american builders quarterly-- "built to site"

8/3/2019 American Builders Quarterly-- "Built to Site"

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Marlon Blackw ll Archit ct

s R th Lilly VisitorsPavilion and two oth r proj cts ar wov ns aml ssly into th ir s rro ndings, p. 88

Built to Site

AmericanBuildersQuarterly

VOLuMe 6 NO. 44, 2012Brooklyn Brewery, p. 68The popular beer maker raisesits glass to Ryder Construction

new orleans returns, p. 115Stirling Properties helps revitalizethe citys Central Business District


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Volume 6 No. 44, 201288 American Builders Quarterly

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americanbuildersquarterly.com 89

Three projects in three disparate locales illustratethe importance of integrating a structure seamlesslywith its site

by lisa ryan

I not or the dynamic design o the Wheeler Schools NulmanLewis Student Center, a visitor could almost miss it, tuckedas it is into a 60- oot gap between two older buildings on thecampus. But this was the point, to t the structure per ectly toits site by considering site limitations, environmental elements,and orientation or proper daylighting and ventilation. Fromdesigning in a dense urban location to working within a woodedlandscape to accounting or sweeping mountain views, threecompelling projects have caught the eye o American BuildersQuarterly as standout examples o site integration done right.


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NulmaN lewIs studeNt CeNter

loCatIoN Providence, riarChIteCt Ann BehA ArchitectsBuIlder Agostini/BAcon constructionCompleted 2009

sIze 5,000 squAre feetCost $3.8 million

a e: T e n l Le ist de t Ce ter preci ely

t i 60- t- ide g p.I et: T e p ce cej t lley y ed rd p ter d e icle .

1 When tasked with designing a new student center or an independentday school located in the heart o Providence, Rhode Islands historicaldistrict, the team at Ann Beha Architects knew nding space would bethe principal issue. Founded in 1889, The Wheeler School is located onan extremely tight plot o landspanning one city blockand consists

o several buildings and minimal open space, so when Ann Beha began planning,there was no apparent room or expansion.

A playground located at the northwest corner o thecampus seemed the obvious choice or the site o the newbuilding, but the architects campus-planning strategyadvocated against using the open space. Our advice tothe school was to hold on to the large open corner o thecampus as a very valuable place or day-to-day outdooractivities and instead to use the smaller gaps between the


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americanbuildersquarterly.com Volume 6 No. 44, 2012 91

the perfect fit

existing buildings or any new construction, saysThomas Hotaling, one o Ann Behas principals.Following through with this strategy, the rm selecteda 60- oot-wide space between the schools Alumni Houseand Student Union buildings that had previously beenused or dumpsters and other maintenance needs. Itwas a unique space, says Jason Bowers, another architectwith the rm, and not one where the school had everthought o siting a new building.

With the help o Agostini/Bacon ConstructionCompanies, Inc., the team set out to construct thebuilding on the improbable site, which was also situated

between a line o sidewalk at its ront and a small court-yard at its rear. The construction team was only able towork in a very restricted area near the courtyard and hadto avoid building rom the ront. We didnt have mucho a lay-down area or stockpile o materials and storage,says Pat Zarlenga, senior estimator and engineer at Agostini/Bacon. The limited workspace made materialdeliveries di cult, so concrete had to be brought down aside street that was very active with school buses duringthe day, and it could only happen during speci c hours.

From the courtyard area, the crew had to open thewalls o the existing buildings and shore up their sides to

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install a new oundation. In order or the addition towork, the oundations had to be our to ve eet belowthe existing basement foor o the old buildings that theaddition would connect to, Zarlenga says. Each pieceo oundation was incredibly intricate due to the addedsupport raming that the team had to install throughout.

The end result, now known as the Nulman LewisStudent Center, sits in contemporary juxtaposition to itshistorical surroundings. Its transparent exterior livens upMeeting Street, with the school on one side and an open

eld located across the street on the Brown Universitycampus. The building is now the central pick-up anddrop-o location or students, and it serves as a newdining acility and a convenient link between the othertwo campus buildings. And, designed to LEED standardswith a green roo , the building has also become a stand-out, ever-present teaching tool or the schools environ-mental sustainability curriculum.

T e ltile el st de t Ce ter i cl de cl r p ce, di i g cility, ri e ti g pti , d ie t e

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the perfect fit

2The 100-acre peninsula located next door to the Indianapolis Museumo Art hadnt been touched since the 1950sdeemed unsuitable

or construction and overrun with woodlands. In 2006, though, themuseum hired Arkansas-based architecture rm Marlon Blackwell Architect (MBA) and Ed Blake o Landscape Studio (based in

Hattiesburg, Mississippi) to explore the possibility o using the lot as a nature parkand to investigate whether or not the space would be suitable or construction.The rms ndings werent exactly avorable. O the 100 acres in the park, onlytwo-thirds o an acre supported putting a building on it, MBA project managerJonathan Boelkins says.

The museum decided to trans orm the area intoa beauti ul park (known as 100 Acres: The Virginia B.Fairbanks Art & Nature Park) while using the small spaceavailable to construct the Ruth Lilly Visitors Paviliona place where park visitors could relax while escaping theheat or cold (depending on the season) and use restroomsor emergency services. The museum also wanted thepavilion built to host temporary gallery shows, donordinners, and educational programs. For it to be parto the museum, it needed a level o re nement that was

T e R t Lilly vi it r P ili le gter g i de Ip d l t e

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ruth lIlly vIsItors pavIlIoN

loCatIoN indiAnAPolis, inarChIteCt mArlon BlAckwell ArchitectlaNdsCape arChIteCt lAndscAPe studioBuIlder the hAgermAn grouPCompleted 2010sIze 3,980 squAre feetCost $2.3 million

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as the area Is proNe to floodINg,the Architects hAd to creAte A design thAtwould elevAte the Building to Protect it

from harm wIthout It lookINg taCkyor overCautIous.

