Estuary precise

Estuary images

Rendered view:  As seen from South Elm Street in downtown Greensboro.

Rendered view:  The interior of the retail space without merchandise.

Levels: The estuary contains three levels connected by ramp and elevator.  The ground level houses the dressing rooms/W.C. and retail shop.  The first level is a gently sloping performance space/promenade with staggered stages and backstage/consultation area.  The second level is a shared studio space full of natural light and an open layout.

Materials:  Recessed ceramic metal halide floods, alcoved compact florescent lighting, pendant barrels, LED sand fixtures, painted brick, "bone" tinted lime washed walls, acoustic cloud paneling, double glazed store front windows and rubber "coin" flooring.

Fixtures:  Barrel pendant lights, "dock post" pedestals and "barnacle" risers/shelving.

Window Display:  As seen from the front facade.

Guerilla Marketing:  Sand stenciling on the sidewalk.

Visual Merchandising:  A plan view of the retail space with donut circulation, central cash wrap and vertical display hierarchy.

Estuary folders

It's finally time to get the glue off my hands.  After many days of piecing it all together, I've got some models and folders to submit as my final retail design project for the semester.  Portable and packed with pretty images, these promotional folders are hoping to be placed in the hands of potential clients or investors.

Estuary schematic model

Estuary retail space

Estuary light study

What you're looking at here is about a quarter inch of white sand in a clear glass, lit from below by a soft white compact florescent.

Estuary process: Models and Sketches

Throw up sheets

These are some more concrete ideas I've had concerning The Hatchery, working with An Estuary as my concept.  I've tried to create a flow in the space that moves from low to high tide-- enclosed to open, single story to double, raw to polished materiality.  I was thinking of gestures like leveling, passing through, ebb and flow... take a look and let me know if this is being conveyed in my design.

Digging

I've scrapped my previous notions about UNCG's off campus collaborative retail, performance and studio space (originally known as the hatchery) and am now going in a different direction.  As it goes, sometimes I jump the gun during the ideation process-- making assumptions concerning functionality or setting my heart on spacial aspects before I've fully wrapped my head around the concept.  So, confessions (and hatching) aside, I've allowed myself to step back and re-think conceptually-- and this is what I've come up with:

An estuary is a semi-enclosed body of water where rivers and streams flow into the ocean.  This unique blending of fresh and salt water results in an ecologically rich environment where many animal species feed, breed and nest.  Estuaries are often referred to as aquatic nurseries due to their protective locations, transitional waters and biodiversity.  It's these elements that led me to connect the concept of an estuary to The Hatchery.  Like an estuary, The Hatchery is designed to nurture development and provide relevant experience for those transitioning from one life phase to the next.

While thinking further about an estuary as a concept for the hatchery, I've been investigating the particulars of brackish water (the fresh and salt water blend found in estuaries).  One striking occurrence of brackish water takes place in underwater caves where it is called halocline and can be seen as a distinct layer hovering between undisturbed salt and freshwater.  The difference in density of fresh and salt water is responsible for the halocline layer which appears like an underwater mirage-- refracting light in a surreal manner.

So, pulling from this bit of research, I'm thinking I'd like to physically interpret the following elements:

-A river flowing into an ocean.

-A semi-enclosed body of water.

-Salt and fresh water.

-A halocline layer.

The first two elements in this list could be interpreted as ways to "carve" the space.

-A narrow entrance, low ceiling, and intimate lighting could indicate the mouth of a river.

-A wider space, high ceiling and ambient lighting could indicate the flow of a river into an ocean (of infinite possibilities--ha ha).

-An alcoved area (performance space?), wall washing and creative peripheral wayfinding could indicate a protected bay.

The second two elements in this list could be interpreted as material choices.

-Salt and fresh water could manifest as two different shades of the same color, a variation of textile patterning, different states of the same material (i.e. polished/honed stone).

-A halocline layer could be represented through two planes of overlapping polarized glass. A horizontal wall recess, lit in a unique way.  Suspended planes of obscured glass or loose acrylic beads inside translucent vessels.

The halocline effect.

Mangroves in brackish water.

An Estuary.

Digging

To break, release and emerge-- these are some actions often associated with hatching.  As an act of birth, there is a beautiful brutality, a fragility and strength contained in the process of hatching that is proving to be difficult for me to capture in an interpreted physical form.  The images below are some sculptural experiments with materiality.  I'm imagining large surfaces, torn and punctured to reveal a translucent subsurface or membrane, glowing from within. Here I've used clay and blown glass.

Digging

I enjoy the penetration of light in these photos of The Slit House by Eastern Design Studios.  Dynamic concentrated energy, hatching through an unmoving wall.  This is a design element I would like to include in The Hatchery.  Below, is my sculptural interpretation.

Digging

Digging

It's officially time to dig deep for those designs that speak towards some greater understanding of "The Hatchery" as a concept.  These egg-esque shelters struck me as wonderful examples of intimate spaces, capable of hatching into public arenas.

The Hatchery: Programming

Defining the spacial needs of The Hatchery (or any interior for that matter) can be difficult.  This is why designers love diagrams.  Here I've chosen to represent The Hatchery's required spaces with a diagram of eggs.  Hierarchy is represented by their sizes, and adjacency is indicated by their placement.  They are nested here in a rectangular form, which mimics the proposed building's footprint with the entrance on the right hand side.  To push the flexibility of The Hatchey as a dynamic space where collaboration and innovation is "hatched" and nurtured, I'm playing with the idea of moving spaces, capable of "hatching" and adapting to the roles and activities within The Hatchery as they inevitably change.  Much like the mobile museum I have referred to in my inspiration investigation, these moving spaces could be shells containing space, cracking open, closing shut, gliding and resting.    

If you were wondering, the eggs in my diagram are a mixture of ostrich, goose, duck, turkey, chicken and quail.

The Hatchery: Collaboration

The Hatchery

This is an example of the kind of building space available in downtown Greensboro.  13 foot ceilings, a long rectangular layout, large storefront windows and a checkered past make this the perfect space for The Hatchery, UNCG's proposed artistic collaboration space off campus where students can come together and engage with the community in a myriad of a creative cross disciplinary experiences.  UNCG's Design Retail class has been asked to design this space for The Hatchery with the hope that this  ideation will spark interest and eventual implementation.