HOT, WET & BREEZY Deep Envelopes, Thick Elevations and All Things Architectural on the Equator
AZIZUL IZWAN NUS B.A.ARCH YEAR 4 SEMESTER 2 ARCHITECTURAL PORTFOLIO
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Deep Envelopes, Thick Elevations and All Things Architectural on the Equator
Studio Supervisor: Professor Erik G. L’heureux
As the equatorial city’s relationship to climate becomes an increasing imperative; the design research studio uses the atmospheric mediums of hot, wet and breezy architecture to reconfigure an existing light industrial development at Ayer Rajah to increase density and plot coverage. Humidity, temperature, breeze, sound, rain and their impact on cities and architecture alike; from urban to building, landscape to material, inhabitation to interior expand our repertoire beyond the optic and iconic to the climatic and atmospheric. Rapid population growth and increased urbanization about the equator as evidenced in Singapore, has led to tighter building aggregations, closer building proximities, and enlarged plot coverages, each of which change the equatorial city in profound ways. With responding increases in building height, the climatic primacy of a broad tropical landscape to shield the building from intense sun and heat has shifted from the necessity of the manicured jungle to the primacy of the elevation in the most congested and complex urban environments. The proposed reconfiguration of Ayer Rajah flatted factories serves as the research case study. The architecture of industrial buildings located in the tropical climate of Singapore proposes unique challenges to architecture design at two scales: District and object envelope. These two scales are highly interrelated both as sites of techno centric knowledge related to increased performance minimizing heat island effects, improving wind channelling interrelationships, improving solar shading between and among buildings. The collision of mounting densities not only impacts quantitative changes of increased solar insolation, urban wide heat gain, increased rain water run-off, extremes of humidity, and decreased ventilation but also impacts the qualitative components of architecture including saturations of congestion in physical, spatial, and atmospheric terms. If atmosphere is the glue that permeates both the city and architecture alike, then in equatorial urbanization, it is imperative to think of the city, architecture, and atmosphere together, as a climatic and cultural medium that impacts both the aggregation of building and the architectural envelop. 2 |
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CONTENTS 1) Foreword
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2) Precedent Case Study
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Photos Drawings & Analysis Models
3) Ayer Rajah Industrial Estate
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Site Photographs Figure Ground Shadows Vehicular Traffic Programme Wind Velocities Solar Insolation Rain & Drainage Acoustic Levels GFA Studies
4) Trinity
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Programme Simulations Envelope Design Drawings Models
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Precedent Case Study American Cement Building, Los Angeles, USA (1964) by Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendelhall (DMJM) Credits shared with Greta Varpucianskyte
The American Cement Corporation decided to build a new headquarters that promoted reinforced concrete as the “the building material of the future” in dramatic fashion. Owners Edward Rothschild and Arthur Gilbert bought the site opposite MacArthur Park, just east of dowtown. They with DMJM specified the design for column-free office space; met seismic codes with concrete shear walls or diagonal bracing; and was cost competitive with non-concrete structural systems and materials. Out of eight bidders Kiewit won the construction contract for offering the best cost and efficiency in delivering pre-cast members. DMJM designed the 13-storey building as a two–unit structure: a 4-storey base for parking, ground floor shops, lobby, and executive offices; and a 9-storey tower, with each floor containing 12,000 sq. feet speculative space. The shearresisting and load-bearing concrete service core extended through the tower and housed four elevators, stairs and utilities. It was cased using the slipforming technique that saved about 3 months of construction time. The tower grill performed dual decorative and structural roles. It was composed of 225 X-shaped reinforced concrete elements that were prefabricated off site. Together with pre-cast floor beams and central core it formed a more conventional beamand-column system allowing designers to open the office space. Crews used the cast-in-place floor slabs to tie all those elements together. The grillwork that wrapped the parking area was designed for decorative and ventilation purposes.
Across: An X-shaped pre-fabricated reinforced concrete bracing element before assembly in scale comparison to its occupants Top left: View from Wildshire Boulevard. The change in structural system from podium to tower is expressed in its external formal language Bottom left: Pre-fabricated elements act as an external climate mediator while providing structural support and lateral rigidity against its frequent earthquakes, leaving column-free spaces within. Notice its connection with the network of beams within. Right: Two different forms of prefabricated reinforced concrete modules for the carpark and office tower, with the former being non-structural. Its chosen form were meant to express the plastic property of the material used.
