058 _ _MAR/APR 2019
A drop ceiling is typically the default choice when it comes to concealing
mechanical, electrical, plumbing and safety systems. For a new subter-
ranean food court at Toronto’s Union Station, however, the locally based
architecture firm Partisans adopted a less banal approach, inventing a
solution called PODS, which stands for Pressurized Ocular Diffuser System.
Partisans designer and co-founder Alex Josephson characterizes PODS as
“a seamless marriage of the nerdiest things in architecture: a sprinkler,
an HVAC duct, a light and a piece of drywall.” Yet the resulting modules,
recalling UFOs or more natural heavenly bodies, are undeniably striking.
The 210 hovering over the food court at Union Station were realized in
two sizes: 122 centimetres and 183 centimetres.
To design the modules, Partisans used Rhino software, then converted
its files to CATIA for engineering tests by Formglas Products, a company
that works with major international firms, including Studio Fuksas and
SOM, to devise standout architectural features. The 3D computational
models the team came up with adhered to a checklist of functional demands,
most importantly the even distribution of air and lighting flows – achieving
zero glare and eliminating hot spots were among the most challenging
requirements. The PODS shape, consequently, eschews sharp angles in
favour of curves: It consists of an upper shell and a lower shell that together
form a plenum through which air is pressurized and evenly diffused.
Formglas has worked with Partisans in the past, most notably to fashion
the curvaceous ceilings and walls at the Toronto restaurant Quetzal (see
the November/December 2018 issue of Azure). After some back and forth,
Formglas created a mould and cast the PODS modules out of glass-fibre-
reinforced gypsum; Partisans then brought in the Toronto office of RWDI
to test their functionality (the specialty consulting engineering firm,
which has offices around the world, placed the PODS in a chamber with
sensors that collected data on, among other things, how air was distributed
around the system’s edge and how fast it was filtering out). The unique
architectural product that came out of this process plugs into existing
ductwork yet offers new kinds of programming: Four to six modules
clustered together create a zone that can be modulated for lighting effects
and micro-climates.
Like the other custom pieces that Partisans has created for Union
Station, including cast-metal tables for which it consulted a Boeing
engineer, the PODS solution reflects the firm’s distinctly collaborative
approach, one that involves sourcing its own fabricators – from wood
and metal artisans to ETFE specialists – for every project. “We don’t see
a separation between architecture and fabrication,” says designer Pooya
Baktash, Partisans’ other co-founder, “and we believe in the idea of the
architect as builder.” partisans.com, formglas.com, rwdi.comTops For Ceilings
HOT PODS
Who says HVAC isn’t sexy? At Toronto’s revamped
Union Station, ductwork-concealing modules
invented for the site go way beyond drop tiles
Evoking a fleet of UFOs,
the multi-purpose PODS
designed by Partisans for
a food court at Toronto’s
main railway station plug
into existing ductwork.