How We Think

How can we increase rentable square footage and building efficiency by eliminating redundancy in standard building egress?

On several of our feasibility studies for multifamily housing, we have employed an interlocking stair system to increase rentable square footage. Typically, two separate egress stairs are constructed in a multifamily building. By simplifying this and constructing two stairs in the same footprint, we can increase the rentable or sellable square footage and increase the building’s efficiency. In Massachusetts, the building code allows an Interlocking stair to act as two separate means of egress as long the building is not a high rise and the fire rating is maintained between the two stairs. The entry doors to the stair must also be separated by 1/3 the overall diagonal of the building, assuming the building is protected with automatic sprinklers (2015 IBC: 1107.1.1)

This system is often used in New York City on very tight infill sites for high rise construction. New York City building code is more generous in allowing the use of an interlocking stair. They are permitted in high rise construction of R-2 occupancies as long as the shaft and separation are constructed of 2 hour rated masonry, and the entry doors are separated by 15’ minimum (NYCBC 1015.2.1).

In terms of cost, from our experience in the Boston area a conventional stair costs approximately $400-500/ tread, while an interlocking stair costs approximately $350-$450/ tread. Landings for both systems cost approximately $1,000 dollars, and for an interlocking stair system, there are less landings. There is some extra cost in the interlocking stair for a 2 hour rated shaft wall separating the stairs. However, if steel and concrete construction is used and the landings are cantilevered, this could help to reduce the cost of a custom stair landing. We believe the cost of two typical switchback stairs versus one interlocking stair would be closely priced depending on the construction methods. Therefore, for a very similar construction cost, we can gain valuable square footage that can be rented or sold, increasing revenue and profit.

C O L L A B O R A T O R S

Hastings Consulting

How can we efficiently create a custom metal exterior on a tight budget?

The exterior of the Taylor-Metcalf Residence in San Diego is clad in a weathered steel skin with unique patterns and perforations. By customizing the cladding for the home, ThoughtCraft needed to rethink the typical delivery process and coordinate its execution. To keep the costs down, fabrication of the panels was streamlined by utilizing both analog and automation processes. This allowed for efficient collaboration with hands-on clients Joe Metcalf and Traci Taylor, simplified cutting of steel sheets by Waterjet West, and straightforward installation by Brian Vincent of Vincent Design and K-Co.

The façade has 212 metal panels, many of which are unique due to the shape of the existing home and the custom perforation patterns. This made it imperative to streamline the production of the panels to save on labor costs and to keep from cutting each panel individually by hand. Once the field verifications of the wood framing were gathered, ThoughtCraft produced a layout drawing depicting all of the panels on the façade, and coded these panels so they could be easily tagged and identified in the field. Field cut pieces were strategically located and oversized so they could be trimmed later to adjust to any imperfections in the framing. These layouts were then imported into a nesting automation software to pack them as tight as possible on the 5x10 steel sheets. The result was over 90% efficiency in material use. The files exported from the nesting software allowed for the solid panels to be easily cut to profile on a shear, and the perforated panels were produced with a waterjet machine. ThoughtCraft’s involvement helped save on material cost and reduction of material waste, therefore allowing for a beautiful custom weathered steel skin on a tight budget.

C O L L A B O R A T OR S

Ian Mellor | Vincent Designs, Inc. | Studio 512 | K-Co | Waterjet West, Inc. | Arise Design

How can we make cement board siding, now found everywhere, appear to be a more elegant and special product?

We are constantly rethinking how we use materials. Buildings are composed of wood, glass, concrete, fiber cement board, plastics, composites, metals and many other materials today. We all have associations with materials from our own experiences. Materials can make a space feel warm or cold, light or dark, or tell us we’re in a home or a hospital. They are the background to our daily routines and memories. The same material can appear refined and elegant, or mundane and ubiquitous depending on how it’s used.

One such ubiquitous material is fiber cement board, now used on most residential and multifamily construction because of its very low cost, ease of installation, and low maintenance. There are many different manufactures such as Hardie, Nichiha, CBF Silbonit, but they all feel like paper mache and have the look of flat painted drywall.

PATTERNING: In the Canyon house project, we tested various patterning techniques to break down the standard size and find more appealing proportions and effects. We assimilated patterns to the surrounding landscape to visually blend the material, taking on a more organic appearance. A number of rules were developed in the patterning sequencing, and the addition of color reinforced the organic appearance on the hillside.

STEPPING: In the Balakrishnan project we became more interested in creating visual depth in the material. We tested various ways to offset wood furring behind the fiber cement board for a more elegant effect. Accent landscape lighting can be inserted between panels to accentuate and give function to what otherwise is a blank wall. Careful detailing and execution is critical to the final product.

Re-presenting materials like fiber cement board in ways we don’t typically associate them elevates their appearance and function, while still having the low cost benefits.

