Load Bearing Vertical Duct Element for Flexible Building Layouts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current building and design methods restrict the modifiability of buildings, making it difficult to change the purpose or layout of spaces such as kitchens and bathrooms, limiting adaptability to changing societal needs and tenant requirements, and requiring extensive and costly modifications.
Innovation Solution
The use of load bearing vertical duct elements with openable sections allows for flexible space division and reconfiguration, enabling the easy relocation and modification of rooms and technical services like plumbing and electricity without dismantling the building's load-bearing frame, and allows for the combination or separation of space units to adapt to different sizes and purposes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If standardized building designs and fixed floor plans are used, then construction efficiency and initial cost-effectiveness are improved, but adaptability to changing societal needs and tenant requirements deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The building is divided into modular space units that can be independently configured and reconfigured. Each unit contains essential functions (kitchen, bathroom, living space) that can be arranged in different patterns to create various apartment types, allowing standardized construction modules to be adapted to diverse housing needs without extensive modification work
Solution Approach 2:
The floor plan design incorporates flexible, non-load-bearing partition walls that can be easily moved or removed, and utility systems (water, sewage, electricity) that are routed through accessible vertical ducts and floor channels, enabling the building to dynamically adapt its layout in response to changing societal needs and tenant preferences
2Stability of the object's composition
If locations of kitchens and bathrooms are fixed relative to vertical duct wells, then structural stability is improved, but flexibility in space arrangement deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Utility systems are transitioned from two-dimensional floor-embedded channels to three-dimensional vertical ducts that extend through multiple floors. This allows horizontal reconfiguration of kitchens and bathrooms by accessing utilities through vertical shafts and floor penetrations rather than fixed floor channels, enabling greater spatial flexibility while maintaining structural integrity
Solution Approach 2:
Utility systems are extracted from the fixed floor structure and relocated to accessible vertical ducts and floor channels that can be independently modified. This separation allows the structural floor plan to remain stable while the functional layout of kitchens and bathrooms can be flexibly arranged by rerouting utilities through the duct system
3Strength
If extensive embedding of ducts in floor structures is performed, then structural integrity is improved, but ease of modification deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Vertical utility ducts and floor channels are pre-installed during initial construction in standardized locations, creating a flexible infrastructure framework that anticipates future reconfiguration needs. This preliminary setup of accessible utility pathways eliminates the need for extensive floor breaking and structural modification during later adaptations, maintaining both structural integrity and ease of modification
4Adaptability or versatility
If building modifications are performed extensively to change dwelling sizes and room configurations, then adaptability to new uses is improved, but cost and time consumption deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The building is segmented into modular space units with standardized dimensions and interfaces, allowing entire apartment configurations to be reconfigured by moving pre-fabricated partitions and rerouting utilities through existing ducts rather than performing extensive demolition and reconstruction, significantly reducing modification time and cost
Solution Approach 2:
The vertical duct system and floor channels are designed as universal utility pathways that can serve multiple different room configurations and apartment types. The same duct infrastructure supports kitchens, bathrooms, and living spaces in various arrangements, allowing the building to adapt to new uses without requiring dedicated utility infrastructure for each configuration
Data Source
Figure 1~5
Figure 6a~6b
Figure 7a
AI summary
The invention relates to a building concept wherein locations of rooms such as bathrooms and kitchens can be easily changed during the lifespan of the building. These rooms may be positioned in several locations almost everywhere in the building and the building may be easily remodeled during its lifespan. The invention is based on providing at least one space part that comprises a floor(43) defining the area of the space part and at least one length of non-load bearing wall (27) bordering the perimeter of the floor (43) and at least one load bearing vertical duct element (11) having at least one vertical cover wall that can be at least partially opened in order to provide access to the inside of the element(11).