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In the United States buildings are the primary
source of energy consumption. How do we approach this problem? By
designing buildings interact with their context. This means
utilizing passive design as our central design strategy. Passive
design is simply defined as “designing to take advantage of the
local climate with the goal of reducing a building’s energy
consumption”.
In South Florida that means passive cooling.
The goal is to reduce a building reliance on mechanical cooling
systems and artificial lighting. This technique slows heat’s entry
into a building and removes unwanted heat from the interior. Much of
this can be accomplished by simple solutions such as shading and
positioning the building on the site. In addition, the use of
ambient natural light instead of electric lighting plays and
important role in removing unwanted heat from a building’s interior.
Passive design lower your building’s energy usage and a reduced a
building’s operation cost with little added cost to construction.
Focusing on the local context is more than
just a strategy to lower energy consumption. It is a strategy to
bring our built areas back to life. By refocusing on the local
conditions, this allows us to counteract the loss of identity that
our communities have witnessed. Instead of a blanket solution, we incorporate
the local conditions into our dialogue with you. Whether a design
response is in harmony with the context, or a critique, your
building is anchored to the site in which it sits. This approach
revives the idea that architecture should work with and should be
shaped by, the local environment in which it is anchored. The site
you choose becomes the starting point of re-discovery, and the local
conditions are a source of our design inspiration. Each site
provides its own unique design opportunities and these are found in
the local materials, building traditions, and local climate.
By focusing on the site, a rich and complex
layer of information is brought into the design dialogue. In diverse urban
environments like Miami, New York, and Los Angeles, it is possible
to find unlimited choice, opportunities, and desire. While some may
see these environments as overwhelming, building design is enriched
through this complexity and it is here ideas are generated. These
environments provide new ideas and new perspectives through the
interaction of cultures. Through this diversity many dialogues
are started and this creates new layers of experience; introducing another approach to building design.
This approach is not about style. It is not
stylistically deterministic. It is a local response, and a symbiotic
relationship is created between architecture and the community. It
is therefore a way of looking beyond generic design solutions and
discovering what is unique about a particular location. Discovering
what is unique about you. Architecture becomes a reflection of this
complexity. It is an approach that places the emphasis back on you
and your interaction with architecture. |
