Ecks Hall
At once a Café, Daycare, and Office, the goal of this project is to serve as a connector and destination for the Syracuse University Campus.
On the first level, the main thoroughfare cuts through the building providing protected movement and a gathering space at the center of campus. Towards the public street, the café connects people to a sense of a larger crowd, regressively more private, deeper into the building. Structure is separated onto the façade to create brise-soleils; these densify to deny visual access from outside for the more private daycare programming while letting in sunlight through sectional clerestories.
This project is an exercise in building assemblage, daylighting, tectonic layering, material assemblage, and overlapping otherwise disparate programs for the mutual benefit of one another.
ARC322 | Fall 2020 | Prof. Nina Sharifi
Historical Perspectives | College Place
College Place once displayed an assortment of a greatly varied house typology. These buildings were home to disparate programs; they housed students, Fraternities, administrative offices, and even the School of Management. With the expansion of the University and enlargement of the street, this row of houses was progressively demolished and the entire block regraded, Today, the Psi Upsilon house stands as a remnant of this former neighborhood, and its site reflects the original grade that every house once stood upon.
Eastward Section Perspective | Through Café, Offices, and Daycare
Given the seasonally changing wind directions, the perimeter of the ground level is lined with operable windows that allows users to regulate cross ventilation as needed. Grated openings between the floor plates allow for air to naturally rise towards the skylights on the roof, cycling in fresh air regularly throughout the day regardless of where it is blowing from. Since the upper floor does not have vertical fenestration, save the skylights, this phenomenon helps strengthen passive spatial qualities and limits its reliance on artificial systems in warmer months.
Northward Section | Through Café, Offices, and Daycare
Both floors of the daycare facility feature a wooden finish above a warmed screed underlay. Throughout both areas of the daycare, this heated floor feature helps create a pleasant and enjoyable space for the kids, fostering a comfortable environment. The second floor layer consists of wood sheathing above a screed underlayer. Below, impact sound insulation and an air gap below the structural level further further reduce potential for sound transmission.
Floor 0 | Café, Kitchen, Daycare, Service
In the lower level, the supporting structure is detached from the façade to maximize perimeter window area and capture as much light as possible from the south and west facades. The project is oriented with a 15 degree rotation towards the SW to allow afternoon light to reach deep into the interior. Accounting for occupants spending their full time indoors during the winter, this wall welcomes the shallow angle of the sun all throughout making for a pleasant, daylit space. In the summertime when conditions are bright and the sun harsh, the upper volume acts as a large ‘umbrella’ to shade the café space below. To prevent this from becoming a claustrophobic device, the entire exterior wall is a continuous band of glass that maintains an uninterrupted view to the outside.
Floor 1 | Office/ Studio ; Daycare
On the upper level, the volume of the office space incorporates sweeping skylights to the north to provide a consistent daylighting quality. Fenestration that otherwise creates glare or distractions through miscellaneous openings are eliminated. Towards the north, the roof pitches become steeper and increase in height and surface area. The roof planes opposite the skylights act as large reflectors for what light they catch into the office below; the material is treated in a shiny coating to further bounce beams inwards.
In winter months, where the angle of incidence from direct light is shallower and less readily available, direct exposure to the zenith- the brightest part of an overcast sky- prompts the skylights function as focused apertures that create diffuse interreflection.
