Jacob Shichman

The existing site is the Ann Arbor Fire Station 1 located in downtown. Its address is 111 North 5th Ave, adjacent to the Hands-On Museum. This is one of six fire stations within Ann Arbor with 72 firefighters spread throughout. The minimum daily staffing is 18 personnel spread across the stations.

There are two levels to the interior, while only one was focused on for this part of the project. The primary space is the large garage area on the first floor. The bright red garage doors, positioned diagonally to the street, lead into this open space. To the right of the garage space (from street-view) there are several offices and storage rooms. On the far side, opposite the offices, there is a cylindrical extrusion which houses an elevator. Other architectural features include the interesting window cut-outs and the post and beam construction.

This knolled diagram shows a simple breakdown of the primary components of the building. Moving from left to right, there is the concrete floor, a post and beam, a garage door, the drywall of the interior, the doors, the windows, and the bricks. The posts and beams are the primary structural components of the building.

Above are two ANT maps. Formatted very similarly, one covers pools while the other outlines dog grooming. For the pool map, it discusses above and below-ground pools, the materials which are involved, as well as the pros and cons of the various types. Additionally, the map recognizes public verses private pools. Within the dog map, it outlines three typical ways dogs get groomed as well as the difference between big-box stores and boutiques. The organization of the two maps implies some level of connection between public/private pools and big-box/boutique grooming.

With the programs of pools and pet care as well as a gridded plan organization and scaffolding as the structural element, this graphic is meant to focus on the layout and geometry of the new space. The pools are coordinated across three levels, all aligned to the grid. The angle of the grid is synced to the angle of the existing garage doors. The interior post and beam structure is removed as well as all of the interior walls except for two rooms and a closet near the right-side entrance. The scaffolding is spread throughout which allows for an interesting layering of the pools.

This plan animation illustrates the progression of activities through the three floors of the building. The objects pertaining to the programs are shown with information on their material quality. The first floor contains the entirety of the pet space, with bathing / grooming stations and a large open play area which leads to the dog-dedicated pool. To the left of the pet-space is the first of many pool areas for humans. The second floor overlooking the pet area is substantially different than the first and third floors. It is much smaller and more enclosed; a calmer, more private space. The third floor is expansive like the first, with several human pool areas.

This parallax video illustrates the various pools and the scaffolding intertwined within them. The pool depths are meant to serve different functions, whether it be swimming laps, aqua-jogging, or just playing around. On the first floor, the depths of the large central pool for humans and the dog pool converge towards each other. A sense of connectiveness is created as the humans and dogs swim towards the deep end of their respective pools.

Above are various renderings of the space. They are intended to portray key moments and bring light to aspects not touched on in other drawings.