Regional climatic conditions should be considered while designing urban development plans, with special attention to the impact of snowfall on public spaces in cities with harsh winters. The Kitami-city-hall-renewal p...Regional climatic conditions should be considered while designing urban development plans, with special attention to the impact of snowfall on public spaces in cities with harsh winters. The Kitami-city-hall-renewal project in Hokkaido, Japan was studied as an environmental assessment of snow drifting. Assessments of the two site plans proposed during the architectural planning process (A-type and B-type) were conducted in terms of the following three items: (1) The two site plans indicate snow-drifting problems around the main entrance; (2) More number of local snowdrifts on the main-street sidewalks were suggested in the B-type design; (3) Less number of snowdrifts in the parking area beside the railroad were indicated in the A-type design. These results were reflected in the architectural planning process. On the basis of this study, a desirable design process incorporating environmental assessments has been identified for cities with harsh winters.展开更多
文摘Regional climatic conditions should be considered while designing urban development plans, with special attention to the impact of snowfall on public spaces in cities with harsh winters. The Kitami-city-hall-renewal project in Hokkaido, Japan was studied as an environmental assessment of snow drifting. Assessments of the two site plans proposed during the architectural planning process (A-type and B-type) were conducted in terms of the following three items: (1) The two site plans indicate snow-drifting problems around the main entrance; (2) More number of local snowdrifts on the main-street sidewalks were suggested in the B-type design; (3) Less number of snowdrifts in the parking area beside the railroad were indicated in the A-type design. These results were reflected in the architectural planning process. On the basis of this study, a desirable design process incorporating environmental assessments has been identified for cities with harsh winters.