Committee Prep III: The Prepening (Four of Three)

Design Considerations

(this is where the slides and images stop because I haven't put this part of the PPT presentation together yet. Sorry!)
There are certain issues that concern UBC Properties regarding the Underground bus loop and the new University Boulevard Plaza.

• Limited space in the underground waiting area: While more students use the UBC Bus Loop in the morning peak hours than in the afternoon, afternoon use causes a significant problem because students will be waiting in the underground space instead of merely moving through it. While there is adequate space for most buses, there is not enough room for the afternoon B-Line peak (roughly 700 passengers for about 10 minutes)
• UBC Properties Trust has suggested that a good way to mitigate this problem is to use the SUB plaza as a buffer to slow down the movement of students to the 99 B-Line queue.Commercial Impression of Campus: the Campus Community Poll Results (Appendix B) show that many students, faculty and staff are concerned about the impact of a commercial space being the first contact point of visitors with the university of British Columbia.
• Un-public space: By creating a retail plaza as compared to an open space, the commercial space undermines the public nature of the plaza and therefore the University. There should be no question that the university and this space are welcome to all, even if they are unable to support these businesses. In the same vein, students should feel free to act in ways that retailers may feel is not helpful to their businesses.
• Little Green Space: Appendix B also shows that many students/faculty/staff are concerned about losing the Grassy Knoll: one of the few open green spaces left in the centre of campus. They also register concern about a lack of connection to the current use and history of the site.

Proposed action: Redesign the interface between the underground bus loop and the SUB plaza using microarchitectural articulations to address concerns about:

• Limited space in the bus loop
• Limited daylighting in bus loop
• Commercial impressions of campus
• Un-public space
• Lack of green space

Committee Prep III: The Prepening (Three of Three)

I want to apply MA's to the interface between the new UBC underground transit loop and the university proper.

UBC held the UBC Boulevard competition in 2005. Firms were invited to submit designs for the University Boulevard Area, which is surrounded by the green line as shown. This space includes the Bosque, the Grassy Knoll, the lower SUB plaza, the old Bus Loop and parts of University Boulevard. While the competition included these areas, it did not include the underground transit hub then being designed by VIA Architecture.

While much of this space is currently parking and/or driving space, the Grassy Knoll and the lower SUB Plaza are frequently used by students in many different ways. The Grassy Knoll provides a place for students to sit in warmer weather, and the SUB plaza is used for all kinds of demonstrations as well as Storm the Wall.

Due to proximity to the old Bus Loop and the Student Union Building, these two spaces can be identified as some of the most diversely used areas of campus. In addition they are not adjacent to any faculty or department buildings: they are in a neutral part of campus and so 'belong' to all students equally.

The new design for the Unversity boulevard Project was initiated by Moore Yudell Ruble (sp?) and Hughes Condon Marler. MYR has recently dropped the project, which has been picked up by Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg. The two firms have also taken over the work of VIA Architects for the underground station design.

The area includes 100 student residents, a 5 storey office tower and a sizeable amount of retail space. Access to the underground transit loop is limited to one large stairway and two elevators accessed through the adjacent buildings. Paths across the stair stitch together the plaza.

The terminal is divided into three portions: a parking area for buses not in use, a loading area, and a waiting area. The loading and parking areas are separated from the waiting area by a glass wall, with doors that open electronically when buses approach. The parking area is not visible from the waiting area. The parking and loading areas are mechanically vented with most fresh air coming from the entry tunnel, and the waiting area is ventilated through the main stairway. There is no room for commercial space in the underground loop and it will be lit by a mixture of natural and artificial light.

Committee Prep III: The Prepening (Two of Three)

These precedents lead to Microarchitectural Articulations.

Microarchitectural Articulations are drawings that begin to investigate how the relationship between different surfaces can produce ambiguities and encourage different kinds of occupation. Using user requirements from Architectural Graphic Standards, the MA's blend different functions into a single space, allowing different uses at different times.

For example, this Seat/Envelope combination can be used in different ways depending on whether the envelope is closed. Because the surfaces are separated by specific distances derived from relationships to the human body, they imply certain uses. Because they can be used in more than one way, the uses they imply remain somewhat ambiguous.

