Project : ADDITIVE Office Interior and Furniture

Location:  Los Angeles, California

Client: ADDITIVE Advertisement Agency

Within a very limited budget Judith K. Mussel designed the minimal office furniture of the ADDITIVE Advertisement Agency. Prefabricated wine boxes served as a base unit for the modern shelving structures. The lighting was assembled out of thousand of rectangular Chinese lamps.

link to article

link to the publication

A  DAILY Luxury Experience in A MINI Bathroom

XP& Architecture Turns a Dark Bathroom into a Spa

XP& Architecture design for a bathroom in West Los Angeles creates the impression of a spacious luxury spa on a minimum 5’x 5’ footprint.

The small space was expanded through a visual connection to the outside. A floor to ceiling window replaced a small glass block opening. The lush vegetation of the outside is now visible from the interior.  The California native plant “scouringrush horsetail”l  and an exterior screen provide privacy for the user. More natural day light can now penetrate the space through the huge opening. The white walls reflect the natural light the most: white has a lighting reflection factor of 80-85.  A wall length mirror makes the tight space appear much bigger than it is.  The translucent safety glass shower divider, which spans from floor to ceiling as well, also contributes to the spacious feeling of the bath.

The appliances are all high-end and imported from Germany.  They are low flow appliances and using less water than conventional American appliances. They are built into the wall and do not extrude into the space.  Maintenance service can be provided through a service door in the wall.

All lights are recessed in the ceiling. To give the impression of a higher ceiling four warm florescent lights are tucked on both side walls underneath the ceiling and light washes the walls.

The bathtub is sunken into the ground. The 8’ ceiling appears way higher when sitting  inside the tub. When used as a shower a Wooden Grill (Ape wood) prevents you from slipping.  Ape wood is moisture resistant.

The building inspector summed it up by saying: Very unusual! All in all a great daily spa experience on a minimal footprint!

XP& A (Expand Architecture) is a full service architectural practice. Expanding architecture beyond its limitations with Performance Driven Design & Cultural Ecologies. XP& Architecture’s designs span from product design to urban planning and the portfolio includes residential, commercial and institutional projects.

The firm is based in California, USA with offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles.  XP& Architecture delivers architectural design solutions that are based on 15 years of experience in the practice, great management and follow through.

Judith K. Mussel is the design principal and founder of XP& Architecture.

Founded in 2006 XP& Architecture is dedicated to cultural ecologies, creating environments that enhance the cultural landscape with advanced technology in design and construction.

XP& Architecture designs a climate regulating self-cleaning and image improving new envelope for the Larchmont Medical Center in Los Angeles

Larchmont Lotus

XP& Architecture designed a 15,000 SF sensor driven Shading System for the Larchmont Medical Center on Larchmont Boulevard in Los Angeles California.  The new envelope serves two design purposes at once: cooling of the building and image improvement of the medical center. As the sun moves throughout the day the façade adjust its metal leaves to regulate the internal temperature of the building. The user of the building can override the movement of the system if needed.

Shading Systems are one of the most effective energy saving passive design measures in Southern California. The building produces a lot of heat from all the equipment and the exterior wall surface which is exposed to the constant radiation of the sun. Instead of spending money for the mechanical cooling system the proposal suggests a onetime investment in secondary passive shading system that can react to different weather conditions and user preferences. Sensors installed inside and on the outside of the building measure the temperature and the metal cladding opens and closes accordingly.

The lotus leaf has the amazing property of self-cleaning through its superhydrophobic micro-nanostructured surfaces. The self-cleaning phenomenon was first discovered by Dettre and Johnson in 1964. In 1977 superhydrophobic micro-nanostructured surfaces were studied by Barthlott and Ehler. Today we have paints that perform in a similar way when applied to surfaces.

The metal shutter leaves are coated with Lotusan, which has proven to self clean its surface.

Ecology and Technology merge in a Residential Design in Venice California

Águas de Março is a design for a residence in Venice California of XP& Architecture. Advanced technology and sustainable measures are employed to generate a cutting edge residential design for Southern California.

