From the architect. The Laboratory at Dulwich College is a state-of-the-art science building located in the heart of the school’s historic campus in south London. The £14 million Grimshaw-designed scheme was officially opened earlier this month and is the first completed school project in the practice’s education portfolio. Within the building, science laboratories for the Lower and Junior Schools surround a 240-capacity multi-purpose auditorium designed for the use of the College and the wider community.
Sketch
The Laboratory provides generous teaching accommodation, a three-storey atrium, an outdoor piazza for recreation and performance, and five ‘Informatics’ suites enabling teaching with the latest IT and creating spaces for truly collaborative learning. The scheme also includes Middle and Upper School laboratories linked by the James Caird Hall containing Sir Ernest Shackleton’s lifeboat of that name.
Reflecting Dulwich College’s approach of cross-discipline learning and collaboration, the building has been designed with a balance of formal and informal learning spaces. Biology, physics and chemistry departments each have their own dedicated floor, with the option of adjusting the individual labs to create ‘science studio’ environments. Communal spaces are open and inviting and provide the opportunity to share ideas and discoveries in a relaxed setting.
The building itself is physically open, designed in an ‘S’ shape, with large windows linking students with the outside world. To prepare for the teaching needs of the future, individual science labs are open and flexible in their configuration with furniture that can easily be rearranged as required. The exterior of the building is both contemporary and sympathetic to a context that includes the adjacent Italianate building by Charles Barry Jr. Embracing pattern, colour, texture and proportion the Grimshaw design team developed a composition of materials that ensured the new building sits in harmony with its surrounding historical neighbours. Materials in the façade include terracotta, bronze anodised aluminium, and pre-cast concrete panels. Grimshaw collaborated with the sculptor, Peter Randall-Page RA, to design a façade that contains an elegant pattern based on the Lindenmeyer algorithm which replicates the growth processes of plants and is found in all branches of science. Colour is also used to differentiate the formal, public facing sides of the building from the informal school-facing sides, with a cream colour palette for the former and terracotta for the latter.
South Elevation
The Laboratory houses a newly commissioned sculpture by Conrad Shawcross RA, developed in conjunction with art scholars at Dulwich and is also home to exhibitions by pupils. Displays of scientific and historic artefacts give a sense of discovery, with Shackleton’s lifeboat taking pride of place in the James Caird Hall.
OMA has released new images of their design for Axel Springer’s business and digital division, in Berlin, Germany. One of the largest digital publishing houses in Europe, Axel Springer officially launched the project to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the company’s publishing building.
OMA’s proposal was selected in a 2014 international design competition, beating out finalist entries from BIG and Büro Ole Scheeren. The brief called for a new modern work environment to house Axel Springer’s growing business and digital divisions.
Courtesy of OMA
“With our new building, we wish to bring the Axel Springer family in Berlin closer together while at the same time shaping the future of working in the digital world through architecture. It is about a symbolically powerful home, yet above all about a cultural transformation through radically modern workspaces,” said Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer.
Located opposite the company’s existing headquarters on Zimmerstrasse and on the site of the former Linden park, the new structure will feature a 30 meter tall atrium with 3D curtain wall elements that will cut through the center of the building volume. A publicly-accessible park will be built on the roof to replace the original parkspace. When complete, the building will be able to accommodate 3500 employees.
Courtesy of OMA
“Over the years, Berlin has been a profound source of inspiration, and with Axel Springer we are thrilled to continue our long engagement with this city,” said Rem Koolhaas.
“We are lucky to have a client who views architecture as an instrument of change, and with this building, we hope to address a central dilemma of the contemporary office: as computer-based work has become largely intangible and silent, how can people effectively communicate in a workspace which fosters both concentration and vigorous interaction?”
Courtesy of OMA
The project is being led by Rem Koolhaas, Chris van Duijn, and Katrin Betschinger.
