London Study Abroad Journal 2013

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CARLY OVERTON LONDON SUMMER 2013


{ TABLE OF CONTENTS } 4 6 16 29 32 34 42 44

CALENDAR DISCOVER LONDON GREEN BUILDINGS OFFICE VISITS CHARETTES CULTURAL SITES TRANSPORTATION EUROPE TRAVELS


london calendar sunday

monday

tuesday

wednesday 18

19 ROME St. Peter’s Basillica Ponte Sant’ Angelo Piazza Navona

23 ROME Roamed Business District

24 ROME Relaxed Day

30 MUNICH Tutsing Biergarten

25 BARCELONA Bus Tour

16:00 orientation

july

7

8 10:00 Serpentine Pavillion 13:30 Sketching 14:00 St. Paul’s Walking Tour

9:00 Arup Visit 16:00 Building Science Chat w/ Bill Bordass

10 9:00 Discover London #2 14:00 sketching 14:30 BedZED tour

21

27

28

4 9:30 sketching 10:00 John Hope Gateway 15:00 Queen Margaret University

29 MUNICH Haufhoss Explore Munich

5 10:00 Sue Roaf Lecture 15:30 sketching 16:10 Falkirk Wheel Boat Ride Depart Edinburgh

11 10:30 sketching 11:00 Laban Dance Center Tour 13:30 N. Greenwich Tour 19:30 Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

22 ROME Ostia Antica Ruins Ostia Beach

BARCELONA Casa Mela [Pedera] Patjica del la Barceloneta [beach]

3

9

saturday

ROME Ancient Rome Colosseum

BARCELONA La Sagrada Familia Parc Guell

10:00 sketching + photo 10:30 Scottish Parliament 16:00 sketching 16:30 Glasgow School of Art

Depart Munich Arrive Edinburgh

20

26 BARCELONA Relaxed Day

2

1 MUNICH Neuschwanstein Castle

friday

ROME Vatican Museum Sistene Chapel Pantheon Trevi Fountain Villa Borghesse Park

june

ROME Arrived Met with UI Rome group

thursday

12 10:30 sketching 11:00 Chiswick Park Tour 12:00 Chiswick Event 15:00 Discover London #3 19:30 Tutorial w/ Molly

6 15:00 Check-in Passfield 16:00 Orientation

13


sunday

monday 14

tuesday 15

9:00 Discover London #4 13:00 Sir John Soane’s Museum 15:00 Discover London #5

21 Return to London!

16

22

17

23

friday 18

29

30

august

9:00 Discover London 15:00 Cullinan Studio Office Visit 17:30 London Eye 19:30 Charette Prep

5

24 9:30 sketching 10:00 The Crystal Tour 11:00 Crystal Exhibits 16:15 White Collar Factory 17:00 AHMM visit 18:30 Softball w/ AHMM

11:00 Renewable Energy Systems Tour 15:00 Discover London #6

Stonehenge!

4

thursday

saturday 19

20

26

27

Depart for CAT

11:00 Sue Roaf Eco House 12:00 Lunch @ The Plough 14:00 Keble College Tour 16:00 Whole House Carbon Reduction Project

28

wednesday

31 9:00 Design Charette ZEDfactory Team Paddington Ben Ferry Dan Flesher Carly Overton Ernesto Ruiz

6

25 10:00 Eco Hub Tour 15:00 Discover London #7 19:30 Tutorial w/ Molly

11:00 University of Nottingham Visit 11:00 Creative Energy Homes Tour 13:30 Course Director Benson Lau 15:00 Jubilee Campus

1 13:00-15:00 Charette Presentation 18:00 Celebration Dinner

2 10:30 Kew Botanic Gardens

3 11:00 Check out Passfield



{ discover london } + THE ROYAL PARKS + THE SOUTH BANK OF THE THAMES + RAILWAY STATIONS + CITY MARKETS + TRAFALGAR SQUARE



{ the royal parks } HYDE PARK & REGENTS PARK

GREEN PARK & ST. JAMES PARK

SUSTAINABILITY

Appropriated from the monks of Westminster Abbey in 1536 for royal hunting grounds, Hyde Park has popularly been the scene of duels, highway robberies, the birth of modern cinema, sports, liesurely activities and was the venue for the Triathalon and Marathon Swimming events in the 2012 London Olympics. Consisting of 351 acres, Hyde Park offers rowing and pedal boats on the Serpentine, deck chairs to lounge in the grass, foot and cycle paths, a rose garden, several monuments and attractions, a tennis and sports centre, the serpentine pavillion and art gallery exhibition, a senior playground consisting of six pieces of exercise equipment to help users improve core strength, flexibility and balance, and numerous cafes and restaurants located throughout the park.

As the oldest royal park in London surrounded by royal and political landmarks, St. Jame’s Park was once farms, woodlands, a home to King Jame’s animal collection, including camels, crocodiles and an elephant, and until the 18th century, it was the center of a notorious scene where prostitutes would conduct their business and drunken rake duels took place. Today, St. Jame’s park is arguably the prettiest park in London situated at the base of Buckingham Palace with a wildfowl pond, weeping willows, and several collections of flowerbeds. As the center of the country’s royal and ceremonial life for more than 400 years, St. Jame’s park has held royal ambitions and national events while maintaining a peaceful atmosphere of leisure activity, including the foot and cycle path around the pond and the deck chairs available in the grass.

London’s popular culture and environmental sustainability is derived from the abundance of green spaces, vegetation, and public and royal parks throughout the city. The Royal Parks not only contribute to the reduction of hardscapes and the heat island effect within the city, but they simulateously provide a vegetated habitat for natural wildlife while catering to the built environment by providing walking/cycling acess paths and other ammenities that encourage leisurely activity and loitering within the parks.

Similarly obtained, Henry VIII also appropriated Regent’s Park from the owner in 1538 for hunting grounds. Regent’s Park, known as the ‘jewel in the crown’, is a vast 365-acre rounded landscape and town planning masterpiece with the largest grass area for sports in Central London and is surrounded by a lake, a canal, palatial terraces and only 8 out of the 56 originally planned villas. Queen Mary’s Gardens, featuring 30,000 roses and 400 varieties, the restored William Andrews Nestfield’s Avenue Gardens, sports facilities, the Open Air Theatre, London Zoo, Primrose Hill, and the country’s largest free to access waterfowl collection and 100 species of wild bird are popular features and attractions of Regent’ Park.

