Architectural Portfolio by Eric Tse

Professional Diploma in Architectural Studies

Architectural Design 3 Portfolio

Year 3 (23/24) Semester 1

Tse Kei Chun

20183983

erickctse@gmail.com

Art Link

1. Critical Comparative AnalysisIncremental Housing by ELEMENTAL

The general brief of this studio is to design a new type of housing to meet the uplifting demand of artists' community in Wong Chuk Hang, which is a traditional industrial area.

Firstly, the Incremental Housing project by ELEMENTAL was researched, design principles such as goemetry, circulation and building mode were extracted and used in subsequent design process.

The ELEMENTAL studio is headed by artistic director Alejandro Aravena, winner of the Pritzker Prize in 2016. The studio is based in the capital of Chile, Santiago.

The agency's slogan "half of a good house" defines their strategy in a simplified manner. ELEMENTAL builds “half houses” at the same cost and enables customers to build the other halves themselves. The combination of good design and the engagement of the owners creates more sustainable housing areas.

IQUIQUE, CHILE MONTERREY, MEXICO

Household Units before expansion

Below is plans of 1 House and 1 Duplex unit.

Household Units after expansion

1/f view from top

2/f view from top

3/f view from top

The "difficult half" contains kitchen, bathroom and stair.

IQUIQUE, CHILE Site Plan (1:500)

MONTERRY, MEXICO Site Plan (1:500)

MONTERREY, MEXICO (1:500)

Given that almost 50% of the sqm of the complex will be self-built, this building is porous so that the growth can occur within the structure. In 2003, before IQUIQUE was built, participatory design workshops were conducted with the stakeholders.

In reality, 15 years after it is built, all but one of the original 93 households have extended their house with 60 expanding beyond the framework defined by ELEMENTAL

- With no formal governance structures overseeing development

- Public and private space not clear (lot of remnant spaces beside the blocks)

- Resident build fourth floor

- Many rear yards are now fully enclosed within the house (no openings for natural light and ventilation)

- Subdivisions and subletting activities extend household sizes to such an extent that up to 11 people live in one house

For above issues, lessons are learnt and in later projects like MONTERREY, ELEMENTAL provided the solutions - A continuous roof top, prevent resident from building the forth floor

- Clear public and private space ownership, shared courtyard by moving all car park to the exterier

Following Voronoi diagram shows the conceptual ownership of the space, in MONTERREY garden is co-owned by all.

Voronoi diagram of IQUIQUE

Voronoi diagram of MONTERREY

2a. Testing Ground ResearchLandform Analysis

By researching, analyzing, observing and experiencing the contgextual fabric, we were trying to understand Wong

potentials and constraints, allowing our design to initiate, evolve and develop.

We site visited the study area and mapped the ventigation (above), and noise source (right).

Chuk Hang's

Wong Chuk Hang Vegetation Map (Oct 2023)

Vertical Green

Scrub

Grassland Hill

Podium Green

Mobile Green Tree

Flyover

Below is sun diagram and shadow frequency diagram of the region which is generated in ArcGIS Pro.

Right top is Graffiti we mapped during the site visit

Right bottom is a micro analysis - Sky View Dome of the study site (Sun Hing Industrial Building) of the two sides of the building

Sun Diagrams

Sun Diagrams

Wong Chuk Hang Shadow Frequency (7 Apr 2023 6AM-6PM) Taken Hourly

Wong Chuk Hang Shadow Frequency (7 Oct 2023 6AM-6PM) Taken Hourly

source:1

source:2

source:1

source 1 - https://www.lifestyleasia.com/hk/culture/art/hkwalls-2017-incredible-murals-graffiti-street-art/

source 2 - Google Street View

Micro Analysis - Sky View

2b. Testing Ground ResearchMacro Analysis (3-Min Walking Distance Analysis)

Assumption: walk distance is 80m per minute

Analysis in following 4 aspects:

Good:

GREEN - Covers 32000 sqm country park and country park entrance, 41 street trees

TRANSPORT - Direct distance to MTR = 80m, covers 6 bus stops

Fair: SUN LIGHT - Insufficient sunlight according to shadow study and sky view dome study

Poor:

NOISE - Nearby flyover and railway, high noise level

3. Conceptualizing and PrototypingSun Hing Industrial Building

We attempted to create a hybrid living and studio space for sculptors. First we understood the requirements of the artists as following, which provide the directions of the design

Requirements

- Room for making and storing art works (higher head room)

- Room for displaying and exhibiting the art works

- Room for exchange with other artists and public

- Well-lit possibly with day light

- Logistics of the art works to the ground level or display area

- Inspiration space

As the site we are working on is an traditional industrial building, which might not be suitable for living purpose. So we need to first work on the subgoal which is to design a place suitable for human living. And we think the following aspects are important.

- Sufficient day lighting

- Sufficient natural ventilation

- Noise reduction and sound proof from the busy traffic (MTR)

Design

If we treat building as a sculpture, the two primitive operations are push and pull. Inspired by Shinonome project in Tokyo, we found that by pushing the facade to form a void area with 2x floor height, it can

- Provide a display area of large art works to public on the street

- Provide a platform for logistics of work from studio to the ground level by using crane

- Provide a common area for gathering of tenants

- Allow day light and fresh air to flow to inner space of the building

On the other hand, Pull can

- Provide balcony as an area of inspiration

- Provide external staircase to connect different floors (a dedicated Art Link for public to visit artists studio and exhibition area)

Basically, Push provides a semi private space for Artists to present their works for public, and Pull provides a semi public space for public to access the art village and interact with artists (We call it Art Link).