JCJ Architecture and Leong Leong have unveiled their design for the Center for Community and Entrepreneurship, a new mixed-use community building for the non-profit organization, Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE), which will be located in Flushing, Queens, New York. Upon completion, the building will span 90,000 square feet over seven stories at the corner of College Point Boulevard and 39th Avenue.
Inspired by AAFE’s mission to enrich the lives of Asian Americans and others in need throughout New York City, the design is modeled using a progressive building form after “the concept of holding hands in interweaving fingers—a physical presence to match the social symbol for community empowerment.”
Four interlocking structures with outdoor terraces give the building its form. “This form is articulated by a gradient of vertical transparencies that emphasize its distinct silhouette. The more transparent lower two floors contain the most public programs and support direct engagement with the neighborhood at street level. As the programs become more private on the upper floors, the exterior becomes more opaque while still internally supporting views of the city and the Flushing Creek waterfront” – described the architects.
The goal of this project was unique from the start: to create a vertically integrated community for Flushing that seamlessly links work, events, and the public, said Chris Leong, partner at Leong Leong, who serves as the Designer on the project. The informal spaces of circulation become primary spaces for interaction and exchange – we turned the architectural promenade into an vertical interface that blends public space and work space.
On the ground level, a sweeping outdoor plaza, as an interface to the surrounding neighborhood, will connect a 5,000-square-foot public market to the street.
The second floor of the building will feature flexible community space, while the third floor will house Flushing’s first business incubator, a co-working space for local small businesses and start-ups to collaborate. AAFE’s Flushing program offices will occupy the fourth floor, and floors five through seven will be open for use by established businesses—potentially those from the incubator.
Moreover, a three-story open staircase will serve as a vertical interface between floors, thereby encouraging collaboration. On the ground floor, this staircase will provide seating space for the public market, and on the second and third floors, the staircase can transform into event or performance space.
From the architect. A small house on the coast of Norway, just next to the water, overlooking the neighboring islands and the Norwegian Sea. The house is part of the project Bygda 2.0, a rural development project on the island of Stokkøya, focusing on developing modern Norwegian houses into a dynamic village. Businesses and research activities are combined with places to live, work, enjoy and relax. Architecture, sustainability, and exceptional cuisine are in focus.
Our client, a chef on the same island, decided to settle down and to be surrounded by this beautiful landscape and concept. His dream was a small house where he could overlook the sea from all of his rooms. It turned into a house that co-exists in perfect harmony with nature. At night he can watch the full moon lighting up the sea, reflecting its bright light into his living room. He can enjoy the northern lights while taking a bath in his bathtub that is submerged into the rocks. He can even fish from his balcony.
Floor Plan
The house is separated into two units. The lower unit consists of the entrance and bathroom, and the higher unit consists of the kitchen, living room and a loft situated over the kitchen. These two units are slightly offset to each other. This shift causes the front of the house to naturally have an inviting open space for the entrance towards the road, while creating at the back of the house, intimacy and privacy for the bathroom’s facade that is facing the water. The kitchen window, by the entrance, is framed with firewood storage possibility. There are smaller windows towards the road and large panoramic windows towards the water.
The house is constructed of wood and has a wooden siding that is incorporated not only on the outer walls but internally as well. The façade has to endure harsh weather and thus it is constructed with maintenance free burned wood, a traditional Japanese technique incorporated into the Norwegian context. Part of the house is standing on wooden pillars, overhanging the steep rocks that lead down to the water, and the other half is a concrete slab on solid ground. The roof is made of sedum grass, adding some greenery to the rocky landscape. The heating system is a modern wood stove with water jacket that works alongside a solar water heater.
Wooden panels with different treatments offer a variety of color for the interior of the house. Floor tiles enhance the entrance and the bathroom flooring. The bathtub is clad with the same tiles as the ones used for the bathroom floor. It is submerged into the floor to give an undisturbed and uninterrupted view of the nature outside giving a feeling of stepping right into the landscape. The trapezoidal metal sheets of the interior roof are left exposed giving a playful contrast to the warm wood while reflecting the light from the sky and the water into the building.