S E W E R E AS E M E N T

F L O O D W A Y B O U N D A R Y

C A N A L S E T B A C K

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indicative o its relationship to the museumbut alsoneeded a great deal o fexibility, Boelkins says.

Designing on such a restricted space wasnt an easytask or the rm, and the project went through severaliterations be ore arriving at its nal design. It was achallenging project to get built, Boelkins said. As the areais prone to fooding, the architects had to create a design

that would elevate the building to protect it rom harmwithout it looking tacky or overcautious. We wanted itto be as seamless as possible, Boelkins said. He and histeam used a system o berms designed by Blake to bringthe land up to the building, elevating it above the levelo intermittent fooding without using railingsor evengiving the appearance o elevation.

The team also worked very closely with Blake and thegeneral contracting rm the Hagerman Group to preservethe natural landscape around the construction site. BrettRose, who served as the Hagerman Groups projectmanager, says, We marked the work site and critical

Le t: T e er ed e rt el t e p iliele te t e tr ct re tly e t e

rr di g dpl i .a e: T e p ili eeded t ret i ele e t re e e t i il r t t t tI di p li m e art.


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a e: Tree ere re ed electi ely r t e ite, d lle l g erec t l g ed d repl ced t i t i t e ide t c ed dl d.opp ite p ge t p: T e gre t r t e e e t re ple i d i gt t ll per t t d t ide d l k ll t e y t r g t e p cet t e ie t e t er ide t e pr perty.opp ite p ge tt : T e i d c e pe ed t t eir e t dr ic ld ir d ri g t e er, ic t e p e t ir p d t t e t p t e tr ct re.

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travel areas to and rom the construction site with anorange ence so as to minimize or eliminate any moredisturbance than was needed to construct the building.

Rolling paths called landscape journeys weredesigned throughout the park, leading directly to the decko the building. To preserve the appearance o anuntouched landscape, trees were removed selectively, and

the logs and branches that had allen onto the site priorto construction were catalogued and temporarily moveduntil the buildings completion. They were then reintro-duced to the site so that the area surrounding the pavilionstill gives the illusion o an untouched woodland.

The end result is an impressive, transparentbuilding eaturing a continuous screened sur ace o Ipwood slats that extend above the deck and terrace area,almost like branches o a tree. Filled with sunlight,the pavilion gives o antastic views o the woods thatsurround it, and it has become a popular destination

or visitors rom across the Midwest.


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the perfect fit

the weIgel resIdeNCe

loCatIoN coPPer mountAin, coarChIteCt suBstAnce ArchitecturesIte superINteNdeNt JAson kleinertCompleted 2007sIze 4,000 squAre feetCost $1.2 million

3Designing a retreat home amid the pines o the Copper Mountainski resort in the heart o Colorado was no simple task or Des Moines,Iowa-based rm Substance Architecture. Its clients, the Weigels,sought to build a breathtaking second home or their our childrenand large extended amilya retreat that would provide unparalleled views o the mountains and the illusion o seclusion despite the houses

located across the street. But, the site was tucked away on the lower slopes o theresort and situated in a national orest, surrounded by trees and wetlands, all o which made the construction process extremely delicate.


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a e: Pl ci g t e p ti t e e r elped

t t e tr ct re t rel ti ely ll pr perty.Le t: T e d pill r

r i g t e e i ei d r p r llel t

d tc e t etic llyt e t eri g tr k t e tree t ide.

the CoNstrICtedCoNstruCtIoN area madeit feel As though the firm

were Building in A cityenvironment, And its teAmhad to Come up wIthINveNtIve ways to BuIldthe house.


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bel le t: T e ite pl t e 4,000- q re- t

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There is a road that goes up the west side o theski slope at Copper Mountain, says Paul Mankins,one o the rms principals. One side has houses whilethe otherwhere the site is locatedgoes back into thenational orest. The house had to be sited in such a waythat no construction went outside the property lines[because] the environmental protection in Coloradois extremely high.

In order to protect the natural landscape surround-ing the quarter-acre lot, located at an elevation o 10,000

eet, the construction area had to be roped o . Mankinssays that the constricted construction area made it eelas though he and his team were building in a cityenvironmentthere was limited space to bring in andstore materials, and they had to come up with inventiveways to build the house. We couldnt lay back the holewhen building the basement; we had to dig straight down,he says. Site superintendent and project manager JasonKleinert adds, We ended up cutting a pretty good-sizebasement into a lot o rock.

Mankins and his team ollowed a contemporarydesign to build the 4,000-square- oot home on a smallpiece o property. They decided to create two separatespaces or the houseone, a great room with all o thehouses dining and living unctions, is a modern structurewith large windows, and the other is a conventionally

ramed our-story tower that contains all the bedroomsand a kitchen area. The tower produces a chimney

e ect, Mankins says. When you open the windowsdownstairs, the heat rises and escapes through thewindows at the top.

Substance Architecture also had to take the areasharsh winter climate into consideration when designingthe windows. All o the storms come in rom theNorthwest, Mankins says. We sited the houses sothat there are almost no window openings acing thatdirection.

The smaller portion o the house appears to bemostly glass with a wood rame, and this allows thehouse to serve as a passive-solar home where the sunplays an integral aesthetic role throughout the year.In the summer, the interior o the house is in the shade

rom the overhangs, Mankins says, but in the wintera lot o sun comes in. aBQ

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