| Contextual Infrastructure Planning and Design |
| Architectural Treatments for Context Sensitive
Designs |
| By Scott Danielson, San Francisco, California, 1-415-243-4617,
danielson@pbworld.com,
Dennis Haskell, Seattle Washington, 1-206-382-5274, haskell@pbworld.com
and Kevin M. Peterson, Seattle, Washington 1-206-382-5278,
peterson@pbworld.com |
| Three senior PB architects
provide examples of their contributions to context sensitive design
around the world. |
|
Figure 1: Chien Tan Station, Taipei |
An engineering or architectural solution to a stated objective has
specific programmatic and performance criteria that it must meet.
This, of course, is obvious. What is not always so obvious are the
other, sometimes less technical issues and conditions that require
attention and responsiveness. For example, cultural and historical
situations, scale and character of surroundings, natural conditions
and ecosystems, and land uses and activities all must be considered
when designing buildings and structures or master planning facilities.
When buildings and structures are at odds with their surroundings,
they potentially compromise their own function as well as the function
of the man-made and natural systems around them. Even in the often
more subjective area of aesthetics, discordant shapes, forms, materials
and colors in the landscape can be unsettling and stressful to people
who are viewing them. Many communities and jurisdictions recognize
the potential of such conflict and legislate context sensitive design
through passage of aesthetic design guidelines and design review processes.
Figure 2: Hsin Pietau Station, Taipei |
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Figure 3: Bangkok Highway
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Context sensitive design can and should occur at various scales. Whether
designing a tunnel ventilation structure in an existing urban environment
or a planned new community in an uncluttered landscape, a designer
should observe and be responsive to what is happening around the proposed
project. Likewise, designs of a bridge crossing a forested gorge or
a transit system serving a community must solve complex technical
problems as well as respect and enhance the project's design context.
PB Architects and Context Sensitive Design
PB's architects have been working closely with our civil and structural
engineering colleagues on projects all over the U.S., Asia and Europe,
helping them to create physical structures and site designs that are
aesthetically pleasing, balance requirements for function and budget,
and are tailored to their settings. The works shown here express local
or regional design idioms and demonstrate respect for the environment,
often by incorporating indigenous materials and local flora into design
projects where landscaping or site reconstruction is required.
Chien Tan Station, Taipei. One of the most dramatic examples
of context sensitive design is "Dragon Boat," the flagship
station of the Taipei Transit system (Figure 1). This station blends
art and engineering in a hi-tech design and reflects Taiwanese cultural
design idioms. It meets the needs of the client, who had asked repeatedly
for a "one-of-a-kind design" that incorporated Chinese forms
and state-of-the-art technology.
The catenary cable-hung roof reflects Taiwanese traditional forms,
and the tension suspended roof is one of the most elegant contemporary
structural solutions. As the ultimate recognition of success in meeting
context sensitive design goals and upholding cultural values, the
Taiwanese have voted Chien Tan Station one of the top 10 architectural
treasures in Taiwan!
Hsin Peitau Station, Taipei. This station design also reflects
Taiwanese style, and it integrates a shopping arcade below the ticketing
concourse to provide street-level commercial activity in this up-market
suburb (Figure 2).
Figure 4: One of the Santa Barbara Parking Garages |
Figure 5: Doyle Drive, Presidio, San Francisco |
Figure 6: Landmark Station, Singapore |
Bangkok Highway Design-Build, Thailand. The sketches shown
in Figure 3 illustrate simple design treatments that tailor mundane
elements of a freeway in a manner that visually recalls the cultural
heritage of the country. The form-liners for the parapets give a distinctly
Thai look to the freeway edge, which is also enhanced with a special
treatment of lighting supports and the ends of cap beams.
Santa Barbara Parking Garages, California. These two garages
were developed in accordance with the extremely strict design standards
of the City. The cultural heritage of Santa Barbara, a Spanish colonial
city in its early days, has been codified in current design laws that
effectively mandate a Spanish Colonial character. Our team designed
the arches, balconies and rooftop parapet shapes to reflect appropriate
traditional forms (Figure 4). The garage won a "Santa Barbara
Beautiful Award!"
Palo Alto Garage, California.
