Coggan + Crawford
WORK
The work in this porƞolio represents a collaboraƟon between Annie Coggan and Caleb Crawford, partners at Coggan + Crawford. Our work is urban based and ranges from interiors to the full volume of a building, and in scale from furniture to buildings, and in type from work spaces to domesƟc spaces, exhibiƟons, set design, and toys. Our work focuses on establishing a narraƟve regarding the program and site, which is realized through an aƩenƟon to detail and an intense interacƟon with the client.
Green roof - greater than 50% off roof surfac f e
Green “room” - mesh enclosure fo or vine growth Planters Brick facade with triple glazed win ndows Front awning drains to planter Trash and recycling receptacle, pllanter and bike rack combined
Architecture
High albedo sidewalk - reduces heat island effect Street tree - 3” caliper upon plantting
Old House/New House
Original context
Old House/New House The narraƟve for this project was driven by the site. An old frame house situated on an underdeveloped site sits directly adjacent to a church near Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn. The house was to be kept and altered while building a significant addiƟon to the rear. Our soluƟon was to accentuate the meeƟng of these two volumes both spaƟally and materially. The old house was guƩed, stripped of its siding, structurally reinforced and clad in stucco. New windows were inserted as punched openings. The addiƟon was built of steel framing and concrete floors, and clad in corrugated metal. Floor to ceiling windows face south, and strip windows open onto the lot line, framing views of the adjacent church. Because of the exisƟng cerƟficate of occupancy, a fire escape was required on the rear of the house. This became an opportunity to provide easy access to the roof deck and create a sculptural volume. The house is located within an R6B zoning district. This is contextual zoning. This project is in keeping with the exisƟng three story buildings of the neighborhood, and maintains the exisƟng street wall of the original house.
Context map
Concept sketch
Site Plan
Concept drawing
Concept drawing
The house boasts significant sustainable features. It is the first Energy Star rated project in Brooklyn which means that the house uses 30% less energy than required by the model energy code. The building volume is super insulated. The south facing rear windows admit winter sun, and the concrete floors are a significant thermal mass, while the overhanging balconies of the fire escape provide shading from the summer sun. The fire escape serves as a trellis for vines. The front roof is designed for the installaƟon of photo voltaic panels, and has conduit ready for the installaƟon. The original concept called for a trellis above the roof deck to support PV panels. LighƟng is provided by high quality linear and compact fluorescents, many of which are dimmable. Air condiƟoning uses Puron refrigerant that is not ozone depleƟng. All windows have low E and argon filled insulated glass. All appliances are Energy Star rated. Flooring is the structural concrete in the addiƟon, while the floors of the original frame house are bamboo, a sustainable material. CarpeƟng in the hallways is from Interface, a company that subscribes to the principals of cradle to cradle.
Interior views
Interior stair
Rear balcony
View of building rear
View of building front
Cut & Paste
The exis ng structure was an industrial building in a re-zoned area of Brooklyn. It was two stories built to the full limits of the lot. In order to convert it to a two family residen al use it was necessary to provide for light and air. Our scheme was to make a series of strategic cuts into the structure to provide a central court yard and a new stair, crea ng a front and a rear unit. Structural problems with the front wall required its removal. This lead to the idea of “pas ng” different materials to the exterior to reflect the different func onal and narra ve requirements. The front of the building faces a manufacturing district, and the building is near public housing projects. We felt this required a “tough” exterior. One of the investors has a steel fabrica on company, so the natural response was to build out of steel. Folded plates in natural steel with a clear urethane coa ng make the front. The courtyard requires light and air. We wanted the materiality to be as reflec ve as possible, so we are using clear anodized aluminum. A steel mesh wall divides the front and rear units. This mesh is a trellis for ivy which will provide visual and acous c privacy, will be green year round, cooling in the summer and clean the air. The roof is accessible to both units and is occupiable.
