State-of-the-art 3D Printing in the Design Studio

The increased use of 3D printing in the design office will continue to be a trend in 2018. Normally I'm more focused on architectural 3D printing – on a scale of which one can walk through – however, being smart about the adoption of technological innovations in the office is also important if one wants to build a lot of quality architecture, and here I argue desktop 3D printing has a role in potentially helping save money and increase building design quality. 

A custom architectural light manufacture in California whose pieces average $3000 each recently reported a savings of nearly $90,000 over 40 projects in 18 months with the purchase of an inhouse 3D printing unit. I suspect some costs aren't captured in this estimate because there was probably some initial training required to operate the 200 Series Workbench Classic from 3D Platform efficiently. However, once the unit had a fluent operator, the designers and fabricators' ability to study the proposed design before final production was greatly increased, helping ensure the piece had the form and qualities expected.

Architecture and engineering firms will not be responsible for developing robotic 3D printers. That will continue to be very specialized knowledge. However, one of the most important points to leverage in the design process is the smooth transition of data from prototype to production, with ideally as little post-production as possible. This idea scales to include architectural 3D printing as well, wherein the engineering characteristics of the model to its final production shift even more. One can't cleanly print the REVIT model without some sort of post-processing, either automated or manual. This is again where the topic of data science has the potential to help the most because abstracting the problem to one of data is the type of knowledge needed to effectively design and produce such models, and it's already well established and studied through the field of computer science. 

Having a tangible scale-model supports the design process in other ways beyond the ability to rapidly prototype ideas. Having a model to study also increases the design team's understanding of the proposed building's spatial qualities. One company doing interesting things with scaled models of urban areas is Chicago's Microscape. These city models allow design teams see how the proposed building integrates into the urban fabric and their quite beautiful in their own right. Many clients report loving the tactile nature of these sorts of presentation features, and I think this enthusiasm should be encouraged. If I had to say why clients find such models helpful, I would suggest it's because the models offer more dimensions than 2D renderings to understand the space. This quality is important when clients are trying to understand and solve functional problems with a spatial component. And I would go so far as to say this quality is helpful to designers as well. 

Sustainable Engineering with Renewable Materials

One of the most innovative buildings built in Canada last year might be one of its most unassuming. Brock Commons Tallwood House on UBC's campus was completed late last year set to be used for student housing. Aesthetically, it comes in about average. The design has stayed with a cost-effective rectilinear form, and the designers have tried where they can to accentuate the exterior facade. What is worth noting, however, is the project's use of innovative materials and building techniques. 

#featurefriday #UBC Brock Commons #Tallwood House student residence construction #tallest #masstimber #wood #Vancouver photos: Lara Shecter pic.twitter.com/zOxkx13qEi

— Acton Ostry (@actonostry) May 12, 2017

One of the most interesting implications of tall timber structures is that it essentially deepens the number of ways buildings can be solar-powered. Steel and concrete, while contributing to the great heights achieved by modern architecture, also have correspondingly large carbon footprints. Another way of saying it is that steel and concrete are very energy intensive materials to produce. On the other hand, using timber means the growth of the building comes directly from a renewable resource, and that the Sun does most of the work. One can also assume that as time goes on, the carbon footprint of manufacturing and transporting the timber will continue to decrease as manufacturing plants and vehicles become more energy efficient (this point, of course, also applies to steel and concrete production as well). Increasing the use of renewable materials supports the AEC industry's goal of promoting sustainable design. 

To date, there's not a lot of in-depth research about the effects of fire retardants used on mass timber projects. It's definitely a necessary step, as such a building can be viewed as a humongous bonfire, and fire retardants of past decades are now seen to be harmful to human health as they tend not to stay inert in the wood forever. Essentially, the fire retardants need to penetrate the deep into the wood. No doubt this risk was considered at some point in this project, however, I can't yet point readers to any sort of in-depth reporting expanding on the modern use of fire retardants in these types of buildings. I have also heard reports from the UK that sound transmission through mass timber structures can be exaggerated compared to a concrete high-rise. Mechanical energy waves like someone dropping a chair can travel quite far through the timber beams and columns. Decouplers installed between columns and beams can stop mechanical energy noise from transiting through the structural system, but I don't know if any were used in this project. Something to keep in mind as you try to get a good night's sleep in a timber high-rise.  

What I really like about Brock Commons is the modular nature of its building process. Different types of CLT panels, columns and beams were used in combination to complete the structure. It reminds me so much of LEGO but its practical implications for the construction process are immense. It's another good example of how BIM technology brings the construction process earlier into the design phase. Here a lot of the credit goes to Fast+Epp Engineering for structuring a wooden building this tall. The modularity and pre-fabrication of the design had two main benefits of increasing tolerances (for better building performance) and speeding construction. Each of which contributes to the cost-effective and sustainable nature of the design. Timber buildings this tall are not necessarily experiential, but they are a type of specialized engineering as the types of forces put into the timber are quite different from that which normally found in the residential market. In all, I think it can be confidently stated the industry will continue to see an increase in the use of this type of technology, and readers are well advised to familiarize themselves with this type of construction.  

#Backtoschool2017 @UBC Brock Commons #Tallwood House @UBCrez @UBCcampus @tallwoodbldgs @reThinkWood @FPInnovations https://t.co/Iz08orccUX pic.twitter.com/liDPQLQPd2

— Acton Ostry (@actonostry) September 7, 2017