Project Description
GENERAL IDEA The designed building is located on a small plot surrounded by trees, in the heart of historic district of the city of Gdańsk (Poland), called Oliwa. It is a multifunctional public utility building, with a library as the leading function. It consists of two parts connected by an hourglass shaped passage with a transparent roof. The passage is the central element of the project. Its form was determined by two reasons: first, it creates a great visual and functional effect connected with the daylight, and second – it helps to observe and experience the beauty of the impressive gothic church located next to the building. DAYLIGHT ANALYSYS For a better understanding of how daylight interacts with the building we conducted a daylight analysis. The software we used was VELUX Daylight Visualizer 2, Revit and Insight. We were particularly interested in how the form of the passage impacts the daylight in the building and about the lighting conditions in the glass oriels being a part of the club. Apart from this, we also analyzed all the other parts of the building. During the analysis, it turned out that the passage and the oriels would be quite vulnerable to overexposure and the related issues, such as overheating and glares. In order to develop more friendly conditions in the designed building, we made an attempt to find solutions to these problems. SOLUTIONS AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES After a research, we came up with two potential improvements that could be made in the project. First of them is installing automatic roller blinds on the outer side of the passage, to prevent the sun rays from overheating the building. This improvement could enhance user experience during hot, sunny days, with all the advantages of the passage preserved during rest of the time. Secondly, when it comes to the oriels, our idea is to bind them with greenery – namely ivy. It could be planted on the roofs of the oriels and run down their walls. In summer, when the plant has leaves, it would prevent the interior from overheating and glares, while in winter, when it doesn’t – it would allow the daylight to enter the spaces freely. Another advantage of a solution like this is also the beneficial impact of the greenery on human well-being. We believe that spaces like these can have a great value, especially now, when it seems that people will need to have more space around them than before due to the new challenge which the world is facing – the global pandemic.When we guarantee the proper lighting inside, such spaces located in all types of buildings – including public utility spaces, offices, residential architecture – can have a great chance to provide people with the comfort, privacy and a sense of security they need.