Although in close proximity to St. James Park, Green Park, the smallest of the royal parks, is a 40 acre park founded in 1660 by Charles II to provide him access between St. James Park and Hyde Park without leaving royal soil and was at one time known as Upper St. James Park. Green Park has acres of rolling green lawns, tall shady trees, lawn chairs, summer sunbathers and picnics, and is popular to joggers, runners, and walking work route for commuters. Green Park, as well as St. James Park, is directly adjacent to Buckingham Palace and surrounded by other London landmarks which attracts visitors and tourists year round, making it a popular London destination.

Although the parks originated in London for alternate purposes, the city of London has since made modifications to the parks to strengthen their presence and ultimately create destinations in the city rather than simply utilizing and distributing green spaces throughout the city primarily to have vegetation.



{ the southbank of the thames } HISTORY OF THE SOUTH BANK

ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL & NATIONAL THEATER

Occupying two square miles opposite the City of Westminster, the South Bank of the Thames is an area located in central London forming a long narrow section of the riverside development within the boroughof Lambeth and the borough of Southwark. Developed much more slowly than the north bank due to adverse conditions, the Festival in Britain in 1951 redefined the area as a place for arts and entertainment. It stretches from Blackfriars Bridge in the east to Westminster Bridge in the west, connected to the north bank in between by an additional series of bridges.

Popular along the South Bank of the Thames emersed in culture lies the Royal Festival Hall, the National Theater, the Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, and London City Hall in addition to famous pedestrian bridges including Hungerford and Millenium Bridges.

During the Middle Ages, the south bank developed as a place of entertainment including theaters, prostitution, and bearbaiting, which was in contrast to the formal nature of the development of the north bank. The shallow bank and mud flats deemed the south bank ideal for industrial development and docklands, and eventually developed privately owned industrial patchwork cut off from public access. It was when the London County Council requred a new County Hall, which was built on the south bank near North Lambeth’s lower marsh between 1917 - 1922, returning the first section of the river front to public use that was eventually extended eastwards in 1951 when the Festival of Britain required a considerable area to be redeveloped. To mark the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 1977, Jubilee Gardens and the Queen’s Walk were developed along the south bank. Jubilee Gardens is a public park created on the site formerly used for the Dome of Discovery, and underwent a multi-million pound redevelopment for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Jubilee Gardens is the site of a memorial dedicated to the casualties of the International Brigades of the Spanish Civil War. The Queen’s Walk is a promenade between Lambeth Bridge and Tower Bridge to create pedestrian access along the south bank, and today is a popular tourist walk as it proceeds from the London Eye past several attractions to the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.

TATE MODERN

Adjacent to the millenium pedestrian bridge along the south bank lies the Tate Modern, the most-visited modern art gallery in the world with roughly 4.7 million visitors per year. Housed in the former Bankside Power Station originally desinged by Sir Gilbert Scott, the Tate Modern held a competition to design a new buidling for modern art. Winning the Royal Festival Hall is a concert call comprised of 2,500 seats compettion, Herzog & de Meuron had propested a design that reinvented that hosts dance and talk venues within the Southbank Centre. Also built the current building instead of demolishing it, reflecting an example as a part of the Festival of Britain for the London County Council, the of adaptive resuse. The building resembles the 20th century factory hall officially opened May 3 1951. However, when the Greater London with the interior taupe walls, steel girders, concrete floors, and the brick Council was abolished in 1986, the hall was taken over by the Arts Council facade consisting of 4.2 million bricks separated by groups of thin vertical and managed with the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Hayward Gallery, windows that create dramatic light entering the interior. eventually establsihing an independent arts organziation in 1988, today known as the Southbank Centre. The complex includes bars, restaurants, several reception rooms and the 440-seat Clore Ballroom. Designed by London County Council’s chief architect, Robert Matthew, the Royal Festival Hall was one of the first concert halls in the world built using theoretical and experimental scientific principles regarding acoustics. The acoustics were designed with several faults, affecting the performances within the space. Performers had difficulties hearing eachother on the platform from the sidewalls projecting sound away from the stage, the hall seemed not reverberent enough, particularly at low frequencies. The acoustics were deemed excellent for chamber and modern music, however, classical and music of the romantic period reviewed not as effective. A 2007 renovation led by Allies and Morrison aimed to improve the poor acoustics and building layout. Solutions implemented that ultimately fixed the acoustical issues included a rebuilt rectangular stage, reduced seating, and new adjustable acoustical canopies placed over the width of the stage. Originally based in Waterloo, the National Theater’s new building was designed by architects Sir Denys Lasdun and Peter Softley and completed in 1977. Comprised of three separate Auditoriums, the National Theatre can roughly seat 2500 people and presents a varied program from Shakespeare to contemporary dramas.



{ the railway station evolution } KINGS CROSS & ST. PANCRAS STATIONS

PADDINGTON & VICTORIA STATION

Open in 1852 on the northern edge of central London adjacent to St. Pancras Station and walking disttance from Euston station, Kings Cross Station was built as the London hub of the Great Northern Railway and terminal of the East Coast main line. Named after a monument of King George IV demolished in 1845, plans for the station were made in December 1848 and construction of the detailed design by Lewis Cubitt started in 1851. Several famous trains have been associated with Kings Cross, such as the Flying Scotsman service to Edinburgh. Kings Cross is also famously featured in J.K. Rowlings Harry Potter books, where the train to hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry departs from platform 9 3/4. When filming for the movies began, the station scenes were filmed in the main station with platforms 4 and 5 changed to number 9 and 10.

Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, London Paddington Station is a historic site being the last stop of the Great Western Railway and its successors since 1838. The site was first served by underground trains in 1863 as the original western terminus of the Metropolitan Railway, the world’s first ungdergound railway.

Opened in 1868 by Midland Railway, St. Pancras International railway station is home to several rail lines and has to direct access to the shared London underground stop, Kings Cross St. Pancras, located beneath Kings Cross. William Henry Barlow had different original design intentions in mind, however he ended up utilizing a columns and girder structure to maximize the space. When St. Pancras opened, the arched Barlow Train Shed roof was the largest single-span roof in the world.

