Light and Space

Natural Light

One of the project goals was to carefully create daylit spaces that would promote the body’s natural circadian rhythms, which can improve productivity and reduce low-level stress. Occupants access natural light through the open offices along the perimeter of the building and through the multistory atrium. In the more interior spaces, occupants can adjust the color temperature of their task lights, ensuring that they benefit from a full spectrum of light no matter where they are in the building.

Spatial Variability

The process of transforming these seven floors into a healthy, biophilic workplace created spaces that vary in scale and function. Glass-lined conference rooms provide inspiring views of the cityscape and into other conference rooms. A latticework partition creates cozy seating areas in the café without blocking views. From the six-story atrium to the light-filled café, with its dramatic views of the city, these spaces stimulate and rejuvenate employees and provide ample opportunities for them to interact with each other and connect with the outdoor views.

Spaciousness

The large atrium serves as the central “piazza” for Google Chicago’s employees. This volume casts sunlight down onto each floor and creates a sense of spaciousness which instinctively attracts everyone in the building. The more sheltered spaces adjacent to the staircase and atrium take advantage of the natural light and visual connections to floors above and below, while in the open office areas, full-height windows seem to extend the workspaces past the walls and into the cityscape beyond.

Natural Patterns and Processes

Sensory Variability

The dynamic video walls; edible plants; varying textures and shapes in the finishes and fixtures—on every floor and in every space, there is something to simulate and provoke curiosity. Bold and vibrant art and graphics give each level a unique identity and vividly portray aspects of Chicago’s identity and past. The undulating walls and diversity of work spaces and seating arrangements, which include brightly colored biomorphic furniture, enliven the office, while graphic signage informs occupants and visitors about the sustainable features of the building. The sensory variability encourages creative collaboration and original thought.

Bounded Spaces

The design creates places of refuge throughout the project—places with discrete functions, where employees can feel protected but not cut off. These places include elements which clearly mark boundaries while not blocking access or views. Seating areas in the café are protected with lower ceilings and a latticework partition. Similarly, seating areas adjacent to the stairwell and expansive atrium are protected by lower ceilings and aluminum railings but still enjoy access to the views and natural light.

Integration of Parts to Whole

While the themed installations and historical art pieces mark each area of the Google office with a unique identity, the atrium serves as a central focal point and brings all of these diverse elements into a cohesive whole. Together with the staircase, the atrium orients people no matter where they are in the building and provides physical and visual connections to each floor. Similarly, the concrete columns and ceilings provide cohesiveness from floor to floor and space to space, even as other elements change. The views of the city and the repetition of certain elements, such as the undulating walls, also serve as a unifying elements, reminding occupants that they are all working toward common goals.

Place-Based Relationships

Historical Connection to Place

1000 West Fulton Market was built in 1923 as a state-of-the-art cold storage warehouse. The original building was stark and windowless. Instead of covering up the original industrial structure, the design team chose to celebrate it, complementing and softening the strong concrete elements with warmer materials, natural light, rounded light fixtures and furniture, live plants, art, and curving walls. Through this approach, the design team was able to create a healthy and productive work environment while celebrating the building’s history and context. These historic architectural elements provide continuity with the past, even though the function of these floors is very different from their original purpose.

Cultural Connection to Place

The project team skillfully manipulated the attributes of light and space to create a central piazza that functions as a community center and encourages Google employees to interact and socialize. The design creates other unique spaces throughout the building, including micro-kitchens, a game room, music studio, and maker space, which connect people with each other and that support the distinct culture of Google.

Avoiding Placelessness

Embracing Chicago’s rich neighborhoods and architectural history, each of the seven office floors is distinguished by a theme that celebrates a different aspect of the city, from its famous parks to its iconic transit systems. Art installations draw from historical references. Transposed on the exposed industrial structure, these elements helps create a project that seems distinctly of its place while also meeting all of the company’s modern programming needs and fostering a healthy and productive work environment.

Built Experience

Lessons Learned

By transforming a windowless cold storage warehousing facility into a vibrant, light-filled space, Google Chicago’s new office exemplifies neighborhood revitalization. The design provides naturally lit spaces with direct visual connections to the outdoors and establishes connections to both the building and to Chicago’s rich neighborhood history. In the open offices and conference rooms, occupants appreciate inspiring views of the Chicago skyline, and as they take advantage of amenities such as the game room and café, they enjoy the Chicago-themed installations that distinguish each floor. Most eschew the elevator in favor of the “conversational stair,” where employees meet and linger on the generous landings, enjoying the natural light that filters through the atrium from above.

Environmental Features

Natural Materials

Dominated by stone, wood, and glass, the Kern Center was built using a simple palette of local materials that are left largely unfinished and exposed. The distinctive Ashfield mica-schist stone that is used both externally and internally was extracted from a small quarry only twenty-five miles away and delivered to the site in small batches.

Stacked on the façades of the two “wings,” the stone layers evoke the geomorphic strata in natural formations. The warm gray-blue tones, rich sheen, and ridged patterning of the stone complements the bands of concrete and horizontal wood cladding. Inside the building, the aggregates are exposed in the diamond-polished concrete floor. These materials, unpainted and minimally finished, celebrate the work of human hands and evoke a sense of reverence and affection for the building and the place from which it comes.

Habitats and Ecosystems

Planted beds run along the south-facing wall. Not only do these plants provide pleasing greenery for the atrium, they treat greywater from all sinks in the building and create natural habitat. Given the cold climate in winter, the plants provide a welcome green buffer when snow is on the ground. The planted beds also help students understand how plant roots and bacteria treat wastewater naturally by extracting and consuming nutrients.

Views and Vistas

The R.W. Kern Center’s location was deliberately chosen to orient future students on tours of Hampshire College, helping them comprehend the campus layout and appreciate the beauty of the rural location. The building is oriented to celebrate significant views, and the design uses windows and large openings to frame and emphasize a hierarchy of these views. The south-facing central common area highlights expansive vistas of the Holyoke Range and The Notch, a prominent local landmark, while offices and classrooms offer glimpses of the amphitheater, rainwater harvesting reservoirs, solar farm, and wildflower meadow.

