The End is in Sight...

Just as January, February, and March have seemed to flash in front of our eyes, so too has April… but this time faster if that can even be possible!

This month, the Atelier has really dug deep into our plans for the Over-the-Rhine Senior Living facility proposed for the vacant lot at the corner of 15^th and Race Streets.  We have discussed, deciphered, debated, and decided on many things these past few weeks: structure, HVAC systems, elevations, details, façade materials, reflected ceiling plans, window schedules, floor heights, stairs, and the list goes on and on.  We have collectively refined our AutoCAD skills and learned some new tricks along the way.  We have (we think…) successfully conquered our computer failures, DropBox furies, and XRef frenzies.  While working through all of this, we have even conjured up a drawing set for our proposal, with a little help here and there from our friends at CR architecture + design and Steven Schaefer Associates.  A special thanks to Doug Steimle for answering all of our many structural questions and clarifying our confusions.  As we are told, even architects with 30+ years experience don’t understand it all and sometimes need a little explanation. :)

This past week has been a constant refinement and adjustment of our drawing set, as we have printed a few drafts and attacked them with red lines.  As goes the end of every project, the workdays have been very quiet, so says our neighbor David Ross, as we have been diligently AutoCADing away.  We can now even dream in AutoCAD.

These last few days of our 2011 Atelier experience will be a final push to create a completed drawing set for our Over-the-Rhine Senior Living proposal, as well as bringing all of our work together for a showcase at our Open House this Friday, April 29^th.  As our days living here in Over-the-Rhine and working downtown at CR architecture + design come to a close, we want to thank everyone who has contributed their time, talents, and thoughts to our project and our Atelier experience.  We have all learned so much from you all and could never thank you enough!  It has truly been a meaningful learning experience.

-The 2011 Atelier Team

Atelier Open House!

We would like to invite you all to...

We hope to see you there!

How is it April already??

Busy.  Busy.  Busy.  That has been the story of the Atelier for the past few weeks and somehow April happened! 

As senior housing has filled our minds and unseasonably cold weather has filled the air, we have been continually developing and refining our plans for the North Site—what we have started to call “Over-the-Rhine Senior Living.”  We have reconfigured unit plans and placements, shifted elevator shafts, raised and lowered parking, tweaked the entrance, and fiddled with ramps and stairs.  After all of these fine-tuned adjustments, we have decided on a fairly thought-out design for now (that is, of course, until something else changes… J).



Currently, our Over-the-Rhine Senior Living designs consist of a campus of 2 separate, but connected buildings.  On Race Street sits the East facility which is made-up of 47 HUD-202, 1-bedroom units.  This facility is raised from the sidewalk about 3 ½ feet with tuck-under parking that accommodates 27 parking spaces below.  This facility is also physically connected at all levels to the existing historic building located on Race Street.  At the street level, a ramp and several stairs make-up the difference in elevation of the existing building’s first floor level and that of our proposed East facility’s.  The main entrance of the campus is at the west-end of the green space at the corner of 15^th and Races Streets.  On the corner of 15^th and Pleasant Streets sit the West facility which, alternatively, consists of 34 Low Income Tax Credit, 1-bedroom units as well as a 2-bedroom manager’s unit. This facility provides street access to the manager’s unit on the ground level and a physical connection to the East facility on the upper levels.  In all, our designs encompass 81 affordable units.

With all of this in mind, we met with an Otis elevator consultant to discuss details about the number, type, and size of the elevator(s) to place in our designs for our project.  This was a very informative discussion, as we learned about two different types of elevators and how they each physically operate and the requirements that pertain to each.  We collectively decide on a G2S elevator which consists of a traction car with gearless drive motors and cables.

We also pulled out the hardhats and took a trip to one of CR’s current developments in Mariemont for a site visit of Emery Park.  This gave us a good taste of the type of construction that our own project would encompass—concrete structure and parking below grade with wood-framed construction of dwelling units above.  It was good to get out of the office and see first-hand the type of construction we are actually dealing with.



On Friday, none other than April Fool’s Day, was jb’s birthday, so of course we had to celebrate!!  We baked up a cake and decorated our little corner of the office.  Birthday hats were included!  I think we pulled off a pleasant birthday surprise.  Later on we took a tour of Over-the-Rhine’s St. Francis Seraph.  We explored many features of the church and even crawled up into the attic space to see the giant trusses and bell towers.  Check out the pictures!

Amidst all this excitement and commotion we even changed desks at the office along with everyone else in CR’s official “Office Refresh.”  We now have new neighbors and a new view out our windows.  And oddly enough, they put us close to the coffee J