AHR

  • WELCOME
  • ABOUT
    • HENRY IS AN M. ARCH STUDENT AT UT AUSTIN ...
  • WRITING
    • MANIFESTO
    • ESSAYS
    • FRAGMENTS
  • STUDIO WORK
    • All Studio Projects
    • VII. AUSTIN MUSIC HALL
    • VI. Brixton Studio
    • V. One House, Four Rooms
    • IV. Santa Fe: Residency
    • III. New Braunfels: Hydrology
    • II. Austin: AEGB Headquarters
    • I. Lampasas: "Graduation Wall"
    • 0. Application Portfolio
  • CARPENTRY
    • ALL CARPENTRY PROJECTS
    • John John's Game Room
    • Front Entry, Seattle
    • Oak Bedroom Set
    • Bathroom Remodel
  • 35MM FILM
    • MOST RECENT
    • North America - 35mm
    • Japan - 35mm
  • MIXED MEDIA
    • ALL PROJECTS
  • (Re)SOURCES
  • WELCOME
  • ABOUT
    • HENRY IS AN M. ARCH STUDENT AT UT AUSTIN ...
  • WRITING
    • MANIFESTO
    • ESSAYS
    • FRAGMENTS
  • STUDIO WORK
    • All Studio Projects
    • VII. AUSTIN MUSIC HALL
    • VI. Brixton Studio
    • V. One House, Four Rooms
    • IV. Santa Fe: Residency
    • III. New Braunfels: Hydrology
    • II. Austin: AEGB Headquarters
    • I. Lampasas: "Graduation Wall"
    • 0. Application Portfolio
  • CARPENTRY
    • ALL CARPENTRY PROJECTS
    • John John's Game Room
    • Front Entry, Seattle
    • Oak Bedroom Set
    • Bathroom Remodel
  • 35MM FILM
    • MOST RECENT
    • North America - 35mm
    • Japan - 35mm
  • MIXED MEDIA
    • ALL PROJECTS
  • (Re)SOURCES

VII. Austin Music Hall

12/18/2020

 
Picture
click for full size file
  • AMH is a civic building dedicated to supporting and celebrating the arts — specifically music — that define this city. 
  • It represents the city’s stake against the encroaching glass tech towers that are all but inevitable. ​
  • ​The restrained, dignified edifice houses numerous functions aimed at serving the public.
Picture
Picture

  • Currently the site is a parking lot (google maps). The city has a unique opportunity to develop a central downtown parcel still owned by Travis County.
    ​
  • The proposal aims to develop the parcel in two halves. To the south is a residential tower, that will help finance the civic ambitions of the AMH.

  • The AMH presents a grand backdrop to the recently renovated Republic Square, which slopes down to meet it.
    ​​
  • W. 4th Street will be closed to traffic except as needed. It will continue to host the popular Sunday Farmer’s market. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
click for full size file

​plans (high res. pdf here)

PROGRAM:
​150,000+ square feet on 8 floors


RESTAURANT & RETAIL:
- Dining for over 150 patrons
- Indoor / Outdoor
- 2,000sf Retail

PUBLIC ACCESS:
- Host of W 4th Farmers Market
- Four floors of casual indoor seating,
- Suspended in a 5 story glass atrium
- Rooftop Deck & Garden

EDUCATIONAL:
- 12,000 sf of configurable classroom space
- Rehersals, Recitals, Recording Studios, etc.
- 300sf studio spaces rentable by the hour
- 24hr swipe access
- Long-term storage closets available
​
OFFICE:
- 24,000 sf on four floors,
- Each separately rentable
- Kitchen, Conference, Private Offices

VENUE:
- 4,000sf Main Floor
- 4,000 more in the Mezzanine Bar
- 2000sf Jazz Lounge
- 3 Regulation Size Billiards tables

PRIVATE EVENTS:
- Restaurant, Roof & Venue can be rented
separately or together for weddings, galas, etc.

Picture
click for full size file
Picture
click for full size file
Picture
click for full size file

sections (high res. pdf here)


by night ...