Natural Patterns and Processes

Central Focus Points

The two-story glazed atrium serves as the R.W. Kern Center’s heart. In contrast with the solid forms and more enclosed spaces of the office and classroom wings, this central common space is open and energetic, with expansive views out to the campus and landscape beyond. With puzzles incorporated into the interior materials, a second-floor overlook, quiet corners, and bustling café seating, the atrium provides a variety of experiences, as well a place where people can gather.

In a broader sense, as the gateway into campus from the north, the Kern Center serves as a central focal point for pedestrian traffic, introducing visitors to the culture of Hampshire College along the way.

Linked Series and Chains

The atrium serves as a hub, linking the two wings of the building to this central point. From this public common area, the building’s more private program elements branch off. Progressing from the atrium into each wing, the orientation, views, and light all change, scaling down from open and expansive to more intimate and enclosed.

The building itself also serves as a hub and vital link to other parts of the campus. Several footpaths intersect at the building, and views through the glazed atrium reinforce the link between the northern outer campus and central quad.

Information Richness

In addition to the sensory stimulation that comes with the interplay of materials, light, and views, ten puzzles are embedded into the building. A series of letters emblazoned on the underside of stair treads; a curious pattern of light and dark squares and rectangles inlaid into a floor board near a bench; a pattern of red and white painted pipe clamps high on the ceiling—these puzzles draw attention to aspects of the building people might otherwise not notice, inviting the visitor to pause and look more closely while contemplating the puzzles’ meanings.

Light and Space

Natural Light

The building’s shallow width and passive solar orientation allow every space to be flooded with natural light. In the two-story atrium, open expanses of glass create a visual connection through the building. The atrium gathers light and distributes it to adjacent spaces, while open layouts help occupants maintain a connection to the outdoors from wherever they are inside the building.

Light and Shadow

The dramatic south-facing glazed wall allows sunlight to penetrate deep into the space, creating shadows that change during the day and throughout each season. The exposed wood beams and concrete floor of the atrium reflect the changing sun angle with colors that shift and deepen.

Spaciousness

The high ceilings and proportion of glazing in the atrium creates a sense of spaciousness, where the walls disappear and the ceiling seems to float above. The transparent staircases and open layout enhance the open, lofty quality.

Built Experience

Lessons Learned

The R.W. Kern Center provides a much-needed heart for the Hampshire College campus—a place to welcome prospective and current students. The Center translates the identity of Hampshire College into a built form that communicates the college’s values and unique approach to education.

Entering the building through its main entry, visitors find themselves in a light-filled, two-story commons. Prospective students begin their tour of the campus on the second floor, where large windows frame views of the hills, meadows, and woods, which turn a patchwork of green, russet, and yellow in autumn.

Students and faculty alike can find a quiet corner or join the bustling atmosphere of the café. Many take a moment to enjoy a moment of calm relaxation and appreciate the beauty of the setting. Students who have a little more time explore the curious numbers, letters, shapes, and other markings embedded in many of the interior features.

Light and Space

Inside-Outside Spaces

The spine of the building, through which most visitors circulate, is a continuation of the entry and exit bridges at each end, and once inside, people are still connected to the outside through enticing views of the Rain Ravine water sculpture and bridge. The living room feels like a treehouse platform, with full-height windows that blur the lines between wall and forest.

Light and Shadow

The striking vertical pattern of windows on the forest side of the building casts a playful dance of light and shadow across the spaces and mimics the rhythm of the tree trunks beyond. The south-facing orientation ensures that these shadows change throughout the day and across the year, marking time and season.

Spatial Variability

The deliberate building orientation facilitates the creation of spaces with varied functions. Learning and group activities take place in the south-facing classrooms. The public gallery is located on the elevated second floor, while private offices are found below. Transition spaces are located on the north side of the building. The quality of light, masterfully used to energize, create movement, and focus attention, corresponds to the function of each space.

Place-Based Relationships

Landscape Ecology

The Center treats all of its own stormwater and wastewater on site and reinforces natural patterns of water flow. The roof collects stormwater but does not direct it into downspouts; instead, rain cascades from the roof in a dramatic forty-foot “veil.” From there, rainwater collects and flows across the Rain Ravine, a series of sculpted sandstone ledges designed by artist Stacy Levy. This installation expresses the erosive power of water and reminds visitors of the connections between falling rain, the flow of water through the landscape, and healthy creeks and rivers. After passing through the Rain Ravine, water flows into a raingarden and ultimately, into Nine-Mile Creek.

Integration of Culture and Ecology

The Frick Center fits into the ecology and aesthetics of Frick Park. The integral structure does not take away from the environment, but instead fosters an openness and curiosity about the natural surroundings. The up-canted roof, designed to emulate a delicate falling leaf, encourages people to look outward with open minds and hearts. The long, tall windows and vertical wood siding mimic the pattern of tree trunks in a forest. Entering and exiting the building is a transformative experience. Visitors transition from an ordinary sidewalk and ascend a narrow path to the entry bridge. Once inside the building, visitors experience the tree canopy and engage with learning opportunities that teach them about the ecology and natural features of the park. As people exit the building, they cross a bridge and enter the greater Frick Park, ready to experience the forest in a more attentive way.

Landscape Features that Define Building Form

The form of the building is defined by the relationship between the neighborhood on the north side and the stunningly beautiful forest on the south side. The gentle slope of the building’s roof promotes rainwater collection, and the Rain Veil provides a unique opportunity for the public to observe and interact with flowing precipitation. The vertical windows on the forest side frame views of the trees and create long shadows across the floors that move with the time of day and seasons. These long, tall windows, with varying widths and alternating bands of vertical black locust wood siding, mimic the forest itself. The building, perched on the edge of the south-facing hill, gives people the unique experience of being suspended in the forest canopy.

Evolved Human-Nature Relationships

Exploration and Discovery

The Center encourages exploration and discovery of the park through interactive features and views that connect visitors with the surrounding forest. The thoughtful entry sequence welcomes people into the building, where the public room and decks connect them to the tree canopy. The Falls Ravine installation invites people to explore the path of water as it moves from sky to roof to creek.

