Industrial Loft Progress

This entry will bring the blog up to date on the progress of the loft. I have made significant progress on two large areas of the loft, the indoor pool area, and the library.
Indoor pool
The indoor pool is located on the first floor of the loft apartment and has a few unique and unusual features. I wanted the pool area to be as open as possible, but be usable in extremely hot and cold weather conditions. Two of the walls surrounding the indoor pool have massive openings to allow for maximum airflow on nicer days. However, I didn’t just want to enclose these openings with a series of standard doors, so I used roll up garage doors with glass panes from top to bottom. These doors help add to the overall industrial feel, while providing in interesting a practical solution for the pool enclosure. The wall opposite the garage door wall opens directly into the kitchen, and will be separated with a bar counter. There will also be access to the dining room from the pool room. The wall adjacent to the pool room will give access to the living room. The pool room contains 3 skylight towers directly over the pool, and will feature subway tile on the walls, crown moldings, and a tin ceiling.

Pool Room: Exterior

Pool Room: Interior

Pool Room: Skylight

Pool Room: Interior with Doors to Living Room

The Library
The library one of the largest spaces in the loft project, as it features a double height space and a series of architecturally unique features. The most notable is the second floor of the library, which features an open tread deck.The second floor is more like an industrial grade catwalk, further adding to the factory feeling. A spiral stair located in the corner of the space allows access the walkway, and features open decking just as the catwalk above. The library features massive floor to ceiling factory style windows, as well as 10’ tall built in bookcases on the first floor, and 9’ tall bookcases on the second. The outer deck can by accessed by French doors, as can the living room. The ceiling also boasts 3 skylights with decorative iron inserts, and will be finished with a tin design. The library also features an oversized fireplace, and will eventually contain seating areas for reading and relaxing and of course, books.

Library: Spiral Stair

Library: Fireplace

Library: View From 2nd Level

Library: Skylight Detail

Library: Doors to Living Room

Library: Doors to Outer Deck

Check back soon for more updates.

Industrial Loft Progress

I have the general layout of the entire apartment, including major structural elements and some architectural details. I can see already that this project will be huge as far as file size in concerned. Even my awesome Mac will have some trouble if I kept everything in one large file format. Therefore, multiple files must be created, and everything will be combined in the rendering stage. Files will be created based on the objects they contain i.e. all decorative moldings will be in one file, all doors will be in another, etc. The look of this building will be in a classic brick and concrete style, similar to old mill buildings constructed between 1900 and 1930. To that end, all of the details will be true to that era, including elaborate molding, antiques door fixtures, factory style windows, and things of the like. I have included the first images of this project below. Comments are always welcome.

The Industrial Loft Experiment

I have decided to create a fairly ambitious project called the Industrial Loft. This project is purely promotional, and will take months to complete, if not longer. The design of this space is centered around an old factory building, and how it may be retrofitted for urban living. The loft will sit on the 8th floor of a medium sized building in a semi industrial area. The building is in the style of a factory or mill constructed sometime in the 1920’s. The loft will include a living room, wet bar, kitchen, dining room, indoor pool, library, master suite, 2 small bedrooms, clock tower, extensive outdoor spaces and a work space in the actual loft area. The final images will include everything mentioned before, as well as views of the entire exterior of the building as well as some views of the surrounding environment. I will be designing all of the spaces in this project, as well as creating all of the modeling and the final rendered images. I find that working on such a project brings me a sense of peace and relaxation, as I can focus in on this little world as I create it, and forget about the troubles in the real world.

However, I have decided to do something a little different this time. As various parts of this project are completed, I will post images of the progress of the design. Early images will be strictly black and white screen shots of the raw model. After the loft has been designed, I will concentrate on surface and texture assignment, and then final color and texture schemes. After that, everything goes into post-production where I add little details to punch up the images. I think this could be an interesting chronology of the development of this project, and will give anyone interested a chance to see how a project such as this progresses over time. I hope people will comment, and share their thoughts and ideas as this project takes shape. Please remember to come by often, as updates will be fairly regular.

-Sean

PS – I have already done some developing on this project, so the next post will be a sort of “catch up” entry. After that, posts will most likely concentrate on one area of development as the project continues along.

