Minimum Viable Product

We have landed on a new building design structure that promotes maximizing the surrounding environment of an educational institution. That includes views of nature from the majority of spaces, fresh air-flow and ventilation from outside air. A space that depends heavily on solar energy but also is built with original residents (animal and agricultural life) in mind. Not just human-centered design, but nature-centered design.

Based on feedback from both students and professors major goals include creating more break-out spaces for small and medium group study and meetings. The other goal is to avoid creating interior structural spaces used for people. Interior spaces should be limited to storage and mechanical/utility spaces. If done correctly, every room that humans use should have exterior facing windows.

The simplest version of this product that delivers value and meets the challenges of this POV statement will have these essential features:

• Modular structure that allows designer to “bolt-on” rooms that are cantilevered off the building to increase space but avoid overly large footprints that prevent exterior windows from being present in all rooms
• All spaces used by people will be exterior facing rooms with views of nature
• Solar innovations:
• Pigmented photo voltaic cells in certain window panels to maximize solar energy collection
• Glass windows will be water marked with bird-friendly patterns to avoid affecting the bird population and casualties caused by large window panels in high rises and largely glass buildings
• Landscaping designed to create a tree canopy both above ground and below higher floors to “bring nature up” to the higher floors looking down towards the landscaping
• Coffee house style seating / floor plans for both eateries and group study spaces as an alternative to the more corporate style seating of large institutions