Adaptive Responsive Architecture Materials

Contemporary smart building systems typically aim to reduce building energy use by means of techno- logically enabled climate-responsiveness; however, these technologies lack the efficiency and elegance of naturally responsive mechanisms employing the inherent properties of available materials, such as the moisture-induced opening and closing of conifer cones. This mechanism can be replicated to produce low-tech low-cost hygromorphic (moisture-sensitive) materials with the response driven by shrinkage and swelling wood. This paper explores the possibility of adaptive building systems based on incorpora- tion of hygromorphic materials and argues that they present opportunities for architecture that is pas- sively attuned to the variable natural rhythms of the internal and external environments, and that addresses a wide range of sustainability considerations.

Natural organisms which employ inherent material properties to enable a passive dynamic response offer inspiration for adaptive bioclimatic architecture. This approach allows a move away from the technological intensity of conventional " smart " building systems towards a more autonomous and robust materially embedded sensitivity and climatic responsiveness. The actuation mechanisms of natural responsive systems can be replicated to produce artificial moisture-sensitive (hygromorphic) composites with the response driven by hygroexpansion of wood. The work presented here builds on previous research on lab-scale material development, to investigate in detail the applicability of wood-based hygromorphic materials for large-scale external applications. The suitability of different material production techniques and viability of potential applications is established through a detailed programme of experimentation and the first one-year-long durability study of hygromorphic wood composites in full weathering conditions. These results provide the basis for the design of an optimised responsive cladding system. The opportunities and challenges presented by building integration and architectural functionalisation of responsive wood composites are discussed based on a hierarchy of application typologies including functional devices and components, performance-oriented adaptive systems, the value of aesthetic and spatial experience and place-specific contextual integration. The design of the first full-scale building application of hygromorphic wood composites is presented.

Contemporary smart building systems typically aim to reduce building energy use by means of techno- logically enabled climate-responsiveness; however, these technologies lack the efficiency and elegance of naturally responsive mechanisms employing the inherent properties of available materials, such as the moisture-induced opening and closing of conifer cones. This mechanism can be replicated to produce low-tech low-cost hygromorphic (moisture-sensitive) materials with the response driven by shrinkage and swelling wood. This paper explores the possibility of adaptive building systems based on incorpora- tion of hygromorphic materials and argues that they present opportunities for architecture that is pas- sively attuned to the variable natural rhythms of the internal and external environments, and that addresses a wide range of sustainability considerations.