Project Radar | gb&d magazine

WV Black Diamond Project is an Example of Possibility in Revitalization

Laura Rote — Mon, 21 Nov 2022 22:04:52 +0000

Story at a glance:

The Black Diamond project in Huntington, West Virginia will be home to solar training and more.
The project is being designed by WXY and Edward Tucker Architects along with SB Friedman for Coalfield Development.
The site expands on exciting work already happening in the area while repurposing old architecture.

In Huntington, West Virginia, on the Ohio River and bordering Kentucky and Ohio, sits a former World War 1 biplane factory. It’s also now the site of a future hub for solar logistics and job training run by Solar Holler—a full-service solar developer and installer.

“We get really excited about these types of buildings,” says David Vega-Barachowitz of WXY architecture + urban design. “They have a huge amount of flexibility and are able to play a role as an extension of public space that buildings often can’t.”

What is the Black Diamond project?

The former industrial building and future home to Solar Holler headquarters. Photo by Nick Guertin

The Black Diamond project aims to spur job growth in economically distressed and coal-impacted counties in southern West Virginia by creating clean energy and green economy jobs, according to West Virginia Public Broadcasting. The coalition will support the transition from coal to solar power and implement sustainable reuse projects on abandoned mine sites as well as rejuvenate brownfield sites with new facilities and develop entrepreneurial programs to support employment.

WXY and Edward Tucker Architects are designing the major adaptive reuse project along with SB Friedman for the community-based group Coalfield Development—a leader of the new ACT Now Coalition in southern West Virginia. The Revitalize Appalachia plan promises to revitalize a long-closed and badly polluted factory into a hub for solar and renewable energies.

When WXY architecture + urban design first visited the project site, they were thrilled by its potential. “I think what’s most exciting is the interplay between the interior and exterior public spaces. Often when we think about public space and landscape one thing is outside, and the other is inside.”

In this project, the design team and client wanted to design an experience that moved people through the spaces while interacting with the landscape. That will also allow the design team to preserve and reuse parts of the site.

Photo by Ric MacDowell

“We’re able to play with some pieces of gantry cranes and older industrial architecture to make something,” Vega-Barachowitz says. “It’s an important message not only for the reuse program that’s on the site but also in reflecting back on this economic engine and community center they’re trying to create in this area.”

The project’s estimated construction completion is in 2026.

How did WXY get involved?

WXY began working with the Coalfield Development group in fall 2021.

“We’ve done a fair amount of work on adaptive reuse projects, really finding a nexus between rethinking historic structures and community development. Coalfield saw some of our past work—especially work on this area of New Jersey called Kearny Point—and saw a real synergy with what they were thinking about doing with the Black Diamond site in Huntington, West Virginia,” Vega-Barachowitz says.

What is the mission of this project?

Photo by Nick Guertin

The WXY team was tasked with thinking through the possibilities as the site is home to an older series of structures as well as a formerly industrial site that interacts with a fairly low-density neighborhood. They had to help the team at large reimagine how to reutilize those buildings as well as accommodate a new headquarters for Solar Holler.

“They’re really at the leading edge of greening the Appalachian economy,” Vega-Barachowitz says of Solar Holler. “Then they also have a reuse and upcycling facility on the site. Both of these facilities are partially housed in a prior redevelopment that’s a former garment factory that was redeveloped about a decade ago.”

The area is also already home to a wood shop, artists’ galleries, storage and distribution for Solar Holler, and more. “We are kind of building on that success story,” Vega-Barachowitz says.

What else is in this plan?

Rendering courtesy of WXY architecture + urban design

WXY worked with local architects at Edward Tucker Architects and a site consultant to develop a plan for three programs. The first is the reuse and recycling program in the southernmost building. “It’s very cool and brings people in to drop off materials. It really ranges from metal and recycled building materials to even household items. It’s community-facing,” Vega-Barachowitz says.

The second building is envisioned to be a community space, office, or light industrial space.

The third is the Solar Holler space, which WXY has partly proposed a new build for while strategically reusing parts of the old structure.

Rendering courtesy of WXY architecture + urban design

While the project is still in the master planning stage as of November 2022, Vega-Barachowitz says they have uncovered some interesting industrial artifacts they felt were worth keeping and hope to see in the final design. These include things like a large series of gantry cranes they want to reuse as part of the overall landscape strategy.