For design of basic hybrid module, studio will have more headroom for work (2x floor height)

We also plan to have exhibition area on the ground level, so pedestrian can enjoy art works while passing through the building which is a shortcut passage between Yip Fat Street and Wong Chuk Hang Road.

Following is an attempt to evaluate 4 design options of the hybrid module based on a scoring system. Basic rules: Studio is 2x of living area, orientation as parameter.

Variations

A B C D

Win Area to Street (LIVING)

Win Area to Street (STUDIO)

Win Area to Void (LIVING) Win Area to Void (STUDIO) LIVING Near LIFT? STUDIO near VOID? (Logistics)

Assume day light from street side is double of that from building void i.e. Lighting score = 2 x Win Street + Win Void

Logistics is relative hard constraint so we put heavier weight

After normalize the value and sum up different factors, we get the final score of the 4 options, and option B is winner

4. Synthetization

Sustainability FeatureAir Chimney

To address the subgoal of designing a livable space, sustainability feature is added to the building, one of them is a air chimney, which pull air out of the building.

Below section diagram illustrate how fresh air is ventilated in the building.

Sustainability FeatureDouble Slab System

As industrial building has relatively higher ceiling, we evaluated the feasibility of double slab system to bring in fresh air as well as installing the fibre optics which guide day light from the side to the core of the building. But we found that the headroom to beam is only 2.1 m after implemented which is less than the required 2.3 m in the building ordinance, although the headroom to ceiling is 2.7 m. Which is due to the large beam size in the industrial building. A workaround is to design more compact double slab system.

Art LinkThe Link between

Artists and Public

There is a dedicated pathway for the public to access the gallery and go up to different floors and interact with the artists, we called it Art Link because it link up the artists and the public. Pedestrian from the street can also view the people flow of it through the external staircases and void volume.

On the other hand, the artists will use the lifts and original staircases to access their studio and living units.

Below is a rendering of the gallery at the G/F, part of the slab in 1/F is removed to allow higher ceiling and hanging art works above.

Grid system for incremental building

We designed the incremental building based on the grid system, which restricts all incremental elements to have width and height meetting the the grid requirements, first we use 6 equally sized blocks for each floor but later we changed to 8 equally sized blocks.

Incremental options and mapping with design goals of livability and artists requirements

Local rules for shaping the building

- Two push with 2x height should have vertical distance max 4 min 2

- Push with width 2-3 shoud not cross the column in the middle

- Pull should happen at floor(push)-1. At opposite side of push above

Participatory Facade -

Building as sculpture

We finally came up the following incremental options for our building facade renovation design

Option Functions for Living Functions for Artists

Window

Lighting and ventilation

Exchange area with people outside

Balcony

Lighting and ventilation

Corridor Ventilation to building core

Glass panel

Lighting

Special Balcony (1x2) Reduce noise from front traffic (MTR)

Street view at different side

Ventilation of south east wind in summer

Inspiration

More living space (2.160m2)

Semi public area for exchange

Private optional display area

More living space (2.331m2)

Void (2x3)

Lighting and ventilation to building core

Exchange area

Display area

Logistics of big art work to ground

Above is the finalized facade grid system

The draft of the facade options arrangement

View

Alternative view to the East side of the building which is further than the view in front

Special Balcony (1x2)

Following is a reference incremental option designed base on different sustainability aspects of the site

Noise

Reduce the noise of busy traffice (railway) from the front

Ventilation

From HKO data, between 2023-06-01 to 2023-08-31 at Wong Chuk Hang, total 92 days 90-270 degree - 75 days 90-130 degree - 41 days

Special balcony allows convention ventilation to bring out hot air

Lego like facade system

Inspired by ELEMENTAL Incremental housing, in which house owners can participate in the design process, we proposed to install a lego like framework in the facade of the building, and allow building owners easily propose their own incremental design options based on the standards provided. Not to mention, with this lego like facade system, all incremental options can be reused and reduce construction waste.

Submission Process

1. Building owner request for incremental options

2. Submit request to Building Management Office.

2. Check if has stocks in storeroom, otherwise manufactored in factory.

3. Shipped to site and install

4. Owner can even design their incremental options based on standards

Site Model

Study Model of Module

Final Model

Carpark

Toilet

1:100 Plan 2/F

Theatre

Gallery

Function Hall

Toilet

Toilet

1:100 Plan 4/F

1:100 Plan 5/F

Podium Garden

Canteen Gallery

Toilet

Toilet

Living Area / Studio Lift Lobby

Typical unit for family: Living area = 72.369m2 headroom 3m Studio area = 64.532m2 headroom 6m

Typical unit for single: Living area = 33.045m2 headroom 3m

Studio area = 25.560m2 headroom 6m

Movable wall for logistics of art work

Higher headroom for studio purpose

Studio Living Area

Toilet

Living Area Studio

Art Link

Thank You