SunRise is envisioned as a cutting-edged high-rise student hostel that architecturally integrates advanced structures and advanced building envelopes. Drawing on the strengths of multi-disciplinary collaboration and problem-solving throughout the design process, the project sought to create an innovative proposal for optimisation, performance and aesthetic goals in relation to the key advanced architectural technologies of tall structures and building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) panels.

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Located in the tropics and serving as student accommodation for university students, the architecture incorporates an outrigger structural system, introducing void spaces to be utilised as naturally-ventilated communal terraces which are shaded by BIPV panels that line the façade. These void spaces serve the simultaneous function of reducing load on the structure, generating energy and affording thermal comfort in the form of shaded interaction spaces.

 

The overarching concept for the advanced architectural integration may thus be understood in three-folds:

1. The 'Meat': Student accommodation spaces;

2. The 'Bones': Structural cores and an outrigger structure that support the high-rise student hostel;

3. The 'Skin': An envelope comprising vertical BIPV panels acting as louvres and balustrades, integrated with the outrigger structure.

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The resultant interstitial spaces between the 'skin' and 'bones' - naturally ventilated and contiguous communal sky terraces - are akin to the veins and arteries, allowing for dynamic circulation and fostering interaction between what would otherwise be vertically-segregated male and female accommodation storeys.