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Hot Because the temperature in Los Angeles stays reasonably high, the building does not have a heating system. The pre-cast concrete X-shaped members provide general shading. For the extra shading tenants have installed curtains. Wet Los Angeles does not have very high precipitation levels, however any rainwater that gathers, runs down the façade into trays filled with pebbles. Breezy The American Cement Building incorporated mechanical and HVAC engineering in project planning and design. The building was cooled using natural gas-powered absorption refrigeration unit that the subcontractor installed on the roof. The absorption unit received a lot of criticism as an inefficient and cumbersome with the life expectancy of fifteen years. This system was replaced into air conditioning system after about ten years. In the current system, each unit has their own HVAC system in the building. (Packaged System). In addition to that tenants can open the sliding windows on the north east and south west facades.
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Left: Front elevation of model with two systems of envelopes and structural and service core running through building height. Right: On top of the podium lies additional office spaces within a pavilion with a thin prestressed concrete roof carefully curated to channel water drainage and provide sunshade without compromising views. Across: Worm’s eye axonometry displaying breakdown of different systems within the building along with simulations for daylight, solar insolation and wind. Page 8: Expression of change in structural system, programme and formal language at junction between podium and tower
Page 9: Juxtaposition of envelope systems
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Ayer Rajah Industrial Estate Ayer Rajah Crescent, Singapore Credits shared with Cho Jeong Hyun, Greta Varpucianskyte, Iven Peh, Joel Tay, Josef Odvarka, Leo Huang, Phang Hui Ling, Quentin Sim, Shawn Teo, Wong May Ping and Yeow Bok Guan
The site at Ayer Rajah Industrial Estate is part of a larger One-North masterplan drawn up by the Jurong Town Corporation (JTC). The ailing site needs to be upgraded to respond to the nation’s economic restructuring and the shift in the type of industries it is serving. Instead of corporate industries, this site is dedicated to small startups and SMCs specializing in electronics and other emerging industries. 12 |
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The district scale of Ayer Rajah were studied with respect to the effects of heat island, thermal comfort, pollution, water run-off and natural ecosystems impacting the design of urban and architectural approaches of land intensification and increasing density. Specific attention were applied to the district integration with the surrounding natural and liveable areas by dissolving the current sharp
edge boundary through land-use diversification and cross penetration, while increasing the intensification of land use. District wide surveys, urban site and climatic analysis were carried out to study the district otentials for land intensification while mitigating the climatic effects of increased density both at the district scale and the scale of singular industrial buildings.
The object scaled research will examine a single site at Ayer Rajah, prototyping strategies that look at light weight hot & wet envelopes that combine thermal performance, structural economy, breeze porosity while minimizing rain intrusion.
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Site Studies | Figure Ground
Site Studies | Shadows
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Site Studies | Vehicular Traffic
Site Studies | Programme
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Site Studies | Wind Velocities
Site Studies | Solar Insolation
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Site Studies | Rain & Drainage
Site Studies | Acoustic Levels
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Site Studies | GFA Studies
Top: Current GFA of 1.8 Right: Extrapolated GFA simulation of 4.0 Bottom: Extrapolated GFA simulation of 10.0
Site Studies | GFA Studies
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Block 47 & 51 Ayer Rajah Crescent, Singapore Credits shared with Joel Tay
Top: Existing site conditions. Overlooking the courtyard space bounded by Blk 47 on the right and Blk 51 on the left. Bottom: Interior office spaces of Block 47 exposing the structural logic of the post and beam grid system. Across: Worm’s eye axonometry displaying breakdown of different systems within the building along with simulations for daylight, solar insolation and wind.
Located at the southern tip of the Ayer Rajah Industrial Estate, two 7-storey L-shaped blocks flanking in the north-south direction are configured to form a courtyard which is currently use as a carpark. The intervention is to double its total floor space through maintaining the existing structural system yet inserting a new one for its upper superstructure, transforming them into an integrated industrial complex consisting of office spaces, laborataries, workshops, lush gardens and other amenities to support the array of light industries here. 26 |
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Trinity 47 Ayer Rajah Crescent, Singapore Azizul Izwan & Joel Tay
The idea of the “trinity” could perhaps be best explained by the egg, composed of the shell, the yolk and the egg white. The three are distinct, yet are one “substance, essence or nature”. While the three are to be read as a whole, they can be understood as three individual entities.