The FutureLand Express departs once daily—three times on Sunday—in front of FutureLand, the information center of the latest extension of the Port of Rotterdam. The bus tours Maasvlakte 2, as the area is called, for seventy-five minutes, showing visitors 2,000 hectares of artificial ground for port activities and ‘nature’. The dredging of 240 million cubic meters of sand for land reclamation was just beginning in 2008; back then, this was, literally, future land. However, FutureLand’s promise of witnessing the future through a bus window goes beyond sightseeing record-breaking civil engineering works. Maasvlakte 2 is also home of the two most technologically advanced container terminals in the world.
Leaving the scale of the place aside—the ship-to-shore (STS) cranes are almost as high as the Erasmus bridge—to a distracted eye, operations at APM Terminals and Rotterdam World Gateway (RWG) container terminals might not seem out of the ordinary: cranes unloading containers from large vessels, followed by a relentless traffic of trucks. Nevertheless, as the bus tours APM Terminal’s premises, it becomes apparent that its blue cranes have no cabins; that driverless vehicles carry the containers, and no-access signs mark a fence around a large area where no person can be seen. Welcome to the workplace of full-automation.
In reality, a glimpse of that future had already been in sight in the Port of Rotterdam for years. In the neighboring Maasvlakte, the ECT Delta Terminal proudly announces itself as the first automated terminal in the world. In 1993, this undertaking introduced Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) that transport containers between quay and storage area, where automated stacking cranes handle them. Still, the process is not fully autonomous, as the STS cranes moving containers from vessels to AGV’s have operators on board.
ECT’s Euromax terminal followed the path of automation in 2008 with similar solutions, but the Port of Rotterdam eventually institutionalized the trend in its plans for Maasvlakte 2. With the port reportedly on the verge of reaching its growth limit, the Maasvlakte 2 expansion would underpin Rotterdam’s position as a logistical hub by giving room for container terminals to access the largest vessels. However, plans also stated that economic growth had to be combined with a strong commitment with sustainability.
For the port authority, sustainability was mainly a synonym of efficiency—efficient use of land, time and energy—and, as the argument went, nothing is more efficient that a fully-automated process. Full-automation would allow for rapid loading and unloading of an increased volume of containers and their stacking in logical sequences, while reducing idle times and energy consumption. The terminals would even “require a lot less light in the evening.” Thus, the port placed “strict demands” on the businesses aspiring to operate there. In turn, these companies have made the terminals at Maasvlakte 2 model workplaces of automation, both for robots and humans.
The ultimate frontier for the full automation of port operations were the STS cranes, and the push for overcoming this limitation is a direct result of the leap in scale in container ships. The wide port entrance and deep fairways of Maasvlakte 2 were designed to afford the passage and docking of ultra large container ships (ULCS). Loading and unloading one of those huge high-TEU capacity vessels requires STS cranes that are higher and have a longer outreach. Hence, travel distances from ship to shore increase, and faster movements are needed in order to increase productivity.
According to ABB, the Swiss company that provided the remote control systems to both terminals in Maasvlakte 2, human nature imposes limits that place the attainment of higher performance at risk. First, crane acceleration and deceleration need to be restricted with a human operator on board; under increasing pressure, movements would become more abrupt and cause strain on the worker’s body. Further, human sight would hamper moving objects with precision from a cabin placed at an unprecedented height. Both would ultimately lead to work accidents and damage to the equipment and goods.
Automation allows the cranes to run faster and smoothly, shortening vessel-processing cycle times. Optical character recognition (OCR) safely identifies objects, and on board cameras offer a full picture of the process to the remote operator in real-time, who additionally gains a more ergonomic workspace. Similar to what happens to other unmanned, automatic devices, operators supervise the crane cycle in a control room, located in an office building on site, just outside the container handling area.
