DISCOVERY CENTER 01 STORY
LOCATION: Philedalphia, PA. East Park Reservoir AREA: 14,000 SF
ARCHITECT: DIGSAU
CLIENT: The Audubon Society of Pennsylvania, Outward Bound Philadelphia, and the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood
www.digsau.com/projects/eplacc9
LANDSCAPE: Ground Reconsidered and Hillworks STRUCTURAL: CVM
MECHANICAL: Urban Technology, Inc CIVIL: Duffield Associates, Inc INSPIRATION:
The motivation to create the Discovery Center was to breathe life into the decommissioned water basin called the East Park Reservoir that was hidden from the public due to fences, overgrown foliage and its elevated nature. The Discovery Center opened the reservoir back to the public and serves as the transition between the urban landscape and the unexpected piece of nature. The Center offers programming aimed at connecting city residents with nature including indoor and outdoor classrooms, exhibitions, trails, aerial teams course, a climbing wall and observation decks.
www.digsau.com/projects/eplacc9
FIRM: DIGSAU is a Philadelphia based Architecture firm that strives to bring high quality, conscious design to their diverse group of clients. The firm employs 10 Registered Architects and has a staff of 28 over all. DIGSAU boasts a diverse portfolio as a direct cause of their open and extremely collaborative design process. Their process necessitates approaching the project with a high level of responsiveness to the clients expertise and the specific needs of the assignment. They welcome design debate and do their best to not enter with their own aesthetic agenda. The Discovery center is well nested in their portfolio with a variety of public works projects, such as a children’s discovery garden, a construction training and innovations center, and multiple additions to public libraries. The Discovery Center includes classrooms and exhibitions, a climbing wall, and offices. It maintains a link to the nature rich site that surrounds it and allows for consistent access to the neighboring reservoir. This project exemplifies the works of DIGSAU because it utilizes unique design solutions and enhances the lives of its users by connecting urbanity with the natural world. The Discovery Center encourages play and facilitates exploration, mirroring the attributes of the design philosophy that created it.
www.digsau.com/projects/eplacc9
JELENA POMPAY, SARAH HOLT, ARCHITECTURAL INTEGRATION, FALL 2020
02 SPACE
WEST SECTION
PRESENTATION SPACES
ROCK CLIMBING
PRESENTATION SPACES
BUSINESS AREA
ACCESSORY STORAGE
ROCK CLIMBING
COVERED WALKWAY
COVERED WALKWAY
EAST SECTION
BUSINESS AREA
ACCESSORY STORAGE
JELENA POMPAY, SARAH HOLT, ARCHITECTURAL INTEGRATION, FALL 2020
MECHANICAL AND OFFICE SPACE
MECHANICAL AND OFFICE SPACE
03 SITE
Diamo
nd Dr.
Reservoir Dr.
EAST PARK RESERVOIR
PHILLY STONES LEAGUE FAIRMONT COURSE
Re
HIGHW AY 13
THE DISCOVERY CENTER
serv
oir
Dr.
PARKING LOT
SMITH MEMORIAL PLAYGROUND
CONTEXT The Discovery Center is nestled into the bank of the east Park Reservoir, a natural element hidden in the middle of the bustling city of Philedalphia. The overgrown and elevated nature of the reservoir hides it away from city life and makes it feel rural even though it is part of a major cityscape. Due to its location, the source of noise pollution would be the busy city steets in close proximity to the center. Sound also carries across water, meaning the reservoir would amplify traffic noises from surrounding roads. However, trees around the site serve to drown out the noise of the city. Prevailing winds come from the north and south west, and can be very strong occasionally. The sun comes from the south and hits the longer facade of the building massing that is designed to block the direct light from entering the spaces within.
N 175
75
275
Diamo
nd Dr.
Reservoir Dr.
EAST PARK RESERVOIR
PHILLY STONES LEAGUE FAIRMONT COURSE
HIGHW AY 13
THE DISCOVERY CENTER
Res
ervo
PARKING LOT
ir D
r.
SMITH MEMORIAL PLAYGROUND N 0 25
175
75
CLIMATE Philadelphia is home to a Humid Subtropical climate, this means that the area experiences hot and muggy summers with cold winters. The humidity in the summers result in a low diurnal swing, the moisture in the air retains the heat of the day and brings it long into the nighttime hours. The predominant strategy for reaching comfortable temperatures in the summer is increased opportunity for ventilation, provided by stacked, night flush, and assisted ventilation systems. The winters are quite cold and supports high wind speeds throughout the city. Winds from the predominant direction, North East, can reach up to 35 miles an hour. With this in mind all outdoor occupied spaces should be shielded from this Northeastern wind and north east facing walls could be greatly protected by the implementation of wind breaks. These wind breaks can reduce the demand on lateral force resisting systems as well as decrease the temperature difference, acting as an initial insulator.
275
Diamo
nd Dr.
Reservoir Dr.
EAST PARK RESERVOIR
PHILLY STONES LEAGUE FAIRMONT COURSE
THE DISCOVERY CENTER
HIGHW AY 13
0 25
Res
ervo
ir D
r.