This ambiguity becomes even more visible when the sectional moments of microarchitectural articulations are combined in three dimensions. Seats, tables, bleachers and counters combine to create different kinds of use opportunities.

Committee Prep III: The Prepening (One of Three)

I've assembled a series of slides that should adequately describe both the microarchitectural articulations (MA's) and the site for the presentation this evening. They're all fancy with a nice font, title pages and citations.



Welcome to this committee meeting. I'm really glad to have everyone here together.

I wrote my Directed Studies about the dichotomy between articulated and flexible space. For a space to be really flexible, it should be able to support a lot of different functions, but in many cases this diminishes the potential for uses not imagined by the designers. I spent some time last semester looking at articulations that can support many different kinds of use.





Vernor Panton's Living Environments from the 1970's are one example how spaces can be articulated and scaled to the human body without regulating how the space is used. Because the shapes all use the same vocabulary the group of different elements work as a single unit composed of many small parts. The result of these articulations is an environment that is ambiguous. Use of the projections is unclear: while they are scaled to the body the lack of definition between floor, ceiling and walls allow users to invent new uses for the landscape. People can lean, sit and lie down: they can sit far apart or close together.

This kind of ambiguity is important for creating a space that is articulated and unprogrammed.

The Weitere Projecktbeteilgte is another example of how ambiguity can create many use possibilities. These pink blocks are made of foam rubber and can be assembled in different ways. They activate a large plaza between two galleries by creating inhabitation spaces in an otherwise empty space. Because of their material they are both comfortable to occupy, and because they are not shaped as benches or chairs users feel free to use them in many different ways.

Joel Sanders' 24/7 Hotel Room Prototype uses ambiguous surfaces in a different way. Because hotel rooms need to be compact, but much of the room is not used for a significant portion of the day, the 24/7 Hotel allows spaces to change from private to public with the deployment of a wall. The articulated surfaces are designed to meet more than one need and so their use can shift as user requirements vary during the day.

Committee Prep II: Presentation Boogaloo

Well, it's definately useful to write down everything that I know. Unfortunately, that doesn't always translate into a good presentation. What will make a good presentation is a concise & succinct presentation of what I know.

Since that may not come through, here is a list of what I need to do for tomorrow at 5:45.

1. Outline DS project. Pick a couple of precedents and a couple of microarchitectural articulations (MA's) and describe how they work.
2. Outline site. Show current site and proposed site, including new renders of SUB plaza and transit hub. Describe Properties Trust's ideas for SUB plaza mall.
3. Outline program. Explain the need for a space that slows the flow of students to the bus loop.
4. Look at design obstacles/opportunities. This should include: rents required to pay for part of hub, grade change over site, daylighting, comfort and keeping students dry, requirement for 'liveliness'.

I need to do this whole presentation in 20 slides or less and keep it to required information. I know more about this site than anyone on my committee, and I want to make sure that I don't overwhelm them because I know so much.

I'm not yet clear on the best way to organize this information. Is it better to start with the MA's and then talk about site/program and design obstacles? Or should I start out with the site and design problem and suggest that MA's are a good solution for it? I guess I'll start out trying to describe MA's and then I can stick that portion of the presentation wherever it seems to fit best.

Metric ton of new info.

I had a meeting with UBC Properties Trust today. It was a great meeting: I spent an hour and a half talking about the new transit loop and SUB plaza. The only problem is that now I have a ton of new information that I need to sort out in my head, then work into my presentation. The presentation that is in less than 24 hours. Uh, yay?

Okay, so here is what's going on:

The new transit hub has been passed from VIA to Hughes Condon Marler. VIA did the original work, bu it has since been significantly tweaked by HCM. The current plan is roughly rhomboid and the trolley buses and community shuttles have been moved to the surface. The loop itself has been divided into two parts, which are the passenger loading area and the bus waiting area (where the buses are left when the drivers are taking their breaks). The passenger loading area is divided from the passenger waiting area by sliding glass doors that electronically open when the bus arrives so passengers can load. Passengers with bicycles will use the front entry to go around the bus to pick up their bicycles. The two portions are divided to reduce exhaust fumes in the passenger waiting area.