The residential project combines the transparency of the modern style case study houses with a second layer of adjustable exterior shading devices and cantilevered balconies that control the interior climate and serve as circulation measure. The building design is inspired by the song Águas de Março by Antonio Jobim and the waves of the Pacific Ocean in Venice Beach.

The voluptuous wave shapes of the façade are generated in the computer and constructed out of conventional American wood construction (2bys) to form the adjustable second skin.

Project:  3,000 SF Residence

Location:  Venice, California

Client: Hitoshi Inoue

Architect: XP& Architecture, Judith K. Mussel

Team: Judith K. Mussel, Seung Chul Song

Consultant: Alan Locke, IBE Consulting Engineers

Year Complete: 2013

The project offers a lot of square footage on a small footprint.  The project has a usable area of 3000 sqft on a 2000 sqft lot. The building includes three stories plus one shaded roof terrace: 3 Bedrooms, 1 studio, four bathrooms, a loft style kitchen/dining/living room & a powder room. Every room has access to the exterior either through a balcony or terraces.

The adjustable second skin is the primary design feature which negotiates the climate between the inside and the outside. This passive green design measure doesn’t use any additional energy. During the summer months the shades block the sun while in winter the shallower angled sun rays are welcomed through the blinds. The shades are painted orange on the one side and are laminated with a reflective finish on the opposite side. Natural air circulation is supported through the adjustable blinds. In addition to the shading device the project features sustainable design measures like adjustable natural ventilation, alternative energy generation, solar collectors for hot water generation and water preserving measures like reclaimed irrigation, native planting and pervious pavement.

The circulation is organized similar to traditional Japanese houses but in this case combined with a central staircase. As a result there are always two different circulation measures – exterior and interior -  and every room is connected to the outside. Exterior circulation is infiltrated with double height spaces to enhance the spatial experience on an otherwise very compact floor plan layout. On the first floor you’ll find the garage and a loft space that could be used as a home office or an additional bedroom. The master bedroom is located on the second floor as well as two additional bedrooms and two bathrooms. The third floor is designed as an open loft with a kitchen and living area.

An International Trade fair and Congress for Sustainable Building, Investment, Operations and Maintenance, Stuttgart, Germany, 29^th -30^th of June 2011

“Consense” is an International Trade fair and Congress for Sustainable Building, Investment, Operations and Maintenance, which is held every year in Stuttgart, Germany and is hosted by the German Sustainable Building Council. Through a grant of the California College of the Arts in San Francisco I had the chance to participate on the congress “Consense”.  On the convention floor vendors, institutes and entrepreneurs showcased their latest sustainable products. The congress was structured in plenary and workshop sessions.  The speakers of the plenary session discussed general issues of sustainability, in the workshop sessions more specific topics were addressed.

A great variety of speakers were invited: developers, architects, politicians, graphic designer, product designer, academic researchers, city planners and entrepreneurs of various construction products and services.  The message of the congress was apparent: everybody needs to work together in order make a change. All of the speakers were no beginners on the topic “sustainability”.  The discussions would address how to resolve issues that come up creating green buildings and cities. Nobody ever argued for sustainability, this was common ground.

Remarkable was the contribution of Dr Bernd Schade Manager of Union Investment Real Estate Gmbh, Hamburg. His company invests primarily in international commercial and retail projects with the emphasis on green buildings. He presented a list of arguments why real-estate investor would be interested in sustainable buildings: savings in maintenance cost, increased value of the property, better image of the building, tax advantages, less risk, better credit score and better marketing.

http://www.sustainable-realestate-investments.com/en/?nm_caller=infobox

The politician Prof. Dr. Martin Haag, who is the mayor of Freiburg presented issues of sustainable city planning.  Freiburg is one of the greenest cities in the world. They are working on “Sustainable City Planning” since 1970 and did receive the title of “European City of the Year 2010” from Academy of Urbanism in London. Freiburg’s city planning politics are decentralization, mixture of many different cultures, short distances, education, science & culture and innovative production companies.

