This award-winning re-invention of a former car factory into a thriving innovation precinct relies on a comfortable indoor-outdoor microclimate where academia, industry, and start-up companies all mingle in a shared public realm.
Atelier Ten developed a strategy for re-cladding the roof and walls of an existing car factory Main Assembly Building (MAB) in such a way that turned the old industrial building into a naturally thermally tempered, light-filled innovation precinct for technology companies. Atelier Ten determined how to glaze or open portions of the roof and walls to create a microclimate within the MAB that is warmer in winter and cooler in summer than outside conditions.
Daylight, energy and CFD airflow analysis guided the design team quickly and confidently toward an internal space plan and recladding design that together create passive comfort conditions. Active cooling elements designed include supplemental evaporative down-draught cooling towers.
