Design of Library Extension Featuring a Parametric/Dynamic Façade and Integrated with the Landscape in UAEU Campus

The building industry is in constant change and UAE is a leader in innovative solutions for green buildings. The standards used in achieving sustainable buildings such as LEED, Estidama have contributed in building structures that reduce the energy consumption. The strategies applied in a building in order to have low energy consumption vary depending of the region and climate. In UAE, a country with hot arid climate, these strategies have relevant importance. The aim of this study is to investigate dynamic/parametric façade in a new building, to be built in the city of AL Ain, United Arab Emirates University Campus. The new structure is an additional Library Building (with additional function to the current building). The building follows the Estidama Pearl Rating System. The architecture has to consider the heritage of UAE and adapt to the current landscape. The building analysis includes: flexible internal spaces, passive architectural solutions, structural system adapted to the building function, connection to the surrounding building architecture and the urban tissue. The project follows Estidama 2030 standards. New softwares such as Rhino and plug ins like Grasshopper make possible calculations of parametric façade that previously were proven difficult to apply. Dynamic/parametric façade optimizes the solar gains in the internal spaces. The study of the materials of this façade is the second relevant focus on this study. Due to the new technologies now available for the mass use (3D printing technology), advanced innovative materials is possible to achieve the Estidama targets more efficiently. The construction period considered for the full project is one year. This constrain makes the project challenging and impacts the payback period of the advanced façade. Based on the results, the solar radiation analysis helped identifying the areas of the façade where the parametric structure will be applied, as well as the specific design, openings, time of the day where the openings will adapt to minimize the energy loss in cooling. This research brings innovative thinking in terms of the technology used in calculating several parameters for the advanced façade, materials used for the application of this façade, building construction time/cost management.