A Climatic Facade

On the east side, the sky lobby becomes the "basement" of the common airspace that is open to the top in a shaft between the inner and outer glass skins. Jutting out into this space are individual apartment balconies where tenants enjoy year-round gardens. This airspace is not only a kind of vertical indoor city space, it functions as a super-dimensioned convective system. A 16- by 10-foot (5- by 3-meter) shaft provides air circulation using sensor-controlled inlets.

On top of the building sits a huge, dark, cubical "air box." In the winter, the air behind the outer glass facade warms and rises to the air box, which functions as a heat-exchanger, returning hot air to the apartments. In the summer, the air box system powers cross-ventilation, blowing cool air into the apartments below. The so-called "cool head" also represents a prominent identification feature, visible throughout the quarter (Fig. 2.12).

Figure 2.12 - The building's "cool head" - a huge dark cube that con-

trols air circulation within the climatic facade

 

Blinds attached at the climatic protection cover are subjected to central computer control. However, the individual tenants can furnish their own shading without affecting the artificial climate in the air circulation space. Their privacy is protected from the street by the bold slope of the glass front.

The "climatic facade" with its integrated, terraced gardens creates a pleasant climate year-round, tempering the indoor climate of the individual apartments. A building physicist is connected online with the building and monitors its climate data. Formal efficiency evaluations are not yet available, but no tenants have complained about drafts.

One tenant tending her "sky garden" is an Italian architect. According to reports, she loves to rave about the Mediterranean flair of her garden between the clouds.