Designed by PTW Architects, the Water Cube gathered a lot of attention recently after being featured by the National Geographic channel when its unique characteristics came into the picture.
It is built from new building materials which helps in energy conservation. The Water Cube’s outer structure is composed of a super strong plastic material called ETFE (or Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene). Though it’s been used before, this is the first time so much ETFE has been used as one of the primary building materials on such a large scale project. ETFE is lightweight, flexible (helpful during earthquakes), can be easily repaired, strong, works as a self fire extinguisher, and creates a greenhouse effect for the building.
In order to prevent the overheating, the ETFE on the Water Cube is covered in a pattern of opaque, reflective dots. The dots reflect sunlight, while still allowing a large amount of light into the building. The building is also designed to collect and use rainwater. It’s a very positive step from China & more such sustainable developments should be encouraged by other nations too.
+ PTW Architects
