A closer look at a few perspectives..

Studio Apartment living room/kitchen

Studio apartment bedroom

Artist studio

The Grand Finale!

Its the end of studio! For our final pin-up, we had our first and second floor floor plans, a vertical section going through the first and second floors, 4 perspectives, an axon diagram, process work, our haiku, and our brand for the mill.  I added in one more perspective, and an enlarged plan of my studio apartment layout.  

I got wonderful feedback from all of the guests we had at our critique, including suggestions to help further my design to put in my portfolio.

When I spoke with Eddie Belk, he suggested adding more apartments to  the west wall of the second floor, where I currently have the gym located.  He also suggested to elongate my apartments even more, to add square footage.  

I got some mixed reviews on the vast amount of common space I have on both floors.  Some people really liked the open space, since it kept the original integrity of the mill, and some people saw it as unused space.  I could agree with both statements!  

Overall, I have never worked on a project like this before throughout my career in IARC, and I very much appreciated having the opportunity to do so.  It has shown me how to deal with space, large and small.  It has also taught me to look realistically at a community and meet their needs, not your own needs.  Design is all about compromise, and I think overall I kept that in mind throughout the whole project.     

Updated Brand/Logo

Second Floor: [Interim Design]

This is the overall 2nd floor plan I am working on so far.  Some kinks still need to be worked out, such as making the apartments bigger, condensing the hallways, and moving a few other spaces around.  I think this plan (schematically) works well with the layout of the building and in relation to my first floor, but managing the space will be first priority on my list this next time around!

Short Section Cut

Typical Studio Apartment Layout

Separate 1-Bedroom Apartment Layout 

Wireframe of Laundry Room

Perspective view of Reception Area

Larger view of Reception Area

Perspective view of living area in Studio Apartment

First Floor : [final design]

This is my first floor plan for the mill.  For this round of the project I really focused on filling up the space as best as I could, with still thinking about the project realistically and remembering the community's needs and what would also end up being used in the long run in that area.  A few things will still need to be adjusted for the final presentation, after evaluating this design and trying to incorporate it the best I can into the 2nd floor of the mill.  One area I am specifically going back to is my entry way on the front facade of the building (interior).  I am designing a more grand entrance and influential design for the final.    

Perspective view of restaurant

Perspective view of Bar

Perspective view of entrance

Schematic Design for first floor.

In a schematic sense, I tried to look at this first floor as an open space with ample opportunity, only setting limits such as walls that needed to remain, and saving all the columns.  I decided on a floor pattern that embraced the columns rhythm, ultimately (as you will see in my first floor plan for the next phase of the project) conveying this through the walls instead of a floor pattern.  My goal at first with this first floor was to not hide the fact that there was so much open space, but let that be the first thing people notice when walking in.  In the next phase, after finally putting in furniture, materials, walls, and doorways, I embraced the challenge and tried to make a flowing floor plan with high and low walls instead.  

It is a simple space by its rectangular shape, but looks can be deceiving.  The columns create a grid whether you want it or not.  This has made it especially challenging for me to create smaller hallways and corridors.  All of my hallways are somewhat large, but I am trying to look at it in a celebratory way and downsize them somehow in a way that makes sense.  

No one said it would be easy!

Art Wall

Mid-Semester Review

  At today's critique I received very important and encouraging feedback to help me further my design.  I felt as though all of the guests were very helpful in giving compliments as well as things to fix.
  When talking to Lauren, I gained ideas to help break up too large of spaces into smaller ones.  keeping with my haiku I can elaborate more on what the idea of a pathway really means, and create that atmosphere through my space.
  Mitch gave me constructive criticism in the sense that he told me not to get rid of windows on the front facade of the building.
  Tim gave me plenty of ideas to help break up the space more through programming and sectioning areas off to make every area have a purpose, which is what I really needed to hear.
  Jerry was one of the most helpful today because I got to explain to him what help I needed in specific areas of the space, and he elaborated more on what I can do to further my design.  He also stressed the idea of balance and how things can be asymmetrical because balance is pleasing to the human eye.
From Dot, I gained more knowledge of High Point and she gave some more background on the mill and where they are with it right now.
Finally, from Eddie Belk, I got tons of ideas to help break up my space more.  He was extremely helpful from a schematic standpoint and he also brought a realistic aspect to how big my rooms need to be and also how to make my entrances grand.
To day was very helpful and hearing from several different people that are completely new to the project that haven't quite formed any connections with it yet, I think was the best way to gain true advice and hear sometimes what you really need to hear.