The Alpine RetreatProcess Work

Page 1

The scope of the project involved doing a masterplan for a mixed use development. The program includes a hotel, restaurants, staff housing, gym, pool, and 30 apartment units.

4 May 2016

Mixed Use DevelopmentProcess Book

Location: 29°45'58.0"N 95°21'52.7"W

Houston, Texas

1” = 1140’

Master Planing Exercise

The first thing we did was a study of the site and the context of our site. This study informed us about the design of the project.

Key elements about the site- train track adjacent to the site create vibrations and noise- highways to the north create a lot of noise.- nice views of downtown to the south- site located in the 100-year flood plain- Franklin Street and the highways isolate the site

Page 2

Median Income

$ 20,000$ 40,000$ 60,000

Source: 2008-12 American Community Survey

Notes:

Noise: - The highways are very loud and create a rhythm. There are many echoes below the highway. - The cars are the loudest around intersections - Many buses run on Franklin St and frequently stop in front of the site. Some sit there for up to 15 minutes with the motor running. About 6 buses drive by every 5 minutes. - The highway directly to the right goes bellow grade level and muffles the noise from the cars.

Source for Ethnic Data: http://www.ur-banresearchmaps.org/comparina-tor/pluralitymap.htm?metro=houston

Source for income data: http://ww-w.city-data.com/nbmaps/neigh-Hous-ton-Texas.htm-l#mapOSM?mapOSM[zl]=16&mapOSM[c1]=29.76610965752214&mapOSM[c2]=-95.36383867263794&mapOSM[s]=income3&mapOSM[fs]=false

Median Income

$ 20,000$ 40,000$ 60,000

Source: 2008-12 American Community Survey

Notes:

Noise: - The highways are very loud and create a rhythm. There are many echoes below the highway. - The cars are the loudest around intersections - Many buses run on Franklin St and frequently stop in front of the site. Some sit there for up to 15 minutes with the motor running. About 6 buses drive by every 5 minutes. - The highway directly to the right goes bellow grade level and muffles the noise from the cars.

Source for Ethnic Data: http://www.ur-banresearchmaps.org/comparina-tor/pluralitymap.htm?metro=houston

Source for income data: http://ww-w.city-data.com/nbmaps/neigh-Hous-ton-Texas.htm-l#mapOSM?mapOSM[zl]=16&mapOSM[c1]=29.76610965752214&mapOSM[c2]=-95.36383867263794&mapOSM[s]=income3&mapOSM[fs]=false

100 Year Flood Plain Noise Intensity Traffic Flow Parks

Worship Government Education BusinessEntertainment Residential Bus

Topography

A site study informed us about building placement, building orientation in order to offer views of downtown, building strat-egies to mitigate noise and ground vibrations, etc.

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Page 4

Notes:

Noise: - The highways are very loud and create a rhythm. There are many echoes below the highway. - The cars are the loudest around intersections - Many buses run on Franklin St and frequently stop in front of the site. Some sit there for up to 15 minutes with the motor running. About 6 buses drive by every 5 minutes. - The highway directly to the right goes bellow grade level and muffles the noise from the cars.

Notes:

Noise: - The highways are very loud and create a rhythim. There are many echos below the highway. - The cars are the loudest around intersections - Many buses run on Franklin St and frequently stop in front of the site. Some sit there for up to 15 minutes with the motor running. About 6 buses drive by every 5 minutes. - The highway directly to the right goes bellow grade level and muffles the noise from the cars.

Vehicular entrance

1/8 of Program2 storiesVehicular entrance

Median Income

$ 20,000$ 40,000$ 60,000

Source: 2008-12 American Community Survey

Notes:

Noise: - The highways are very loud and create a rhythm. There are many echoes below the highway. - The cars are the loudest around intersections - Many buses run on Franklin St and frequently stop in front of the site. Some sit there for up to 15 minutes with the motor running. About 6 buses drive by every 5 minutes. - The highway directly to the right goes bellow grade level and muffles the noise from the cars.