http://www.dgnb.de/fileadmin/consense/Consense_2011/vortraege/Consense2011_Haag_Martin.pdf

The scientist Prof Norbert Fisch , who is now the dean of the University Braunschweig, discussed hierarchical power grids versus smart power grids. In the hierarchical power grid system one has to use power when power is generated from the central power plant, in the smart power grid system the central power plant gets feedback from other decentralized power sources like solar panels and wind power and can adjust production accordingly. With a democratically organized feedback loop much of the power generation could be coordinated and lots of energy production could be saved. Important steps towards the smart power grid would be: more decentralized power sources, management of energy needs, energy storage, information of the distribution of energy and smart buildings that produce more energy than needed.

http://www.dgnb.de/fileadmin/consense/Consense_2011/vortraege/Consense2011_Prof.Fisch_Norbert.pdf

Dr-Ing Meyer from the energy consulting firm Hausladen & Meyer taught important lessons about energy management of buildings. One of his consulting jobs, he could not name the client/building, they implemented natural night cooling in the summer, but the building still was very hot  every morning. He discovered that the building management implemented night cooling but did not turn off the automatic heating when the building temperature dropped below a certain degree. So they cooled the building in the summer and heated it at the same time. Easy thing to fix! The example illustrated how important good management is in the context of sustainability.

http://www.dgnb.de/fileadmin/consense/Consense_2011/vortraege/Consense2011_Meyer_Christoph.pdf

Architects Till Schneider of Schneider + Schumacher presented the renovation of an iconic office tower the “Silvertower” in Frankfurt.  How can a building which was at the newest technical standard 30 years ago updated to the construction technology of today? (if that question would be asked in the United States one would probably say: Leave it as it is and you’ll be fine!)  In Germany the construction industry develops constantly and in particular in the subject of sustainability there has been a great development in the past 30years. The difficulty with the renovation of the iconic tower, a symbol for Frankfurt, was how to update the technology, but keep the “iconic look”. “schneider + Schumacher” manage to do so and you can get more information about the process here: http://www.dgnb.de/fileadmin/consense/Consense_2011/vortraege/Consense2011_Schneider_Till.pdf

An important lesson for me was to understand when we design buildings how the buildings could be “updated” or” recycled”.  We often get excited about technology, but we do not think about how quickly technology gets old:  Think about the ipod you bought five years ago: you can nearly trash it today!

Martin Haas, Partner, of  Benisch Architekten, Stuttgart showed great examples of reuse projects in Canada ,the US and Germany. Benisch Architekten are based in Stuttgart  and working on sustainable buildings since the 60’s!

http://www.dgnb.de/fileadmin/consense/Consense_2011/vortraege/Consense2011_Haas_Martin.pdf

Gordon Gill of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture LLP, Chicago and Bruce Mau contributed to the sustainable discussion from the point of view here in the US.

Gorden Gill presented a “Decarbonization Plan” for Chicago. In a study they used a 3d parametric model to analyze the sustainability of downtown Chicago and worked out focus areas for a Decarbonization of Chicago.

http://issuu.com/manufaktur/docs/gg_consense?mode=embed&viewMode=presentation&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flighticons%2Flayout.xml&showFlipBtn=true

Bruce Mau stated in a podium discussion for the Canadian and US Market, that people with the power are not the people with the culture. Architecture is at the margins. We have to expand the role of architecture. The architect is the expert of culture. Economics is the main agenda of the American developers.

For additional speakers & topics please review

http://www.dgnb.de/_de/veranstaltungen/consense/2011/programm.php

The  facade of ThyssenKrupp Quartier features a new way of designing with exterior blinds. The blinds work vertically as well as horizontally.

For more informationThyssenKrupp Quartier 

(RE) Configured-Assemblage blends Technology, Economical and Cultural Entities and Sustainability into an open playground of a multiuse project: an eco use education center, café and retail, 13 work/live loft spaces and open roof terrace & café.

