SOM.COMSOM.COM
Adaptive Planning
Although energy efficiency was a priority from the design’s inception, finding the right sustainable system required several revisions to SOM’s original plan. After SOM’s design was awarded the Center commission in January 2006, architects researched multiple iterations of the building, continuously revising the project to better adapt to the site, and ultimately replacing a wind-powered design with a photovoltaic panel roof that proved the most efficient system.
Each potential design for Zhongshan focused on using the roof to harvest energy and power the Exhibition Center. The first incarnation of this concept relied on wind turbines: machines that convert the wind’s constant motion into mechanical energy. Designers layered a trellis of vertical axis wind turbines—or VAWTs—over the building, creating a rooftop field of 2,500 highly efficient, low maintenance turbines that would spin throughout the day, harvesting the air and powering the Exhibition Center’s lighting systems.
During the competition phase, preliminary research showed that the wind velocity in the region was adequate to power the VAWTs. Once engineers visited Zhongshan, however, they discovered that within the site’s micro-climate, the wind drops off—reducing the approach velocity on average by 2 kilometers per second, enough to place the efficiency of the turbines in jeopardy. Turby B.V.—a Dutch company that has pioneered the mass production of VAWTs for an urban scale—was brought in to collaborate on a possible refinement of the turbine. Eventually, however, the team determined that a wholly new design for the roof was necessary.
Back to Top