Taking what I had learned from my previous two iterations, I took a step back to the drawing board to assess where I had essentially gone wrong. It took me quite a while to come to grips with the notion that I might end up with a long “bar” of a building as my final thesis project. But as soon as I realized it was the right course of action, given I chose to do adaptive reuse to personify my idea of creating a place where people can go to learn and become stewards of the environment. The foundation is there; strong concept with an amazing site and structure to work with. Why couldn’t a “bar” building be dynamic and beautiful?
To help me get past the stigma I had against a simple bar building, I began doing some research on similar properties in other buildings. Two of the four following examples are not bars but they have a rigid exterior forcing the interior to be the dynamic element.
Kraanspoor by OTH Architechen. Amsterdam, The Netherlands. An immensely long office building built atop an unused industrial crane-way.
Hinman Research Building by office dA and Lord, Aech, & Sargent. Atlanta, Georgia. An excellent example of a re-purposed industrial building with dynamic spacial qualities.
Wieden Kennedy Headquarters by Allied Works. Portland Oregon. an industrial factory building retrofitted with a central interior atrium space that serves as dynamic circulation space and houses an auditorium.
Pier 1 by Perkins & Will. San Francisco, California. A retrofitted pier with dynamic interior spacial qualities.
As if starting from scratch I did several section studies because in a long building, a section tends to be one the strongest design driving elements, since the floor plate dimensions are seemingly set. These are just some of the many iterations I produced. I also explored the physical quality and presence possibilities of of the existing massing.
I eventually did away with any protrusions or extensions and kept the integrity of the Zidell masterplan and existing building as they were. Creating compromise only where the proposed road would run through the footprint of the building.
I took everything I had learned from my previous two iterations and precedent studies to combine them with my new desire to preserve the integrity of the existing building. The resulting sections are as follows:
I was able to incorporate all the initial ideas and spacial qualities I had in mind for the facility within the existing Zidell structure and it turned out to be a successful scheme. I still had the homages to Zidell history in a school facility that is open to the public and works around an exhibit space that connects all areas of the school. The learning street became the exhibit space, the homage came in the form of steel container architecture and a floating barge like auditorium the flexibility of space came in the form of removable walls and a plug and play concept behind the learning modules and exhibit space.
I received rave reviews for this third iteration and it seems as though I am in a prime position to move on to develop how the building works with the surrounding context in more depth as well as the building enclosure itself. I look forward to taking the next step in developing this project.
Finished project poster can be seen here: