Working share link to your Forma project, view access for the teaching team.
I added the TAs and professor as managers of my board. Forma did not give me the option for a “share link,” but you should be able to open this link above since you are now managers of the board.
Comparison matrix, one page.
Design memo of 300 to 500 words: what you read in the site, the three strategies, what the analysis said, your recommendation, and the surprise.
The site I chose was 7778 El Camino Real in Daly City, California, a triangularly shaped 27,000 square foot lot adjacent to a BART station currently occupied by an abandoned commercial mall. This is an ideal transit-oriented redevelopment site for housing with an easy commute to San Francisco and a constant presence of passengers to shop at the first floor commercial space.
My preliminary site analysis revealed the biggest challenges as the 1-3 m/s winds blowing towards the west and the noise level from the main streets and railroad tracks surrounding the property. With this in mind, proposal 1 is a line building on the east edge of the property to block the westerly winds and noise from the road. This did block some strong winds from the open space in the property, but along the ends building the winds blew around the line shape and made for a comfortability rating of strolling - not ideal for a space where tenants can relax. Noise levels were reduced in the open space area, and the photovoltaic and sunlight rating were excellent. There was a 93% thermal stress rating from the microclimate analysis because of exposure to sun.
For proposal 2, I wanted to address the winds funneling around the sides of the line buildings because they reduced the utility of the open space for relaxing. I thus added two L-shapes on either ends of the line building to buffer the wind. This made a big improvement, as the open space now had a comfort level suitable for a sitting. However, sunlight and daylight became limited in the corners of the L-shapes and across the front of the building. This did not benefit the microclimate analysis much, which now reported an 86% thermal stress rating - a marginal tradeoff for a much larger decrease in daylight.
In proposal 3, I made an L-shaped commercial podium with an L-shaped residential tower. Although only the single-floor podium spanned the entire eastern side of the property to shield from wind and noise, upon running the analyses I was surprised that the open space on the property was comfortable for sitting and sufficiently blocked from the wind. This building performs equally, if not better, than other proposals in reducing the noise level in the open space. Thus, the podium structure was sufficient for shielding the interior of the building lot while also keeping square footage and building materials to a minimum. I thought that a single level podium would not be enough to shelter the inside of the property from wind, noise, and other elements outside the property, but I was surprised that it was. Additionally, thermal stress decreased to 68% while daylight and sunlight remained high. This proposal has the highest total carbon emissions from a single year of use out of my proposals, but that is a tradeoff I am willing to make since photovoltaic potential was the highest out of the proposals due to increased surface area. This design is my recommendation.
Three massing images, one per proposal, from the same viewpoint.
Proposal 1 Proposal 2 Proposal 3