Chandegra's Routemaster, from the Standard

Paresh Chandegra’s design is not your mum’s double-decker, though. The curvier, shinier model includes onboard digital navigation screens for passengers, and, while it includes the “hop-on hop-off feature of the old Routemaster” at the rear, the front has sliding doors.

Chandegra’s design is one of 225 entered in a competition for a revamped Routemaster launched by London Mayor Boris Johnson. The winner could be announced next month.

COOP 15 Architecture's Kaneko Pool House

Unbuilt entries include Eastgate Elementary School, the 99 K house and a project that takes its inspiration from a lightning bug.

The Museum of Flight Pedestrian Bridge, Alki Statue of Liberty plaza, Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center and Northgate Library are among the built entries.

My google alerts on local architecture firms were off the hook this morning. Here are some of the interesting links that popped up:

Seattle design stands out

Metropolis had fun delving into Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen’s design process on the new Wing Luke Asian Museum.“I fell in love with the building in its worst possible state,” muses Rick Sundberg in the article. “It took me a long time to calm down enough. But, eventually, I began to see what I was talking about.”

Architectural Record has a story on how architectural firms are faring in the economy, including a brief snippet on Mahlum and how slowing of school work in Portland means some Portland architects are working in the firm’s Seattle office.

Mahlum is hiring, though. Check out AIA Seattle’s job board.

Speaking of the economy, the DJC is also running a series, “Downturn hits home,” on the impact the economy is having on the local A/E/C industry. Monday’s story was on contractors, Tuesday we touched on architecture and engineering firms, and today’s story had tips for job seekers. A fourth installment on real estate will run soon.

The Coloradan also reports that LMN was picked to design a performance hall near Fort Collins. Sustainable Industries had a story today on High Point.

And in local blog news, a recent blog start-up that talked smack about local condos has been removed from the Web.

Have a few more minutes? AIA Seattle has an online questionnaire that will help them shape a climate change education program to update the 50>>50 Initiative.

Several Seattle architects sitting on a ULI panel last week said their firms had decided not to take The 2030 challenge. But it’s not who you think, and their reasons might surprise you.

"Enviro Tower" by Eco-Logikal

Sandy Mendler, now a principal at Mithun, said Mithun isn’t taking the challenge because it doesn’t fit with the firm’s goals of improving urbanism and working toward less sprawl. She said meeting carbon targets on large standalone buildings is not the way to go. An environmental challenge should focus more on what really happens in urban buildings, she said.

Robert Miller, a principal at Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, said his firm also hadn’t taken the challenge. His problem was with the commitment to meeting the challenge on all new buildings. He said the wording should be changed to commit a firm to meeting the challenge “on average,” throughout all of its work.

Chris Pardo of Pb Elemental said his firm also hasn’t taken the challenge. He said on the projects that Pb designs and develops, they are choosing to design to standards of the challenge because “we believe it’s something we should be doing no matter what.”

Peter Greaves of Weber Thompson and Margaret Montgomery of NBBJ also sat on the panel. Both said their firms have taken the challenge.

“It’s not achievable if we don’t try,” Montgomery said.

I’ll talk more about comments made by the panel in a story running on Wednesday’s A/E page.

The New York Times had an interesting story this week on the promise of modern pre-fab.

Reviewing MOMA’s “Home Delivery” exhibition, Allison Arief laments that the show lauds designs that are never actually built, ignoring those designers who bring pre-fab fantasies to life (see some local examples here, here, here and here.)

A pre-fab apartment might not look as appealing behind glass as Archigram’s living pods or Instant City airships, but people actually rest their heads there at night.

Archigram's Instant City Airships, c. 1969

Speaking of the way we live, the Oregonian reported Tuesday on Portlanders tearing up their lawns for gardens. The article cites a chain-reaction that occurs where one lawn goes garden and neighbors break out spades to follow suit.

The article asks the question: Do we keep our lawns just to keep up appearances? In Seattle, a lot of us let grass go brown in summer. But when one lawn goes gleaming green, neighbors quickly follow suit with sprinkler and fertilizer.

(The article also said lawn mower fumes make up one-third of greenhouse gas emissions in certain urban areas, though the source was not clear. Yikes!)

With people growing gardens street-side, going green on top isn’t much of a stretch. The Portland Tribune reports on the Rose City’s coming green roof grants.

How do we live in the Northwest? How should we live?

If you find yourself spending too much time ruminating on these questions, consider attending the coming Design for Livability Conference, Thursday’s Envisioning the Future of Architecture, or touring Friday’s local Park(ing) Day sites. In addition to the parking spots listed there, AIA Seattle and Site Workshop are transforming a spot in front of AIA Seattle at 1911 First Ave., and Owen Richards Architects and HyBrid Architects are rethinking a spot in front of their shared office at 12th and East Pike in First Hill.

Still thirsty? Check out my colleague, Katie Zemtseff’s blog for more upcoming events.

Ann Sperry deisgned this fence for a Seattle City Light station

But it can be much more with the right designer.

We’ve all seen fences that elevated a project and fences that cut the project off from the world.

This fence at High Point tells a story

Seattle’s recent design changes for multifamily projects include changes for fence heights and discussion of where they are appropriate.

Chicken-wire, white-washed picket or something else entirely, check out this blog on wacky fence design and get inspired.

It was Memorial Day weekend, a few years ago. A warm day but not hot. Great time to visit the Space Needle observation deck. Of course the Center was packed with Folklifers that day. Looking at this mass of people from 520 feet taught a surprising lesson.

Seattle residents love sun, right? They’ll do anything to get more of it. We design our parks and buildings to capture as much of it as possible. All good? Well, to a point.

