ARCH 380 - School of Allied Arts

Design for a school of allied arts in downtown Portland, Oregon, for a master's in architecture design studio.

The building program included spaces for art and architecture studios, administrative offices, lecture and seminar rooms, student services, computers, a gallery, a library, and a darkroom. It also included spaces for non-educational functions like a cafe, a bookstore, and other retail.

My design proposed a four-story building, with public rooms and spaces on the ground floor graduating to more private rooms on upper floors. A glass-enclosed atrium at the center of the building brought daylight to both sides of studio spaces and illuminated ground-floor public spaces.

Elevations

The building fit in with its neighbors while adding fresh colors, textures, and covered pedestrian areas. Its double-height third- and fourth-floor windows presented the diversity of studio functions as a unified face.

It was to be a steel structure with concrete flooring on steel decking. To fit into the neighborhood, the envelope sought to use precast concrete with detailing on the ground floor, with brick veneer on upper floors. Window shapes and steel frames pulled color and proportional cues from nearby buildings.

First Floor

A large main entrance off of the 11TH Street sidewalk invited pedestrians into the center of the building. It was flanked by a cafe and gallery, serving both academic occupants and the general public. A lecture hall and a seminar room on the first floor made the educational function of the school readily accessible to the public.

Second Floor

The second floor brought all administrative staff and faculty together with rooms to support their common needs for meetings and supplies. The library was also placed on this floor, helping to establish a transition zone between public and private instruction areas.

Third Floor

Two-story art studios and a library began on the third floor along with two architecture studios and seminar rooms. The two-story library space included a mezzanine, receiving daylight through the atrium.

Fourth Floor

Architecture studios and seminar rooms repeated on the fourth floor along with a computer room, a darkroom, and a slide library.

Proportions

Resolving plan, elevation, and room volumes into harmonic proportions where possible was part of the design challenge.

Section

A square shaped atrium allowed all the floors to take in take daylight. It unified the different building uses, provided visual consistency, and made finding and navigating between rooms easier.

A common wall spanning all floors featured student work, and stairs alongside the atrium helped animate the four-story space.

Rationale

My design presentation explained reasoning through numerous simple diagrams, e.g.:

• Building entry should be as visible from a distance as the corner if the corner could not be the entry.
• Building corner should serve as a natural pivot point for organizing rooms.
• Ground floor retail, atrium, and assembly areas should reflect the public nature of the sidewalk and street.