EMMA NICHOLLS
emma.nicholls96@outlook.com
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BOSTON CHILDREN’S MUSEUM ART GALLERY
FENWAY AFFORDABLE HOUSING
NEW ORLEANS COMMUNITY CENTER
MILLINOCKET COMMUNITY CENTER
BOSTON CHILDREN’S MUSEUM PAVILION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BOSTON CHILDREN’S MUSEUM ART GALLERY The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein, is a short children’s story about a boy and a tree growing up together through the many stages of life. This art museum is a representation of the evolution of their relationship and the journey that they take. The design brings you up through the center of the building into a large central atrium, a space where all program and circulation merges. This space is symbolic of the time when the boy and the tree’s relationship is symbiotic. The museum program branches off to either side, representing the times when the boy and the tree’s relationship is distant and onesided. This is when the boy and the tree are living as separate beings, and the time when their relationship is the hardest on the tree. 5
The facade design was inspired by the microscopic cross section of a tree trunk. The structural organization of the components of a tree are applied to the structural organization of the art museum. The facade is a large truss, comprised of vertical support, horizontal support, and cross-bracing components. The very structure that supports the tree in the story supports the building and everyone inside. The atrium space is also affected by this exterior design, as it creates a light effect similar to light shining through leaves of a tree throughout the interior space.
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Facade Materiality
Truss Structure
Atrium Circulation
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Fourth Floor
Third Floor
Program includes a large gallery space, auditorium, small library, top-floor art studio, and an office suite. The further up you journey, the more art-oriented the program becomes. The art studio and roof deck act as the final destination after the journey up. While the program is meant to act as a space for children, the views, art, and central atrium space appeal to adults that visit the art museum as well. 8
Second Floor
First Floor
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The atrium space is the central part of the design. The experience of circulating through the atrium prefaces the experience of any of the other program in the building. It is alive with the movement of people and light throughout the day, and at night the atrium emits a glow that can be seen from across the channel. The atrium is a truly beautiful space from within and out.
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FENWAY AFFORDABLE HOUSING & COMMUNITY CENTER This was a partner project where we collaboratively designed the site and respectively designed our own buildings. This affordable housing residence and community center serves as a “courtyard� space for the entirety of the Fenway neighborhood, while also forming a connection with Boston as a whole using strategic views. The two residential buildings and the existing church form a central community space with stepping pavilions, gardens, and flexible parking space. The required parking was a design challenge, as we needed to plan for at least 100 parking spots without making the site feel like a giant parking lot. We ended up locating most of the parking underneath the residential buildings and incorporated a service road with several parking spots that could bring supplies or accessible vans to the community center.
Neighborhood Analysis
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Figure a
Figure b
The courtyard is a strong communal typology that already exists in the Fenway neighborhood. We decided to begin designing by mapping out important entries or pathways on the site and then placing our own courtyard nestled between the intersection of these axis and the church (see figure a). We then took the inverse of those forms to begin our building designs (see figure b).
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Public Space
An abundance of public space was also important to our design, so we designed them to step up through the site and the building.
Building Community Spaces
Site Community Spaces
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Third Floor Plan
Studio Unit
Second Floor Plan
First Floor Plan
One Bedroom Unit
Two Bedroom Unit
The project called for 50 apartment units; a mixture of studios, one-bedrooms, and two-bedrooms. Each unit was designed to include a central axis of storage with living spaces located off to the sides of it. The building was designed so that all two-bedroom units are located at corners, allowing for both bedrooms as well as the living room to receive light. All units include a modernized version of a french balcony that allow for the living room to transform into an indoor/outdoor amenity. In addition to this outdoor space, most floors have direct access to larger outdoor gathering patios. A warm brick was chosen for exterior cladding in order to harmonize with the yellow brick found on the existing church. A wooden louver system also contributes to the warm and comforting aesthetic as well as provides some shading for interior environments. 17
Visual connections were another important aspect of this design. Located between Boylston and the Fens, the design had to engage and welcome all members of the community. The design focuses on views to and from the church, to and from the Fens, and to and from Boylston Street (using Pierce Tower as a focal point). The design goal was to make visitors and residents feel as if they were a part of a much larger community. This was especially important in an affordable housing project, as they are usually seen as “less-desirable� by a neighborhood. Unit Perspective
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Residential Gathering
Community Gathering
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NEW ORLEANS COMMUNITY CENTER This was a community center project for a neighborhood in New Orleans that strove to bring unity to a oncethriving community. Delicate insertions in a heavy service infrastructure provide the resources necessary to sharpen skills that sustain and enhance an overall sense of equality and opportunity for those in New Orleans. The insertion that contains opportunity program supplies labs, tools, and the space for locals to improve their skills and build qualifications to apply in future endeavors. The insertion that contains social program integrates spaces to a create a blend between the building and the existing community to interact as a whole, so “good people come together to lend a hand, and, brick by brick, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, you build a better future� (Barack Obama 2015).
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Site Section Analysis
Third Floor
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Second Floor
First Floor
Building Section B 10
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Winter Sun Study
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Summer Sun Study
Screen Thicknesses
Due to a severely hot and sunny climate, the implementation of a sun screen was necessary. We designed a screening system of varying thicknesses that would provide ample ambient lighting without harsh direct rays. In the summer, almost no direct light is let into the building. In the colder months more direct light is let in to the building to help interior climate conditions. We also designed three different fenestration types that relate to interior program uses. One for service program such as storage and egress, one for community program, and one that highlights the main circulation axis through the building.
