WEAVING SPACE PHOTOVOLTAIC TEXTILES MANUFACTURE
Project: Undergrad 4th year - Spring 2015
Teammates: Javier Villarroel and Jess Martin
Professor: Thomas Kirchner
Location: Philadelphia, PA - United States
Project Brief:
Weaving Space is an adaptive reuse of an old textiles factory located in north west philadelphia on W. Allegheny Ave. and N. 23rd Street. In order to retain importance of the building’s original purpose, the new manufacturing facility improves the conditions rather than replaces them and incorporates high-tech photovoltaic textiles, comprised of photosensitive fibers. Production of such fibers vary in size due to their various applications, such as clothing, tensile fabric and building skin.
The building does not only create an environment for production, but also hosts a series of pods suspended above the manufacturing floor dedicated to research to improve continued experimentation with the textiles and education pods to educate students and potential future workers about the sustainable factors of production as well as the growing industry.
On top of the working spaces are residential apartments that accommodate 1-2 people and grant access to green roofs and a light well to be used as a large community space. To increase efficiency of the building’s electrical energy consumption, the vegetation from the light wells and green roofs utilize a system called Plant-e Technology, which further enhances plants’ photosynthetic process into an electric generator.