Building Science 1 | this-is-how-i-design

BUILDING SCIENCE 1 – BLD60803

Project 1: Case Study: Basic Building Design Strategies

Our Project for Building Science began with a site visit to Singapore. We were to form groups whilst each group was allocated a building in Singapore that incorporates principles of basic building design in order to improve the comfort levels of its occupants.

Kimberley, Alisha, Emily and I teamed up for this project and we were given the Learning Hub at Nanyang Technological University as our case study.

Our case study had to include:

Analyzing the existing conditions in terms of thermal comfort.
Explaining how the thermal environment is affected from natural and man-made factors.
Identifying 2 basic design strategies – Sun shading and Passive Ventilation that have been designed for the building and how these design strategies perform best to achieve thermal comfort in the building.
Photographs of the interior ambiences.
Detailing of visuals and narrating strategies that accompany these design principles.
Using appropriate visuals and diagrams with appropriate referencing to highlight these principles and elaborate their effect and importance in maintaining thermal comfort.

Passive Design at The Learning Hub, NTU, Singapore

Reflecting back...

Through this project, I was made aware of how important Passive Design is in relation to sustainability. It aids in maximizing comfort levels for occupants within a building while making use of a minimum amount of energy and reduces impacts made on the environment.

Singapore is a country that gives priority to Sustainable building and incorporates Passive Design Strategies in many if not all of its up and coming buildings. The Learning Hub at Nanyang Technological University is an example. This educational landmark in Singapore was designed by Heatherwick Studio and carried out by CPG Consultants. It functions mainly as a place for students and lecturers from various disciplines at NTU to meet and interact with one another. Also called the Hive, it consists of 12 towers – each a stack of rounded tutorial rooms all surrounding a central atrium. These tutorial rooms open up into shared circulation spaces around the atrium forming internal garden terraces. In addition to this, the Hive also had a Library and a few lecture theatres.

In terms of Sun shading, the Hive is designed in such a manner that the entire form of the building acts as a shading device-the 12 towers are tapered inwards so that each level acts as a horizontal shading device for the level below. The presence of many openings in the form of balconies and terraces all around the hive enhance passive ventilation in particular Cross and stack ventilation. In addition to this, the addition of internal vertical greening and rooftop greenery provide a cooler semi-outdoor environment that contributes greatly to heat reduction and reduces the need for mechanical devices such as fans.

Upon completion of this project, I have a good understanding of what Thermal comfort is and how it is affected in the manner in which a building is designed. I understand that it is of great importance to design a space that makes use of the basic building design strategies and passive design strategies first and foremost before moving on to incorporate mechanical design strategies to further enhance thermal comfort levels. I am now also more aware of how I design spaces and try to incorporate many of these strategies into my design projects.