Picture
click for full size file
Picture
click for full size file
Picture
click for full size file
Lighting can be modified for event types.
Picture
click for full size file
Picture
click for full size file

elevations (high res. pdf here)


diagrams & Details (high res. PDF here)


site photos:


preliminary strategies (High res. Pdf here)



The Austin Music Hall is a project developed entirely by Henry Rose in the Fall of 2020 in completion of the requirements of the "Integrative Studio" at University of Texas Austin School of Architecture. 

​
*

VI. Brixton Studio, London, UK

1/26/2020

 
Picture
In September 2019 I traveled to London as part of an Urban Design Studio. The site in question was left open for students to select, but was generally focused on Brixton, a neighborhood in South London (Google Maps). The neighborhood is an historically Black community which dates back to the post-war era, when large numbers of Afro-Carribean people immigrated to fill the void in the service sectors that was left after so many died in the war. Read more about the "Windrush Generation" and the scandal that accompanied the attempt to revoke their citizenship on Wikipedia. 

In the last few years, development pressure has eroded the heart of the community in a place known colloquially as the "arches," where low cost rents at one time could be found underneath the rail lines. When Network Rail sold the ground rights to a developer, many long term tenants were forced out, never to return. You can get a sense of the fight on the front lines from the Brixton Buzz. This problem is not confined to Brixton, either, as Network Rail might sell off as many as 4,500 occupied "arches" across the UK (The Guardian). 

The master plan below proposes a strategy to relieve the economic pressure in the core business district of Brixton by providing much needed retail, office, and residential square footage. The plan seeks to take advantage of a linear park known as "Rush Common" which terminates just south of the Arches district. Currently, Rush Common is discontinuous and chopped into various public and private parcels, but it is still protected by an historical covenant that prohibits development. By returning this asset completely to the public realm it can be programmed it as a pedestrian circulation network, including a "cycle super highway" to link in with the rest of London's bicycle network. When these efforts are combined with traffic calming efforts along Brixton Hill Road (a road diet with phased reduction in types of vehicle usage), there is the possibility for a synergetic relationship between the park and the commercial corridor, each serving the other. 

Click on any image below to view the master plan in high resolution, as a JPEG (13mb), or a PDF (17mb). 

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

PictureClick to view full size (9mb). This drawing was made by another team member.
Brixton Boulevard Strategic Overview:

  1. Brixton is an attractive, vibrant, community. 
    1. Brixton plays an important role in London’s history. 
    2. Brixton has a unique cultural heritage (critical diversity). 

  2. However, Brixton is under threat from external economic forces:
    1. Opportunistic developers are targeting cheap land close to the downtown core.
    2. Affordable housing supply is succumbing to demand pressure.
    3. Limited commercial & retail space is hindering businesses from operating locally.
      ​
  3. Additionally, Brixton suffers from infrastructural issues that compromise its ability to develop naturally in the right way. LBL should be proactive.
    1. Brixton Hill road cuts like a chainsaw through the heart of Brixton. 
      1. Pollution statistic
      2. Traffic statistic
    2. Rush Common is a travesty of the park that it was meant to be.
      1. It is protected by an historical covenant.
      2. It is discontinuous (overgrown lots, cut up by driveways)
      3. It is poorly connected to its “entrance” at Windrush Square
      4. It is under-programmed.
      5. It lacks lateral connection to retail, office and residential users.
    3. Brixton Underground station entrance / exit is poorly located.
      1. Riders are deposited directly into a congested, dangerous highway.
      2. As a terminal station on a line unlikely to be extended, it should have multiple collection points, including links to other rail lines.

  4. The loss of the historic, local character of Brixton’s Afro-Carribean community would be a loss for Brixton (obviously) and London alike. Given what is at stake, combined with the infrastructural & economic hurdles, a planned intervention is warranted.

  5. This intervention would target the threats outlined above, while also leveraging a number of undervalued assets to create a synergistic effect (that brings life and activity from the core of Brixton south to Streatham).

