Kinectic structures
- 2. AL BAHR TOWERS, ABU DHABI.
- 3. • For Abu Dhabi’s newest pair of towers, Aedas Architects have designed a responsive facade which takes cultural cues from the “mashrabiya”, a traditional Islamic lattice shading device. • Using a parametric description for the geometry of the actuated facade panels, the team was able to simulate their operation in response to sun exposure and changing incidence angles during the different days of the year.
- 6. These figures illustrate the results of wind tunnel tests conducted on full-scale dynamic prototypes. The results reveal relatively low wind-loads due to the fluid geometry of the building and efficient form of the mashrabiya.
- 8. Q1 HEADQUATERS, ESSEN, GERMANY.
- 9. • The ThyssenKrupp Quarter in Essen is part of a 230- hectare downtown area known as the Krupp belt. The site, kept for years as a wasteland, is a historic place. • A 200 meter-long and 30 meter-wide pool forms an axis along which various buildings and generously laid- out boulevards appear. • Cars disappear into car parks and subterranean garages around the plot. • All deliveries are conducted below ground. • Above this, 68 trees from five continents form a boulevard.
- 10. The main building, known as Q1 and officially inaugurated in June, has a flexible facade layer made up of 400,000 stainless steel slats. This system aims to make air conditioning redundant. A weather station on the roof sends signals to a computer that steers the rotation of the facade slats.
- 11. • A steel pre-stressed cable net system holds the individual glass panes in place. • Each double glass unit is 2.15m wide x 3.60m high, with clamps at the corners and mid height to connect it to the vertical and horizontal steel cables. • Pre-stressing in two axes made it possible to eliminate complicated transitional details to the adjacent facade structures.
- 12. The structure is as follows: a) 12mm single-pane safety glass b) 16mm inter-pane space c) 2 x 8mm laminated safety glass with 1.52mm PVB film for solar control. • The type of glazing chosen and the reduced support structure have resulted in an only 45 mm thick membrane that appears completely dematerialized. • Despite being so thin, the glazed membrane met all thermal insulation requirements.
- 13. • The programming is really sensitive: the control system not only detects the seasonal sun position, but also knows what the current weather is like due to the data of a weather station located on the roof of Q1 building. On cloudy days, for example, all the slats will be turned outwards so that the sun shades remain open. • There are in total a number of 1,600 motors to activate the fins movement.
- 14. • Stainless steel sheets with a delicate or elaborate embossing lend metal facades a definite structured and clear look. • POHL Stainless steel is corrosion resistant and particularly high-quality metal. It can be individually formed and defies any weather conditions. • Metal alloys are excellent to recycle. • POHL incorporates raw materials from recycling into its production of metal surfaces. • 100 percent of non-coated metal sheets can be brought back into the raw materials cycle • Argon-filled cavities between the glasses and high-performant glasses reduces the U-value. • The 3m long and 0.67m wide, chamfered steel panels of the Quarter are resistant to wind, weather and UV radiation.