CLAY COTTINGHAM
SELECTED WORK
CULINARY SCHOOL
SPRING 2012
SAND VESSEL
SPRING 2010
TOOL TEMPLE SPRING 2010
URBAN PORTAL FALL 2014
LIVE/WORK SPACE FALL 2010
CONCEPTUAL MODELING FALL 2010
RESIDENTIAL TOWER FALL 2011
BLUES MUSEUM SPRING 2013
ENTOMOLOGY LAB SPRING 2011
ROLL SAW BUILDING SUMMER 2011
GULF COAST CASINO FALL 2012
LAKE|FLATO WORK SUMMER 2013-2014
ILLUMINATING DOWNTOWN CULINARY SCHOOL
Memphis is a city of locals with a strong native culture of food, music, and southern tradition. Building upon that heritage, a site was selected that offered a familiar contextual frame upon which to found a culinary arts school. In the heart of downtown Memphis, the site rests only a few blocks from the Mississippi Riverwalk, just north of Court Square Park, and right off a major trolley and pedestrian street. Utilizing the alley condition on the south portion of the site, which is similar to other forms of Memphis eateries such as “The Rendezvous� or Beale Street, creates a common space that can be a great opportunity for a restaurant during the day and at night. By flooding the alley with light, food, and people at night, the site becomes a destination that Memphians want to experience.
Memphis, Tennessee Spring 2012
Atop the welded tube steel structure, the sun reflection system takes the light directed on the site and diffuses it over the entire building. The reflectors are made of polished steel and are suspended below an array of glazed glass panels. The apparatus that supports the panels and reflectors is built up of welded steel square 2� tubes and is supported by the building structure. The diffused light enhances the experience of the rooftop student lounge and library.
1. TUBE STEEL STRUCTURE The tubular steel columns and beams are welded together to form rigid moment connections that will support the building as well as the precast brick panels.
2. BRICK PANELS The precast glazed brick panels are now hoisted onto the steel frame by crane and stacked up the walls to form the shaft lifted off from the masonry brick base below.
3. STEEL REFLECTORS After the structural system, the floors, and the brick panels are in place, the steel sunlight reflectors are now placed on the roof of the building forming the capital.
4. GLASS Now that the other parts of the building are completed, the outer glazed shell of the building is installed, along with the channel glass lined mechanical/light wells.
SAND VESSEL
WOOD STRUCTURE The objective of the craft was to hold sixty-five pounds of sand in a pan condition that could not be deeper than 2” at any point. The only materials used are 1/4”x1/4” wood sticks, canvas, and sand. The idea was that the sand would appear weightless as it was lifted above the ground plane. This move revealed the structure beneath while still maintaining the proper depth.
Hive Studio Spring 2010 Early sketch of vessel idea (above); Tool analysis drawing (above right); Sand vessel photographs (right and below).
TOOL TEMPLE
GULLIVER’S TRAVELS Using the sand vessel project as a site, the tool temple was designed for 3” tall “Lilliputians” as their repository for human sized wrench pliers. Designed to be harmonious with the moves made in the vessel, the installation features a large slope and platform that orients the way the inhabitants utilize the tool.
Hive Studio Spring 2010
Drawings of the sand vessel with the added tool repository (above); Model photographs (left); Perspective (below).
THEATER/ OBSERVATION (Nick Purvis) PUBLIC PARK
URBAN PORTAL
MIXED-USE/ PUBLIC PLAZA (Clay Cottingham)
2100 JACKSON
In master planning for Jackson’s development over the next century, our urban design team proposed a reasonably bold scheme for a 14 square block study area. With the placement of an urban boundary along the pearl river valley, our proposal promotes density, programmatic diversity, and creates a frontage that has views and a strong connection to the natural landscape surrounding Jackson. Each member of our group was responsible for the design of an individual building along the boundary.
URBAN CHURCH (John Thomas) MIXED-USE MARKET/ PUBLIC PARK (Mark Riley)
Urban Design Studio Fall 2014 Early iteration of group site model (above); Line drawing of individual building (above right); Group site model/diagram of each group member’s building location (right).
