Civitas Nexum

American University of Sharjah, College of Architecture, art and Design, Sharjah

Idea projektu

Located in Queens New York, the mandate was to re imagine the waterfront site. Embracing new structural and ecological possibilities of wood construction, we designed a mid-rise, mixed-use complex that includes affordable housing, a large community wellness facility, and an early childhood education center, all interlaced with a new exterior public waterfront space. Our project comprises of two housing blocks and another low public building with an inhabitable public roof all weaved into each other. This is to maximize the public space Various sustainable strategies are also incorporated in this project. Wood is used as the major material strategy. Timber is the new and trendy sustainable material in the construction industry and this project aims to research and explore the potential of timber.

Popis projektu

From the site analysis research, two elements of the context influenced our design concept, namely the bridge and the East river. In accordance with the linearity of the bridge, we created two residential blocks creating a community space in between with an unblocked view of the waterfront. Combined with the monumentality of the bridge and the beauty of the waterfront, we intend to create a lively plaza where residents interact and create a community culture of their own. The entire ground floor of the blocks houses public spaces like the wellness center, kindergarten and market. Apart from this, an amorphous pavilion like permanent building is adjoined to one of the blocks, which houses the long span spaces like the indoor court, auditorium and pools. The roof of this amorphous building becomes a gated playground for the kindergarten and a community garden for the residents. Various sustainable strategies are proposed in this project. The roofs of the blocks have solar panels installed on them and the blocks are terraced towards the south direction and the roof is also slanted to an optimal angle in order to maximize the incident sunlight on the solar panels. There are operable louvres installed on the residential glass panels.

Technické informace

Materially, the entire ground floor is made of concrete and the upper residential floors are made of timber. This will also help to cope with future flood situations. The timber frame structural elements are made of glulaminated timber. The louvres are made of heat bent wood, which leaves it hollow on the inside, keeping it light and minimizing material usage.