Thursday, March 7, 2013

Work in progress




Tried to organize DMZ space and connect it to public lounge. The dashed lines between different zones may be translucent or glass screens. I also reorganized the residential floor and got rid of leftover spaces.

3 comments:

  1. -try to pronounce your tilted walls a bit more by ensuring that they run beyond the roof line more
    -you really should be conjecturing structure at this point given the nature of development in your design and desk reviews
    -the breakdown of spaces in the DMZ still seems rather haphazard; it is fine to have an open office area for the DMZ given the transience of the audience; what is more distressing is the complete lack of connection between what I believe is the Third Place you have established in the central area and the DMZ area; glass partitions are fine so long as they offer real flexibility in the design; currently they are partitioning zones but with on the one hand little awareness of the activities inside (why would projection be wrapped by glass partitions and open to a corridor with a projection potentially on an angled wall?) while on the other hand with specific designation of spaces (why are games and software put on the corner? what is the difference between that area and "software and device testing"?)
    -as with the elevation overruns on the tilted wall, I think you may wish to emphasize the wall on the interior with the protrusion of the wall (slightly) into the corridor IF and only IF you alter the south area from a corridor into something more engaging; it makes sense to have storage on that back condition but it seems heavy handed in the long unrelenting corridor you have proposed
    -the fact that nearly half of the Yonge Street elevation is solid does little to help you pronounce the building to the most active street in on campus; worse still, it backs on to a waiting area with security which could be worse if actually glazed; you will likely have to alter that space given that if it were a waiting room, the assembly zone you create potentially blocks the fire exiting you have established
    -the residential floors work better than what was shown at the desk reviews but the corridor areas to the west and east of the common space suspension still seems a bit excessive for a residence; it's too small to make it worth congregation yet too large to make it feel like a residential corridor (it's like a larger hotel corridor); the common space is the most interesting thing on your residential floor plate so ensure you design it more and show it in the interim
    -your second floor area for working (DMZ or not) has only one method of egress; fix this immediately even if it must be through an emergency door to the residential area; why is there no exposure to Yonge Street on that level?
    -your cafeteria shows you know little about how they work; kitchens, washing areas, etc. are all necessary for cafeteria spaces; more importantly why would graduate students need a cafeteria if you've provided all the units (amply) with kitchens?; if the cafeteria were for the public, then why is it not on the ground floor and better connected to the Third Place?
    -find a way to make an engaging elevation; right now it seems like you are simply casting a curtain wall grid; the Yonge Street Elevation is not very strong; is there a way to connect ideas from the tilted elements into the Yonge Street side?

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  2. I am confused with the second mean of egress for my second floor. When I presented the P2I had an emergency door through the east angled wall to the residence and Michelle pointed out that this will not work and look ugly. So now, should I bring it back? because I see no other options.

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  3. It might look ugly but it would technically work as an egress... your job is to make it look good. If you think about it, your east angled wall doesn't really need to continue up so why not open up the corridor to the other residential side but find ways to ensure segregation of some sort. Is there a possibility to bring stairs down the double height space?

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