MIXED USE MARKET/ RETAIL (Sanjay Rajput)
PEARL RIVER VALLEY ( NATURE )
URBAN HEALTH/ WELLNESS CENTER (Alex Reeves)
CITY OF JACKSON ( URBAN )
MIXED-USE MARKET/RETAIL (Rachel McKinley)
West street elevation and a section looking north (above); Section perspective looking south showing the portal between nature and city (below).models (right).
Located on axis with Court Street and on the edge of Jackson’s natural boundary, the building maintains a strong visual connection to both urban and natural context.. A public space is carved by the U-shaped form of the building catching the terminus of Court Street. Market programs open up onto the plaza, from which emerges a ramp condition that draws the pedestrian east up through to a vista of Jackson’s natural boundary, the Pearl River Valley. The opening forms an urban dog-run that shelters a series of ramp terraces which look back west through the city. The seating on the ramp terraces allow for pedestrians to watch the plaza or the sunset through downtown Jackson. On the east side of the site work, a large platform for people to meet and enjoy the natural surrounding. The building has several public levels of terraces and balconies that are flanked by retail, markets, and places to eat. Two towers of residential apartments float over the lower public areas, and a large area of commercial offices connects the two wings at the east end of the site. The building is clad with limestone and copper, with curtain wall glazing and concrete structure. The materials selected were chosen for there particular properties with respect to time. The building is designed to be a testament to Jackson 2100. Perspective drawing from inside the plaza (above); Cut-away axonometric digramming the solid and void space formed by the building in the city (right).
Process drawings for various aspects of the building (above); View from Pearl River Valley (below).
East elevation designed as a composition of limestone, copper, and glass.
LIVE & WORK SPACE FOR VISITING PROFESSOR
Designed as an apartment/classroom for a professor on Mississippi State’s campus, the idea was to site the building on the side of a hill at a major pedestrian node. The concept was filtering the different aspects of the site; filtering light with louvers and glass panels, water through channels and pools, and pedestrians with planters, spaces to meet and converse, and places to sit and reflect. The classroom sinks into the hill and provides an outdoor porch beneath the trees, a space for meeting. The apartment sits atop the classroom and is entered up a private stairwell on the south side of the building.
Mississippi State University, Mississippi Fall 2010
1/16” Model showing materials (above); Process drawing of section and plan (over above right); 1/32”=1’ Scale Presentation drawings for live work space (right).
CONCEPTUAL MODELING FAULKNER PERSEVERANCE
After researching the methodology of William Faulkner and the reoccurring theme of perseverance in his work, this project became an investigation of concept modeling. The early models were designed for the hand and, subsequently, a desk in an attempt to translate the concept into form-making and tectonic language. Made from bent metal and copper, the “claws” mechanically open and close, extend and reveal, based on the movements of the user’s hand.
Concept Studio Fall 2010
Conceptual sketch diagramming perseverance (above); Model posing with mechanical hand installations at Trashion Show (above right); Conceptual models (right).
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RIVERWALK CONNECTION
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1. Circulation Core 2. Entry Hall 3. Living Area 4. Outdoor Terrace 5. Dining
RESIDENTIAL TOWER
6. Kitchen 7. Master Bedroom 8. Guest Bedroom 9. Private Terrace
Given the unique site of the Chicago River walk, the concept of this project was to design a tower with residential and retail spaces, as well as a public space that interacted with the river walk and the varying street levels in a contextual way. By providing a linkage between the different types of circulation and by providing spaces that are specifically designed for each level, the project connects different levels and provides a meeting place for all users on the river walk level.
Chicago, Illinois Fall 2011 1/32” Scale hydrocal model showing context (above left); 1/64” =1’ Scale Plan of typical apartment floor (above); Sketch of building conection to riverwalk (left); Perspective from Michigan Ave. (below).
BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL
WEST POINT BLUES HISTORY MUSEUM Downtown West Point is an urban condition that has the potential to maintain a strong civic character of music, food, and southern tradition. Building upon that heritage, along with West Point’s connections to Blues legend Chester Arthur Burnett, or ‘Howlin’ Wolf,’ a site was selected that offered a familiar historical frame upon which to found a museum and restaurant. Overlooking the park in downtown west point, the project revitalizes the previously derelict McClure Furniture building. The concept is altering and using the existing building as an inhabitable artifact that engages the user and “breaks the fourth wall.” This creates a condition where the old and the new directly address the one another and their inhabitants.
