Energy Advancement & Innovation Center / Coworking Tower

Architecture UG3 Studio / Spring 2020 / Bart Overley

Energy Advancement & Innovation Center / Coworking Tower

Architecture drawing by Aaron Kuck
Architecture drawing by Aaron Kuck
Architecture drawing by Aaron Kuck
Architecture drawing by Alexandros Christofides and Ashlynn Benning
Architecture drawing by Alexandros Christofides and Ashlynn Benning
Architecture drawing by Alexandros Christofides and Ashlynn Benning

Energy Advancement & Innovation Center (EAIC)

The word laboratory conjures images of rarified spaces occupied by experts engaged in the pursuit of scientific truth. Yet the depth and complexity of contemporary challenges, such as energy and climate change, are transforming laboratories into dynamic spaces for transdisciplinary engagement and broader public visibility. This project—the Energy Advancement and Innovation Center (EAIC)—proposes a contemporary lab building of this type for the main campus of The Ohio State University. The project is also a multi-story cast-in-place concrete structure. Cast-in-place concrete is one of the most versatile and flexible structural systems, capable of long spans, plastic forms, and large openings. The project investigates how concrete can be used intelligently and imaginatively for the design of an iconic campus building.

Architecture drawing by Aaron Kuck and Omar Alvarado
Architecture drawing by Aaron Kuck and Omar Alvarado
Architecture drawing by Aaron Kuck and Omar Alvarado
Architecture drawing by Samantha Hrusovsky
Architecture drawing by Samantha Hrusovsky
Architecture drawing by Samantha Hrusovsky

 

Coworking Tower

Office buildings encode cultures of work in their built forms and interior environments. The past decade has seen the rapid rise of coworking spaces to serve the growing number of freelance workers—a group that is expected to grow to 50% of the American workforce during the next decade. Unlike the neutrality of a typical office plan, coworking offices are spatially and programmatically diverse. Their success rests on freelancers’ desires for both community and a diverse array of amenities. This project imagines a new purpose-built, steel-framed coworking tower for downtown Columbus, Ohio. The project seeks to move beyond the simple accommodation of existing desires for Class-A office space, offering new spatial, formal, and material possibilities for coworking lifestyles.