The design brief is simple, create pedestrian access nodes within the public right-of-way into the underground structured parking garage for the Banks mixed used development on the Cincinnati riverfront. Here are the more important among the layout and design parameters:
- find the best location of the access nodes vis-a-vis their the parking layout/drive aisles underneath
- coordinate the head houses location with the entrance path of the adjacent future apartment building
- be able to accommodate different types of elevator equipment: roped hydraulic and machineroomless in the different phases of the project
- design with a view of the possible instantiation of the head houses
- find a balance between creating an identity and responding to design motifs in the mixed use environment around them
- create a specific treatment of the dedicated pedestrian aisles of the underground parking structure that would identify it and assist with the wayfinding. (Upon completion the underground garage would span 8 city blocks on two levels)
On the Koolhaas scale, this is an XS size project in the middle of a XL size project. It went through many iterations before settling down to the solution ready to be built this spring (of 2010). The renderings below show two of the early schemes, with the third series of slides illustrating a treatment for the pedestrian aisle of the parking garage below. The intent of that design was to help with wayfinding while breaking the monotony of the garage. It was cut out of the project.
study series A: “crystal” facetted geometry creating a crumpled look; stainless steel
study series B: “wing” a fluid movement in two planes; tempered laminated glass
pedestrian aisle: stainless steel and ecoresin
The initial direction for the design of the head houses was to suspend glass boxes off of cantilevered structural steel spines, using plate steel “vertebrae” with attached spider fittings to effect the transitions between the glass pieces. Smooth curves defined the geometry as it rises from the ground plane.
During the process of refinement we moved away from the curvilinear geometry in favor of a more crystaline look. The significant challenges of bringing the two differently proportioned bodies together, as well as analogous in shape earlier head houses a block away, led us to a different path in pursuit of singluarity. The final product has been meticulously detailed from channel and plate steel and point supported 2 ply tempered laminated glass. Construction is expected to start in the spring of 2010 and finish in the summer of 2010.
Photos of the completed project are available here.