Focus - Day Lighting

I have narrowed down some ideas on how to incorporate day lighting into the building. Since the building is 75% windows on the perimeter it is already great for day lighting, but the challenge will be to block the day light. I will pop up the roof in two places and create two atriums with windows covering the north face. This will allow more light into the center of the building. I will use fiber optic daylighting to create emphasis in the lobby.

Revised Floor Plan- First and Second Level

The first two images are of the first floor at the beginning of the week and end of the week of February 21st. The next two images are of the second floor, beginning and end. This week I have mostly been working on the second level floor plan. I am also incorporating my focus which is day lighting into my floor plan, so I am drawing elevations of the core of my building and the atrium.

Focus - Day Lighting

Researching day lighting has been exciting and informational. I really like the way fiber optic day lighting looks. The cables routed through walls or ceilings are bent around obstructions creating a dynamic and networked look. The cables draw day light down into the building during the day, then at night the fiber optics work in reverse lighting the interior with power provided by integrated solar-charged battery packs. In the image above, the Edgar Towers in Manhattan used fiber optic day lighting.

To reach the central core of the building I may use clerestory windows in the hallways and sloped ceilings on the second level. With the use of skylights, all the existing windows and fiber optic day lighting, I believe I can adequately use natural sunlight to light the inside of the building.

Revised Floor Plan- First Level

The week of February 14th I have been finishing and revising the first level floor plan. I had trouble deciding where I wanted to put the stairs. I chose several different places and tried to work around them, so I am pleased where they are located now. All the spaces flow well, I believe. Except the tertiary exit, I am not positive if there should be a hallway that connects to the main entrance axis. All hallways are four foot are more wide for ADA compliance. The stairs are placed on each half of the building for Life Safety Code. There are ADA bathrooms

Focus - Day Lighting

The focus for Green Sphere Wellness Center is lighting with an emphasis on day lighting and certain concerns associated with day lighting such as: thermal comfort and ventilation, acoustics, and harvesting solar energy. I have briefly researched a product that helps with acoustics and thermal comfort called aerogel which also helps with glare because it diffuses direct sunlight. It's best feature is it's thermal insulation and due to it's tenuous structure it has incredible sound control applications. Energy efficiency lends itself to being a sustainable product. I may use it for skylights 25' from the existing perimeter windows on the roof. I will continue to research other products and applications for effective day lighting.

Preliminary Floor Plan - First Level

The existing Republic Finance Building which will house the new Green Sphere Wellness Center has two stories. The week of February 7th I have been working on the preliminary first level floor plan. I had to revise the blocking diagrams for the first level to incorporate a larger chapel. The prominent feature for the interior of the building is the chapel. I began with repositioning the two stairwells and working out a circulation path throughout the interior and exterior of the building. There will be an secondary and tertiary entrance. The tertiary entrance was added to the rear of the building with sidewalk access through a meditation garden.

Book Format - Title page, Typical page, Chapter page

Book format revisions include the addition of Green Sphere's logo to the title page, putting borders behind images on the typical pages and changing colors on the chapter pages.

Logo Design

Project Management Timeline

Stacking Diagram

Blocking Diagrams - First and Second Levels

Bubble Diagrams - First and Second Levels

Space Adjacency Matrix

Proposed Program

Infinity Chapel

Infinifty Chapel

Location: Greenwich Village, New York

Client: Tenth Church of Christ

Size: 8,000 s.f.

Date: completed 2010

Spatial Types/ Square Footages

Lobby: 576

Reading Room: 1344

Private Reading Room: 108

Chapel: 1672

Sunday School: 1728

Boardroom: 416

Offices: 768

Restrooms: 1632

The square footage of the chapel will be used with other precedents to figure out a square footage for the chapel in my building.What is unique about Infinity Chapel are the reading rooms. Instead of a traditional adoration chapel or separate meditative area this chapel incorporated a reading room which I will add to my space as a meditation/study area. Using this square footage as precedents.

Bigelow Chapel

Bigelow Chapel

Location: New Brighton, Minnesota

Architect: Hammel, Green, and Abrahamson, Inc.

Client: United Theological Seminary

Size: 8,000 s.f.

Spatial Types/ Square Footages

Office: 140

Chapel: 2156

Processional Hall: 105

Narthex: 294

South Entry: 98

West Entry: 147

Meditation Garden: 1225

North Garden: 1372

Mechanical: 392

Classrooms: 12,000

Dormitory: 12,000

Library: 900

Administration: 700

The chapel square footage in the Bigelow Chapel will be used with other chapel precedents to figure out square footage for my building. There are many gardens on the Bigelow site which is a feature I have not found elsewhere.

Daylight Analysis

The Republic FInance Building was modeled in 3DS Max using the daylighting system with Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s coordinates. The sun is accurately positioned for specific dates and times. The last day of the months of: January, March, and June are used with three different business times: 9:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., and 4:00 p.m.. The north/northeast face of the building is shown in these renders. In the mornings the sun rises in the east creating shadows on the northwestern side of the building. As the sun moves across the sky, the shadows move and at 9:00 a.m. the north/northeastern side has a little shade, but by 4:00 p.m. the same side is completely shaded. The landscaping near the entrance and parking lot are on the north/northeastern side that receives afternoon shade.

January - 9AM, 12PM, 4PM

March/September - 9AM, 12PM, 4PM

June - 9AM, 12PM, 4PM

Building Sections - Transverse and Longitudinal

Floor Plans - First and Second Level

Building Interior

Building Elevations