The Brief: (reverting back to clarity)

EXFORMA had completed the original design for Crown Coffee Office back in 2015 (see below) which focuses on an expression of formal boldness and architectural clarity. The building was originally articulated as a series of stacked cylindrical floor spaces differing in sizes, creating outdoor balconies. The exterior is cladded mainly with glass, resulting in a clear, simple, yet elegant facade. However, the original design was later modified (without the knowledge of EXFORMA) to incorporate large shear walls and a perforated skin which covers up a large area of the facade, resulting in a convoluted architectural expression. EXFORMA was later commissioned by the owner to revert the building (which was already built) to its original design intentions. Since many built elements are structural and cannot be removed, the main challenge was working with the existing built structure (floors and shear walls) in order to reestablish the original intentions of a clear and well articulated architectural design.

The Solution: (subtraction, secondary architectural elements, edges to curves)

EXFORMA formulated a design which involves removing facade elements that convoluted the original design. This includes removing the perforated mesh skin that was added to the facade as well as carefully removing parts of the shear walls (fins) that protruded from the structural plane. With the new clarity of the facade, architectural elements are then added such as curved louver shading devices forming usable balconies and glass guardrails which reemphasize the originally intended curvature of the building. In trying to reestablish curvature, a crucial move was made by adding curvature to all edges of the added shear walls; a seemingly small move which creates a strong formal impact on the architectural expression of the building. Overall, the resulting design represents a reimagined building that conforms to the original intent of the design which is a clearly articulated curved office building whose design could stand the test of time.