Brian Pickard
Master of Architecture, 2014 Parsons The New School for Design School of Constructed Environments
Live|Work|Play Tower
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Re:play
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Public Material
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610 Lexington Avenue
Highbridge Pool & Rec Center
Brian Pickard, Master of Architecture, 2014 Parsons The New School for Design School of Constructed Environments 25 E 13th Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10003 Š 2014 Brian Pickard, Parsons The New School for Design
Harlem School of the Arts
Live|Work|Play Tower
610 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY
Urban Architecture Studio - David Lewis, Instructor. Additional work completed through the Theory of Urban Form Seminar (Brian McGrath, professor).
Rooted in the thorough analysis of the context, this project exploits the tension between the macro and micro, local, elements. Mediated by the optimized and static systems of structure and infrastructure, this tension creates an opportunity for reimagining the mixed use, residential / office, tower typology. Reinterpreting the primary program to integrate mixed-income residential, live-work units, and varying office types introduces these programs to the otherwise homogenous section of the neighborhood composed of luxury apartments and large office towers. Further, adjusting floor heights and service areas to accommodate these specific programs and differentiating the facade at each level based on program typologies creates spaces more appropriate to their use and allows the diverse character of the mixed program to read within the context of the tower. Through the distribution and interaction of disparate programs life within the tower begins to reflect the use and character of the surrounding neighborhoods – creating a stack of unique walkable neighborhoods separated by mechanical spaces and the “city” infrastructure. The vertical circulation (elevator) system is organized as an extension of the subway system – incorporating express and local routes with transfer lobbies in each neighborhood providing additional amenities based on their context within the tower. The internal forces generated by the interaction of the program and pedestrian circulation within each neighborhood shift the individual volumes against the static structure, creating exterior terraces, overhangs, and a unique composition as the mass of the tower is broken down to the scale of the individual. 1
(1) Base Envelope & Program
Core Plan and Constraints
(2) Adjusted Land Use
(3) Applied Typologies
Facade Typologies
(4) Program Distribution
(5) Mass Transit System
(6) Infrastructure
Partial Section: Vertical Circulation Programming
(7) Pedestrian Streetscape
(8) Context / Greenspace
Massing Transformation Study
Territory Analysis: Population Density 3
Population Density
Land Use
Figure Ground
Green Space and Public Plazas
Street Grid
Mass Transit
Accessible Open Space
Street Wall: North-South Corridors
Composite Analysis 4
The development of the interior spaces of each vertical neighborhood began with a systematic cataloging of stair and circulation precedents that interact with, establish, or otherwise organize physical, spatial, and functional elements. This matrix, or kit of parts, expedited the testing of multiple appropriate combinations and their impact on their immediate context (program and use) and on the form of the tower as a whole. Choreographing the user experience, the arrangement of segments based on specific programmatic and contextual parameters, such as width, direction, landings, and alternate functions creates pedestrian pathways and spaces with relationships and character that are unique, identifiable, and personal – no two floors or spaces are the same. Lobby levels are also dispersed to create unique experiences, respond to (and set up) programmatic adjacencies, and break pedestrian paths into manageable lengths for occupants, encouraging their use (per active design guidelines) while creating opportunities for both forced and unscripted interaction and improving the living / working environment. The pedestrian pathways are the streetscape of the vertical city. The paths generate internal forces, shifting the volumes and floor slabs, creating more unique interior spaces (the streetwall) along with the exterior terraces and overhangs.
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Eighth floor reception and collaboration space for social media office 8
Twenty-sixth floor lobby to playground, dog park, and mixed residential units. 9
The public and private exterior spaces create visual connections and activate tower facade throughout the day and night while maintaining maximum density and site coverage within the small footprint. Shared exterior spaces also work to encourage interaction between individuals living or working in the tower and create a sense of community within each neighborhood. The form of the tower, driven by the spatial requirements and articulation of the interior, is enriched by the supplemental programs at the lobby levels, where the large scale active programs (commercial and civic spaces) and garden terraces (public park spaces) further break up the mass of the tower. The aggregated program, held together by the frame and infrastructure, creates a cohesive whole reflective of the urban fabric, composed of a wide range of building types and scales, from townhouses to glass towers and superblocks.
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Preliminary Massing Model 11
View from Lexington Avenue and 53rd Street
Re:play
Highbridge Pool & Rec Center, New York
Parsons Design Workshop 2013 - Alfred Zollinger, Director, with Joel Stoehr, Construction Manager. Design & Construction Team: Veronica Acosta, Jessica Kwok, Oni Loyd, Karla Vanni, Allen Phillips, Brian Pickard, Mat Rek, Andrew Shih, Paul Van Herk, and Alvaro Velosa.
