🛸 Zaha's Spaceship Museum: Design Meets Future! 🚀

This week in the Pool 🏊‍♀️

From Zaha Hadid’s latest architectural stunner (or we’d say - a spaceship!) in Shenzhen to bricks made entirely from recycled waste in Amsterdam – this week’s roundup is a swim through the sharpest edges of design, data and sustainability.

In other interesting stories we found:
🤖 AI replacing outdated risk reports in the UK
📦 Foldable homes from Boxabl that keep gaining traction
🏛 And yes – Zaha’s futuristic science museum is a sight to behold!

📣 Big news from us: We’ve partnered with CREtech London to raffle off a FULL event pass worth £999 – including access to all sessions, food + drinks, VIP cocktail reception, and 30-day access to event recordings.
Details on how to win below👇

Let’s dive in. 🏊‍♂️

🛸 What happens when a Zaha Hadid spaceship touches down in Shenzhen?

The new Science and Technology Museum by Zaha Hadid Architects is a striking example of architecture in motion. With 128,000 m² of flowing lines, elevated walkways, and a dual-colour stainless-steel skin, the building seems to hover above the ground. Its fluid form and bold materiality are unmistakably Zaha — dynamic, sculptural, and designed to embody innovation itself.

Why it’s bold:

• Science through Architecture: The museum isn't just a place to learn about innovation — it is innovation. From its flowing envelope to its digitally-driven construction, every element reflects the enlightened ethos it’s designed to showcase.

• Open Structure, Open Knowledge: Rather than closing off knowledge behind walls, the museum opens outward into the surrounding park. Visitors are guided along terraced ramps through 35,000 m² of galleries, 6,000 m² of immersive theatres, and 5,400 m² of working labs — some partially visible from outside.

• Performance as Principle: Designed to meet China’s top green building standards, the museum integrates a ventilated façade, rooftop photovoltaics, and greywater recycling. With annual emissions capped at 15.47 kg CO₂e/m² and nearly 15,000 m³ of water saved, it sets a new baseline for cultural infrastructure.

🎟️ Win a Ticket to CREtech London!

🏢 The Foldable Housing Revolution

Boxabl is making waves in the housing market with a bold promise: stylish, affordable homes that arrive flat-packed. Their flagship product, the Casita, is a 361-square-foot modular home complete with a full kitchen, bathroom, and living space-delivered to your site and unfolded in a day.

What makes Boxabl stand out?

• Factory-Built Efficiency: The patented manufacturing process produces homes in a factory, slashing build times and costs compared to traditional construction.

• Fold-and-Go Design: Each unit folds up for transport, allowing for easy, cost-effective shipping and rapid on-site installation.

• Easy installing:  No special equipment is needed or deep foundations required.

• Scalable Living: The product line is expanding to allow for stacking and connecting units, enabling everything from single-family homes to high-rise apartments.

♻️ Building with Waste, Not Just Bricks

Amsterdam’s 360 Degrees project by Studioninedots is turning heads for all the right reasons, proving that upcycling and high-quality design can go hand in hand.

What’s the breakthrough?

• Waste-Based Bricks: In partnership with StoneCycling, 360 Degrees uses over 152 tonnes of upcycled construction waste to create its striking façade, giving new life to materials that would otherwise end up in landfill.

• Circular Ambition: The building embodies flexibility, circularity, and social sustainability, serving as a sculptural symbol of reuse for the neighbourhood.

• Transparency Inside and Out: Some interior bricks are cut to reveal the construction waste within, making the building’s sustainable story visible to all.

Poolside Takeaway:
360 Degrees proves that sustainability isn’t just about what you build, but how you build it. By transforming construction waste into high-quality architecture, Studioninedots is setting a new standard for circular design and showing that the future of building is both green and beautiful.