Location: Canberra, Australia.

Architect: CHROFI.

Conservatories have become symbols of technological wonder, but as buildings dedicated to environmental conservation, they have an inherent contradiction. An all-glass shell is a poor insulator, resulting in an enormous energy drain. To address this issue, a proposal for a conservatory has been made that amplifies contrasting experiences to create unexpectedly complex and sublime spaces. The architecture of the conservatory defines a series of immersive spatial experiences that plays upon solid & void, compression & release, light & dark, natural and man-made. The main exhibit is framed by a void to the sky, defined by a massive cubic form that appears to hover impossibly overhead. Surrounding this void is a layered skin that acts as a high performing insulative structure while its outermost layer uses solar energy to pre-warm the air and store excess heat in the wall’s thermal mass to allow the building to maintain its high internal temperature during the winter and stabilise this temperature in the summer.

Photo credit: Doug and Wolf..