JAN-MAY 2020
This project was a key component of the Master of Architecture course sequence at Northeastern University in spring of 2020 and was executed under the instruction of Abigail Ramsmeier and Michelle LaBoy. In comparison to previous design studies in my undergraduate and graduate studies, this project explores essential aspects of architecture that are often abstracted away (such as structure, active systems, and life-cycle considerations) in addition to typical considerations of use and site. These ideas were explored in a series of phases, moving from introductory concept and site explorations on to structure, skin, active systems, and human use. A more detailed studio book can be viewed here.
introduction
An introduction to the site, located in present-day Boston, Massachusetts as well as the architectural manifesto, written at the project outset and revised/expanded throughout that guided many of the decisions that were made.
the site
One of the key goals of this project is to communicate an advocation for well-loved and long lasting architecture that strives to serve all who live and work in and around it equally. The question becomes, then, how do we achieve those ends? The first step on the path to the answer, in my mind, lies in the opportunities of the site and the evocation of the building structure which serves as the framework that all other decisions rest upon.
These four diagrams represent the existing site constructions that I found to be most important to consider when making decisions in this way. First, the site exists in a FEMA flood zone, as well as a groundwater conservation district. Second, the Bulfinch Triangle as it exists today is sorely lacking in publicly accessible green space. Third, there are neighboring residential and commercial buildings that depend on unblocked windows for light, air, and safety. Lastly, the tight street grid of Boston presents interesting challenges with respect to bringing daylight onto the site.
The ground-floor site plan represents synthesis of many of these site considerations. The building is held off from the adjacent neighbor to balance the success of the new and the old. A primary face on Friend Street is prioritized to be able to utilize the small portion of the site to give back a “pocket park” to the community. This green space extends to both sides of the building through street trees and pavers. A rectangular structural grid also provides opportunities or atria and inter-floor openings to allow the natural light and air in short supply on the site to disperse freely through the building.
structure + movement
When we live and work within buildings, they become a framework over which we drape our lives. In the same way, we expect to be able to change these frameworks as our lives change in the future to further accommodate this integration. Therefore, it is important to create buildings that can adapt, change, and be added to with as much ease as possible.
With this in mind, a gridded structure of heavy timber was selected as the primary gravity structural system. Heavy timber construction provides an easy to understand, easy to adapt regular structure that in the short term will allow double-height atria openings in the floor or enclosure. The grid can also be exploited by future users of the architecture to redefine these inter-floor openings by either creating further connections or sealing the initial connections off. This gravity system is augmented by lateral support cores also constructed of mass timber (cross-laminated timber panels) to create a holistic structural material palette.
Moreover, the biophilic qualities of exposed wood construction as well as inherent carbon sequestration qualities allow it to help meet an essential carbon reduction target set by the fictional RFP of the project. The impact of a building of this type compared to a baseline "studio building" of traditional steel construction is shown in the third diagram below.
These strategies regarding siting and structure begin to develop a proposed building that is a hybrid between a building of specific spaces and the more open-ended spaces that allow for new possibilities. An additive approach to the integration of systems upon this static, enduring framework allows those systems to be changed, added, or discarded as needed without the larger form of the building needing to be altered significantly.
skin + ecologies
When seeking to eliminate or reduce the potential harm and negative impact of a building, the flows of these natural site processes should be able to continue as unimpeded as possible. In the following diagram, these flows can find discrete pathways through and around the building to continue on their way in a manner similar to their natural course. This is a crucial practice to consider when attempting to fully integrate a building into its context.
The following diagrams begin to explain the ecological as energy linkages between the site, building, and its skin. In establishing a pocket park to give much needed green space back to the community, a consideration for urban wildlife was essential as well, as humans are not the only inhabitants of the urban landscape in need of green space for shelter and delight.