With an annual entry and exit count of more than 76 million people in 2011, London Victoria Station serves as London’s second busiest terminal after Waterloo. Victoria is comprised of four railway stations: serving the National Rail, with two lines erving main-line routes to southeast England, and has a London Underground station built by the cut and cover method serving the District and Circle lines and the deep level Victoria tube line station.



{ city markets

}

BOROUGH MARKET

COVENT GARDENS MARKET

LEADENHALL MARKET

Historically focused on fruits and vegetables, the Borough Market has recently added stalls and sellers dealing with fine food retail market selling items such as fish and bakery items. Located on Southwark street on the southern end of the London Bridge, the Borough market claims to have existed since 1014. The hustle and bustle of the borough market doesnt stand out in contrast to all of the brightly colored fruits and vegetables for sale.

Covent Garden was my favorite of the three markets I visited because it wasnt as chaotic as the Borough Market and was also very well organized. It also had more culture associated with the market itself with street performers outside the entrance and people gathered around to see what what going on.

Famous for J.K. Rowlings Harry Potter series as Daogon Alley in the films, Leadenhall Market is located downtown right at the base of the Lloyds of London. This was my least favorite market because I felt that, although the organization was rather pleasant, the people dining in the exteror seating along the main aisles seemed to be bothered by all of the people walking through, as if they werent seated in the center of a public market, which might be subject to the particular day I visited.



{ trafalgar square } HISTORY OF TRAFALGAR SQUARE

NATIONAL GALLERY & ST. MARTIN-IN-THE-FIELDS

Situated in the borough of the City of Westminster, Trafalgar Square is a public space in central London built around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Nelson’s Column, guarded by four lion statues at it’s base, sits in the center along with several other statues and sculptures. The Battle of Trafalgar was a British naval victory of the Napoleonic Wars over France off the coast of Cape Trafalgar, Spain in 1805. Trafalgar Square was originally named King William the Fourth’s Square until Trafalgar Square was suggested followed by architect John Nash’s redevelopment of the area. The square is managed by the Greater London Authority and owned by the Queen while the roads surrounding are owned by the Westminster City Council, including the pedestrian area of the North Terrace.

The National Gallery sits to the North and acts as a focal point of the surrounding buildings, as the square seems to pour out of its doors and form around its entrance. The commisiion of the National Gallery was awareded to William Wilkins, who had hoped to build a ‘Temple of the Arts’ by ‘nurturing contemporary art through a historical example’. The north terrace, designed by Sir Charles Barry, the landscape architect of trafalgar square, was designed to accomodate the National Gallery, making it apprear to be raised. To the east of the National Gallery is St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church, an English Anglican church dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours and constructed to a Neoclassical design by James Gibbs in 1722-24. The west front of the church has a portico with a pediment, supported by a six-wide order of Corinthian Columns and continues around the church by pilasters. James Gibbs’ design was greatly influenced by the works of Christopher Wren, most famously known for St. Paul’s Cathedral. Compared to the National Gallery’s one-room depth, St. Martin-in-theFields has a rectangular plan with a five-bay nave with arcades of Corinthian columns dividing from the aisles.



{ green buildings } + JOHN HOPE GATEWAY + FALKIRK WHEEL + SAINSBURY’S + CHISWICK PARK + OXFORD ECO HOUSE + RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS + THE CRYSTAL + ECO HUB TOUR + NOTTINGHAM CREATIVE ENERGY HOMES


{ john hope gateway } Completed in 2009, The John Hope Gateway royal botanical gardens in Edinburgh, designed by Edward Cullinan Architects, aimed to solve important design setbacks the previous gardens had, including lack of multiple access points and no visitor welcome. The design demonstrates successful sustainable strategies in all aspects, despite a few post occupancy flaws and a lack of a BREEAM rating. The structure is FSC certified solid wood glulam beams with lightweight vertical columns and heavy horizontal beams to support the large overhang wrapped around the building designed to reduce the solar gain. The fins on the main entrance southeast facing façade prevent solar heat gain into the main entrance, however one design flaw discovered post occupancy was this particular design solution for the main entrance also restricts opening the operable windows in the offices on the floor above. The client wanted the west façade to mirror the main façade, so vertical fins were added, however vertical fins on the west façade isn’t an ideal solution since the west requires horizontal fins. The roof is a vegetated green roof accompanied by 11m2 of photovoltaic panels, 15m2 of solar hot water boilers, and a rainwater harvesting system above the bathrooms directly providing a water source to the plumbing below. The façades have a large amount of operable and controlled glazing that provides natural daylight into the building in addition to the large central atrium with an ETFE bubble roof skylight, which permits enough natural light to grow plants in the atrium. The atrium simultaneously generates a stack effect, causing natural ventilation to occur.. The ceiling surrounding the atrium has radiant heat panels which not only provides under floor heating in the atrium and second floor, but it is jointly providing acoustic control while additionally enhancing the atrium’s stack effect. Although the radiant panels provide a heat source, the primary heating and hot water source for the building is the biomass boiler, housed below the building because it burns wood chips which dangerously produces emissions that are harmful if inhaled. The design solution for the biomass room included an extra-large mechanical room that links the exhaust from the biomass boiler to the exhaust flow from the plant rooms directly to the roof.


{ } falkirk wheel Previously connected by a series of locks until the 1930’s when their lack of use lead to the area to be filled in and built upon, the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Union canal were a large source of transportation. In a plan to regenerate central Scotland’s canals and reconnect Glasgow with Edinburgh, the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Union Canal were reconnected by the dramatic 21st century landmark 24 meters high known as the Falkirk Wheel, a rotating boat lift designed by project architect Tony Kettle. However, the Union Canal is still 11 meters higher than the aqueduct which meets the wheel, so boats must then pass through a pair of locks to descend from the canal onto the aqueduct on the top of the canal. The Falkirk Wheel’s overall diameter is 35 meters high and is comprised of two arms that extend and rotate, lifting boats from one canal to another. The two opposing arms extend 15 meters beyond the central axle, taking the celtic inspired shape of a double-headed axe. The two water filled gondolas fitted between the ends of the arms, each have the amazing structural capacity of 80,000 gallons. The boat ride from one canal to the other through the Falkirk Wheel was an amazing experience, especially due to the successful engineering systems and structure. The ride was very smooth in transition and duration, so much so that several of the people onboard, including myself, did not realize until looking out the window that we had started the rotations.


