Lucas Elder Architecture Work Sample

LUCAS ELDER S | ARC MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSIT Y BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE 2024 SELECTED WORK : 2023 SPRING ARCHITECTURE STUDIO IV-B

w o r k s a m p l e

BLUE ECONOMY INTERPRETIVE CENTER 1133 20TH AVE. GULFPORT, MS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION This Blue Economy Interpretive Center is located on a peninsula in Gulfport, Mississippi in close proximity to downtown, the port of Gulfport, and municipal marina.

The purpose of this project was to design a mass timber building that explores the relationship between mass timber construction methods and coastal resiliency, while also serving as an attraction for the Mississippi Coast.

This building drew inspiration from the crashing waves, and the amorphous design language of Frank Gehry’s Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art and Mississippi Aquarium to create an awe-inspiring terminus of education and entertainment on the Mississippi Gulf coast.

The building’s primary programming is a mass timber structure built up 25’ above sea level and designed to be eventually dissembled or wash-away in the event of a hurricane. The underbelly of the building is a permanent community space with rain gardens, sculptures, a waterfall, eating area, and stage. The driving force behind this design was rethinking resiliency as a collective attitude shared by the Mississippi coast residents rather than a collection of massive structures and types of building materials.

Although, the Blue Economy Interpretive Center itself might fall victim its catastrophic climate, its permanent concrete plinth will remain as functional space and serve as a reminder that community is resiliency.

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The mapping process consisted of a series of diagrams that mapped energy flows in Gulfport and the surrounding area. Throughout the process, there was an emphasis on the distinction and harmonization of horizontal and vertical phenomena that occur in the past, present, and future. This process informed subsequent diagrams that are more abstract and focus on the movement of people in and out of Gulfport.

MAPPING / PRE-DESIGN

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CONCEPTUAL DESIGN The Mississippi Gulf coast is a living organism. Gulfport is the heart of this being with highways and roads that service as veins and capillaries. It is this system of paths that pump the lifeblood (people) in and out of Gulfport. The Gulf coast is very much alive, but how can architecture help sustain it? What is the future of the Mississippi Gulf coast? Should architecture on the Gulf coast be constructed to last forever, or should it be built to eventually be dismantled, destroyed, or die? This approach reinforces the circle of life and how architecture, like all living things, can succumb to impermanence. Regarding resiliency, this tactic suggests a non-conformist attitude. Instead of creating a structure meant to resist the powerful forces of nature that devastate the coastline, architecture that is temporary could prove that adaptation is another kind of resiliency. Architecture being created to eventually be dismantled and repurposed emphasizes the notion that all living things must die in order to generate new life and new purpose.

The conception behind the aesthetics of this building are based on the user’s experience. The experience of compression and release is dictated by the structural members that vary in size. This variation can dictate where to go, what to see, and how one feels when moving throughout the spaces. The amorphous punched openings on the facade and floors of the building explore this idea as well. They conceal and reveal sights when necessary, thus compressing and releasing the magnitude of one’s vision.

Resiliency manifests in the phyiscal form, but that is only half of what resilience is. It is the community itself where resilience is ever present in the Mississippi Gulfcoast. It is the business owners, developers, and residents that chose to rebuild the businessness, facilities, and homes that were once destroyed by hurricanes.

This conception explores how community is resiliency and how architecture can reflect that. The ground level will be developed as a community space that can behave a permanent structure, where as the building would be impermanent, and it’s materials recycled reinforcing the earlier concept of “the circle of life”.

“Buildings Must Die...”

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CONCEPTUAL DESIGN / MASSING

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SITE ANALYSIS

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SITE PLAN

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GROUND LEVEL AND 1ST FLOOR PLANS

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2ND AND 3RD LEVEL FLOOR PLANS

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ELEVATIONS

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SECTIONS

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STORM WATER MANAGEMENT

DRY SWALE

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FLOW THROUGH PLANTER

RAIN GARDEN / BIORENTION AREA 13

ACTIVE SYSTEMS INTEGRATION

SUPPLY

RETURN

GROUND LEVEL

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2ND LEVEL

3RD LEVEL

4TH LEVEL

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CONCEALED CONNECTIONS OF CLT

The load bearing CLT walls are too large to be made of a single piece of CLT. Therefore, what appears to be one wall is actually a kit of custom parts that attach to each other by concealed connections. This way the CLT wall can appear to be one homogeneous structural element with great spans and in an aesthetically pleasing style. This project implements Concealed Beam Hangers, ETB manufactured by Simpson Strongtie to connect the pieces of CLT together to create one large wall. The connections are embedded in the CLT so there are not noticeable gaps where the connections take place.

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MATERIAL LIFECYCLE OF CLT

The offcuts of the CLT panels are repurposed as pieces of the finish floor. Additionally, the offcuts could be sent to a Mass Timber manufacturer where the pieces are then made into other Mass Timber products.

These responsible methods ensure that the product is not wasted.

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DIPT YCH ELEV TION - SECTION

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SECTION DETAIL

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PARTIAL SECTION MODEL | 1/4” = 1’ - 0”

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BUILDING MODEL | 1/16” = 1’ - 0”

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BLUE ECONOMY INTERPRETIVE CENTER

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INTRERIOR RENDERING - GALLERY SPACE 3RD FLOOR

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INTERPRETIVE CENTER ENTRANCE RENDERING - 1ST FLOOR

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EXTERIOR RENDERING AND GROUND LEVEL PROGRAMMING RENDERINGS

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GALLERY RENDERING - 1ST FLOOR

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EXTERIOR PERSPECTIVES

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THANK YOU CONTACT: 662.648.9493 Lde87@msstate.edu