Assignment 2: Ecotect Analysis - Light Study of a Vertical Ramp

Garrett McClure

The concept: A square opening will be placed in the roof, and Vertical ramps will be constructed inside the space of 91 Hartford St. in which, plants (ideally leafy greens) will go through a full growing cycle from top to bottom. They will be housed in floating planters that will be chained together and will be hand cranked down the ramps by farm workers. The water will be pumped up to the top from a fish tank below the ramps and will naturally flow down the ramps keeping fresh water moving through the system. Holes in the bottom of the planters will allow water to get to the soil and allow roots to grow through to the water, if they wish. . .Areas along the path will specified as harvesting stations contributing to the efficiency of the system.

In order to find the best configuration of ramps for the space, a light experiment was set up, testing four different iterations. For the experiment, the size of the base panel for the ramps remained a constant 7' wide. The two factors that changed were the horizontal and vertical spacings.

Ramp A:
vertical spacing - 4'
horizontal spacing - 3'-6" o.c.

Ramp B:
vertical spacing - 4'
horizontal spacing - 1'-9" o.c.

Ramp C:
vertical spacing - 2'
horizontal spacing - 3'-6"

Ramp D:
vertical spacing - 2'
horizontal spacing - 1'-9" o.c.

An Ecotect test for overall daylight analysis was run over all four iterations and the square footage of direct sunlight was calculated based upon the results.
After analyzing the square footage data it was found that Ramp C was the best iteration, with a vertical spacing of 2' and a horizontal spacing of 3'-6" o.c.
Also from the experiments an yearly average line of direct sunlight could be deduced and helped inform a section drawing. A plan was sketched to find a way of connecting the ramps so that the portion of the planter that did not get direct sunlight would be turned along the ramp's path to give it direct sunlight. The different sides of the planter would go back and forth along their path alternating which side was in direct sunlight.