West Point, Mississippi Spring 2013
View from intersection (above); Early process sketches and old site photo (above right); Site diagram (right).
REPAIRING URBAN FABRIC The McClure furniture building rests at the intersection of Broad and Commerce Street, just south of the city center, and acts as the terminus to the block. With the ongoing disconnect between the newer development along highway 45 and downtown, the site has the potential to host a building that promotes development in a way to link the newer development to the rich heritage of downtown West Point. The initial urban move in design of the museum was to not only open the building up to the park amenity, but also to open onto East Broad Street. The creation of pedestrian oriented public space along the south side of the museum promotes concentrated development in the downtown that would make a complete circuit back to the highway.
RE-APPROPRIATING MCCLURE The method of renovation or re-use (not to preserve), is derived from the theme of re-appropriation in early Blues “Juke Joints,” which were any kind of abandon space musicians and patrons could find to have a place to enjoy themselves. The re-use of the McClure building also gives it a living history that is engaged in an architectural dialogue with the new construction within it. The historic building “breaks the fourth wall” and engages the user instead of being treated like an artifact that is just viewed from a separate point. The overlapping of textures of history give the building depth in the setbacks set with the new construction, creating shaded outdoor spaces between the old and the new where patrons can circulate, rest, eat, or listen to music. The Blues inspired restaurant lies below grade and invites the patron to descend below the building into a basement condition similar to the Juke Joints of Blue’s beginnings. The restaurant opens to the entry court with a full wall of glass doors that create a transition space that doubles as a stage for blues performers. The play of geometry negotiated by stairs, balconies, and flow-through planters engage the remaining masonry walls of the McClure and give the user a unique understanding of the building.
Section showing stair and building spaces (above); Process sketch (right); View of unprogrammed space and model (over).
EXPERIENCING TIME The overlapping layers of the museum and it’s host also give the patron a sense of time in material and construction differences, to further engage the user, the museum is designed as a series of exhibit rooms the grow in size as one progresses through time in the life of Howlin’ Wolf. The entry opens into a small room that describes the humble beginnings of Wolf and soon escalates into larger exhibition spaces that eventually reach the wide influence he has had on music today. This sequencing of exhibits, combined with the curiosity created by the architecture makes a unique and sensible experience of time. The final room in the sequence is a large unprogrammed space that can be used for traveling exhibitions, conferences, or private gatherings. This space opens up onto the balconies that extend through the original McClure wall and open to the park.
ENTOMOLOGY LABORATORY NORTH FARM LANDSCAPE
Being carefully sited within the North Farm complex at Mississippi State University, the design of the Entomology lab was informed by the exploration of the general and specific geography of the landscape. Through a series of observational drawings, gestural modeling and insect studies, the work became grounded in the north farm.
Starkville, Mississippi Spring 2011
Blind countour drawing of North Farm.
Insect analysis drawing.
Plan study based off regulating lines.
Process drawings (above); 1/32�=1’ Scale Presentation Section of lab (below).
ROLL SAW BUILDING INDUSTRIAL SHELTER
Working at the RockTenn Panama City Paper Mill created the unique experience to design and build in an industrial setting. The process of making paper is fascinating and efficient when studied. Paper not fit for sale, or “broke,” is rolled up, cut down into more manageable pieces, and re-used to make new paper. The roll saw is what slices the broke down from 2-ton rolls into smaller pieces that are easier to handle. The project was built to shelter the roll saw and it’s user during the reclamation of broke rolls. Sizing beams, cost-estimating, and detail drawing were employed to provide the mill with a simple, industrial shed. When handed the drawings, the mill contractor reportedly commented that they were “the best dern drawings I’ve ever seen.”
View of building interior shortly after saw installation.
Panama City, Florida Summer 2011
Construction phase with on-site mill contractors (above); View of completed shed with “broke” rolls (below).
