1. Welcome to Marquette
Issue Statement
The University seems to lack a “face” to the greater community, and while Marquette Hall is an MU icon, it isn’t necessarily welcoming. Facilities housing the new building’s future tenants are currently diffused across the campus. Because of this diffusion, the University’s ability to welcome both new students and alumni with one voice is hampered.
Solution Statement
Let the new building become the welcoming front porch of the University; for new students(Admissions), alumni(Alumni House), and current students (Marquette Central). This Welcome must pervade the building at all scales.
2. Two Corners
Issue Statement
When a building is located on a corner but fails to respond in some way to the convergence of life that naturally occurs at street intersections, the disconnect between building and context can produce negative effects on passers-by.
Solution Statement
Locate ground floor activity and life at or near the 11th and 12th Street intersections. If possible, locate entrances at or near the corners. Increase transparency at the corners. Locate late night functions, like phone bank work, above the corners so as to extend the visible life of the building.
3. Across Wisconsin Avenue
Issue Statement
There is the possibility of a new Student Services building disrupting or upstaging the Campus’s two most venerable buildings, Gesu and Marquette Hall, both of which are directly across Wisconsin Avenue.
Solution Statement
Insure that a visual dialogue is opened up between the new building and its elders across Wisconsin Avenue. Visually capturing the Marquette Hall Tower at a symbolically important place in the building would greatly enhance the conversation between the 2 structures. Pay attention to what pedestrians see of the new building as they walk toward Wisconsin Avenue between Cudahy and Marquette Halls. The new building should be approximately the same apparent height as Marquette Hall.
4. Building Complex
Issue Statement
A monolithic building belies the multiple and distinct departments that will be housed within the new structure. A monolithic building, spanning an entire block, will not play well with its historic neighbors; as buildings like Marquette Hall embody a smooth gradation of scales from whole building to smallest detail. Note how the Wisconsin Avenue facade of Marquette Hall is first differentiated into 4 major pieces; the tower, the central entrance and the two calmer spans of wall flanking the entrance.
Solution Statement
Break the building into visually coherent portions that correspond to the various functions located within it. Allow the most public aspects of the building to read through to passing pedestrians and automobile traffic.
5. Strong Boundary
Issue Statement
Current buildings on Wisconsin Avenue that sit right on the edge of the sidewalk produce a number of negative effects. Pedestrians feel like the building is pushing them into the street, especially when many pedestrians are present. There is no room for landscaping, creating a hard, cold walking environment. •There is no room to stop and talk without feeling that one is in the way of other pedestrians.
Solution Statement
Create a relatively deep zone of space between the building and the sidewalk along Wisconsin Avenue. The ground plane should be a combination of high traffic surface and native landscaping. Incorporate the Sasaki Plan street trees into this zone. This outdoor public space should be an extension of the primary ground floor functions of the building. (Admissions, Alumni House & Marquette Central)
6. Long Southern Exposure
Issue Statement
It is challenging to deal with sunlight hitting the east and west facades of buildings. Low sun angles make external shading devices virtually useless.
Solution Statement
Maximize the building’s south and north facing wall surfaces while minimizing east and west exposure. This will make daylighting of interior spaces much more manageable and will increase the building’s passive solar heating potential.
7. Balancing the Skin
Issue Statement
“Energy efficient” floor plates, which maximize floor area using the minimum length of perimeter wall, have the unintended result of placing a large percentage of their floor area in the dark-requiring artificial lighting. On the other hand, floor plates with no “dark” area maximize the length of perimeter wall, increasing heat loss and gain through the building skin.
Solution Statement
Select floorplate dimensions that minimize the amount of floor area that cannot be daylit, thus maximizing the length of perimeter wall. Offset the higher amounts of heat loss and gain through the expanded wall area with very high levels of insulation where there are no windows. A solution of this kind may require the use of high performance glass.
8. Positive Outdoor Space
Issue Statement
Buildings that are designed as objects in space lack the potential to create and capture positively shaped outdoor space that contributes to the life of the Campus. Buildings as objects also tend to “bump” into other buildings around them rather than weaving themselves into a cooperative fabric of mass and space.
Solution Statement
Always take the opportunity to organize new structure so that it forms positively shaped outdoor space in its adjacencies.
9. Parking Garden
Issue Statement
Ground surface is extremely valuable in an urban campus setting. It seems a shame to dedicate land to typical, one-dimensional surface parking needs, and most parking lots are not nice places to be in.
Solution Statement
Wherever surface parking is contemplated, first design the space as a public outdoor room or garden for pedestrians, then see how cars might be fit into it when needed.
10. Rain As Treasure
Issue Statement
Unfortunately our culture tends to see rainwater as a waste product; piping, storing and treating it as though it were sewage.
Solution Statement
Rain should slowly be absorbed on the land where it falls. Minimize the use of hard paving surfaces and where used, make it permeable. Rainwater that comes off the roof should be slowed down, collected and/or reintroduced to the local water table. Collected rain water will most likely be utilized to irrigate landscaping.
11. The First Door is Free
Issue Statement
A building intended to be the embodiment of “Welcome” cannot be locked to those without a key or passcode. However, the perception that “dangerous/questionable” individuals could just walk into the building and create havoc, or that security, especially at night, is a critical issue, is quite persistant and not unsubstantiated.
Solution Statement
Establish a public lobby on the ground floor of the building that is open to all. Allow numerous entrances into this lobby from various locations on the site (Two Corners, etc.). Any further movement from the public lobby into various parts of the building will be restricted in some manner. Create a central greeting station within the public lobby, near the elevators. Make it highly visible from entrances on the Two Corners.
12. Parallel Path
Issue Statement
Winter can be harsh for pedestrians at Marquette. There are very few places on campus where one is protected from the elements while walking to class.
Solution Statement
Utilize the public ground floor space in the building as an alternate indoor passageway between 11th and 12th Streets, parallel to the public sidewalk on Wisconsin Avenue. This assumes that the building’s major entrances will occur on the corners. Present the highest user-demand facilities as ‘storefronts’ along this path. Widen the path where additional public space is required, i.e. at Marquette Central and Admissions. The parallel path could accommdate the need for Neutral Ground within the building.
13. Gradient of Public Space
Issue Statement
Navigating around and through large buildings can be daunting and disorienting. Buildings often depend on signage to direct visitors.
Solution Statement
Create a clear progression of public spaces so that one may move through one place to the next in a way that allows a person to see back “from whence they came” at least one space back. Create a landmark associated with each transition point making it easier to make a cognitive map of the path taken. Avoid connecting spaces with non-descript hallways. This pattern also applies to movement through the building via the elevators. Therefore; each elevator lobby requires a distinctive character/landmark that connects it to the “map” of the building. This pattern applies equally to non-public movement through the building, implying that corridors and hallways are minimized.
14. Marquette Central
Issue Statement
Currently, the offices of the Bursar, the Registrar and Financial Aid are housed at different locations on campus, making the coordination of their efforts and services difficult. This dislocation often places the burden of services-coordination on the students and their families. As dedicated the three departments are to serving student needs, their physical separation often defeats their shared goal of student-centeredness.
Solution Statement
Locate a combined student service center as a major destination along the building’s Parallel Path. Make the separation between the MU Central lobby and the building’s public space as permeable as possible. Let the waiting area be as much like a collaborative learning center as possible including; a mix of seating types, tables and chairs-café like, and free standing computer stations. Avoid a bank-like single counter for transaction stations by breaking the big counter into smaller one-on-one units. This allows a more personal and acoustically private experience for students/families.
15. Admissions
Issue Statement
Often the first stop of a potential student and his or her family, the Office of Admissions has a pivotal responsibility in making sure that first impressions are positive ones. This is where the idea of Welcome must present itself in every aspect of the physical environment.
Solution Statement
Locate Admissions as a major destination along the Parallel Path. Organize the first room off the Path as a welcoming reception space that doubles as a ‘lobby’ for the Presentation Room. Provide a variety of comfortable seating types, offer beverages/snacks for guests. Make a strong visual connection from this space to Marquette Hall. Provide a separate exit from the Presentation Room for the smooth movement of tour groups.
16. Welcome Home
Issue Statement
There is currently no place on campus that alumni can call home. The Office of Advancement, thereby, is deprived of a crucial social interface as a platform for their activities.
Solution Statement
Locate an alumni reception “home” as a major destination along the Parallel Path. Make it adjacent to Admissions and allow potential crossover of reception functions. Give the space a reading room-like environment with strong historical references honoring MU Alumni.
17. Respect for the Office
Issue Statement
O’Hara Hall projects the image of Senior Leadership as insular and difficult to access...too much mystique. On the other hand, if the Office of the President is not treated with the respect due the leadership of a significant American University, its effectiveness is diminished. Senior Leadership will most likely NOT be located on the ground floor of the building, and must therefore be accessed via the building’s elevators.
Solution Statement
Upon arriving on the floor where Senior Leadership is located, create a series of transitions through which one moves, eventually arriving at a welcoming room, more like a reading room. From this room one should be able to make a strong visual connection to the Marquette Hall Tower. Also off the elevator lobby, provide a side door that allows leadership access to their individual offices without going through the main reception space. This door can also be used by guests not wishing to exit through the reception space.
18. Pool of Meeting Rooms
Issue Statement
Each department going into the new building has stated needs for numerous kinds of meeting and conference rooms. However, were meeting needs for each department met with department-dedicated space, there would exist an all-building surplus of conference facilities.
Solution Statement
Examine the combined conferencing needs of all the departments being housed within the building. Determine the necessary dedicated meeting rooms for each department and place the remainder in a Meeting Rooms Pool to be managed by an all-building calendar. Distribute the pooled rooms throughout the building in neutral territory near toilet rooms.
19. Neutral Ground
Issue Statement
Without a place within the building that provides a common place of informal exchange, the newly made neighboring departments will have a tendency to remain insular.