{ } sainsbury’s supermarket

Sainsbury’s new sustainable supermarket, not far from the Millennium Dome, in Greenwich, London, is known for the abundance of natural daylight and sustainable and energy saving design solutions. With large solar panels and wind turbines that supply the energy for the lighting required for the company’s extensive advertising signs, almost nothing is wasted. The large curved south façade of primarily glazing is balanced by the walls of untreated oak boarding on either side, establishing a welldefined entrance into the facility. Five meter-high earth is planted on the adjacent facades, which establishes natural insulation by protecting the structure from extreme heat and cold while simultaneously protecting against harsh winds, which ultimately ensures constant temperatures on the interior. In fact, 90 percent of the energy released by the refrigeration plant is recovered and used to warm the sales area. Also, rainwater from the roof, routed to the north pond, is used to water the plants and food waste is composted and used as natural fertilizer, creating a complete reduce, reuse, recycle system that earns it’s sustainable reputation.


{ } chiswick business park

Chiswick Business park is a ongoing development in Gunnersbury that promotes an overall sustainable and healthy lifestyle within the buildings and the park community. The first building started construction in 1990, completing the first couple of buildings in 1999 that implimented the most available environmental technology and strategies at that time, continuing construction and development with continuously improving solutions and technological advancements. Building 1’s roof has a water membrane underneath the roof membrane for insulation while also creating a waterproof barrier between the envelope and interior. The glass is treated and tinted to reduce and prevent solar gain while the newer buildings utilize double glazed windows for insulation and internal occupant-controlled blinds that keep the heat in or out and control the levels of sun penetration and amount of desired shading. Some of the 12 total buildings employ a green roof and throughout the park the buildings incorporate rainwater catchment systems from the roof that is collected in tanks and pumped and deposited into the central lake as needed. It is apparent that the atmosphere at Chiswick Business Park is very sustainable and community oriented, as 90% of their waste is recycled but primarily visible in the orientation and design of the central plaza space, promoting collaboration by creates a park-like environment for pedestrians as well as wildlife.


{ oxford eco house } Sue Roaf’s house in Oxford is the first completely successful Eco House in Oxford (if not all of London) and set the standard high for future development since it’s completion. The roof contains solar PV panels, each panel consisting of 8 kilograms, designed with air flow behind each panels, since they become less efficient as the temperature increases, which is one of the founding components to their success. The design began with microclimate, resulting in the overall design for the house to adjust to climate change, pre-cooling the air around the building before it enters the house. Ventilation was very important in the design, and can successfuly be seen in several components, including the stack effect of the stairs and the sun space in the rear of the house. The sun space, with an entrance in the back of the house, can get pretty warm in the hot months but establishes a buffer space for the adjacent rooms year round. Interior windows line along top of the doors to the sun space so in the winter they can be opened to create a comfortably warm and heated space to the adjacent rooms. The veranda in the sun space is large enough to act as an overhang and shade the living room and office so no direct sunlight enters and heats the space. Exterior operable windows along the base of the sun space creates an upsidedown bucket effect that allows air to vent out down and out the bottom. The fireplace in the living room adjacent to the sun space is similar to a roman hypocaust by heating up and storing the heat, then releasing heat to everything that surrounds it. However, heat from the fireplace does not reach the office behind it so a skirt was hung down from the ceiling above the fireplace to guide some of the heat toward the office. The walls are high density concrete walls which store warmth during, creating a perfect temperature within the house at all times. Convection is utilized as a strategy within the design by storing the heat in the concrete floors to heat the rooms directly above. Conduction is also used through the use of the central circular staircase, acting as a warm spine up through the house and circulates warm air up to the second story with an operable skylight window directly at the top used to ventilate the air once it reaches the roof. The second story utilizes cross ventilation between the bedrooms so that the master bedroom, adjacent to the sun space, and the secondary bedroom directly across the hall can both open the exterior windows and create a breeze throughout the spaces. The house overall utilizes single ventilation, cross ventilation, and thermal stratification, specifically from the sun space. The house is additionally equipt with a 300 liter water storage tank on the roof, adding to the environmental quality of the overall design and use of strategies.


{ } renewable energy systems

Renewable Energy Systems {RES} is a renewable energy project developer based in the UK but has offices internationally. Renewable Energy Systems is well known for their wind energy industry and have been active in the wind field for over 30 years. Their company tests sustainable products, technologies, and advancements by creating trial tests and then after analysing the product they relay the results and development of new products and systems on to manufacturers and other companies. Renewable Energy Systems is currently proposing a new building design on their existing site in the place of an existing greenbelt with intent to blend the proposed building in with the existing landscape so it is not visible from M25, the largest highway in Britain that is directly parallel to the site. The proposed design has a timber roof structure and green roof with exposed thermal mass in the back of the building. Renewable Energy Systems is currently looking into graywater harvesting on site as well as rainwater harvesting from the roof and car park.


{ } the crystal The Crystal, designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, Pringle Brandon Perkins + Will, and Arup engineers, is a building located in east London and home to the world’s largest exhibition focused on urban sustainability and a world-class center for dialogue, discover, and learning. The building was designed to create innovative and bold architecture that can harness the benefits of the latest green technology while aiming to create a architectural focal point in the area, which is reflected in the structure’s crystalline geometry and bold form. The crystal-shaped envelope design was designed to reflect the building’s context while having a degree of transparency to connect the building with it’s surroundings. In order to accomplish this, different types of highly insulated glass with various levels of transparency were implemented, designed to minimize the building’s running costs by only having cooling loads, which controls solar gain while providing natural daylit spaces. The Crystal is open to the public and contains a confrence center with a 270 seat auditorium, office space, electric vehicle recharging points, a cafe, and the world’s largest exhibition on future cities, covering over 2,000 square meters. The interactive exhibit directs users through the urban structure of the future which focuses on building technologies, sustainable mobility, healthcare, and power and water supplies. The Crystal is an all-electric building and consumes no fossil fuels onsite. Heating and cooling is provided by pumps that seasonally store energy in the 17km network of buried pipes under the building. Chilled beams and high efficiency ventilation and LED lighting is also implemented in the environmental design. The Crystal is the first commercial building in the UK to have an approved drinking water safety plan, which successfully harvests rainwater and appropriately cleans it to drinking quality. The building is 90% water self-sufficient due to rainwater harvesting as well as the blackwater treated on site. An extensive range of controls designed by Ariup operate in mixed ventilation modes, considering both natural and mechanical ventilation while providing occupants an extensive amount of control over the light, temperature, and air within the building. The building is also fully monitored to ensure peak performance while using the design itself as an exhibition with panels in the wall that display the structure’s natural ventilation and provide live streaming performance figures into the exhibition hall.