PARKING LOT
SMITH MEMORIAL PLAYGROUND N 0 25
75
175
275
JELENA POMPAY, SARAH HOLT, ARCHITECTURAL INTEGRATION, FALL 2020
EAST PARK RESERVOIR
N 0 5
20
100
SITE STUDY Public and Private spaces are physically defined by ease of access. The public is allowed to access the bank directly through an ornate set of giant swinging screens located in the middle of the building. From there, one can enter the left wing through double doors to find large presentation spaces to house the many educational programs offered at the center. The right wing is home to more private building spaces that can be accessed through a series of single doors. On this side, there is a rock wall, a kitchen, and ample learning spaces for the Outward Bound Program. REGIONAL RESOURCES This project is serviced with public water and sewer by the Philadelphia Water Department. Electricity is provided by local provider PECO Energy. Philadelphia Gas Works supplies gas to the structure. On-site considerations for resource management include the installation of bioswales to filter and retain storm water and upgraded storm water storage tanks under parking and paved areas. No energy is produced on site, all is provided by PECO energy which acquires a mere 0.14% of its energy through solar. The Philadelphia Water Department collects its water from the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers and treats it to the standard of drinkable water. This water is then distributed to users. Sewage is collected from these users and treated again, it is then released back into the Delaware river. The PWD also collects Bio solids and composts it.
JELENA POMPAY, SARAH HOLT, ARCHITECTURAL INTEGRATION, FALL 2020
www.digsau.com/projects/eplacc9
04 CIRCULATION
0’ 5’
20‘
50’
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EGRESS
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CIRCULATION
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EGRESS CIRCULATION
JELENA POMPAY, SARAH N HOLT, ARCHITECTURAL INTEGRATION, FALL 2020 0’ 5’ 20‘ 50’
0’ 5’
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HVAC SYSTEMS The circulation for thermal and ventilation systems are relatively simple in the Discovery Center. Each wing of the building has a small mechanical room with air-based HVAC systems and separate distribution. The left side has larger rooms and therefore has less ducts and more deliveries. More deliveries are installed in larger spaces in order to ensure good ventilation to the whole room. The rooms in the right wing are comparatively smaller and since the space is split by more walls, there are more ducts and fewer deliveries. For reference, ducts are shown in yellow, deliveries are the small blue boxes, and the plants are green. PASSIVE STRATEGIES The rest of the comfort level is regulated through passive strategies. The orientation of the discovery center allows the dominant NW wind to act as natural ventilation. This wind passes over the reservoir as well, cooling it before it enters the building. Natural lighting is optimized as well. There are many south facing windows, letting sun beams penetrate the spaces within. There are very few windows located on the east and west sides in order to block unwanted light and keep the space cool. Overall, the massing and HVAC systems work in concert to create a thermally comfortable space.
SOUTHERN SUNBEAMS
PREVAILING WIND OVER RESERVOIR
JELENA POMPAY, SARAH HOLT, ARCHITECTURAL INTEGRATION, FALL 2020
05 STRUCTURE STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS The Discovery Center is mostly light wood frame construection. The majority of the walls are 2x6” wood pieces spaced 16” apart. The trusses are spaced 24” apart from eachother. The only part of the building that is not light wood construction is the tower containing the rock wall. Due to the increased stability needed for climbing activities, steel is used in this part of the building. It is constructed out of W12 steel members. A concrete foundation is used in this building.
JELENA POMPAY, SARAH HOLT, ARCHITECTURAL INTEGRATION, FALL 2020
06 SKIN ENERGY ANALYSIS The Discovery Center does a really good job for a building of its size, loaction and type at maximizing its energy conservation. The 2030 baseline for a building like this is 165.91 and the EUI of the center is 52.91. The EUI is very close to the 2030 target EUI of 33.18.
The EUI of the Discovery Center is very low due to the lighting and cooling strategies the the building employs. The long and narrow massing of the building and the high windows help lower the EUI by reducing the need for electric lights in the spaces. The Center also reduces the need for cooling by allowing cross ventilation by harvesting the predominane north-west wind.
JELENA POMPAY, SARAH HOLT, ARCHITECTURAL INTEGRATION, FALL 2020
REFLECTION:
SOURCES:
When we first started this project, I was overwhelmed by all of the different systems that buildings have within them in oder to make them comfortable and efficient. It seemed like an imposible task to disect all of them and to fully understand them, and looking at the construction documents did not calm my nerves. However, by taking it week by week and toroughly researching and modeling each step of the way, I have a much better understanding about building systems. More specifically, I was introduced to the analysis of regional resources, energy (Cove.tool) and HVAC systems for the first time in my architectural education. With all of this new knowlege, I will be able to design with much more intent and make informed desicions that will ultimately improve my projects from this point forward. I will also be able to take my designs further, creating something much more similar to a real building than I have been able to. Although it was a scary endeavor at first I have gotten a lot of valuable experience from this building analysis project and have come to love the Discovery Center in Philedalphia. One day, I hope I will get to go visit the site in person so I can personally experience all of the design decisions DIGSAU made to make it a successful building.
“Discovery Center.” DIGSAU, www.digsau.com/projects/eplacc9. “The Discovery Center.” Philadelphia Outward Bound School, 6 Sept. 2019, outwardboundphiladelphia.org/about/educational-approach/the discovery-center/. Climate Consultant for Philedalphia, PA Construction Documents for the DIscovery Center provided by DIGSAU
JELENA POMPAY, SARAH HOLT, ARCHITECTURAL INTEGRATION, FALL 2020