Working share link to your Forma project
3D Building Design: https://app.autodeskforma.com/buildingdesign/pro_sxsaxacz4f/a670b44a-7687-44ae-8c1a-f1675f1d52a8?
Forma Board w/facades + analysis:
One page facade comparison showing both options with their metrics
My proposal includes three separate buildings that have similar formats, but different facades. Within my one design, I am presenting three variations of facades that can be used for the site. In particular, the two puzzle piece buildings have the same GFA and building structure, but different window facades. Ultimately, presenting two different facades for the same design.
Window to Wall Ratio: 50%
Typical floor plan image with unit types or zones labelled, plus the unit mix schedule
Overall Site Metrics:
One AI render of the chosen scheme
Design memo of 300 to 500 words: how the massing changed from Week 2 and why, what the facade studies showed, what you chose, and where you overrode the automation
Massing Changes:
Between Week 2 and Week 3, I significantly altered the walls of the site by shifting them in and out. I wanted to create a more intricate depth to the design. I also wanted to preserve the symmetry, so I used 8 ft indents on alternating levels of the building. Due to the design, I had to add more floor surface to accommodate the residential percentages needed. However, due to the design of the site, this may need to be modified once more in the coming weeks, as the structure is short of the unit mix (15% studio, 45% one-bedroom, 30% two-bedroom, 10% three-bedroom).
I think aesthetically this design is more pleasing and accommodating to a residential space that takes into account natural lighting. Ultimately, I want the balcony spaces and the shifting framing of the walls on the facades to have green spaces that are easily accessible.
Facade Studies:
As observed in the metric analysis done, there is a huge cool space in the middle of the site, regardless of the facades used. To compensate for the coldness experienced in the inner aspects of the site, I wanted to design with this in mind. A huge portion of the build includes spaces not occupied by walls sectioning units. The total carbon seen on site was 4.13M kg CO2 equivalent. This is higher than the CO2 calculated when the building masses were initially constructed in module 2.
Choice: I chose a single version that combined the designs I did on both buildings. Due to the puzzle-piece parts of the site being the same exact buildings rotated, two facades can be explored on the site at once. And due to the sunlight hours and daylight from the front and back, there is a huge difference in what is being experienced on site from the west and east ends (where the two identical buildings mirror each other).
Manual Override: A lot of the automation would place windows on dividers between two rooms already established in the floor plan. This happened consistently throughout the creation of the facade. For the most part, I had to go in and manually correct these errors. For the facades that had very minimal unit sections, the automation did well at correctly sizing the windows, allowing me to copy and paste to the whole side.