UCLA GEFFEN CENTER
1.1 South Facade Photo: David Lena
Building Analysis by Lauren Borlovan and Kylie Wise
UCLA GEFFEN CENTER Los Angeles, CA Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
Building analysis by Lauren Borlovan and Kylie Wise Arch 341, Fall 2018 Lab instructor: Stacey White
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1_Project Summary 2_Place 3_Form and Assemblies 4_Perception and Performance 5_Reflection 6_References
1_PROJECT SUMMARY PROJECT DATA Location: Los Angeles, California Year of completed construction: 2016 Total area: 88,000 sq ft Total construction cost: $104.7 million Certifications: AIA Merit Award 2018
TEAM Client: University of California Los Angeles Architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP Landscape: MIA LEHRER + associates Structure: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP MEP and FP: Stantec Consulting Civil: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP Lighting: JS Nolan + Associates Lighting Design LLC General Contractor: Rudolph and Sletten
1.2 Approach to entry courtyard Photo: David Lena
ARCHITECT PROFILE SOM (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill) was started in Chicago in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. Although their first firm was located in New York City, they now have offices all over the world in Chicago, San Fransisco, L.A., D.C., London, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Dubai and Mumbai. However, they have designed and constructed over 10,000 projects in fifty different countreis. The company focuses on structural engineering, urban design and interior design (they were one of the first to include it in their contracts) aside from architecture as well. The firm has won 2,000 awards including but not limited to: the AIA Architecture Firm award, (they are the only firm who has won this twice), AIA Honor Awards, Environmental Awards and the Steel Industry Awarad. (SOM) 2 United States Courthouse (winner of the AIA environmental award) Photo: Bruce Damonte
3 Nanjing Keyne Centre (China) Photo: Tim Griffith
4 Nozul Lusail Marina (Sustainable Design Project in Doha Qatar) Photo: SOM
5 Harvard University Northwest Science Building Photo: Timothy Hursley
PROJECT BACKGROUND AND DESIGN PROCESS Skidmore, Owings and Merrill have done various college campus projects, some focusing on student experience and others on faculty experience, but the Geffen Center was driven heavily by student concerns. The main design drivers were universal accessibility (creating circulation paths that did not require differently-abled people to separate their groups to travel through the building), sufficient work spaces for 3-4 student teams to collaborate, sustainability, and visibility through the building. It was also important that the building have highly efficient ventilation systems and materials that were low in toxicity in order to create a comfortable environment for everyone. The architects faced significant challenges in construction. They had to build the project into a significant slope and had to construct the building around an existing parking structure that had to be available for students to access. Instead of seeing the slope of the site as a problem to work against, they decided to work with it, using classic Italian hill towns as inspiration for the project in section. Considered the ‘front door’ to the rest of UCLA’s medical campus, one of the main drivers of the project was to create social spaces, through visual connection, group gathering, and copious seating. The team used a central courtyard to achieve a clear circulation through the building, increase light and ventilation, increase visual connections between people on across and on different levels, and provide a central gathering space. In fact, the courtyard is where the university hosts a matching ceremony, where the medical students find out if they were accepted to their residency. The balconies in the courtyard become ringed with people, accommodated by the seating that is interspersed throughout. (Information provided by architect Danielle McGuire).
6 Design inspiration: Italian Hill Town Photo: A Path to Lunch
8 Building Section: North/South
7 Design inspiration: Social connection Photo: UCLA Geffen School of Medicine
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (Construction Documents Provided by Instructor)
1
4 3 1
5 2
3
3
4
3 Floor 4 Floor 1
1
Floor 3 Level A
Massing Model scale: 1/64” = 1’-0”
MASSING AND CONFIGURATION
1 2 3 4 5
Entries Courtyard Classrooms Offices Cafe
Level B 0’ 15’
Floor 2 50’
100’
sun path
southern wind
Climate
Structure restroom
kitchen
estimated plumbing path
mechanical room
air-based distribution
Envelope
Thermal and Ventilation Systems
egress stair
vertical circulation
horizontal circulation
Circulation
GRAPHIC SUMMARY
Program
sample egress pathway
Egress
2_PLACE
10 California Energy
9 Los Angeles Aquaducts
Photo: OBRAG
Photo: Angeles Chapter
11 Watersheds
Photo: LA Stormwater
12 Aerial view the south eastern edge of UCLA’s campus (photoshopped) Photo: Google Maps
REGIONAL RESOURCES
CONTEXT
Los Angeles gets its water from several different local aquaducts. It is also in the oil and gas basin, meaning that its in a prime location for fracking. UCLA is a part of the LA River Watershed. The water produced from oil fracking is treated and reused in local agriculture and irrigation (OB RAG).
