“Invisible” solar panels fit aesthetics of heritage buildings

Solar panels are a great renewable source of power and can be a huge help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. How they look like seems pretty standard across the board, but there’s always room for improvement. For example, heritage and historical sites cannot have them on their roofs as there are limitations in how they should look like to maintain their status and significance. The more “modern” looking solar panels will not fit in or may not be allowed to mar the looks of these heritage buildings because of their “high visual impact”.

Designer: Dyaqua

Good thing someone has finally created solar panels that can be used for these historical buildings, at least if they have those barrel clay tiles. The Invisible Solar are panels that look like these clay tiles but actually have cells underneath them that will be able to generate solar energy and power the building they are placed on. The common monocrystalline silicon cells are made from non-toxic materials and are the “invisible” part of the solar panels. Each panel is able to reach 7.5 watt peak (peak energy capacity) and weighs around 2 kilograms each.

The ceramic tiles looks opaque but are still able to absorb the sun rays that will power the cells. This way, it can fit in right with the heritage buildings but are still able to help the site lessen its non-renewable energy consumption. They can be used for either siding or for pavement. Aside from the solar panel aspect, the Invisible Solar panels can also act as surface protection just like the usual housing tiles. They are even self-cleaning as it has photocatalytic properties.

Normally, these buildings and other archeological sites have a pretty high energy consumption so having an option to put in solar panels that can fit in with their look can help lessen their environmental impact. The panels are also recyclable so that it can complete the cycle and make it sustainable while still looking aesthetic.

The post “Invisible” solar panels fit aesthetics of heritage buildings first appeared on Yanko Design.

This sustainable house has an aquaponic system that connects a pond for edible fish & a rooftop garden!





Think of the Welcome to the Jungle House (WTTJH) as a sanctuary for a modern sustainable lifestyle. It enables carbon-neutral living with the most luxurious and artistic aesthetic! It addresses climate change with a design that blends sustainability, landscape, fauna, and architecture for them to exist symbiotically. WTTJH is located in Sydney and the most interesting feature is the aquaponic rooftop masked within a heritage-meets-modernism interior style. This example of sustainable architecture shows us that the future is bright for environmentally conscious design without compromising on form or function.

WTTJH is built within a rejuvenated heritage façade of rendered masonry, steel, timber, and greenery – it is where Victorian row terrace housing meets and a post-industrial warehouse aesthetic. The two-story home was close to collapse and originally occupied the 90sqm triangular site. Due to strict heritage controls, it was untouched and in despair till the rejuvenation project by CPlusC brought it back to life in a way that was conducive towards a better future for the industry and the planet.

The original window openings have been framed in pre-rusted steel and juxtaposed with new openings framed in gloss white powder coat steel which adds a wonderful then-and-now element. A black photovoltaic panel array on the northern façade harnesses sunlight throughout the day and acts as a billboard for the sustainability in the architectural structure which is a contrast to the original heritage facade. The rooftop is made from steel planter beds that provide deep soil for native plants and fruit and vegetables. The garden beds are irrigated from the fishpond providing nutrient-rich water created by the edible silver perch (fish)!





The house features a glass inner skin that is fully operable from the outer punctuated masonry façade, providing an abundance of natural light and views while maintaining privacy. This interstitial zone also helps with passive thermal regulation across the upper floors with planter beds ‘floating’ in between the glass and masonry skins to provide cooling to internal spaces via transpiration. The floating planter beds are also an integrated structurally engineered solution to the lateral bracing needs of the masonry wall.

The journey from ground to roof begins with the raw textures of burnished concrete and fiber cement panels, ascending a steel and recycled timber stair to the bedroom and bathroom level finished in rich and warm timber boards lining the floors walls, and ceilings. The upper floor living space continues with timber flooring and a recycled timber island/dining bench to warm the space. The kitchen has been assembled from an array of machined and polished metals contrasting the concrete and timber finishes of the floors below. Unpolished stainless steel and brass and gold anodized aluminum glow and glean light revealing their factory finishes.

A colonnade of thin steel blade columns supports the roof above and has been deliberately staggered perpendicular from the building’s edge to provide shade from the afternoon sun to keep the building cool in Summer without the need for mechanical shading devices. Above are the hot-dip galvanized planter beds that form the roof structure in its entirety. These structural roof ‘troughs’ are the roof beams spanning up to 8.5M while holding deep soil for the planter beds, exposed at their bases to create the industrially raw ceiling finish below, a detail complimented by the factory finishes of the kitchens stainless steel and brass.

It is an architecture that explores active and passive systems, the poetic, the emotional, and the nurturing capacity of human beings to reverse the impact of climate change and to establish resilience through architectural design that addresses some of the profound pressures on the natural world. It is both a functional and a symbolic advocate for innovation design and sustainable living. It is the architecture of climate change activism where sustainability, landscape, fauna, and architecture exist symbiotically.