Original site
Original site opposite
Map
Concept sketches
Interior looking towards courtyard
Interior looking towards stair
Interior views
Courtyard
Roof
Courtyard
Building in context
LiƩle Building Café
This is not the first restaurant venture to aspire to a value system rather than just a business. But it is unique in that the design laid the ground work for a democra c enterprise and a far reaching design dialogue. Alice Waters, Judy Wicks and Frank S are all restaurateurs involved in the farm to table movement (Waters having inven ng the genre). This movement establishes a business venture as an ac vist mechanism. Michael Pollen and Barbara Kingsolver have wri en extensively about food and the food industry. The project seeks to examine the café as an example of entrepreneur as community ac vist that is poten ally more successful than the role of the community designer. The café is seated in the no on of the local, and operates with this concept at a number of scales. Food is sourced regionally with a 100 mile goal. The loca on is in the downtown district, avoiding the automobile-centric and ubiquitous “strip.” The architecture is framed by an exis ng mixed-use building (commercial and residen al), which was completely renovated using sustainable design principles and local cra smen.
The goal of the café was not to design all the ac vity inside the four walls of the building but to extend the influence of the farm-to-table movement throughout the community. An unconven onal space that is used is the Li le Building Blog that, along with the sandwich board out front, serves as a town crier for the ever changing daily menu. The virtual space has lead to quite an in mate rela onship with the customers: daily face book cri ques of spring greens soup and chocolate chip muffins make the café feel very democra c. The space is used for public events. Partnering with the local ar st’s co-op has lead to a constant flow of ar st and designer community events that promote the crea ve capital of Starkville.
Context across the street from the street facade
Original context before construc on
This project examines how a building can be a cri que of current urban development pa erns and the en re US food industry, as well as form an anchor for the revitaliza on of a walkable downtown community.
Area map
Site context
Front facade
Project in context from the north west
Fixed single-pane windows were replaced with operable double insulated low e windows. The ceiling is insulated to R-50. The roof has a ven ng skylight with solar hot water panels on the south side. Back-up hot water is via a natural gas tankless water heater. Hea ng and cooling is supplied by high eďŹƒciency heat pumps. Chairs were either found in local thri shops for under 20 dollars or in the trash. Most had a weakness that needed to be reinforced before pu ng back into service engendering a southern vernacular meets Surrealist aesthe c. Tables were constructed on-site. Cups, plates, bowls, etc. are a mismatched collec on from local thri shops.
solar hot water panels latitude + 15° new white TPO roof - high albedo R-48 ceiling insulation blown-in cellulose awning for west windows operable windows, double insulated, low e, argon filled
Sec on
Interior views
Baseline
This project is at its core a pragma c project, albeit one that is tempered with a measure of poetry. It takes a cri cal view of contemporary building prac ces with an eye towards the performance criteria for a 21st century building. Our tle for the project was the “Baselineâ€? - this project should represent a minimum standard for construc on. The project is a four-story, four family row house located in Brooklyn, NY. It is a specula ve development for a par cularly enlightened client. They have a commitment to quality construc on and high design, but more importantly, they have a commitment to green building. It uses many common materials, and standardizes components and assemblies, but modifies these to achieve a higher design quality and much higher energy eďŹƒciency. This project is cer fied LEED Pla num and EnergyStar.
Context The site is in Brooklyn, NY, in a neighborhood known as Greenwood Heights or South Slope. It is a neighborhood of three and four story townhouses. The site is a half block from Fi h Avenue, a shopping street, one block from a bus stop on Fi h Avenue, seven blocks to the subway. It is three blocks from Greenwood Cemetery, and a fi een minute walk from Prospect Park.
Context map
Original context
Concept sketches
Concept The site is an infill site in a neighborhood of three and four story townhouses. The concept of the house is derived from an analysis of the site. Because the rear of the house faced south, we wanted a high albedo surface, thus the white brick. The front or north did not have the same func onal requirement, therefore we chose black brick. The black and white restric on evolved into a yin-yang scheme, and became a tool for making all subsequent aesthe c and material decisions.