    1. Windrush Square — perfectly located as central gateway to Brixton. 
      1. Across from Lambeth Borough London (LBL) Town Hall
      2. Positioned at Northern Terminus of Rush Common
      3. Activate closed-off area of St. Mathew's Churchyard by reconfiguring streets.
    2. Olive Morris House
      1. Already owned by LBL
      2. Part of development plan to pay for LBL Hall renovation
      3. Key first stop to draw people south from Windrush Square
    3. HMP Brixton (Old Prison Site).
      1. Includes Windmill Park & open farmland
      2. Prison building stock can be repurposed for housing
      3. Historic pub structure at the entrance can be recommissioned
    4. “The Tram Shed” — unused siding shed for historic streetcar. 
      1. Owned by Transport For London
      2. Opportunity for Market / Food Hall 
      3. Opposite to vacant corner lot, proposed commercial space 
      4. Ideal location for Southern Gateway of Brixton Hill Boulevard.

  6. The New Brixton Hill Boulevard: A significant intervention is required to calm traffic along Brixton Hill Road, which does not serve Brixton and is destroying economic activity along the street and enjoyment of the park.
    1. Proposal A: Road Diet
      1. Pros: cheaper
      2. Cons: pushes traffic elsewhere, will be congested
    2. Proposal B: Cut and Cap 
      1. Pros: enables more severe calming strategies above
      2. Cons: expensive, will require removing some historic trees
    3. Proposal C (Worst): Do Nothing
      1. Pros: inexpensive in the short term, easy
      2. Cons: long term economic and cultural capital of Brixton is sacrificed due to lack of vision and political will.

  7. Moving Forward: 
    1. A [15] year phased plan is proposed. Phases will progress from North South, as each step provides a critical link to the downtown core. 
    2. Partnerships with Transport For London (TFL) will be required reconfigure Brixton Hill Boulevard. 
    3. Tax-Incentivized-Financing from new commercial properties can be used strategically to finance public amenities.
    4. Co-operative housing entities will be established, potentially in partnership with Coin Street Builders, to renovate HMP Brixton.


  8. Concluding Thoughts:
    1. The easiest thing is to do nothing, but a laissez-faire approach will be catastrophic in the long term. The economic pressure exerted on a neighborhood so close to downtown London, complete with a Tube station, will be too great for any community to sustain without a strategic plan to maintain control of its growth.   
    2. Any plan that fails to remediate the traffic barreling down Brixton Hill Road will condemn Rush Common to continued underuse, and destroy the possibility of a lively economic activity along the commercial corridor. The two are intrinsically interlinked. 
    3. The flip-side of this mutual relationship is positive though: by remediating the scourge of traffic and prioritizing pedestrian activity, both the park and the businesses will be revitalized. This can be leveraged even further by strategic placement and programming of park activities and lightweight structures that support them, as well as a community oriented and managed maintenance program. 
    4. Investing in people means investing in infrastructure. What we pay for today buys the health, safety, and livelihood of communities tomorrow. We must make calculated, human-scaled decisions, but we must at the same time act boldly and with vision. Big cities require big thinking. There is no reason Rush Common cannot be bustling with the same life, color and activity as we find on Atlantic Avenue, but this will not happen by default or on its own.  


SITE PHOTOS: Taken north to south along Brixton Hill Road, beginning near Brixton Station (Victoria Line) and ending at the intersection of A-205 / Christchurch Road. 
Except where noted, all work show here was made by Henry Rose in completion of the requirements of the "London Studio" at University of Texas Austin School of Architecture.

*

V. house with FOUR ROOMS

3/1/2019

 
Digital Drawing / Architectural Render using Vray from Rhino, M.Arch Student Henry Rose at UTSOA, University of Texas Austin School of Architecture
view full size

part 1: the relationship of defined, distinct spaces

The task here was to explore the relationship of distinct regions — as a counterpoint to the idea of open, flowing spaces. In a word, proper "rooms" instead of "areas." The result was a more refined understanding of the relationship of enclosure, structure and in particular roofline, and how they effect one another. The takeaway? It is difficult to attach similar-sized items to each other. It is easier to keep them separate or to have them overlap. It is also easier if they are of dramatically different scales, or to subsume them within a single entity. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Wood Architecture Model Henry Rose UTSOA University of Texas Austin School of Architecture
view full size

Pencil Drawing Sketch by Masters of Architecture Student Henry Rose at UTSOA University of Texas Austin School of Architecture showing structure, plan, elevation, Chicago style high rise, factory, brick
view full size
Picture
Picture
Picture

part 2: a house of four separate rooms

The second part of this project worked with the studies of the first to develop a single family house on a theoretical site which explored what it would mean to assemble a house out of four distinct rooms of the same size (500sf).