In contrast the RWG, which keeps operators cabins on the STS cranes as a vestige—or maybe as a backup—those at the APM Terminals get by without them. The commitment of this company to automation is irreversible. According to Jouke Schaap, Head of Commercial at APM’s Maasvlakte 2 operations, the company does not contemplate any “backup scenario”. There is no possibility of turning back to manual control.
Aside from constant supervision, there is no need for human intervention in the whole process of loading, unloading, stacking, organizing, and transferring containers. At its core, a so-called Terminal Operating System (TOS) provides computerized coordination and management of cargo and unmanned machines. The system optimizes everything in real-time, from travel distances and crane schedules to the utilization of the yard space “in order to handle growth without adding new land.”
On top of that, additional software translates the commands of the TOS into specific movements and driving paths that are then sent to the robotic equipment. TEAMS, as this program is called, automatically avoids collisions and deadlocks. Supervision and intervention, when necessary, is facilitated by means of a visual interface showing the exact position of any piece of equipment on an operable 2D/3D overview of the terminal.
The result is an incessant mechanical choreography. Once the electric STS crane automatically places the container on a battery-powered Lift Automated Guided Vehicle (Lift AGV), this driverless wheeled platform follows its predetermined path towards the storage area, positioning itself in space in relation to a transponder grid. Special storage racks and its integrated lift system allow the Lift AGV to drop its cargo autonomously. When its battery is low, the vehicle drives to a charging station. Back in the stacks, an Automated Rail-Mounted Gantry Crane (ARMG)—also electric—approaches the rack and takes its load to its most optimal position with regard to its departure schedule. When that moment comes, the ARMG drops the container automatically either onto a truck, identified previously through OCR, or in another Lift AGV that moves it to the rail yard area. Once there, another automated crane places it on a cargo train heading to the hinterland. In the meantime, if no ship is docked, the ARMG cranes do not stay idle, but further optimize the storage area in preparation for the next vessel. All of this happens within a fenced perimeter, as, according to APM Terminals, none of the machines have sensors to detect human presence.
All in all, automation is still a pioneering endeavor, and it takes some time to refine the terminal operation system. APM Terminals says they expect to reach full potential in 2018. A second phase, which would double the size of the terminal, will come later. By then, the company anticipates its replication will be as easy as “copying and pasting.”
Away from the noise, vibration, and danger of the fenced off robot workplace, operators perform their tasks in an environment that boasts all sorts of human-centered design features. ABB calls its design concept ‘operator in focus’. This is based on the principle that the design of the control room should support the company’s operations by facilitating the ‘natural’ immersion of the employee in their tasks and responsibilities. Designing a pleasant environment for an “operator as a human being” pays off with employee “alertness, productivity, collaboration and occupational health.”
The guidelines suggested by ABB touch on all aspects of the control room. These range from recommendations on how to manage flows of people and locate additional programs—meeting rooms, lockers, and dining room—to avoid operational disturbances, to the specific characteristics of the furniture. Natural light gives operators “a reference to time” and the right selection of materials help control noise levels. Workstations should be placed at an optimal distance from each other, inviting collaboration and communication without cluttering. Most importantly, data should be presented only in the right place at the right moment: that is, contextual information should be provided in just a few monitors in the field of view of the operator so as to avoid information overload.
Such emphasis of ABB on achieving well-being and performance through ergonomics has also influenced the main human interface device in the automated process: the remote control console. Designed by No Picnica—a Swedish design agency—and awarded a Red Dot Award in 2014, the control console is a cool, compact, Nintendo-looking device. Joysticks and buttons, colored lights, icons and a visual user guide are carefully laid out to assist the remote operator’s workflow. Video game-like interfaces will change the preconceived notion society has of port workers: images of manly stevedores manually operating machines are being replaced by those of young professionals, men and women, working with camaraderie in an inviting environment.
