INITIAL IDEAS

The following are a collection of models demonstrating the various experiments which led to the development of one highest potential prototype. Throughout these experiments, we were concerned with the values of spatial flexibility and aesthetic uniqueness.

Our initial experiments in building systems were guided by a desire to minimize the structure, whether in plan or in section, and combine that with an elegance and novelty that distinguishes it from normal timberframe construction. From top to bottom:

A model that focuses on the joinery techniques of wood construction. Doubled dimensional lumber creates more rigid columns and allows a spacer to be placed in between to support floor joists. These joists extend past the outermost columns to provide a regular attachment point for facades that can provide solar shading and support a double-skin envelope.

A model that uses trusses and diagonal braces in all three axes to provide impressive structural rigidity and open floor areas. The slenderness of the vertical columns is compensated on the braced facade, while flat X-braces infill the space between trusses to support high floor loads.

A model based on a diagrid facade backed up with a solid shear wall to create an inner occupiable space and a perimeter circulation path with views of both structural systems. This module takes the double-skin idea to its logical conclusion by making it so thick as to be usable. This method concentrates the structural system vertically as opposed to horizontally, taking a different approach to minimizing intrusions into usable space.

The most open and flexible system was the first of the three prototypes on the previous page, but it was lacking in lateral and shear resistance. We came up with the idea of bracing branching out from each column to create ‘branches’ that could be tessellated for regularity. This system had the further benefit of decoupling the facade entirely from the structure, unlike the other two initial experiments, which makes it possible to adjust the facade more freely in response to environmental conditions as seen in this interactive model.