MegaWindow

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MegaWindow

Firm

Paadarchitects

Type

Commercial › Office

STATUS

Concept

SIZE

1000 sqft - 3000 sqft

BUDGET

Unknown

A window is traditionally a transparent and flat element that excludes the outdoor airflow into the space when it is closed and allow people inside the building to see out. It is one of the most historical elements with the interface between the city and architecture. Nowadays, the urban landscape often seems unattractive due to unconstrained urban development. How can the window redefine its historical role in the situation like that? When we were asked to renovate a very small office space in the center of Tehran, we interpreted this issue through office spaces: where usually the quality of your workspace is determined by the distance you have from the window. How to make the window accessible to more users behind the desks while providing a personalized view and airflow different from the unsightly outdoor view?
Our idea was “MegaWindow” in this case: a kind of three-dimensional window that gets rid of its flat form and can be a space instead of a surface. It is a kind of spatial object that, unlike the classic window, does not block the outdoor air in the direction of the facade but pulls it into the middle of space.
In this renovation project, it was enough to remove a frame from the existing window and add a new glass tunnel with new openings to create a “MegaWindow”. The experience of making “MegaWindow” is like the experience of grafting a plant. Plenty windows grow from another window. Therefore, “MegaWindow” is an architectural strategy for producing customized views and airflow by pulling in the outer skin of architecture. As a result, we reached a new type of open office space, which is heterogeneous and diverse in terms of spatial qualities instead of being homogenous. It is an “office desk layout” where each user has own personalized window that makes access to the outdoor air and a view of plants. In other words, it is a kind of “horizontal Wind Tower”, which provides fresh air to plants and users who open their own windows. A simple mechanical exhaust fan has been installed at its end to maintain the fresh airflow inside the window tunnel. Also, we used a simple mist sprayer at the beginning of the window to increase the air humidity inside the window and reduce the dust.
Next, to examine this topic, thermal dynamics and computational fluid dynamics simulation are selected. The results reveal that the use of “Megawindow” has had a positive effect on providing thermal comfort and energy consumption compared to the basic model, as it has reduced the cooling energy by 9%. Also, the conditions are suitable for plant maintenance.
Using plants suitable for the outside temperature and weather that “love the shade” allows to create an unexpected green landscape inside the office space. In addition, using this window during a Coronavirus time provides safety sense by making access to fresh air. "MegaWindow" is a new deal with the generic diagram that Le Corbusier called domino which made new qualities of life in the office space: a minor, affordable, and discreet intervention to make noticeable changes in a usual workspace.