Final Design

Analysis

I started my design process by defining spaces and assigning their occupation. I had to adjust the number of people in some of the spaces. I then divided the spaces into the zones: each floor has two zones. By doing that, I separated exhibition spaces, classrooms, and offices on each floor from the rest of the rooms. I also placed an HVAC unit on each floor. Since the building is located in Brazil, my main goal was to provide enough cooling, and no heating was required. I created a space schedule with the required airflow for each room.

Design Process

My next step was placing air ducts and air terminals. Since I already have my structural system and know the depth of the beams, I placed the ducts below right below them. My overall strategy was keeping the ducts close to the interior walls (not in the middle of the spaces) to minimize their visual presence. Since I have a timber structural system, my initial goal was to keep the beams uncovered.

Floor 1

Floor 2

Floor 3

Challenges

After inspecting my model in combination with the structural one, I found out that some of the ducts had wrong offsets and intersected with the beam system. I had to check the offsets again and move the ducts lower. I am also still working on bringing the ducts close to the HVAC unit in the mechanical rooms. I think I achieved the goal of keeping the presence of HVAC system as less visible as possible. However, I still have not decided if I should place ceilings or leave it exposed.