Concept sketches
Rendering of the front (north) face
The rear of the building faces south. White brick was employed to reduce the summer heat island eect. Con nuing with the yin-yang concept, the accents are black. The balconies func on as outdoor space for each unit, and act as passive sun shading in the summer months. The original design called for a six kilowa photovoltaic array. That was eliminated during construc on due to a combina on of factors: a $100,000 price tag, the loss of subsidies during the last congress, followed with the collapse of the capital market. This was replaced with a solar thermal system for domes c hot water and space hea ng. Window sizes on the front and rear are standardized. Floor plans are repeated. Cabinetry is repeated with varia ons in the finishes. Though each unit is iden cal, each is also individual.
Rendering of the rear (south) face
The interior con nues the black and white concept, with some materials le in their natural state. The concrete masonry unit bearing walls are le exposed on the interior. This is a modernist ideal of the expression of structure, but also is a low-maintenance material, and provides thermal mass. The floors are reclaimed wood. The cabinetry is all FSC wood. Finishes are low VOC. All appliances are Energy Star. All ligh ng is either fluorescent or LED.
Interior
Roof garden
The roof gardens include both extensive and intensive green roof strategies. The design provides for areas of inhabita on. The solar panels provide two-thirds of the domes c hot water and one-third of the hea ng.
Lobby
Interior finish Wide flange moment frame with heavy gauge steel stud infill Spray in soy-based foam cavity insula on - min R28 Recycled exterior gypsum sheathing 2” polyisocyanurate rigid insula on provides thermal break and puts dew point outside of the cavity, R12 House wrap Triple glazed casement windows 1” air space and drainage plane Brick veneer rainscreen
Green roof - greater than 50% of roof surface
Wall Assembly
Green “room” - mesh enclosure for vine growth Planters Brick facade with triple glazed windows Front awning drains to planter Trash and recycling receptacle, planter and bike rack combined High albedo sidewalk - reduces heat island effect Street tree - 3” caliper upon planting
Building Diagram - Front View
Green roof - 4” lightweight soil mixture with geofabric, planted with drought resistant plants. Reduces the heat island effect, reduces storm water run-off. The soil is a lightweight product called Gaia soil, which incorporates recycled expanded polystyrene made hydrophilic as a component of the inorganic soil mix. TPO (thermoplas c olefin) welded seam roof membrane and protec on board Tapered polyisocyanurate insula on - average thickness 3.5”, average R21 Cement board sheathing, 35% recycled content, manufactured within 200 miles Spray-in soy-based foam cavity insula on, R43 Heavy gauge steel joist roof structure Recycled gypsum wall board
8” burnished concrete masonry bearing wall exposed on interior - provides thermal mass, low maintenance finish, expression of structure and provides the presence of an authen c material Reclaimed wood flooring - reuse of material sourced within 500 miles Cement board sheathing, 35% recycled content, manufactured within 200 miles
Solar thermal system - provides 2/3 of domestic hot water and 1/3 of space heating needs for the building. Back-up heat is via a 94% efficiency modulating condensing boiler Roof garden employing both intensive and extensive green roof strategy extensive roof is over 50% of the roof area. Reduces heat island effect and stormwater run-off Balconies provide outdoor space and also serve as passive sun control. They are also covered with a mesh and acts as a trellis for vine support Rainwater H2OGs - 50 gallon rainwater storage units at each level for use in balcony plant irrigation
Building Diagram - Rear View
Heavy gauge steel joist floor structure Spray-in soy-based foam for sound a enua on
Floor Assembly
Front facade
Rear facade
Building in context
Structural Concept The structural concept is a 21st century version of the typical rowhouse - a cellar founda on suppor ng masonry bearing walls, which carry a standard joist system. The front and rear walls are non-load bearing. In our version, there is a reinforced concrete founda on, reinforced concrete masonry unit bearing walls, heavy gauge cold-rolled steel joists, and brick facades backed by a wide flange moment frame for seismic protec on, with heavy-gauge steel stud backup. The front is glazed brick, the rear is a more u litarian white brick for sun reflec on.