Vehicular entrance

Pedestrian access

Green Space

Green Space

Pedestrian access

Entire program2 levels

Parking

Parking

Median Income

$ 20,000$ 40,000$ 60,000

Source: 2008-12 American Community Survey

Notes:

Noise: - The highways are very loud and create a rhythm. There are many echoes below the highway. - The cars are the loudest around intersections - Many buses run on Franklin St and frequently stop in front of the site. Some sit there for up to 15 minutes with the motor running. About 6 buses drive by every 5 minutes. - The highway directly to the right goes bellow grade level and muffles the noise from the cars.

Vehicular entrance Entire program2 levels

Scheme 1:

Pedestrian access

Green Space

Green Space

Green Space

Pedestrian access

Parking

Parking

Scheme 2:

1/2 program2 levels

1/2 program2 levels

Green SpaceShielded from

highway

Green SpaceShielded from

highwayVehicular entrance

1/2 program2 levels

1/2 program2 levels

Pedestrian access

Pedestrian access

Green Space

Green Space

Pedestrian access

Parking

Parking

Scheme 3:

Green SpaceShielded from

highway

1/8 of Program

2 stories1/8 of Program

2 stories1/8 of Program

2 stories

1/8 of Program

2 stories

1/8 of Program

1 story

1/8 of Program

1 story

1/8 of Program

1 story1/8 of Program

1 story

Gardens

Eleva

ted

Gar

dens

Eleva

ted

Gar

dens

Eleva

ted

Gar

dens

Gar

dens

Gardens

Gardens

Gardens

1/8 of Program 1 story1/8 of Program 1 story

1/8 of Program 1 story

1/8 of Program2 stories

1/8 of Program2 stories

1/8 of Program2 stories

1/8 of Program 1 story

A study of the placement of the program was conducted. Scheme 1 assumes the entire program is on 1 floor. Scheme 2 breaks the program into 2 and includes 2 floors. Scheme 3 breaks up the program into 8 blocks, each having 1-2 floors.

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In order to connect the site with the city, we removed Franklin Street and created pedestrian and bicycle paths that con-nect the Bayou to the site.The first iteration places the apartment parallel to downtown to offer the residents views to the skyline.The Hotel, restaurant and staff housing is placed perpendicular to the apartment units.

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Grocery + Staff Housing

GardenSkywalk

Spa + Hotel

Hotel

Restaurant + Hotel

Café +Coffee Bar

HarmonyHouse

Community Garden + Market

AtriumSpace

AtriumSpace

TennisonLofts

ParkingCourtyard

Parking

Parking

The second iteration further breaks up the units and stagger them to offer views to downtown to all residents.

Hotel Apartments Mixed Use Development

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Parking

Parking

Harmony House

Community Garden / ParkStaffGrocery

Restaurant Elevated Community Green Roof / Park

Gardens

Apartments

Hotel

Hotel

Hotel

Skywalk

Skywalk

Further into the process, we decided to cover the train tracks in order to reduce the noise from the train and reduce vibrations. Adja-cent to the tunnel, a large parking lot would provide enough parking for then entire development. Above the parking lot, a green roof would serve as a community garden. The apartment units would then be stacked in front of the garden and aligned with the skyline.

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Next, I did a form study to determine the form of the apartment units. Iteration 1 features the enclosed apartment unit on the first floor and a green roof on the second floor. Iteration 2 features a monolithic facade for all apartments. The apartments do not have their own individual garden spaces, but instead, they share a community garden space located on top of the parking lot. In all cases, the roof line informs the apartment as the ridge determines the beginning and ending of the apartment unit. Iteration 3 is different as the ridges are independent of the apartment units. Iteration 3 became the model for my midterm design.

1

2

3

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Iteration 3 was the design chosen for the midterm review. To connect the site to the Bayou, I excavated the land so it slopes naturally down to the Bayou. On the hill, I placed trees, paths, and seating areas so people can sit in the shade and enjoy the outdoors. The culminating point of the promenade is literally the alpine like building at the tip of the hill. A thick concrete tunnel cover the train tracks to reduce noise pollution. Next to it, I built a platform under which I placed the entire parking space. On top, I placed two rows of houses between which is a private green space for the residents. Each apartment has a view to downtown.

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A critic I received during the midterm review is that the facade would look better if it was uniform, and if the roof line informed the program. Therefore, I lowered the roofline at certain areas in order to create a stair that leads to the green space. The facade is now segmented showing the restaurant and apartment units.