The Volvo Ocean Race is a brave and competitive test of human bravery against mother nature. Sailors endure a multitude of calamities at sea, often engaging in a vicious dance with the ocean waves. Ocean race events are hosted at various port cities as the sailors make their way through the race. At these port cities, team bases are provided in fabricated "race villages". The organizers of The Ocean Race 2022-23 have embraced an extensive sustainability program, with the goal of holding one of the world’s first overall climate positive (carbon negative) sporting events.
Side Elevation A
Side Elevation B
Lateral Section
Hydraulic System:
Acting as a response to the climate positive desires of the event organizers; the hydraulic system behaves as a "limiter" that prevents the sun shade sails from maneuvering in a destructive manner while also using wind power to generate and store electricity.
Axonometric Views
Floor Plan
Program requirements include a conditioned (heated/cooled) office space, a conditioned conference room capable of accommodating full on-site team meetings, a public exhibition area, a hospitality area with a small catering kitchenette, a storage/staging area, and a workshop. Two identical team base structures will be produced for each team, to be set up and taken down alternately in each port city by the race organization. All components were to be shipped to race venues in standard dry storage shipping containers or flat rack containers.
Self Reflection:
In developing this project, I furthered my understanding of the relationship between multiple structural components and their influence on the façade of a building. I had prior thought of structure as an existing interior element almost separate from the external elements of a building; failing to realize that both elements are conditionally intertwined and should be thought of as such during the design process. Designing the specificities of various structural components while simultaneously developing an assembly and disassembly process for said components helped greatly in defining for me, what structure fully entailed in architectural discourse.