Geffen Hall is located on the south eastern edge of UCLA’s campus, because it is a new construction, not completed until 2016. The building is surrounded by other campus buildings, commercial buildings such as Ralph’s and Chickfil-a and student housing.
sun path
13 Wind Rose
Photo: Climate Consultant
southern wind
14 State of California (photoshopped) Photo: California State Association of Counties
13.1 Psychrometric Chart Photo: Climate Consultant
CLIMATE ANALYSIS AND RESPONSE This project, located in Los Angeles, is a part of California climate zone 9 and ASHRAE climate zone 3 and recieves about 15 inches of rain per year (Los Angeles Daily News). It is a hot-summer Mediterranean climate. Winds come predominantly out of the south. The Geffen center primarily requires sun shading and natural ventilation.
3_FORM AND ASSEMBLIES FLOOR 4
FLOOR 3
FLOOR 2
FLOOR 1
LEVEL A
PROGRAM The key activities that take place in this building are classrooms and office spaces. The classroom spaces are on the lower four floors, pushed to the outside edges in large programmatic blocks. Office spaces are all on the top three floors. The circulation branches out from a central donut-shaped core. There is a much greater proportion of served spaces compared to service spaces. Service spaces include storage, preparation spaces, mechanical, and reception spaces. They are generally tucked into smaller gaps between the larger program blocks.
LEVEL B
Office Classroom Workstation Cafe Storage/Prep/Mechanical Flex Space Circulation
Shear Walls Gravity Columns
1.3 Section Perspective Facing West Photo: SOM
Slabs Beams and Girders
STRUCTURE The building structure is a two way system consisting of 6-inch slabs and beams and transfer girders that range from 18x18 to 32x60. There is a heavy concentration of beams and girders to hold up the slabs in areas where the there are higher occupancy loads (classrooms and labs). Shear walls are located mostly near vertical circulation cores. Since a part of the first level is under-ground, the north end of the building uses retaining walls. The columns rest on cassion column footings.
1.4 South rendered view Photo: SOM
ENVELOPE: GLASS CURTAIN WALL WITH SHADING One of the design-drivers for the project was a visual transparency throughout the building as well as a connection to nature. Due to the high percentage of glazing on the building a large amount of vertical and horizontal shading was also implemented to minimize solar gain. The glazing used also has a low solar heat gain coefficient and many of the windows are operable for natural ventilation.
1.5 West Rendered View Photo: SOM
ENVELOPE: BRICK AND ALUMINUM The two primary materials used on the facade are brick and alumninum. The main criteria during material selection were low embodied carbon, low toxicity, low-emmitting and local materials.
4_PERCEPTION AND PERFORMANCE
1.6 East Rendered View Photo: SOM
ENERGY ANALYSIS The contemporary target for an eighty percent reduction in energy use is an Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of 12 kBTU/ft2/yr. For a project of this type (education) shading and proper ventilation is required to drive it to consume energy at those levels. The project performed well from an energy standpoint, using 20 kBTU/ ft2/yr. The project is nearly at the required EUI reduction goal, but its daylighting is somewhat lacking. The glazing and shading provide great natural daylighting to the floor plates, but the multitude of interior walls blocks most of this light, resulting in a need for electric lighting and a higher energy use. Typically, however, the spaces used most often (offices and classrooms) are placed at the edges of the building, near windows. Service spaces are typically placed in the back of the building, underground, or in the middle of the building, away from exterior walls.
Occupied vs. Unoccupied Program
Daylight Factor
SE RV ICE SP AC E SE RV ED S PACE CIRCUL ATIO N
DAYLIGHTING ANALYSIS The courtyard is great for adding proper daylight and ventilation, as well as a primary mode of circulation through the building. There is also appropriate shading on all sides of the building: horizontal louvers on the South-facing facades and vertical fins on the East and West-facing facades.
