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101 MASS AVE.
Studio 4 required the design of a building on an awkward lot straddling an Mass turnpike on-ramp. My design takes this inconvenience and turns it into an artistic yet practical feature. The building was to be some sort of fitness center/gym and allot rentable commercial space elsewhere.
WHAT
Fitness Center
WHERE
Boston
WHEN
Spring 2018
Existing Site Circulation
Future Site Circulation
The on-ramp cutting through the middle of our site was obviously a frustrating parameter that impacted any simple, pretty design plan we had hoped for. Early on I decided that instead of getting annoyed by the ramp I would make it an artistic influence on my architecture. The ramp breaking through my site could take a more literal manifestation and “break” through my building.
This action was of course not a nice, clean, and consensual one, but rather a violent attack that would split the building and leave an unmistakable fissure that would affect floor plans, programs, and building systems.
physical model exploration
The first week of design for me was imagining how people could interact with the fissure space. How big should it be? Is it a place you can walk or is it an atrium space? Rock climbing wall?
fissure interaction study
circulation study
Because of the small plot it was obvious that we were going to need to build up. A fair amount of thought went into placement/order of the program levels. Reception should be the first thing you encounter of course, but that does not necessarily mean it needs to be on the first (in our case second) floor. The next thing people want to do when they get to the gym is usually drop their things off or change in the locker room. I'm a bit of an expert, I went to the gym once. The order and ease of access of the other program floors took into consideration the popularity, but also the space required for each activity. This of course with the exception of the game level on the 5th floor where there is not enough space for a full basketball court. This instance is evidence of me not caring for this type of program within this particular gym. It looks and feels like a late add-on because it sort of is.
sectional diagram
Our fitness center is designed to provide space for multiple training activities. The second floor is reserved for cardio and the children’s area. The third floor is where we weight lifting machines and dumbbells. The fourth floor is divided up into distinct classroom areas for fitness classes for things like yoga and martial arts. The top floor is designated a game area and has 2 full size racquetball courts and 3 basketball hoops.
Basement
Level
This subterranean level passes just below the on-ramp. You’re even able to see the cars driving through when you first pass through the doors at the ground floor entry. The ramp seems to be supported by beautiful brick vaults, a material that pays homage to the many historic brick buildings all along Newbury Street. Square footage is of course at a premium in a rental space like this, but even so I have provided space for bathrooms, offices, store rooms, and building systems.
Ground
F loor
In order to get out of the way of the on-ramp I gave the ground floor a high ceiling and used it as lounge and business space, and even included a cafe to serve the high number of pedestrians that pass by this area. The ramp also acts as a clear divide between the fitness center above, and the health food store below.
I’m a small town guy so a big shock (read: annoyance) when I visit the city is how fast and how loud everything is. There doesn’t seem to be anything relaxing about the place. As a response to this I have designed what I call the outdoor "reprieve" area that is open to the public, especially those sitting at the bus stop. Foliage and sound dampening fiberboard weaken the incessant noise and create a pleasant and relaxing atmosphere complete with natural sunlight and cafe service.
The fissure has created a large and conspicuous atrium space, but it also created a smaller crack that breaks to the North side of the building. This crack shifts and offsets part of the North wall while also providing a place by which to enter the commercial space that takes up the basement area.
Second Floor
Second
F
loor
The second floor is actually the main floor for the fitness center. Right at the stop of the stairs is the reception desk. After checking in, patrons can follow the fissure down to their respective locker rooms. A minor theme of my fitness center design was to limit the number of excuses a would-be-exerciser would be able to come up with to avoid coming to the gym for a healthy workout. Though I have no children of my own I imagine that a big excuse for some adults is ‘not being able to go to the gym because I need to babysit the kids’. Well exercise is necessary people of all ages. Our fitness center features a designated area just for young people where they can safely play and exercise with equipment sized for them and under the watchful eye of fitness center employees.
Locker Room Plan
I have not provided you with any sort of tour of the locker room floor which is a shame because of how hard I worked to squeeze it in and make the circulation work properly. I just never got around to diagramming it out. The first floor, remember, has a high ceiling ~20' to get clearance over the on-ramp. The locker room is actually a half level, not a full floor plate, that sits between floors 1 and 2. At the West side of the building the ramp has gotten low enough to allow the fissure ramp to slope down this far.
