Dormitory
Though New York factories and warehouses are no longer churning out machines and textiles like they once did, they still dot the landscape of New York, from SoHo to Williamsburg to the northern fringes of Pratt's own neighborhood of Clinton Hill. Today their massive floors, divided into lofts, serve as homes for artists, Internet startups, coffee shops, students, and everything in between; still some of the most desirable real estate in a city starved for space. It is these industrial warehouses and factories which served as inspiration for this project. This began with the materials, unfinished concrete and exposed steel. The structure of the residential section of the building is concrete, forming a grid of raw concrete tubes which comprise the shells of the units. The interiors of the units are wood, inserted into the shell, with each unit housing four students. The circulation for the units, as well as the lofted living rooms, attaches to the rear of this concrete structure, connecting to the communal spaces on the south side of the building. The communal spaces occupy a large glass box, and are comprised of catwalks and platforms of exposed steel, suspended within the otherwise empty volume. This is an open area with studying and gathering areas, as well as an auditorium, all of which are exposed to each other and which are adjacent to the neighborhood's main thoroughfare, Myrtle Avenue, and face Pratt's main campus across the street. This is an inherently alive space, changing throughout the day and year, silent at times and unrestrained at others. The building mitigates its effect on the environment through multiple means. The most obvious of which is the shading screen, which is comprised of solar water heating tubes on the south and east elevations of the glass box. Additionally, combined passive ventilation and solar chimneys help reduce the dependence on the climate control system, which is itself a geothermal exchange system, while also performing as light wells. The roof, though not habitable, houses both an extensive green system and storm water detention.
