Practice--work in progress

Statement of Practice Component: November 15, 2007
Hampton Roads Transit Maintenance facility, Crew Shelter, and the Station at Norfolk State University


It is necessary that the region where I live and work develop a new means of moving around the various landmasses and inlet of the area. To facilitate this with the typical growing congestion, a proposed rapid trans system is under development. Backed by federal , state and local funding this $216 million dollar project is the first of its kind in the region other than the interstate highways. The images you see are the result of painstaking coordination by a myriad of people from all over the country. My roll in this process of creating a new system is to facilitate the architecture which is used in the Station at Norfolk State University and a Maintenance Building with a Crew Shelter which will house workers operating the system. Some of the work involved in developing the HRT project makes research inevitable. During the process of design these facility many investigation into the selection and searching for how they can be applied in our buildings. It is inevitable that the result of these searches have lead to new approaches in application. Although Smart Materials would be a inevitable direction to use in the application of HRT , the project despite its large budget was subject to numerous cost controls. The research which was undertaken provided background to the over decision to apply new materials such as polycarbonates and steel in public spaces. My role in this was to assemble the necessary documentation necessary for the decision making. The ultimate design was to be assembled by the joint venture of URS and Parsons/Brinkerhoff. It is in this context that I would submit information in the way of specification and drawings for review and approval.
Figure 4,5. The Station at Norfolk State University
Once of the unique experiences has been the development of skills initiated and required by the B.A.C. to provide deliverables. The knowledge I received through communication with the members of the class through lateral learning helped me better approach the condition of application of resources.
 Figure 6. Interior of the New Maintenance Facility HRT
One of most important skills has been the application of the new graphic tools to my managing of the project in the office. It is not so much the ideas as the design as it is providing expertise to those engaged in rendering and making contract document for deliverables to the client. Schedule, costs and being able to change the design is also important in a project of this size because it represents the ability to bring the system to flexible.


Figure 1 Corner of the building of a new office building at Town Center in Virginia Beach
Euclid Ave. Speculative Office Building. While none of the logical procedures for developing the shade and light control were applied directly, the project envelope seemed a tectonic expression . The design intuitive evolved as the client provided a criteria.This project was a very collaborative effort for which my role was the executive architect throughout the design and planning stage. After the framing and mechanical systems were in place I performed shop drawing review and advisory functions to acquaint the owners of the progress. I carefully reviewed and took call which coordinated conflicting items of the program with aesthetics issues. The response to issues which developed provided an intense look at the perception of construction by a developer which was not fully aware of the latitude or capability of issues which impact design and subsequent construction.From the onset of this project I helped develop images which were used to relay the design intent of the project. The building itself is an entirely new vernacular with exterior curtain wall. During the process of design I worked to research many different materials and combination of materials to determine which would be most cost effective and still be an answer to a common problem- how to clad the exterior. Initially the entire building was to be clad in a single material. However, after presenting different options it was decided that these office condominiums needed a new approach, The building was very visible from the Interstate and had a commanding presence at a bend in the road near the tallest buildings in Virginia. As a result , the owners chose a progressive and experimental attitude. The two female professionals chose to allow the combining of the various material unlike any in the surrounding area. I was involved in rendering the images and drawing both details and floor plan which would satisfy the municipal code review. The environmental conditions where at first requiring the need for a retention pond, however, my careful negotiation, a filtera system in the rear of the site was a developed as a compromise.

Figure 2. The entry into the center suites Figure 3. The Cantilevered Corners
It is hard sometimes to maintain an overall vision for a project when costs and economic issues are constantly before you as a designers. In moving from the design phase and Design Development Phase of the construction document it was determined that inadequate height had been allowed for the building. In order to solve this problem the contactor was asked to provide a raised center swale in the roof which I worked out with the project manager of the Contractors’ office.
Placing various materials together is quite common. As designers and architects we have a greater pallet of choice but the question remains- is the exterior skin free of the structure behind it or does it hang from the frame ,as it does in this case. I would like to think that in this small office building we challenge both these ideas. The curtain wall system in some areas is independent and in others it is part of the attached wall systems.
Like the prow of a ship this building faces to the southeast and gives views of itself with to interstate traffic which passes less that one hundred feet away. It salutes the sky to the south and challenges the viewer to see the diversity of the materials which this building celebrates. I found this experience to work with many people in seeking the most relevant solution to be rewarding. My role took a personal nature as I visited the site many times to view and visualize the many large trees at the existing building location and how the program could save as many as were economically feasible. My role after design development became more involved in research in the use and cost of materials develop a more advisory role as the job progressed toward the interior finishes and surfaces. The natural progress of my responsibilities was apply suited to the experience and flow of work which I as able to do in a linear productive manner.