This study is an initial design exercise that seeks to understand the changing landscape of freight delivery, and evaluates two emerging delivery technologies: drones (air) and robots (autonomous ground vehicles (AGVs), or droids) on the built environment. Given that this is a high-level exercise, the sole purpose of this document is to highlight emerging trends... Read more »
This research proposal is for the development, fabrication and preliminary evaluation of an experimental wearable, ‘pentachromic’ circadian light tracker prototype. By doing so, it would then be possible to record ‘pentachromic’ circadian illuminance indicators for a building’s occupant’s lighting environment alongside responses to intermittent polling targeting information a user’s alertness, cognitive function, psychological state-of mind... Read more »
Article Published: Citation: Matthew Timmers, Andrew Tsay Jacobs, Concrete apartment tower in Los Angeles reimagined in mass timber, Engineering Structures, Available online 6 December 2017, ISSN 0141-0296, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2017.11.047. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141029617305497) Abstract: This study explores the seismic performance advantages and disadvantages of mass timber construction over reinforced concrete construction for high-rise buildings in high seismic regions. In... Read more »
FINAL_Latrobe Report_2017_opt Led by the Arid Lands Institute (ALI), the Drylands Resilience Initiative [DRI] brings together collaborators from design, science, and policy to envision and realize an abundant future in drylands. Our goal is to accelerate planning, design, and development that results in local, low-carbon water reserves in dry cities in the US West and around the world. With the support of the AIA College of Fellows 2015-2017 Latrobe Research Prize, DRI collaborators honed and tested Hazel, a powerful new digital design tool for optimizing the capture and reuse of stormwater.
The 2017 Spring Perkins+Will Innovation Incubator project proposed to develop the next generation of net carbon negative, low embodied energy wood composite structural elements. The team created composite fibers composed of a bio-based thermosetting plastic and fiber additives (carbon, aramid, and two types of wood fiber), and evaluated their sustainability and began the process of... Read more »
P+W researchers partnered with Autodesk BUILDSpace to use robot arms to stretch and manipulate molten plastic. This project was a continuation of research performed at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, London. View the complete white paper here. PROJECT TEAM: Soulaf Aburas, Phillip Ewing PROJECT DATE December 2016 :
Perkins+Will Chicago teamed up with Autodesk BUILDSpace in Boston to fabricate two full scale nodes of the proposed River Beech Tower. The wood, concrete and steel hybrid constructions were assembled at Pepper Construction’s warehouse in Chicago and are currently on display in the Chicago office of Perkins+Will. The proposed 80-story wood tower design was produced... Read more »
Andrew Tsay Jacobs is a committee member of the International Code Council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Tall Wood Buildings. Code change proposal will be submitted January 8, 2017. Proposal includes provisions for buildings of fire-protected mass timber construction to be up to 18 stories and 270ft in height. Fire-protected mass timber construction with limited exposed... Read more »
P+W researchers collaborated with Autodesk BUILDSpace to fabricate an all-wood space frame using 2x lumber and wooden dowels. Using Dynamo to create the geometry and Fusion 360 to create the executable files, the 2x members were cut using a 5-axis CNC machine. Two assembled truss prototypes were created – one is housed at P+W Vancouver... Read more »
The Precautionary List is a compilation of the most ubiquitous and problematic substances that people encounter every day in the built environment. Hosted on the Transparency website (transparency.perkinswill.com), it allows design professionals to search for key substances and chemicals of concern using filters like project type, product type, and health and environmental impacts. The information... Read more »
Sustaining a reasonable level of safety and quality in our day-to-day lives now requires that we collectively respond to weather extremes, economic disruptions, and resource depletions that are becoming commonplace globally, regionally, and locally. Resilience involves interactive social, economic, and environmental elements that respond to both acute short-term and systemic long-term topics related to the... Read more »