The rooms include: garage, screen porch, guest bedroom, living room, kitchen/dining, master bedroom. The living areas are clustered in the middle, with the screen porch bridging the kitchen and the living room. The bedrooms are pushed to the wings, beyond service space with exterior circulation heightening separation for the sake of privacy.
Pencil Drawing Sketch by Masters of Architecture Student Henry Rose at UTSOA University of Texas Austin School of Architecture showing structure, plan, elevation, Chicago style high rise, factory, brick
view full size
Digital Drawing / Architectural Render using Vray from Rhino, M.Arch Student Henry Rose at UTSOA, University of Texas Austin School of Architecture
view full size
Digital Drawing / Architectural Render using Vray from Rhino, M.Arch Student Henry Rose at UTSOA, University of Texas Austin School of Architecture
view full size
Digital Drawing / Architectural Render using Vray from Rhino, M.Arch Student Henry Rose at UTSOA, University of Texas Austin School of Architecture
view full size
Digital Drawing / Architectural Render using Vray from Rhino, M.Arch Student Henry Rose at UTSOA, University of Texas Austin School of Architecture
view full size
Digital Drawing / Architectural Render using Vray from Rhino, M.Arch Student Henry Rose at UTSOA, University of Texas Austin School of Architecture
view full size

Residential Plan or Elevation Architecture CAD Drawing using Vray from Rhino, M.Arch Student Henry Rose at UTSOA, University of Texas Austin School of Architecture
view full size
Residential Plan or Elevation Architecture CAD Drawing using Vray from Rhino, M.Arch Student Henry Rose at UTSOA, University of Texas Austin School of Architecture
view full size
Residential Plan or Elevation Architecture CAD Drawing using Vray from Rhino, M.Arch Student Henry Rose at UTSOA, University of Texas Austin School of Architecture
view full size
Residential Plan or Elevation Architecture CAD Drawing using Vray from Rhino, M.Arch Student Henry Rose at UTSOA, University of Texas Austin School of Architecture
view full size

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

*

STUDIO — SPRING 2018

12/20/2018

 

artist residency in santa fe, New Mexico

Picture
PARTI: heat map for site usage

THE SITE: High on foothills of the Sangre de Christo mountains outside of Santa Fe, windswept and raw on the western slopes of scrub juniper and piñon overlooking the plain, backed against the national forest 500’ above, one small ravine offers shelter. One small slope faces back east against the massive ridge. We find this place significant. On the land we have available to build this little arroyo, sinuous and cool, threading its way down the mountain provides an unlikely sense of containment in the vast expanse that spreads below and above into the New Mexico sky.
​

The land is rough, strewn with pink granite and shards of basalt and the exploded remnants of ancient limestone caves. Here the trees grow hardy, low and resolute and so dense on the northern slopes that one cannot pass among them. The twisted wreckage of the unfortunate ones who succumbed to the long summers crack and splinter but do not rot, while purple prickly pear and cholla lay claim to the sun scoured earth among their shattered remains. It is not a gentle landscape. One learns from the plants and the rocks and the earth and the wide open sky that to live here requires determination and patience. The time between the rains will be long and when they come they will come heavy, the sun will be hot in between, the high desert air always thin. 

