At one with nature
What would a building look like if it wore a giant sun hat? To shield the Sesa Chavez Library in La Verne, Arizona from the harsh desert sun, designers at Line and Space went out of their way to install a towering extension roof. In addition to employing a number of sustainable design strategies to reduce energy use, the 25,000-square-foot Sesa Chavez Library was completed in 2008 to suit the urban community. It has a collection of 140,000 books and receives 40,000 readers every month. In addition to borrowing traditional books, a computer lab, children’s reading room and teenage area have been opened. Because of the MP3 listening area and computer station, the youth area is called “R3 area”, “R3” is the first letter of the three English words Read (reading), Relax (relax) and Rejuvenate (recovery). In order to meet the needs of community activities and gatherings, a spacious public meeting area has been opened up. This ecological library is located next to the beautiful lake in Sesa Chavez Park. According to the local favorable conditions, the designers built the new library near the lake. The overall building is curved and ingeniously combined with the beautiful lake and mountains. They make full use of the narrow channel formed between the berm and the lake outside the library to regulate temperature and reduce noise, creating a comfortable and comfortable environment. Assuming that the lake is the “backyard” of the community, the library is like a “big living room” where anyone can come to rest, read, learn and play.
Selecting passive solar designs and correct building orientation are key design strategies to reduce solar heat gain. Passive solar design mainly refers to passive solar house design, and the most basic working principle is the so-called “greenhouse effect”. The outer protective structure of the passive solar house should have a large thermal resistance, and there should be enough heavy materials such as masonry and concrete indoors to keep the house with good heat storage performance. According to the way of collecting solar energy, passive solar houses are divided into four types: direct benefit type, heat collection and heat storage wall type, additional sun room type and roof pool type.
The north and south façades of the Sesa Chavez Library have many windows, allowing a large amount of natural light to enter, reaching the standard of natural lighting, while the winged roof extends outwards to protect the building from the scorching sun. To keep the heat of the day out from the wall, there are no windows on the west façade. Air from inside the building is directed towards a designated spot next to the courtyard, where it is reused to moderate the microclimate. To further reduce energy consumption, special energy-saving mechanical systems and automated energy management systems have been installed. Building materials such as concrete masonry, steel and aluminum were chosen for the library of Sesa Chavez for ease of maintenance, durability, local adaptation and ease of recycling. When it rains, all the rainwater that falls on the roof is collected, which is sufficient for the flushing of the building and the watering of flowers and trees throughout the year.
Adhering to the concept of energy conservation and environmental protection, the
Sesa Chavez Library takes energy conservation and environmental protection as the main line of design, which is embodied in two aspects: one is to integrate buildings into nature, to integrate buildings into a circulation system that communicates with the environment, and to use resources more economically and effectively. Make the building a part of the ecosystem and minimize the damage to the natural landscape and rocks and water bodies; the second is to introduce nature into the building, using high-tech ecological technology to introduce natural landscapes such as vegetation and water bodies into the building, and strive to reproduce nature in the building. .
For this reason, the Sesa Chavez Library was awarded the title of “Top 10 Green Projects of 2008” (COTE) by the American Institute of Architects. The jury wrote in the award speech: “In order to protect the indoor and outdoor spaces from the sun, the building uses wide cantilever beams to create a ‘hat’ in the desert. Due to the lack of local water resources, a rainwater collection system is designed on the roof. It is used for irrigation, and water-saving equipment is installed indoors. Usually one of the concerns in deserts is the large amount of land that is taken up, this building has been cut down at the beginning of the site selection, and excavated materials are used. It was built as a berm to keep out the heat. The windows were also properly shaded to block sunlight.”
The concept of green building originated in the 1960s and was first proposed by the American-Italian architect Paolo Soleri who combined ecology and architecture, so it is also called ecological architecture or sustainable architecture. . After entering the 21st century, the idea of sustainable development has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the design concept of green buildings has also become a hot spot in the field of world architecture. The emergence of green buildings marks that architecture has been regarded as an organic part of the ecological cycle system.
The “green” of green buildings does not refer to three-dimensional greening or roof gardens in the general sense, but represents a concept or symbol. It is a kind of building that is harmless to the environment, can make full use of the natural resources of the environment, and is built without destroying the basic ecological balance of the environment. . The interior layout of the green building is very reasonable, minimizing the use of synthetic materials, making full use of sunlight, saving energy, and creating an environment close to nature for the occupants. Aiming at the coordinated development of people, buildings and the natural environment, while using natural conditions and artificial means to create a good and healthy living environment, control and reduce the consumption and damage to the natural environment as much as possible, fully reflecting the demand from nature and return.
The Sesa Chavez Library was also selected as one of the 10 “New Landmark Libraries” by the Library Journal in 2011. The selection criteria are extremely strict, and the evaluation is based on overall design and architectural superiority, responsiveness to surrounding connections and constraints, sustainability, functionality, innovation and aesthetics. Trends to watch include 9 aspects, namely emphasizing green buildings, openness and extensibility, one-stop service, self-service, cooperative model, interactive service, transparency, bottom-line ethics (that is, emphasizing minimalism) and extending social functions .
The Sesa Chavez Library is also “Silver Certified” in the LEED standard, which is the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design Building Rating System established and implemented by the US Green Building Council. , Internationally referred to as LEED standard. “Silver Certified” means meeting the next highest standard.
