RIDGITITY 02 02

To begin this project, those of us who were able to visited the site of Sutro Baths in San Francisco and investigated the existing site conditions— most notably the drastic topography and the animals found in the sea, on the land, and in the sky. Taking inspiration from the “ridged” structures of both the sand dollar and the chiton, Ridgitity uses biomimicry to incorporate formal sustainable strategies of a proposed research center for NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and accompanied public pool space.

The two top concerns for us in terms of design were the challenging topography and the boundaries between public (ie. pools, lecture hall, courtyard, cafe) and private (laboratories, data storage). The project addresses the former by establishing a standard structural bay to be replicated throughout, stepping down both to blend with the existing slope and to create clerestory windows for daylighting. The roof shape allows for rainwater to collect into the central terraced courtyards for recirculation back into the building as well as provide shaded outdoor pathways along the wings. Transitioning to placement of program, two wings were created: a northern private wing made up of laboratories and a southern public wing made up of the lobby, classrooms, and lecture hall. They are connected with a main atrium, cafe, and exhibition space on the east side, with views facing out to the courtyards and ocean.

When considering the organic shape of the bays, we were drawn to the manipulative characteristics of concrete for the columns and the hardiness of it as a foundation in a coastal environment. To contrast, the columns use a steel connection attached to curved glulam beams for the roof to emphasis lightness up to the sky + sun. For the exterior, we were interested in how weathering can change materials over time, chosing copper cladding that would eventually petina, turning into a more turquoise color.