What's Wrong With This Picture?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06. 4.07
It is certainly not the design; crisp, clean and modern, Rudy Wallman is a talented architect. It might be the deceptive rendering, which shows no roof thickness or handrail stanchions, even Rudy can't do that. It might be that almost every modern condominium building these days is clad in floor to ceiling glass with an R value for the wall of about 4. A wall in Ontario is supposed to have an R value of 20, but there is no restriction on the amount of glass, so the actual R value is far lower. In the winter, that balcony is a radiator fin, radiating the heat from the apartment out into the atmosphere. There essentially is no wall, just window and fin.
Developers don't need to care about this; once the building is sold it is the owners' problem. Owners don't much care now; they look at the estimated operating expenses when they buy the unit and don't think about the price of gas or electricity five or ten years down the road, it is now still a small proportion of their monthly expenses. Architects should care, but the glass look is all the rage right now and Rudy's firm is really good at it.
But in ten years the owners will be selling the nine thousand dollar Obelisk chairs shown on the Rooftop Garden to buy insulated drapes for those windows. ::Lumiere
Conflict note: This writer worked with Rudy Wallman's firm on a project in Toronto.
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
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Disclaimer: I am in no way related to this project, I'm just an architecture student who is very concerned about your need for education.
I can see the roof thickness and the handrails just fine. The handrails are the blue stripes at the top of the glass, and yes that is glass on the balcony to prevent someone from falling off. (look just above boy). The roof thickness is about 6," most likely a concrete slab, its the thicker light blue stripe.
In a highrise the heat coming from glass curtain wall is not the worry. In that type of building, more heat comes from people, lights and equipment, (body heat, incandescents, heaters / computers / tvs, etc) which is much more important to mitigate.
Furthermore, your assumption that drapes will fix the problem of the glass curtain wall is wrong. They would need to be on the outside of the glass. Once the heat is inside the glass, it is inside the building. Exterior shading devices fix the problem, not interior ones.
Your other assumption, about the balcony functioning as a radiator fin, is true, but not as true as the fact that it lets light bounce inside of those windows. It's called a light shelf, it lets in additional light to heat the building in winter. Also, the slab concrete floors trap the heat from those huge windows, which helps in winter to heat the building, not to mention that people lights and equipment I was talking about earlier. In the summer, if the building overheats, you just open those large windows and let the air in.
There is nothing wrong with this building that is visible, although who knows if it is sustainable. Please don't knock things you don't understand.
"Please don't knock things you don't understand."
I do not normally respond like this to comments on my posts but feel that I have to this time. With respect to me understanding, please note that I am a licenced architect and do understand that when one builds a roof it is going to have a minimum of four inches of insulation and then a walking surface on top of that this is designed to drain, so it is going to be at least twice as thick as the slab alone. I only made the minor point to suggest that this drawing is not an accurate representation of a real building but a marketing person's imagining of the message here: thin, elegant, light, transparent.
I would also strongly dispute your statement about more heat coming from people and equipment that requires mitigation. This is an apartment, not an office, and in a Canadian climate that just doesn't happen.
You are correct about the drapes when it comes to cooling, the heat has already getting in, but we are trying to heat this thing, so insulated drapes on the inside will work just fine.
I am not complaining about the design of the building, or the abilities of the architect or the builder, they are all terrific. My point is that the standard of condo design tody ignores the issue of peak oil and the end of cheap available energy. Buildings today should be designed for net zero energy, and it just isn't a concern.
What's an "enlightened living on boy"? It sure sounds sexual.
LA: it is on Bay Street, not boy.
I found this article very amusing, being a Canadian myself, and one who lived in Toronto back in the late 70s when our professors handed us a government guide entitled "Keeping the Heat In" (they also used to boast about the Hydro Building).
The student reads like someone who is a student but who is trying to sound like he knows more than he does -- we need to respect those who have the knowledge and the experience, and learn from what they say, although in my experience he should make a fine architect, considering the level of self-importance he already exudes (insert knowing chuckle here).
Having worked in design for buildings throughout the American southeast, I am used to the Model Energy Code and the Florida Energy Code, which only allow a certain percentage of glass (depending on the properties of that glass it could be more or less), and requires the entire building envelope (including doors and windows) to perform as a unit in order to pass. I would have thought that something along those lines would have been a requirement for buildings built in Ontario, except in designing more for heat loss than for heat gain. Is this not the case?
In any event, it would be interesting to see how this particular building performs in the real world.