have long been the subject of research. Now researchers in Freiburg have developed a prototype of a responsive building envelope.
Stuttgart 210 Reuse Put to Practical Test
The universities of applied sciences at Konstanz, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe have researched ways of reusing formwork from the roof of Stuttgart's new underground railway station.

More products

Going Far with Elevators
The days of going higher and faster in the elevator industry are over. Today, it is intelligent, energy-efficient and customised solutions that are in demand.
- Circulation
New Work in Existing Buildings
New Work in the sense of collaborative working methods can help promote collective intelligence in companies and save time. Existing buildings in particular hold enormous potential, which is often not yet fully used and can still be exploited.
- Products
Ready for Use
Prefabricated, cross-trade solutions for windows and building openings can minimise design work and ensure rapid construction progress.
- Products
- Prefabrication, modular construction
Solutions for a Climate-Resilient City
Drought and urban heavy rainfall events are forcing municipalities and planners to rethink. With measures for climate-resilient rainwater management, municipalities are increasingly trying to adapt the water balance to climatic changes.
Off-the-shelf Envelope
Industrially prefabricated elements are intended to optimize the energy efficiency of existing buildings more quickly. Which companies are currently active in the serial renovation of building envelopes?
- Sustainable construction
- Prefabrication, modular construction
Slim Profiles, Reduced CO2 Footprint
Modern facades save a lot of heating and cooling energy - but what are manufacturers doing to make their production more resource-efficient?
Climate Check in the Preliminary Planning Phase
Architecture and planning offices want simple software for CO2 accounting during early planning phases, with some now developing it themselves. How are established suppliers closing this gap?
The Power of Colours
Current trends, trips to faraway countries and daring collaborations: How designers and manufacturers obtain inspiration for their interior colour concepts.
- Products
Closing the Insulation Cycle
The recyclability of insulation materials is often questioned. How far has the industry progressed on the path to a circular economy?
- Sustainable construction
- Recycling, reuse