{ } eco hub tour Located in Lordship Park in the borough of Hackney, London, the Eco Hub community-like center designed by Anne Thorpe Architects provides teaching space for environmental education, multi-purpose community space for community organizations, a public cafe near the playground and lake, a kitchen, and public bathrooms. Responding to the surrounding landscape, the building’s orientation maximizes passive solar gain with the glazed south facade with builtin solar shading and natural ventilation to prevent overheating in the summer. Part of the roof is raised to create a stack effect forcing air out the top while providing light to pour into the space. The elevated roof is also sloped to orient the PV panels toward the sun for maximum exposure. The remaining roof planes are vegetated and reflects the sloping hill of the site. Designed to Passivhaus standards to minimize energy use, the Eco Hub is superinsulated and super-airtight to require minimal heating which drastically reduces costs and minimizes CO2 emissions. The most unique feature of the building is the straw bale wall construction, providing the super insulation for passivhaus standards and locks in the CO2 absorbed during its growth period. In addition to the superior insulation and airtightness, the triple glazing and heat recovery ventilation complete Passivhaus compenents of the design. Anne Thorne Architects used renewable materials, including low-impact timber foundations and primary frame, natural insulation materials described above, and non-toxic finishes including rubber flooring, natural paints, and clay plasters.


{ creative energy homes } The University of Nottingham investigates how we can reduce energy in our homes and test out sustainable solutions displayed in the University’s Creative Energy Homes. The Creative Energy Homes consists of seven homes that each utilize different systems and solutions to stimulate sustainable design ideas and promote new ways of providing affordable, environmentally aware designed homes. The first house visited was one of the Tarmac houses, which consist of two semidetatched properties in duplex form but take advantage of their shared capabilities to enhance sustainability. The tour consisted of only one Tarmac house, which was in use as an office intead of a house. These houses use traditional masonry to utilize the thermal mass to counterbalance summer overheating, the fire resistant properties, provide high levels of security, and masonry provides durability and serves a long life span. Tarmac also uses solar connectors for solar hot water, a solar chimney for solar gain, and natural ventilation through operable windows. The second house toured was the BASF research house made of concrete in between the structure with a red metal roof (shown in pictures to the left). The ground floor was designed for climate protection while the first floor was designed to utilize ventilation, thermal mass, solar shading, and internal planning that provides flexible space. The south facade provides nearly 100% glazing while the north facade provides roughly 23% glazing, leaving the east and west facades solid which allows the most beneficial solar gain and daylight control. The southern roof slope has solar collectors that provide approximately 80% of the houses hot water heating requirement. The southern windows additionally have metal louvres that prevent overheating by shading during the summer but allowing solar access during the winter.




{ London Firms } + ARUP + BEDZED + alford hall monaghan morris [AHMM]


{a

r

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p}

ARUP is a multinational firm headquartered in London, and was one of the first engineering consultancies to embrace a holistic and multi-disciplined approach to design. Currently ARUP associates consists of about 50% architects and 50% engineers that provide a range of services including engineering, design, planning, project management, and consulting for all aspects of architecture and the built environment. Notable projects visited while in the London include Lloyds Building, The London Eye, Millennium Bridge, and Scottish Parliament while in Edinburgh. Other famous notable projects, some with collaboration of other firms and architects, include the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Gherkin in London, London 2012 Olympics Aquatic Center, the Sydney Opera House, the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, and several more. The firm visit to ARUP consisted of presentations from different ARUP associates, reflecting the sustainable foundation in their work and advanced approaches to design solutions. ARUP designs several sports facilities and the first presentation displayed their design for a sports arena in Saudi Arabia located on a ‘dirt bowl’ site that experiences some flooding throughout the year. Their design intent was to show importance of the giant facility when seen from the sky, so the entire site, oriented toward Mecca, is on an axis equip with the main facility followed by a mosque and the main pathway entrance. The envelope is primarly a permiable facade while the bowl of the stadium is precast concrete units. Briefly the presentation also previewed a new stadium they’re working on in Abu Dabi, where they used the structural form to become the architecture while considering the climate needs. Air conditioning is located under the seats so at night they close the retractable roof and cool the space, then open it and naturally ventilate the space during a game or event. The second presentation revealed an installation in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park directly next to the serpentine pavillion where art students approached ARUP with engineering concerns for their design consisting of specific preselected rocks, where one large rock sits ontop of the second large rock. Using computer generated engineering and active 3D printer modeling, ARUP associates were able to replicate the two rocks and figure out the exact placement of geometries in order to successfully freestand one boulder on top of the other.


