precis 2

cameron's thesis

Cameron’s thesis project is an advertising agency located in Colfax, NC. His overall concept is about connections and intersections. He is exploring many things under that including public and private spaces, systems and how to create unity in the spaces. He is very interested in hierarchy in the space and will achieve this through level changes, changes in materials and space planning. His project at this point is very interesting and quite complex at first glance. I am excited to see where he will take this. My advice for Cameron at the moment is to explore materials a little more. In doing an ad agency he has the opportunity to pull off some unusual designs.

material charrette

Tectonic Model

Inspiration wall

How new meets old

Transparent wall partitions

Restored china cabinet into storage

Closet storage

Dairy House

While this too is a residence the architect focused on restoring the exterior and renovating the interior with a heavy emphasis on sustainability, specifically by using local materials and labor.



http://archrecord.construction.com/residential/recordHouses/2008/08dairy.asp

78 Derngate

A Mackintosh house from early 1900's restored and converted into a museum





http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/bts/archives/renovations/05_derngate/overview.asp

ashland place

This building was turned from a residence into an industrial factory like facility into offices later on.




http://www.alliesandmorrison.co.uk/

LGBTC

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center at the Carriage House
The University of Pennsylvania

A historic shell of a building with a surprising modern twist on the interior.




http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/bts/archives/adaptiveReuse/03_LGBTC/overview.asp

Holland House

This precedent study although a residence is very similar to mine in that they took the shell of a Victorian house and made the interior more contemporary in style and layout to suite new needs.



photo source: http://www.alliesandmorrison.co.uk/

precis 1

esquisse development

Below is a narrative of what one of the designers in the firm will experience as she walks through her office building.

Upon first approaching the building from the main front entrance the designer is greeted by a grand ornate residential looking home. She will walk up the steps onto large front porch and through the over sized double entry doors into the entryway. This space is more like the entryway to a home with warm colors and furnishings and acts as way finding through the space. While the exterior of the building is historic in design the interior has a more modern twist while still respecting what exists. Directly off of the entry is the receptionist desk and her personal area. She has a space that is very public in location but somewhat private through translucent materials and furniture placement. The designer will continue into the space seeing a sitting area and conference area adjacent to one another. The sitting area is a more informal space for the designers to meet and catch up projects and office business and projects. It will have a more informal layout with more modern furnishings and comfortable seating. There will be ample natural light with artificial light added when needed. The conference room is a more formal space in which the designer and her colleges will meet with current and prospective clients to discuss design projects and opportunities. This space again will be more formal and also more modern in design with some sort of a wow factor to impress clients. This will also be the location in which the designers will displays the past projects and awards and will need to be able to be closed for private meetings. Lighting in the space will be a combination of natural and artificial and used accordingly for different uses in the space. As the designers walks further into the space on the first floor she will pass the main staircase up to her office, but will first head to the kitchen. This space will be located in the rear of the first floor. It will be a modest kitchen with a few necessary appliances, sink and storage. The public restrooms and storage closets will also be in the rear of the first floor.
There will be a second set of stairs in the rear of the house located near the kitchen for the designers to use so they can go up and down as they please without having to interrupt any meetings. Off of the back stairs there will be access to the back door, which will lead to a parking lot in the back used mostly by employees. As the designer heads back in the main area she walks upstairs into the more private office spaces. There will be at total of 6 workstations on the second floor. In keeping with the overall design idea the space will be more modern in design with as much open space as possible. There will need to be a great deal of natural light as well as artificial and task light in this space. Off of the workstations there will be a room or space in which the designers will work on and assemble the larger scale projects. In direct relation to both of these upstairs spaces there will be a very large resource library. This space will need to be very well organized and also very well lit and a variety of light sources to see how a material will look under different types of light. Finally towards the back of this floor where the second set of stairs comes up there will be a restroom for the designers and also more closet and storage space.

overview

My thesis project involves taking a 1902 Queen Anne Victorian house in Hickory, NC and converting into office spaces for an Interior design firm. I propose to take this currently run down house and restore it, completing the block of nationally recognized historic sites. The client would be a smaller scaled design firm of 4-6 designers and staff who cover several aspects of design including residential, commercial, and showrooms. In doing the renovation I will respect the existing house but at the same time create an modern space for this modern firm. Sustainability will also be addressed as far as using reclaimed and green materials wherever possible. The idea of layers will be a starting point conceptually based on the layers of history and functions of this space. I plan to explore the idea of transparency both in concept and materials to create a seamless and open feeling space.