Climate change must be reversed, and human beings must become sustainable in every aspect of their lives. Conserving our resources and becoming more sustainable as a species is now critical to our very survival. Almost 100 years ago Le Corbusier famously said that ‘A house is a machine for living in’. If we are to survive the next 100 years a house must be ‘a machine for sustaining life’ and it must promote those values in its architectural expression to the public who largely consume architecture through the media where the image is everything. If we are to promote these values, they must be an intrinsic part of the conceptual fabric of a project.

Architecture that is not only beautiful: an architecture that generates and stores power; an architecture that harvests and recycles water; an architecture that produces fruit, vegetables, fish, and eggs; an architecture that recycles and reuses the waste it produces. Architecture nourishes the mind, body, and soul. Architecture where landscape, food, nature, garden, environment, energy, waste, water, and beauty exist symbiotically.

Designer: CplusC Architectural Workshop

These fitness-tracking toe-rings are the perfect fusion of wearable tech and Indian culture

The Lexus Design Award-winning Mettis Rings are the perfect confluence of heritage and the future. Building on the cultural significance of jewelry in India, the Mettis are toe-rings that are state-of-the-art yet culturally relevant. These toe-rings come embedded with the same technology as any fitness wearable, in a package that embraces traditional values. Toe-rings are often given to women as wedding gifts in Indian lore, and are considered to have health benefits that align with Ayurvedic practices… the Mettis builds on that by introducing technology into the rings in a way that makes those health benefits more direct and appealing to younger generations.

Even though they house technology inside, the Mettis rings embrace the persona of jewelry. Built for Titan, a prominent watch and jewelry brand in the country, the rings come with a metallic finish and sit inside one of two sleek, matte black cases – for charging at home and for charging while traveling. Originally toe-rings in the Indian culture come made from silver, which absorbs positive energy from the ground you walk on. The Mettis, however, use sensors that help monitor your health. Whether you’re walking, running, exercising, or even swimming, the rings capture your body temperature and your heart-rate, working just like smartwatches and fitness wearables do. The rings actively track your location, count your steps, monitor sleep patterns, as well as help you keep track of your period cycles… all while strongly echoing the cultural relevance of toe-worn jewelry in Indian customs and traditions.

Designer: Anshuman Kumar for Titan Industries

The TUDOR Heritage Collection: Chrono, Advisor & Black Bay

TUDOR imbibes the qualities of precision, dependability and finesses that have transcended it into becoming a watch collection that is a bespoke brand and legendary with folks with an adventurous streak! TUDOR watches have been a part of the Polar exploration team, US Navy’s Submarine expeditions and a constant companion for divers. In 2010 TUDOR launched the Heritage Collection, which includes watches originally designed for such expeditions. The collection now includes the Heritage Chrono, the Heritage Advisor and the Heritage Black Bay.

While the Heritage Chrono is inspired by the Oysterdate Chronograph of the 70s, it’s the Heritage Advisor that celebrates iconic models from the past. At the crossroads of style and technology, the Heritage Advisor is a modern version of the emblematic 1957 alarm watch and a true expression of TUDOR’s vintage spirit.

Moving to present times, the 2012 Heritage Black Bay is inspired by a diving model that first appeared in 1954 and continually evolved until the 1980s. The watch is a fusion of technology and innovation offering impeccable reliability. Stimulated by the domed dial and vintage details of the Pelagos model, Heritage Black Bay features slender, elongated lugs, reworked and resized to produce a contemporary steel case with a diameter of 41 mm, waterproof to 200 meters (660 feet) and enhanced by a domed crystal. It features a domed crystal “chocolate dial” with gilt lettering and a gold dial. Enrapturing us with its elegance, the watch is available as an Oyster steel bracelet or a vegetable-tanned leather strap that has been aged rather nicely. Apparently Black Bay will also come with one of their now trademark cotton ribbon style straps!

Heritage Black Bay Features

  • The black dial, which is also elegantly domed, displays generous luminescent hour markers for perfect visibility.
  • Like that of the hour markers, the pink gold of the hands represents a gentle hint of nostalgia, suggesting the characteristic patina of older timepieces.
  • The burgundy color of the unidirectional rotatable bezel, an original feature exclusive to TUDOR – faithful to the original 1970s models – is given a matt finish here, to beautiful effect.
  • As attention to detail is always important to TUDOR, a similar touch of burgundy red appears on the insert of the winding crown, which is engraved with the TUDOR rose.
  • Equipped with the new folding clasp developed by TUDOR, the Heritage Black Bay model is delivered with a black fabric strap and a steel bracelet, or with a black fabric strap and a second strap in exclusive aged leather: another original touch for an elegant, contemporary watch.

-
Yanko Design
Timeless Designs - Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Yanko Design Store - We are about more than just concepts. See what's hot at the YD Store!
(The TUDOR Heritage Collection: Chrono, Advisor & Black Bay was originally posted on Yanko Design)

Related posts:

  1. The Fascinating Legacy of the 2010 TUDOR Heritage Chrono Watch
  2. Chrono-Shredder. What a Big Mess!
  3. “Round” is the new Black