ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

Center For Collaborative Innovation

In the year 2030, people in Tucson have well-acquired unlimited access to public transportation. And on the corner of East Allen Road and North Campbell Avenue, the Center for Collaborative Innovation (aka CCI) serves as a physical connection to this ongoing community and builds social relationships through their own conveniences. Ultimately, this 52,200 sf office building fosters growth in this progressive movement where people utilize ridesharing cars, public-sharing bicycles, and traveling trams with just a tap on their phone screen. And with that said, this design allows its occupants to connect with one another and participate in a community that never stops growing in the Sonoran desert.

Design For Integration

One of the main sustainability strategies incorporated into the overall design involves utilizing mass timber framing as its structural system along with noted connections that support it from the ground up. In addition, since most of the circulatory systems such as the fire egress are exterior, this encourages occupants to walk outside of the building and reduce wall construction on these structural pieces. And as the north-facing building’s exterior courtyard opens to the sky, the south-facing building heavily shades the courtyard and allows comfortability when people and/or vehicles pass through.

CCI ROOF + SITE PLAN

North Campbell Avenue

refer to p.16-17

DESIGN FOR WELL-BEING

The Center for Collaborative Innovation optimizes daylight by utilizing various curtain wall systems along the southern facade as the south-facing building incorporates natural ventilation with a solar chimney to improve indoor air quality. With the second and third level cantilevered from the ground level, this gives the building an opportunity to surround the southern facade with desert gardens that help people get from one end of the site to the other one.

9am

9am

NORTH FACADE: SHARED WORKING AREA

Basement Level Plan Ground Level Plan

PROGRAMMATIC LEGEND:

PUBLIC

1. lobby + reception

2. cafe counter

3. cafe prep + storage

4. cafe seating

LIBRARY

5. guest services/ check-out desk

6. library reference desk + work area

7. library collections

2ND LEVEL PLAN

COLLABORATION

8. collaborative living room

9. shared work area

10. private work kiosks

11. computer stations

12. meeting room [large]

13. meeting room [small]

14. visiting scholar office

15. staff work area [open workstations]

16. staff offices [enclosed]

Design For Discovery

As the Center of Collaborative Innovation is designed at the people’s convenience of using different modes of public transportation, the building’s exterior courtyard can be accessed with vehicles from the East Allen Road aligned with the roundabout from Banner Health University Medical Center. If one would exit from North Campbell Avenue’s tram stop, you would find that the south-facing building is equipped with several pathways including a grand staircase that connects between the two buildings, a breezeway along the desert garden, and the building itself through the main lobby.

Design For Change

In a way, the office building fosters the use of different modes of public transportation by openly splitting itself into two buildings allowing vehicular access to go in between. Hypothetically, if one person gets into a public space using a bus, they can access the exterior courtyard with their own mode of transportation without facing outside traffic. Aside from public transportation, the Center for Collaborative Innovation offers shared work spaces in both buildings that allow people to work efficiently and involuntarily interact with one another.

Design For Economy

Because neighboring buildings consist of heavy concrete constructions, this office building utilizes mass timber framing as its structural assembly in response to the surrounding context. Since construction involves both building material site hardscape, the building relies on cross-laminated timber to make up the structure and require smaller foundations to be inset.

Design For Ecosystems

Along with the office building’s design, the development of its site revolves around vegetatuve species that are native to Tucson. Trees such as velvet mesquites and palo verdes can be found along the original site with their small counterparts like prickly pear cacti and desert spoons. And as a definitive strategy to direct pedestrian traffic, the site organizes these native plants as shading devices along the southern facade and employs them as physical signs that lead visitors to the office building.

PROGRAMMATIC LEGEND:

Design For Energy

As mentioned before, the design seeks to decrease the total energy use and the carbon footprint of the building by utilizing its terracotta enclosure system on a mass timber structural system. Because this office building is 52,200 sf, its passive design opts for passive ventilation strategies using a solar chimney at the south-facing building and an exterior courtyard within the north-facing building to accompany it. Notably, from previous iterations, the southern facade is exposed to sunlight throughout the day during functional use.

ANNUAL DAYLIGHTING

REFINED PARTI DIAGRAM vehicle access circulation + services

DESIGN FOR RESOURCES library

This project consists of three main materials: terracotta cladding, mass timber framing and double paned windows. As the ultimate goal is to implement sustainable resources in the building’s design, terracotta cladding acts as a protective screen in the enclosure system with horizontal louvers that can be embedded within the architecture. Because cross laminated timber is used throughout the structural system, its less likely to expand during the day and maintains its physical properties.

UNDERLIT VS. OVERLIT circulation services exterior mixed program cafe

FLOORPLATE W/ VOIDS connection detail wall assembly south facade: walkway connection detail ceiling joists

MASS TIMBER BEAMS + GIRDERS connection detail window sill

LAYER LEGEND rain control layer air control layer vapor control layer thermal boundary