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The elevation is composed of three main facades: the ‘outer’, the ‘inner’ and the ‘non-structural’. The ‘outer’ is made up of alternating rows of light shelves and tables to allow in more diffused light and keep out more direct sunlight. The ‘inner’ is composed of triangular folds that act as sunshades, keeps the rain out and directs the view downwards. The ‘non-structural’ elevations sport a discontinuous vertical element segmented by rows of light shelves. The depth of each façade is calibrated by their positions on the inside-outside and east-west direction. Different as they may seem to be, the three elevations are read as a unified whole characterized by their vertical elements, proportions and materiality. The main massing strategy of the project is to emphasize and enhance the spatial quality of the implied courtyard by completing the loop of the two existing L-shaped buildings. The overall building height is also increased to meet the required GFA whilst increasing the degree of enclosure of the courtyard to create an intimate space that houses a hidden jungle oasis amidst the industrial complex. The result is a creation of two massive urban gateways on opposite corners of the site oriented in an eastwest direction. This gesture welcome visitors into the jungle within as they enter the complex on either sides. The eastern upper block rises up to 90 meters, acting as the other anchor point of the entire site to match the building height of Fusionopolis. Thus this completes the parabolic profile of the street front that lines the perimeter along Ayer Rajah Crescent. The new masses sitting lightly atop the existing Block 47 and 51 buildings are supported by the Structurally-Insulated-Panel (SIP) elevation that drapes over and hugs tightly around the existing building. The upper floors are supported by “waffle slabs” supported on both ends, like a series of tables stacked perfectly on each other. On underbelly of the “waffle slabs” are a series of catenary vaults that taper out to a flat surface. They provide lateral support and diffuse daylight gently into the interior. The incline of the vaults become progressively steep from the highest to the lowest floor in response to the varying angle of incidence of sunlight. 30 |
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The SIP facade and waffle slab enables the creation of column free spaces above. These floor plates are dissected into three thermal zones, namely the A/C zone; transition zone; and Hybrid Zone (made up of chilled ceiling panels and floor slabs, dehumidifiers and mechanical fans) The AC zones are located on the eastern corners of each block to reduce energy wastage from increased thermal load of the western sun, while the western-most and ‘hottest’ corner of the building lies a 6-storey pyramidal-void behind the ‘outer’ facade to decrease thermal load and allow for the stack effect. The AC zones are separated from the hybrid zones by the transition zones to help deal with condensation. The remaining floor area is thermally controlled by natural ventilation with the aid of the chilled ceiling panels and floor slabs to absorb heat from machinery and human processes and mechanical fans to aid ventilation. On the western corner, pedestrians approach the site from Kent Ridge MRT via an underpass into an urban vista flanked by the two buildings on each side. The height of the upper western block is made to match that of the adjacent building in site 2 to create an unbiased and balanced vista. On the opposite corner, the vehicular entrance leads to the other parts of the industrial estate or to the underground carpark and loading bay. The foyer of the complex sits vertically below Alterations to the facade grid pattern at the ground floor were made to support a more interactive and permeable ground floor program. At the two urban gateways, additional modules are added in a diagonal manner to provide better structural support of the cantilevered span above. Rhythmic openings are punctured along the ground floor of the internal facades so as to create a loose and more porous boundary between the corridor and the courtyard space. Depending on program, these corridor space may also be a buffer zone where internal retail programs such as cafes can spill out to. Due to its surrounding context (consisting of mostly roads), the external facade is generally less porous except for the northwest facade where instead of touching the ground, it folds up to form a canopy that provides a sheltered connection into the adjacent building.
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Ground Floor Plan
Thermal Zones
8th Floor Plan
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Basement Plan
A new building envelope is required for the additional volumes of spaces above the existing building. A space which supports the robust designated programs, allowing for flexibility of spatial layout. This additional system is independent of the existing architecture. It needs an integrated approach in resolving the issues of structure, daylight, rainfall, thermal ventilation as well as sound. The new envelope which needs to be customized to its site context shall also extrapolate downwards to wrap the elevations below to achieve a seamless aesthetic whilst also performing as a climate mitigator.
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Interior Simulations
Cutaway Sectional Model
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Northwest Section
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Southwest Section
Northeast Elevation
Northwest Elevation
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Detailed Section
Worm’s Eye Exploded Axonometry
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Special Thanks to: Professor Erik G. L’heureux For the patience and guidance throughout the semester and pushing us beyond our limits. It has been an enjoyable learning and exploration process. Joel Tay and Greta Varpucianskyte For being awesome teammates, exchanging opinions, working together towards a common goal. Other studiomates: Cho Jeong Hyun, Iven Peh, Josef Odvarka, Leo Huang, Phang Hui Ling, Quentin Sim, Shawn Teo, Wong May Ping and Yeow Bok Guan for the fun times working together and providing support for each other throughout this journey.
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AZIZUL IZWAN BIN ROSLAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGPAORE BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ARCHITECTURE 2015
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