Diagram of roll sawing procedure.
Early set of design/construction drawings .
AT WATER’S EDGE
OYSTER BAY CASINO PIER Biloxi, Mississippi is known for two cultural attributes, casino gaming and seafood. This proposal seeks to create place where both of Biloxi’s best amenities can be synthesized. The Oyster Bay Pier extends out into Biloxi’s Back Bay creating an experience unique to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The pier is designed with four pavilions along a promenade terminating at a lighthouse at the inlet’s center. These pavilions house the different gaming and seafood zones. Featuring a restaurant, seafood market, casino, club, and bars, the promenade is the public level of the pier. These separate amenities are connected by the outdoor boardwalk along the pier. The outdoor circulation gives the patron a connection to the surrounding environment. A lighthouse, to commemorate a demolished tower just west of the site, features an observation deck over 150 feet above sea level to be sure to present the user with the best view of sea side Biloxi.
Biloxi, Mississippi Fall 2012
View from Biloxi Back Bay (above); Early process sketches (right); Program diagrams (above right).
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1/128”=1’ Presentation drawings showing the upper and lower promenade plans and section (above); 1/32” Scale model showing the building relation to its environment (below). 1. Upper Promenade 2. Casino 3. Lounge 4. Observation 5. Outdoor Terrace
To create congruency with the environment, oysters can be harvested from the on-site oyster farm, and lifted up to the market level (with seafood from the marina), processed on the service level, and served to guests and visitors on the promenade. The outdoor connection on visual, physical, and experiential levels creates a unique experience that only a pier on the Mississippi Gulf Coast can provide.
Section of casino pier at night (over above); Section showing the oyster and seafood lifts (above); Sketches of oysters and an early lift design (left).
L|F - MORELAND VILLAGE COMPETITION WORK
While interning at Lake|Flato Architects, I had the privilege to work on a competition submission for what was at the time called Moreland Village. It was a great opportunity to work with a team to produce a presentation of work in a short time. Located between a saltwater bay and freshwater lake in the South Carolina low country, this project was conceived as a village that maximized the relationship of building to landscape. The development features a community center, apartments, retail, restaurant spaces, and an outdoorsman outfitters building on the freshwater lake. Working to prepare drawings and renderings for the client presentation, I focused on the refinement of the restaurant and bar pavilions that reach out towards the waterfront, in addition to working on plans and elevations for various buildings throughout the village. All of this work belongs to Lake|Flato Architects.
Bluffton, SC Spring 2014 Andrew Herdeg Graham Beach Michael Britt Cotton Estes June Jung Clay Cottingham
Aerial view of village (above); Site plan showing location of restaurant and bar (above right); Plan and perspective of restaurant and bar (right).
L|F - AUSTIN TERRACE AUSTIN TERRACE AUSTIN, TX - CONCEPT PACKAGE
CONCEPT PACKAGE
One of the first projects I was able to work on was the Austin Terrace boutique hotel in Austin. The project’s goal was to reinstate the original feel of a mid-century modern hotel that had previously occupied the site. The hotel featured rooms that open up to courtyards with pools and lawns. My main focus was to model in Revit what David Lake would sketch on paper, and then aid in the creation of presentation drawings for the concept package with the team. All of this work belongs to Lake|Flato Architects.
Austin, TX Summer 2013 David Lake Todd Wascher Margaret Sledge Clay Cottingham
Photograph of original Austin Terrace Hotel (above); Site plan of the new Austin Terrace Hotel (left).
L|F - DALLAS ZOO SCHEMATIC DESIGN
The Dallas zoo work presented the opportunity to work on a project all the way through a schematic design phase. The project consisted of a series of classroom buildings along a heavily wooded creek adjacent to the existing Dallas Zoo. Backing up to an existing aviary, these classrooms, with the addition of bird blinds, were afforded the opportunity to become the edge of the exhibit. The classrooms, along with an administrative office building, multi-purpose building, and entry plaza, formed the addition to the zoo. In addition to developing the drawings and digital model in Revit, I was able to learn the program Lumion and used it to create renderings for client presentations. All of this work belongs to Lake|Flato Architects.