Picture
SITE ANALYSIS: the resolution of chaos, the irrational form of madness
Santa Fe New Mexico Sangre de Christo Mountains Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
Santa Fe New Mexico Sangre de Christo Mountains Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
Santa Fe New Mexico Sangre de Christo Mountains Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
Santa Fe New Mexico Sangre de Christo Mountains Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
Santa Fe New Mexico Sangre de Christo Mountains Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
Santa Fe New Mexico Sangre de Christo Mountains Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
Santa Fe New Mexico Sangre de Christo Mountains Andy Goldsworthy Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
Santa Fe New Mexico Sangre de Christo Mountains Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
Santa Fe New Mexico Sangre de Christo Mountains Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
Santa Fe New Mexico Sangre de Christo Mountains Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
Wood Model Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
PROCESS: two interlocking spaces, open & closed
Wood Model Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
PROCESS: tectonic study #3
Wood Model Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
PROCESS: tectonic study #2

THE MISSION: We do not take the task of designing an artist’s residency on this site lightly. The relative remoteness and difficulty of access to build beyond the edges of the site, combined with the rawness of the landscape define significant limitations. On the one hand, facilities will need to be spare; on the other, the architecture will need to be resolute enough so that it is not overwhelmed by the land. Viewed from another perspective: the architecture will have to support a human presence significant enough to condition a community, while still respecting the silence and solitude which enable the spiritual connection to the site that is so powerful an asset here.
​

These double-edged concerns have led us toward an ideal number of seven residents, a small prime number that resists dividing into pairs, while remaining large enough so that people may absent themselves if need be without undermining the energy of the group. Additionally, we feel strongly that it is less important to provide all the facilities and services that an artist could want, and seek instead to encourage creativity by a measure of asceticism rather than abundance. The land is what matters. What is needed is only that which enables one to live among it, in vigilant daily contact. With this in mind we suggest limiting the type of artists who attend to those who pursue visual or written media, even extending that to academics. This is a place best suited, we believe, to those who work in quiet and who will benefit from the modest accomodations and the break from the frenetic energy of the city.

THE PROGRAM: Seven living units will be clustered in two’s and three’s around a communal outdoor area (400 sqft each). A common dining hall and great room will be positioned nearby along an accessible path where meals will be served every evening (1200 sqft). Both the residences and the dining hall will be accessible by vehicle, for while we believe in a measure of ‘asceticism’ we understand that there is a limit beyond which the basics of subsistence impede creativity— which is the ultimate goal. Two types of studios are proposed: one
kind for those who desire a more communal atmosphere, and another that offers isolation. The former are proposed further along the accessible path, clustered in a group of four (200 sqft each) with a flexible space below that opens wide to an outdoor patio (400+200 sqft). The latter, isolated variety are proposed on the far side of the arroyo across a second bridge and accessed by trails carefully cut into the steep hillside. Three of these isolated studios are proposed with exterior decks (250+150 sqft). A third bridge crosses the arroyo a final time and leads back to the Klein’s house (existing) at the north end of the site. A community building near the group studios contains a bathroom, common space and small kitchen (800 sqft). Lastly, a small, unheated, unserviced satellite studio is situated high on the ridge by the border of the national forest to the northeast (100 sqft). This eighth studio will be available for anyone to reserve. 
Pencil Drawing Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
PROCESS: program organization logics
Pencil Drawing Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
PROCESS: studio space study
Concrete Model Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
PROCESS: tectonic studies #3 & #4, multiple views


THE DESIGN: As mentioned above, we propose an architecture that respects the wildness of the landscape but which is also determined enough to match its power. In other words, it is an architecture that neither overwhelms, nor is overwhelmed by the land, but meets it in such a way to synergistically amplify the beauty of each. We seek to do this in two ways: First, through the formal qualities of a specific, unified architectural language, and secondly, by the strict adherence to orthogonal axes which are expressed primarily by the three bridges laid across the arroyo. In both cases, in form and in arrangement, we seek to achieve unity among a disparate collection of buildings that, with minimal visual impact, form an ensemble that is bigger than they themselves and which thereby can complement the grandeur of the landscape.

The hope is that the ideal order of this system primarily affects subconscious experience and remains unobtrusively illusive, while the real order—site-specific, necessary, uncontrived, balanced, etc.—affects the conscious experience. In this way the architecture is positioned on a scale that is both cosmic and contingent, between the world and god, aspiring toward permanence amidst the flux of the rolling earth, the wind, and the changing season, thereby resolutely establishing this site on the foothills of the Sangre de Christo mountains as somewhere significant in a way that is not entirely obvious. In this way we seek to balance the dialectic between chaos and control which is at the heart of all artistic production. 

