As the dust settles after the 2012 Ecobuild event, here are few observations, in brief, from the External Works corner.

1) Landscape Institute sessions

Launch of Landscape Architecture – A guide for clients; vision – the power to transform places.

Case studies Q&A with Ian Houlston of LDA Design (Cotswolds AONB), Jon Berry of Tyler Grange (East Float Wirral Waters), and Duncan Ecob of Devereux (Prince Bishops Park, Bishop Auckland).

The theme of sustainable communities, including consultative planning and design, development of shared spaces, green infrastructure, and the importance of play and healthy lifestyles and behaviour.

Working with product manufacturers 1: the usefulness of landscape architects and manufacturers cooperating from the earliest stages of projects.

Working with product manufacturers 2: the value of innovation, and the critical role of manufacturers in communicating, educating and championing new technologies and techniques.

2) Conference session: Michael Sorkin on ‘The City After Now’

Wrong slides to start with – maybe a bit of performance theatre to set up the idea of disruption.

Crisis, the Gini coefficient, and the Occupy movement.

Reflections on ecological footprints, responsibility, modesty, consumption and ‘good lives’.

Terreform ONE (Open Network Ecology): non-profit design group promoting green design in cities.

Design actions: planning and designing compact cities; limiting scale and boundaries.

Applying patterns from Fez and Prague, Islamic and Medieval cities: plazas, streets and the chance to have ‘encounters’.

Venice, and the way that cars are parked outside.

Planning based on neighbourhoods with walking radiuses of 10 minutes.

Setting high bars: carbon neutrality in designed cities; 100% green cover (green roofs).

Increased urban autonomy, based on more agricultural self-sufficiency.

3) Conference session: London 2012: the greenest Olympics ever

Collaboration between client, consultants and contractors – with Sir John Armitt (ODA), Jim Heverin, Zaha Hadid Architects (Aquatics Centre), Mike Taylor, Hopkins Architects Partnership (Velodrome), and Tom Jones, Populous Architects (Olympic Stadium).

Critically, clarity and consistency of objectives – including sustainability as a measure of success.

Innovation, from ground remediation processes to recycled aggregate constituency of concrete in the Velodrome.

Integrating landscapes: the unifying role of the river; parks, locks and habitats.

Urban parkland in the south; pastoral parkland in the north.

Landscape ties masterplan and unique building together.

Glass, rooflights and building envelopes connect insides and outsides.

4) Seminar: Delivering sustainable concrete on the Olympic Park

Kirsten Henson, Director, KLH Sustainability.

A good example of the expertise, subtlety, diplomacy – and passion – involved in materials procurement.

Materials management and the influence of the ‘balanced scorecard’.

‘If you don’t ask, you don’t get’ approach with manufacturers and materials suppliers.

The complexity of sustainable materials – sometimes recycled aggregate substitution, or PFA cement replacement, or local sourcing is the answer. But not a straightforward template or cure-all.

Resource: Learning Legacy website.

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Tags: Climate change, Green roofs, Landscape consultants, Planning, Resources, Urbanism