A competition requires us to make a small bird watching unit/shelter in a region that is mostly humid and has a moderate temperature (it is next to the sea). They also want it to be both open-space and for it to provide thermal comfort for the occupants through natural ways (so no air-conditioners etc).
The part that confused us is how to setup thermal comfort in an open-space structure. How can we naturally control (at least to a small extent) the temperature inside an open-space structure if it is not isolated enough from the external environment around it?
Along the way I started losing the meaning of open-space all together. Searches about an open-space shelter mostly show just roofs on columns without walls, completely not isolated from the external environment. How can we provide (and control) thermal comfort in such a scenario? Is simple shading from the sun and the natural wind enough for that?
In the meantime, certain sources define open-space for buildings as simply structures that have defined minimum-sized openings in them that allow for direct sunlight and wind ventilation from the outside.
It confused me. Would a building with glass windows and ventilation shafts be considered open-space? Or do we have to remove the glass on the windows and let them act as simple openings? Or does that not count either and we have to remove a wall or all for the structure to qualify as open-space? How can the last 2 options provide thermal comfort in their case? And does insulation even matter in open-space structures like these?
Unfortunately we cannot ask the competition hosts for more details. I was hoping to get more concrete definitions of the terms related to this project (open-space mostly). I wanted to know, according to a definition, if insulation then matters, and how to provide thermal comfort in that scenario. The information I found didn't seem relevant enough, or not specific enough for our case. I hope that someone can enlighten me or redirect me to relevant sources that can clear the confusion/provide insight.
Thank you and sorry in advance if the questions asked here are rather common-sense. It seems we lack certain fundamental definitions to progress further.
JLC-1
Aug 4, 17 3:39 pm
think alhambra.
John_Red
Aug 5, 17 3:56 pm
Ah, that may be a good starting point, thank you.
archinine
Aug 4, 17 9:33 pm
Competitions such as you described are intentionally open ended. There is no wrong answer. Don't get so caught up in the semantics, just design something.
John_Red
Aug 5, 17 3:58 pm
Yeah, I guess so. It's just that a lot of requirements were mentioned, some that don't fit into bird watching shelters at all. Felt like they wanted a small but fully functional house instead of a bird watching shelter. Oh well, I too think that there is no wrong answer after all.
randomised
Aug 5, 17 7:58 am
Don't google open space structures but bird watching shelters instead. Also, why would anyone put glass in a bird watching shelter?
Hello.
A competition requires us to make a small bird watching unit/shelter in a region that is mostly humid and has a moderate temperature (it is next to the sea). They also want it to be both open-space and for it to provide thermal comfort for the occupants through natural ways (so no air-conditioners etc).
The part that confused us is how to setup thermal comfort in an open-space structure. How can we naturally control (at least to a small extent) the temperature inside an open-space structure if it is not isolated enough from the external environment around it?
Along the way I started losing the meaning of open-space all together. Searches about an open-space shelter mostly show just roofs on columns without walls, completely not isolated from the external environment. How can we provide (and control) thermal comfort in such a scenario? Is simple shading from the sun and the natural wind enough for that?
In the meantime, certain sources define open-space for buildings as simply structures that have defined minimum-sized openings in them that allow for direct sunlight and wind ventilation from the outside.
It confused me. Would a building with glass windows and ventilation shafts be considered open-space? Or do we have to remove the glass on the windows and let them act as simple openings? Or does that not count either and we have to remove a wall or all for the structure to qualify as open-space? How can the last 2 options provide thermal comfort in their case? And does insulation even matter in open-space structures like these?
Unfortunately we cannot ask the competition hosts for more details. I was hoping to get more concrete definitions of the terms related to this project (open-space mostly). I wanted to know, according to a definition, if insulation then matters, and how to provide thermal comfort in that scenario. The information I found didn't seem relevant enough, or not specific enough for our case. I hope that someone can enlighten me or redirect me to relevant sources that can clear the confusion/provide insight.
Thank you and sorry in advance if the questions asked here are rather common-sense. It seems we lack certain fundamental definitions to progress further.
think alhambra.
Ah, that may be a good starting point, thank you.
Competitions such as you described are intentionally open ended. There is no wrong answer. Don't get so caught up in the semantics, just design something.
Yeah, I guess so. It's just that a lot of requirements were mentioned, some that don't fit into bird watching shelters at all. Felt like they wanted a small but fully functional house instead of a bird watching shelter. Oh well, I too think that there is no wrong answer after all.
Don't google open space structures but bird watching shelters instead. Also, why would anyone put glass in a bird watching shelter?