Xinlei Chen
This storage space is among 5 other storage buildings belonging to the storage chest company located at 3033 W Liberty St, Ann Arbor. The building structure is mainly made of concrete reinforced with steel bars, on the exterior of the building use red and yellow tile to cover the concrete, and for each storage space, the building has an opening with shutter doors to give most storage space drive-up access. The roof is made of precast concrete panels and waterproof coating on top. the over shape of the building is box-like but can be divided into 3 parts with changes in roof heights. on the edge of the roof, there are pipes to drain rainwater to the ground attached.
The inside is separated by brick walls that divided up different storage spaces. the building is cut in the middle of the shorter side to make both sides direct access from outside. there is not too much detail within the interior space, only lights hang from the ceiling, there are 4 bigger areas installed prefabricated-storage units that offer a smaller space for people's needs. And on one side of the part of the building with the highest ceiling height, the building has a bigger door opening and room space for large parking storage.
The Knolled diagram above lays out different parts of the building. Which includes the exterior walls covered with red and yellow tiles, shutter doors, the inner brick walls, precast concrete roof panels, waterproof roofing cover, prefabricated storage units, both outdoor and indoor lights, wires, the beam to hang the lights, and the drain water pipe.
The ANT network map above begins with two broad themes: wellness stuff and foodstuff.
The main theme I considered for the building is the wellness stuff, I first looked at how wellness is defined, and different wellness states, and then I start to look for how certain exercise or program is able to help with these different wellness state. after I decide to introduce sauna and hot spring baths as the main wellness program, I start to look more detail at these two types of programs and references, by looking into different types of saunas, and taking reference to the traditional Japanese hot spring culture, I was able to come up with a rough plan how to arrange these program together.
While figuring out the main theme, I want to make the second theme of food well blend in with the main theme, so the map start to look for what type of food may fit and how to make food fit into the more linear nature space of my building, after looking at Japanese food conveyor belt sushi and nagashi somen, I came up with the idea of water channel to move the food through the space and how it can fit in the environment of the wellness stuff I chose.
The main theme I considered for the building is the wellness stuff, I first looked at how wellness is defined, and different wellness states, and then I start to look for how certain exercise or program is able to help with these different wellness state. after I decide to introduce sauna and hot spring baths as the main wellness program, I start to look more detail at these two types of programs and references, by looking into different types of saunas, and taking reference to the traditional Japanese hot spring culture, I was able to come up with a rough plan how to arrange these program together.
While figuring out the main theme, I want to make the second theme of food well blend in with the main theme, so the map start to look for what type of food may fit and how to make food fit into the more linear nature space of my building, after looking at Japanese food conveyor belt sushi and nagashi somen, I came up with the idea of water channel to move the food through the space and how it can fit in the environment of the wellness stuff I chose.
With the idea I developed from the ant map, I decide to only keep the original exterior structure of the building and introduce two circulations that goes opposite direction for the two themes, from left to right is the wellness stuff, and right to left is the foodstuff. then I start to arrange different stuff used in each program and fit them into the space. On top of that, with the inspiration of the original inner wall gird-like layout, I use them as a reference to introduce the new inner wall but gave them different openings, so that it is still one big connected space, while the program space and wall, and opening can create interesting space relationship.
The animated plan above details the final layout of the sauna space, and hot spring bath space, and how a water channel is circulating through them to offer the drink, and also introduce the supported program for the two themes like changing room & shower, and kitchen. and show the relationship between the program and building space, the shape and scale of the wellness program are shifting from left to right from a smaller scale to a bigger scale, and the logic of the shape of the sauna, and hot spring bath space is changed from a rectangular shape to a rounded shape and then a combined shape.
The parallax video is showing the shifts of the different programs within the elevation view (from the entrance to changing room, then to the sauna units, to the bath pools, and finally to the kitchen). And also show the wall opening that can not be seen in the floor plan view, the wall opening logic is similar to how the program shape changed, and at certain parts of the video shower the wall relation with the hot spring bath pool creates an interesting moment.
Consider the original building used very heavy and hard materials which make the whole building feels very rigid. while re-introducing the material in the new design, I decide to use more nature materials of timber beams and wooden roofs, wooden and bamboo walls, and different types of stone bricks for exterior walls and ground. the idea of these combinations is to form a contrast between more live material and hard but nature material, trying to aim to create a different feeling compared to the original building.
The different perspective renderings try to show how people occupy the space with the program inside the building and semi-outdoor programs and programs that are completely outdoor. and the view is also demonstrating how the drink is conveyed to different parts of the building with the water channel.