2024 - SereneSafe: Modular Space

Category
Daylight in Buildings - Region 3: The Americas

Students
Benjamin Gonzalo Diaz Cornejo, Josefa Andrea Gonzalez Troncoso & Catalina Belen Negrete Coronado

Teacher
Constanza Veronica Yanez Labarca

School
Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María

Country
Chile

Within the Chilean educational context, especially at middle and higher levels, there is a growing need to create accessible learning and leisure spaces for students with neurodivergence, particularly those within the autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Recognising that ASD essentially affects social interaction, communication, behaviour, and symbolic functions, the creation of surrounding space is proposed. This innovative space aims to encourage the holistic development of people with neurodivergence, comprehensively addressing the areas affected by ASD and promoting their full inclusion in the educational environment.

Fundamental aspects:

Accessibility: The interior space shall be adaptable to facilitate the mobility and comfort of students. Essential elements such as adequate lighting and optimal acoustics are considered.

Sensory Focus: Elements designed to positively stimulate students’ senses are incorporated, which promote adequate sensory regulation.

Natural Lighting: This space prioritizes the use of natural light as a central element, in order to promote the integral development of neurodivergent students. Natural light has been shown to have beneficial effects on sensory regulation, mood, concentration, and learning, which are crucial for students with ASD. It is planned to use dim and diffuse lighting, using materials that scatter natural light to avoid overly intense reflections. This, in turn, will give the users greater control over the lighting and ambience of their space, through a mechanism that allows them to adjust it according to their needs.

Materials: ETFE is an innovative and versatile thermoplastic material with several outstanding characteristics:

Transparency: It allows natural light to pass through, offering a transparency similar to glass, making it possible to create luminous spaces.
Resistance: Despite its lightness, it has a high tensile strength and impact resistance, which allows it to withstand adverse conditions such as strong winds, snowfall, or hail. In addition, it is UV and weather resistant, which allows it to withstand extreme temperatures.
Flexibility: It can be moulded into a wide variety of shapes and designs, making it easy to create curved and inflatable structures.
Thermal Insulation: The inflated ETFE bags form an air cushion that creates a thermal barrier, maintaining a comfortable interior regardless of exterior temperatures.

Space: The aim is to create an area that combines individual and small-scale collective spaces, designed to facilitate both group integration and a sheltered space to withdraw to in times of overstimulation. Spaces reflect their purpose through design, clearly indicating their intended use.

Dimensions: This heptagonal module has a diameter of 6 meters, resulting in an approximate area of 18.85 square meters and a maximum height of 3.6 meters.
Individual space: Intended for reflection and intimacy, this is meant to be a reduced space, either closed or semi-open, with dim lighting adjustable to the user’s needs, with soft and cozy finishes.

Scalability: Through a modular design proposal that could be placed in any educational premises in the world, the aim of the project is to generate a significant social impact in terms of inclusion and autonomy, leading to a substantial improvement in the quality of life of students with ASD within the educational environment.