Materials Use Avoided We opted for a tradi onal construc on technique: masonry bearing walls. We made one small move: to leave the concrete block exposed within the building. This resulted in a savings of approximately 40% of the total metal studs, drywall, screws, compound and paint over a similar project conven onally built. Thus a material already employed in the project became a fi nish material. We upgraded to a groundface block, and employed more skilled masons. This one small move accomplished many things. The modernist in us loves the expression of the structure and the authen c material. In green terms, it is a lowmaintenance material – it is durable and does not require pain ng, and it provides thermal mass. The developer saved money on materials and labor.
Heavy gauge cold rolled steel joists Concrete masonry unit bearing walls Brick on heavy gauge steel framing front and rear walls Concrete founda on
329 sheets of gypsum wall board
1374 metal studs
7200 screws
Exterior insula ng and finishing system with 4” expanded polystyrene rigid insula on on side walls where the building height exceeds the height of the adjacent houses - min R14.4. Because of adjacent buildings, only 17% of the side walls are exposed, thus the low R value doesn’t have a large effect on the overall insula on of the building envelope 8” burnished concrete masonry bearing wall exposed on interior - provides thermal mass, low maintenance finish, expression of structure and provides the presence of an authen c material
EXTERIOR
1364 pounds of drywall compound
53 gallons of paint
INTERIOR
Blue House
The nature of the site determined the project. The site is an undersized and irregular lot in an R6B zone in Brooklyn. Across the street is an elevated por on of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway – a six-lane interstate highway. The front of the building, facing the BQE, faces north, and the rear faces south. We zoned the stair and bathrooms to face the BQE, thus crea ng a buer from the noise. There are few windows on the north and west faces, and large amounts of glass facing the rear yards to the south. The irregular shape of the lot gave the inspira on for the roofline. Though not cer fied, the building was designed to meet Energy Star criteria, including high eďŹƒciency boiler and AC, high levels of insula on and air sealing, radiant floor heat distribu on, and an energy recovery ven la on system.
Map
Concept sketches
DN
BATH 1 UP shower
CL 1.1
CL 1.2
LAUNDRY
HALL
BEDROOM 1 BEDROOM 2
FIRST FLOOR PLAN
ROOF PLAN
N DN
DN
MECHANICAL ROOM
PR CL
UP
tank boiler
ENTRY
SIDE YARD LIVING AREA
ROOF
KITCHEN
REAR YARD
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
ROOF BULKHEAD PLAN
DN
BATH 2
STORAGE 2
UP
UP
W
CL
D
CL HALL 2
STORAGE 1 BEDROOM 3 BEDROOM 4
CELLAR PLAN
Original site
SECOND FLOOR PLAN
Front view on Park Avenue
Rear view
House in context with the BQE to the le
Kitchen and entry
Stair
Bedroom
37 Pearl Street
Belfast, Maine A former worker’s co age in Belfast, this small house was completely gu ed and reworked. The plan was manipulated to relocate the stair to the center and provide for three bedrooms and two baths on the upstairs level. There was one simple rule made for organizing the house materially: all short walls in the house, or walls that went east to west, were clad in wood siding that was salvaged from the exis ng house; all the long walls, north to south, were sheathed in drywall. This means that most of the art is on the long eleva ons and the wood walls are art in and of themselves. All the furniture and fi ngs have been in the family’s life for some me, there were very few items that were “bought” for the house. The art is primarily the work of the owners with some work from family and friends. The house is an archive of the family’s life, the organiza onal decisions are meant to enable one person to feel comfortable in the house alone as well as having privacy when the house is full.
