Those tight little swim shorts may actually have a use for more than just aerodynamics in the water. A group of undergraduate students from the Chelsea College of Art & Design took 200 unusable Speedo swimsuits and remade them into the s_pavilion for the London Festival of Architecture, which just ended. The purpose of the project, which we spotted over at Designboom this morning, was to explore issues of sustainability through consideration of the use of materials and the development fabrication processes. The end result is this hydrophilic and remarkable spandex pavilion.

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Post tags: chelsea college of art and design, eco design, green design, London Festival of Architecture, pavilion, platform 2 students, Recycled Materials, reused materials, speedo, speedo swimsuit, student project, Sustainable Building, s_pavilion

Christensen & Co + Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects recently nabbed first prize in a competition to design the new Niels Bohr Science Park for the University of Copenhagen. Their winning proposal was conceived in collaboration with Ramboll DK + UK + SE, GHB Landscape Architects and Collin Gordon Associates, and includes 45,000 sq. meters of lab and educational facilities. The airy, glass-clad complex was designed to be flooded with natural light and its vertical gardens give students a green space to take breathers between classes.

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Cumulonimbus clouds observed 29°C

Humidity:

83%

Wind Speed:

11 KMH

Wind Direction:

SSE (150°)

Barometer:

1009 mb

Dewpoint:

26°C

Heat Index:

35°C

Wind Chill:

29°C

Visibility:

11 km

Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia) Bhd is looking to arrange more sukuk issuance in the region and also in the Middle East, where it has participated in the Malaysia International Islamic Finance Centre (MIFC) roadshows. Its chief executive officer Jamelah Jamaluddin today said the local unit had the parent company's solid back-up and potential investments in Malaysia and the Asia Pacific region were high on KFH''s radar screens. "There are some more issuance in the pipeline and we will be working with our sister banks and parent company for it," she told reporters after a signing ceremony with Nomura Holdings Inc. The pact signalled the Japanese firm's diversification in its funding sources to include Islamic financial solutions, which involves the financing the purchase of two aircraft. KFH Malaysia has been appointed as the mandated lead arranger for the proposed issuance of a two-year sukuk Al-Ijarah of US$100 million, marking the first US dollar-denominated sukuk for a Japanese multinational corporation issued out of Malaysia. The book was opened to investors yesterday, closing at a price of RM1.60 today. "KFH's investment appetite is healthy, and with the capital increase, we are ready to embark on alliances to accelerate the development of Islamic finance in this region," Jamelah said. Last year, sukuk issuance in the country totalled RM3.17 billion and Malaysia remained one of the largest sukuk issuers, accounting for 47 per cent of the world''s sukuk issuance. At the signing, Nomura's deputy president and chief operating officer Takumi Shibata said that Kuala Lumpur was fast emulating London in becoming an important financial centre as it connected investors, arrangers and issuers from around the world. He also said that more Japanese firms were expected to tap opportunities in Asia which was growing at around seven per cent, higher than the other regions. -- Bernama

AmIslamic Bank Bhd, a Shariah-compliant arm of Malaysia's AMMB Holdings Bhd, has received approval from the country's Securities Commission for a RM3 billion (US$935 million) note program, the lender said in an exchange filing today. The program will be for up to 30 years, according to the statement. RAM Rating Services Bhd. assigned a long-term rating of AA3,its fourth highest investment grade, AMMB said. -- Bloomberg

Malaysia's Berjaya Corp said it entered into a concession agreement with Xinan Public Asset Investment Co Ltd to construct two wastewater treatment plants in China's southern Guandong Province. The plants are expected to cost 200 million yuan to complete and generate total revenue of about 1.1 billion yuan during the concession period, Berjaya said in a Kuala Lumpur stock exchange filing today. -- Bloomberg

Walking the walk is key when playing the environmental game, which is why we’re thrilled to report that the United States Department of Energy has completed their new zero-energy research building in Colorado. It clocks in at 222,000 square feet and is the largest zero-energy building in the United States. Boasting 50% less energy usage than a conventional building of its size and a huge array of on-site solar panels, the new Research Support Facility is able to produce all the energy it needs to function without borrowing from the grid. The US government certainly seems to be leading by example with this passive beauty.

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Nomura Holdings Inc plans the first sale of dollar-denominated Islamic bonds in Malaysia by a Japanese company, supporting its expansion in an industry with US$1 trillion of assets. Japan's largest brokerage will sell US$100 million of Ijarah sukuk that will mature in 2012, Nomura said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur today. The securities will be priced to yield 160 basis points more than the London interbank offered rate, said Jamelah Jamaluddin, chief executive officer of Kuwait Finance (Malaysia) Bhd, the sale arranger. The notes complying with Shariah's ban on interest will allow Muslim investors to diversify, according to CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management Bhd. and Amundi Islamic Malaysia Sdn Bhd. Nomura set up a fund unit in Malaysia last year to offer services to Muslim investors worldwide. Nomura won a stock broking licence in the Southeast Asian country in 2009 and has banking operations in Qatar, Bahrain, Dubai and Saudi Arabia. The brokerage "wants to be directly involved by going into the market themselves instead of watching it from the outside," Noripah Kamso, who oversees US$1.6 billion of Shariah assets as chief executive officer in Kuala Lumpur at CIMB-Principal Islamic, said in an interview yesterday. Sukuk issued by international companies see "healthy" demand as funds seek to invest in different industries and geography, according to KFH Research Ltd., a unit of Kuwait Finance House, the country's biggest Islamic bank. The Islamic finance industry's assets may quadruple to US$2.8 trillion by 2015 from about US$700 billion in 2005, said the Kuala Lumpur-based Islamic Financial Services Board, a standards-setting body. -- Bloomberg

Etika International Holdings Ltd has signed conditional sale and purchase agreements for the proposed acquisitions of 100 per cent stakes in P.T. Sentrafood Indonusa and P.T. Sentraboga Intiselera for about RM7 million. Etika is one of the world's largest manufacturers and distributors of sweetened condensed milk and a leading regional food and beverage group while the two companies are manufacturers and distributors of instant noodles in Indonesia. In a statement here today, Etika's group chief executive officer, Datuk Kamal Tan, said the venture into instant noodle business signified a new direction for the group's business expansion plan and product diversification. Kamal said the group already has a presence in Indonesia following the acquisition of a distribution company, PT Vixon Indonesia, in September 2009 for the distribution of condensed milk. "The acquisition of the instant noodle firms will enable Etika to gain greater overseas market share for instant noodles via our network in Malaysia and over 60 countries worldwide," he said. Kamal said one of the key investment merits of the new acquisitions was access to land bank and unutilised factory spaces of the firms, which would allow the group to shorten the gestation period to set up its condensed milk manufacturing facilities in Indonesia. "Being able to produce our condensed milk locally for distribution in Indonesia will help us stay competitive in this market and reap economies of scale from the lower overhead and other operating costs," he said. -- Bernama

CB Industrial Product Holding Bhd through its subsidiary, Modipalm Engineering Sdn Bhd, has been awarded a RM53.927 million contract to build four continuous steriliser palm oil mills for the Wilmar Group's four subsidiaries in Indonesia. The mills, each with a capacity of 30 tonne fresh fruit bunches (FFB) per hour, costs RM13.025 million individually. -- Bernama