Design Journal Entry - Module 8

Your Design Journal entries this week should highlight your design thinking that influenced your decisions about:

• your overall strategy and the features of the structural system
• the material and framing system selected
• the locations of structural columns and major framing elements
• any special structural challenges

Overall strategy and features of the structural system:

• Though my building is staggered, it maintains its “core” with elevators, mechanical room/shafts, bathrooms, and the atrium. The walls associated with this core will also function and structural walls as well. I wanted to explore the idea of externalizing the structural system, as well to accentuate the value of mass timber elements with the concrete hence the large exterior glulam columns.

Material and framing system selected:

• I chose to go with a mass timber/ glulam framing system for my building. Though mass timber constructions are sparse in Brazil / Sao Paulo, there are companies such as Urbem (linked below) and a McDonald’s that have incorporated mass timber. I wanted to combine the mass timber with the monolithic concrete structure, drawing from Sao Paolo’s rich history of brutalism and to use this building as an opportunity to cohere the old and the new. Glulam beams and columns also provide reliable structural and mechanical properties, as well as high fire resistance (which performs better than steel if sized correctly).
• URBEM

Locations of structural columns and major framing elements:

• I decided to construct my framing system around my openings and considerations, such as the atrium and stairway cores. Unfortunately this leads to the column spacing to be somewhat irregular. I tried to maximize the spans using solely beams because I wanted to minimize trusses cutting into the ceiling heights, though are high at 15 feet without any HVAC added in.

Any structural challenges:

• I am working through whether or not to include columns for the overhangs, or keep them as cantilevers. It could be an interesting opportunity to express the structural systems on the exterior with exposed glulam beams, that almost look like trees at that height and width. The irregularity can further evoke the feel of a forest.
• I was unsure of how to model structural walls; the walls attached the the core (bathroom, elevator, stairs) I see as being load bearing walls that I’d like to take advantage of.
• I guessed on the sizing of the beams and columns; especially for the columns that span 4 stories, it may need to be much thicker.
• Extending the beam system from the interior to the exterior may serve as an unwanted thermal bridge.
• A handful of things I need to troubleshoot, but also looks like my elevator shaft disappeared.

FLOOR 01

FLOOR 02

FLOOR 03

FLOOR 04

oops. partway through the process I realized the levels were misaligned and the main project site link got unlinked at some point.

still linked correctly in the architecture file though .

Future edits I am looking to make: minimize WWR ratio, reduce HVAC loads. Will be doing that before calculating all the loads for the HVAC system.

A new Herzog de Meuron project, round wooden columns.