Living room
Red Box
Brooks, Maine We call it Red Box because… it’s a red box. This net zero house uses achieves this goal through a range of approaches. At the base it adopts the strategies of Passive House: super insula on, super windows, air sealing, thermal-bridge free, and energy recovery ven la on. The south façade has a lot of glazing for passive solar gain. Added to this is a large photovoltaic array on the roof. The house’s aesthe c was driven by a combina on of costs, performance, and context. The simplicity of the form was made to keep construc on simple and uniform. The house uses a 100-year-old stone founda on from a previous house on the site. The low slope of the roof is designed to receive photovoltaic panels. Brick walls on the interior provide thermal mass. The color was selected both to contrast with the green of the landscape, but also to relate to the ubiquitous red barn. Windows are organized into strips band the pressed metal panels between them are an ornament, a nod to the strong hippy culture in the region. Photos of interiors are always our Achilles heel. When our clients are done, they typically don’t have money for furniture, and we have the ugly couch they have been moving around since grad school. This is one of those projects. However, the kitchen is oddly compelling in this disorder with the open shelving and all of the stuff on chao c display. The exterior makes its way to the interior with the embossed metal panels behind the wood stove.
South face in winter
South face in summer
Wood stove and kitchen
Interiors
Bisman Apartment
Brooklyn, New York Yeah, it’s a kitchen. But the real story here is the power of lateral thinking in design that can significantly reorganize space. The client wanted us to make it pre y and organized and get it through the building department. We saw that the space they used as their living room was basically a hallway, and the only light came from one window in a small internal courtyard. The original kitchen was in a room filled with light and the windows had views. The wall between them was the one with the plumbing. We proposed flipping the kitchen and living room. The kitchen became its own space, and the living room and dining room share a much nicer space. The kitchen has pops of color, le was a custom pa ern from a local ar st, and openings to the living room help communica on between the rooms.
South face in winter
South face in summer
Iselin House
Prospect Heights, Brooklyn The overall direc ve for this project in this 1890’s brownstone was to enhance the way they lived. The family had lived in the house for a number of years and the choreography of how they occupied it was in flux due to the children growing older. Each act was carefully deliberated with the client as the ground and parlor floors were significantly reworked to make a casual space on the ground floor and a formal space on the parlor floor. Originally the parlor floor was closed at the rear and open at the front, but we reversed that, crea ng a new in mate library space in the front and opened the rear up to the south. The family has an impressive and ever-expanding collec on of beach rocks built during their Maine summers. A primary task was to house this collec on, place their family heirloom furniture, organize their library, and hide the TV. The clients were par al to a certain imperial yellow, and we introduced a complimentary series of grays and blues that derived from the beach rocks. The base color of the project is a white with a hint of gold to enhance the warmth of the space. On the ground floor level, the kitchen was reorganized, removing a wall between front and rear, and installed new counters and cabinets. The staircase was likewise opened up and a bench was devised to act as a handrail. Window sills at the rear were cut down to create doors, changing the rela onship to the rear yard.
Parlor floor study
Parlor oor looking to the rear
Basement oor kitchen looking to the rear
Basement stair
Haber Apartment
New York, NY A 1000 square foot renova on for a long term client entailed a new stair, kitchen, and bathrooms. The project was essen ally a series of discreet tailoring exercises to change the propor ons and ameni es of the original rooms. All ďŹ nishes and furniture operate in a strict black, white, and gray pale e, with only the client’s extensive collec on of puzzles disrup ng the rigor.
View from kitchen towards living area, bedroom, and dining area
View from living area towards dining area and kitchen
Master bath
ExhibiƟons/InstallaƟons
Fort Greene Modern(ist Brooklyn)
Fort Greene Modern(ist Brooklyn) The Fort Greene AssociaƟon hosted Fort Greene Modern, an exhibiƟon curated by Annie Coggan at the Irondale Center for the Arts, one of the grand, iconic, and hidden spaces of Fort Greene. The juxtaposiƟon of modernism in the context of this historic space embodied the house tour theme. Focusing on modern projects and built works, projects varied in scale from individual residences to insƟtuƟonal projects. Fort Greene will be home to projects by some of the defining architects of the 21st Century, who seek to reinvigorate the neighborhood with a series of cultural faciliƟes for long-standing insƟtuƟonal residents such as the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Long Island University as well as for a growing base of independent resident arƟsts. TradiƟonally, the FGA has celebrated 19th century architecture. As the neighborhood diversifies architecturally, the AssociaƟon is subsequently shiŌing its focus to raise awareness of the importance of modernist projects, and to redefine ideas about historicism and context. The quesƟon posed by this exhibiƟon is to inquire if and how contemporary architects working in the neighborhood consider these issues in their process.