Curiosity and Enticement

The Frick Environmental Center was conceived as a learning tool. The building celebrates natural, locally-sourced materials and exposes and highlights systems that treat water and waste. The integration of these sustainable strategies with public art sparks curiosity about natural processes, and visual connections between the building and the forest and raingardens outside invite people to contemplate the greater ecology of Frick Park. Child-sized doors and interactive features send a message to children that this building is for them, too, enticing them to look, listen, and explore.

Prospect and Refuge

The elevated perspective of the Frick Center allows people to feel as if they are perched on the edge of the forested hill, where they can feel protected without having views obscured. The public living room and classrooms at the Center provide a refuge from the elements and offer inspiring places to sit, read, and reflect while enjoying the prospect, or extensive view, of the forest and raingarden below.

Built Experience

Lessons Learned

The new center establishes a place for people and nature to connect through the building, in the midst of the largest and wildest of Pittsburgh’s parks. Visitors approach the Frick Environmental Center through historic gateways that were restored as part of the larger building project. From the sidewalk, they ascend up a narrow stepped path to the entry. Here views are momentarily compressed, but once inside the classrooms and public living room, tall vertical windows connect visitors with inspiring views of the forest canopy. When it rains, children run outside to watch rain cascade from the roof and down across the sandstone ledges of the Rain Ravine. Through these features, the Frick Center provides a multi-sensory experience that orients people in the landscape and prepares them to explore the streams, forests, ravines, and hills of Frick Park. The hope is that the children who fall in love with this special place will grow into adults who will treasure it and reinvest in its preservation.

Natural Shapes and Forms

Tree and Columnar Supports

In Te Kura Whare, natural logs serve as posts, beams, and trusses, emulating the forest and reflecting the vital role trees play in the wellbeing of Tūhoe people. The columnar supports throughout the building are made from pine harvested from Kaingaroa forest, enhancing the cultural connection between the Tūhoe and the forests of the Tūhoe Rohe.

Arches, Vaults, Domes

The distinctive wooden arch at the entrance to the Tribal Chamber simulates the flight path of Tama-nui-te-rā (sun) across the sky, from east to west. The rising of the sun represents potential; with each day comes the opportunity to fulfill dreams and make progress toward goals. In this way the arch encourages Tūhoe to look forward, rather than backward at the bitter legacy of colonialism. Similarly, the vaulted ceiling of the Tribal Chamber is uplifting, enhancing the celebrations held there.

Animal (Mostly Vertibrate) Motifs

The two relief panels that appear beneath the arch at the entrance to the great hall are dedicated to the whakataukī, or proverb, “Tōku Tūhoetanga, Tōku Oranga,” or “My Tūhoe Culture, my Prosperity and Salvation.” The unique designs and vivid colors reference and reinforce the notion of Te Mana Motuhake o Tūhoe, or self-determination of the Tūhoe people. The manu, or bird motif that appears on both panels is inspired by the words of Te Whenuanui: “Hei hāpai i tēnei manu o te rongomau o te āta noho,” which means, “To carry on this bird of peace and quietness.” The image of the manu reminds the viewer of the importance of accessing Tūhoetanga from the past and maintaining it into the present and toward the future. The circular forms symbolize continuation—a way of life introduced at birth and repeated when children grow up and become parents themselves.

Light and Space

Light and Shadow

Just as the sun streaming through the forest creates pockets of comfort and warmth, this building directs natural light in ways that promote an interplay of light and shadow. Tall, vertical bands of glazing allow light to penetrate the office wing atrium, creating an alternating pattern of light and dark suggestive of tree trunks in a forest. In the café, diagonal stripes of light migrate across the floor, warming the wood and creating bright spots on the stairs. The changing play of light attracts people to different parts of the building at different times of day.

Spatial Variability

Te Kura Whare houses a variety of spaces, from the tribal offices and conference rooms to the café and Tribal Chamber. Each space enjoys a unique scale, spatial quality, and orientation to the sun. The offices are illuminated with a controlled and steady light, reflective of their function, while the café and atrium are distinguished by tall ceilings and dynamic lighting, which changes as the sun moves through the sky. The spacious Tribal Chamber accommodates public ceremonies and celebrations, which are enhanced by the vaulted ceiling, dramatically angled timber posts, and strong and even illumination.

Inside-Outside Spaces

The Tribal Chamber is a dynamic space where people can enjoy shelter from the sun while fresh air sweeps through the open doors. The hall also opens up to a vast outdoor amphitheater. During events, the veranda transforms into a stage, encircled by people sitting or standing on the terraced grass benches. Protected by a large overhang, the generous porch serves as an indoor or outdoor stage, bridging the space between inside and outside.

Place-Based Relationships

Cultural Connection to Place

Tūhoe identity and culture is inseparable from place and from the land. When their land was taken away, it severed that vital connection and led to decades of disempowerment and despair. With the creation of Te Kura Whare, the Tūhoe sought to begin restoring the relationship between people, culture, and land. Through its architecture and art, through its materials, shaped by Tūhoe hands, through the ceremonies and celebrations that the center hosts and in the archive of cultural artifacts that it houses, Te Kura Whare plays a key role in re-establishing the connection to the land and building pride in Maori culture and traditions.

Integration of Culture and Ecology

Tu Kura Whare coexists in harmony with the surrounding environment. The project harnesses all of its power from the sun, captures all of its water from the sky and treats all of its waste on site. Tūhoe believe it is their responsibility to nurture, learn from and respect the land. Designing the building to the Living Building Challenge standard helped them create a building endowed with living systems—one that demonstrates the community’s values and beliefs.

Spirit of Place

The simple materials palette creates a strong connection with the land and identifies the building uniquely within its place. Te Kura Whare is built from wood harvested from forests that are now managed by the Tūhoe people, and the internal walls are composed of 5,000 clay bricks that were created on site as part of a training program for the community. The clay, sourced from various areas of Te Urewera, imparts subtle variations in texture, color and character to the building. The opportunity to fashion earth and wood from their ancestral lands into timber and bricks created memorable experiences which will forever tie the Tūhoe community to the project.

