Preliminary Design Iteration

Previous design approaches left my design options open-ended.  A set of construction/material standards, dimensional standards and a set of layout varieties were created to lead my design process to a clearer, better organized design solution.

With the importance of this building complex to be self-sustaining and off-grid, I concentrated my roofing design on the ability to shed water into one collective location.  The choice of a shed roof seemed most reasonable to accomplish this.  With that in mind, I designed the above "basic design" for each unit: a 12'x24' rectangular living unity with a shed roof.  Using this as my base, I broke the design down into panels (a:roof, b:roof pitch, c:clerestory, d/e:side panels ~ 12'x10').

 Given this information, I began to consider how the units could be combined to create multi-story units that maximize views, reduces dark interior situations, creates a design that would allow for the desired roof layout and to create personal/private spaces outside the structure.  Below right considers an interlocking design to combine the designs.  On the left are some site layout considerations and what sort of spaces could be arranged based on the choice of structure combination.  This seemed very open-ended again.

 

 

 

Taking my basic plan dimensions, I chose six layouts to use while considering how the units would join together.  Many arrangements are available, but for brevity's sake, I chose layout #1 and #4 to combine.  The joining of the structures in the above style was not justifiable:  too many choices without real justification (or a site to guide) convinced me to choose a stacked plan to combining my structures.

Below is the resulting stacked design study.  First floor being unit #4 and 2nd floor being unit #1, the following plan and elevation were produced.

Many issues arose during while creating this: 1)specific choices would need to be made about what sort of exterior paneling would be options 2) overall dimensions would need to be studied to make both human-scale and loft-worthy 3) changes in roof pitches were not expected and would need to be planned for.

 

For this particular #1/#4 layout, the above paneling breakdown was made.  Would this choice of panels be appropriate for any design layout?

 

Considering site implementation, I began thinking of the flatness of our Detroit site, the tree farm situation and the surrounding roads.  Below left, would my houses create a sound and sight barrier that separates the farm from the street?  Or would the trees create a sight barrier that gave my houses privacy on all sides?  Below right, could manipulation of the terrain combine both of these layouts?  Below top, here the land is formed over a steel structure that creates a web over the entire complex.  The idea being that the web would create sound and sight barriers from the outside while well-placed openings would allow air and light to enter the space.  Here, unsightly parking could be hidden under the grassy web.

The image of Renzo's grass roof with light wells is something I imagined as a means to being light into any dark places created by the web.



 

 

Renzo Piano's California Academy of Science