Salt Spring Island-based SIREWALL Inc.’s unique rammed earth technology, makes shortlist for World Architecture Festival award with groundbreaking new office complex.
SALT SPRING ISLAND, BC, July, 2018—World Architectural Festival have announced the shortlist of contenders for this year’s prestigious awards and among the finalists is architecture firm Arcop’s Telenor 345 campus in Islamabad. Telenor’s head office in Pakistan has been built with extensive use of SIREWALL, a unique wall system invented by world renowned, Green Building Expert, Meror Krayenhoff.
[gdlr_quote align=”center” ]we may be a small company but we are leaders in the evolution of building science[/gdlr_quote]
SIREWALL Inc. is a company that punches above its weight— and by orders of magnitude. Inventor, Meror Krayenhoff, founder of SIREWALL Inc, explains, “we may be a small company but we are leaders in the evolution of building science and offer one of the highest performing structural & sustainable wall systems on the planet.”
SIREWALL—an acronym for Structural Insulated Rammed Earth—is a technologically advanced form of rammed earth, comprising a complete wall system with the strength and beauty of sedimentary sandstone.
Rammed earth is an ancient building method—used to construct parts of the Great wall of China—and today’s updated technology fills a niche as an ecologically responsible building material. Its many green qualities include: locally available, non-flammable materials, high energy efficiency, zero toxicity, and exceptional durability.
“Our goal” says Krayenhoff, “has been to invent a way to make rammed earth strong enough to compete with concrete as a structural material and thus, make it possible to design large commercial-scale buildings with the many beneficial qualities of rammed earth, previously only available to residential construction.” SIREWALL Inc.’s technology is the only rammed earth system in the world capable of tall, load-bearing commercial applications.
The Telenor 345 campus sets two new records for rammed earth construction: tallest free-standing structure (a 100-foot-tall tower) and largest rammed earth project (approximately 600,000 square-feet).
In a statement, architect Mahboob Kahn, partner at Arcop, said “World Architectural Festival, described as one of the biggest international architectural events, has received over 3000 entries for the awards this year from across the world. We are so excited that two of our recent projects have been shortlisted as the finalists for the prestigious awards.”
Recognizing Arcop’s achievement, Krayenhoff stated that “what I saw of the Arcop culture was courage, creativity, rigor, and grace. I’m so glad that they are taking their place on the international stage. They truly deserve it.”
This is the second time a SIREWALL building has made it to the World Architectural Festival.
In 2008, SIREWALL Inc.’s first commercial project—the N’k Mip Desert Cultural Centre in Osoyoos, BC, designed by DIALOG—won first place in the holiday category in Barcelona, Spain.
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