At first glance, Pixel does not look like most ‘green’ buildings, mainly due to the integration of green strategies and the architecture, to produce a very conscious and coherent building.
Pixel is a Development and Sales Office on a former brewery site that has achieved a perfect 105 score for 6 Star Green Star rating. It is striving to achieve the highest scores in US LEED, UK BREEAM, and Australian Green Star, ever achieved without taking away from the building’s coherence.
The first thing that caught my eye was the building’s vibrant façade, a very pop art and playful front. The façade features Living Edge perimeter planters, fixed shading louvers, double glazed window walls, and solar panel shading. As far as building systems go, Pixel employs some ambitious environmental strategies: vacuum toilet system, anaerobic digestion system, reduced car parking, and self-sustained water supply, to create Australia’s first carbon neutral office building.
Pixel is meant to be an example for the buildings to come, initiating a change that is on its way in Melbourne. It is a herald to the buildings yet to come to the site as well as a precedent to buildings of the near future globally.
By Aiysha Alsane
Courtesy of Studio 505
I am a designer, artist, and writer. My curiosity has led me on various explorations. My education at Virginia Tech has fostered this curiosity, where I've obtained a B.Arch with minors in Industrial Design and Landscape Architecture. Writing with Arch2O has brought me joy because it channels my interests. I take up these interests and carry this sense of wonder with me on my professional career.
