A project by a team of UNC Charlotte architecture alumni at Little Diversified Architectural Consulting was named a finalist in the Metals in Construction Magazine 2018 Design Challenge. The purpose of the competition was to generate concepts for building façades that contribute to the health and well-being of a building’s occupants. The sepcific challenge was to design a curtain-wall system for a hypothetical 30-story building on a 2.65-acre riverfront site in Brooklyn, NY.
The Little project, Living in the Wall, increases well-being by incorporating elements of active design (encouraging occupants to move throughout and engage with the building), biophilia (an appreciation of nature, with ubiquitous views of the outside, garden roofs, and garden rooms), circadian rhythm (broad access to natural daylight), and community (multiple indoor and outdoor gathering spaces). In addition, the double-layer facade design optimizes energy efficiency with “smart” technology that responds to environmental factors such as sunlight/heat, wind, air pollution, and rain, combined with occupant control of factors such as temperature and light intensity. For a full project description with imagery, please click here.
The team included six UNC Charlotte architecture alumni: Jim Thompson, Michael Coates, Frank DeBolt, Jason Slatinsky, Garrett Herbst, and Doug Broome.