Multi storage
building
4th semester
Marc André Kuhnert - Micael Pepe - Jan Reynders
In the 4th semester we are given the assignment to design a multi-storey building.
The multi storey building should have at least a commercial area, a living area (apartments of at least 70m²) and a penthouse on top. The basement should be used (partly) as parking space.
In the building we should incorporate balconies for the apartments and a rooftop terrace for the penthouse.
Besides the requirements for the interdisciplinary project, we also got some from our client Mr. Tito.
Mr. Tito bought the plot in the Sorthøj 80, 9000 Aalborg especially because of the beautiful views it offers. That’s why he would love to be able to relax in this calming surrounding.
But after a hard day of work, he likes to attend social activities or have a conversation with someone over a glass of wine.
The vibrant social life of Mr. Tito in combination with the relaxing surrounding provides us with many challenges in the design of the building. But at the same time the diversity within the project opens a lot of possibilities as well. Since the plot is located next to one of the green lungs of Aalborg and with many schools in the direct environment, this building could become a land mark for bikers, students and the bon-vivant’s of Aalborg.
Requirements for the building
Living areas:
- The living areas should all be planned in such a way that the maximum amount of sunlight is able to be enter the building.
- The client would also like the views that the plots offers to be used as much as possible in the orientation of the apartments.
Penthouse
- As home owner Tito and his daughter will be living on the top floor of the building in the penthouse.
- They love to educate themselves even outside of school and need a large library incorporated in the design of the penthouse to do so.
- They want big glass facades, so the little sunlight they get can be used as a reminder of the Mexican weather.
- Because he used to be a renowned designer our client would like to see a studio with an inspiring view of the Limfjord built in the penthouse.
- His daughter wants a room for herself.
- They also want a guestroom in case friends or family come to visit.
- To enjoy the sun Tito wants a roof terrace, which can also be used to let his dog out for a small run.
Apartments
- The living areas should be primarily designed as student accommodation since he and his daughter came to Denmark because of the excellent educational system and their informal culture. This way he would like to generate some income, but at the same time give something back to the community.
- The apartments can be divided in sharing flats and/or smaller private apartments with balconies.
Commercial areas:
Besides their private life they both believe in an active and open social tissue, still deeply rooted in the ways of the Mexican culture.
Tito would like the building to be a gathering point for the neighborhood and an open design of the building should help to achieve that.
Bar:
Knowing the drinking culture of the Danes and the “Hugge” feeling that it brings along, our client wants to incorporate a multipurpose bar on the ground floor. The bar or café should be able to host concerts, expositions and overall gatherings.
Spa/ Wellness:
The location of the building in one of the green lungs of Aalborg and the stunning views offered by the hill like landscape, makes this the perfect spot for a wellness. A Spa also complements our client’s healthy lifestyle and the desire of generating additional income from the activities housed inside the building.
Winter garden:
One of our client’s wishes was the ability of growing his own food because of his vegan, eco-friendly way of eating. Since the weather in Aalborg does not always allow a comfortable way of farming, we decided to add a winter garden to the building program.
Analysis
Plot analysis
Wind analysis
Sun analysis
Component analysis:
Concept devolpment
The analysis provided us with some obstacles. The views are in the same direction as where most of the wind is coming from and this is also the direction with the biggest potential of solar gain.
We figured out that to optimise our buidling we should think in 2 building masses that act as one. Therefor we started out with one building mass which we split into 2 pieces . By moving the 2 pieces away from eachother we created different semi enclosed regions, protected from the wind, which feel very private but are part of the bigger unit.
The more our building took shape to more we had to think about the functionality it would eventually have since Mr. Tito wanted to have a bar, polyvalent room and also a spa/welness with a lot of requirements. In our opinion all these functions should coexist next to eachother but with a strong relationship in between. To achieve this we understood that we needed to create more than 2 different area’s whitin the building.
When we looked at the map of our plot we realised that there was a walking way running trough our building and instead of getting rid of this path we embraced it in our design by making it the final devision of our building.
Now that we took away the wind inbetween our 2 building masses by redirected the wind around the building, it was time to let the sunshine in. We changed the shape and the direction of our building masses slighty , giving it a bit of an angle towards the South-West. But instead of seperating one mass into 2 we mirrored one of the building masses, creating the other building mass and at the same time a bigger atrium in between. The opening of the atrium, that later became our winter garden, was orientated to the South to make the highest potential of sun captation possible.
When you look at the building on a plan drawing, you can see very easy the way we mirrowed the two building masses to eachother, mimicking a pyramid shape. But once on the floor this simularity is a lot harder to spot. The reason for this is because we didn’t use the effect on the same level but always mirrowed to the level above or below (depending on how you look at it). This means that when we took away a building part on the ground floor in the west wing, we would take away a simular part on the 1st floor of the right wing.
Doing so we created additional shading during the summer time.
Main concept
Due to the strange mariage of meeting places like the bar, multifuntional room and winter garden and the more private areas as the spa, the penthouse and the student accomodiation we had to find a good balance for everybody. This balance is best to be discribed as a public space with a private character.
The reason why we consider it as public space is because in it’s core the building is designed to get people together. To work, live, rest and drink in a open, secured and pleasant environment. The winter garden plays a vital role in this feeling that we wanted to create since the weather in Denmark doesn’t always allow such behaviour. It works as the glue between all the different functions, as a sort of central market space where everything comes together.
Besides the obvious reasons the winter garden also has a more hidden reason as the provider of fresh air by the means of natural ventilation. We made sure that all the apartments have at least one connection to the winter garden for this to be possibl (these connections are not always visible and can be more hidden than you think)
The 2 big entrances (the old walking way) that run through the 2 building masses and into the wintergarden also invite the entire neighbourhood to join. These 4.5 meter high “gates” also function as emergency routes and as inlet for natural ventilation.
The pathway is additionally accentuated by a pergola that covers it in the winter garden. The pergola is made of a iron mesh to let the sunshine pass and on it’s turn is the symbolic bridge between the building masses, effectively reconnecting the 2 cultures, lifestyles,...
Floorplans:
(Semi)sections:
Water supply and waste water:
(Natural) ventilation:
Keypoints:
Reports: