Invisible Architecture

Leading environmental design consultancy Atelier Ten celebrates its 25th anniversary this month, marking a landmark in its journey from a small London-based studio to an international thought-leader with a portfolio that includes some of the world’s most celebrated high-performance buildings

Established in London in 1990 by a group of progressive engineers, Atelier Ten was founded with the aim of designing highly integrated buildings that would work to reduce energy consumption, improve the built environment and somehow contribute to health and well-being. The practice now has 11 offices around the world including the UK, USA, Australia and Asia, and is responsible for many industry-leading advances in green architecture.

Working collaboratively with world-renowned architects including Robert A M Stern architects, Wilkinson Eyre, AHMM, Heatherwick Studio, Zaha Hadid and Foster and Partners, over the past 25 years Atelier Ten has been responsible for the innovative engineering of many world-famous, large scale projects, as well as effecting a step-change in the sustainability of small scale buildings. The practice has successfully challenged and reshaped the way buildings and developments interact with the environment and led the way in responding to growing concerns about carbon emissions, energy efficiency and occupant well-being.

Projects include Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, completed to huge accolades in 2012 as one of the most intelligent environmental buildings in the world; Federation Square in Melbourne which incorporates the world’s largest thermal labyrinth for passive heating and cooling and which, after 10 years, continues to perform in excess of expectations; and the WWF Living Planet Centre, one of only 47 buildings in the world to achieve BREEAM outstanding, the top rating of this leading assessment method for sustainable buildings.

Paul Stoller, Atelier Ten director based in Sydney, says “High-performance environmental design improves the quality of our entire built environment, a fact that is reflected in the wide range of projects Atelier Ten has completed over the past 25 years.

“While the past has been all about enabling designs to be sustainably operated, the future is about delivering and maintaining that performance. Atelier Ten has always challenged established architectural and engineering conventions, moving forward, we must focus more on holistic models of buildings in their operational context. We also will look harder at occupant well-being to understand better how we all truly use buildings so we can operate them to be both healthier and more efficient.”

Reflecting on 25 years of pioneering work, Patrick Bellew, Founding Director comments: “Whether we’re working on a micro or macro scale, our mission is to improve the sustainability of the built environment while supporting the architectural aesthetic to make efficient, integrated, beautiful buildings.

“Huge strides have been made in last 25 years but as the drive towards ever healthier and less resource-intensive buildings grows, the next era promises to be even more interesting as we continue to strive to be at the leading edge of environmental design.

“We use ‘invisible architecture’ – air, heat, light and sound – to design buildings that minimise energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Our primary preoccupation is to deliver outstanding buildings for our clients with our architect collaborators.”

To mark its 25^th anniversary, Atelier Ten is launching a new book, Invisible Architecture. The collection of essays written by Atelier Ten’s global staff and guest contributors investigates the unseen elements that make up the physical experience of architecture including heat, light, air and sound. Invisible Architecture reflects on 25 years of ground-breaking work and gives a fascinating insight into the future of sustainable design.