ON THE BOARDS

Elon Musk’s high-speed Hyperloop plans took flying leaps toward becoming reality this past summer. In July, XP-1, a full-scale prototype for the Hyperloop One passenger pods, was unveiled. The reveal came along with the announcement that the 8.7-metre, carbon-fibre-and-aluminum pod has successfully been tested on the Devloop track in the Nevada desert. The first test run, in May, saw the pod reach 113 kilometres per hour on just 30 metres of track. By the end of July, the speed increased to 309 kilometres, reaching a distance of 300 metres. The company estimates that with an additional 2,000 metres of stator, speeds would reach a whopping 1,126 kilometres per hour.

George Brown College has announced plans to bring a tall wood building research centre to Toronto. The 12-storey, carbon-neutral facility, dubbed “The Arbour,” is intended for the school’s waterfront campus. An international competition seeking design proposals for the structure will be launched this fall.

Un-habitat, the United Nations agency that promotes adequate shelter and socially and environmentally sustainable development, has commissioned Shigeru Ban to design up to 12,000 homes for refugees in Kenya. The Pritzker winner is known for his humanitarian architecture and has designed shelters for displaced populations around the world, including in Rwanda and Nepal. Now he’ll bring his expertise to the Kalobeiyei refugee settlement, which is currently home to over 60,000 refugees.