Every designer develops a methodology as they work, a way of approaching a project or problem. For me it starts with understanding as many of the available influences as possible and letting those begin to solve the problem. This design for a fraternity house is a good example.
The program was fairly simple and straight forward: a chapter room that could be completely sequestered from the rest of the house for privacy during meetings and ceremonies; living and kitchen spaces; multi-purpose space; and sleep rooms for 25-30 residents, including a presidents room that could be used for officer meetings. When the chapter room was not being used for meetings, it made little sense for it to sit empty so this became an opportunity to build in some unprogrammed uses such as a study and theater space.
The site posed a series of challenges, which I like to think of as creating opportunities. The site is a midblock property with Terrace Ave to the north and Caledonia to the south. From Caledonia to Terrace the site had approximately 40 feet of fall. It became clear that the project needed to respond in a fairly direct way to both streets; Cumberland Ave or ‘the strip’ is to the south and the main campus to the north. A single family residence previously sat on the site before the block was purchased by UT and where it had once sat was a large excavated hole that was connected to the also existing driveway. To minimize site work with respect to a modest construction budget, I wanted to incorporate these ‘found conditions’ into the project.
The site is caught in an in-between sort of condition; it is on the edge of the UT campus, which is characterized by institution-sized buildings including the residence halls directly to the south, and the scale of urban residential neighborhoods to the north. There is a very regular rhythm established in the urban residential blocks; each house is 30-40 feet in width separated by a side yard of 20-30 feet, repeat, repeat, repeat. The project wanted to respond to both conditions in scale, massing, and rhythm.
The design solution became in large part just a response to these conditions. I separated the program into two volumes – one for public or chapter functions and the other private or residential, each volume about 30 feet in width separated by a courtyard space created in the excavation of the previous house. The chapter house straddled the existing driveway giving the multipurpose space direct access to the drive to allow for deliveries or for float building to take place within. The multipurpose space being adjacent to the courtyard allowed for large doors to open the space creating an open and flowing space for parties and gatherings. The chapter room cantilevered over the driveway and announced to the public the inward focus of the project. A glass-enclosed bridge connected the chapter house to the residential hall. To encourage the reading of the fraternity as two separate volumes each was clad in a different material. The chapter house was clad in horizontal wood planks responding in height to that of typical brick construction. The wood, a natural material, was to be installed in machined fashion. In contrast, the design for the residential hall had it clad in the durable and budget-friendly hardy-boards, this manufactured material was to be installed in a more organic scale-type pattern as large panels in a shiplap fashion. The naturally vibrant color of the wood-clad chapter house was also contrasted with a more subdued charcoal grey on the residential hall. The chapter house responded directly to the Terrace with both the drive and stairs and the second floor of the residence hall was set at the elevation of Caledonia and connected with a bridge to provide the residents easy access to classes and the rest of the UT campus.
Phi Delta Theta was one of three new fraternity houses houses intended to be built on the newly UT-acquired property.
Lead Project Designer @ CDP.
The program was fairly simple and straight forward: a chapter room that could be completely sequestered from the rest of the house for privacy during meetings and ceremonies; living and kitchen spaces; multi-purpose space; and sleep rooms for 25-30 residents, including a presidents room that could be used for officer meetings. When the chapter room was not being used for meetings, it made little sense for it to sit empty so this became an opportunity to build in some unprogrammed uses such as a study and theater space.
The site posed a series of challenges, which I like to think of as creating opportunities. The site is a midblock property with Terrace Ave to the north and Caledonia to the south. From Caledonia to Terrace the site had approximately 40 feet of fall. It became clear that the project needed to respond in a fairly direct way to both streets; Cumberland Ave or ‘the strip’ is to the south and the main campus to the north. A single family residence previously sat on the site before the block was purchased by UT and where it had once sat was a large excavated hole that was connected to the also existing driveway. To minimize site work with respect to a modest construction budget, I wanted to incorporate these ‘found conditions’ into the project.
The site is caught in an in-between sort of condition; it is on the edge of the UT campus, which is characterized by institution-sized buildings including the residence halls directly to the south, and the scale of urban residential neighborhoods to the north. There is a very regular rhythm established in the urban residential blocks; each house is 30-40 feet in width separated by a side yard of 20-30 feet, repeat, repeat, repeat. The project wanted to respond to both conditions in scale, massing, and rhythm.
The design solution became in large part just a response to these conditions. I separated the program into two volumes – one for public or chapter functions and the other private or residential, each volume about 30 feet in width separated by a courtyard space created in the excavation of the previous house. The chapter house straddled the existing driveway giving the multipurpose space direct access to the drive to allow for deliveries or for float building to take place within. The multipurpose space being adjacent to the courtyard allowed for large doors to open the space creating an open and flowing space for parties and gatherings. The chapter room cantilevered over the driveway and announced to the public the inward focus of the project. A glass-enclosed bridge connected the chapter house to the residential hall. To encourage the reading of the fraternity as two separate volumes each was clad in a different material. The chapter house was clad in horizontal wood planks responding in height to that of typical brick construction. The wood, a natural material, was to be installed in machined fashion. In contrast, the design for the residential hall had it clad in the durable and budget-friendly hardy-boards, this manufactured material was to be installed in a more organic scale-type pattern as large panels in a shiplap fashion. The naturally vibrant color of the wood-clad chapter house was also contrasted with a more subdued charcoal grey on the residential hall. The chapter house responded directly to the Terrace with both the drive and stairs and the second floor of the residence hall was set at the elevation of Caledonia and connected with a bridge to provide the residents easy access to classes and the rest of the UT campus.
Phi Delta Theta was one of three new fraternity houses houses intended to be built on the newly UT-acquired property.
Lead Project Designer @ CDP.
