Forschungsorientiertes Studienprojekt zum Therma „Risk + Resilience”, 2018
[English]
In response to extreme heat as an increasing environmental stressor – particularly in fast-growing areas like Austin’s Airport Blvd – the resilience hub provides a variety of shaded open spaces which protect the local residents in their everyday life. To ensure both performance and environmental responsibility, the project addresses energy supply and greenhouse gas emissions on a local as well as global level.
Resiliency is all about time and location. On the one hand, resilience hubs need to perform locally and mitigate current threats. On the other hand, the risk of increasing heat needs to be addressed globally and in the long run.
The project “Thermal Balance”, placed on one of the large concrete brownfields at Airport Blvd in East Austin, approaches the local heat island effect and the challenges due to demographic growth, particularly the need for shelter available to low-income families. As heat is rather a stressor than a shock – it mainly threatens residents in their daily routine – the program of the hub provides a variety of sheltered public amenities and flexible open spaces. To minimize impervious surfaces, the sports grounds and the Solar Institute’s outdoor lab are elevated to the roof.
The adaptive solar roof spanning the whole area ensures not only local shading and energy supply but also stands out as an educating landmark for renewable energies. In addition to high-tech strategies, the hub points out the opportunities of low-tech materials to address global warming, for instance, the use of low-carbon rammed earth walls as a sheltering thermal mass.
Projektteam: Matthias Tippe (preliminary research and analysis in collaboration with Hailey Brown, Arlene Ellwood, and Patrick Klimaszewski)
Architectural Design: Vertical Studio, Prof. Matt Fajkus AIA, LEED AP
The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture