Metro Usership and Density

Facades

Much can be said about the façade of a building versus the building envelope. Thomas Mayne of Morphosis has been the leader in trying to combine the two, allowing the façade to cut into and infiltrate the actual building. However, for Mayne it still seems like a two-dimensional exercise and has yet to make encompass the entire building, as in the San Francisco Federal Building. Yet, with the majority of Morphosis’ projects dealing with and showcasing the façade, it still feels whimsical and more about making an iconic appearance than the practicality of what a good façade can go. While the façade at San Francisco Federal Building is claimed to shade the building it still feels more like an afterthought than the original purpose for the façade.

Nevertheless, a façade can be more than just an artistic gesture it can be used to mitigate many external factors such as sun and noise. Recently two projects have kept my attention that facilitates their façade to mitigate multiple factors, as well as give the building an iconic look.

The first project is the 0-14 Tower by Reisner + Umemoto, in Business Bay, Dubai. The all concrete façade structure not only helps to shade the building leaving opening for views through the district, it also helps keep the building cool by absorbing the heat gain from the sun, but also since the façade removed three feet from the glass curtain wall it creates a stack effect that takes hot air away from the building. The most unique aspect of the façade at 0-14 Tower is it is also a structural component of the building, really serving double duty. The façade which is actually an exoskeleton helps support the floor allowing column free interiors as well as resisting the lateral loads of the wind. This type of façade is unprecedented and hopefully inspires others to try this multi-fictional style façade.

Second project Gensler’s Shanghai Tower, in Shanghai. While this projects façade is complimentary to the twisting form of the building, giving it the iconic shape helping to reduce wind loads. But the most interesting thing about the project is as the building rises and the floor plates begin to taper the façade slowly tilts in eventually meeting the floor plates. Because of this there is an ability to create lobbies and green spaces between the internal glass clad structure and external glass façade. Since these semi-exterior spaces will be between 12-15 stories tall natural updraft will be the primary mode of cooling.