1.7 Courtyard, showing shading and primary circulation Photos: David Lena
restroom
kitchen
estimated plumbing path
mechanical room
air-based distribution
1.8 View from Courtyard Facing South Photo: David Lena
THERMAL AND VENTILATION SYSTEMS The building’s overall form with the courtyard contributes to human thermal comfort and health. There is an abundance of glazing on the building, so horizontal and vertical shading is used to minimize solar heat gain while providing natural daylighting. The glazing used also has a low solar heat gain coefficient and many of the windows are operable for natural ventilation. A forced-air ventilation system is used in program spaces where large amounts of students enter a space at once, so the space needs to be heated or cooled quicly, and radiant systems are used in parts of the building where it is more acceptable for a stable and comfortable temperature to be reached over a longer period of time. Therefore, these systems work in concert with building form and organization.
vertical circulation
horizontal circulation 1.9 South Entry Photo: David Lena
CIRCULATION Circulation is mainly driven by the central courtyard. There are several different buildings and they are all connected by a horizontal circulation path that connects them and rings the courtyard.
egress stair
sample egress pathway 1.10 West Facing View Photo: David Lena
EGRESS AND FIRE LIFE SAFETY All vertical circulation acts as an egress passageway. The exit discharges are located on the north and south sides of the building.
5_REFLECTION
6_REFERENCES
The UCLA Geffen Center successfully employed a variety of formal and thermal strategies acknowledging the program, needs of the users, and the climate. Two of driving concepts were the slope of the site and the courtyard. project was to create social spaces, through visual connection, group gathering, and copious seating. The team used the courtyard to achieve a clear circulation through the building, increase light and ventilation, increase visual connections between people on across and on different levels, and provide a central gathering space The existing parking structure was underground, taking advantage of the hill. Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill also used a variety of shading scales, giving the project both monumental and human-scale elements. The building could have incorporated more sustainable strategies, such as rainwater collection and recycling for toilets and irrigation, or decreased floor plate depth for more effective cross ventilation and daylight penetration.
BIBLIOGRAPHY A Path to Lunch . n.d. A Path To Lunch Our Italian & European Experience. Exploring and Walking and Helping Travelers. https://www. apathtolunch.com/2016/12/great-italian-hill-towns-near-cinque.html. Bartholomew, Dana. 2017. Los Angeles sets mark for driest back-to-back seasons ever. August 28. https://www.dailynews.com/2014/07/02/losangeles-sets-mark-for-driest-back-to-back-seasons-ever/. California State Association of Counties . n.d. California County Map . http://www.counties.org/general-information/california-county-map. Climate Consultant . 2018. Wind Wheel. Climate Consultant . Climate Consultant. 2018. Psychrometric Chart. Climate Consultant . Google Maps . n.d. Geffen Hall, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Tiverton Avenue, Los Angeles, CA. https://www.google.com/maps/place/ Geffen+Hall,+UCLA+David+Geffen+School+of+Medicine/@34.0639854,-118.4428629,331m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x80c2bc872b7a5277: 0x997c76fb87719054!8m2!3d34.0641286!4d-118.442572. LA Stormwater . n.d. About Watersheds . https://www.lastormwater.org/about-us/about-watersheds/. OB RAG. n.d. Not one drop of water for fracking in California! https://obrag.org/2014/02/not-one-drop-of-water-for-fracking-in-california/. Sierra Club . n.d. Los Angeles Depends on Imported Water . https://angeles.sierraclub.org/los_angeles_depends_imported_water. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill . n.d. NANJING KEYNE CENTRE. https://www.som.com/projects/nanjing_keyne_centre. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP . n.d. Harvard University Northwest Science Building. https://www.som.com/projects/harvard_university_ northwest_science_building. —. n.d. New United States Courthouse in Los Angeles Wins Environmental Award from AIA. https://www.som.com/news/new_united_states_ courthouse_in_los_angeles_wins_environmental_award_from_aia. —. n.d. NOZUL LUSAIL MARINA – SUSTAINABLE DESIGN. https://www.som.com/projects/nozul_lusail_marina__sustainable_design. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. n.d. GEFFEN HALL, DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT UCLA. https://www.som.com/projects/geffen_hall_ david_geffen_school_of_medicine_at_ucla. UCLA . n.d. Geffen Hall . https://medschool.ucla.edu/geffen-hall.