{b e d z e d } The ZEDfactory firm visit consisted of a site tour of BEDzed, or Beddington Zero Energy Development, an environmental housing development in Hackbridge, London, where their office is located on site. Completed 10 years ago, the carbon zero mixed use development of 100 homes and offices produces more energy than that consumed. The density of the population enhances the sustainable outcome while the development simultaneously generates electricity onsite. All of the development’s building materials are local, aside from the solar panels and windows which were still bought within a 50 mile radius, which reduces the embodied energy of the structure. The structure also utilizes reclaimed materials found in the foundation and the steel structure, which was acclaimed and reused from a nearby hospital. Each home is super insulated and designed for air tightness, reducing air leakge ultimately reducing drafts and heat loss. The dense concrete structure provides thermal mass so the buildings act as a heat sink for temperature fluxuations, absorbing heat during the day sustaining cold air indoors and releasing the heat at night when the temperatures drop. The southern exposed windows are triple glazed while the north, west and east are double glazed. The offices were strategically placed on the North for their temperature control with abundance of computers and electronics, as well as daylighting access year round. The houses are situated on the south with the living room upstairs and the bedrooms downstairs, which is ideal since the lower floor remains cooler and doesn’t require as much solar gain. Natural ventilation was key in the overall design and aesthetically plays a large roll in the building. Vents placed at the top of the roof adjust to wind direction to allow fo the most air into the space. A heat exchanger is placed at the base of each unit that recovers 80% of the stail air leaving the building to preheat new fresh air. To reduce overall electricity consumption, low energy appliances and lighting were placed in the units while the design also provides natural daylight reducing the overall need for electric lighting. The site design placed parking around the exterior and created shared utilities and entrances into the units to foster a sense of community and establish natural surveillence of the property at all times of the day. Underground rainwater collection provides greywater reuse for the dual flush toilets and washers. Despite some changes in the original design solutions, such as the living machine and heat from burning fossil fuels, BEDzed achieves sustaimability with multiple strategies.


a h m m { alford hall monaghan morris

}

Established in 1989, AHMM is an architecture firm based in central London and employs more than 100 people who work on several rennovation projects as well as education, healthcare, housing, arts, and offices, including the rennovation of their current office. After two rennovations to their existing office, the first in 1992 which converted the original warehouse into offices, and the recent second rennovation which added two floors of offices ontop of their existing office space, AHMM’s current office reveals a large open floorplate for collaboration and teamwork, necessary to their profession and occupancy. The new floors added above their existing offices are composed of a lightweight steel structure for natural ventilation and because the existing structure wouldn’t be able to sustain a structure of more weight. All of the existing glazing on all levels of the building have been replaced with very well insulated windows to reduce the amount of heat loss. AHMM also introduced light wells within the structure to increase the amount of natural daylight while simulataneously introducing cross ventilation and a stack effect on each floor. Although established for only a little more than two decades, the firm has recieved several notable awards, including BD Office Architecs of the Year (2006), Building Magazine: Architectural Practice of the year (2009), AJ100 Sustainable practice of the year (2011), as well as recently AJ 100 fastest growing practice (2013), AJ100 practice of the year (2013) and for a second time Building Magazine: Architectural Practice of the Year (2013). Their office environment is very positive, social and collaborative where they bond outside of work, ultimately creating a social and friendly work environment in all aspects. They have a softball team that plays a game against another firm every Tuesday in Regeants Park and our group was invited to play with them during our time in London, which was an amazing experience!



{ cat charette } iNTRODUCTION : + Our goal was to learn about the different ways light affects spaces we inhabit + We examined two different spaces located on the CAT campus and analyzed them with models, light measuring tools, the artificial sky, and heliodon. OBJECTIVES : + introduce evenly distributed diffused light to improve the quality of the exhibit space + reduce the need and reliance of electric light + improve sustainabilility STRATEGIES :

[1] replace the main east glazing facade with a new glazing system that has larger panes and { less mullions } to allow more light to come in

EXISTING CONDITIONS : [2] implement { northern skylight } in the existing roof to increase light in the back half of the space

[3] implement high { horizontal side lighting } along the southern wall near the ceiling to take advantage of the existing shading device provided by the roof


ACTUAL EXISTING CONDITIONS

MODEL EXISTING CONDITIONS

MODEL + TESTING

CONCLUSION After testing our theories of increasing the amount daylight into The Old Shop we found that: Two theories provide satisfactory results - decreasing mullions under eastern canopy - adding northern facing sky lights One theory provides unsatisfactory. resullts - adding horizontal side lighting on southern wall A possible solution to this unsatisfactory result would be to increase the size of the southern window. This was not initially made due to existing pin-up boards along the interior wall. Other design ideas included the changing of material encasing the stairs to the second floor, as well as a possible sky light in the stairwell.

+ LESS MULLIONS

+ NORTHERN SKYLIGHT

+ SOUTH WINDOWS


{ zedfactory charette } CONCEPT : Create a juxtaposition between the reality of our current melting planet and the potential for a healthy future through the demonstration of sustainable technology

SITE ANALYSIS:

NOIS E

PURPOSE : + create interacative micro-climate with use of ice + display human impact with the ice cap + use site to educate visitors on global warming + promote sustainability by using and recycling materials and systems

SW

WI ND

SUN APPROACH :

PROCESS :


GOALS : Important factors on the site to consider that affect our design include the visibility from the human level from the entrance just south of the site which also includes vehicular traffic. The level of the canopy should allow drawing interest into the area and draw people into the buried space. The use of actual ice within the pavilion will affect how much sun penetration we want to enter the interior space. The rate of melting during the day may also be mitigated by providing shelter for the iceberg to the north. The iceberg is located between the proposed pavilion and the existing gallery to provide a connection of the two spaces. From the inside, the patron is able to look out and see the ice and the pavilion.

To help preserve the ice inside the pavilion under colder temperature, the base of the pavilion will be placed 4’ beneath the surface. The walls will be super insulated as well to help keep most of the cold air in and warmer air out. The ice walls will be built up of ice blocks that will be supported by glycol chilled coils that allow the transfer of below-freezing water to also be used on the column structure that will create a web of ice

-100

2850

2750


1. Cafe and Seating 2. Open Air Seating 3. Outdoor Gathering

1. 2. 3.




