HEXGRID SPACEFRAME

CO-AUTHORED WITH STERLING YUN PROFESSOR MICHELLE LEE SPRING 2023

This project represents our attempts to synthesize a structural system that is highly efficient, responsive to programmatic changes, and self-contained. Our system is repeatable and modular, and its parts tie into each other to make deviations from standard conditions absorb-able by the integrity of the rest of the system.

The module is defined by a column rising up from the floor and branching out into a hexagonal shape, from which additional members are drawn to connect to neighboring hexagons in a linear truss shape. This is augmented by a contrasting network of steel cables connecting the columns around balconies, atriums, light wells, and other cutouts, allowing spatial variety without endangering the wood’s structural integrity.

Our adaptive reuse plan for the B&M Factory is centered around a large triangular addition whose legs are each at different heights, housing three core functions of the university: classroom space, lab space, and lecture and office space. The three sides of the triangle look inwards to another atrium that creates a locus for campus life, while the facades of each reference the dimensions and spatial conditions of the branching column motif that forms the core of our integrated system.

The most important site-wide considerations are centered around walking access, green space, and the link between open and closed. Drivers diverge from pedestrian travel early. A walkable artery is the predominant circulation armature, weaving between buildings and trees until it converges at the center of the site. This converging point flows directly through the greenhouse as a clear continuation of open public space. The research center sits on a paved public platform which incorporates an outdoor gathering area around the existing structure. The greenhouse combines with a more enclosed atrium at the heart of the new addition, and extends out into the water on the dock on which part of the old factory used to sit. Further walkways reestablish a previously interrupted pedestrian path extending from under the highway to the west and completed by a revitalization of the abandoned rail to the east.