The size of the bus loop is determined by various factors. To the south is a large steam tunnel, to the north is the student union building and the bosque and to the east is the Aquatic Centre. Columns have been placed so that the buses can get through the space most effectively and the size of the waiting area is dictated by the amount of space required by the buses and the space required by cyclists to retrieve their bicycles.

The underground bus loop is accessed either by the two elevators (in the buildings on the SUB plaza) or by a large staircase that leads to the centre of the loop. While I was initially concerned about the amount of students attempting to get out of the loop on a single stair, studies show that if 95% of users are on the stairs it will be sufficient.

What is much more of a concern is the waiting area for the buses. While in the morning students can be expected to leave the transit loop as quickly as possible, in the afternoons they will be loitering around the loop to catch their buses. This can lead to as many as 800 people standing around (about 5:10 in the afternoon, if you are wondering when not to catch a bus).

UBC Properties trust felt that a way to mitigate this bunching would be to create loitering space on the plaza above the loop. If students are aware that a lag of 30min to 1 hr would cut their waiting time significantly they would likely be amenable to waiting outside the bus loop with coffee. The SUB plaza is intended to house a variety of different amenities, including two coffee shops, a bank, drycleaners and a range of food outlets from hot dog stands to mid-range dining. These services will be in the two buildings on the plaza.

Unfortunately it takes more than restaurants to create a space where students want to hang out. A large plaza would be equally ineffective: most UBC residents/students are aware that Library Plaza (between Main and Koerner Libraries) is virtually unused other than a passage between one side of the campus to the other. Modern students do not demonstrate as they used to, nor is our university conducive to large groups of people.

My thesis talks a lot about how to make spaces lively and how body-scale articulations can help to activate a space by suggesting possible uses without denying others. It sounds like the SUB plaza/transit exchange could benefit from a few microarchitectural articulations (MA's) to create spaces where students could pass anywhere from 10 minutes to a few hours while they wait for the buses to calm down. This slowing of load would make an enormous difference to anyone waiting for the bus and may prevent line-ups for the B-Line from winding all the way up the stairs out onto the new plaza.

There are a few other things worth noting. There will be housing on this plaza: probably about 120 units of 2-4 bedroom suites that are administered by UBC Properties trust and can be rented by students. This is not market housing. This will be three stories above the retail floor and there will also be an office 'tower' that rises five floors above the retail. The plaza will be surrounded by retail outlets. There is no space for retail in the underground loop.

Getting in and getting out

One of the things I really noticed with the new bus loop is that it significantly changes the flow of traffic around the student union building.

This map shows movement patterns for transit users. Red are users going to the north-east part of campus (mostly Arts), blue is going to the south-west (mostly science) and purple is going to the Student Union Building. This is a simplification because there other directions, but the majority of users go in these two directions.

Last week I gave some user statistics from the Transportation Status Report. One of the numbers that I didn't include were estimations of how many people pass through the bus loop in the busiest hours on campus. In the hours ending at 9:00 and 10:00, nearly 4,500 people get off buses on campus. That's almost 9,000 students, staff and faculty in two hours, or a new person every 0.8 seconds. That's a lot of people.

I remember from my time on campus how crowded it could get around the bus loop in peak times. That's why I was a little surprised when I assembled the same kind of map for the University Boulevard project, from the slide on conceptual design issues .

The only access to the underground transit station is two escalators.

I started to try to calculate how long it would take to get out of the transit loop if there were only two escalators, but realised that this is against fire codes. There must be more exits that for some reason have not been included in the diagram.

Vancouver is not cold enough to require fully enclosed transit hub. Considering our bus shelters and Skytrain stations (note the architects) it seems enough to protect passengers from wind and rain. Even during especially cold periods, it rarely gets below -10 degrees celcius.

I'm very anxious to see the plans for the tranist hub from VIA architects and/or UBC Properties Trust. I hope they have information to fill in these blanks.