Tag Archives: eco-tourism

Former oil refinery will be turned into renewal energy park

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We’re seeing a lot of recreational places like amusement parks, public spaces, museums, etc that are looking for ways to use renewable sources of energy and to be more eco-friendly. There is also a slowly growing call to turn places that used to be major pollutants into something that can benefit mother nature as well as become places that are useful for the general public. One such place in Italy may soon be turned into a clean energy park in order to reconnect this area with the city and its neighbouring areas.

Designer: Carlo Ratti Associati (CRA)

What used to be an oil refinery in Trieste, Italy may soon become a renewal energy park and become part of a 365,000 square meter reclaimed seafront park that will be open to the public. The six former oil reservoirs in the area will be converted into tanks with water batteries and will be used to power the needs of the park. The tanks are 15 meters tall and have a capacity of 110,000 cubic meters and can turn what was once an inaccessible area into a useful public space.

The tanks will be used to store power by having seawater pumped into them and turning them into potential energy. When the power is actually needed, the stored seawater will then be turned into hydroelectric energy and consequently, they will be pumping water back into the sea. The energy needed for this whole “pumped hydroelectric” plant process uses agrivoltaics or dual-use solar panels. The elevated photovoltaic panels will be located around the urban park.

Aside from the fact that it will turn a former pollutant into an environmentally-friendly place, it will also bring Trieste into a closer relationship with the neighboring municipality of Muggia. There are other spaces like green areas, urban farms, and even an Innovation Park with a biotech research facility included inside. Hopefully we’ll see more projects like this in various cities so they can become more sustainable in the future.

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These floating bamboo bungalows make up an eco-tourist hotel that pays homage to the local turtles!

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Turtle Bay is an eco-tourist destination in Thailand’s Hua Hin on Khao Tao Reservoir that combines sustainable design with local building material to home in on the hotel’s commitment to preserving the ecosystem that surrounds it.

Hua Hin, a popular seaside town in Thailand, is no stranger to turtles. In Thai folklore, turtles are known for bringing good fortune and prosperity, positioning the animal and lucky icon as a generous source of inspiration for designers and architects alike.

Welding the good fortune of turtles with the lush landscape of coastal Thai towns, architect Sarawoot Jansaeng-Aram from Dersyn Studio Co., Ltd. designed and constructed Turtle Bay, an eco-tourist destination that floats atop the lotus-covered Khao Tao Reservoir.

Taking up almost an acre’s worth of land, Turtle Bay is comprised of five floating bungalows that connect to one another via wooden walking ways. In Thai, Khao translates to ‘mountain,’ and Tao translates to ‘turtle.’ Finding inspiration in the reservoir’s namesake, Jansaeng-Aram designed each bungalow to appear like oversized bamboo turtles.

Leaning into the shingle-like shell of turtles, Jansaeng-Aram topped each bungalow with shingled roofs to bring out the stone and gravel chipped texture. Moving from the roof to the bungalow’s facade, Jansaeng-Aram turned to locally sourced bamboo building material for its flexibility and easy assembly process that doesn’t require heavy machinery.

The interior of Turtle Bay bungalows finds temperate conditions from a local building secret. “Poon Tum” is a locally sourced and sustainable building method trusted for its ability to maintain a moderate interior temperature. Found in the construction of ancient temples around Thailand, “Poon Tum” provides ample ventilation and long-lasting durability.

Speaking on the creative direction behind the chosen building materials, Jansaeng-Aram notes, “These ways of designing offer sustainable architectural design aspect like natural ventilation, called “Stack Effect” and extending the roof to create sun shading. Solar cell equipment [is] also used on some [roofs] where possible. The electric power generated from natural light during the daytime will be used to light up the electric-bulb during the night-time.”

Designer: Sarawoot Jansaeng-Aram from Dersyn Studio Co., Ltd.

The post These floating bamboo bungalows make up an eco-tourist hotel that pays homage to the local turtles! first appeared on Yanko Design.

This sustainable “vertiport” powered by photovoltaic panels will use air taxis to boost eco-tourism!

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It is 2021 and for some weird reason when we entered the 2000s we all dreamed now would be when we would have flying cars or “air taxis” if you want to make it sound more realistic. However, there is one thing we didn’t include in our imaginative stories, these flying cars or air taxis will pick us up and also land in specific places only unlike Uber or Lyft that comes right outside your door. Keeping the future and these logistical details in mind, Chinese air mobility company EHang announced plans for a “vertiport” in Italy called Baobab designed by Giancarlo Zema Design Group (GZDG). Baobab will be an innovative eco-sustainable vertiport that produces energy and recharge the drones wirelessly!

EHang is developing an eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) vehicle which will be capable of picking up one to two passengers (initial model) then autonomously flying them to their destination. It is actually not a distant dream, EHang has actually already delivered 40 functioning air taxis to customers for testing, training, and demonstration purposes. So the company joined hands with GZDG to build a vertiport that has been inspired by the African baobab tree. The 30-meter-tall (98-ft) tower will have 360-degree windows and will be constructed from steel + laminated wood. The passengers will take an elevator to the platform for takeoff and landing on the roof terrace. Below the terrace, there is a waiting room as well as a 200 sq m (2,153 sq ft) panoramic restaurant that will offer views of the lush landscape. The vertiport will feature several photovoltaic panels that will generate over 300 kilowatts of power per day. On the roof, there are green areas with seats and three landing areas for electric drones that are recharged wirelessly from the landing pad floor which will feature some of the non-slip photovoltaic panels integrated with LED lights for night lighting and signage.  Baobab, the three independent plug-and-play charging stations, and two-passenger EH216 eVTOLs will run on the power provided by clean energy.

Baobab is a vertiport designed with the intention of boosting the eco-tourism industry – air taxis will pick passengers up at the tower and take them on sightseeing tours of the surrounding countryside. While the exact location for this project is yet to be announced, the EHang is already working on additional structures for Europe and Southeast Asia.

Designer:Giancarlo Zema Design Group