Built Experience

Lessons Learned

Fiercely independent and isolated by rugged, mountainous land, the Tūhoe did not begin feeling the effects of European colonization until the mid-1860s, when the Crown began systematically seizing vital lands from the Tūhoe without their consent. In 2012, the New Zealand government reached a settlement with the Tūhoe, which included financial redress and recognized the Tūhoe as the guardians of their homeland, Te Urewera. Te Kura Whare, which was funded by money received as part of the agreement, presented the Tūhoe people with an opportunity to close the door on the injustices of the past and begin a healing path toward the future. The project also created jobs and provided training for a community with high unemployment and a significant lack of hope.

One of the project’s most distinctive features is the powerful wood arch that spans the front of the Tribal Chamber. Tūhoe who enter the building at once feel at home, surrounded by natural wood and natural light. Not only did Tūhoe help design the building, they harvested the timbers, shaped the clay bricks, built the walls, and created the artworks that tell their stories and enhance the building. With pride, they can point out the names etched into the brick walls, teaching their children the importance of connection to place.

Tūhoe enjoy the building in many ways. They attend formal celebrations and ceremonial events in the Tribal Chamber and amphitheater. Outside, people can relax on the building deck or in the shade of the many large trees. Visitors can patronize the Mou Mou Kai Café, where they enjoy manākitanga, or hospitality, and connect with members of their community.

Biophilic Design Integration

How are the biophilic design elements and attributes used as a design concept in the building?

Designed as a V-shaped configuration of blocks, delineating a central court. The ‘V’ opened to the north, letting in breezes that first, skim over an existing storm-water pond, adjacent to the hospital site. To tap into this natural airflow, the envelope of the buildings had to calibrate permeability and shade. The goal was to allow patients access to natural light, cooling breezes and views, without risk of solar glare or rain entry.

Designed to be ‘forest-like’, water features with aquatic species, and plants that attract birds and butterflies were introduced. Greenery extended from the central courtyard to upper levels of the buildings and down into the open-to-sky basement, creating the impression of architecture deeply enmeshed in a garden. At the upper levels, balconies with scented plants bring the experience to the patient’s bedside.

Remarkably for a development located in a dense urban setting, KTPH managed to achieve a green plot ratio of 3.92; this meant that the total surface area of horizontal and vertical greenery is almost four times the size of the land that the hospital sits on. In addition, 18% of the hospital’s floor area account for blue-green spaces and 40% of all such spaces are publicly accessible.

In 2005, mid-way through design, the KTPH team expanded the hospital’s blue-green footprint by ‘adopting’ the adjacent storm water pond. Collaborating with other government agencies, the hospital team worked out a cost-sharing arrangement whereby the pond redesigned as a park would serve multiple groups within Yishun. The concrete edges of the pond were deconstructed and aquatic plants were introduced to clean the water and create habitats. A walking trail was added, linking the park to the hospital and a nearby residential estate. Following the incorporation of the pond, total blue-green space available to KTPH patients and visitors increased by 400%.

Place-Based Relationships

HOW DID THE SPECIFIC PLACE, CLIMATE AND ECOLOGY OF THE BUILDING LOCATION DETERMINE THE BUILDING DESIGN?

The site for the hospital was chosen for its proximity to Yishun Pond. In response, the massing designed to open up to and ‘embrace’ the pond, ‘drawing in’ greenery and water into the heart of the hospital. Thereby making the hospital and pond an integrated entity. The water feature weaves through the landscaped courtyard at level-1 and cascades through a waterfall into the basement creating an illusion that water was drawn from the pond. The lushly landscaped basement courtyard brings in daylight and natural ventilation.

To suit the local climate, indigenous tropical plant were chosen for ease of maintenance. By providing host plants and various habitats within the hospital grounds, the hospital becomes part of the larger ecosystem encompassing various green patches throughout the north of Singapore.

Its success is evident in the increasing number of butterfly species sighted in the hospital grounds (increasing from 3 to 83 as of now). In response to the tropical climate, natural ventilation is optimized in the subsidized wards to enhance patient comfort. Common areas such as the main lobby and public corridors were specially designed for optimal natural ventilation thereby reducing the need for mechanical ventilation and energy consumption. By orientating the subsidized ward tower to ‘capture’ the prevailing North and South East winds, an optimal wind speed is achieved which would provide adequate thermal comfort for the patients. By reducing the hospital’s reliance on mechanical ventilation for by approximately 60%, savings can be achieved in energy consumption.

Aluminium fins or “Wing walls” along the building’s walls were designed to channel the prevailing winds into the building by increasing the wind pressure build up on the façade. Wind tunnel tests conducted at the National University of Singapore (NUS) found that these fins would enhance the air flow by 20 to 30%.

Evolved Human-Nature Relationships

HOW DO OCCUPANTS OF THE BUILDING ENGAGE WITH NATURE, WHERE ARE THE MOMENTS THAT LIFT THEIR SPIRIT AND MAKE THEM THRIVE? HOW ARE THOSE CREATED IN THE BUILDING DESIGN?

To make the hospital a “biophilic environment”, every available surface had to be maximized for the creation of therapeutic green spaces. Extensive landscaping at every floor ensures that patients and staff are in close proximity to the calming and rejuvenating environment so they can be constantly treated to garden views from multiple angles.

Each unique roof garden is engaging and educational. The rooftop farm at the Specialist Outpatient Clinic Block has 100 species of fruit trees, 50 species of vegetables and 50 species of herbs. Run by volunteers from the nearby neighborhood, the farm is also a source of organic produce for the hospital kitchen. This creates an educational opportunity to for visitors whom might not know how their food is grown in urban Singapore.

Other roof gardens catered to specific patient needs. The access to the Dementia garden at level 4 next to the Geriatric clinic is controlled by staff to keep the patients safe as they enjoy the lush garden landscape.

Another highlight is the terraced gardens at the podium roof deck levels of the Private and Subsidized ward towers. Patients and caregivers are treated to an exploratory delight as they weave through the terraced levels, discovering private niches and trellised alcoves for reflective solace or enjoying the company of family and friends.