How do we create urban furniture with a collective identity while maximizing flexibility for arrangements and vendors?

As citizens work to take back their urban communities, planning departments have been playing catch- up. Shopping kiosks, parklets, push carts, food trucks, guerilla gardening, yarn bombing, and all manner of tactical urbanism have begun to proliferate urban centers. While often welcomed, this proliferation has begun to breakdown the visual coherence of city districts, edges, nodes and other elements that define identity. In response, planning departments have started embracing tactical urbanism as an instigator for renewing street life as well as attempting to write some rules to retain identity and strengthen what Kevin Lynch termed in 1960 as “The Image of the City.”

In 2011 CUBE was approached by the lease holder of a fruit and flower stand located at the prominent corner of the Old South Meeting House (a National Landmark). We were asked to design a semi- permanent structure that addressed security issues for the market as well as respected the historic nature of the building it sits aside. This led to a larger study of the many such vendors in Boston’s Downtown Crossing district, and invited conversations with the Boston Redevelopment Authority which had been struggling with the loss of a cohesive identity in the district. After speaking with the many food and retail vendor cart owners in the area, we begin to define a modular and moveable kiosk that both held identity in its form and graphics for the city, and allowed vendors to customize and graft onto for their own needs. The kiosks could be presented individually or linked in many configurations to form a full market.

One such ubiquitous material is fiber cement board, now used on most residential and multifamily construction because of its very low cost, ease of installation, and low maintenance. There are many different manufactures such as Hardie, Nichiha, CBF Silbonit, but they all feel like paper mache and have the look of flat painted drywall.

PATTERNING: In the Canyon house project, we tested various patterning techniques to break down the standard size and find more appealing proportions and effects. We assimilated patterns to the surrounding landscape to visually blend the material, taking on a more organic appearance. A number of rules were developed in the patterning sequencing, and the addition of color reinforced the organic appearance on the hillside.

STEPPING: In the Balakrishnan project we became more interested in creating visual depth in the material. We tested various ways to offset wood furring behind the fiber cement board for a more elegant effect. Accent landscape lighting can be inserted between panels to accentuate and give function to what otherwise is a blank wall. Careful detailing and execution is critical to the final product.

Re-presenting materials like fiber cement board in ways we don’t typically associate them elevates their appearance and function, while still having the low cost benefits.

In 2007, a demolition permit had been granted for Paul Rudolph’s 1960 Blue Cross Blue Shield office building to make way for New England’s tallest tower by Renzo Piano. Intrigued by the collision of new and old, and the lack of demolition alternatives, we set out to rethink the meaning of preservation using this project as an example.

The legacy of Rudolph’s building lies mainly in its innovative facade that contains the mechanical and structural systems, thereby freeing the interior floor space for office use. Drawing from the work of artist Gordon Matta-Clark, we hypothesized a series of concepts that reinterpreted preservation as: integration, anatomical exhibition, dissection, public art and remnant. In doing so, we revealed aspects of the building that prompted a new understanding of its cultural contributions, and began a new dialogue about how architecture should be preserved. These explorations led us to new projects and speaking engagements, as well as a successful stay of demolition for Rudolph’s building.

How do we create urban furniture with a collective identity while maximizing flexibility for arrangements and vendors?

Too often preservation is a curatorial act focused solely on the physical building and not the ideas and stories that shaped it over time. New architecture can have a dialogue with old architecture to evoke story, memory, and solidify identity and meaning. Doing so reveals deeper meanings and heightens awareness of history. This approach can be realized in five key phases:

1. TRACING TIME: Move beyond the physical building to uncover the ideas, stories, and events that first brought it about. This approach can move buildings beyond it’s “a good example of…” to it’s “directly connected too the story of…”

2. UNCOVERING THEMES: By mapping overlapping historic influences such as the construction methods, the occupants, the architect, the neighborhood, the economy, the cultural influences, and the news of the day, we can compare and uncover the unique threads and themes.

3. STRATEGIZING APPROACH: Based on historic significance, regulations, and project goals, define the intent: should the building be fully preserved, an archeologically interpreted site, partially preserved, transformed, minimally preserved, or some hybrid approach?

4. CONCEPTUALIZING DESIGN: The rehabilitation, renovation, alterations, or additions are born out of the findings such that they help to activate and heighten the awareness of the building’s overlapping historic influences.

5. CRAFTING THE DETAILS: Careful detailing between old and new elements can heighten awareness, and integrated graphics can support the story.

Within this open loft condominium, a strangely inaccessible and residual space is converted into a study for a young professional couple looking to expand their family. Integrated into the 16 foot by 5 foot shelf space is a desk with two workstations, shelving for storage and display, and a alternating tread stair with guardrail. The legibility of construction for these new components and simple expression of off-the-shelf parts help give scale and sophistication to this otherwise ordinary loft.

C O L L A B O R A T O R S

Nancy Stracka Interiors