Design Journal Entry - Module 12 Wrap Up - Katie Wheeler

Overview

• Key / Essential / Unique Design Features
• Entire South-facing curtain wall exterior: this long stretching curtain wall is one of the main pieces of the building. This take advantage of the solar gain, while also bringing in as much natural light as possible.
• Curtain Walls/ Natural Lighting: I wanted the space to feel like you were outside, yet in an enclosed space. A large portion of the exterior is made from curtain walls. Additionally, the main climbing area is equipped with skylights. Additionally, the gym space also has skylights. This natural light is crucial for the plant life that I would plan to add to the spaces.
• Observable café on second floor: This design feature was one of my favorites. On the second floor, the cafe area can look through the glass wall into the main climbing area. This allows the space to feel bigger, while also allowing parents to keep an eye out on their children from a distance.

• Floor Plan shape of building: In attempts to take hold of VLT and direct solar gain, I played around with the shape of my building. In attempts to give it an almost “snow globe” feel, most of the building is curved to allow all light to shine within and take advantage of the surface area.
• Climbing areas: There are three designated climbing areas. First, there is a rope climbing area in which people can climb/belay 50 foot walls. This is the main piece of the entire building, and requires a lot of heating and cooling to regulate its setpoint. Using basic concrete walls to mimic the thermal capabilities of a rock-like wall for realistic aesthetic, I was able to model a rough outline of the walls themselves within the space. Second, there is an advanced bouldering area on the second floor. Bouldering areas require no harnesses or belaying methods. It is simply free climbing. This includes concrete walls as well. Lastly, there is a beginner/intermediate bouldering area on the first floor that mimics the same structural framing and walls as the advanced, yet it is not as tall foe experience related purposes, and
• Climbing wall structural framing: A key piece of the climbing center is the structural integrity of the climbing walls. I wanted to use as much natural wood as possible. For the 50-foot climbing wall area, this was unrealistic because of the height and weight loads, but for the shorter walls in the bouldering areas, I was able to incorporate wood in the structural framing. For the 50-foot wall area, steel framing was used to better the integrity of the walls for climbers.

• Green roof/solar array: For simplistic purposes, the solar array roof was only modelled in the southeast corner of the roof. This is because upon finalizing the building, several considerations were made. First, I realized that I wanted to better utilize the space for gardening in attempts to sustainably supply the café within the building. Second, after discussing with a fellow classmate about solar roof arrays, I realized that a better area to utilize for solar PV would be in the surrounding area of the building. El Dorado is very dry and receives a lot of light in this area due to bare land. In other words, I wanted to use the roof as a green space, and utilize the parking area or surrounding land in the plot for PV arrays.

• Big Successes -- what worked very well and what features you're most proud to share as examples to inspire others.
• Natural Lighting Tactics: The space itself utilizes natural lighting as a key to lowering the electricity demand of the building. In each of the climbing areas, there are curtain walls that allow for light to flow into the space. Additionally, the gym space also has skylights and a curtain wall to take hold of the natural light.
• Aesthetics: Overall, I would say that the building itself is aesthetically pleasing. The use of glass especially adds to the snow globe effect and allows the space to feel much bigger that it is. While I was unable to truly model the climbing walls, the concept is still there. For the belaying tall walls in the main climbing area, the walls would mimic a mountain made from rock and resin. In the bouldering sections, the walls would have much lighter, yet still natural wooden tones. Additionally, each climbing space is carpeted. I will say that I wish I could change the color of the carpeting because the red is not appealing to me. However, I mainly added it for characteristic purposes.
• Open second floor café area for spectators: One of my favorite parts of my building is the upper floor where the café seating is located. The entire rope climbing area (with 50 foot walls) can be seen and observed. I think this is a really cool way to bring the whole building together, instead of having completely separate spaces.
• Big Challenges -- what aspects of the project created the biggest challenges and what would you do differently (in hindsight) to avoid or overcome these challenges.
• HVAC system: Putting in the HVAC system was the task that I had the most difficultly with. For some reason, I could never get a read on the CFM per zone, so the energy calculations were not valid. After attempting numerous times and spending hours trying to troubleshoot, I ended up estimating the CFM based on the square footage of each zone, then creating the duct system with size and location accordingly. While it wasn't the most sound and I could not get good energy reads, the ducts were still sized and chosen with decent methodology. To overcome this issue, I would dedicate a lot of time to this issue by redoing the entire energy analysis portion of this module. If I couldn’t fix it myself, I would reach out to my Professor for guidance.

• Plumbing- For the most part, the plumbing module was very straight forward. However, after reviewing the module, the hot water system for the men’s locker room showers was unable to connect to the pipes. After trying many times to mitigate the issue, I decided to focus more on the plumbing of the toilets and sinks as top priority. However, if I had more time to troubleshoot, I would fix this by either making the plumbing straighter to follow a line, or rearranging the locker rooms. Because of the unique shape of my building, I was unable to have a plumbing system that included straight lines of piping, and this made it very difficult. Therefore, if I had more time in the quarter, I would have reevaluated the shape of the building and placement of the bathrooms to a different part of the building with a straighter structure.
• Accounting for the heat radiation of active people in an enclosed space: This was a huge concern for this space. Because the entire building in its essence is a fitness center, accounting for the radiation of people in terms of heating and cooling loads is crucial for comfort. This is especially true because of all of the solar gain happening with the curtain walls. This in turn created a large heating and cooling load for the building. In order to fix this, I would play around with the R-values of the curtain walls and attempt to mathematically account for the lost square footage from the structural climbing walls to accurately obtain energy measures.
• Lessons Learned -- what sage words of advice would you share with other students who are embarking on a similar project.
• Make a plan, but also be willing to change it as time goes on. When I first started this class, I made a plan that I intended to follow through with. However, I realized very quickly that I made unrealistic goals. Being able to adapt your goals/plan overtime is crucial for the process to continue. While a plan is good to start with, it can’t be binding.
• Give yourself grace with the learning curve of Revit: In the beginning of this process, I was very insecure in my abilities. I would procrastinate the assignments because I was not confident in my abilities. However, I realized that everyone is learning at their own pace, and I wasn’t the only one who struggled form time to time. Giving yourself grace allows you to trust the process and be able to truly take hold of your experience in this class. Everyone is learning, you aren’t alone.
• Learning from Others: A huge piece of my learning experience was being able to see what others had done in terms of Revit buildings. Our class was very diverse, ranging from people who had no experience to ten years of experience. While it was very humbling to see the incredibly intricate building models of the more experienced, it was also very rewarding and gave me a lot of hope moving forward. I loved seeing the diversity of the buildings and what everyone’s creativity created in the last 10 weeks. I am very grateful to have had such a supportive group of people to work with, as well as a supportive teaching team.
• Make use of the Check-ins: At first, I was hesitant to ask questions to the teaching team through the check-in sessions. I was intimidated because I was starting from square one. However, as time went on, I began asking more and more questions, and this was when the most improvement would be seen in my work. Simply put: don’t be afraid to ask questions and ask for help.

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