Most importantly, KTPH was designed to be more than just a place of recovery. It is also a serves as a tranquil communal node where the local community can attend public lectures, exhibitions or participate in educational programs organized by the hospital. Commercial areas geared towards healthy living are located in the hospital to promote health awareness. In addition, since 2010, the hospital’s lush greenery and peaceful ambiance have made it a popular spot for students seeking a conducive environment.

Built Experience

Lessons Learned

HAVE YOU COMPLETED PRE AND POST OCCUPANCY STUDIES THAT DEMONSTRATE THE BENEFITS OF BIOPHILIC DESIGN ON THE OCCUPANTS? IF SO, WHAT DID THEY REVEAL?

In 2016, a post-occupancy evaluation (POE) was conducted at KTPH on a sample group of 200 users comprising of patients, staff and visitors and at an older hospital designed base on an earlier approach to healthcare design. The POE focused on the effects of water and greenery on user perceptions and feelings of well-being

The POE revealed that KTPH’s use of biophilic design (BD) elements such as greenery and water attributed to it performing better than its counterpart when comparing perceived beauty, self-reported well-being, and user awareness of and proximity to nature. Out of six such constructs, four corresponded with biophilic design.

Over 80% of respondents said yes when asked if hospitals ought to invest in blue-green elements. When surveyed on their willingness to pay for BD, respondents from the older hospital saying yes was higher than in KTPH, possibly due to the older hospital’s lack of blue-green elements.

The POE also affirmed KTPH’s role as a local community hub. The study identified that 15% of visitors that come to the hospital do so for social and recreational reasons. In addition, it also pointed out that 58% of respondents who visit KTPH come from the neighborhood.

KTPH is overwhelmingly adored by staff and visitors. It has a higher number of casual visitors from the neighborhood than other hospitals. It consistently out-performs all other hospitals in Singapore in the annual Ministry of Health public satisfaction survey. Results of the 2016 study suggest that this preference, at least in part, is linked to the quality of its space and biophilic attributes.

Climatic studies conducted revealed that KTPH is signi?cantly cooler in the afternoon most likely is due to shading (i.e. lower heat gain) and evaporative cooling (i.e. water features).

Environmental Features

Water

Seattle is a place of rain and water. The Bertschi School is located on a steep hill where the rain rushes down the urban streets to reach Lake Union. Children who grow up in the Pacific Northwest are used to splashing through puddles on their way to school and arriving with wet feet and faces. In this region, buildings provide both refuge from the rain and protected spaces from which to watch and enjoy it. Given this reality, it is not surprising that the kids at Bertschi asked for a river running through the building.

When the rain starts to run down the “stream,” the kids immediately run to observe; they reach out to touch the glass and follow the flow of water as it makes it way to the cistern and raingarden. More than just a water feature, the stream celebrates a connection to place and encourages exploration and discovery.

Air

Buildings in the mild climate of Seattle can be naturally ventilated during all seasons except for winter. Because it was an addition to an existing building, the science classroom’s access to sunlight was limited, but the design makes the most of the tight urban site with creative forms that effectively capture daylight.

In the classroom, the butterfly roof promotes a natural stack effect and provides natural ventilation and daylight for the space through a row of high windows. The greenhouse unabashedly celebrates the power of glass and sun to create a semi-tropical ecosystem that is in striking contrast to those typical of the cool Pacific Northwest. Even on an overcast day, students can enter the EcoHouse and feel the combination of captured solar energy and humidity from the transpiring plants on their faces and arms.

Plants

The living wall in the EcoHouse grew directly out of the students’ request for “plants growing everywhere.” Though living walls are sometimes installed simply as pleasant features, the plants on this wall serve a greater purpose: they treat and thrive on greywater from the building as they clean and oxygenate the air, engaging and instructing students on the water cycle and the ecological role plants play in capturing nutrients. Two moss-mat green roofs also provide a natural cover to approximately half of the building; these can be viewed by students in the adjacent classroom, which is oriented above the science classroom’s roof line.

Evolved Human-Nature Relationships

Exploration and Discovery

The design was grounded in the notion that nature is intellectually as well as physically and spiritually stimulating. The varied textures, shapes, and colors stimulate the children’s innate curiosity, and every day Bertschi School students learn how features that are elegant and beautiful in form also function beautifully as well. The plants on the living wall filter greywater from the classroom’s sinks and naturally purify the air. The runnel transports rainwater collected from the building’s metal roof to the cistern, engaging students in the hydrological cycle. The plants in the ethnobotanical garden, so pleasing to look at, also provide food and useful materials for making things.

Change and Metamorphosis

The building integrates natural systems and processes; consequently, change and metamorphosis are not only implied, but experienced directly. The students engage with the changing flows of water within the runnel and interact with the plants as they grow, flower, fruit, and sometimes die. Students harvest the edible plants and they engage with the seasons as the roof mosses change color and bloom, and as wind-blown seeds sprout and take root alongside them. They notice as the electrical demand of their classroom changes and as passing clouds affect the electricity generated by the solar array. No matter where the students look, the natural elements of the Bertschi Science building are always changing—just like the students themselves.

Built Experience

Lessons Learned

The Bertschi School Science Wing demonstrates how successful biophilic design engages all of the senses. In this hands-on educational setting, children are encouraged to touch the plants. They can hear the gentle trickle of water coursing gently through the runnel; they notice the change in humidity as they enter the EcoHouse, where plants on the wall breathe out life-giving oxygen and transpire water. They can see textures of the plants on the living wall, and they can press their hands into the imprints of salmon “swimming” across the floor alongside the runnel and run their fingers across the leaves imprinted in the concrete.

The children experience these features both consciously and unconsciously. Because so many of the biophilic elements were designed with integrated functions and hands-on learning in mind, students interact with many of them in their daily lessons.

Environmental Elements

Plants

Incorporating over 150 native plants grouped into natural communities, the terraced gardens surround the building, even extending onto it with a green roof. The design creates outdoor rooms that blur the edges between building and landscape. The experience carries over inside the building, where the many windows provide intimate views of the gardens and live plants grace the offices, conference room, and lobby.

