Why does it matter to model the real terrain and real neighboring buildings?
◦ Which aspects of a building design are most affected by surrounding context?
The sun hours, noise levels, and wind are all greatly affected by surrounding context. There could be little sunlight if the neighboring buildings are tall enough to block it. The roads nearby could be heavily trafficked leading to more noise and even pollution. Buildings redirect wind and can create turbulence or stronger gusts. The temperature can even be super hot if the facade of a nearby structure is glassy and reflect extra sunlight onto another building.
◦ What kinds of mistakes only become visible once the context is present?
Without context, it’s not possible to know how much sun will actually reach your building. Its possible the wind ends up being much stronger than expected too, which affects the structural design and will cascade into the architecture and form of the structure.
Should the building adapt to the site, or the site to the building?
◦ From a developer's perspective?
The developer wants the building to adapt to the site because they care about the surrounding land that already exists. It has a higher chance to be a success if the building adapts to the site, and they are funding it, so the risk and reward goes to them.
◦ From a designer's perspective?
The designer wants the site to adapt to the building because it makes it easier to ignore context during the building design.
◦ From the perspective of the neighbors who already live there?
The neighbors want the building to adapt to the site, so their life isn’t interrupted.
Sun hours and wind frequently want opposite things from the same massing
◦ How should a team break the tie when two analyses disagree?
◦ Who should have the final say, and at what point in the process?
Forma's rapid analyses are fast because they are approximate
◦ What is a rapid operational energy analysis leaving out?
◦ At what stage does that approximation stop being good enough?
◦ What would you need before putting a performance number in front of a client?
You generated three proposals and recommended one
◦ Did the analysis choose it, or did you choose it and then find numbers that agreed?
I chose it based on the analysis. I did not expect the final proposal to be the best because I thought it was complicated and that there was no way it would work the way I wanted since I have no experience.
◦ What would you have had to see to abandon your favorite option?
To abandon my favorite option it would not have taken much. If it was not the best overall, I would have left it. I liked how proposal 3 looked, but it lost heavily in daylight potential and microclimate. The winner cannot be that weak in multiple metrics.
◦ If the lot next door is built out in three years, does your recommendation hold?
I think my building is tall enough such that the building in the next available lot has little effect. Most of the benefits come from having an isolated courtyard anyway.