Calendar

The food market at International Square in Washington DC, radically reinvents a 1980s atrium lobby into an open-air extension of the street. The market was conceived as a place for all the senses, and by incorporating a natural ventilation strategy it becomes a space for visceral engagement with one’s environment. While adding large doors to connect to the outside was a straightforward detailing challenge, the question was how to do so while creating a comfortable space for as much of the year as possible and within an existing building with a mix of aging systems.

The open-air market concept was conceived prior to the pandemic, and the technical integration was a major client concern. Those concerns diminished upon realizing the practical advantages of increased air changes possible with natural ventilation. It was critical to understand how the open-air would impact the existing atrium smoke exhaust system, and whether the system could be leveraged to facilitate removal of hot air and supplement the vertical stack effect. During the cooler shoulder seasons, the team also sought to modulate openings to extend the operational duration of the natural ventilation modes and allow for additional energy savings.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand energy savings, air quality and experiential improvements that natural ventilation can allow in existing buildings.
• Identify barriers and technical strategies for incorporating natural ventilation into existing buildings, including integration of architectural and ventilation systems and related equipment.
• Determine the times of year and environmental factors where natural ventilation systems can be utilized.
• Understand tools and resources available to allow for a comfortable naturally ventilated environment.

Presented by:

Juan Villafañe, AIA, LEED AP BD+C
Partner
Krueck Sexton Partners