Architecture and the environment : a question of (high) quality

We believe that architectural quality and environmental quality are intimately linked. Simply put, excellent architectural innovation, design and creation can not be achieved without integrating viable “green” dimensions. Conversely, the environmental aspect eludes definition if the architectural vision is not precise, deliberate, and determined. Seen from this perspective, the environmental approach bestows an ethics upon architecture, and architecture in turn brings to life the question of environmental/sustainable architecture.

The environmental issue is particularly challenging because it requires long-term thinking.

Our approach to design

Acte 3 brings together architects and engineers who are each eager to harmonize space and environment. While attentive to room climate control and comfort, the agency is well-versed in the challenges of sustainable development. Acte 3’s work therefore integrates environmental concerns at the earliest stage of the design process. In particular, considerable attention is paid to the preliminary design sketches of each project. As early as the design stage, we are already initiating a very open design process, where the contracting authority remains a key partner. Applying the principles of our « marvelous traces », we develop a new approach where :

• Design is shared by and amongst all those involved. First, within the agency, where the drawings on our « marvelous traces » are simultaneously sketched out by several hands and benefit from the participation of everyone in the collective thinking that goes into every project. Second, in relationships with engineering consultant firms, Acte3 aims to go further than their traditional role of engineering offices confined to technical calculations, and to fuel their projects with creative propositions.
• Each step of the design is based on simulations (solar analysis, natural ventilation, thermal simulations) based on digital models. Our goal is to make sure that we propose projects with their feet on the ground (alt: “with a solid foundation based in the most relevant proposals”) rather than “castles in the air.

In practice, Acte 3 systematically evaluates its environmental assumptions by the use of several design-simulation tools. In particular Acte 3 takes advantage of the use of state-of-the-art digital models to process the following sorts of simulations:

• Dynamic thermal simulations for projecting and confirming balanced energy consumption, and in particular to assess summer and winter comfort.
• Analysis and optimization of solar protections in order to define its nature and effectiveness in ensuring hygrothermal comfort year-round
• Aeraulic simulations for analyzing, at building scale, natural ventilation solutions, and, at urban scale, any eventual wind turbulence caused by a building on the site