Sun/Shade Matrices

For a project along the Anacostia River in D.C., this retail plaza and park was designed for year-round use. If you've ever been to the Nation's capital during the summer you understand the significance of shade, especially when sitting idle having a drink or meal. Using NOAA data and a custom grasshopper script, a series of sun/shade studies were performed to study the year round impacts of direct sun or shade coverage from adjacent buildings and tree canopy.

In the Rhino model, the plaza was divided into 1 sq.ft cells before a sun/shade analysis was performed to quantify how many hours of direct sun each grid cell received. These are the numerical values you see in the images. This information was utilized to inform tree placement based on the desired durations and windows of time sun or direct shade was desired in particular parts of the plaza.

On the north side of the building, a separate sun / shade study was completed to aid in the creation of the planting palette and determine which zones of the terrace would be characterized as Full Sun, Part Sun, Part Shade, and Full Shade.

Work completed while at Oehme van Sweden