Natural Ventilation in
High-Rise Office Buildings

Natural Ventilation in
High-Rise Office Buildings

Natural Ventilation in
High-Rise Office Buildings

1.1 Historical Overview of Natural Ventilation in High-Rise Office Buildings The 19th century marked the emergence of the office building typology as we know it today. Controlling the indoor environment in these early office buildings was achieved by passive means. In most US and European cities, operable windows were used for natural ventilation and for keeping cool, while stoves and radiators were the main sources of heat energy when it was cold. The high cost of electricity and the need to conduct tasks under natural lighting conditions had a profound impact on the design of office buildings. The need to provide adequate daylight limited the depth of office floor plans, and consequently enabled natural ventilation by means of operable windows. Although keeping cool was not a major concern for architects at the time, natural ventilation was considered necessary for sanitary purposes and for the elimination of excessive humidity. Furthermore, many of the large office buildings during that period were influenced by the classical styles of architecture, which involved the use of central open courts, or light-wells, that limited plan depths to allow natural light and air into the interior. This building type became particularly common in Chicago during the office building boom that followed the Great Fire of 1871. The building type was referred to as the “Chicago Quarter Block” because it employed open courts and occupied the plot of the entire city block between streets. This building type was also exported to many other US cities, where it was used as a model for emerging office buildings.

Antony Wood & Ruba Salib