New amphitheatre proposed at Memorial Stadium

Almost directly below the Space Needle is the Mural Amphitheatre, one of the Center’s larger concert venues. At first glance that day, it looked 1/4 full. On second glance, the people were there, but they were packed around the shade trees on the perimeter. People were out in droves, but avoiding the sun.

What does that mean? Clearly, anecdotal evidence isn’t a mandate. Sunlight is important. But it’s an interesting window on what people, many of them, really prefer.

A new amphitheatre is being discussed for the Memorial Stadium site. Will this have lots of trees around the edges? Perhaps a nice shady grove or two? I hope so. People sit in amphitheatres for long periods. Heat and glare are just the start. Two hours can be bad-sunburn territory. Other walkways at the center should have trees as well.

And yes, let’s add more street trees. For those of us who take long walks and aren’t sun worshippers, nothing is worse than block after block in blazing sun. And few things are finer than the cooling effect and ambiance of a canopy of huge trees, or at least mid-sized ones.

In addition to a bubble-gum story about hot new twenty-somethings and an almost-too-thorough play-by-play of the fall

The National Center for Performing Arts, by Paul Andrieu

Accompanied by some really breathtaking shots by Stephen Wilkes and Todd Eberle, the article fawns over Beijing’s “daring commissions” and “creatively humanistic design.”

An interesting point made by Kurt Andersen in the piece: The Olympics often bring a flood of outstanding architecture to its host city, but in the case of Beijing, that effort has bled into buildings that could otherwise be mundane.

Rem Koolhaas' China Central Television office building

Like Foster + Partners’ new $3.8 billion terminal at the Beijing airport and Rem Koolhaas’ China Central Television office building (shown at left), building types that Andersen says “very seldom turn out better than mediocre.”

Andersen embarks on an exploration of the architecture and the phenomenon, complete with comparisons to turn-of-the century New York, Koolhaas “snarling” and the author finding himself an “apologist” for the authoritarian regime and its role in the transformation. A fun read.

A house designed by two small Seattle firms will serve as a prototype for affordable green living in the Gulf Coast. And it might have a lesson or two for the Puget Sound.

Owen Richards Architects and HyBrid Architects found out Friday that their design was chosen from 182 entries in the 99K house competition sponsored by the Rice Design Alliance and AIA Houston.

Their entry, Core, is compact, adaptable and energy efficient, with geothermal heating and cooling, minimal material waste and a giant solar-powered fan.

All this for $99 K

The 1,200-square-foot house’s estimated total project cost is less than $99,000. The house will be built in June at a site donated by the city. It will then be auctioned off or sold to a lower income family.

Designers had to keep construction costs under $75,000. They designed the house on a four-foot module to reduce waste, with framing of exterior walls designed to link up at 24 inches, using fewer materials and fewer studs in the walls.

Recycled and sustainable materials were also worked in. The house has cement board siding, pine flooring and recycled concrete paving.

There were some things they couldn’t afford, like the green roof they wanted. Rainwater capture will irrigate the site but won’t run through toilets or the laundry.

Plans for geothermal system

The geothermal mechanical system cost a little more, but designers said it will pay for itself in energy saved in less than three years. It uses less than half the energy of a traditional HVAC system. Natural ventilation alone wasn’t an option for those sweltering Houston summers, but designers hope the solar-powered fan will be enough on some days.

The house also takes some green cred from its adaptability, with movable inside walls altering the house from one to four bedrooms or two duplex units instead. That decreases the chances of tear-down or a move when a family’s situation changes.

So why don’t we see many affordable green housing projects, in Seattle or elsewhere? Why is energy efficiency a prestige item? I know of some multi-family affordable projects in the area that are targeting lower energy use, but it sure seems slow to catch on. And it’s hardly cheap.

Of course, it’s impossible to build any house in Seattle for under 99 K. Labor is cheaper in Houston, land values are lower, and zoning and land use regulations are minimal. Wages and prices have a role in there as well. But it still stands to reason that we could be seeing super efficient design for the masses in Seattle.

Does it take a competition to get a house like this built here?

Let the sun shine in (Photo by Weber Thompson)

Yet many people go to work, sometimes in flip-flops and shorts, only to sit in a climate-controlled comfort zone.

Local designers have tried to convince clients to work otherwise. It seems like an uphill battle.

Some–but not many– have had better luck with their own offices. Many of them live in historic buildings designed before air conditioning became a necessity in our temperate city (like Mithun’s office at Pier 56). Fewer strive to recreate those principles in new buildings.

Most recent of the latter group is Weber Thompson’s new office building at Terry and Thomas in South Lake Union, shown in the two images here. (Yep, it’s Weber Thompson now, they got rid of the + between the names.)

Principals there said employees wanted natural ventilation and copious amounts of daylighting above all else.

Turn the lights off

The building has operable windows and louvers that draw heat out. A courtyard in the center is designed as a thermal chimney. A highly reflective roof and sunshades help repel heat.

The passive cooling elements plus the hot water heating system cost about $300,000 more than it would have cost to build a traditional HVAC system. That’s less than 3 percent of the project’s $10.3 million construction costs, and total energy savings are estimated at 30 percent.

When mechanical engineer Stantec ran thermal analysis of the building, it found the building’s inhabitants would likely need to brave only about 20 hours a year above 85 degrees.

That is uncomfortably hot, for sure. And as we all know, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Weber Thompson moved in just a week ago and time will tell how the building–and its inhabitants–will fare in late July and August.

But hopefully others will be watching. And not just A/E/C firms. Maybe the era of Seattleites bringing a sweater to work in August is drawing to a close.