Drawing Pencil Drawing Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
FINAL: conceptual rendering of artist's studios
Topographic Topo Model Pencil Drawing Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
FINAL: topographic model
Drawing Pencil Drawing Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
FINAL: site plan, satellite image / digital drawing / model photo composite
Pencil Drawing Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
FINAL: section through artist's studio, view toward NW; pencil on vellum, digital linework
Pencil Drawing Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
FINAL: plan of studio cluster
Pencil Drawing Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
FINAL: plan of studio group & common area
Pencil Drawing Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture
FINAL: section through artist's studio, view toward SE
Pen and Ink Drawing Pencil Drawing Henry Rose UTSOA Austin Architect Architecture

​*

STUDIO — FALL 2017

12/20/2018

 
NEW BRAUNFEL'S SCHOOL OF ECOLOGY & CRAFT
Picture
​
​This studio was a hybrid landscape / architecture project
 on a site in New Braunfels Texas. The land is owned by the New Braunfels Utility and serves as the primary hub for water distribution for the city. For decades the site remained a sheet of asphault, nearly 100% impervious cover, that drained into the Comal River with no public, ecological, or aesthetic value. The utility decided to rejuvenate the site and employed Ten Eyck, Lake Flato, and ecologists from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center to recover the hydrological function of the site and to restore natural habitat. Additionally some buildings were adapted / built on the site to provide a small amount of public and private programming. 
Picture
​​
Prioritizing these two goals of ecology and hydrology, our team decided that the land forms (constructed) should dictate the building placement. Our logic was that the landforms would determine the surface water flow, which in turn would determine the ecological habitat, which in turn would influence the placement of paths and programmable outdoor space (shade being the primary requirement in the Texas heat), which in turn would lead to ideal locations for buildings. Accordingly we carefully devised a cut & fill scheme for the site which would result in local high and low points to detain the water flowing across the site so it could be reabsorbed into the ground water table. The subtlety of these land forms are visible in the un-planted site model below.
Picture
Encouraged to develop a more ambitious program that the one actually being created, our team decided to design a School for Craft and Ecology with an associated daycare / center for early childhood education. Our educational mission was to provide the opportunity for learning outside the normal matriculated school system, specifically in regard to the value and techniques for restoring, protecting and harmoniously living in the native landscape. Our target demographic was portion of the population outside of the normal educational age—under five, and over thirty. ​​Our architectural mission was to enable a 24 hour use of the site and to drive revenue, with commercial, residential and educational aspects intermingled. Classroom space for adults and children, artists residences, a restaurant and teaching kitchen, as well as multiple retail spaces were arranged on the site.  After-work classes for adults, for example, combined with drop-in daycare, is one way this would be accomplished. Our ecological mission, mentioned above, was to restore the hydrologic function of the site, and by extension the botanical and animal habitat. 

Moving forward, our team split off to develop a portion of the site in more detail. I focused on the aspect of the program dedicated to hosting events, e.g. weddings, as well as serving as a gallery space for the art / craft created on the site by the resident artists. The primary architectural problems I chose to address were two: A) how to create outdoor space that was inhabitable in the heat, and B) how to work an accessible ramp through the building that would serve as the deep eaves for the south & east facades as well as an intriguing way to view the artwork in the gallery as it spirals through the back of the building. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture


​
​*

STUDIO — SPRING 2017

12/20/2018

 

AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING HEADQUARTERS

Picture

I would like to turn buildings inside out. I think the built environment should consist of more than inhabitable, conditioned space and a purely visual relationship to the exterior surface. The problem is largely geometric: if the building is construed as a closed figure (however elaborate) its exterior angles will each be greater than 180 degrees — what is called a reflex angle — where no one wants to be. The typical street condition across the country is made up of these spaces, almost exclusively. It could even be said that streets are geometrically hostile.  ​
Picture
Picture
Picture