“We know this building will be meant as an important test case and exhibition space in a way for Solar Holler, which the other property nearby has definitely also embraced as well. We’re not at the point where we’re figuring out all of the materiality and green building materials yet, but that’s central to Coalfield’s mission,” he says.

The post WV Black Diamond Project is an Example of Possibility in Revitalization appeared first on gb&d magazine.

Airport Design Strategies That Make for a Less Stressful Departure

Laura Rote — Wed, 21 Sep 2022 21:54:55 +0000

Story at a glance:

Architects at CallisonRTKL share how biophilia and considering the local culture benefits airports.
The Guadalajara terminal project was designed to be a net-zero energy, net-zero carbon airport.
Rethinking the way people move through airports was a big part of CRTKL’s design.

When the team at CallisonRTKL was tasked with designing a new terminal for the Guadalajara Airport, they knew they wanted it to be different. The team took the project through schematic design before the pandemic, when the project was put on pause and, later, a local architect was brought onboard to execute the design CRTKL created.

“This is going to be a second standalone, brand-new terminal geared toward international travel coming into Guam. Our focus primarily was on not just creating a world-class terminal, but really addressing the passenger experience in this day and age, post 911, post-Covid,” says architect Kevin Horn. “There’s a lot of tension around travel for passengers, so we want to make the environment in the airport much more welcoming, much more conducive to calming people as they move through this type of space.”

Horn says biophilic design was one of the airport design strategies their team used. The goal was also to create a net-zero terminal. One of their big questions: How could they provide plentiful daylight without the glare and heat gain?

Rendering courtesy of CallisonRTKL

Ultimately they designed a large canopy for both shade and aesthetics. “It also reduced glare while still providing daylight and views, which is important for us,” says architect Pablo Laroche. The large glass wall is shaded so it doesn’t transmit a lot of heat or glare to the inside. It’s all the benefits of transparency, without the inconvenience.

“Going back to the passenger experience, airports tend to be a sequence of isolated events as you move through them,” Horn says. “Ticketing, security, going through the concourse, going to your gate—they all are fairly isolated.” CRTKL designed the experience so that from the moment you enter the building, you can see what’s ahead. “You always have a sense of where you’re going in your sequence. Even in security, we have views past security to the concourse. We have views on the sides down to baggage claim below. It’s a very open experience. People tend to feel calm when they can see what’s ahead.”

Rendering courtesy of CallisonRTKL

Views to nature outside are also calming, he says. Biophilic design continues to play a role in the landscaping strategy, as landscaped areas transition passengers from outside to in, blurring the lines between interior and exterior. Native plants tell a story about the region so you know where you are while also creating a softer transition into the terminal.

“As you transition through security, the ceiling is a perforated pattern that filters all the daylight coming in and creates these organic patterns on the ground with filtered light coming in,” Laroche says. In the often-stressful baggage area you’ll find a living green wall to create another sense of calm.

Rendering courtesy of CallisonRTKL

Airports are often these very utilitarian spaces people push though, Horn says—you need to get from point A to point B—but designers shouldn’t lose sight of passengers’ emotions. “Airports also tend to be very architecturally driven, iconic buildings with high volumes and big overwhelming spaces.”

CRTKL’s design challenges that notion. “We’re talking about biophilia and sustainable things, and those are a big part of the toolkit, but we also look at bringing in program things that talk about the local culture. For instance, in the concourse, have a space where music and dance can happen and bring in local food vendors so you get a taste and a feel for the city.”

In the lounge areas, they recommend a variety of types of seating for different types of passengers, complete with play areas for kids and rotating art exhibits. “All of these things go a long way to create an amenity you typically don’t see in airports,” Horn says. It’s all part of a more interesting, engaging design that’s both calming and helps passengers pass the time when needed.

The post Airport Design Strategies That Make for a Less Stressful Departure appeared first on gb&d magazine.

APT Architecture Builds Bright Communities

Julia Stone — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 13:00:37 +0000

Anna Torriani and Lorenzo Pagnamenta, founding partners and design principals at Atelier Pagnamenta Torriani, or APT Architecture, aren’t your average New York City architects. They create responsive architecture that encourages community growth and engagement.

Sustainable design is second nature for APT. “We grew up in Switzerland, where sustainability is part of the culture,” Torriani says. The firm uses healthy materials, natural daylight, and passive design techniques, and their holistic design strategy promotes sustainability beyond prescribed codes or regulations like LEED. “We aren’t applying a cookie-cutter approach,” Pagnamenta says. “We really try to understand what the client’s goals are in creating spaces that serve the community.”

