The cube
1. Project Details:
Site: Sin el Fil, Beirut, Lebanon, Client:
Masharii SAL, Karim Jabbour
Design: 2011, Realisation: 2015 Size: 5.600 m2,
Program: Housing, Assignment: Commission
Team: Patrick Meijers, Jeroen Schipper, Michiel
Hofman, Abel Kalsbeek, Paul Kierkels, Joel Langeveld, Elena Staskute, Paul
Voorbergen.
Advisors: Radolphe Mattar, CBA Group, Contractor:
K. Abboud, Costs: 11.000.000 US dollar
Photography: Matthijs van Roon
2. Project Awards:
- - CTBUH Best Tall Building
Award 2016 - Middle East & Africa Region | Winner
- - WAN Awards 2016 -
Residential Award | Nominated
- - International Property
Awards 2015-2016 | Winner
3.
Project Description:
Figure 01. The cube
The Cube, a remarkable residential skyscraper (figure 01.), is built on Plot 941 in Sin el Fil, Lebanon, in a prominent location. The Cube is located in Horch Tabet's lively Metropolitan Hotel neighborhood, just minutes from the Emile Lahoud freeway, soaring nearly 57 meters above the ground on a steep location. The land, which is around 30 by 40 meters and has a height difference of around 20 meters, dips down from the north-east to the south-west. The site's entrance is on the lower side, accessible by an unpaved road.
Figure 02. Mediterranean
view
“The Cube is an
instant classic for Beirut: expressive, iconic and innovative”
'MAXIMIZE' is the design
principle, which is basic but extremely effective. It makes the best possible
use of the client's wishes, the site's potential, the local construction rules,
and the inhabitants' spectacular views of Beirut and the Mediterranean (figure
02.). The Cube brings a unique aspect to the concept of high-rise and tower
architecture with its artistic appearance of stacked boxes. There is no uniform
floor plan extruded here, but rather a one-of-a-kind and iconic framework of
individual homes. Residents can enjoy fantastic outdoor areas on the roof of
the apartment underneath, as well as panoramic windows up to 12 meters wide,
thanks to the rotation and displacement of the volumes on each floor (figure
03.). There are one or two apartments on each level. The single flats give a
fantastic opportunity to take in a 360-degree view of Beirut.
Figure 03. Sketch shows the rotation
and displacement of the mass on each floor
Figure 04. Two
different layout
The design produces 21 appealing
apartments in total, varying in size from 117 to 234 m2, with open layout,
spacious balconies, and wall-to-wall window frames (figure 04.), by stacking
and rotating 14 floor plans on top of a lobby (figure 05.). With its standalone
location on a sloping site on the city's outskirts, The Cube's and downtown
Beirut's views are unrivaled; the dynamic city serves as your personal
backdrop, day and night.
Figure 05. The composition
of the 14 floor
There are no restrictions for
apartment layout due to the fixed core with lifts and staircases in the center
of the structure. The levels run from the core to the facades, which are made
up of two supporting concrete girders and two 90-degree-rotated panoramic
window frames on each level (figure 06.). The crossing girders and the core
both help to sustain the tower, which is a particularly difficult task in a
seismically active environment.
Figure 06. interior
photo shows the two types of glazing façade
The building's structure is
composed of Self-Consolidating Concrete (SCC), a unique type of reinforced
concrete that allows loads to be passed to just four locations. On every floor,
the overlapping regions of the rotational girders (a surface of roughly 35 x 35
cm at each junction), with no extra structural slabs added to the façade. The
building's outside facades have a protective nano-coating paint that produces
an extraordinarily smooth and dirt-resistant gloss.
4.
Parametric Design Ideas:
4.1. Thought Explanation
In the first part of the project,
I will focus on defining the shifting of the mass to create a configuration
that provides a full shading for the panoramic glass façade in all day and each
orientation in the summer session in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In figure 07. I have
explained the mathematical relation between the building component to create
the intended design objectives.
Figure 07. The logic and mathematical formula
4.2. Implication on Revit
4.2.1.
Conceptual mass
Conceptual mass family in Revit
gives the flexibility and freedom to create and implement mathematical
formulas. It is a good start for complicated and parametric geometry. I have
started with conceptual mass family (figure 08), then started the first floor with
simple extrusion. Through family type, I created the mass control parameters
with the specific math expression from 4.1. Thought Explanation section (figure 9).
Figure 08. Conceptual
mass family
Figure 9. Conceptual
mass - family type
In the family type, I have
defined the height of the first four floors, and each height parameter feeds
the horizontal protection parameter (PH). The PH parameters have been designed
for specific orientation by utilizing the sun profile angle, altitude, and
azimuth parameters. The sun profile angle parameters (PA) have been built for a
particular time and window orientation (see 4.1.Thought Explanation
section). The altitude and azimuth
parameters are defined as type parameters to ensure the same value for all
instances.
These parameters have been linked
to the conceptual mass to create an entire parametric geometry that keeps the
mathematical relation regardless of geometry dimension (width, length, and
height). The east elevation (figure 10.) shows the connection between the floor
height and the width of the horizontal protection in the south side calculated
by the formula in the parameter PH south. The north side of the building is not
receiving direct sun radiation except in summer in the early morning when the
sunrise and late afternoon when the sunset, but this period is out of the
design scope. Thus, the shifting in north elevation is the value of PH west and
half of PH west for only esthetic purposes. The whole parametric relation is
shown in figure 11.
Figure 10. East elevation
Figure 11. The whole geometry
parametric relation
4.2.2.
Building Envelop
The case study has two façade
types: the first is a regular curtain wall, and the second is the irregular
glazing shapes. I have decided to use a project templet curtain wall for the
first type after importing the conceptual mass to the scene to get a more
defined and controllable glazing system. The second type is complicated in the
parametric relationship between the shapes since they seem irregular geometry
and only esthetically related. I have used the custom curtain wall panel
(figure 12.) to generate almost the same pattern in the case study building
with a decent degree of freedom. The custom panels can have any design
flexibility; they can expand and shrink to specific limits to accommodate the
host dimension. The panels' material needs to be selected on the custom curtain
wall family templet, and for more control, we pass the family material to the
project (figure 12).
Figure 12. Custom
curtain wall panel
4.2.3.
Final product
After finalizing the families, it
is time to combine them. I have created a single white custom material (figure 13.)
to color match all the building components like the case study building—figure 14.
shows the exterior of the building and how every family blend with the others
to create a complete structure. I have developed the fourth floor with an
interior layout (figure 15. & figure 16.).
Figure 13. Custom material
Figure 14. exterior perspectives
Figure 15. Bed room’s sitting area
Figure 16. Living
room
5.
References:
- - Orange architects,
website: https://www.orangearchitects.nl/projects/the-cube/
- - Chalfoun, N. (2015). Fundamentals of Environmental Control Systems for Architectural Design of Buildings and Outdoor Spaces Revision 4.4. Tucson: University of Arizona House Energy Doctor.
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