Dallas, TX Fall 2013 Ted Flato Joseph Benjamin Sam Vonderau Clay Cottingham
Lumion renderings of the zoo buildings (right); Watercolor site plan sketched during a Matt Morris watercolor class (over above); Site plan from Revit (over).
L|F - TRES SANTOS DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
Designed for the incredible landscape of the PenĂnsula de Baja California, Tres Santos is a mixed use development featuring a condominiums, restaurants, retail, commercial spaces, and a hotel. The multi-use blocks featured outdoor courtyard spaces to connect the users to their environment. I was able to work closely with the project manager to design various scales of the town, from urban decisions down to individual unit designs. All of this work belongs to Lake|Flato Architects.
Todos Santos, Mexico Spring 2014 Bob Harris Todd Wascher Kerry Phillips Clay Cottingham Aerial view of main street in development (above); Site plan (above right); Digital model view (below).
Section perspective view of typical unit (above); Courtyard plan and rendering (below).
Interior view of typical unit.
L|F - WITTE MUSEUM
MAYS
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS The Witte Museum expansion project is a renovation and addition to the existing natural history museum. A San Antonio landmark, the historical museum campus is located between Broadway Avenue and the San Antonio River, holding the east side of Brackenridge park. The project features two separate buildings that flank the existing Pioneer Hall: The Main Building, which is a renovation and addition to the existing museum, and the Mays Family Center, which is a new building to the north of the site. All of this work belongs to Lake|Flato Architects.
San Antonio, TX Summer 2013 - Summer 2014 David Lake Andrew Herdeg Todd Wascher Margaret Sledge Kerry Phillips Adrianna Swindle Oliver Adamson Clay Cottingham Lumion rendering of the Main Building entry (above); Main Building plan and elevation (over); Witte campus site plan (right); Broadway Ave. elevation (below).
MAIN
MAYS FAMILY CENTER The Witte Museum was the project I was most involved with while at Lake|Flato, and working on it I gained a ton of valuable experience and knowledge about the profession of architecture as a whole. Going to meetings with the client and meetings with all the different consultants greatly increased my understanding of how buildings get built. I worked on a little of everything for the museum but was focused on the Mays Family Center for the majority of my time. All of this work belongs to Lake|Flato Architects. Lumion rendering of the Mays Family Center from the river (above); Mays details (right); Mays Family Center plan and elevation (over).
ANIMATIONS At some point in time on the project the client requested a video walk-through of the building spaces. Having tried some modeling in Lumion for the Dallas Zoo project, I was given the opportunity to create a series of walk-throughs in various parts of the Main Building and Mays Family Center, learning much about the program along the way. The sequences include: an overall aerial fly-over that contrasts the new museum to the old, a walk-through of the Adventure walk to the entry, a walk-through of the west courtyard behind the Main building, an exploration of the Mays Center from outside to inside, and a shot from Broadway that transitions from day to night showing the museum and it’s exhibits lit up after dark. All of this work belongs to Lake|Flato Architects.
Various scenes throughout the museum (right); Cuts from the day to night sequence (over).
Study drawing from my first architectural studio semester.
AFTERWORD
DESIGN PHILOSOPHY I have been very blessed with the experience and education I have had the opportunity to receive both in school and at work. I would not have this work without the great teachers I have had at MSU, the paper mill, and Lake|Flato Architects. In my development of design ideas, I have found that the most compelling, serene, and timeless architecture always responds to its context and site, either through the selection of regional materials and construction methods, the connection to the nature of the place, or the utilization of vernacular methods and crafts with new technologies in a creative modern way. Tectonic and experiential elegance is achieved through honesty in details and the exposure of their niche within the system as a whole. Innovative and efficient ways of building almost always build on passive methods discovered long ago, and should establish the framework for the design. The materials used can speak to the nature of the construction within the place. Site congruency, through the response to geography, climate, and function, is critical to revealing the nature of a place and to enhancing the quality of that circumstance. In the words of Fay Jones to his builder: “If we do this project the way we should do it, then it will just look like the Lord grew that house up out of the ground.”
Study of construction details of Renzo Piano’s Building Workshop in Genoa, Italy.