01. sugar roots
small center design build fall 2021
project year- 2021 area- 1275 sqft typology- pavilion
Project Leads- Emilie Taylor Welty | Jose Cotto
Students- Merrie Afseth | Brianna Baldwin | Le’Bryant Bell | Zach Braaten | Kelsie Donovan | Kareem Elsandouby | Ellen Feringa | Nick George | Ella Jacobs | Connor Little | Mandii Malhotra | Velentina Mancera | Johnathan Michka | Sofia Perrotta Mensi | Malina Pickard | James Poche | Natalie Rendleman | David Rodriguez | Katie Schultz | Karan Sharma | Bruno Soria | Giuliana Vaccarino Gearty | Yao Zhang Staff- Ann Yoachim | Nick Jenisch
Special Mention- Pam Broom | Aron Chang | Eric Lynn | Johann Palacios
Each year Tulane School of Architecture: Albert and Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design hosts a community-wide campaign to design+build a product or project for an organization in need. The project for fall 2021 was an outdoor classroom/ pavilion space for “Sugar Roots” an independent farm across the mississippi from New Orleans. The site is vulnerable to flooding due to heavy rainfalls and strong winds. The design intent was to create a multi-functional learning space for school students and visitors to learn about food sovereignty, sustainable farming, and food preparation methods. The project design was developed over presentations and design discussions with the client i.e. Sugar Roots Management team. The design was developed, and built in the fall semester of 2021.
sub-project lead- roof material + build, terrazzo integration in concrete floor, grasshopper development among a group of 24 people my contributions focused on the researching and testing materials for roof and terrazzo, studying the feasibility of earth construction, development of grasshopper scripts for streamlining design choices, on site construction.
september 2021
design development
24 different designs to 7, from 7 to 2 main ideas and from those all the ideas were consolidated into one scheme.
PUSH to create a social perimeter and optimize building footprint.
SHRINK matching the height of the structure to the context.
SLOPE shed roof helps in optimizing water management strategy.
ELONGATE connecting the educational corridor to the bioswale.
PLATFORM creating the canvas to place the functions on.
ZONE creating brackets to frame the space.
PUSH optimizing bracket sizes.
ASSIGN assigning functions to bracket wall kitchen/ storage wall education wall.
COVER roof protection from weather.
material explorations
in addition to designs, I focused on studying and exploring different materials.
cement mixed with glass, terrazzo, paint
paints, different scales of crushed glass, and terrazzo were mixed, scattered, or poured with/on cement. molds of different scales and sizes were used to explore different arrangement strategies and to understand the behavior of the materials.
using these techniques samples of concrete mixes were created which could be used as design elements to brighten the space for kids, include a level of interactivity and “magic” (a word frequently brought up throughout the design process). In addition these elements can be used to convey information about the farm.
material explorations
one of the considerations of choosing the material for the roof was noise during rain and how would that impact the ability of the occupants to participate in an ongoing class during rainfall. A combination of local bamboo, steel, and thatch made was tested to help the stakeholders take an informed decision.
bamboo- shrinks due to high heat, labor intensive construction thatch- easy infestation grounds for mice corrugated polycarbonate was the least noise choice.
material explorations
since the design included a functional bioswale a large amount of earth was being extracted from the site. the research included the study of functional use of this earth, and if any rammed could be reused for the project.
Result- the soil composition was difficult to work with using present tools in the department
rammed earth testing mould
a hand operated compressed earth block maker was fabricated to experiment the stability of the blocks.
Result- the blocks were unsuccessful
watch our studio journey here!
grasshopper definition and construction
02. integrated studio spring 2022
Design studio- office building on Poydras
Professors- Nick Marshall
1000 Poydras is situated at the edge of the warehouse district, just under a mile from the Mississippi River. Near the former music and cultural hub, are theaters, live music, tourist centers. The area has seen unprecedented growth in the last 60 years and is a modern melange of local workforce, tourist activity, along-with a high traffic multi-modal pedestrian thruway.
The design brief was to develop an office space for a tech. company moving to Poydras st, New Orleans, and a first floor retail space for local businesses. The design had to be designed within the city guidelines (on site water retention), and the building codes. In addition to codes, facades, HVAC systems, and structural systems were researched on and integrated in the design.
site analysis
site location 5 min, 10 min, 15 min understanding the location, contextual elements, means of transportation, and climate.
parkings
courtyards
massing courtyards, private courtyards
pedestrian movements
site strategies
underground rainwater storage
double heighted plaza
balcony spaces
raised terraces
entry portals
internal vertical circulation
interior|Exterior visual connection
landscaped plaza and balconies
facade design
interior lux analysis
the location of shading devices, glazing systems, furniture layout, etc. were carefully considered and iterated using lighting analysis to achieve an optimum level of daylight within the interiors of the building. multiple analysis were done and window locations and sizes were optimized to find the right balance of natural lighting, heat gains, and views from the interior spaces.
