SITE SELECTION

And I am back with the next step for this project. I finally selected a suitable location for my project. This particular site meets a lot the required criteria necessary for the expected impact.

One of the most important criteria was to focus on the adaptive reuse of a structure or building. There is so much potential in designing for adaptive reuse these days. I came across this great project for urban outfitters. The project recently received a 2010 AIA Institute Honor Award for Architecture. So in the early 2000's, the company was facing major issues as their employees were spread out in numerous buildings in the downtown. So the CEO decided to buy this old navy yard in Philadelphia and converted it into a huge headquarter office for the urban outfitters. The project enhances the beauty of the wear and tear of this abandoned navy yard while giving it a raw and modern look suiting the company

This is what inspired me to adopt the concept of adaptive reuse which got me to my other important aspect of site selection; it had to be easily accessible to multiple users. Keeping that in mind, the site was selected on the Louisville road in Savannah, GA. The site is very close to the SCAD’s architecture building and falls right on the junction which separates the Savannah Historic District, West Savannah, and the Carver Heights. This looks like a perfect location as this space has been really dead and unwelcoming for quite a long time. Now in the present scenario, the site is handicapped without a good pedestrian access. So that became my top priority to make the space more accessible. Also, there are a couple of mass transit bus stops nearby to this site making it accessible to people who don’t own private vehicles. The site is blessed with a beautiful landscape with a water canal flowing at the backside and lots of trees. It gave me a good advantage to make use of the available resources to make the space less intimidating and more welcoming. A lot of the site and interior planning has been based on the site circulation. About which I’ll be talking about in the next blog.