As an architectural competition winning entry for an electronics manufacturing plant, this site is conceived as a forest that penetrates, surrounds & steps over the building creating maximum contact with nature – green, breeze, scent, sound, touch. 

A canopy supported by a ‘forest’ of columns creates unity to ofce & courtyard while giving protection from the tropical sun. Ofce levels give access to roof gardens and staf are encouraged out for breaks, meetings or just contemplation. A green courtyard separates the ofce & factory with views and access from both. A bridge over the courtyard links the ofce & production, and this circulation route becomes a space for meetings, breaks & lectures. 

The factory has views to landscape and the sky condition through full height and clerestory glazing with the glazing protected from the sun by free-standing of-form concrete fns and roof louvers. Rainwater cascades from roof spouts – heightening awareness of tropical storms – to storage tanks for landscape irrigation. The plant receives natural difused light across the entire factory foor reducing dependency on artifcial lighting that, combined with chilled water foor slab cooling & cutting-edge air-conditioning technology, reduces energy consumption to half that of a conventional plant of similar size. 

Structure & materials are expressed: of-form reinforced concrete and steel structure, glazing and landscape. With this small palette of materials, the building explains to us what it is, what it is made of & how it is put together. The approach was to create a stimulating & meaningful working environment for all employees – the forest to be the face of the building & company. Forests, critical for both macro & microclimates are also vital for our psychological well-being. 

Sustainability

From project onset, the client wanted an energy efcient and climatically responsive building. The cardinal sustainable design principles were energy efciency, water efciency, daylighting and biophilia – the fundamental human need for connection to nature. 

The building is designed to shield against the hot & glaring tropical sun, while allowing difused natural daylight to flter into the building. The ofce & courtyard are shaded by a louver canopy designed to provide efective solar protection during the hottest part of the day.

The factory skylight design was optimized to achieve an evenly day-lit work environment. The simulations and daylight measurements in operation show that the factory foor achieves an evenly day-lit work environment without glare throughout the year. Dimmable daylight responsive LED lighting and individual task lighting ensure that the required light levels are always obtained.

An innovative radiant foor cooling system works with embedded PEX pipes in the concrete slabs throughout the factory & ofce. By cooling down the slabs to about 21°C, this structural element of the building doubles up as part of the cooling system. 

The higher chilled water temperature and the water-borne cooling transport make the radiant foor slab cooling twice as energy efcient as conventional air-conditioning.