Guggenheim "Design It" Shelter Competition

Recently, Sean DiVincenzo of Lone Wolf Drafting and Design entered into the Google Sketch Up/ Guggenheim Museum's Design It Shelter Competition. The contest outline was rather simple - design a small shelter no large then 100 square feet, and locate the structure anywhere in the world. The structure had to be a place in which one could study and sleep. There is no electric, no gas, and no heat. This shelter concept is my solution for the Guggenheim Museum's Shelter Competition.
Location:
Barrier Islands, Off the Coast of Fiji
Design Concepts:
The first notable feature of the shelter is that it sits on the high tide line of the island beach. The front of the shelter employs a wedge or "bow" shaped geometry that mimics the front end of a boat, as if the shelter is cutting through the water as the tide comes in. This shape is carried through the large panoramic window, which offers the user a full, 180 degree panoramic view of the surrounding ocean. The wedge window envelopes the user with the surrounding environment while offering complete protection from the elements. The roof line also takes a cue from the ocean, as it mimics the shape of an ocean wave. Only, in this case, the wave originates from the sands of the beach, and seems as though it will crash into the ocean ahead of it, a sort of mirror of reality. The wave like roof extends beyond the perimeter of the actual shelter, providing more shade to allow for a cooler environment. Due to the lack of utilities, and the extreme nature of the surrounding environment, it was important to me to include a passive ventilation system. On the rear wall of the structure, there are several porthole style vents with louvered fins inserted. The fins act as air accelerators - as wind moves toward the structure, air is funneled between the fins at a faster rate allowing for maximum cooling.
Layout:
The shelter layout is divided into 4 basic zones: a private study area, a relaxed study area, outdoor area, and sleeping area.
Zone One: Private/ Intense Study: This area is located at the back of the shelter, and is surrounded by heavy bearing walls with small windows looking to the outside environment. This view faces the beach and tree line, and allows for a more distraction free environment for intense study sessions.
Zone Two: Relaxed Study Area/ Break Area: Anyone studying intently for any length of time knows the critical need for study breaks, or just a simple change in environment. The second study area sits at the apex of the panoramic glass, allowing the user to sit in a more relaxed area while taking a break, or while doing some light reading.
Zone Three: Sleeping Area: After a hard day of studying, one would definitely want to take a nice nap. The bed is located above the private study area, and uses the bearing walls for added privacy. The bed can be accesed by a built in ladder located at the foot of the bed. The user can drift off to sleep will laying on his side watching the waves roll in.
Zone Four: Outdoor Area: The entire shelter is surrounded by a wrap around deck. This allows the user to walk the perimeter of the structure to get some air while staying near the shelter. At the end of the wedge, there is a small staircase that allows the user to walk directly into the water at high tide. Otherwise, it severs as another point of entry and egress at low tide. To the rear of the shelter is the main entry door which is accessed via a slightly elevated walkway. This walkway spans several “outrigger” style supports – a nod to the boat building and fishing cultures of the surrounding Fijian Islands.
Extras:
After completing the shelter under the constraints of the contest rules, I went a few steps further with my design. I decided to add electric for some lighting, and I rendered the images for a more dramatic presentation. Please feel free to comment on this project on this blog.
Here is the link for the official contest page:
http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/education/sackler-center/design-it-shelter/view-shelters
YouTube Animation Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltLObahCUkA
3D SketchUp Warehouse:
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=7db727aafa5befb3f0c01c74757ae1f4

Guggenheim Contest Shelter Images:

Shelter: Front Elevation

Shelter: Left Elevation

Shelter: Rear Elevation

Shelter: Rear Elevation

Shelter: Right Elevation

Shelter: Front Elevation

Shelter: Roof View

Shelter: Rear Detail

Shelter: Interior, Bed

Shelter: Interior Bed and Private Study

Shelter: Interior Roof

Shelter: Bed, Private Study and Entry

Shelter: Front at Night

Shelter: Interior Bed and Private Study at Night

Shelter: Bed, Private Study and Entry at Night

Shelter: Sketch Up Video