Obviously, remote control might have far more implications for the spatial organization of work and global division of labor than ergonomics. Currently, outsourcing the supervision of all terminals of a global operator to a centralized control room is a possibility only limited by concerns about network safety and bandwidth reliability. Improved automation and artificial intelligence will eventually reduce the need for continuous human supervision. Then there will be “no limit to how remote remote-controlled operations can be.”
With their electric-motor robots running entirely on renewable energy, and their teams of humans working collaboratively, the terminals at Maasvlatke 2 anticipate the built environment of the Third Industrial Revolution. The case evidences the fact that a strong planning and policy vision can guide how private actors shape the built environment, aligning economic growth with the development of zero emission, off-grid autonomous and sustainable infrastructures and working environments. It also shows how robots, with their bodily presence in space and their limitations in how they interact with humans, are already defining how territories are managed and organized for work, bringing in new modes of spatial segregation and inclusion.
Not surprisingly, there are also losers in this transition. As it happened with the arrival of the first grain elevators in 1905, port workers in Rotterdam today fear redundancy. Seeing their livelihoods and bargaining power threatened by the future towards which the port is heading, they were able to strike an agreement in job security. FNV Havens, the main union of port workers, declared that their struggle is not against automation—which they admit is an inexorable fate—but for guaranteeing a fair transition into the new economic landscape. In fact, decidedly pushing for automation with responsibility urges planning and policy to integrate innovative answers to one of the questions posed by Jeremy Rifkin and others: what to do with those “wage earners of the industrial age” whose work has been rendered obsolete by technological and economic decisions, and replaced by others with different skills?
With a final expected cost of 2.6 billion Euros, Maasvlakte 2 will also include projects for environmental compensation and new areas of nature and recreation amounting to 300 million. Despite the fact that the sixty-five-million Euro social compensation plan secured by the union pales in comparison to both figures, moving into the future with ad hoc solutions for the social issues of automation seems unsustainable. Certainly, the Port of Rotterdam Authority has not ignored the fact that the port workers of tomorrow must be more agile and resilient. While initiatives such as the RDM Campus aim at educating the future generation of technical workers for a constantly changing future, envisioning additional projects and spaces that proactively take advantage of the social capital of current generations and support a transition to a new economy should nevertheless be an integral task not to be ignored in an automated future. In this sense, the developments of Maasvlatke 2 to come should be taken as an opportunity to reimagine and test alternative models of transition towards new economic realities.
The author wishes to thank: the Research & Development Department at Het Nieuwe Instituut; Isabelle Vries and Wouter Buck, Port of Rotterdam; Jouke Schaap, APM Terminals; Niels Dekker, Rotterdam World Gateway; Mariëtte van Dijk, FNV Vervoer; Martijn Coeveld and Leo Klink, TBA.
