Office buildings are high energy consumers due to cooling loads from occupants and mechanical equipment, and current trends for glass curtain wall envelopes merely exacerbate this condition.



When creating an energy strategy for such a building, there is an inherent negotiation between energy savings from shading for the reduction of heat gain versus savings from the introduction of daylight.



This exploration uses folding and perforation as strategies for creating favourable conditions in a building envelope, with western and southern faces of varying porosity based on seasonal and daily sun angles.



These "shades of distinction" utilise the reflection of sunlight off of neighbouring buildings and paved ground in New York City to contribute daylight and aerial views to an interior space while orienting more opaque surfaces to the direct sunlight from above.



The percentages of surface aperture and opacity are altered to create a balance between heat gain and useful daylight. The design thus operates as a feedback loop between the form as a condition of visual interest and the performance as a measure of thermal gain, optimal visibility, and glare mitigation.