The storm-water management strategies in the building have stemmed from two equal desires. The first: the natural flows of the site should be allowed to proceed as best as possible. In an idealized sense, water should flow from the sky and infiltrate into the water table through the ground. Thickened zones on the north and south facades will be able to transmit water from the roof to a storage cistern. From here, water can either be recharged through dry wells into the local water table or be rerouted for irrigation in the building’s interior.
This system ties into the second desire: to create a natural connection between the exterior “pocket park” described on the previous pages and an interior irrigated garden. This serves the goal of tying together the exterior and interior landscapes in one moment at the base of the central atrium that users of the building can utilize as a magical space that blends interior and exterior together.
The desire to create an equalized architectural experience for all guided the natural ventilation strategy of the building. Localized control over both operability (flow of air) and shading (flow of light) allows users in any part of the building to customize the degree of their interaction with the exterior conditions on a point-by-point basis. This is augmented and backed up by effective cross-ventilation proportions on the top and lower floors of the building and stack ventilation of hot air through the operable skylight glazing at the top of the central atrium.
Qualities of the envelope can communicate values just as much as other aspects of building design. Large generous openings equally spaced, with even operable apertures between communicates values of openness and equity among users of the building. In this way, no floor of the building is prioritized over any other and notions of vertical social hierarchy can begin to be dissolved between users. Brick and weathering steel also serve as an additional material link (in concert with the exposed interior heavy timber structure) between the building and its context.
use + program
At the point that active systems were beginning to be explored, a client organization and accompanying program was finally introduced to the project. This client was Hope Kitchen, a non-profit that focuses on food education and empowerment. The primary goal in arranging the newly given program was to enable the celebration of the teaching and performative aspects of the act of preparing food instead of reinforcing the typical servant/served relationship Western society often has between those that consume and those that prepare food. The centrality of the kitchen space is granted celebratory and performative qualities by both its location and the glazing that allows views and light. Throughout the rest of the building, the agenda of equality and
communication is supported by organizing activity around an atrium that allows unfettered visual communication between floors, down to the fundraising space at its base. This is also important, as this arrangement will also hopefully preclude future, more hegemonic or hierarchical use by the same or a different organization.
communication is supported by organizing activity around an atrium that allows unfettered visual communication between floors, down to the fundraising space at its base. This is also important, as this arrangement will also hopefully preclude future, more hegemonic or hierarchical use by the same or a different organization.
active systems + human use
The section perspective diagram on the left depicts the overall comfort system in an “active” capacity during a colder winter month. The lower two floors, being more focused on movement or high activity such as in the kitchen space are serviced by a system of ductwork with constant air volume space delivery grilles. This ensures a consistent level of ventilation and comfort for these activities. Although redundant, radiant piping is present in the raised floor (albeit tapped off) to accommodate potential future need for it. Above, the uses of the building are less specific, as it is likely that Hope Kitchen’s amount and nature of office and classroom space will change often over the course of their 99-year lease with the city of Boston. To this end, these spaces are serviced by decentralized façade units that provide heating, cooling, and ventilation with maximum local occupant control. These spaces are also augmented by a radiant system in the raised floor.
The section perspective diagram on the right describes the function of the building in “passive” mode during a shoulder season condition. The building can turn off and rely on natural ventilation through cross and stack effects enabled through operable glazing and a central atrium. This ability also allows more instances of the line between interior and exterior conditions being further blurred.
All of these active and passive systems of structure, comfort, and protection ultimately serve as backdrop to the human use of the building, the protagonists of the architecture without whom the construction of the building would be a fruitless endeavor.
These elements conspire to create a building that is rich with use, defined by the activity and life of its human protagonists. This life is supported in the present and allowed to change into the future by a humble but ever-present series of active life safety and comfort systems. Ideally, this flexibility and focus on the autonomy of the user will preclude the building from obsolescence. In the short term, joyous moments such as the circulation path from street to atrium pictured above will create positive relationships between people and architecture that will manifest as stewardship. In the future, an adaptable set of physical and systematic frameworks will be easily used and reused for as long as possible by future occupants.