The Process

Every project begins with research. “The first thing we do is research the context in-depth—meaning the geography, the history, the culture, and the users,” Torriani says. Then, the duo creates a responsive design concept based on what they’ve learned about their client’s needs and the surrounding environment.

“One common denominator in all our projects is natural daylight and how it is introduced in the spaces,” Pagnamenta says. APT aims to diffuse light in study spaces like schools and libraries and use passive technology like natural ventilation and gray water whenever possible. Building materials are selected with care, and APT focuses on natural finishes while avoiding artificial materials. “We choose the best materials we can, depending naturally on the budget,” Torriani says. “We prefer materials that are sustainable and long-lasting.”

Designing for Community

APT makes neighborhoods stronger by designing sustainable communal spaces like the award-winning Mariners Harbor Branch Library, the first civic building in the neighborhood. This New York Public Library project helped to revitalize the Mariners Harbor neighborhood in Staten Island. “The new library is always full and people love it. It’s like their home,” Torriani says. “If you design something beautiful in an underserved area it makes a huge difference for the community.”

The library resembles an oyster shell with a mother-of-pearl interior—a tribute to the neighborhood’s maritime heritage. The exterior is clad in natural zinc, which forms a textured gray patina over time. APT couldn’t use side windows because of zoning, but overcame the challenge by maximizing diffused daylight using glazed surfaces. An energy-efficient lighting control system regulates artificial lights according to the natural light levels. And the glass roof lets in natural light, too. The building also has a public terrace overlooking the garden.

Designing for Students

APT has also created projects for the NYC public school system. Before renovation, Park East High School’s library was in need of an upgrade—with carpet and wood paneling from the ’70s. “It didn’t have the architect’s eye at all,” says Suzy Ort, assistant principal at Park East. But now, she says, the library takes your breath away.

Faculty at the high school knew the project could have huge impact. “It was meant to change the culture of our school. Anna and Lorenzo really respected our mission,” Ort says. “They’re incredible architects. They were all about understanding our needs and then explaining their process to us in respectful ways.” Ort says APT was very hands-on, even inviting her to their studio, going above and beyond what she’s experienced with other designers. “Anna and Lorenzo were very responsive, and logistically, it was one of the best managed projects we’ve done,” she says.

But the library also needed to be versatile. Half of Park East’s student body doesn’t have access to the internet at home, so the library had to be a welcoming place to get work done before and after school. Teachers also needed a sophisticated space to hold meetings. The new library met all of these needs and more. Ort says its design is unlike anything else in the building. She enjoys seeing her students flourish there while experiencing the art of architecture for the first time.

No detail was too small for this design team either. APT created a sloped ceiling to hide exposed ducts and air conditioning. Angled lines of the flooring’s geometric pattern also make the space feel continuous. “The space feels fluid and longer because your eye follows the break in the two flooring patterns,” Ort says. “The design is so warm, simple, and beautiful.” Since the renovation, the school hosts all of its welcoming and recruitment events in the library. “It’s nice for the kids to have a space where they feel valued. They feel like they’re not an afterthought, and they deserve to have something beautiful,” Ort says.

Designing for Home

APT also designs sustainable residential projects. For the FB Pavilion in San Diego, they preserved outdoor space with an energy-efficient renovation. For them, efficiency and functionality come first—bigger isn’t always better.

The property comprised a large addition with a garage and guest room. When Torriani and Pagnamenta visited the site for the first time, they knew it had to go. “Apart from the size and proportion to the rest of the building, it was blocking the sun and the ocean breeze from the west,” Torriani says.

It took awhile to convince the clients to demolish the structure, but they were happy with the outcome. In its place, APT built an efficient unit with a smaller carbon footprint, transforming the client’s backyard into a livable entertaining space. The new, open pavilion takes advantage of the southern California breeze—and it’s a place people want to spend time. “We reduced the total square footage, but the usable area increased by a lot,” Pagnamenta says. They also recently installed solar panels to cover all of the property’s electricity needs, including an electric car.