References and Footnotes [1] Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), ‘ECT Delta Terminal’, 2015. At: http://ift.tt/2dMAVUC (accessed 27 June 2016) [2] Port of Rotterdam Authority & Project Organization Maasvlakte 2, ‘The Sustainable Port’, May 2008. At: http://ift.tt/2d5cvIe (accessed 11 June 2016). [3] Twenty-foot equivalent unit, used to describe capacity of container ships and terminals. [4] ABB, ‘ABB to enable remote control of ship-to-shore cranes at Maasvlakte 2 container terminals in the Netherlands’, 25 September 2012. At: http://ift.tt/2dMAREe (accessed 15 June 2016). [5] Personal communication with Jouke Schaap, Head of Commercial, APM Terminals Maasvlakte 2, on 28 June 2016. [6] Navis, ‘N4: It’s time for more’, 2015, pp. 4. At: http://ift.tt/2d5bAHS (accessed 17 June 2016). [7] TEAMS stands for Terminal Equipment Automated Management System, and was developed by the Dutch company TBA. TBA, ‘TEAMS: Real-time control for advanced terminal operations’, 2016. At: http://ift.tt/2dMAnxV (accessed 20 June 2016). [8] APM Terminals. ‘Welcome to the Future of Global Trade: APM Terminals Maasvlakte II Media Kit’, 24 April 2015. At: http://ift.tt/2dMALwC (accessed 20 June 2016). [9] Personal communication with Jouke Schaap, Head of Commercial, APM Terminals Maasvlakte 2, on 28 June 2016. [10] Helen Karsten, ‘Pushing Automation to the Limit’, Generations. A publication of ABB Marine and Cranes, 1, 2013, pp. 1-4. At: http://ift.tt/2d5cO5U (accessed 16 June 2016). [11] Clara Holmgren & Lena Nyberg, ‘Moving crane operations to the control room – What can we learn from process industries’, Port Technology International, n0. 58, May 2013, pp. 54-59. At: http://ift.tt/2dMASIn (accessed 16 June 2016). [12] ABB, ‘Control room solutions for remote operations’, 2016. At: http://ift.tt/2d5bzDO (accessed 16 June 2016). [13] Fredrik Johanson, ‘How remote can ‘remote’ be?’, Port Strategy, 10 October 2015. At: http://ift.tt/2dMDVQC (accessed 16 June 2016). [14] APM Terminals, ‘APM Terminals Signs Contract for Wind-Power Generated Electricity’, 16 December 2014. At: http://ift.tt/2dMAIkh (accessed 17 June 2016). [15] Wouter Vanstiphout, ‘Mechanization Takes Command’. In: Crimson Architectural Historians (eds.), Too Blessed to be Depressed (Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2002), pp. 209-224. [16] Personal Communication with Mariëtte van Dijk, press officer FNV Vervoer [FNV transport], on 22 June 2016. In July 2016 the union succeeded in securing their demands. [17] Jeremy Rifkin, The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), pp. 265. [18] Port of Rotterdam, ‘Overeenstemming over aanleg Tweede Maasvlakte’, 25 June 2004. At: http://ift.tt/2d5cSCL (accessed June 12 2016)
Espedalen is a valley situated in inland Norway to the east of Jotumheimen national park. The valley is home to the largest moose migration route in Europe. RAM Arkitektur was initially approached by the local community to suggest five architectural interventions in the region, with the aim of boosting tourism within the area. Momentum quickly built around and early sketch for a moose-viewing tower, with basic overnight accommodation for six people, located on public forestry land, and in the heart of the migration route.
The 12 meter high tower is located on the edge of a small rocky outcrop, siting on simple anchor points drill directly into the bedrock to minimise the buildings impact on the natural environment. It offers accommodation of a basic standard, with simple wooden platforms for beds, and has no running water or electricity. Guests are expected to take their own camping equipment, although bedding and food can be provided on request. Heating is provided by wood stoves, one on each level.
The entire building is raised three meters off the ground, with a covered outdoor sitting space under the building at ground level. The first plan is a 12sqm bedroom with six beds. Each bed is cantilevered out from the main structure, surrounded on three sides by glass to create the experience of sleeping outside in nature. The second level is a 12sqm ‘viewing lounge’ with a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape, and basic cooking facilities on a wood stove. The top level is a public viewing terrace, and a ‘treetop’ toilet. The toilet is a gas powered combustion toilet, and the room has surround windows on three sides, offering a panoramic treetop view, while still giving privacy from the roof terrace. Vertically the rooms are connected by and external staircase, which allows access to the viewing terrace to the general public. This was one of the premises for the building permit to be granted on public forestry land.
Due to the remote location of the site, and limited accessibility with heavy machinery, it was an important consideration that the majority of the construction was based on prefabricated elements. Each element should not exceed a size that could be handled by two people without assistance of heavy machinery. In addition to this, the elements should be possible to transport by snow scooter in the winter months, to further reduce damage to the delicate flora in the immediate area around the tower. Inspiration was drawn from local building traditions, and pre-machined log construction with dovetail corner joints was chosen, which is stack directly on the main glue laminated bearing structure. In this way the construction process could also be complete directly from the main structure. The timber is untreated and as it weathers will further blend into the surrounding nature. The large glass surfaces reflect the sky and surrounding forrest, helping the tower blend into the surrounding environment.
