<p>British, Dutch, and German engineers, architects, and aerodynamicists have teamed up to bring wind power to urban areas. The group designed a sleek twin-tower building with 100-foot-wide turbines nestled between elevated walkways. The boomerang-shaped buildings allow reasonable office space while optimizing the flow of air. "They take winds from many directions and funnel them through the turbine," says Neil Campbell of BDSP Partnership, a London engineering firm that leads the consortium. A 21-foot-tall prototype functions well even in winds that are 60 degrees off center. The full-sized version would be 48 stories high, with three turbines that could produce about 20 percent of the building's power needs. Campbell says energy savings would more than offset the building's higher initial cost. </p><div class="vert-display-toggle collapsible relative flex flex-col items-center "><div class="vert-unit mt-4 mb-3 top-20"><div ad-type="mobile-desktop" class="ad-wrapper vert min-h-boombox flex items-start justify-center" data-ad-mapping="inline" data-ad-slot="Discover/inline-ad" id="div-inline-ad-0"></div></div><span aria-label="Advertisement" class="text-ad mt-1 text-[11px] uppercase">Advertisement</span></div><figure class="fr-image-container fr-full"><img srcset="https://cdn.discovermagazine.com/assets/image/19058/rd5-s.webp 480w, https://cdn.discovermagazine.com/assets/image/19058/rd5-m.webp 660w" sizes="(max-width: 480px) 480px, 660px" src="https://cdn.discovermagazine.com/assets/image/19058/rd5-s.jpg" title="rd5.jpg" loading="lazy" data-id="19058"><figcaption class="fr-figcaption"><p class="fr-caption"></p></figcaption></figure><p><strong>The prototype's turbine blades whir away.</strong>Photograph courtesy of Project Web-Mecal/BDSP/Department of Aeronautics, Imperial College/CLRC RAL</p>

January 2002

The January 2002 issue of Discover Magazine

Environment

Wind Power Goes to Town

Article

News

Fenella Saunders

Science

British, Dutch, and German engineers, architects, and aerodynamicists have teamed up to bring wind power to urban areas. The group designed a sleek twin-tower building with 100-foot-wide turbines nestled between elevated walkways. The boomerang-shaped buildings allow reasonable office space while optimizing the flow of air. "They take winds from many directions and funnel them through the turbine," says Neil Campbell of BDSP Partnership, a London engineering firm that leads the consortium. A 21-foot-tall prototype functions well even in winds that are 60 degrees off center. The full-sized version would be 48 stories high, with three turbines that could produce about 20 percent of the building's power needs. Campbell says energy savings would more than offset the building's higher initial cost. The prototype's turbine blades whir away.Photograph courtesy of Project Web-Mecal/BDSP/Department of Aeronautics, Imperial College/CLRC RAL

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