Being quite small given the size of the building just means that all the sun shining on the building is focused into a small area which is the root of the problem.
The raindrop was said to be on a flat sunroof. Maybe 3m above the floor? I could understand something immediately under the sunroof being burnt (e.g. some paintwork on a surrounding frame) but the floor? I don't think we have the conditions for lasing.jneutron said:
The building looks to be about 21 windows high so far. If they are very unlucky, they can have a gain of 21 times direct sunlight in an area one window tall, say 3 meters, and the width of the building.
Those Oakley sunglass ads stating thermonuclear protection seem just about right.. And the letters SPF take on a whole nuther import..
jn
I understand the building may be curved on two axes. Fortunately they seem to have different radii.
ah, yes, architects and interior designers - I've been employed in the commercial millwork trade for over 20yrs now, and if we had $1 for every reception counter that looked gorgeous on paper, but that couldn't be built with existing real work materials / fabrication techniques, or be deliverable to the site once constructed - it'd be a lot of dollars.
like who in their right mind would specify high gloss white solid surface (eg Corian) for the vertical and horizontal faces of sales and reception counters at an auto dealership? it scratches / scuffs like crazy and while can be buffed out it's messy to do so on site and tricky to get an exact match uniform match on sheen, not to mention the blinding reflections of sunlight
then there's the current vogue for "reclaimed" timber wall faces - to be random matched on site to existing wall backing with no visible fasteners and no VOC adhesives - "huh, why's that cost so much, it's like scrap wood you had lying around, right?"
all architects and designers should be required to spend at least one summer building and installing the stuff they draw before getting their final certification - of course even then it won't prevent simply ugly designs, but that's another rant
sorry, touchy subject
like who in their right mind would specify high gloss white solid surface (eg Corian) for the vertical and horizontal faces of sales and reception counters at an auto dealership? it scratches / scuffs like crazy and while can be buffed out it's messy to do so on site and tricky to get an exact match uniform match on sheen, not to mention the blinding reflections of sunlight
then there's the current vogue for "reclaimed" timber wall faces - to be random matched on site to existing wall backing with no visible fasteners and no VOC adhesives - "huh, why's that cost so much, it's like scrap wood you had lying around, right?"
all architects and designers should be required to spend at least one summer building and installing the stuff they draw before getting their final certification - of course even then it won't prevent simply ugly designs, but that's another rant
sorry, touchy subject
I think it is time that engineers claimed back two words which have been hijacked by arty people: design, creative.
When someone says he has designed some technical artifact it should mean he has decided how the innards work, not merely decided where to put the buttons on the outside.
The most truly creative industries in Britain are not pop music or computer games but things like aerospace - we still have Rolls-Royce making world-class jet engines, for example.
When someone says he has designed some technical artifact it should mean he has decided how the innards work, not merely decided where to put the buttons on the outside.
The most truly creative industries in Britain are not pop music or computer games but things like aerospace - we still have Rolls-Royce making world-class jet engines, for example.
That would shorten the focal line, compressing the light even more.
Whoa, then the optical gain could be anywhere between 21 and, what, 210?
SPF 50 would protect you for what, 2 minutes??
jn
Be careful what you ask for. Creative engineers??
Shirley you jest.
Engineering courses are DESIGNED to prevent the engineer from being creative. Engineering anarchy can produce some amazing disasters...
jn
I don't mean creative in the sense of believing that they can ignore physics or common sense. Just coming up with innovative solutions based on good science.
What does window glass do to UV? Reflect it or absorb it? Presumably if the glass has an external metallic coating it will reflect UV?
What does window glass do to UV? Reflect it or absorb it? Presumably if the glass has an external metallic coating it will reflect UV?
I'd vote for race car design.
The UK is head and shoulders above any other country in that subject.
We build almost everything racing related here like Subaru, Aston Martin and Ferrari GT racers (all made not far from me by ProDrive), practically all F1 cars except Ferrari and even Ferrari was thinking of relocating their F1 operation to Britain around the time they signed Schumacher.
Also most of the Champ Car chassis were made here (Lola, March and Reynard).
Doesn't take much at all - remember even in the UK, insolation at ground level in direct sun is about 1KW/sq.m and that readily raises surfaces of moderate emissivity to 40degC or rather more above ambient.
Add a strong partial reflection: supposing for a moment this ('orrible-form) building produces boosts that to say 1.5KW or more it would then easily seen to be enough to do damage. Archi-nerds on other forums of professional interest predicted this long ago; and R.Viñoly Architects has 'form ' for a previous building of his doing the same or worse.
The litigation for a fix is going to be interesting - you certainly cannot achieve it readily at the glazing face*
It's poor architecture and insufficently rigourous design aimed at surface flash. Oops.
(and yes, I am an architect 😉 )
*glass surface temps and therefore thermal stress goes up massively, as does movement in the curtain wall. Reglaze of SE/ SW faces required? It's one possible litigious outcome. And that would also likely to break thermal design model for internal enviroment owing to glass G-value issues... changing the HVAC as a result...
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Very complex for a complete answer but fundamentally, UV does not pass through 'window' glass to a significant extent.
Selective absorption, transmission (both ways) and reflection across the daylight spectrum is *the* essential consideration in specifying glazed facades, it can take weeks or more of iteration to get to the right answer balanced against a building's thermal model - amongst other considerations. And the technical know-how out there is *huge* , as is the selection of glasses/coatings.
(Coatings usu. on inside face of external pane in gass-filled units for reasons of longevity - useful coatings are fractional-wavelength thick therefore fragile, or can be oxidised, or both. It also turns-out to be the most useful place to locate coatings for radiant barriers to heat loss from inside, assuming you can minimise convection in the cavity - for which there is a further range of optimal spacings, depending on the gas fill and pane size. Plenty of fun.)
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gee, I just wanted it shiny, you mean there's math & science involved? - that makes it, like, work not art - you'd think lives or property damage was at risk 🙄
we recently built 4 legged display benches designed by an architect for a university book store that ended up weighing over 300lbs a piece - over 4" thick laminated plywood with steel reinforcing - you could have landed a helicopter on those damned things - and they bitched when the resilient flooring was damaged
who ends up paying on a big project like the walkie-talkie when the lawyers are finished?
BTW, is it just me or is that building fugly or what?
we recently built 4 legged display benches designed by an architect for a university book store that ended up weighing over 300lbs a piece - over 4" thick laminated plywood with steel reinforcing - you could have landed a helicopter on those damned things - and they bitched when the resilient flooring was damaged
who ends up paying on a big project like the walkie-talkie when the lawyers are finished?
BTW, is it just me or is that building fugly or what?
Alas, there are those who will never see the light. 🙂
I suggest a minimum of one year.
Indeed. We share many of the same feelings.
You might want to revisit that.
As of a couple of years, I have a curved and retractable cover over my swimming pool.
Water temperature inside is 85F today, while night temperature over the last week has dropped as low as 55F.
(during extremely good/sunny periods, the cover has to be retracted partially to lower water temperature to acceptable levels)
Total capacity is just under 20K gallons, do the math.
Many still underestimate the heat transfer of sunlight, and if it's not allowed in, it has to go elsewhere.
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