Green fingers with a blue and red view

Going green is nothing new. From domestic appliances, fashion, food and transport, the emphasis on sustainability and eco-friendly, has never been more relevant and certainly shows no sign of lessening its grip on our behaviour as we march into 2011.

The construction industry is no exception and looks set to be going green, blue and red with designs being made for residential housing to include water conservation orientated fixtures and on- site solar energy generators as predicted by Jerry Yudelson. How these new features will be incorporated into the design of future residential buildings remains to be seen, but it will certainly be exciting to see what ideas the architects come up with to make these new houses consumer friendly. For a brief summary of Yudelson's key trends to watch out for in 2011 take a look at  Jetson Green's site or for more in depth detail about what Yudelson describes as a 'revolution'  click here to be taken directly to his personal website.

Bethnal Green Town Hall Hotel

Combining careful restoration and computer led parametric design, the Bethnal Green Town Hall Hotel looks set to open its doors to the public this November. Led by the design team at rare architecture the aluminium skinned extension to this historic building may polarise opinions but its use of digital is, at the very least, intriguing.

The patterning in this aluminium skin varies according to what is situated behind it; opaque when covering bare walls and perforated where let needs to be let in. This pioneering use of computer modelling has led the project to be used as a teaching case study at the AA, whilst the digitally crafted wall panels within the buildings interior formed part of the furniture range showcased by rare at the London Design Festival.

For a further insight into this innovative building visit Blueprint Magazine.