Opening Types
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When determining program, we wanted to cater to the entrepreneurial and social needs of the community. We designed a heavy “service” massing that housed program such as storage, bathrooms, and egress; as well as two delicate “insertions” where community program lived.
Community Garden
The first insertion was for opportunity program. We examined the neighborhood demographic in terms of education types and levels, and chose services that could help educate community members in different trades. This resulted in three main labs; a carpentry or makers space, a computer library, and a food education classroom. The intent behind this program was to improve the economic and physical health of the neighborhood. The second insertion was for social program. We looked at existing community spaces in the neighborhood, both formal and informal, and designed this insertion as the “front porch” for the building. On the ground floor there is a cafe that opens out into the front plaza, and above that a flexible presentation and gathering space. The intent behind this space was to provide a ground floor space that was welcoming to both the lab users and any other community members or visitors.
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Trades Lab
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MILLINOCKET COMMUNITY CENTER In September 2019, I joined a group of nine other students to go visit the small and scenic town of Millinocket and Baxter State Park. Once a bustling community of loggers and paper factory workers, the closure of the paper mill in the town triggered an economic collapse that caused a rapid shift in population and community life. Today, the Millinocket community is made up of resilient, unique and charismatic individuals. This design is a conceptual reflection of this tight-knit community, using it’s continuous mass timber structure to connect individual programmatic elements. The existing site forces dictate the locations of these different program massings. Retail is located along the more public main street. Residential program is placed along the more private main street. The community massing emerges from the connection between them.
Program Analysis
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Open Gathering
Collaborative Gathering
Intimate Gathering
The sole dependency on one type of economic industry ultimately ensured that the town would only survive as long as the factory did. When designing, I wanted to make sure to keep spaces and program flexible in order to be able to adapt as the town ages and continues to change. The design features three different sized spaces categorized by structural characteristics shown in the interior perspectives above. The smallest spaces are found mostly on the ground floor where a denser column grid creates a more intimate and private experience. These spaces can be used as restaurant and cafe space, local retail stores, or visitor information spaces for tourists coming to hike Katadhin or enjoy the local walking trails. The medium sized spaces are organized on the same column grid, but with strategic columns removed to create areas of gathering. These can be used as co-working spaces, informal gathering spaces, art gallery displays, or even a place for community members to come vote. The largest space, shown in the perspective on the left, is designed to be a large event space for either school dances, community pot lucks, dance classes, creative performances, as well as anything else the community would desire. The deep beams and column free design in this room are meant to provide a feeling of awe or grandeur, while also showcasing mass timber’s ability to span long distances. 30
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From early conceptual design, the goal was to reduce the amount of material waste in the project. CLT is typically produced in 10’ by 40’ sheets, so it was important to design the form and layout of the building according to these dimensions. To the right, you can see the structural ground floor plan that shows the layout of CLT sheets in either full or half pieces to minimize any material needing to be trimmed to the right dimensions during fabrication. Due to CLT’s ability to span in two directions, beams were only required for spans greater than 20’. This, in combination with leaving the timber structure exposed and not needing finishes, would bring down the overall cost of the project as well. Using this natural material as a finish also improves the indoor comfort of the community center.
CLT Panel Layout
GSEducationalVersion
Long Building Section
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Short Building Section
In order to maintain a pure timber finish in the building, steel connections were designed to be hidden within the structure. This was important to maximize the exposure of natural material and minimize the exposure of synthetic or heavily manufactured material. The interlocking aesthetic is also reflective of the idea of having a close-knit and interconnected community. Structural Section Axon
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BOSTON CHILDREN’S MUSEUM PAVILION Children’s Wharf Park at Boston Children’s Museum, is a place where many come to stroll along the boardwalk and admire the view across the channel. It is also a place for children to run and play while their parents can watch from the benches that line the perimeter. I took this type of circulation into the development of my design for a seasonal pavilion, creating an interactive space based on the movement of people and light while also incorporating places of pause that encourage curiosity and playfulness in children. Some elements that achieve this include the use of peepholes, light, and directed views. The pavilion also collects circulation coming from Sleeper Street, the Children’s museum, and the boardwalk to centralize it and then disperse it again. This is another way I played into the existing circulation of the site.
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Site Plan
For my pavilion design, I was mostly interested in the way that light and shadows interacted on a uneven or fragmented surface. The way that light splintered and twisted on different steps became a driving force for the pavilion. I designed the triangular panels in layers with specific cutouts that would shine onto the stepping floor of the pavilion. This creates a visually dynamic space for children to play and hide in. The structural elements of the pavilion design involve a series of bearing, free standing, and spanning elements. The bearing pieces are made of concrete, and are fastened into the ground with concrete blocks. The lighter free standing elements are made of steel, while the spanning components are made of anodized aluminum. This material is perfect for children to climb on, as it doesn’t get too hot in the sun and has a little more grip than other metals. 37
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The pavilion is made up of a series of interactive spaces, with each one either encouraging movement or gathering. There is also an area that allows for the opportunity for storytelling for the children visiting the Boston Children’s museum as well.
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