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How the World’s Largest Architecture Firm is Designing for Driverless Cars

Brian Barth — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 13:00:23 +0000

For many of us, the notion that we will soon zip around in driverless vehicles remains a Jetson-esque fantasy. That may be only because we have never ridden in one. Google, Uber, Tesla, and other major companies are now neck-deep in building them, however, so the driverless future may be more real, and near, than it seems. Andy Cohen, co-CEO of Gensler, is convinced that it is, and he believes it will be here before we know what hit us. The implications for the built environment are many, as are the opportunities to leverage this change toward sustainable city-building.

Each of the 260 million vehicles in the U.S. spew 24 pounds of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere for every gallon of fuel they burn. But transportation experts believe three simultaneous trends—car sharing, electric vehicles, and autonomous technology—could result in a 60% cut in transportation emissions, according to McKinsey & Company management consulting firm. If driverless car-sharing services rather than private vehicles become the norm for most trips—which could happen as soon as 2030—there will likely be 80% fewer vehicles on the road, according to reports from MIT Senseable City Lab. Driverless cars will drop you off where you need to go and then jet off to fetch the next passenger, rather than park—potentially eliminating the need for 90% of parking surfaces, along with the environmental problems that come with them, from polluted runoff to the urban heat island effect, a report from TechWorld says. What might we create in place of all those unneeded parking lots? Cohen has plenty of ideas for that.

Cohen has been with Gensler—the largest architecture firm in the world with 44 offices and 5,000-plus employees serving more than 120 countries—for 36 years, and says the advent of autonomous vehicles is the most daunting urban transformation he’s faced as a designer. But it’s a challenge he relishes because of the rare opportunity it presents.

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gb&d: Have you personally ridden in an autonomous vehicle?

Cohen: I’ve been in several. I can’t tell you which ones because I’d have to kill you [laughs]. Each car company has a different twist on how it works, so it is going to be very interesting to see who wins the race to roll out the first mass-produced model.

gb&d: Was it frightening as a passenger?

Cohen: Not at all. These were demonstration areas, so it’s a controlled environment, which is a little different than a real road. But the cars maneuvered around all kinds of obstacles; they knew when to stop. I felt really comfortable in them.

gb&d: How soon do you believe they’ll be adopted on a mass scale?

Cohen: Our research shows that by 2030, the vast majority of vehicles will be rideshare vehicles, and we expect most of those to be driverless. Uber already operates driverless vehicles in Pittsburgh. They have a “driver” who can take over the wheel, but that’s just so the passenger is comfortable.

gb&d: What intrigues you, as an architect, about driverless vehicles?

Cohen: Today, our vehicles are parked 95% of the time. There are approximately 500 million parking spaces in the U.S., most of which won’t be needed with shared, autonomous vehicles. There will be far fewer vehicles on the road, plus autonomous vehicles can travel very close together at high speeds without endangering humans, which means roads themselves can be much smaller. This will free up a huge amount of land that is currently congested with vehicles, which has tremendous implications for how cities and buildings are designed. This is the most profound shift in urban land use any architect alive today has seen, arguably since the transition from horses to cars a century ago.

gb&d: Clearly, it’s important that the design community take a leadership role as autonomous vehicles become mainstream. Is that starting to happen?

Cohen: So far I’ve been kind of a lone wolf talking about this. Everyone is talking about the technology, but no one is really connecting the dots to the built environment. About a year ago, the Urban Land Institute approached Gensler and asked if we could do some research on how to connect this incredible technological innovation with what is going to happen with the future of cities. I’ve become somewhat of an evangelist, speaking about this two or three times a week. Often I find myself on panels where I’m the only architect alongside folks from Microsoft, Tesla, Ford, and Uber.

gb&d: What is your take-home message when you speak to people about the design implications for autonomous vehicles?

Cohen: The switch to shared autonomous vehicles means most people won’t own cars. The impacts of that on the environment and climate change are huge. Also, cars are clogging our city streets and taking up valuable real estate. In the future, all that real estate can be repurposed for green amenities and for people. It’s an opportunity to create much more people-oriented cities, similar to what you find in places like Copenhagen.

gb&d: Are we really going to be able to get rid of most parking spaces?

Cohen: What I’m hearing from experts is that these cars aren’t going to park—they will be circulating constantly, or they will go back to a central yard owned by the car company, where they’ll have a maintenance facility and the cars are requisitioned based on how many they need on the road at a given time. So yes, we won’t need a lot of parking. What we will need in front of buildings are tons and tons of drop-off areas.

gb&d: You’ve suggested that many paved surfaces, whether parking lots or driving lanes, could be repurposed as urban green space, improving air quality, helping to filter storm water runoff, and creating space for people to be outdoors in contact with nature. What other improvements to the urban landscape do you envision?

