2116 NICOLLET AVE

A PROJECT FOR THE WHITTIER NEIGHBORHOOD

FALL 2022 INTEGRATE INSTRUCTOR: MOLLY DALSIN east / front elevation first floor plan

This project was situated on the last undeveloped lot in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis. Partially inspired by an actual request for proposals by the Whittier Alliance, there was an opportunity to design a space which would include the community office, some form of housing, and a program of our choosing, while being considerate of the existing context and realities of structural and technical systems.

The program I chose for my building was based on the Whittier neighborhood as a historic arts district, with the Minneapolis institute of art and Minneapolis College of Arts and Design located nearby. Though these institutions do offer community and post-secondary education, there is a lack of spatial representation for new artists attempting to establish themselves in the Twin Cities area.

Floor Plans

The program of my building follows an artist-in-residence model taken literally by providing space for new and establishing artists of the Twin Cities area to live, create, and showcase their work in, with potential to collaborate with the Whittier neighborhood on community activism projects. Most of the building is organized around a rigid structural grid which allows for the progression of more intimate conversations and collaborations. Opportunities in the form of double height spaces on each floor allow for the breaking of this grid.

SOUTH ELEVATION 1/16” = 1’-0”

The double height spaces, enclosed with colored glass, reveal a relationship between the programmatic activities on each level and invite curiosity from both within as well as beyond the building onto the street. A double-skinned facade system encases the building as an opportunity for me to develop my understanding of passive heating, cooling, and ventilation as well as to maximize transparency and create a layered effect of content and interactions that occur within the building.

NORTH ELEVATION 1/16” = 1’-0” interior render

The colored glass panels are supported by structural glass fins which differntiate the space from the facade system and provide a clean aesthetic within the interior building, emphasizing the gridded lines of the exposed strucutral system instead. There is an opportunity to peer into the spaces of multiple floors at once to visually connect the building’s activities throughout.

Unique Structural Element Shifting Horizontal Members

The primary function behind the column groupings at the central bay is to allow space in between the columns to run colored glass through so as to represent a threshhold between collaborative and intimate spaces. With the colored-glass spaces also being double height spaces, I needed to consider how the horizontal framing members would interact with the columns so as to preseve structural integrity. At normal conditions, the column groupings are welded together by stiff plates which girders would sit centered on top of. So as to create a space for the colored glass system to fit within uninterupted and be able to tie into the structure, I shifted the horizontal framing members to sit around the exterior perimter of the column groupings. This also creates an effect of the structure revealed behind the glass when one is inside these spaces, leaving it to be less busy within.

UNIQUE

3

Structural Floor Plan

facade section details

DETAIL A: COLUMN CONNECTION

HSS6 COLUMN

2” METAL FLOOR DECK COMPOSITE SLAB

DETAIL

W21x62 BEAM

3/8” STIFF PLATE

W21x68 GIRDER BENT PLATE CONNECTION TO BEAM

COLORED GLASS PANE

Structurally, the building is supported by a steel frame that is composed of beams, girders, and column groupings. The central bay features groupings of four smaller columns which allow for the passing of the colored glass between them to create an effective transition through the different spaces. The columns are welded together at the top and bottom via steel plates which horizontal members rest upon. Each corner of the building also includes CMU cores which act as additional structure and shear walls. Connecting each of these cores is the double-skinned facade system, composed of a cable-net facade on the exterior and an operable curtain wall on the interior. Outside air intake occurs at the bottom via vents and passes through grates which connect the facade on each level to the steel deck floor system. Vents are also placed at the top where the air can exit through the parapet, utilizing the stack effect to passively heat and cool the building.