Music School

ARABIA MUSIC SCHOOL Spring 2018 Duration: 8 Weeks Location: Helsinki, Finland Three major points of focus influenced many of the major decisions I made in regards to this project. At the beginning of this project, I theorized that material choices and strategic placement of programmatic elements could generate pleasant social and educational environments, therefore creating conditions that improve the overall mental and emotional health of its inhabitants. With this goal in mind, I developed the following list to adhere to: 1. The use of mass timber to not only make use of Finlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s abundant natural resource, but also to generate a pleasant inhabitable environment. The nature of this building material allows for flexibility of space, both in the initial design and future improvements to the structure. 2.

An inferred hierarchy of program to determine which areas should have access to increased daylight/views. As I studied the programmatic requirements, I decided to prioritize the spaces where inhabitants would be spending the most time. For example, the offices and practice rooms are placed on the eastern side of the building since sedentary and long hours will be spent there, while many of the instrument classrooms are tucked to the other side of the building since classes are often shorter than time spent in practice room.

3. Ample opportunities for social interaction to encourage connections between students, faculty and the public. I made sure to leave many open areas of various sizes and locations around the building to allow students to gather to work, socialize or grab a coffee.

February 21st: 9 am, 12 pm, 5 pm

August 21st: 9 am, 12 pm, 5 pm

SITE STUDIES In order to form a greater understanding of the solar conditions affecting our site, I decided to create a series of shadow studies in Rhino. Since late February is the darkest time in Helsinki, I chose February 21st and six months later, August 21st, to evaluate. From this study it is clear that it is very important to capture the low winter sun in the south. It is this reason that I blocked out a long and narrow void that extends nearly the entire length of my building. In hopes of allowing the limited light to enter deep into the space, I made sure to leave the void as unobstructed as possible and chose light interior finishes to bounce the sunlight further into the building.

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ELEVATIONS Because of the limited sunlight availability during the winter months, I decided to maximize the percentage of glazed surfaces on the southern and eastern faces of this project. In contrast, the northern facade is mostly solid to prevent massive heat loss. Originally I had hoped to create a clear glass box to showcase the interior ecosystem of the school, however due to the climate considerations it was clear my idea would have to evolve. I determined the patterning of solid and void on the facade based on the grid that governs the rest of the building. The vertical mullions are arranged to correspond with each column and the horizontal mullions relate to the beams. Ideally, the mullions would be the same light colored aluminum of the facade. I chose a metal cladding system because of its lightweight and reflective properties. With light bouncing off of the glazing and the aluminum, I believe that the illusion of the glass box could still be preserved.

North Elevation

East Elevation

South Elevation

PROGRAM BREAKDOWN One of the first steps I took when starting this project was categorizing similar spaces with one another. Then, I developed a gridded system to arrange these groups logically throughout the building. I chose to place administrative and technical areas lower in the building and raise student practice rooms and workshops up higher. My earlier iterations yielded some areas with disproportionate concentrations of mass, when working on the final iteration detailed here in this booklet, I chose to prioritize pre-determined voids. I also began to carve away areas of the floor to create double height social spaces in a few areas. This not only allows for a more dynamic experience of the space, but it results in more variation as seen through the large curtain wall facade.

Eighth

Rehearsal theater Control room

Seventh

AMP theory classrooms Piano classrooms Electric piano classroom Studio practice space

Sixth

Drum classrooms Percussion classroom Studio drum space Music workshop space Music technology classroom Web studio small

Fifth

Rehearsal theater Control room Band rooms - small Practice classrooms

Fourth

Instrument classrooms - small Band rooms - big and small

Third

Instrument classrooms - big and small Keyboard instrument studio

Second

Offices Music education Music kindergarten Practice classrooms

First

Student resources Multiuse classrooms Lecture classroom

Ground

Chamber music hall Box office Control booth + storage Large coatroom Cafe/bar

Basement

Administrative spaces Storage Technical spaces AV monitoring rooms

Performance Classroom Practice/Workshop Student Resources Kindergarten Administration Technical Support Areas

Ground Floor

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Gig Storage Room

Technical Workspace

Maintenance Room

Theater Technical Space

Technical Storage Room

AV Monitoring Room Small

AV Monitoring Room Big

Chamber Music Theater

Equipment Storage Room

Conference Room Small

Instrument Storage Room

Articles inside

Music School

1min

pages 16-17