Geology and Landscape

The backdrop for this project is a dramatically sloping hillside. The Center, set into this bluff, becomes part of the geology. The gardens surrounding the building unfold in a series of planted areas that mimic the region’s varied landscapes. As visitors approach the building from the upper campus and meander down the path toward the ground floor, the plantings, building, and topography work together to create natural-seeming transitions between outside and inside. Visitors pass by upland species at the roof level and through oak woodlands on the path, finally reaching wetlands and raingardens at the bottom of the slope.

Views and Vistas

To be in the Center is to be simultaneously outside. Every place in the building, including the classroom, conference room, offices, and three levels of the lobby provides distinctive perspectives and views: to the south and west, the expansive vista overlooking Panther Hollow and Junction Hollow; to the east, intimate views of the gardens; and to the north, views of the dramatic topography from which the building itself emerges.

Natural Patterns and Processes

Sensory Variability

This building takes advantage of its immersion in a botanical landscape, building on the dynamic variety of colors, textures, and shapes of the plants to bring an ever-changing visual and auditory experience to occupants. Recognizing the importance of sound to connect people to nature, Abby Arresty’s audial sculpture brings the sounds of Pittsburgh—from the rhythmic whir of cicadas to the gentle patter of rain to the nostalgic whistle of a passing train—into the space, while interactive and three-dimensional art throughout the building stimulates eyes and minds. All of this sensory variability invites people to pause, touch, look, and listen—to connect with nature, but also with themselves.

Central Focal Point

The Center is organized around a central lobby with an atrium, a feature that highlights the dramatic elevation change that characterizes the site. The three-story atrium anchors the building, serving as a guidepost for people whether they are inside or outside. Visitors who take the meandering path through the gardens can refer to this prominent feature—the translucent tower with its distinctive pitched roof is the highest point on the building—to stay oriented as they transition from the amphitheater down to the lagoon. Inside, the lobby and atrium orient people within the building and connect them to other spaces; from here, it is possible to see clear through the building from east to west. People are drawn to this light-filled public space, where sunlight, access to views, and art reinforce the atrium’s function as the central focal point.

Information Richness

Inside the building, light, art, and sound combine to create a multilayered experience. Art installations inspired by nature enrich the interior and invite staff and visitors alike to pause. Glass sculptures that evoke colorful flowers bloom along one wall. A bronze windbell at the entry to the rooftop garden captures the movement of air in its clear, resonant tones. A suspended steel sculpture of curving steel bands draws attention with its contrasts of light and dark, solidity and air. The interplay of light drawn through the light shelves and atrium windows lifts the spirit. And the sound sculpture, filling the lobby with the sounds of insects, frogs, rain, and birdsong, echoes the season, weather, and time of day. Such richness not only stimulates the senses, but connects people with their emotions and memories.

Built Experience

Lessons Learned

The Center for Sustainable Landscapes serves as a respite for urban dwellers. Visitors approach the building from the upper campus above the site, meandering through terraced gardens that seem to embrace the building.

Inside, an open, light-filled atrium facilitates airflow and helps visitors stay attuned to the outside, as sounds reflecting the weather, season, and time of day filter through the space. The art installations help create a richly layered experience, connecting visitors with the region’s ecology and history. Staff and visitors alike are invited to thread a length of yarn through the Skywatcher Loom and gaze up toward the sky, taking a moment to enjoy the tactile experience and build upon the work of others. In the light-filled lobby, access to the sky lifts the spirit, even on a dreary winter’s day, and in the open offices, employees enjoy the many plants, abundant natural light, and fresh air.

Light and Space

Filtered and Diffused Light

The light outside the Energy Lab is bright and vivid. The building form skillfully controls this light without isolating occupants from the sun’s path across the sky; consequently, people inside the building feel as if they are under the protection of a shade tree. Translucent skylights, wooden sunscreens, and interior roller shades work together to manage daylight, washing rooms in diffused light and casting dappled shadows while protecting the interior from solar heat gain.

Light as Shape and Form

The building form itself was shaped by the quality and quantity of light falling on this sunny, exposed hillside, and the building’s roofs are designed to control and direct light as well as minimize solar heat gain. But in addition to these practical functions, the skylights and louvers use light as a medium, creating dynamic sculptural shapes that fill the vaulted spaces and shift and change throughout the day.

Inside-Outside Spaces

In the beautiful climate of Hawai‘i, living outside is a way of life. The Energy Lab pays homage to this lifestyle with outdoor classrooms and indoor classrooms that feel like they are outside. Glass doors enhance the connection to the outdoors, and sheltered porches and entries blur the lines between inside and outside. Skylights and windows bring views and light into spaces, and the building successfully balances the need to maintain temperatures conducive to studying and researching with the psychological benefits of daylight and immersion in the beauty of place.

Place-Based Relationships

Spirit of Place

The Energy Lab enjoys strong connections to the hillside topography, the stunning views of the valley below, and the 4,000-foot Mauna Kea volcano to the south. The building form is defined by its relationship to climate; the roof pitches, overhangs, and carefully placed openings are a response to site-specific breezes and orientation to the sun. In this way, the building blends elements of traditional huts, which use southern porches, or lanai, to funnel cooling breezes inside, with the best of today’s technologies. Such an approach captures the spirit of Hawai‘i, where people enjoy a strong connection to the land, water, and beauty of their island home.

Ecological Connection to Place

Like the other Hawaiian Islands, the Big Island experiences many different microclimates. On the island’s north side, daytime temperatures hover in the 80s all year round, but strong trade winds and cooler nights are common. The lab connects to the ecology of place by utilizing the sun and wind to drive the form and functions of the building. By generating all of the energy it needs through solar energy, harnessing the wind for natural ventilation, and collecting rainwater and treating it onsite, the building does not diminish the ecological functions of its surroundings, but instead fosters an attitude of respect and appreciation for natural systems.

Landscape Orientation

The Energy Lab was designed in response to this particular place in the Hawaiian landscape. The stepped arrangement of building components reflects the hillside topography, and the building was sited to best take advantage of the prevailing breezes from the north. The passive strategies for cooling the building depend on building orientation and form. The sharply angled north-facing roof directs most of the strong trade winds up and over the building, while louvers allow in just enough air to facilitate natural ventilation.

