Ramzi Tabbara

The Slice

The Slice converts unused commercial space in office towers throughout the city into green spaces to support workers and their families in their return to the workplace.It began with the study of sick building syndrome and its effects on people in the workplace. With the arrive of covid and the implementation of working from home. The return to the workplace became a dreadful inevitability. Many companies are offering continued at-home work options however, for the select group that will be asked to return, what can be done to assist in the transition back into the workplace?Well, the three aspects of most importance are comfort, convenience, and wellbeing. The slice aims to use the empty spaces left behind by modernized working conditions to create an environment that encompasses these aspects.The slice is focused on the study of different forms of connections between these new public spaces within the towers Firstly, It was decided that green space is the most important thing missing from the city typology and so, a void 3 stories high slicing through the city acts as the host for any programming that may be added or left to be green spaces, an urban forest of sorts. Secondly, with symbiotic connections through cladding systems like reflectivity to share sunlight and solar heat gain systems, and mechanical systems like HVAC and water waste. These systems would be organized within clusters of buildings and implemented as though they were a system for a single building, only scaled up to be sufficient for all buildings. Finally, physical connections through bridges offers a way for users to cross as well as the systems themselves connecting through these bridges. These bridges can come together to create a network within a city, connecting the clusters of buildings and creating a floating network.To create this network throughout the city for the comfort, convenience and wellbeing of the workers and their families, within this new slice of space, programs are put in place based on the needs of those occupying them. My final connections void, symbiosis, and bridge are accompanied by a food truck lane, daycare, and all-day programs for older children as a few examples of additions that could be made to the slice.

“The Slice converts unused commercial space in office towers throughout the city into green spaces to support workers and their families in their return to the workplace.”