Figure: Exploded Axon of the Burdell Center This exploded axonometric highlights key layers of the proposal. Elevation changes of the laberinthian pathway, variable apertures for unique cross spatial views, and steel frame structure for flexibility of programming are made evident in this diagram.
Georgia Tech George P. Burdell Center Concept Design Charrette Proposed by: Alfred D. James, Jr. Year: Spring 2011
Burdell Center Georgia Tech Studio: Architectural Design Studio IV | Spring 2011 Professor: Sabir Khan Program: Multi-Disciplinary Design and Learn Facility Location: Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA Westside campus entrance, 2004 Master Plan
Figure: Spatial Sequence Diagrams
Focus: This studio was unique in that it was formed around the collective participation of the class in an ongoing project for Georgia Tech. The Institute wants the involvement of its students in the development of the Burdell Center and this studio was the inception of that student-instituteprofessional conversation. The Burdell Center is to be an innovative multi-disciplinary facility that constitutes student involvement and accommodates student creativity. The products, inventions, and ideas that are molded within this facility are to be as innovative as, perhaps, the facility itself. Our goal was to familiarize ourselves with the project, do research into siting strategies in conjunction with programmatic studies of student needs and desires, then push our own personal schemes in an end-of-semester threeweek charrette.
My Proposal My contribution to the Burdell project seeks to add to the institute’s identity of innovation grounded in GT culture. The simple gesture of walls that store information conflates dissenting gestures of tradition and progression into one consistant operator; suspense. It does so by way of there being more space to be filled than is filled. The formal expectations of visitors are simultaneously established and questioned. It builds formal expectations that then feed themselves into our urge for more, and further, for completion. The atmosphere would create a sense of wonder, “what is the next big idea?” More importantly, how can new classes of students be inspired to be apart of it? This is the premise of the proposal. Narrative + Showcase
Figure: Early Interior Sketches
Location The location was suggested to be near the main entrance west of the campus proper of the 2004 Master Plan. This will greet visitors and commuters as a face of the campus, and stand as the GATEWAY into the campus. This is an appropriate marking of the final frontier of the campus proper as Georgia Tech is now moving back toward the street from which it began.
My proposal for the Burdell Center uses walls in a corrugated fashion as display, as furniture, as framing apertures, and as repository to SHOWCASE the narrative history of Georgia Tech. Further, it also showcases a continuing design + build tradition that Georgia Tech seeks to bring to the forefront. The walls live. They shape an unfolding visual tableau of engineering and technological innovation. They are a tableau of work and work in progress. The walls show the history of the campus and guide visitors, competitor schools, alumni, future students, and current students alike through a progression of yesterday’s products and todays aspirations. This facility will supply resources and take advantage of the resources that it is given. Solar roofing systems are integrated. Landscaping and hydrology are managed as assets. And real-estate is used to its maximum potential so that Burdell may break the chain of big-box buildings and effectively utilize the parcel on which it sits.
Figure: Early Site Investigations
Figure: Early Site Stategies
Burdell Center Georgia Tech Research
Burdell Center Georgia Tech
Right This is an early sketch visualizing how the SW edge of campus could become the campus entrance and reach into the surrounding commercial districts. Doing so allows the surrounding communities to become a priority. Opposite The 2004 Twenty-Year Campus Master Plan is the map used to determine the position of the building. Bobby Dodd Way is a major thoroughfare that leads directly from East to West Campus. East Campus is the location of the more historic architecture of campus.
Site Strategy The location is near the main entrance west of the campus proper of the master plan. This will greet visitors and passer-bys nicely, and stand as the GATEWAY into the campus. This is an appropriate marking of the final frontier of the campus proper as Georgia Tech is now moving back toward the street from which it began. The laberinthian paths from the interior continue into the landscaping. Bioswales and native plants will surround the building. This location also seeks to restore the forgotten layers on the periphery of the Georgia Tech west-side campus proper.
Figure: Site plan [Urban Scale]
Far Right Opposite This view is of the beginning of the narrrative that unravels in the Burdell Center. Notice that the walls differ from the shelf
Burdell Center Georgia Tech
Figure: Spatial Volume Sequences Diagram [Plan]
Figure: Views Paths and Site Distance [Plan]
Above
Opposite
About Design Laberinth
The laberinth was an early
This detailed wall section
inspiration for its ability to
shows examples of the
wrap two distinct paths to-
inside and outside of the
gether, then connect them.
floor and wall material.
These diagrams show the
This drawing gives the feel
relationship of the laberinth
for the wall showcase tec-
to the spacial volumes, and
tonics at the main entrance
the sight distances across
of the Burdell Center.
The design was inspired by foriegn ideas that feature the walls as shelves. Georgia Tech as an Institute does not have an anchor to its history to steadily build upon. It is in need of a tangible source of encouragement for students to become apart of that history. Burdell as a new building on the campus should be drawn from the residue of things real to the city of Atlanta and forgotten in its rush to become international.
the spaces.
setup
established
later along the path.
Form and Function: Walls
Figure: Detailed Wall Section at Main Entrance
Below
Opposite
The Burdell Center ex-
The views across sev-
presses within its archi-
eral wall planes create a
tecture the technological
unique sense of how all
foundation
layers of the center are
Tech.
of
Georgia
Innovation is the
used differently.
foremost consideration for
Burdell Center Georgia Tech
the building concept.
Figure: Renzo Piano Research [Section]
Figure: Roof Frame Ventilation and Lighting Strategy
Figure: Roof Frame
Roof + Wall System Concept The structure is independent of the wall system as the walls corrugate loosely to the program. The transparency of the steel frame will allow easy daylighting as well as ventilation. The walls are folded in a manner that hides the steel frame at ground level but does not stretch to the top of the frame. This allows light, sounds, and smells from adjacent and opposing spaces to seep over the walls and through variable aperatures to make the building a sensually involved space.
Figure: Diagram of Corrugated Partitions
Figure: Natural Lighting Concepts [Section]
Collage of Views across Center
Burdell Center Georgia Tech
Interior Spaces Each spatial type was made to be unique to its function. The first path is made for students, facing toward the campus interior. The second path (shown above) is made to be experienced by the non-student population. Where both paths meet is the anchor of the entire design, meant to be grand and full of contrast. The giant stairs may be used to study, and serve as a how-to library for building, collaboration, and leisure.
Figure: Perspective of Main Entrance
Plan [Upper floors]
Burdell Center Georgia Tech Architecture of Landscape
Burdell Center Georgia Tech Outdoor Programmable Spaces The logic of the building extends into the landscape as these space are considered usable by students and encourages the engagement nature. First, the natural features were considered and tasks were fitted to the advantages of these forms. Bioswales flank the banks of work fields allowing students to work in these spaces without localized flooding. The pavered work zones relieve fear of “interfering with scenery.� The idea is to have the nature reserve serve as both a backdrop and, if necessary, a point of concentration, other than, something to avoid in concern of damage.
Figure: Lanscaping Site Map South of Burdell Center
Figure: Programmic Landscapes
Right Small maple trees line the south fascade of the building both for its leaf sheding during winter, and its leaf color changes throughout the year. This provides solar shading. Opposite The function of outdoor spaces is not to be overlooked.
These program-
ming samples show that it is never too early to consider how the spaces will be used.