{ cultural sites } + + + + + + + + + + +

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART QUEEN MARGARET UNIVERSITY SERPENTINE PAVILLION ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL LABAN DANCE CENTER MILLENIUM VILLAGE KEBLE COLLEGE JUBILEE CAMPUS KEW BOTANICAL GARDENS STONEHENGE


{ scottish parliament } The Kingdom of Great Britain was formed in 1707, uniting the Kingdom of Scotland with the Kingdom of England, therefore establishing the Parliament of Great Britain formed in Westminster, London. Scotland eventually advocated for independence and eventually the Scotland Act of 1998 convened the New Parliament as a devolved legislature, set to reside in Edinburgh, Scotland. Completed in 2004 by the partnership EMBT, a Spanish architectural practice led by Enric Miralles, and the Edinburgh-based international practice RMJM. The building design aimed to reflect the importance of Scotland’s devolved seat of Parliament, heritage, and love of the land. In response, the building was designed to be one with the landscape, sustainably illustrated by the natively-vegetated green roof, while resembling the relationship between the land and sea, symbolizing boats in a harbor. The interior depicts tree branches with a roof overhang toward the park over the green roof and vegetation so the occupants visualize a continuation of the ceiling toward the park, establishing a strong connection to nature and the surrounding landscape. Environmental design was of high importance and the architects implemented several passive strategies to ensure sustainability. The building is naturally ventilated and daylit through the use of operable windows, clerestories, large windows, and a garden courtyard that also acts as a light well historically placed in the location of the site’s previous house’s old garden. The facades utilize shading devices to control heat gain and glare. Scotland representation is seen through the sustainability of local materials: Concrete and stone floors locally from Edinburgh, the stone above the doors from the old Parliament Hall, and Oakwood, which was not availably locally, was from all over the European Union. “THERE SHALL BE A SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT 1998”


{ glasgow school of art } Designed by world renound architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1897, the Glasgow School of Art in Glasgow, Scotland is Scotland’s only independent art school focused on programmes and research in fine art, architecture and design. The School of Architecture is ranked by the Architect’s Journal as top school in Scotland, top 5 in the UK, and top 10 in the world. Within the design, Mackintosh focuses on the juxtaposition of elements, such as light, shadow, forms and materials while maintaining an asymmetrical facade to reflect an active face to the building. Due to budget insufficencies, the first hall to the south and east was completed in 1899 while the second hall to the west was completed in 1909. In a 10 year time frame the two phases are in total contrast, with the south and east facades reflect a more formal design while the west wing dramatically alters revealing large windows. Additionally in the second phase, the the elegant and striking library was implemented, where upper floor lined with books wraps around the central open atrium-like space accented by the centrally hanging chandelier. On our guided tour though the library was unfortunately under construction so we weren’t able to see it at its finest but the intricate design even under construction was still exquisite. Also within the school is a Mackintosh exhibition, showcasing several of his original furniture pieces.


{ queen margaret university} Located in Musselborough and regarded as one of Scotland’s most sustainable campuses with a BREEAM ‘excellent’ rating, equivalent to LEED platinum, Queen Margaret University impressively employ’s sustainable solutions at a large scale. The building has a concrete core structure to provide thermal mass for heat flux, providing cool temperatures in the summer and warm temperatures in the winter, a necessary implication considering Scotland’s climate and annual weather forecast. The envelope was also designed for air tightness, which reduces overall air release by 25%. Using similar strategies as John Hope Gateway but at a larger scale, Queen Margaret University likewise has a central atrium in the core of the building and utilizes a biomass boiler mechanical system. The Atrium utilizes an ETFE bubble roof skylight with horizontal skylights accompanied by operable and controlled glazing, designed to provide natural daylight and ventilation within the space, however the tour of the building revealed otherwise. Although the atrium provides a well daylight and welcoming entrance and social hub, the lack of acoustic consideration creates an overwhelmingly loud space while the ETFE roof and horizontal skylights expose the space to high solar heat gain and uncomfortably hot air, especially humid on the top floor, which would have been regulated with proper ventilation, however the anticipated ventilation and opened windows establishes mixed occupant comfort, where to some the breeze is pleasant but to others with less garments, due to the indoor environment, the breeze is nippy. It was also explained on the tour that the ventilation within the atrium and other areas of the building is apparently negatively affected by the high percentage of annual wind and as a result the vents do not always open when needed. However, the offices and classrooms along the perimeter of the building with window access proved better ventilated and a more pleasant occupant comfort level. All of the flooring within the building is access flooring, which allows for flexible spaces and sustainable necessary repairs. A water retention pond and bioswales are located behind campus along the access road that connects the large biomass boiler mechanical building to parking and the rest of campus. The large scale biomass boiler provides about 85% of the heat needed for the campus and they employ gas to provide the other 15%, which ultimately, along with the other passive strategies, helps the campus maintain a low carbon footprint. It is important to note that the information above is subjective and is based on a summer tour in an ongoing unexpected heat wave, however, despite the unusual weather circumstances, the design strategies should have acquired a greater outcome.


{ serpentine pavillion } Established in 2000 and located in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, in central London, the Serpentine Pavillion and adjacent Serpentine Gallery attract approximately 750,000 visitors a year. The Serpentine Gallery annually commissions international architects to design a pavillion on the gallery’s lawn that is host to special programs, film screenings and talks, and houses a cafe. Notable architects previously commissioned include Zaha Hadid, Daniel Libeskind, Oscar Niemeyer, Rem Koolhaas & Arup, Frank Ghery, Peter Zumthor, and Herzog & de Meuron. The site location of the Serpentine Pavillion is our allocated site for the design charette with ZEDfactory, so the following notes conclude site observations and minimal initial analysis since our site visit was several weeks prior to the charette, which is further analyzed on pg. 42, ZEDfactory Charette. • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

pavillion comissioned October 20th to June / August of the following year? not permanent / dissassemble reflect nature of the art gallery draw pedestrians / passerbyers from the street into gallery / pavillion very windy / strong prevailing winds water / rain / wind - affects food services shading + rain protection w/o restricting views pedestrian access (+) noise from main street - will need to buffer with a structural statement or entrance potential for a play on light - light + shadows shading necessary sustainability natural light opportunities connection to nature


