about people & place
the renaissance building
A mixed-use building to serve the community of Savannah, GA in their search for disproductivity.
my parents always told me I’d never change the world. It wasn’t anything personal, it was simply the outlook they were left with after a lifetime of working to make ends meet. weekdays, weekends, mornings, nights, and any hours in-between spent away from home, and even when they were able to take breaks work seemed to follow. burnout leads to complacency; you’ll never change the world like that. why do we allow ourselves to fall in to this cycle of work and weariness? this is not what we are here for. we are here to learn and grow, and I have created a space that allows us to do that, a space unconstrained by productivity, time, and even program. it is a wealth of knowledge, an opportunity for new beginnings. it is a space of connection and exploration, of comfort and rest. it is everything you need and a respite from everything you don’t. it is a space for you to find new passions and learn new skills, a renaissance of the spirit. perhaps I’ll never change the world, but I can change someone’s.
site.
the site of the project rests on the corner of lincoln street and e congress street in savannah, georgia. it is nestled in a tything lot in warren square, a lot originally intended for strictly private residences. the site is low-traffic and its surrounding area can be broken down in to residential to the north and commercial to the south. the surrounding buildings are at maximum a height of four stories.
the wealth of knowledge.
the wealth of knowledge is a space to explore skills and find new passions without the pressures of collegiate or community courses that could teach the same. ideally publicly funded, these are not courses but rather open-invitation meetings that help to forge bonds between people and learning. the space has a notably open plan, no walls or partitions such that the space can become anything that it needs to.
the residences.
the residences put a heavy focus on warm materiality and lighting, as warmth fosters a greater sense of comfort and home. louvered windows are provided for adaptability of daylighting throughout the seasons as necessary, as well as for privacy from the public porches as desired. the floors are staggered, alternating between standard residences as well as accessible residences, which take up the second and fourth floors as well as the third and fifth floors respectively.
the lobby.
the lobby features a combination of lowered ceilings as well as ramped conversation pits. these conversation pits are low enough that they allow for different types of conversations to occur in addition to the lowered ceilings, but not so low that conversations shared with those out of the pits would feel awkward because of height difference. the lobby also utilizes warm lighting as well as running lights along the edge of the floor to give it a more leisurely lounge-like feeling.