As world-famous architectural practices go, Bill Dunster’s premises are like no other. To find him you have to travel to a remote commuter station in an insalubrious outpost of suburban Surrey. Then it’s a 10-minute hike past a builder’s yard, down-at-heel convenience shops and a Tudor-style estate before you spot the jaunty, brightly coloured ventilation cowls and sleek wooden exteriors of BedZed, the zero-carbon eco-village that has made Dunster’s name as Britain’s foremost green architect. BedZed was built not for trendy loft-living urbanites but for housing association the Peabody Trust and, four years on, Dunster remains true to its spirit: that environmental design should be aimed at the suburban masses rather than the right-on elite. These days, however, the masses are more likely to be found in Beijing than in Bolton. Like Arup, the UK engineering consultancy that is planning an eco-city three-quarters the size of Manhattan outside Shanghai, Dunster sees fast-expanding China as the new frontier for environment-conscious urban design. State planners have suddenly ‘got’ the environment in a big way, and this year China announced a major investment programme in renewable technologies. By the end of 2010, all Chinese buildings will need to reduce energy use […]