[UNION FAÇADE]
REHABILITION FAÇADE
Location: Amman, Jordan
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Project Objective: To rehabilitate the façade of the Professional Union Complex’s building and provide it with a completely new image. The building was erected in the 1980s in an emerging neighbourhood. The architectural context of the surrounding area includes several modernist office and commercial buildings. After a few decades and multiple additions, the building seemed fragmented. Our response called for emphasising the structural elements (columns), re-using the stone cladding to create the stone-mesh for the proposed double façades and eliminating the external elevator shaft.
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The elevation design includes that each
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individual stone is mechanically fixed onto 5-7 cm rectangular steel rods. With this concept, we wanted to put forth the idea of experimenting with vernacular materials, in addition to using stone in unconventional articulation yet within a pragmatic framework.
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The concept for the new façades is lightness wholeness and honesty. The use of a double façade is ideal for a hot and arid climate. The double façade allows natural light and natural ventilation, while avoiding glare and over-heating. The proposal includes the reuse of the stones from the old façade to be used as louvers within panels in an element we call the “stone mesh”. Stone, a non-renewable
resource, is extracted from quarries through a process that has a negative environmental impact. By re-using and reconfiguring the stone, we are able not only to achieve a more contemporary use of the traditional cladding material, but also to minimize the negative environmental impact and ensure a more sustainable approach to design in our city.
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For this design concept we drew from the sustainable systems of vernacular architecture of the region. As office buildings tend to have stark florescent lighting and artificial ventilation, vernacular materials and traditional techniques could ameliorate the work environment.
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