sustainable design

VTN Architects is on a mission to help regreen inner-city Vietnam by designing buildings that host plants and trees on their exteriors. Its new office reflects this passion and is almost totally covered in greenery, including vegetables and fruits.

Snøhetta recently completed an attractive timber maritime center in Denmark. Inspired by wooden boat construction, it's designed to withstand punishing local conditions and lights up pleasantly at night, resulting in its name: the Lantern.

Challenged to create one of China's largest new libraries, MVRDV riffs on its location at the confluence of two rivers to design a nature-inspired building featuring an interior that forms a "canyon of books."

Commissioned to create a new library in the Bronx, Snøhetta has drawn inspiration from the NYC borough's relative abundance of trees to design an eye-catching building that will sport a green exterior and significant sustainability features.

This year has produced a bumper crop of excellent architecture projects. From a sand-dune-shaped building that rises out of the desert, to the world's tallest timber skyscraper, here's our selection of the best buildings of the past 12 months.

With growing concerns about our changing climate, sustainable design is more important than ever. With this in mind, New Atlas takes a look back at the best, most interesting, and most innovative examples of sustainable architecture in 2022.

Swedish architect Gert Wingårdh presents a new eco-retreat that is suspended in the treetops of a pine forest. Trakt Forest Hotel boasts five cabins that float above the ground, allowing guests to immerse themselves within the surrounding nature.

ZHA has been commissioned to create a new science center in Singapore, which takes the form of five interlocking rectangular volumes and will reduce its grid-based power needs with solar panels and a focus on natural ventilation and light.

The Art Gallery of New South Wales has received an ambitious new extension by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA. The project incorporates significant sustainable design and makes use of a decommissioned World War II fuel bunker.

Zaha Hadid Architects is handling Odesa's bid to host a global trade fair in 2030, which will feature pavilions built using recycled materials and designed for easy dismantling at the close of the expo for subsequent reuse throughout Ukraine.

Foster + Partners has been given the green light for an ambitious new project in London. The mixed-use development will feature significant sustainable design and, according to the firm, will be one of the city's largest timber buildings.

The SuperHub, by De Zwarte Hond, offers an excellent example of sustainable timber design. The Dutch market hall is topped by a "cathedral-like" ceiling and features a flexible interior layout that should ensure continued use for decades to come.