Cohen: There are 125,000 gas stations in the United States that will eventually become obsolete. What we’ve been hearing from the major manufacturers, especially Tesla, is that the cars of the future will not have to go somewhere to be plugged in and charged. They will have battery packs that can be pulled out and replaced with a fully charged one as needed. Therefore, we won’t need charging stations. That means gas stations can be retrofitted for parks and other urban amenities, even photovoltaic farms. How great would that be, to take these polluted gas stations and make them into all sorts of green spaces. This could revolutionize cities.

gb&d: Obviously, such massive changes to urban infrastructure are not going to happen on their own. What changes are needed now to pave the way to take advantage of this opportunity?

Cohen: The one impediment is legislation, especially zoning laws. We are just starting to get cities to understand that zoning codes are going to have to change. For example, all the parking that is currently required for most buildings is not going to be necessary. I’ve been telling everyone that we have to talk to our political representatives about making changes like that, so the buildings that we are designing today won’t quickly become obsolete. The innovation of car companies has already outpaced land use policy, so we have to catch up.

gb&d: Are your clients already asking you to consider driverless vehicles in the new buildings you are designing today?

Cohen: What I call long-gestation clients—like airports, for example—definitely are. These are clients who are planning things that may not be built for 10 or 15 years. I just spoke at a sustainability-themed conference for airport operators, and they were all sitting on the edge of their chairs because they know they have to start planning for this now. If they don’t start replacing parking with pickup and drop-off areas, they’re going to start losing a lot of revenue from the unused parking, so some are already starting to do it.

gb&d: Do the real estate developers that you work for show any interest?

Cohen: The smart developers are paying attention, but for the most part the word is just getting out. We are sitting with clients all the time saying, “Listen, if you are building a parking deck, make sure it is designed to be adaptable for other uses in the future.” We’ve already started designing parking structures with flat floor plates, rather than the traditional sloped design, and we are putting the ramps on the outside of the structure so that later on you can take the ramps off and adapt it for office space or housing. There are millions and millions of square feet of parking that are going to have to be adapted for other uses. With any new buildings we are designing today, we better make damn sure they are adaptable.

gb&d: How do you respond to the folks who don’t believe most vehicles will soon be autonomous?

Cohen: There are often naysayers in the audience when I give my talks, and when we do the Q and A at the end they say, “Come on, do you really think this is going to happen in 10 or 15 years?” That’s when I give them the analogy of the horse and buggy. When the Ford Model T came out it only took four years to go from predominantly horse-powered transportation to vehicles dominating the streets. There was a tipping point.

gb&d: How do you think that tipping point for autonomous vehicles will start?

Cohen: The first wave will be deliveries. All UPS, FedEx, and Amazon deliveries will be driverless. I believe one of the reasons Amazon bought Whole Foods is as distribution points for their delivery service. Everyone is going to see these driverless delivery vehicles marching around the city and are going to wonder, “Hey, why aren’t we getting around that way, too?”

gb&d: Hopefully the fact that autonomous vehicles could be vastly more sustainable than our current transportation system will be a motivating force that helps to usher in the transition.

Cohen: The opportunity for sustainability is huge. Here we are designing net zero buildings, but the way we are getting to them is completely archaic. I like the idea that we can create an integrated city, where both buildings and transportation systems are sustainable. An incredible opportunity is coming our way.

The post How the World’s Largest Architecture Firm is Designing for Driverless Cars appeared first on gb&d magazine.

Project Radar | gb&d magazine

WV Black Diamond Project is an Example of Possibility in Revitalization

Story at a glance:

What is the Black Diamond project?

How did WXY get involved?

What is the mission of this project?

What else is in this plan?

Airport Design Strategies That Make for a Less Stressful Departure

Story at a glance:

APT Architecture Builds Bright Communities

APT Architecture is on a mission to create responsive, sustainable projects that encourage connectivity.

Download a PDF of this story.

To learn more, visit APT.

The Process

Designing for Community

FROM OUR NOV+DEC 2018 ISSUE

The preferred publication of leading green professionals.

Designing for Students

Designing for Home

Learn more about APT Architecture and see more gb&d architecture stories.

How the World’s Largest Architecture Firm is Designing for Driverless Cars

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