Working share link to your Forma project
One page facade comparison showing both options with their metrics
Typical floor plan image with unit types or zones labelled, plus the unit mix schedule
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. I kept the 7-story H-shaped building from Week 2 but changed a few things. The ground floor is now commercial (18,586 SF) with a main entry on the street side, so the six floors above are residential. My Week 2 floor plates were too small for the unit mix (15% studio, 45% one-bedroom, 30% two-bedroom, 10% three-bedroom, about 750 SF average), so I added roughly 10,000 SF to the building. Total GFA is now 101,744 SF, about 2% over the 100,000 SF target. Of that, 67,082 SF is residential and the rest is corridor. I also added rooms and laid out a typical floor with the core in the same spot on every level.
Facade studies. I made two versions on the same massing using Forma’s Module Automation. Version 1 has a balcony on every unit. Each module is a 5' x 6' window, a balcony door, and a 10' x 4' balcony. Version 2 only has balconies on the three-bedroom units.
Sun hours were the same. Both versions put 100% of the ground in direct sun for at least 3 hours on June 21. Daylight was different. In Version 2, 64% of the facade scored 37 or higher, compared with 51% in Version 1. Version 1 also had more facade area with very low scores (about 9% under 15, versus 2%). Balconies on every unit shade the windows below them, so this makes sense.
Total carbon was the same for both: 3.17M kgCO2e, or 31 kgCO2e/ft². Forma doesn’t count balcony area, so it can’t pick up the main difference between the versions. About 90% of the total is embodied carbon, partly because I left the lifespan at 1 year.
Choice. I chose Version 1. The program requires private outdoor space for at least half the units, and Version 2 only covers about 10%. Losing some daylight is a fair trade since sun hours and carbon didn’t change. I would have gone with Version 2 if balconies weren’t required, or if Version 1’s daylight had dropped a lot more.
Manual override. The automation didn’t put windows in the right spots. It repeats the same module across the whole wall without checking what’s behind it. I turned it off and moved the windows by hand so they line up with the rooms.