A few months back I wrote about the First Light House that was too have competed at the Solar Decathlon in Washington DC. The First Light House team in front of their house in Washington DC (Credit: Stefano Paltera/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon)As a quick refresher, the US Department of Energy web site summarises the competition thus —...

We sometimes get things appearing out of left field that proves to be thought provoking beyond its original purpose. And so it was with this video clip of David Byrne (lead singer of Talking Heads for those old enough to remember back that far) that a friend sent to me. In this 16 minute clip David discusses how music has been influenced by architecture....

VUW Coastal Ecology LabA short time ago I was reading this article in the R&D Mag online. Titled ’Pre-designing your lab for sustainability’ it makes a number of relevant points when thinking about laboratory design. Although it appears to be aimed at university type projects the points it makes is certainly relevant to all laboratory facilities...

A computer render of the First Light House, from the FirstLight web siteIts not often that Wellington City Council allows a bach (crib to you southerners) to be built at Frank Kitts Park on Wellington’s waterfront. However, before Waterfront Watch get too alarmed, this construction was the live demonstration / test of the First Light house, developed...

Lyttleton's Time Ball Station from the Stuff web siteJust a quick update today, following on from the theme of the last post, and the horror of the devastation Japan is now experiencing. With the NZ government announcing a Royal Commission of Enquiry into the building collapses in Christchurch, it has been interesting to observe people’s perceptions,...

Christchurch Earthquake trace from Geonet.org.nzAmongst the tragedy and ruin of last weeks Christchurch earthquake it hasn’t taken long for the blame game to emerge. Watching and reading the popular media over the last few days it is obvious that they want someone to publically flog for the terrible collapse of the PCG building and the CTV building....