Walkabout
Past and Present Views of New York ExhibiƟon Design for the New-York Historical Society This project was done in collabora on with independent curator Melissa Rachleff. The exhibi on included photography from the museum’s collec on along side contemporary “street” photography. Our response was to follow the curator’s lead and integrate the old with the new. Thus the historical container of the museum is contrasted with new interven ons. The color pale e is deep and subdued, in keeping with the museum’s character, but the manner of applica on is dis nctly contemporary. We used the device of providing apertures to direct and frame views into the exhibit, using the architecture like a camera.
Works in the exhibi on framed the approach to the design
Views of installa on
Lionel Feininger
Mitch Epstein
Becoming Wall/ Becoming Chair
Unseated, New York, NY yama/niyama This project was originally developed for the Iyengar InsƟtute but was not installed due to budget restricƟons (and, I suspect, loss of nerve). Yama and niyama are concepts of the yoga sutras, which are a kind of equivalent to the ten commandments, but they are “thou shalt nots” and “thou shalts,” as opposed to the completely proscripƟve “thou shalt nots.” This pairing translates as exerƟon and rest, a “becoming” and a “being.” This was a response to a funcƟonal requirement: a vesƟbule that needed a wall for security and a bench so that people could remove and put on their shoes. It takes its form from a movement from one yoga pose to another - urdva hastasana (standing, arms reaching upwards) to utkatasana (a pose much like siƫng in an imaginary chair). This bench expresses this constant state of being and becoming. Edward Muybridge is an obvious precedent, as is the craŌ of boat building. This was ulƟmately built by Caleb Crawford and a small group of students from PraƩ, without whose help, this project would not have materialized. The project started as a concept, but developed into a unique material experiment: the wood is bent in three axes as well as twisƟng up to 90 degrees. This project was originally erected in the TODA gallery space. It was published in Dwell Magazine.
Concept: urdva hastasana to utkatasana
Concept sketch
Model
InstallaĆ&#x;on
A
B
C
D
E
F
Design drawings of verĆ&#x;cal supporĆ&#x;ng components
Detail of framing
G
Celebrate Brooklyn
Friends Tent at The Celebrate Brooklyn Performing Arts FesƟval, Prospect Park, Brooklyn We were commissioned by Celebrate Brooklyn, the annual music fesƟval at the Prospect Park bandshell, to re-envision the two “Friends” tents adjacent to the band shell in Prospect Park. The concept for this design was reached through a balance of financial economy, material limitaƟons, Ɵme constraints, and total creaƟve abandon. Without any overall theme for the fesƟval, the aestheƟcs were developed as a response to the natural context of Prospect Park. This design is realized through the new creaƟon of both the ceiling and floor planes in this space.
Concept drawing of installaĆ&#x;on
Tyvek roll
Tyvek
Tyvek magnified
Leaf and sƟck templates
The ceiling plane consists of a canopy of laser cut leaf and branch paƩerns mirrored by a similar paƩern painted on the floor plane of the tent using laser cut stencils. The material used was Tyvek, which is made of high density polyethylene - the same plasƟc used for milk containers. The material was selected because of its durability - it had to survive for a season outdoors, subject to wind loads and water. A special jig was developed to run the material through the laser cuƩer. the leaf and branch paƩerns were deployed using an automaƟon feature in Illustrator. The base paƩerns were arrayed and scaled according to where we wanted more density and more openness. We were assisted by two students who were instumental to making this happen - one for the laser cuƩer experƟse, and the other for his skill with computer applicaƟons.
Laser cuƫng template
View of installaĆ&#x;on
View of installaĆ&#x;on