IMAGE CREDITS 1.1 Photograph: David Lena Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. n.d. GEFFEN HALL, DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT UCLA. https://www.som.com/projects/geffen_hall_ david_geffen_school_of_medicine_at_ucla. 1.2 Photograph: David Lena Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. n.d. GEFFEN HALL, DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT UCLA. https://www.som.com/projects/geffen_hall_ david_geffen_school_of_medicine_at_ucla. 1.3 Photograph: SOM Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. n.d. GEFFEN HALL, DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT UCLA. https://www.som.com/projects/geffen_hall_ david_geffen_school_of_medicine_at_ucla. 1.4 Photograph: SOM Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. n.d. GEFFEN HALL, DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT UCLA. https://www.som.com/projects/geffen_hall_ david_geffen_school_of_medicine_at_ucla. 1.5 Photograph: SOM Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. n.d. GEFFEN HALL, DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT UCLA. https://www.som.com/projects/geffen_hall_ david_geffen_school_of_medicine_at_ucla. 1.6 Photograph: SOM Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. n.d. GEFFEN HALL, DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT UCLA. https://www.som.com/projects/geffen_hall_ david_geffen_school_of_medicine_at_ucla. 1.7 Photograph: SOM Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. n.d. GEFFEN HALL, DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT UCLA. https://www.som.com/projects/geffen_hall_ david_geffen_school_of_medicine_at_ucla. 1.8 Photograph: David Lena Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. n.d. GEFFEN HALL, DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT UCLA. https://www.som.com/projects/geffen_hall_ david_geffen_school_of_medicine_at_ucla. 1.9 Photograph: David Lena Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. n.d. GEFFEN HALL, DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT UCLA. https://www.som.com/projects/geffen_hall_ david_geffen_school_of_medicine_at_ucla. 1.10 Photograph: David Lena Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. n.d. GEFFEN HALL, DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT UCLA. https://www.som.com/projects/geffen_hall_ david_geffen_school_of_medicine_at_ucla. 2 Photograph: Bruce Damonte Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP . n.d. Harvard University Northwest Science Building. https://www.som.com/projects/harvard_university_ northwest_science_building. —. n.d. New United States Courthouse in Los Angeles Wins Environmental Award from AIA. https://www.som.com/news/new_united_states_ courthouse_in_los_angeles_wins_environmental_award_from_aia. 3 Photograph: Tim Griffith Skidmore, Owings & Merrill . n.d. NANJING KEYNE CENTRE. https://www.som.com/projects/nanjing_keyne_centre. 4 Photograph: SOM Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP . n.d. Harvard University Northwest Science Building. https://www.som.com/projects/harvard_university_ northwest_science_building. —. n.d. NOZUL LUSAIL MARINA – SUSTAINABLE DESIGN. https://www.som.com/projects/nozul_lusail_marina__sustainable_design.
5 Photograph: Timothy Hursley Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP . n.d. Harvard University Northwest Science Building. https://www.som.com/projects/harvard_university_ northwest_science_building. 6 Photograph: A Path to Lunch A Path to Lunch . n.d. A Path To Lunch Our Italian & European Experience. Exploring and Walking and Helping Travelers. https://www. apathtolunch.com/2016/12/great-italian-hill-towns-near-cinque.html. 7 Photograph: UCLA Geffen School of Medicine Geffen+Hall,+UCLA+David+Geffen+School+of+Medicine/@34.0639854,-118.4428629,331m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x80c2bc872b7a5277: 0x997c76fb87719054!8m2!3d34.0641286!4d-118.442572. 8 Photograph: SOM Construction documents provided directly from firm 9 Photograph: Angeles Chapter Sierra Club . n.d. Los Angeles Depends on Imported Water . https://angeles.sierraclub.org/los_angeles_depends_imported_water. 10 Photograph: OBRAG OB RAG. n.d. Not one drop of water for fracking in California! https://obrag.org/2014/02/not-one-drop-of-water-for-fracking-in-california/. 11 Photograph: LA Stormwater LA Stormwater . n.d. About Watersheds . https://www.lastormwater.org/about-us/about-watersheds/. 12 Photograph: Google Maps Google Maps . n.d. Geffen Hall, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Tiverton Avenue, Los Angeles, CA. https://www.google.com/maps/place/ 13.1 Photograph: Climate Consultant Climate Consultant . 2018. Wind Wheel. Climate Consultant . 13.2 Photograph: Climate Consultant Climate Consultant. 2018. Psychrometric Chart. Climate Consultant . 14 Photograph: California State Association of Counties California State Association of Counties . n.d. California County Map . http://www.counties.org/general-information/california-county-map.
1.9 View from Courtyard Facing South Photo: David Lena