Site Analysis

The site that we are using for our capstone project is located in Newport Kentucky at the banks of the Ohio and Licking rivers. The space is prime real estate with great views of the city of Cincinnati, the Ohio river, and all of it's surrounding areas. The diagram below shows the zoning map for Newport, KY.

This Zoning map can be found at http://www.newportky.gov/PDF_Files/Proposed_Zoning_9-8-08.pdf?secid=1023 which is Newport, KY. zoning website. As you can see in the diagram above, our lot is zoned as R-4, which is 2, 3, 4, and multi-family residential. 

The map located below shows more environmental conditions, including sun path, wind path, and sound. As you can see in the diagram the shadows from the building will go away from the rivers. The wind generally comes in from the west, and follows along the path of the Ohio river shown in the diagram. The Ohio and Licking rivers will act as a natural barrier to the north and the west for sound.

This diagram of the sun path was generated using the website http://suncalc.net

Materials

I began my search for materials by looking for materials that I thought would fit into the design that I had already created in my head. Once I got into the transmaterial website (http://transmaterial.net) and looked at all of the different types of materials that there were, and I chose a two that were not something that would generally fit into my design that I thought I wanted, and made me think about the different designs I could do.

Geometrix

Geometrix Ceiling Panels are lightweight aluminum panels that can be applied to ceilings or walls. They are offered in a variety of profiles and depths to create highly distinctive 3D ceiling treatments featuring articulated planes, juxtaposed angles, and other geometric perspectives.

Algorythmic

The automatic attraction to this material was what made me choose it. I thought it was very intriguing and it really made me think about a different kind of form that my building could take on. This material is actually called Milgo/Bufkin and it can bend different shapes into metal. The shapes offer a alternatives to extusions and roll forming. 

Massing Study/ Design Schemes

For my massing study I was pretty conflicted. As stated in previous posts, I had a design in mind when coming into this project, but I really wanted to explore my options. For these to schemes I really took a lot from the materials that I chose. The first scheme I looked at the ceiling panels that I found as one of my materials, and I was seeing the box forms it created, and that is what led to my first design scheme. The design is just a simple series of boxes stacked up around each other.

My second design scheme was inspired by my second material. I liked the idea of a spiral effect of the building, but knowing that there is a building within a very close proximity, (the Ascent) I looked to use the sloping shapes in a different way. I then looked at the word that I found using the etymology process, which was rise. I played around for a while with different shapes and found the design scheme below.

Phase 3 Presentation

Floor Plans

Developing my floor plans was a pretty smooth process once I figured out the first floor plan. While doing this project in revit I decided to make the first two floors and the tenth floor completely different, and floors 3-9 the same. In revit it is easy to make a single floor plan, and turn it into a group, and then you can copy the group to each floor level. Using revit in this way allows you to make changes to just one of the floors, and it will change any other of the floors in that group (floors 3-9 in this case). Here are some examples of the different types of floor plans.

This image shows the first floor plan with the column grid lines. I used my massing model to create the floor plan shape, and modified it to get the square footage that was necessary to get the required number of condo's. I found that creating separate circulation areas for each condo entrance, and  the amenity spaces. 

The 5th floor that is shown here is the floor plans for the center tower for floors 3-9. This consists of (4) three bedroom units, each with 2 bathrooms. Since this only shows the layout for the center building I have added the entire condo space's floor plans for the 3-9 floors below.

 This plan shows a floor plan layout for all three towers. As you can see, the two side buildings have a floor plan with the corridors in the center, and the center tower with the corridor to the south. I think this will help to keep people from separate buildings to have a view into another adjacent condo rooms. The 2 side buildings are just an example of what a floor plan could look like for this space, and it is not set in stone, since we only had to design one of our towers. 

This is the 10th floor, or Penthouse level. These two condos contain only (2) 4 bedroom units, and provide the largest space as well as the best views to the city of Cincinnati.

The above plan is an enlarged view of a two bedroom unit.

Above is an example of a 3 bedroom unit.

The image above is an enlarged version of the penthouse on the 10th floor. You can find interior renderings for this plan in the future post on interior renderings.

Elevations

One of the main advantages to using revit, is that the any changes that you make in the floor plans are reflected in all other views in the set of plans. Once the floor plans are created, and all of the information is input in the correct order, the elevations basically build themselves. Below are some examples of the elevations that I have created from my project.

This is a view of the North Elevation. I struggled with the materials for this space, and once I saw it in the elevation views, and 3d view, I liked the idea of using glazing for the exterior. I decided to cover the building in glazing, except for the 2 square amenity spaces which have a diagonal concrete strip at the top that brings our eye towards the entrance at the center tower. 

The above plan is the South Elevation for my space. This shows the exterior glazing as well as the concrete strip that takes our eye toward the 2 side enterances of the space. These enterances can also be seen in the first floor plan. 

West Elevation

East Elevation

Site Plans

The image above is a schematic site plan for the space. you can see that I have added my building to the site as well as the outlines for the town-homes and office spaces that are on the outskirts of either side of the space. You can also se the placements of some of the other on site amenities, that will be further described below.

Prior to taking this course I had only used revit on one other project, and my site plan for that project was minimal at best. For this project I decided that I wanted to learn more about the site plan process in revit before I started so, I watched as many on-line tutorials as possible before I started. 

This is a plan view of my Site Plan. As you can see, the condo space is in the center of the site, and is surrounded by townhomes to the north, and retail/ office spaces to the south. In this view you can also see that I have added an amphitheater to the eastern corner of the site, and it was built into the ground. This site was elevated to match the height of the existing levee, and beneath the first level is a two story parking garage that serves as all of the parking area for the entire site including all of its amenities.  

In this view of the site you can see that I have linked my building model. I think this gives a good feel of what the end product of the site will be. I have also added, tennis courts, basketball courts, sand volleyball courts, and a pool to the site, for more on site amenities. In this view you can also see a water feature near the main entrance. 

As stated earlier in this blog post, I was not all that familiar with the site layouts in revit, but I learned, and I feel that my site/ building sections turned out pretty well. I think that there is a good amount of detail in the plans.

Exterior Renderings

For the exterior it was necessary to create a series of renderings that could give a realistic view of what our building could look like as a finished product, and are imperative when trying to sell your building to any client. I created the following renderings by uploading my revit camera views shots onto the cloud. I feel that many of these renderings turned out quite well, and give a good understanding of what my building could look like as a completed product. You can see the difference between what I uploaded and  what was the finished rendering by comparing the picture at the top of the page, and the bottom picture of the page.

Interior Renderings

 The following interior renderings were completed using google sketch-up. I built the model (floor plan shown above) and then took different perspective views for the renderings. Some of these renderings made it on to the final presentation boards.

The following renderings were built in sketch-up. Above is the floor plan for the lobby space, and I took different camera shots to create the perspectives.

Final Presentation Boards

 My final presentation boards use a combination of images and construction documents, to portray my project, and the process that I took to get me to this point. After presenting these boards, and just looking them over myself, I think the biggest disappointment that I have with them is that I didn't have a larger overall site plan. I think that if I had this larger on the plans it would have been easier to convey my process in which I used the site itself to design my building. Overall I was extremely happy with my end product, and I was satisfied with how it turned out. I know I still have work that I can do to improve the project, and that there is always developments that can change the project, and I look forward to the challenge.