Product Description: Inspiration was drawn from the rich local history of log construction, and its logical modular construction principle. A pre-machined element was chosen from Varpin AS for its precision and relative cost effectiveness. The wooden construction ‘is what it is’ without the need for building up layers of material. It is simultaneously load bearing, insulating, and external and internal finishing, without the requirement of further treatment or maintenance.
Located in green surroundings, right next to the beautiful Husarviken river, this new residential building offers sustainable and attractive housing in one of Europe’s most extensive city-development areas in Norra Djurgårdsstaden, Stockholm. The housing block, designed by Joliark and commissioned by Byggnadsfirman Viktor Hanson, is part of the process of transforming former industrial land into a high-profile environmental-friendly neighbourhood.
The design is based on as few material components as possible – sculpturing a bold, comprehensible and structural grammar. Large horizontal and vertical concrete elements highlights the framework which comprises 30 apartments in various sizes. Each apartment faces the river with large glass openings, dissolving the boundary between building and nature.
The allocation of each dwelling is revealed in the north facade where the accompanying balconies compose a sharp architectural theme. The smallest units are situated at ground level, larger single- decks above and duplexes on top. All apartments in this stacked-row-house structure is accessed either through the indoor entrance hallway, the courtyard level or an entrance balcony on the south side.
The elongated volume is divided in two parts where the in-between space functions as a common foyer with indoor bicycle parking and two elevators connecting all entrance floors.
The characteristic roof landscape is given by – conceptually – slicing and folding up the roof slab, creating triangular wing flaps that are facing the sun. Solar panels placed on the wings catches the sunlight energy. The roof wings also function as a natural distributor of light to the duplexes and serve as physical connections to the private roof terraces. The terraces provide spectacular views of Djurgården recreational area and the archipelago.
All complementary building parts such as canopies, stairs, railings and the access balcony appear as an external web made out of galvanized steel. The shifting of materials from steel to concrete, draws a border between public and semi-private outdoor space, close to the façade, on the south-facing access balcony.
Plan 2
Wooden window frames and greenery softens the otherwise bare materials, characteristic of the building. The gables hold nets for climbing plants and the roof is partly covered with sedum to delay rainwater.
Louverwall is for a couple with five cats. The husband is a music enthusiast who manages the cafe where he enjoys music, coffee, and beautiful space. He wants the café space to be vertical, transparent, and dynamic. They need a small residence on the 2nd and 3rd floors consisted of a bedroom, a living room and a small kitchen. The site is located in the newly developed mixed-use building district in Paju. The plot is surrounded by other buildings on its three sides; it is only open toward due west. Thus, the main challenge of the project is to come up with the west façade that is energy efficient and transparent.
Floor Plan
Mass + Light
The goal is to have soft daylight in the café space, as it is facing due west. We have decided to limit the direct light of the west and bring in the light from the south. As the south side is blocked by another building, we can only have clerestory. The clerestory of the south side continues to the west creating the curtainwall facade. Inside the envelope, the two massive curved walls are formed to bring in natural daylight deep into the ground floor year round. The light that changes every minute touches the interior surfaces. Every movement of the clouds, the sun, as well as the changes of season is recorded on the walls.
The curtainwall façade is combined with the louvers for the building performance. The louvers are designed to block the summer sun, and to bring in the heat of the winter sun. The aluminum louvers cover the entire curtainwall, creating a sense of solidity. The louver design is done using PLDS (Parametric Louver Design System) which is an algorithm that finds the best performing louver form for the given surface. It finds the optimized set of formal parameters for the given glazed surface; angle of rotation, spacing, projection length, and inclination. The optimized louvers do not just block direct sunlight. It calculates how much summer sun is blocked and how much winter sun can pass through. Therefore, the curtain wall does not create extra heating and cooling load to the building, but offers glazed façade with soft daylight. The structure, curtain wall, and louvers have all worked out together as one’s change affects the others. The final design came out as a synergetic process between the creativity of the designers and the analysis of the system.
