existing strategy reuse/rescale the grid assembly

Typical House Construction

Fundation Plan

Integrated Systems

Fall 2022 - ARCH 7112

Scales of Reuse

Prof. Felix Heisel

Notational Plan

Dimensional Plan

Framing Plan

Shear Wall Plan

Framing Details Electrical Plan

Problem Statement

The existing design strategy of constructing different systems in houses runs quite separated in a fixed sequence. For the real construction period, more than 10 types of drawings will be needed to complete one house, and it needs experitse in different categories like architects, interior designer, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, HVAC specialist, plumming specialist, or even sustainable specialist to examine the work. The construction time is usually long since it is counted separatedly for each system, and the construction cost is usually high as well. More importantly, the building system usually couldn’t be reused to the new floor plan directly, because the MEP are always designed after the architectural plan is done.

Extisting Design Process Cycle

Plumming Plan

Description New Integrated System

Taking off with the existing super complicated building systems that bleed out everywhere inside the house, the new spatial arrangement aims to solve the messiness of the overlayed systems and make the space functional easier, and more flexible for residents.

Higly Engineered Core Simplified Elements Flexibility in Design and Maintenance

The new strategy will not only free up the plans and designs with the superengineered core, but also save the construction time, and decrease the potential of containing left VOCs in the materials, increasing the indoor air quality.

New Design Process Cycle

EXPANDABLE STRUCTURE WITH IMPLEMENTING MORE CORES

Higly Engineered Core - 10% Simplified Walls - 90%

EXPANDABLE STRUCTURE WITH IMPLEMENTING MORE CORES

Light Controller

HVAC Controller

HAVC Wind Ducts Reclaimed Wood Columns Electrical Circuit Breakers

Electrical Sockets

Material Selection

Flexibility in Facade Design

Connections

The super-engineered core is strucutrally connected to the rest of the strucutral system with the columns inside the core as well as the HDPE board as partially load bearing functions.

The selected material for the core is a collection of multi-colored plastic panels. They are primarily made from post-consumer recycled polyethylene. And it is made from HDPE which stands for High-Density Polyethylene. It appears in plastic product like plastic container of milk, detergent or shampoo bottle, etc. It used to help keep the resin from becoming contaminated with other plastic resin types. Origins may also contain LDPE (Low-Density Polyethylene), PP (Polypropylene) #5 and sometimes virgin polyethylene, all of which are compatible with HDPE.

The new system will feature a great flexibility of the facade deisgn. It could change along with time or different residents’ preferrences, and the overall elevation will looks like a material collage.

Expandable Structure

Because the core already solve the majority of the functional problems of the entire house, the rest of the space is left free for designs, which could expand, shrink, or change in levels according to the different weathers, seasons, sunlight, wind, landscape designs, etc. Since the simplified elements are all in modular dimensions, the construction process will be easy to install and good for reuse.