Combining scientific approaches in building science and architectural design in academia: A case study

Abstract

A successful coupling of architectural design with multi-aspect building performance assessment is a complex, but necessary requirement for today’s building planning- and retrofit-activities. Architects are required to not only possess the vocabulary and basic knowledge in multiple fields, but must also work in collaborative design teams, composed of different domain specialists (e.g., structural engineers and building simulation experts). However, training in collaborative work is rarely provided in academic surroundings. In this contribution, we describe an educational effort toward interdisciplinary work on a specific and clearly defined architectural design task, which strongly necessitates the consideration of performance mandates. The task is the retrofit and redesign of an existing building façade from the 1950s. “Rationalist” buildings of this period often display reasonable functional solutions and good daylight availability, but they have performance shortcomings in other areas. These encompass, for instance, poor thermal performance of the envelope, lack of sufficient indoor environmental control, and unsatisfactory overall appearance. In a combined design studio and project course for building performance modelling, students from different disciplinary backgrounds formed interdisciplinary design teams. These teams worked together on façade retrofit ideas for the aforementioned building, considering both aesthetic aspects and performance issues from the very first design sketch. This led to the development and performance evaluation of a number of original façade retrofit ideas. In addition, the students were asked to devise the building process management. They thus had to consider not only design issues, but practical matters of building construction. The present contribution illustrates the scope, the applied approaches, and the concrete results of this interdisciplinary academic effort.