Passive Solar Architecture
U2 Winter Design and Construction II

March 12 2001
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An over view of what has been achieved so far and what is in store for the duration of the rest of the term.
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Goals of the design studio
The goal of this design studio is
*the introduction of solar exposure as a design variable into the desing of a passive solar demonstration building in down town Montreal.
*the design of relevant building details that optimise the caloric performance of this building
subsidiary goals are:
design skills in general
modelling skills
research skills
drafting skills and computer modelling skills
Means
*An introductory lecture on basic principles was given by Prof. Sijpkes to the whole class in the beginning of the term.
*In order to give the whole group insights into the field of solar friendly design, all students were asked to do research, and summarize their findings on a webpage (available by clicking on student names below.)
*In addition, two field trips were organized. One to a residence in Perth Ont. designed and built by Architect and now retired McGill Professor John Schreiber, and another to the "Solarminium", a building on the corner of St. Marc and Rene Levesque in Montreal, design and built by the same architect.
The Project Site
 The site for the design project is the former site of the Orthodox church at Clarke and Sherbrooke. After careful observation of the site it was decided by the group that in order to optimize solar exposure, it would be assumed that the demonstration pavillion would  located on the roof of a yet to be constructed two or three storey building.
Physical and computer models of this site were then constructed.
Progress of design work so far
*After this preliminary research work was done, students were asked to propose preliminary designs for the site choosen.
*In addition to design plans and  sections, students produced a scale model that could be superimposed on the group site model.
*The second of two reviews of this design work was attended by Jean d'Aragon, a PhD student at McGill with a wealth of experience in sustainable architectural design.
*During the study break students pondered ways in which they could make solar power tangible, either by the design elements of their building or by the design and construction of a solar power demonstration installation that might be of use in the pavillion.
The reports of these projects can be found by clicking on the student names below.

Schedule from now till the end of term:
Design development and completion of the final documentation of the design proposals.
In the final review you will be asked to show:
*Plans, sections and elevations of your design
*a model which may be a computer model or a virtual model or both
details of relevant elements
a solar exposure model (virtual or real) of  your project demonstrating how the building takes advantage of the solar radiation.