On 1^st-3^rd of March 2011 the design work of a group from School of Architecture, the University of Sheffield has been exhibited in Ecobuild 2011 (http://www.ecobuild.co.uk)  in Excel, London. The design of this group has been shown along with 7 other shortlisted teams (out of about 90 teams) of ‘Isover international Multi-comfort Skyscraper design competition’.

Team Members: (right to left in the above picture) Ali M. S. Kashkooli, Katarina Rozvadska, and Blazej Zemleduch  

About the competition

The theme of the competition was the creative approach to the concept of energy efficient construction for high rise buildings. The aim was to design a multiple-use tower according to Isover Multi-Comfort House definition and with Passive House components.

The subject of the competition was “the design of a sustainable sky scraper, which has to have the building physics performance of an Isover Multi-Comfort House”.

The Student teams (up to 3 in each team) had to produce a design that took account of both social and economic aspects, as well constructional considerations. The building was supposed to give a new impulse into the existing urban area. In addition, the building design had to propose urban space solutions for the immediate surroundings of the site.

The new tower was supposed to become a leading project to achieve new levels of sustainability in Greenwich and in the Central Business District of Lower Manhattan, New York.

About the building

The building has been designed based on 2 sections:

1-The public area (including: museums, libraries, theatre, medical services, sport and GYM facilities, retails, stores, parking spaces for more than 4000 cars,  different entrances for the tower, and the lobbies for the tower sections);

On the top of this place green roofs and landscapes have been designed including cafes, and open restaurants for the public.

2-The Tower in 60 floors including 4 sections (regarding to the value of spaces and hierarchies -see figure1):

a)Student accommodations in 15 floors; in each floor 36 student rooms have been considered, as well as 6 shared kitchens and 2 big common rooms (dividable to smaller areas by prefabricated walls).

b)Offices; the space of 1964 m² (in each floor + corridors and stare boxes) have been designed for open and private offices in 15 floors.

c)Residential apartments; in each floor of this section 10 apartment units have been defined in different sizes and designs (1-2 bedrooms) for various range of costumers.

d)The fashion hotel; which is the most important part of this tower as a legend has been located on the top in a creative shape (regarding to its creative nature) including hotel rooms type A, B, and C (different qualities and services), restaurant and bars on the 3 top floors, and 3 floors of show rooms and fashion show facilities (the biggest floors in the middle of the section suitable for 250-300 show rooms).

About the site (connection to the urban area)  

Connection between west and east (Joseph P. Ward St. and Edgar St.) combined with communication on the 1^st floor of the public area (beneath the tower). Pedestrians paths are conducted above the main ground floor in North-South). There are also, some vertical connections entering from North and south of public area.

Structure covers entrance to the tunnel and in the same time is used as green common public space. In higher parts there are placed coffee shops, cafés, at lower – playgrounds and sitting places. On the south part there is placed a little amphitheatre and outdoor cinema. Provided in this way the landscape is rising up from South (from Battery Pl above which there are planned also two paths to connect with a park) and climbing to the first and second floors of tower base.

Project includes a reconstruction of Greenwich St, where on left and right its side are placed ramps down as the reference to the main waves of the landscape (partly covered with glass roofs) to the underground. At this station platforms can get natural light and to be gently woven into overall urban layout creating functional and friendly connections.

General structural information

The overall zone which includes the tower in is 55x55x228 meters. There is a big shear in width of 16 meters in the middle of the tower, which divides it to 2 similar parts.  These two, are connected to each other by bridges designed in every 5 floors. Structurally, the building is supported by a strong steel structured core (based on columns, beams and stiffeners) in the centre and is connected to the floors, as well as the external steel tube.

The floors are made by composite of concrete and polymer which are stronger and lighter than the normal armed concrete type. Moreover, the internal walls are suggested to be made up of light composites of recycled paper, and waste of agricultural/agro materials (in this case fire and water resistance would be considered).  The windows are recommended to be low energy double glazing with aluminium frames (better than timber because of need for stability in high levels and risk of fire).

General idea

The general idea of the building style has been established on the demand for contemporaneity and creativity, as well as the local values (formal-symmetrical forms of the surrounding towers, American-New Yorker symbols as: Statue of Liberty etc.). Also, the ‘wave idea’ for the shape of ceilings in public area comes from the near location to the sea.

Moreover, the geographical situation, climate (temperature, natural lighting, natural ventilation), and geotechnical features have been considered.

Green design and energy efficiency

1-Thermal quality

To examine the thermal quality and the rate of heating-cooling energy consumption, the typical floors have been modelled in ECOTEC a software developed by AUTODESK) in the climatic profile of New York (the programme is connected to online data base). Hence, based on the results of the programme the following solutions have been considered in design and recommended for hot and cold seasons as follows:

• Use of sky-gardens on the levels are used as tools for equilibrating the temperature between the inside and outside; moreover, they filter the air in terms of pollution and speed of blowing in top floors. Additionally, controllable shading devices are recommended on the windows for hot months of the year.
• During the hot months (1/4^th of the year) the openings on both sides (northern and southern) of the levels and the channels in ceilings and floors are deriving the fresh-cool air (filtered by the trees) to the internal area of the building.
• For the cold months (3/4^th of the year) the position of the building and the windows provide the possibility to attract the highest rate of natural sun light during day and the entire year. Moreover, double-glazed windows maintain the temperature of the internal part of the building.

2-Acoustic features and solutions

To provide the best quality of life in the tower in terms of sound, acoustic ceilings have been suggested to be used within the building. Moreover, the sky-gardens and double-glazed windows are useful in terms of sound masking for the external urban sound pollution.

3-Energy solutions

In this design work, the concept of employing natural lighting, natural ventilation, green roofs and sky-gardens as well as the shading devices on the windows and double glazing have been employed to reduce the consumption of energy in heating and cooling of the building. Moreover, the height of the building and speed of wind provide a good opportunity to produce electricity based on wind power (as a source of renewable energy) to support the activities of the building.

*the location of wind turbines and their type should be in such way not to make extra noise in the area.

Moreover, the traces in the corners of the building are suitable to install solar collection devices (as PV panels etc.).

4-Recycling and water harvesting

The biomass system is recommended for recycling the wastes (food, paper and etc.), as well as recycling the water (Gray and Black water) and re-use them for irrigation of landscapes, sky-gardens, and green roofs.

Click here to watch the movie about the project

SUMMARY

In summary, The Green Tower is a piece of architectural, and technological design including several solutions in terms of energy efficiency, waste management as well as original cultural values of the location, and the contemporary requirements of high-tech life-style in 21st century.

Moreover, it represents the Zero Carbon, Zero Energy, and Zero Waste attitude and the importance of considering the concept of energy efficiency through structural and basic design of constructions.  

Ali M. S. Kashkooli

2011

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