*PLDS (Parametric Louver Design System) is an algorithm that runs in Rhinoceros 3D as a grasshopper file. A team of Seoul National University’s researchers led by professor Choi, Jaepil has developed the algorithm funded by the Ministry of Land, Transport, and Maritime Affairs of the Korean government.
The light pours in between the two curved walls, emphasizing the verticality of the space. As one walks up the stairs to reach the rest space, one can experience the utmost play of light and shadow, and the verticality. The shadow of louvers create rhythmical pattern on the curved surfaces; the pattern continuously changes as the light changes. This visual play of light and shadow becomes even more dynamic as it meets the rhythm of music. The music floats in the space, and the play of light continues.
Location: Soi Mu Ban Noble Neo City, Khwaeng Si Kan, Khet Don Mueang, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10210, Thailand
Lead Architects: Chakrawan Smatasoraboosya, Monthon Sanguanpog, Songpon Jirayasin
Area: 675.0 sqm
Project Year: 2013
Photographs: Courtesy of OPENSPACE Design
Courtesy of OPENSPACE Design
“Wind House” was created as “Resort Space” which was the owner’s preference style regarding the site conditions. As it was located on the edge of the housing estate project’s boundary, it gained the view of big natural green area beside and certainly, the atmosphere of tranquility.
Courtesy of OPENSPACE Design
The house planning started from the idea – “How to live comfortably with nature?”. Therefore,the building orientation and the space of the house should allow the wind to flow through and allow natural light to shine in without too much heat. At the same time, the users inside could be able to see nice garden view outside as well.
Courtesy of OPENSPACE Design
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Courtesy of OPENSPACE Design
The house was designed in C-Shape providing big courtyard on the right side, close to big green area beside, where every function from 3 sides could really share this pleasant courtyard together. The building itself could provide privacy to the users as neighbors would not be able to look into the center of the house. The technique to draw the wind flowing through the house perfectly was to provide some big voids of the building mass aligned to the courtyard which were also used as circulation core, stair and relaxation corner. Moreover, even some details such as doors, fences, sunlight screen patterns, etc. were meticulously designed to utilize the wind more efficiently for ventilation purpose.
Courtesy of OPENSPACE Design
One of the most significant design strategies was to create “Seamless Boundary” between building and nature, indoor and outdoor. All of the common area as well as circulation were treated as “Semi-Outdoor” space, under the roof but without walls, connecting to the courtyard harmoniously. In addition, some enclosed functions were still optional to get fresh air sometimes by sliding full-height partitions to the sides. These would enable the house space to look wider, more airy and definitely, to welcome the delightful wind to be “Wind House”.
The house is called a coconut house due to its solid grey stone exterior, while its interior is white and sweet. It is for a family consisting of a couple and two children.
Privacy from neighbouring properties was a key concern for the clients. The contrast between the exterior and interior materials and colors was chosen to heighten the safety of the house in a dense residential district. The building is packed into a plot between existing neighboring properties. Its plan was created to provide a variety of spaces across the two floors, and also to ensure the main spaces are oriented towards the sun’s path.
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At street level, a concrete-finished wall and grey stones shield the lower story from view. It also incorporates a black swinging door and entrance that opens onto a grey stone courtyard. A large volume of glazing towards this courtyard is used throughout the house to ensure the interior receives plenty of natural light, despite its cramped site. The master bedroom, situated in the more private front end of the second floor, contains a library, a walk-in closet, an en-suite bathroom, and a door to a terrace garden.
Sig Nordal 