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SCHOOL OF DIGITAL ARTS, MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY
They were careful to avoid overdoing it, particularly as the elevations face offices within the art school. The “creases,” as Simon describes
them, were a product of seeking local manufacturers and suppliers, and a drive to make material use as lean as possible. The designers discovered a local metal facade supplier in Stockport who could fold the material, which would minimise the gauge required. The resulting creases are at 80 mm intervals, reducing the volume of material required along with the embodied carbon of the facade. To help create a unified, seamless link between the digital screen and cladding, the architects designed an extruded aluminium ‘Y’ detail at the corners of the facade into which the pleats “dovetail neatly.” Conversely, to break down the facade at ground level, there are 30 mm joints providing a ‘banding.’ Fitting the straightforward design approach taken throughout, the light wall is designed to be low-tech, composed of flexible strands of high-intensity, full colour LED ‘nodes’ enabling a 20,000 pixel moving image. The screen is only operational when the building is open, so rather than have a blank screen, the ‘net’ of LEDs mounted on metal cladding panels has been integrated into the facade, sitting behind a perforated
black metal rainscreen. Being on the north facade means that sunlight won’t interfere with the images, and the perforations assist viewing the overall image thanks to the ‘moire’ effect created. Wilby says a “lot of mock ups” were constructed to make sure that the perforations were sized correctly, both visually and to avoid wind noise. To help create a unified, seamless look between the digital screen and the pleated cladding, the architects designed an extruded aluminium ‘Y’ detail at the corners of the facade so that the pleats “dovetail into it neatly.” Conversely, to break down the overall look, there are 30 mm joints providing a banding at ground level. With animation and video being the order of the day, the wall’s typical energy use is likely to be 25-30% of the wall’s 16 kW rating, and thereby handled by a PV array on the roof. (The architects have provided infrastructure for a full array in future which could completely power the screen on its own). FCBStudios “reverse engineered” the screen design in terms of power requirements, working out what the PV array would be, and then sizing the screen to be completely powered by it. The architects “fought hard” to make the light wall as big as possible, says Wilby, without adding to energy demand.
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ADF OCTOBER 2022
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