URBAN FOOD HUB ROANOKE, VA Charles Culbertson
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Project Overview Conceptual/Elevation Studies Code & Zoning Analysis Architectural Program Precedent Research Site Context Materiality Site Diagram Floor Plans / Building Sections Life Safety + Accessibility Elevations Assembly / Detail / Systems Structural Experiential
PROJECT OVERVIEW The Urban Food Hub is set in the historical district of Downtown Roanoke. The Food Hub brings a sense of relief from the repeated brick facades through its transparent ground-floor and guiding structure. The building slides away from the eastern building (Mill Mountain Coffee) to allow public passage, outdoor dining, gardens, balconies, and daylight.
Public Access
Resident Flow
Resident Views
Resident Connection
CONCEPTUAL/ELEVATION STUDIES The compilations of elevation studies through different media helped discover the proper composition. The challenges arouse out of how the structure was organized, how the facade is divided floor by floor, and the organization of balconies. The driving intentions were to connect residents to the public, have a continuous facade, hierarchically relate to neighboring buildings, and filter users in and out of the building. In understanding each elevation, the core idea of the project became more defined.
CODE & ZONING ANALYSIS The Urban Food Hub consist of a restaurant/retail, commercial kitchen, teaching kitchen, loading dock, garden, and office spaces on the ground floor (A-2). The next two floors consist of 14 studio apartments (R-2). Both programs fit under the maximum height of 85’ and area of 46,000 sf (commercial) and 72,000 sf (apartments). There is no required separation of occupancies (hours) between A-2 and R-2. The primary structure consist of intumescent painted and aluminum wrapped steel that meet fire code and fit under construction Type II A. The remaining materials consisting of channel glass, structural brick walls, & concrete floors are all assembled properly to fit code standards. The Food Hub is under the H-1 Downtown Roanoke zoning and code laws. The Food Hub has a contemporary take on all the required facade elements of the district: Display Window, Bulkhead, Transom Additional, Recessed Entry, Storefront Doors, Entry Paving, Pier, Storefront Cornice. The building relates to its neighbors through horizontal and angular connections. Also, the H-1 guidelines set a 45’ building height limit and the Food Hub rest at 40’
ARCHITECTURAL PROGRAM
RESTAURANT/RETAIL SPACE FUNCTION:
The restaurant and retail space will serve all guest looking to buy produce, goods, or enjoy freshly cooked meals from the kitchens. Being located on the ground level, the building will pull away from the west wall of mill mountain to allow for an exterior gathering and dining area.
USERS:
• Vendors • Kitchen staff • Residents • Retail visitors • Restaurant customers • Guest for events • Dog owners
CHARACTER:
This space will have transparency from interior to exterior. This will allow for guest to have easy transitions and also get a glimpse of kitchen activity. • Lighting- open to southeast and south, but in later afternoon will rely on electric lighting • Materiality- the brick wall from mill mountain coffee will bring a nice contrast to the transparent food hub • Ground-the ground will allow guest to feel comfortable walking in from the street. • Roof-the second level(residential) will provide a canopy over the exterior space allowing for guest to stay dry.
ADJACENCIES:
• Kitchen • Bathroom • Mill mountain coffee
TECHNOLOGIES/FF+E
• Telephones • Portable payment stations • Wastebaskets & Recycling (interior & exterior) • Exterior lighting • Security cameras and system • Dining tables and chairs (interior & exterior) • Speaker system • First-Aid equipment • Bike racks • Dog bowls
KITCHEN/TEACHING KITCHEN
RESIDENTIAL BALCONIES
FUNCTION:
FUNCTION:
The commercial and teaching kitchen will be within the same volume to allow for visual collaboration and easy access to storage, the loading dock, and facilities. However, there will be a clear boundary between the two allowing them to be their own space. The teaching kitchen will serve students perusing a career in the culinary arts and community groups. The commercial kitchen will serve the retail and restaurant space.
USERS: • Students
• Cooking group participants • Chefs • Restaurant Staff • Cleaning Staff
CHARACTER:
These spaces will serve as a private outdoor space to connect the public with the landscape and historical surrounding.
USERS:
• Residents • Resident guest • Resident’s dogs
CHARACTER:
Elevated above and framing the natural landscape, this south facing balcony will allow for a break from the loud and busy streets of the city.
ADJACENCIES:
The Character of the space will be well lit (naturally and electronically), full of surfaces easy to clean, and easy to navigate. The cooking surfaces will be located so chefs do not have to move much, but navigation corridors will be widened to avoid collision.
• • •
ADJACENCIES:
TECHNOLOGY/FF+E
• Loading dock • Waste bins • Food Storage • Scullery • Walk-freezer/fridge • Garden • Retail/Restaurant space
TECHNOLOGY/FF+E:
• Roof Ventilation • Fire suppression system • Refrigerator and freezer • Cleaning systems • Ovens • Stove tops
• • •
Residential Studios Egress stairs and elevator Indoor Lounge
Outdoor Furniture Outdoor lighting Speaker system
PRECEDENT RESEARCH The Villages at UCSB provided a nice precedent in understanding the Food Hub’s structural relationship to the public. How can structure filter different occupancies based on their function.
San Joaquin Villages at UCSB - SOM + LOHA
The Nues Museum served as a useful precedent in understanding how to make certain programs visible for the public. Also, this project offers various solutions to the questions of alley-ways, “front doors�, and the contrast of day vs. night.
Nues Museum - Nuremberg - Volker Staab
MATERIALITY
SITE CONTEXT The first interpretations of the site consisted of endless brick, mass, alley-ways, and transparency only through storefront windows. The intentions of the Food Hub was to allow transparency throughout the whole building to inform the user to the function. Also, the delicately shifting structure is intended to offer a change from the overpowering flat brick alleyways.
SITE DIAGRAM
The site plan here shows an emphasis on the blurred repeating blocks of downtown Roanoke. The food hub is meant to act as a visual marker, or place setter.
The diagrams here show the vertical progression of the building, from plan to vertical flow, to residential connection.
FLOOR PLANS/BUILDING SECTIONS
LIFE SAFETY + ACCESSIBILITY The building’s organization not only meets the proper egress code, but provides multiple clear means to exit in-case of emergency.
EGRESS
ADA ACCESSIBILITY
ELEVATIONS 12.5’
12.5’
15’
E
N
W
S
NORTH ELEVATION
EAST ELEVATION
ASSEMBLY / DETAIL / SYSTEMS
STRUCTURAL The structure consist of a simple steel column, girder, beam, decking, and slab assembly for the northern and eastern portions of the building. These areas will be occupied more frequently and the steel allows the open flow and transparency. The western and southern portion of the building are constructed mainly of brick and this portion is most visible from the interior. This provides a connection to the historical district.
BRICK
STEEL
EXPERIENTIAL