Thesis

Interaction with Architecture To introduce this body of work, I must tell you that I have grown up working in a plastics recycling plant that is constantly developing new ways of recycling electronics, which were not made to be recycled. I started as the grounds keeper then went on to operate many of the production lines as well as assisting the mechanics in the shop. The last few years I was employed in efficiency planning and development of new and working production lines with the engineers. I found much of the process of the daily routines extremely separated and clumsy. The factory structure and layout made it this way, through its vast warehouses built for necessity and office blocks tacked on when needed. In no way is the structure lending its hand to communication or to the activities within it, other than keeping the natural elements out, which it did a poor job at as well. Why does this happen and what if it were designed to adapt to the needs and help the functions it holds? How can architecture impact the daily lives of the occupants?

These questions are where I began.

Ross Loyal Ritchie Undergraduate Architecture Thesis Thesis submitted to the faculty of Virginia Tech in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of: Bachelor of Architecture May 14, 2011 Advisers Keith Zawistowski Marie Zawistowski

Ability to Adapt

a core competence is what that organization is able to do better than others.

Adaptation in today’s world is not only the ability to learn new things but also to implement them. The idea of collective learning developed from the understanding that diverse knowledge being shared by many people will generate new knowledge. Knowledge to adapt.

a dynamic capability is the ability to renew, augment, and adapt core competencies over time.

For an organization to successfully sustain itself, it must adapt and grow to meet the new demands of its market. The company has certain core competencies and a dynamic capability that gives it its own identity and allows it to have a certain niche in the market. To supplement these individual qualities, organizational learning must be incubated and encouraged.

organizational learning refers to the process of generating a form of knowledge, that learning then leads to the development of a dynamic capability. The learning depends on some knowledge being shared amongst the members of the organization and that this knowledge is embodied on organizational routines and procedures.

If such ideas are so important, why does the architecture not allow this dialogue?

Program

The program is a factory that recycles mixed-stream plastics commonly found in computers, printers, and other related electronics. The complex includes offices for administration, engineering, plant management, a lab, break rooms, locker rooms, and the factory facility. All of the programs interact on a daily basis.

The process of recycling begins by identifying and separating the mainstreams of plastics which are then shredded and granulated down to a size where they can be further filtered and purified. Once a pure enough cross-section is met, it is then blended, melted, and extruded into a particular granular that can be once again made into an electronic.

The identifying and separation process is very dynamic and evolving, and the success relies greatly on the sharing of knowledge that leads to the ability to adapt and evolve.

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Thesis After working in all aspects of a factory over many years, I found the layout (framework) of the buildings never lent its hand to collaboration between the people. Even though the main offices are attached to the front of the factory, the blue collar workers rarely came into interaction with the white collar workers. This is all due to how the programs and structure guided the daily routines of each employee. I propose that the architecture is a framework to guide and create daily dialogue between the many inhabitants. This interaction would allow for greater unity by celebrating the differences of the individual.

Architecture is the framework for which people inhabit. This framework is created via the spaces it holds and the interaction of the people whom inhabit it.

Architecture that makes an impact on the daily life of those who experience it.

In thinking of the process of innovation, the free exchange of thought in a diverse knowledge community is essential. With this, comes a design of interaction within a multi-programmatic complex that sustains itself through constant innovation/adaptation. An urban quality is a resultant. In doing this, the plan uses adjacency and blending to create the spaces of interaction. The positioning of the factory environment in response to the central office arrangement creates a dialogue between the differing built forms and the blue and white collar workers that make up the community. In all, creating a more connected whole through architecture. Celebrating the differences to create a unity.

The two factories that I have worked in have similar plan layouts, which is an industry-wide norm. It is cheap and easy to build. The diagram is made up of factory blocks that are arranged linearly or wherever space is available and an office block that is located in the front.

In this diagram, the factory environment is bending around the main offices creating a setting for communication and interaction between the blue and white collar workers as well as resulting in a more compact community.

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Office Plan

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The office conditions are made up of seven different programs: reception, administration, engineering, lab, weigh area and the leads offices. Each program has a different set (type) of occupants that do their own specific activity (occupation) on a daily basis. Each volumes houses its own program giving the occupants a place to come back to that is their own.

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LUNCH

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LEADS

WEIGH LAB

ENGINEER

GROUND FLOOR ADMIN

The volumes are positioned to create a framework of paths that lead the inhabitants through each program to allow for interaction with other disciplines on a daily basis. Even as a blue collar dock worker passes from the new material side to the finish product loading area, the course that is taken leads them through the engineering, administration, lab and weigh area, which in fact, is a much shorter distance than if the factory was linear.

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RECEPTION

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Office Plan

The arrangement of the office blocks allows overlapping of program space in the areas of intersection. These areas become useful in creating an inter-discipline discussion environment. Conference rooms and lounges populate the areas in close proximity to the pathways as well as spill out onto rooftop terraces.

ENGINEER LAB

SECOND FLOOR ADMIN

THIRD FLOOR ADMIN

Faรงade The exterior is an exploration of how the materiality of the separate programmatic volumes gives each an autonomous nature. The cladding of each office block is a distinct selection of polycarbonate. The wall is a system of paneling that allows the inhabiter to get a glimpse into the structure through the lens of polycarbonate. This also allows the faรงade to become a cavity for ventilation much like that of the factory roof structure but at a much smaller scale. The door also is created from a panel of polycarbonate which allows the occupant to see into the structure that creates it.

Factory Environment

The surrounding factory building houses the production process and the blue collar workers. The form evolved from the dynamics of its industrial nature. The loud, hot, fast paced motion of the production process gives the building its form. Created by a space frame, the roof is the infrastructure of the industrial area. It contains the service space for air circulation and water, as well as an easy way to distribute electricity to new areas of the plant. The space frame is wrapped by a silicon coated fiberglass that allows diffused light through and also creates a air cavity to moderate the temperatures.

massing model of the production line

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1 Engineered soil with short grass plantings 2 Filter fabric and water retention layer 3 Reservoir layer 4 Moisture retention and aeration layer 5 Thermal insulation 6 Drainage layer, root barrier, protection course

and waterproofing membrane

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Structural deck Concrete paver White thermal insulation UV-rated translucent polycarbonate cellular panel that wraps the parapet

uv-rated high strength silicon coated fiberglass skin

The evolution of the industrial typology has been quite drastic compared to almost any other building type. The pre-electric lighting era created large iron structures with lots of glazing to allow natural light into the production space. The next phase created large dark structures void of almost any natural lighting as well as fresh air.

Mendelsohn took a step back and envisioned how such a typology built purely for function could also create ventilation and significance through its form. During the 60’s and 70’s industrial buildings became machines that could be modularized and multiplied at dangerous speeds and now the majority of industrial construction is about how cheap and fast a housing can be erected for expensive machines (forgetting the people).

Through my reflections and studies of modern industry, the importance has now swayed to the people. How the building effects the way that people work and interact in order to keep evolving and learning as a whole.

Process

As the thesis evolved, it became apparent that a process of experimentation and testing was a huge contributor to the totality of the work. The whole process evolved from a material study of acrylic that involved manipulations through different heat sources, to the testing of numerous types of plastics to see how each could contribute to the work.