 (RE)Configured-Ecologies is a developmental landmark proposal composed of reconfigured traces of shipping containers, through diligently reconnecting, revitalising, and humanizing the accessibility of the City of Long Beach, Long Beach Blvd and Broadway Area. Through proposing three types of innovatively reconstructed modular shipping containers, the overall construct leads to open courtyards, interlocking units, and playfully generated programs that introduce a new innovative topological creation that regenerates and reconnects the community.

Bringing together a fusion of technological, economical and cultural entities, and combining a public free space into an interlocked modular construct, which includes an internal courtyard as public landscape, the newly developed (RE)Configured-Ecologies becomes an open playground of hidden gems, which offers the community countless integrated opportunities to develop and harmonise the City of Long Beach, Long Beach Blvd Area.

Collaboration: WE-DESIGNS.ORG, XP& Architecture
Project Lead: Wendy W Fok, Judith K Mussel
Design Architect: Wendy W Fok
Project Architect: Judith K Mussel
Design Team: Ben Vongvanij, Barnett Chaunault, Rolando Lopez
Cost Estimator: Jenny Chow / Judith Mussel
Technical / Environmental Consultant: Judith Mussel, LEED AP / Jenny Chow, LEED AP

Acting as an intermediary “connector” and “infiltrator” within five main connections of interlocked programmatic organization—between levels of: Institutional (Eco-Edu Centre), Studios/Art Galleries/Loft Spaces, Commercial (Retail/Stores), and two F&B options (Cafe Ground Floor/Roof Top Bar)—(RE)Configured-Ecologies challenges the visceral and abundantly urbanized the City of Long Beach, Long Beach Blvd Area that sustainability feeds itself through both land and sun.

Through building a new and innovative infrastructural system that feeds into the ‘connectors’, each layer of programme interlocks and intersects each other, by regenerating new energy and systematic advances the continued developmental  and renewed energy which each path brings.

Sustainable Strategy / Feasibility Concept:

The overall building shape helps to create the most favourable climate for its users inside the building. During the day in Long Beach one appreciates the morning sun to receive its warmth. At lunch time the shade is more comfortable and particular in the afternoon most buildings overheat. The project’s shape is oriented in the east west direction: the morning sun is welcomed into the courtyard of the building while the project is protected from the afternoon sun through its huge cantilevered roof.

The Unrolled/Reconfigured Container Skin is a secondary ‘skin’ made entirely from access and unfolded containers addresses the compensation for the Southern California Climate. This layer acts to protect the interior containers from extensive solar heat gain. The secondary skin saves on cooling compensation measures like HVAC systems or expensive insulation materials, while offering an in-between. Additionally, the secondary skin and internal containers mediates as a threshold for natural ventilation that exhausts the remaining excessive heat gain.

Alternately, the Intelligent Daylight Façade development of (RE)Configured-Ecologies, through the arrangement of a “O” ring plan typology, offers both adaptive space planning (creating ad hoc creative and dynamic spaces for exhibition and use), and spacious circulation from the East and West wings of the building.  While the technology of the façade, designed with sequential openings of the corrugated container skin, provides punctures for additional ventilation and solar louvers which provides sufficient daylight for its occupants on higher level floors.

Understanding that in Southern California many indoor tasks can be performed outside, the “O” ring Dynamic Space Controlled Circulation Façade acts dualistically as a threshold and intermediary space, between the core occupiable spaces and circulatory spaces. Through the geometrical manipulation of containers (the vertical pushing or pulling of the containers) against each other, (RE)Configured-Ecologies creates outdoor spaces (balconies) that act as additional space which are utilized by its occupants. Open air areas balconies are also protected for exposure with either the secondary skin or green-roof.

An added touch is the Readapted Containers as Furniture/Planters, which circulate the edge of the building on the ground floor. These Street Furniture and Planters—designed in three scales of 1ft (glass patches), 3ft (flower planters), 5ft (seating/lighting/shrubbery)—are means to incorporate reconfigured containers as street seating, rest areas for occupants and visitors, while providing street lighting for the building itself.