Admittedly the gym looks a bit sparse in this perspective, but remember I'm trying to sell you on architecture, not gym equipment.
Third Floor
Th
i
rd
F
loor
Both sides of the fissure on the third floor will have rows of dumbbells and weight-lifting machines. A small triangular open-air terrace, that looks down on the third floor terrace below, is available on the Eastern side of our building. Blocked off from the adult side is a small outdoor terrace that the kid’s can access only by climbing up from the floor below. In the perspective you'll be able to see the medium-density fiberboard slats that line the ceilings as a noise reduction technique. The also work to diffuse the artificial lighting for a more comfortable atmosphere and to avoid reducing the effect of the natural light coming from our atrium feature.
Fourth Floor
Four th
F
loor
The fourth floor is divided up into 2 open classrooms and 1 private classroom where yoga, dance, or other exercise sessions can be held. There’s also access to a large fresh-air terrace what wraps around the East side of the building where I can imagine a class being held on fair weather days. This floor has space set aside for restroom facilities as well.
F i
f t h
F
loor
The fifth floor is a game area. Hardwood floors and a relatively open floor plan give space to practice ball sports. Here there are 3 basketball hoops, though does not have nearly enough space for an organized 5v5 game. There are 2 full sized racquetball courts. This top floor does not feature any indoor space to the North of the fissure, but instead has a small outdoor terrace area that looks down Newbury Street. Full height curtain-wall windows to the North will provide ample diffuse natural light onto this floor.
I have not provided you with a render of the exterior of the entire building, but these (open source) photos may help you picture it. The main material for the building would be approximately the same as that used in the Guggenheim Museum.
The stained wood used for sound dampening, furniture, and other details would have the same contrast that you see (and that I love) when it's used on this concrete house.
systems section diagram
sun study overlay
The building takes advantage of its ample Southern exposure and uses it to heat and cool the building. A translucent rainscreen placed on the South and West sides of the structure created an air gap between the wall and the screen. Similar to a greenhouse, the sun heats up the air in this space. During the winter months this trapped heat warms the southern wall that also contains water filled radiant heating lines throughout. This warmed water is then pumped throughout all the other exterior walls and interior floors where they radiate this heat into the building.
Throughout the summer months the air heated within this cavity is released by opening the solar chimney at the top of the rainscreen. This movement creates an updraft and a void of air within the cavity. By opening the windows on the North and South ends of the building the void will be filled by the air within the building creating a constant flow of air from the cooler North side of the building, through the workout areas, and out and up the solar chimney to the South.
cold weather heating
warm weather cooling
thebridgesummit.co
eebt.org
incagli.com
The translucent rainscreen on the southern facade will have a look similar the the one here.
R-Value and U-Value are numbers that measure the speed of which temperature is gained or lost through a material. All of this was considered when designing the building.
south wall performance
south wall section
north wall section
north wall performance
Since we’re building an exercise center, a place to get stronger, I wanted the building to be heavy and strong itself. Considerations for the structural system also came from the varying floor slab heights (split levels), required spans, irregular floor plans, thermal mass, the structure’s cantilever to the South, and most importantly the challenge of keeping the fissure atrium free and clear of cross-members. The result came to be realized as a cast-in-place concrete system. This worked well with my desire to use concrete for almost all the major walls and floors as well. Concrete maintains a high thermal mass which means it will absorb and retain temperatures for a long period of time. This is important when attempting to use the sun as a heat source in the winter months. The concrete will continue to give off its heat long after the sun goes down. It also works well with a radiant heating system for the same reason. Customized concrete forms that are cast on site are more conducive to irregular floor plans like we have here as opposed to a steel system where the beams and columns will have to be cut and welded repeatedly.
typical structural plan (2nd floor)
structure perspective
typical floor plate section
I am able to space my columns irregularly throughout the plan, maximize floor space, and not worry about increasing difficulty of construction. Each column and beam here will be 3 feet square. I believe I calculated a requirement of 2’6” in the most stressed scenario, but I wanted to make things easier for myself. Slabs will also be supplemented by a network of 8” slab joists every 2 feet on their undersides.
The fissure is not as haphazard as you might think. Everything is calculated, don't you worry.
typical fissure section proportions