Built in 1936 through President FDR’s Works Progress Administration and commissioned by Robert Moses, the center is a popular pool during the summer months and serves as a recreation and community center for the Washington Heights neighborhood. Aside from the addition of an intrusive breezeway in 1982, it had only received minor upgrades until the three year collaborative project, a partnership between the Design Workshop and NYCParks, began in 2011. The Design Workshop first created Splash House, a set of locker room pavilions for the pool area that allowed the community center to operate year-round and offer more recreational programs to the local community. Before this, the gymnasium and community center facilities had to be converted to changing rooms during the summer months, preventing the spaces from being used for after-school activities and other purposes. The following phases of the renovations included the demolition of much of the 1982 addition in 2012 (In_flux), and finally, in 2013 (Re:play), enclosing the breezeway that separated the North and South wings of the facility, creating a new lobby and reception area, flanked by offices and a computer lab, and completing upgrades to the lighting and HVAC systems - Creating an enclosed, and unified, entry and common space, which provides an additional 2,000 square feet of useable space where neighborhood residents can meet in an informal setting. Funding for the $1.65 million design-build project came from both public and private sources. For more information please visit http://sce.parsons.edu/ design-workshop-parsons/ 13
Partial First Floor Plan
East-West Section through Great Hall looking North towards After School room
Great Hall, reception space, with entrance to the after school room on the right 14
Plan Detail: Structural Beam Connection
Installation of support structure for existing mezzanine level 15
Section Detail: Structural Beam Connection
Main entry with NYCParks logo on new storefront facade. 16
View of Great Hall and pool beyond from mezzanine level. 17
Overhead lighting installation in progress
Section Detail: Lighting Cove at Mezzanine
Installing pop-out threshold framing with lighting cove above 18
Section: Reception Desk and Bench
Installation of Duo-Gard sheeting around the reception desk 19
Plan Detail: Typical Pop-out Threshold
Great Hall looking towards the computer lab 20
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Completed storefront installation with NYCParks logo(1)
View of Great Hall and entrance to the After School Room from the mezzanine(1)
Great Hall looking towards the reception desk and mezzanine(1)
Great Hall looking towards the After School Room(2)
Images provided by (1) Margaret Badore and (2) Elizabeth Felicella
Great Hall looking towards the reception desk with mezzanine level above and entrance to the after school room on the right(2) 22
Public Material
Harlem School of the Arts, New York, NY
Allied Studio - David Leven, Derek Porter, Star Davis, & Lauren Crahan, Instructors. Collaborative project with Tamara Yurovsky (lighting design) & Marcela Trejo (interior design). Additional work completed through the Environmental Technology Seminar (David White, professor) and the Lighting Principles Seminar (Randy Sabedra, professor).
The heavy segregated interior and fortified facade of the existing building mask the programmatic activities from each other and the surrounding community. This, along with the disconnect of the existing theater, prevents collaboration, cross-disciplinary inspiration, and ultimately hinders the creative educational process and the goals of the school. Through the strategic dematerialization of the existing building our proposal increases exposure and visibility of the programs and draws the public into the building through the loosely choreographed entry sequence and the incorporation of new programs, such as the cafe, gallery space, and green roof agriculture. Further, opportunities for collaboration are created through programmatic adjacencies, varying levels of transparency, and controlled views in circulation. The new programmatic volumes, the great hall and the theater, are rotated to align with the street grid, creating two distinct entry conditions and exterior spaces. The entry to the school opens to reveal a broader view of the courtyard upon approach. In contrast, the entry to the theater and public spaces draws visitors in, focusing one’s view on the rock beyond, to experience the space between the existing, the rock, and the new before entering the theater or cafe. This slippage of form in plan is further articulated in section and elevation, accentuating viewing angles upon approach, setting up specific daylighting conditions, and allowing for moments where the glazing slips past the perforated metal skin, further revealing the building to the rock and the courtyard. Transformation Diagrams 23
View from St. Nicholas Ave looking South
Overlay: Street Grid | City Grid
Overlay: Street Grid (existing) | City Grid (new construction)
Voids / Directional Views: Private (expand), Public (focused)
Circulation : View Corridors
Spatial Organization: (Semi)Public / (Semi)Private
Cross-circulation - Connecting Thread
Preliminary massing model 25
Rotated grid strategy carried into massing and elevation
Preliminary sketch of St. Nicholas Ave. Elevation 26
First Floor Plan 27
Fourth Floor Plan
Third Floor Plan
Second Floor Plan
Program & Circulation Diagram 28
Environmental Design: Exterior Overview 29
Through a combination of upgrades to the remaining existing building and careful attention to various sustainability factors throughout the project (opposite page) our proposal increases the size of the program while reducing the estimated overall annual energy consumption of the school and creating a healthy environment for the building occupants. Additional sustainable design elements include; increased insulation in existing building areas, super-insulated envelope of new construction, a
self-shading facade system, operable windows for daylighting and natural ventilation, energy efficient lighting design, high efficiency HVAC system with heat recovery system, use of natural and no VOC materials, and native drought tolerant plantings. The reveals on the roof of the double-height dance studio (below) allow for filtered daylight, via the extensive green roof, to wash the space while creating a relationship between the interior and exterior programs.
Section Perspective through renovated Dance Studio / Black-Box Theater with new intensive greenroof and daylight apertures. 30
Final Massing Model
Construction Detail: Recessed Theatrical Lighting (Great Hall)
Overlooking Great Hall performance space from outside music practice rooms
Great Hall section perspective 32
Reception area and lounge space with great hall seating beyond and music practice rooms above 33
Construction Detail: Great Hall Stair Lighting
View of Great Hall from courtyard 34
Sectional Model: Theater (day)
Sectional Model: Theater / Public Entrance (night) 35
Sectional Model: view into Theater Lobby from Cafe and Music Practice Rooms (night)
The theater building utilizes a self-shading Eastern facade to shield it from direct solar radiation during the summer months while allowing students and visitors to enjoy the unique day-lit environment enriched by the visual and physical connection to the rock face to the West and streetscape to the East. At night however, the electric lighting scheme, again working with the facade and massing, essentially inverts the daytime condition. Here, the theater and great hall program are exposed to the street through the same perforated system that filtered daylight
into the spaces – whether a performance, a movie screening or an event, these activities become apparent to the street without being disruptive or reducing the sense of comfort and security within the interior spaces, drawing the public in while reducing energy consumption from exterior lighting.
Section perspective of Theater and gallery space 36
B. Construction Detail: Theater Floor Connection
Theater wall section 37
A. Construction Detail: Parapet and Mechanical Space
C. Construction Detail: Foundation
Theater and Public Programs Entrance
For more information please visit www.pickard-design.com