Evolved Human-Nature Relationships

Security and Protection

The windy, exposed site leaves people vulnerable to direct sunlight, heat, and constant wind. The Energy Lab protects occupants from overexposure to these elements and fosters a healthy, inspiring atmosphere for learning and discovery, enhanced by natural light, fresh air, and expansive views.

Order and Complexity

The building form is simple, composed of sloping roofs and rectangular spaces. The floorplan arranges these spaces in a logical and orderly fashion, while at the same time the scale of each varies and presents the visitor with changing views and perspectives. The building juxtaposes a simple palette of materials—glass, concrete, and wood—with complex patterns of light and line. The wood louvers allow in slatted shafts of light, echoed in the longitudinal pattern of planking on the building’s façade and interior ceiling, while windows and skylights wash the spaces with softer, diffused sunlight.

Attraction and Beauty

The beauty of this building lies in the combination of the elegant scale of each space and the articulation of the materials that frame them. The simplicity of the building’s overall form belies the complexity of thought and modeling that went into perfecting it, and like a bird’s wing, there is beauty in a form that so obviously describes its function. There is beauty in the contrast between the rich, warm wood and the simple raw concrete, and these organic materials complement the rolling hills, open sky, and ocean backdrop. The building openings frame distant views, creating a sense of tranquility and connection to water and sky, while the stepped forms root into the hillside.

Built Experience

Lessons Learned

When students and visitors enter the Energy Lab at the Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy, they do not experience an abrupt transition between outside and inside. Instead, the building protects them from the full force of the wind without cutting them off from surrounding sights and sounds. Skylights and louvered windows allow in filtered and diffused light, and glass doors and windows connect learning and research spaces. In this open and collaborative environment, students can what see other groups are doing and interact with them. The Energy Lab teaches students how architectural design can create and enhance a person’s connection to the environment and immerses them in a hands-on exploration of the role buildings play in consuming and generating energy. Students can experiment and interact with the building, learning how climate, winds, and daily temperature impact energy generation and use while comparing its performance to buildings around the world.

Natural Patterns and Processes

Central Focal Point

The Mosaic Centre is organized with more private spaces toward the east and west and group spaces toward the interior. Every space faces onto the very public atrium. With bleacher-style seating that invites occupants to sit, work, and gather, the atrium is the heart of the Center, connecting all spaces to and through it and providing the sense of community and connectedness that the owners were striving for. The green wall provides a vertical connection up through all three stories.

Sensory Variability

From the moment people step inside, this building engages the senses. In the atrium, occupants notice the pleasant sound of people conversing and the rhythm of footsteps on the wooden staircases; they feel the change in humidity near the green wall and the alternating patterns of warmth and cool corresponding to light and shadow. Their eyes are drawn to the contrasting angles of the transparent staircases; the texture of wood grain and plant leaves; and the light fixtures’ intriguing geometry. In contrast, the office and childcare spaces are quiet and simple, facilitating creative work and play.

Fractals

Fractals are complex patterns that rely on the repetition of simple shapes. Though they exist all around us, from the microbial to cosmic scales, they are rarely used in building design. David Trubridge has been inspired by fractals since he was a child, and his light fixtures draw inspiration from snowflakes, woven baskets, and geometric polyhedra. While his lights are beautiful, they also connect building occupants to the shapes and patterns so ubiquitous in nature.

Light and Space

Natural Light

The building was designed with a narrow cross-section and is aligned along the east-west axis, ensuring every space benefits from daylighting. Large sections of uninterrupted glazing allow in abundant natural light, both in the central atrium and in the spaces surrounding it. Many of the connected spaces are separated by glass partitions rather than solid walls, borrowing light from the central atrium and fostering a sense of openness and collaboration.

Light and Shadow

Light and shadow animate the atrium, creating sunny gathering spaces that contrast with constantly moving shadows that connect occupants with the season and time of day. Because the building relies primarily on natural lighting, there is considerable variability in the illumination of spaces, much as a forest is characterized by light and shadowed areas. The light fixtures also play with light, as light coming in through the cutout shapes highlights their intricate structure. All of these patterns create a sense of mystery and dynamism that stimulates creativity.

Spaciousness

The central atrium is three stories tall. Visitors experience this sun-filled volume as soon as they enter the building. The space is activated by David Trubridge’s dynamic lights and enhanced by the glass-lined staircases, which draw the eye ever upward. In contrast, smaller, more intimate spaces radiate out from this large, open volume.

Evolved Human-Nature Relationships

Prospect and Refuge

The central atrium provides a place where the whole building and those moving within it can be taken in; at the same time, it provides elevated views of the surrounding suburban environment. Occupants can take shelter in the many nooks scattered throughout the atrium, whether sitting at a desk on the bleachers, surrounded by a protective cover of plants, or at a workstation on one of the landings, where a person can work alone but still enjoy both the activity of the atrium and the views through the windows.

Curiosity and Enticement

The type and arrangement of spaces in the building cultivates an environment of creativity and curiosity. With the underlying assumption that surprise and playfulness are important ingredients in a productive and vibrant workplace, the building, and in particular, the open atrium, were designed to encourage interactions. People can work or sit in unconventional places, such as the bleacher staircase, and the dynamic design encourages people to linger and explore. The vertical green wall, stimulating light fixtures, and transparent staircases pull visitors upward, their urge to discover spurring their movement through the space.

Order and Complexity

The Mosaic Centre is composed of a simple palette of materials and orderly shapes, lines, and forms; at the same time, complex and contrasting patterns create a stimulating and varied environment, similar to that found in many natural settings. A Fibonacci spiral is integrated into the green wall, and public plazas on the north and south sides of the building and the floor plans and elevations are grounded in the golden mean. These geometric principles create both order and complexity in the interior, allowing occupants to simultaneously lose themselves in the design while remaining oriented in the building.

