We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer about their original and creative design work. is an award-winning creative designer, that makes our world a better place with their original works.
("") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work . Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
: Aero Hive is a breathing entity. The breath of this building transpires through vertical diaphragms in the form of green sky atriums that behave as lungs, performing the intake of oxygen and removal of carbon dioxide. The wind flow to the indoor spaces is carried using wind-scooping and the ‘venturi’ effect through the traversing green diaphragms that are oriented facing prevailing winds. Aero Hive uses scooping for air intake with the help of hexagonal arms that function as wing walls and allows air to exit through operable windows or adjacent atria. During the day, south easterly cool sea-breezes provide relief and in the evening cool northerly winds come down the forested slope and wash across the building.
: Aero Hive aims to challenge the common belief that contemporary tall buildings cannot be ventilated naturally due to their height and offers pause from the typical hermetically sealed glass-boxes, serving as a model of sustainability. Key to these forms of adaptation is the relationship of the building to their environment and the contextual forces that shape the form development and environmental behavior.
: It took us 3-4 months to come up with the design and detailing of Aero Hive project.
: The Aero Hive Office tower was developed as a part of Skyhive Skyscraper Challenge that examines the relationship between the skyscraper and the natural world, the skyscraper and the community, and the skyscraper and the city.
: Aerodynamic architectural design is realized by taking into consideration building orientation, position, form, and plan variations. An algorithmic process of designing has been followed by creating a differentiated array of a hexagonal floor plates that variably changes scale based on environmental criteria, functional aspects, structural logics and aesthetic parameters. Computational modeling and environmental testing, namely, solar insolation and CFD analysis were carried out to verify the climatic effects of twisting geometries.
: Aero Hive aims to challenge the common belief that contemporary tall buildings cannot be ventilated naturally due to their ultra-heights and offers pause from typical hermetically sealed glass-boxes, serving as a model of sustainability. Aero Hive is a breathing entity. ‘Aero’ by definition is an organic and porous structure that allows air to move indoors through natural ventilation strategy using Sky atria. ‘Hive’ refers to a creating a habitat.
: Environmental factors and structural concepts shape the form and skin of this tower. For optimum environmental operating efficiency, the building form should be accordingly shaped, maximizing sun control for different solar angles and insolation intensities. A series of shading & insolation (Wh) studies conducted showed that twisting the tapered hexagonal form 90 degrees clockwise (north west quadrant) and anticlockwise (south east quadrant) yielded self-shading benefits. Aerodynamic architectural design is realized by taking into consideration building orientation, position, form, and plan variations. Having a spectrum of different shapes in mind, this analysis examined the potential of a hexagonal shape. It came to be known that an efficiency of 90% can be achieved with hexagonal packing. Using Simulation CFD, the optimized towers were modelled as a block, and the boundary conditions were set up to emulate the chosen site for 500m radius of urban fabric. Simulations were run based on Hong Kong’s weather data for prevailing directions East(4.1m/s) and South East(2.5m/s) respectively for 500 iterations.
: In terms of collaborations for this project, the architectural visualization was done by Vizis, Architectural Enhancer, Chennai and the Parametric modelling was done in collaboration with Rat[LAB] research in architecture & technology, New Delhi.
: We used computational design that follows a mathematical approach to generate geometries & objects in architecture which were useful in developing the form of the tower best for solar shading. Also, we employed parameters & conditions to iterate the design process and are linked to structural and environmental concepts. An algorithmic process of design has been followed by creating a differentiated array of a hexagonal floor plates that variably changes scale based on environmental criteria, functional aspects, structural logics and aesthetic parameters. Parametric modeling and computational simulations, namely, solar insolation and CFD analysis were carried out to verify the climatic effects of twisting geometries.
: In wind climates like Hong Kong with very directional extreme winds, building shapes that are directionally sensitive are more effective than traditionally shaped buildings. Developments in structural systems of high-strength materials with increased height to weight ratio but reduced stiffness have become greatly affected by wind. Major structural and aerodynamic modification in the design development includes tapering, sculptured building shape, openings and twisting of building. In addition, along with advances in visco-elastic materials like tuned mass dampers as well as structural systems like trussed tubes, the shape of the towers become distinctly modified by the micro-ecology. To drive the natural currents to enhance air volume exchange, pressure differentials between windward (up-wind) and leeward (down-wind) faces of a building were analyzed using CFD for thorough ventilation and surface wind flow acceleration.
: Developing a brief for a competition is a complex task and the overall process can be very demanding both financially and creatively.
: The beauty of design competitions is the leveling of the playing field between big companies, small design firms, and students alike. Competitions help spur our creativity and encourage lateral thinking. This is our third international vision competition that we have participated in and find that they give us a unique opportunity to be creative and free with our vision. Also we find ideas valuable in the sense that it help us as a community discuss and debate over various issues.