Solution Statement
Provide a place within the building, along paths heavily trodden by the majority of department staffs, for informal conversation and exchange. Make it a natural destination for those working in the building, like a small café, vending area or lounge. Afford this spot a view to the pedestrian activity within the building, a place to see and be seen. Make sure the place is not under the jurisdiction of any one department.
20. A Quiet Place
Issue Statement
There is rarely, within the normal working environment, a place where staff members can go to be still, quiet, away from the hustle of a busy work day.
Solution Statement
Make a small, simple, sitting space, a place that is acoustically separate from the noise of the building. Avoid the use of any outward religious symbolism. Allow the infusion of diffused natural light, for a comfortable visual environment. Create sitting niches within the space so that the room can be used by more than one person at a time.
21. Reception Welcomes You
Issue Statement
As a building that must epitomize “welcome”. Reception spaces must perform at a high level. “Have you ever walked into a public building and been processed by the receptionist as if you were a package?” Christopher Alexander, A Pattern Language
Solution Statement
“Arrange a series of welcoming things immediately inside the entrance-soft chairs, food, coffee. Place the reception desk so that it is not between the receptionist and the welcoming area, but to one side, so that the receptionist can get up and walk toward the people who come in, greet them, and invite them to sit down.” Christopher Alexander, A Pattern Language
22. Department Hearth
Issue Statement
“When a department is just a collection of offices, without a focus, there is little chance for a sense of community to develop; and the possibility of an open exchange of ideas is diminished.” Christopher Alexander, The Oregon Experiement
Solution Statement
“For every department, create a social hearth. Place the hearth at the center of gravity of the department offices; and beside a path that everyone uses. Within the hearth, provide a lounge, department mail, coffee, supplies, small library, student information, etc.” Christopher Alexander, The Oregon Experiement
23. Gathering on Our Turf
Issue Statement
Each department’s identity is reinforced by their ability to meet together as a group. If the space used for all-staff meetings is not under the department’s control, cohesion and identity can be eroded.
Solution Statement
Within each department locate a space large enough for the entire staff to meet. This should be a space that is intensely utilized most of the time for other purposes, be it a work room, conference room, etc. This space should be either next to or part of the Department Hearth. Here is where everyone can gather for staff meetings, lunch or special occasions.
24. Flexible Office Space
Issue Statement
Office landscape solutions are usually very flexible over time. However, they are only suitable for types of work which require neither a high degree of privacy nor much internal cohesion within individual working groups.
Solution Statement
Provide departments with a variety of working environments based on the types of work being accomplished. This will most likely create a range of places: from acoustically isolated offices, to half-private offices, to alcoves in small work groups to open stations in work rooms. By minimizing the spaces used by individuals, more space can be given over to common spaces built on a more permanent basis, as they remain useful through a variety of office users over time.
25. Small Group Collaboration
Issue Statement
Working in a large, undifferentiated workspace that is ‘landscaped’ with furniture often does not meet the needs of small groups of people needing to collaborate. On the other hand, working in isolated, closed offices can be equally as detrimental to work where collaboration is necessary. Much of the work being done by departments going into the new building could benefit from a working environment supportive of collaboration.
Solution Statement
Break departments into small, spatially identifiable work groups. Arrange these groups so that each person is in at least partial view of the other members of his/her own group. Arrange a departments ‘groups’ in such a way that they share a common entrance, food, office equipment, drinking fountains and toilet rooms.
26. Matching Work to Environment
Issue Statement
Everyone’s job has specific environmental needs that enhance the type of work being accomplished. Often a reporting structure dictates the kind of work environment one is provided with, which may or may not support the kind of work an individual does. For example, a manager may be given a private office based on his/her position in the corporate hierarchy, but an enclosed office could easily isolate the manager from those he/she is supposed to be managing, making the job more difficult.
Solution Statement
Four Work Categories: 1.”The Hive”, characterized by routine work done by individuals with little autonomy. Small work stations in larger open rooms. 2.”The Cell”, where the predominant work mode is concentrated, individual and highly autonomous. Private offices, shared conference rooms. 3.”The Den”, emphasizes interactive group work in a wide variety of settings. Shared work surfaces and spaces. 4.”The Club”, characterized by high levels of both concentrated and interactive work, with a great deal of shared support of different kinds.
27. Student Worker Niches
Issue Statement
Student employees are part of the life of University services. They play an important role on department staffs, but unless they are deliberately integrated into the work environment, they can feel isolated and/or left out.
Solution Statement
Place student workers in a variety of small niches and stations along the edge of primary workspace, between veteran employees and next to activity centers. Avoid putting students together in a room of their own.
28. Flexible Restrooms
Issue Statement
Currently, many of the departments going into the building are staffed predominately by females. If the building were planned per code, i.e. equal, central toilet facilities for women and men, the female occupants of the new building would be under-served. However, large central toilet rooms are much easier to maintain and re-supply than numerous, distributed uni-sex toilet rooms.
Solution Statement
Ali McBeal?
29. Bulk Storage
Issue Statement
A number of departments mentioned the need for seasonal as well as bulk storage. To have such storage space within the building would be highly desireable.
Solution Statement
If a basement becomes part of the building, designated bulk storage should be included.