Built Experience

Lessons Learned

As Project Architect Vedran Skopac describes it, the Mosaic Centre was designed to emulate a rich and colorful city with an intimacy and familiarity of a tiny house. People coming to use the building do not necessarily head straight for a desk and get to work; instead, the layout promotes unplanned “collisions” and interactions, so that a person is just as likely to become engrossed in an exciting conversation or find themselves on the terrace, contemplating the “village” of greenhouses atop the roof. They may also end up on the atrium bleachers, where they can take advantage of the abundant natural light and enjoy the stimulating collage of crisscrossing stairways, intricate light fixtures, and wall of greenery. Whether working quietly alone or engaged with others, the Centre provides a creative and collaborative working space for innovation.

Natural Patterns and Processes

Sensory Variability

The design deliberately creates journeys through space which engage all the senses and invite students, staff, and visitors to explore and experience the Centre. Framed views and vistas inspire occupants in both public and private spaces, and the varied textures and patterns in the building materials and landscape plants encourage people not just to look, but to touch and feel. Occupants are encouraged to harvest and taste the fruits and vegetables from the garden, including the native bush plants. The courtyard is filled with birdsong and the sound of wind rushing through the leaves of the landscape plants. During summer and spring, building interiors fill with the fragrance of fresh air coming from the mountains, the tang of coastal dune plants, and the scent of citrus blossoms.

Transitional Spaces

The deliberate decision to divide the programming between two buildings, with landscaped areas in between, ensures that occupants will spend at least part of their day outside on their way from one building to the other. These pedestrian journeys foster direct connections with nature, and the variety of pathways and spaces spark creativity, teaching, and learning.

Complementary Contrasts

The contrast of materials and their functionality are celebrated throughout the building. The substantial V-shaped supports contrast with the almost delicate tapestry of wood members that cascade from the steel roof canopy. A balustrade detail in the entrance lobby, composed of wood and laminated glass which lets light pass through, resembles the texture of a bluebottle, a small blue jellyfish which is both beautiful and yet dangerous. Reused and reclaimed lumber, used extensively throughout the project, was left in its found state and celebrated in exposed installations, revealing the natural processes of weathering and staining. Variegated bricks; horizontal and vertical wood siding and shade structures; the ribbing on the underside of the metal overhangs—all of these contrasting textures and colors come together to create visually stimulating façades that complement the native landscape. Similarly, the blooms of color that ebb and flow throughout the year mark the seasons and contrast beautifully with the timber and unfinished brickwork.

Light and Space

Light and Shadow

In response to the harsh Australian sun, the building carefully controls light with shading and overhangs while still providing abundant daylighting in all of the working spaces. Daylight in the transitional and public areas is brighter and vivid, with contrasting shadows that enliven the spaces. The dramatic shade structure with its biomorphic curve protects the building’s west side while casting complex shadows into the spaces below.

Inside-Outside Spaces

The building is integrated into the landscape, with outdoor courtyards that blur the lines between inside and outside. Splitting the campus into two buildings, with plantings and wetlands in between, naturally encourages people to engage with the landscaping. Large open decks between the buildings provide places to gather and dwell, while floor-to-ceiling walls of glass connect the interior public spaces to the outside. The atrium, with its green walls and high ceiling, creates a light-filled space that feels like it is as much outdoors as indoors, and sheltered benches along an outside wall provide places to work that are protected from the sun.

Spaciousness

The building form creates light-filled spaces that relate to the outside and respond to climate. Upon entering, occupants and visitors encounter the lofty exhibition space, distinguished by its double-height glass walls. Elsewhere, the sloping roof, two-story green wall and central staircase create a sense of spaciousness that reflects the open and transparent spirit of collaboration the Centre was designed to cultivate.

Place-Based Relationships

Ecological Connection to Place

With climate modulated by the Pacific Ocean, the region enjoys warm summers that hover in the mid-80s and mild winters with temperatures that rarely drop below 50 degrees. The building form responds to climate and ecology with a dramatic roof structure that reaches out to the Illawarra escarpment to the west; generous overhangs elsewhere prevent the spaces from overheating and minimize energy use. Large operable windows provide occupants with fresh air and views of the native coastal plants in the courtyard. From almost anywhere in the building, people can witness the daily and seasonal variations in weather, changing quality of light, and the passing of clouds.

Landscape Ecology

Native landscaping, including a wetland corridor, integrates the building with the site and extends beyond it to the greater campus. Plantings adapted to the coastal environment soften the building edges, allowing the Centre to merge and mature with the landscape. A garden dominated by bush tucker, a bush species valued by indigenous people for food and medicine, connects staff, students and visitors to the indigenous cultural heritage and instructs occupants on how landscaping can provide food as well as beauty. Sheltered spaces around and between the building provide opportunities to rest and appreciate the wider landscape, including the escarpment views to the west, Puckeys Estate to the east, and the more intimate environs of the bush tucker garden.

Spirit of Place

The Centre is oriented between the Pacific Ocean and the striking Illawarra escarpment. The grand steel canopy at the building entrance, inspired by vernacular Australian sheds, protects visitors from the sun while framing and echoing this distinctive landmark. Steel supports saved from old rail lines, weathered timber recycled from old bridges, and reclaimed bricks salvaged from some of Sydney’s buildings ground the Centre in its particular place and tie it in with stories from Australia’s past. The landscape plantings and hardscape materials complement the building, creating a project that is at once harsh and beautiful, much like the Australian landscape itself.

Built Experience

Lessons Learned

The Centre’s two buildings—one housing administration and programs, and another containing hands-on research labs—are connected by an open deck and landscaped corridor. As the happy “guinea pigs” who enjoy the benefits of a building designed to engage occupants with the natural environment, students and researchers conduct hands-on research in bright, open spaces that encourage collaboration. They prepare lunch in the centrally located kitchen and enjoy eating outside among the native plants. Students and researchers can choose from sheltered outdoor work spaces or indoor workstations, where through the open windows, they can enjoy the sound of birds chattering and smell the hint of ocean spray riding in on the wind. Visitors can take in a performance in the outdoor exhibition space or learn about the Centre’s projects in the open exhibition room, where inspiring views of the Illawara escarpment can be glimpsed through double-height windows.