Building Form – PRECEDENT | RESEARCH
r As a designer, I feel it is necessary to know the constraints of the site and the program before the building can be fully realized and become a successful project. The RWE Essen building is an excellent example of this knowledge and research into the appropriate technologies and building aesthetics that work for both the city of Essen and the client, in this case, RWE. Ingenhoven and partner researched the most effective passive and active technologies that could be implemented in this area, and they made sure those response were integral parts of their design. The understanding of basic and intuitive physics can be seen in the fish mouth detail found between each floor level. Since the building can actually “breathe”, it is not necessary for primary mechanical systems, and there are no such systems in place to heat or cool the building. This is only possible because of the integration of the building systems with occupant controls and an intimate knowledge of the site forces and flows that shape the climate in Essen. This document proceeds to show the place-specific influences, such as wind temperature, wind speed, solar radiation, and solar exposure and how they have shaped both the form and the detail of the RWE Essen building.
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