{ st. paul’s cathedral } St. Paul’s Cathedral sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in London and dates back the 17th century, when the English Baroque style cathedral was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. The building shape is a Latin cross, a standard basilica shape, where the main nave, dating back to 1780, was originally designed without seats so chairs were implemented to accommodate occupant needs. The interior reflects prominent baroque characteristics, especially apparent in the main nave space where circles in the ceiling have flower carvings in stone, the interior windows are placed very high near the ceiling and let in a sufficient amount of natural daylight, the interior support consists of Corinthian columns, and a catwalk is implemented around the perimeter of the interior nave with an intricate gate and flower carvings that reside below the balcony. Similarly, the metal gates around the quire, originally obstructing a clear view through the central nave, also provide baroque characteristics. The quire is the oldest part of the cathedral and consist of theatre box seating where friends and family of the clergy reside accompanied by red seats provided for the clergy and the cathedra, or the bishop’s seat or throne, which characterizes St. Paul’s as a cathedral. The cavity solely for the large spiral staircase leads to two bells up top, the first is the largest free swinging bell in the United Kingdom, and the second bell indicates the time. St. Paul’s Cathedral has a ground floor, a crypt, which was dug out under the ground floor for burial purposes, and then below the crypt lies the under craft, which was dug out because space ran out in the limited crypt area. St. Paul’s is uniquely the only cathedral in the country where the crypt is dug out in the exact same size and shape as the ground floor. The dome is supported by 8 columns, which transfer loads down below the ground floor to the crypt creating a similar grandeur space below, dedicated to the grave of Nelson Chamber, who is of high importance and stature as he is the first country hero. St. Paul’s has held three state funerals, including Sir Winston Churchill, who is buried in Oxford but has a memorial below in his dedication. The Duke of Wellington, who fought in Waterloo, has the largest memorial monument within the cathedral, which took 56 years to construct and has all 48 names of the 48 battles he won carved in the base and sits above his grave below.


{ laban dance center } Designed by Herzog de Meuron completed in 2003, the large, embracing gesture and form of the Laban building, referenced from St. Paul’s, and the connecting topography were designed with connection and communication at the heart of the design process. The program is distributed within two floors of transparency and visual connection, reflecting the goal and nature of interaction within the architecture while responding to passive and sustainable values such as natural daylight penetration and access throughout the structure. T he vibrant interior is organized by bright colors, not only to bring out the artistic nature of the structure and the facility, but to provide wayfinding and orientation through the concept of an urban streetscape all wrapped around the main centrally located theater. The facades are transparent and translucent glass panels with colored, transparent polycarbonate panels mounted in front, serving as a protective shield against sun, glare, and heat radiation and contribute to the overall energy strategy. The roof consists of a vegetated green roof, improving the sustainable approach to the design. The main outdoor topography was designed to bring dance and performances outdoors, utilizing the large open grass as an amphitheater, in addition to providing the students with an exterior courtyard-like social and relaxing atmosphere. Laban is one of Europe’s leading institutions for contemporary dance and is the largest school for contemporary dance in the world.


{

millenium village

}

On the Greenwich Peninsula with 50 acres of land developed as parkland, Millenium Village strives to restore a sense of ecological balance to this previous indsutrial site. It contains an ecology park designed with four-acres of freshwater wetland site equipt with 2 lakes and areas of beach, marsh, meadow, and wet woodland all connected by a network of wooden boardwalks. Within walking distance of important amenities such as Sainsbury’s Supermarket, retail, and transportation outlets, Millenium Village is not only designed to be a sustainable development, but it is designed for the community to continue to grow into a larger sustainable community equipt with a school, health center, shops, leisure facilities and green spaces. Initially designed by Ralph Erskine during the 1990’s, the expansion development has been taken on by internationally renowned Jestico - Whiles, Peter Barber Architects, and Studio 54 Architecture with the vision of creating an environmentally sustainable development that incorporates modern technologies and building techniques. The 1800+ planned homes will have high performance thermal and acoustic glazing, whole-house ventilation heat recovery systems, and high levels of natural daylight with energy-efficient lighting. The homes will also connect to a community energy center that is highly efficient. Rainwater will be harvested site-wide and used to feed water into the ecology park lakes.


{

keble college

}

One of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford established in 1870, Keble College, best known for the main brick complex, was designed by William Butterfield in phases due to lack of funding. Keble Hall (top right picture) is famous as the ‘Great Hall’ in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series was based on the hall and looks nearly identical. In 2002 a new addition was added to the college and attained several sustainable atributes for the university. The new addition was one of the first buildings for thermal heating and cooling while also utilizing heat pipes and a heavily insulated roof. The implimented pluming utilizes similar systems as that on airplane with high speed flush capabilities for enhanced sustainability and water conservation. One interesting fact from our tour guide was explained that the clock on the Sir John University campus next door was made from discarded turbine blades that were used as testers for trying out turbines.


{

jubilee campus

}

Opened in 1999, the Jubilee Campus, designed in two phases by Michael Hopkins and Partners and MAKE architects, primarily houses the Computer Science and Nottingham University Business School. Aesthetically, both phases are completely different with one primarily using timber cladding and a natural setting while the other is comprised of a very futuristic style with bright colors and dynamic shapes. All of the buildings on the campus have green roofs, collecting rainwater while providing a habitat for the local animals. The large lake system provides a ground source heat pump, however the design ran into one flaw: higher temperatures result in a little lake depth, which causes evaporation in hot weather, so they are unable to cool the buildings during high temperatures because it is not possible to take energy from an already heated lake. However, for the colder temperature and rainy months, the lake also provides rainwater harvesting for the campus. The original idea for the lake was not to place fish in the water or create a habitat in the lake, however now fish currently reside in the lake which negatively impacts the campus because it fish encourage people to throw food in the lake which ultimately results in build up and a dirty lake. Another uncontrollable problem with the campus is the destruction of natural habitat and landscape from the unwelcome Geese that reside near the lake and all over campus. On the tour we were actually informed that they destroy some of the Geese eggs to prevent overpopulation and further destruction of the land.


{

kew gardens

}

Comprised of 121 hectares of gardens and botanical lgasshouses, Kew Royal Botanical Gardens is an internationally important botanical research and education institute, staffing roughly 700, that generating a 56 million pounds annually from its tourist attractions and local interest. The living collection is comprised of more than 30,000 different kinds of plants and the herbarium is comprised of more than 7 million preserved plant specimens, making it the largest in the world. The destination for our final day as a group in London, we spent the entire afternoon exploring the gardens freely. Of the entire park, my favored explorations were of the treetop walkway, an 18 meter high and 200 meter long walkway in a tree canopy overlooking the park, the temperate house, a greenhouse in the worlds largest surviving Victorian glass structure containing plants and trees from all the temperate regions int he world, and Sackler crossing, a pedestrian minimalistic-style walkway brige over one of the lakes and filled with swans.


s t o n e h e n g e



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