The Breathing Skeleton, Algorithmic Service Routing as a Tectonic Generator

Sammanfattning

The design process of buildings has historically treated mechanical, electrical, plumbing (MEP) Systems, particularly Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) as an afterthought which leads to compromised spatial qualities inefficient routing systems. This systemic marginalisation of environmental engineering withing architectural discourse has traditionally prioritised the visual form of the structural envelope over the thermodynamic performance of its interior. Consequently, modern architectural practices frequently encounter severe downstream conflicts during the construction phase, necessitating costly revisions and destructive structural compromises. (Abdelhameed & Saputra, 2020) This thesis explores the integration of HVAC services during the conceptual architectural design stage using generative routing algorithms. Recognizing ventilation as the most space occupying building service, this project shifts away from traditional manual routing and explores computational path finding. Initial experiments with Agent-based Modelling (ABM) proved too chaotic and unstandardized, leading to the formulation of a custom rule-based logic utilising ‘Minimum Spanning Trees’ and ‘Steiner Minimal Trees’. These algorithmic methodologies operate within the parametric environment of Grasshopper and Python, establishing rigorous mathematical constraints that prioritize orthogonal efficiency, structural clash avoidance, and optimal thermodynamic distribution metrics. These algorithmic workflows are applied to a real world renovation case study, Academic Block 3 at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. By developing Manhattan MST for the efficient rectilinear routing on the ground floor, and expressive Steiner trees on the first floor, the research culminates in a newly proposed lightweight top floor. Here, a 3D Steiner network dictates both the HVAC ducting and the structural framework simultaneously, featuring custom 3D joints that integrate air distribution and load transfer. The findings demonstrate that generative routing can elevate building services from hidden necessities to the primary architectural design drivers, bridging the intellectual and physical gap between the structural skeleton and the mechanical respiratory systems of a building.