Shifting Sands / Work AC

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Work AC‘s design for a utilitarian industrial building for the navy yard becomes an opportunity to explore the efficiencies of scale through possibilities of long-span structures.  A two-story truss rests on four columns at the ground level, allowing the upper floor to cantilever out past the entrance, creating a dynamic entry point and a new shared entrance plaza.  The stripped facade is comprised of low-cost standing seam metal panels in a variety of colors.  The color palette is taken from the varied hues of the surrounding buildings as a way to tie this contemporary structure with the existing context.  The form, a long rectangle with the top level shifted off center, allows space for a shared green terrace on the back side of the building while the protruding side makes the protected entry condition.  The top floors are also lifted and clerestory windows inserted to provide extra natural light for the lower floors.  The building’s placement on the site was studied using the assumed 23,333 sqf footprint as well as acknowledging the fact that buried 138 KV electric lines still had to be accessible.

More images and diagrams after the break.

 
 
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archilocus says:

The project is very well explained through the diagrams. The idea and the volume are simple and seems to work. About the color samples of the neighborhood, the idea is interesting but the renderings hardly show any similarity between the project and the surrounding buildings… The result seems much darker… Is it because of the renderings, or did the trainee in charge of the pictures of the buildings around forgot to adjust aperture while shooting?

 
# January 26, 2010 at 08:14
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Wow!!!!! Shifting Sands / Work AC http://www.archdaily.com/47496/shifting-sands-work-ac/#more-47496 (via @archidaily)

 
# January 26, 2010 at 14:30
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amaralarquiteto

Wow!!!!! Shifting Sands / Work AC http://www.archdaily.com/47496/shifting-sands-work-ac/#more-47496 (via @archdaily)

 
# January 26, 2010 at 14:31
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Ivan Costa says:

RT @archdaily: Shifting Sands / Work AC http://bit.ly/d9fCZe

 
# January 26, 2010 at 16:55
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Shifting Sands / Work AC http://bit.ly/aWwJ1s

 
# January 26, 2010 at 18:00
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Laar says:

Work AC tried hard to make their design interesting. However, the project itself is only an industrial building at the navy yard. How interesting could it be? So I doubt their effort to create an urban space around the entrance. It may become an undefined traffic intersection as we can see from the drawings.

 
# January 26, 2010 at 17:57
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amsterdam er says:

I was expecting something more interesting from them. The shift doesn’t make it interesting nor doest the facade.

 
# January 27, 2010 at 07:27
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I Like: Shifting Sands. http://bit.ly/ao9bYZ

 
# January 27, 2010 at 22:47
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armeyn says:

damn! I just can’t found anything in this project..

 
# February 2, 2010 at 02:07
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icang abdul halim says:

yeah,.. i think so amazing this planing of build,.. i like this

 
# February 16, 2010 at 15:01
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sena says:

i like this i mean with such a simple shape he was able to achieve and solve a lot but i wonder what experience the users of the building will persive especially while inside.

 
# October 6, 2011 at 03:34

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