Series of Courtyards – Connectivity and Community Sharing

Bernardo’s project focuses on connectivity and sharing. He intends to use a main courtyard to bring together all the different parts of the program into a space where everyone can interact with each other. The building is designed so the elevation facing the courtyard is composed of large windows to strengthen the connection between indoors and the outdoor courtyard.

The presentation was good, however it would be beneficial if he emphasized the main courtyard more on the boards. It may work better if he used a specific color to designate the courtyard or if he made the site plan bigger so the courtyard is more visible. Additionally, I think 3D perspectives of the building as a whole would be very helpful.

I like the concept of connectivity through the courtyard, however I don’t think it is as successful as it could be. The courtyard does not currently have a lot of detail and it doesn’t really show the idea of connectivity throughout the program elements. By adding detail to the courtyard to designate space as being for the firefighting community, the public, and for the interaction of both I think it would greatly strengthen his concept.

The strange corner condition on the site was dealt with fairly well in the plans. The fact that the bedrooms are not all the same could be considered a bad thing. Additionally, I like that there are two open spaces for the firefighters to relax, however there is a space that could become very loud right next to all the bedrooms where people may be trying to sleep. Additionally, I think having some bedrooms on the second floor while all the other residential areas are on the third floor may make those firefighters feel cut off from the rest of their community.

I think the storage is set up well with stairs nearby that go directly into the apparatus bay, however I think it may be better to have the equipment storage on the ground floor with the apparatus bay. This may also provide the freedom needed to rearrange the other floors so all the bedrooms are on the same floor.

Another thing about the project is that there does not appear to be a main entrance to the public lobby. There are three doors but none of them really seem like a main door. Additionally, there is no door directly on either of the two streets that border the building. I think he could take advantage of the strange corner condition to create a main entrance that caters to both of the bordering streets at once.

The reviewers talked a little bit about a few different things rather than focusing on a single aspect that took up the entire review time. The first area they commented on was the courtyard. They stated that the current site plan would result in the courtyard being shaded a majority of the day which is an undesirable condition. Additionally, the reviewers felt that the site should be reoriented so the building has more of a street presence. The reviewers also felt that the elevations weren’t interesting enough and had an office park feel. Additionally, they felt that the public entrance could be easily missed because it is not on the street.

The first comment about the inside of the building was about the storage areas. The reviewers felt that the storage should be on the same floor as the apparatus bay. Additionally, they thought having the storage on the second floor made the building hard to use. They also said that the upper floors of the building had a lot of extra space and that he should make the upper floors thinner. Lastly, they brought up that the bedrooms don’t have a water view. Overall, the reviewers felt that the building didn’t have the intention that he talked about.

There wasn’t much that the reviewers didn’t talk about, but the most important was that they neglected to talk about the concept. The reviewers didn’t spend any time explaining why they felt the concept did not come out like it was intended. Additionally they did not mention how the concept and building related.

In terms of the Orders of Worth, I think the reviewers comments centered around the Fame and Industrial categories. Most of the comments focused on how it works and how it looks. These are shown in the public opinion and the efficiency aspects of the fame and industrial categories respectively.