This garage in mid-block Palo Alto was reviewed rigorously by a design
committee known for holding- up projects if they were not sensitive
to the "context of the
community." Our team introduced weathering steel (properly detailed
to prevent unsightly staining) and a wood trellis structure at each
floor, altogether providing the structure with a look reminiscent
of the American "Old West." We worked with an award-winning
landscape architectural firm to incorporate a rich landscape setting
with plantings typical of the area. The garage resembles a park-pavilion
more than a typical parking structure and recently had two floors
added (part of our Master Plan) to accommodate local demand.
Doyle Drive, California. Our team is currently involved in
the conceptual design of this critical link from San Francisco's downtown
to Golden Gate Bridge through the historic Presidio. We are considering
the use of elevated viaduct structures, which could minimize the ground
impact and reflect the bridge's high design standards (Figure 5).
We are also studying the alignment and access elements of a critical
intersection that must serve the marina area of San Francisco and
the Presidio's new "Lucas Light-n-Magic Complex." Careful
balancing of alignment, structural options, historic and environmental
preservation, and functional common-sense will solve a challenging
project crucial to San Francisco's future traffic safety and the city's
image.
Landmark Station, Singapore. This conceptual design for Singapore's
latest transit expansion project suggests a sensitive solution for
a station that is to be built in the heart of Singapore's "New
Downtown." The proposed station is to be "underground"
within a botanic garden, reflecting Singapore's "Garden City"
theme (Figure 6). A large glass dome would cover the station and garden,
creating an attractive space for transit riders with views of water,
jungle and twin 80-story theme towers as they arrive at the station.
I-95 New Haven Harbor Crossing Corridor Improvement Program,
Connecticut. We are assisting PB's Glastonbury, Connecticut, office
in preparing design guidelines for a multi-million dollar highway
project involving two major interchanges, a river harbor crossing
and numerous highway overpasses. The effort is to coordinate the parapet/abutment
wall design, safety fencing, structural type, column placement, color,
etc., to create a
coordinated image. Already in early stages of detailed design, our
team suggested a simplified highway crossing that eliminated a column
in the median (saving right-of-way) and minimizing vertical alignment
changes-giving better clearances and resulting in fewer changes to
the approach roads.
Miami Intermodal Center/Miami International
Airport, Florida. We are currently preparing design criteria for
the new "people mover" system at Miami International Airport
that will integrate signage maintenance (graffiti prevention), use
elevated guideways and maintain simple forms and clean lines of structure
in some very constricted spaces (Figure 7). Our architectural team
is working with our structural engineers to evaluate cost and constructibility
benefits of structural options versus their visual effects.
Kallang/Paya Lebar Expressway, Singapore. We are working on
the design of six major ventilation structures for a new 9 km (5.4-mile)
-long underground expressway in Singapore. The client was so concerned
with the visual/contextual quality of the project, that our contract
was extended to include complete architectural design of the structures
(mechanical, civil, structural to be left to design-build contractors).
This move assured the client of getting the quality of design appropriate
to these massive structures that are so large a part of the urban
landscape. We reduced the formal massing of the structures to maximum
dimensions of 30 m (100 feet) high, 70 m (220 feet) wide and 120 m
(400 feet) long, introduced simple horizontal bands of cladding, and
incorporated considerable landscaping around the structures so that
they will stand as monumental-but elegant-sculptural forms within
the city fabric. |
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Trained in architecture and the fine arts,
Scott Danielson has always been fascinated by the technical aspects
of the built environment and the aesthetic possibilities that can
be achieved when art and engineering are combined. Scott has worked
on more than 700 transit structures in his thirty years of practice,
covering nearly all the modes of
transportation and most building types.
Dennis Haskell is an architect and urban designer with expertise in
large scale, mixed-use development and urban design with special emphasis
on transportation and waterfront projects. His background includes
design and planning for mul
tiple passenger and vehicle terminals for Washington State Ferries;
master plans for Seattle Center, Seattle's Central Waterfront, and
Seattle Civic Center; high density transit oriented development projects
for King County Metro; and designs for multiple transit projects.
Kevin Peterson's urban design expertise serves many of PB's various
large projects in North America, the Middle East, and Asia. He was
physical planning lead for PB's Mecca design competition submission
and urban designer for the master plan of Jubail, Saudi Arabia. His
current work includes advising Yellowstone National Park authorities
on bridge aesthetics and working on waterfront/ferry terminal redevelopment
for the small town of Friday Harbor in Washington State's San Juan
archipelago. |
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