Working share link to your Forma project, view access for the teaching team.
Paste your share link here… Shared with the two TA’s White Board and my Site Proposals
Comparison matrix, one page.
I have it linked above to see it clearer because instructions said 1 page.
Design memo of 300 to 500 words: what you read in the site, the three strategies, what the analysis said, your recommendation, and the surprise.
Paste your design memo here…
The site is a large, overgrown interior lot near Brentwood Ct and Garden St. The surrounding fabric is mostly one- and two-story single-family homes. A high school, daycare, church and social-service uses sit nearby, and bus stops are on Pulgas and Clarke. That means plenty of foot traffic for ground-floor retail or services, but a building that has to fit a fine-grained neighborhood.
Three strategies
- C-shape: a courtyard-forward scheme inspired by the Bellagio's fountain.
- H-shape: two open notches, modeled on the Stanford EVGR housing I live in.
- Block: a plain rectangle that draws little attention.
Analysis
- Floor area: the C and H both deliver about 83,000 ft² of GFA. The block reaches 98,435 ft².
- Sun and daylight (June 21): the C's courtyard is deeply shaded. The H's notches are shallower and open to more sky, so more of its façade gets light. The block has no shaded pockets, but it also has no sheltered outdoor space.
- Noise, wind and microclimate: these read almost the same across all three. The courtyards shelter interior faces a bit from noise, but the site-level differences are small.
- Carbon: H shape has the lowest one.
Recommendation
I recommend the H. It delivers nearly the same floor area as the C at 6 stories instead of 8, which sits better next to low-rise homes. It’s carbon cost is also lower. Its notches give units daylight and cross-ventilation without mechanical help. Its longer perimeter gives more ground-floor frontage for retail and a lobby. The block yields the most area, but it is a 98,000 ft² slab with no outdoor space and the worst relationship to its neighbors.
The surprise
The thing that surprised me. The C was the scheme I was most excited about, and it performed worst on daylight in its courtyard. I would want to highlight that fountain and instead the C covers it fully and hides it.
Three massing images, one per proposal, from the same viewpoint.
