Kingspan Microhome – Live On Top
LaufsED have completed the design and engineering for a rooftop microhome with a unitized structure comprised of structural CLT and Kingspan insulated cladding panels.
Live On Top aims to provide affordable housing with amazing views by utilizing available rooftop space in crowded cities. Kingspan Quadcore panels are preassembled onto CLT structural boards in modules sized to fit into a typical residential elevator. The modules can be quickly assembled on the roof using lightweight equipment.
Live On Top has three core sustainable strategies:
1. Upfront carbon is significantly reduced by plugging into the existing building infrastructure.
2. Extra building occupants pay into ongoing building maintenance providing economic and social benefit to the community and extending the lifespan of the building.
3. Densifying urban areas by utilizing existing footprints reduces the need for greenfield development for housing.
We're delighted to share AUDI AG's new sustainable dealership concept store in Germany featuring an approximately 500 m² facade of Made of Air's novel biochar composite. The material is made from >85% atmospheric carbon content and acts as an engineered carbon sink.
By replacing a typical aluminium facade system, Made of Air's facade prevents the re-emission of ca. 12t of CO2 from waste biomass and avoids emissions. The building has been awarded Gold Status by the DGNB German Sustainable Building Council.
LED provided structural facade engineering services including fastener testing and Review for the design team, Made of Air, Berlin.
The new Mennica Legacy Tower three-story lobby façade in Warsaw is Poland’s largest glass cable net wall, opened in 2019. Class A office space inside the highrise tower can be entered via the one-way cable wall system, which has partial curved areas and utilizes a transparent glazing that “blurs the boundary between interior and exterior space” (Goettsch Architects, Chicago). LED provided full proof engineering structural & façade detailing review, including 1:1 IGU glass warp tests and 1:1 cable deflection & tension tests to assure high safety of the locally edge-clamped glazing and cable end fittings.
We are proud to have worked with Tishman and Mariani Metal on this full-service project (calculations-shop-fabrication) and have designed and engineered the transit hall/lobby curtain walls with blast-resistant building design throughout. Although LED worked together with Mariani Metal to complete almost all metal-related fixtures and assemblies in the transit hall, (w/ calculations and shop/fabrication drawings for these items) the brunt of the work relied on bomb-resistant glass wall design for the massive curtain walls and top hung 3-level glass floor system with intermediary bridges. The use of Duplex Stainless Steel was a key design element when engineering the curtain walls, mullions, transoms, brackets, and even nosing connections. Careful collaboration between Mariani and LED also allowed for a smoother and faster fabrication process which allowed for more installation time on-site.
