Sacyr's Blog

In addition to 775 rooms, Buckingham Palace has a cinema, a swimming pool, a post office, a chapel, a doctor's surgery and even a cash machine. We look at how the British crown intends to renovate this historic building and reduce its carbon footprint.

To carve the ancient city of Petra into sandstone walls, while protecting the lives of workers, the Nabataeans resorted to carving giant steps in the mountain. With their ancestral engineering (and work safety) techniques, this nomadic people created the monuments of this emblematic architectural treasure in the middle of the desert two millennia ago.

In the face of rising sea levels and a shortage of housing, making the oceans habitable is an enticing goal. Various projects aspire to enlarge the city of Manhattan into the sea with artificial, self-sufficient floating islands.

In addition to the intentional demolitions caused by structural damage, land redevelopment or the desire of the owners, there are other caused by attacks, wars or natural disasters. This is how the tallest buildings on the planet have been razed to the ground.

The large nests of the sociable weaver, which house up to 500 individuals, are remarkable for their elaborate system of thermoregulation—while the central chambers retain heat, the outer chambers maintain lower temperatures. What lessons can the animal world teach us about techniques of sustainability?