The client requesting us to provide a facility that houses the intensive portion of a distance learning program. It will be located within the vicinity of the Boston Architectural College to allow for easy access for support functions (such as Library, IT, etc). The new facility will offer Living Quarters for 24 students, 3 Classrooms/Studios for up to 14 students each, and Dining/Lounge/Exhibit Area. The facility will be open 24 hours each day, with scanning, printing and model making available onsite. Desk work, lectures and critiques will happen Classrooms and the Lounge Areas. The Exhibit space shall be open at times to larger community. A Break Room will offer snacks and beverages. Sandwiches will be catered (other meals will have to take place offsite). It is desired to have a small outdoor space for recreational or contemplative use on the site.
Key Concept
Teach by Doing
Core Objectives
Community
Relationship Building with the broader community
Site design is inviting to and embraces the surrounding community
Sustainability
Introduce sustainable features
Illustrate client commitment to the environment and the larger community
Education
The client is committed to education grounded in practice. The design response is to educate about sustainable strategies by incorporating working examples of sustainable solutions. The building program offers an opportunity to bring sustainable technologies to the forefront, which will open a dialog for educating the community about these technologies.
The site plan shows the orientation of the building with a long axis along I-90, and portions of the building located along Boylston Street. There will be a couple of outdoor green spaces planned to invite pedestrians into the site.
The first floor is at ground level. The main spaces on this floor are theExhibit Hall and the Multi-Medi/Conference Area. Public spaces such as the Main Entry/ Security Areas, Restrooms, and vertical circulation are also located on this floor. Finally, faculty office relating to the distance program are located on this floor.
Along with service functions that are located on both the first and second floors, there are support spaces for the distance program. These include the Cafeteria, the Model Shop, IT Resources, Print/Scanning/Copy Area, and LAN Room.
The Third and Fourth Floors house the funtions for the distance program. The Doorm rooms are on the south facade and the Classrooms are on the north facade along the I-90 Turnpike.
5 comments:
Your explanation of the client, concept and objectives were great. It really helped me to understand what your goals are. Quick comments on the layout of the floor plans- On the first floor you have a faculty storage located on the street corner. This is prime space. Even if it became an office and storage was located along the office walls, I think it would give it more of a presence and intrigue. Are the roof gardens accessible from anywhere? I am a little confused by the student lounges. Are the dorms all double height spaces? I guess a section at this point would be helpful. Your diagrams of strategies are informative and help illustrate the many sustainable ideas you are fitting into your building. Since your key concept is Teach By Doing, are you going to make spaces like the roof gardens public to allow others to see or is it primarily meant for the students? I love the way you broke everything down for the blog. I think you have outlined what you want so you have a clear vision for what lies ahead these next weeks. Good luck!
Angelo
Maybe with your “Teach by Doing” concept, you should have an open floor plan with a lot of flexibility (walls that could be moved). This would allow the students to craft their own environment.
I like your exterior courtyard at the entrance (south side) of your building. This layout protects you from the noise of the Mass Pike yet opens up to Bolyston which will be bustling with activity. The park to the east will be much more of a challenge with the adverse environment.
Are you missing a lower floor plan? I was looking for the parking, loading dock, etc. Access to this area may prove challenging. I noticed an elevator lobby on the far right of your second floor plan. That is probably labeled incorrectly as there is no elevator in the vicinity. One other thing I noticed on the first floor was the size of the public bathrooms. You may want to revisit these as they seem a little big. There might be an opportunity to get that space into other areas of the facility.
Keep up the good work! You seem to be off to a much quicker start than last semester.
I think your plan is very efficient, very easy to get around. I like the way you did the studios with a mezanine level oopen to below. I would like to see some outside shots of the building to see how you deal with the massing itself in terms of materials and fenestrations.
I like how you have analyzed the strategies, it helps me to understand what you are trying to do. On the first floor I would suggest taking the offices and storage from the Boylston front and maybe putting the exhibit hall in that area, that way you give people more of a visual connection to the inside of the building. I also wonder about the idea of mixing the residential with the classrooms. These are areas that may have the public walking thru, so it creates a privacy issue,as well as a security issue.
I could use another massing model from you which shows your new plans in three dimensions.
I'm not sure about the faculty offices at all. I don't think they mesh in with the traditions of the BAC. Most of the professors are professionals, who already have an office in Boston, and will not be spending more than itinerant time on site. When on site they will be in the classrooms.
If the BAC is where practice meets education, shouldn't that be the focus? I think the studios are perhaps too removed from the urban campus appeal that makes the BAC so compelling.
Work on being specific with respect to your green strategies, how does each specific strategy relate to a particular part of your program.
I really like the cleanliness of your plans, they are well thought out and efficient in their usage of space, so other than what I have already laid out, I feel your plans do a nice job.
How do the elevations work? What materials are used?
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