Drew McCathern**NOTE: All discussion is captured below after all analysis screenshots
Images of Your 3 Design Proposals
Proposal 1: Standard Rectangular Design
Proposal 2: Angled “L” to Increase Sun Exposure / Daylighting
Proposal 3: Tiered Terraces & Cantilevered Roof
Side-By-Side Comparisons of Your Analysis Results
Analysis 1a: Sun Hours (Winter Solstice)
Analysis 1b: Sun Hours (Summer Solstice)
Analysis 2: Daylight Potential
Analysis 3: Solar Energy Potential
Discussion & Recommendation for the “Best” Design Option
Site Selection
I began my analysis by assessing the 3 available locations and comparing them against the design goals, strategies, and targets I developed in Module 3. As I scanned the locations, the NYC site stood out to me in particular because there are no structures impeding sunlight from the Southeast to the West, and there is a clear view of the Hudson River/ocean (water elements and ocean conservation are key underlying themes of my design inspirations). I also was drawn to the fact that it undergoes a large shift in average temperature based on season, which will force me to be creative in my approach to maximize thermal comfort year-round.
Design 1
Having settled on the NYC site, I started the building design by simply generating a standard 30,000 sf rectangular building to have a baseline of results to compare further iterative designs against. The building’s shape and orientation resulted in almost no sunlight reaching the northern and eastern faces, which I considered problematic considering my primary goals are to limit energy consumption and guarantee thermal comfort by means of daylight and other passive design decisions.
Design 2
In my second design, I played with a generic “L” shape with an increased interior angle. The intent behind the shape was to create a narrower building that maximized daylight exposure and energy harvesting, while still facing the natural surroundings of the site to increase user satisfaction and engagement. With the additional space created on the SW-corner of the site, I envisioned incorporating more natural elements (e.g., a garden, courtyard, fountain, or other green space) to create more pleasing spaces.
While it was able to harvest more sunlight and increase the solar energy potential, the downside of the shape and design was that it didn’t have any passive features to help control thermal comfort or shield visitors from wind. I was particularly concerned about the extremes in NYC for visitor comfort (summer peak temperatures in July/August are in the upper 90s with humidity and winter “peaks” with wind chill can drop to single digits), but also because the cooling load that an exposed building would place on the HVAC system would not be energy efficient and would directly run counter to my goals.
Design 3 (Recommended Proposal)
Thus, for my third design I took the aspects that worked from Designs 1 & 2 and added additional mass elements to create pockets of shade and thermal balance during the summer without sacrificing the ability to harvest daylight or generate solar energy (as shown in the 4 analyses posted above) throughout the remainder of the calendar year.
As the shape materialized, the building began to more closely mirror exhibition spaces that I was inspired by, and ultimately became my recommended design proposal because it also provides additional benefits in the following areas:
- Increased faces for sunlight to reflect off of (creating an indirect-lighting type effect)
- Wind control (rapid analysis considered the space “pleasant” for anyone sitting in the courtyard or standing in the immediate vicinity of the building)
- Dominant and hidden visual impacts
- Increased square footage for exhibitions and/or vendors (tiered terraces, cantilevered upper floors, courtyard, and cut-outs on eastern and northern faces)
Going forward, I have plans to experiment more with passive elements of the design, including, but not limited to:
- Creating breezeways/cut-outs on the lower floor(s) that increase airflow by capitalizing on the site’s prevailing winds (N/NW)
- Increasing built-in green spaces at multiple levels
- Creating a tiered roof system (particularly in the NW corner) that allows for addition solar energy generation and rainwater capture
- Creating another terrace at the midpoint of the building that juts out to the S/SW corner (can be used as exhibition space, outdoor patio, green space… etc.)