Birmingham art center
The city of Birmingham, MI has a very strict building code which limits the use of certain buildings materials that the city deems not in keeping with the character of the community, including glass, metal, or pretty much anything other than brick or stone. This strict building code became the impetus for the design which attempted to take opportunistic advantage of these codes to create a building which would be contextual, but also not limit the functionality of the program. This was achieved by using glass in strategic locations and creating a courtyard to provide proper natural lighting to the art center.
The site is situated at the south end of the main street of downtown Birmingham. Birmingham’s downtown has a fairly high level of a pedestrian traffic in the upscale retail area in the central downtown area. The Birmingham Art Center site lays slightly outside of this pedestrian zone but does attract some foot traffic from the north. In order to capitalize on this, the building opens up and exposes the activity on the interior when approaching from the downtown area to the north.
At the main pedestrian corner the facade is sliced away and revealing the activity and program within, while also bringing daylight into the space. The site is organized by the accessibility of the particular programmatic use. Within the Northwestern corner of building is the art school's retail store, which is the most public area of the site. The school is entrance is located on the courtyard which has a high level of visual connectivity, but it is set back from the main road. Further removed from the road on the south side of the site adjacent to a residential area, is the artist apartments, which provides a high level of privacy while remaining connected to the school.
The site is situated at the south end of the main street of downtown Birmingham. Birmingham’s downtown has a fairly high level of a pedestrian traffic in the upscale retail area in the central downtown area. The Birmingham Art Center site lays slightly outside of this pedestrian zone but does attract some foot traffic from the north. In order to capitalize on this, the building opens up and exposes the activity on the interior when approaching from the downtown area to the north.
At the main pedestrian corner the facade is sliced away and revealing the activity and program within, while also bringing daylight into the space. The site is organized by the accessibility of the particular programmatic use. Within the Northwestern corner of building is the art school's retail store, which is the most public area of the site. The school is entrance is located on the courtyard which has a high level of visual connectivity, but it is set back from the main road. Further removed from the road on the south side of the site adjacent to a residential area, is the artist apartments, which provides a high level of privacy while remaining connected to the school.