As one of the United States' most overpopulated and most economically stratified metropolises, Los Angeles is in great need of classroom restoration and additions in order to meet national education standards. The concept of our design is to create modularity and replicability in a way that is both environmentally and culturally sustainable. While our research on weather patterns, lighting strategies, and energy usage are specific to southern California, the goal is to create a model that could easily be repeated throughout the nation.
In order to propose a viable, easily replicable we determined that natural light and ventilation needed to be maximized through passive solar strategies, which would in turn reduce overall maintenance and energy costs. Los Angeles has mild seasonal variations when compared with other U.S. cities, with the occurrence of occasional summer dry spells and slightly cooler, rainy winters. The average annual temperature ranges from 56 to 74 degrees, with an overall temperature range from 48 to 83 degrees.
On average, over half the year sees clear and sunny days. Coming up with a design that allows adequate daylight, without over-heating is a challenge we faced during design development. In an attempt to avoid the heat gains of shortwave radiation, as well as to provide a more appropriate learning environment, we developed a few systems for obtaining indirect light: a screen mesh, internal/external shading devices, and traditional glazing, all formatted to the same modular dimensions for ease of variation according to the specific site. For the purposes of this competition, we have chosen to focus on one specific orientation: 30 degrees east of north.
After assigning program to the classroom, glazing was applied to certain parts of the facade to provide task lighting as well as experiential windows (for views to the outside, a sense of the passage of time, and daylight) in areas where solar heat gain was minimal. The use of screens includes both single and double layers of mesh according to shading requirements for the building and which also work to create an experiential “dissolve” of light that blends solid wall to pure void. Glazing, screens, and solids are all based on the diamond module for ease of fabrication and replicability.
External/internal protruding shading devices vary in size and width depending on shading requirements for the specific orientation. To determine the width, length and location of the shading devices, sun profile angles were determined and graphed for summer and wintertime for every month. The use of light shelves was incorporated into the design in places were external shading by itself was not enough in order to minimize summer light while still providing adequate natural lighting during winter months.
List of Materials:
-tilt-up concrete
-aluminum mesh screens
-fabricated steel (external shading)
-cork (for flooring and learning boards)
