2024 - The Shipyard of Light

The theme of this project is ”The shipyard of Light”, aiming to control the entry of light into the building according to the space’s demand for light.

In the design site of Kunshan, Suzhou, there is an intangible cultural heritage craft called Jinxi Wooden Boat Manufacturing. From cutting materials, assembling the hull, twisting seams, applying oil, decorating the hull, to painting the ship, the craft is very complex, and each link has different requirements for lighting. The design team focuses on the manufacturing of this intangible cultural heritage craft and is preparing to create a cultural experience shipyard station.

According to the different usage content of areas such as display, reading, cutting and installation, the team divides the lighting requirements of the space into four levels: bright, sub bright, sub dark, and dark.

Considering that the curved roof reflects more light than the flat roof and sloping roof, which can make the room more evenly lit, the team extracted elements of the arch from the Jinxi wooden boat. Maintain a constant aspect ratio in the area below the arch section, diagonal ɑ Conduct variable tests on light reflection from 20°to 60°and observe the earliest winter solstice in the region. The reflection time, noon time, and afternoon time inside the arch can be comprehensively compared to determine the angle of reflection ɑ The indoor light is most uniform at 35°C.

In order to control the entry of light into the building according to the spatial demand for light, we have conducted a detailed design of the arch skin of the building. The outermost layer is a bamboo woven board structure with different densities according to functional light requirements, the middle layer is a mixed control light intake system of polycarbonate board and aluminum magnesium manganese board, and the innermost layer is a bent I-shaped steel arch structure.