​The most obvious solution is to use other buildings conjunctively to define unconditioned spaces. To the right is a scheme which subdivides two lots into four and turn the buildings toward the inside to create a courtyard. By rotating the structures off the orthogonal site plan, view corridors are maintained even in tight quarters. The buildings thus face each other to contain the space without doing so directly, which I believe allows them fit more comfortably (as private residences) so close together. This represents a geometric solution to a social condition. Below is a parti for the AEGB headquarters project, showing different configurations of the exterior stairs.
Picture

Picture
site plan
Picture
ground floor
Picture
second floor
Picture
third floor

The other unique aspect of this building is its experimental double facade system. The idea is to separate the solar load from the insulated envelope. The goal is to permit light while reflecting heat. This is the basic challenge of all insulated, inhabited structures. The brise-soleil (exterior louver) is a classic solution. Additionally, there exists a panoply of ingenious materials and systems that are being developed to facilitate this exchange, many of which use mechanical, chemical or even biological mechanisms to modulate the solar energy to which they are incident. The trouble is that no matter how clever a system is, architecture makes a poor prototype upon which to deploy it. The structures are too big, too expensive and too enduring to warrant the risk. Thus I do not find that the primary obstacle is technological, but rather the inability to exploit technology in an architecturally relevant way. The problem, essentially, is to make architecture prototypically feasible. 

To this end I devised an external system of bays into which could easily be installed new or existing shading systems without compromising the integrity of the building's structure or aesthetics. The system I chose to represent in the model below was basic foliage (I imagine bamboo screens in easily serviceable trays) but the point is any number of things could be used. Different systems could be employed on different solar aspects, or even patched together on the same facade in mosaic or collage, behind all of which a lightweight glass storefront could be employed, happily unstressed. As the headquarters of the Austin Energy Green Building department it would be a beacon for innovation, even allowing the public to circulate along the open corridors between the two 'envelopes' to participate in the experiment. The building would be able to grow, to adapt, to remain relevant. 
Picture
Picture
Picture


​*

STUDIO — FALL 2016

12/20/2018

 
Picture

​PART I — WOOD LIGHT BAFFLE 

​
DESIGNED TO ADMIT LIGHT AND NOT HEAT. The screen was formed of two layers of 1/8" bending ply glued and formed over a radius in a vacuum press and sandwiched between two panels of half inch maple with V-shaped grooves routed into one face. What you see is purely reflected light.
Picture
Picture


PART II — GRADUATION WALL


A graduation wall is a long tower that is designed to evaporate a dilute salt solution into a more concentrated one. They were built in landlocked areas of Europe, common in Germany, around salt springs. The dilute solution was pumped to the top of the tower and dripped along the brushwood walls, maximizing the surface area. Water evaporated as the solution was collected below, eventually to be boiled and made into usable salt. Today they are recognized for their health benefits, and people go simply to breathe the air. Our project was to design a modern version of a one of these graduation walls. 


The important thing for me was to produce a path that would be compelling to walk along even without the salt-wall superstructure. I used a combination of obscured and revealed views to provoke curiosity, and a 'three-turn' path to exaggerate the experience of distance traveled while at the same time leaving you closer to your point of departure than expected which facilitates the return trip.
Picture
Picture
Picture

PART III — BOUTIQUE HOTEL & SPA​

This overnight spa (12 rooms) is situated in a quiet, secluded, densely wooded area bounded on three sides by a creek. The feeling of containment is emphasized by sinking the complex into the earth, using the walls of the buildings to create courtyards broken by sight-lines over lower retaining walls.

A version of the brushwood wall above brings visitors through the 2 acre park. It is open 24/7 to the public.

T
here is a spa buried under the plaza which is accessed by a descending circular ramp. The spa and pool is entirely dark, clad in dark stone, lit only by glass rods embedded in the ceiling which capture sunlight and bring it down in little specks which will twinkle as shadows passed over the courtyard. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
*
© A. Henry Rose, 2020. Excerpts and photos may be re-published provided that full and clear credit is given and directly linked to the original content.