Case Study 01: Glimmer

Floor Area: 35 m² / 377 ft².Site Address: Parking lot in Liberty Park, Salt Lake City.Material: Cross Laminated Timber (CLT).Typical Owner: People who live in urban that need affordable nature and privacy. / People who are looking for an affordable, comfortable and temporary shelter.

This project proposes an architectural strategy for the housing and environmental problems of urbanization in the next 30 years.

Site: This project will be built in the parking lot of the Liberty Park. The base is set on the concrete ground, part of the building is lifted and extends to the nature. It also brings nature back by creating an interior garden. While urbanization continuously eroding the ecology on the edge of the city, this project provides a method for nature to take back control from downtown.

Materiality & Structure: Cross laminated timber is the main material of this building. It is utilized as walls to create a sealed space. There is no windows on the wall, facade will be covered with dark wooden materials to express the solid feeling of this project. The large customized board are connected with C-channels to be a frame to support the lifted part of the building. Other wooden walls are intersected with the two boards to create space for bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and entrance. Curved glass will be used to enclose an interior garden, which can integrate sunlight to interior.

Form & Concept: Based on the concrete ground of the parking lot, the building extends to the woods of the park. There’s no wind on the facade, giving the project a solid and heavy feeling. An interior garden is designed in the middle to integrate sunlight and rain water. Not only it helps the building to adjust the micro-weather during different seasons, but it also deals with private issues in cities. The funnel roof is spliced by CLT pieces to collect rainwater. Gutter along the roof leads water goes inside to the garden, letting water drops in the garden. It can bring a very peaceful natural atmosphere with the sound of raindrops in the garden. When people standing outside of the building, the funnel roof will also creating of visual effects for the outline of the building. Thin CLT walls are extended from the two large board, creating another courtyard in the nature. The walls framed the view, and also becomes a way to protect privacy. What is more, the courtyard framed the interior light at night, smooth scattered light will leak under the lifted walls. It expresses the metaphor of glimmer, showing that each home or individual is like the fireflies in the city that should be cared

Economy: The CLT walls without windows really lower the cost, which makes the building affordable. Although the curved glass wall of the interior is expensive, covered with a lot of cheap materials still cuts down the price of the building. It also gives quality to the building. The project is easy to building by intersecting different elements, which means it can be built repetitively in the parking lot to deal with expensive housing problems.

3