David M. Owens

Between the Catskills and the Berkshires runs the New York Upstate Hudson Valley, populated by many of the Dutch and English settlers in the 18th and 19th centuries. The two groups came with their own distinctive approach to construction and design. And from there, followed multiple approaches to building style.

One of these is called the Eyebrow Style.

I don’t fully understand its history, only that it is one of the styles to be develop by English settlers in this area. It is recognized by a second floor that is punched with multiple small scale windows within, what is on the outside, the freeze to a classically proportion building. My guess is this style is a quirky variation of an English Neoclassical style, but I’m only beginning to learn.

Part of that learning process has been to develop a playhouse, scaled for a child, that follows all of the general proportions and elements of the style. The Eyebrow Playhouse.

There are only two types of windows along the classical façades, and this is in keeping with the style. The corner details, fenestration and front entry are of typical classical pieces.

The interior is simply an open box with a partial second level. It reaches out to a second story landing at the rear that can provide for a slide and a fireman’s pole.

The elevation on this backside was developed in a more modern language, using some of the design and proportional principles found within the de Stijl movement. The back, modern elevation is cut open at the corners and includes large panels and window systems.

context and design

work done while design principal at tsoi/kobus & associates • stokes hall building photos by robert benson photography

building information • 183,000 square feet • two separate building wings (north and south linked by a second level bridge • 36 classrooms • 250 private offices • 85 seat lecture and performance auditorium • student café and gathering area, stokes commons • academic advising center • arts and sciences honors program • classics • english • first year experience (program orientation resources and special elective social and academic programs for freshman students) • history • information technology • philosophy • pulse program (philosophy and theology coursework combined with a community out reach it and voluntarism component) • theology

LEED silver certification

steven stimson associates • landscape architect

lemessurier consulting • structural engineer

br+a • MEP engineer

walsh brothers • construction manager

Awards

2014

Palladio Award

New Construction larger than 30,000 sq.ft.
Boston College Stokes Hall

2013 
 

AGC Build New England 
Performance Award 
Boston College Stokes Hall

BAC Craft Award
Best Stone Project
Boston College Stokes Hall 

Bulfinch Award
Boston College Stokes Hall

commercial/civic/ecclesiastic-large building

CMAA Project Achievement Award

Boston College Stokes Hall

The Gothic style marked a turning point in European cultural history. Emerging from the vision first realized at St. Denis in Paris during the 12th century, it sparked a creative burst of unprecedented energy and originality in the arts and architecture. It launched the first great flowering of European culture since antiquity, spreading quickly from its origins in northern France throughout the continent. 

The style is identified by its exalting spaces, inspiring verticality and dramatic use of light. It is well known and easily identified by its unique characteristics; the pointed arch, flying buttress, ribbed vault and large expanses of rich stained glass. At the heart of the Gothic style is a highly refined fusion of art and technology. 

Tagged with its spurious name during the Renaissance, it was for many years considered an inferior style. With its rebirth in the 18th century, the Gothic Revival style opened up exciting opportunities to create innovative forms and spaces with the latest emerging materials and technologies. Its principles of structural expression and the honest use of materials, acceptance of asymmetry (when called for) and its flexible proportional systems strongly influenced the early thinking of the Modern Movement.

American Collegiate Gothic is part of this long, often re-interpreted heritage. The Gothic style was chosen for college campuses as early as 1878, largely because of its associative value. The style became synonymous with an authentic -even hallowed- academic setting, evoking the respected models of Oxford and Cambridge Universities. The Gothic style is an important symbol of learning and academic greatness. It can be a powerful force in representing the identity of a university campus, establishing a sense of place for students and faculty. As such, I welcome the opportunity to work with clients whose mission and organizational culture is deeply entrenched in the Gothic tradition.

By the time Boston College relocated from South Boston to the village of Chestnut Hill in the early 1900’s, Collegiate Gothic was just evolving as the style of choice on American campuses. In 1909 a competition for the master plan was announced and the Boston firm of Maginnis & Walsh was named the winner. The winning scheme was immediately recognized for its design excellence, receiving strong support from fellow architect Ralph Adams Cram as well as being named "the most beautiful campus in America" by an architectural journal of the time. Through his ambitious master plan and completion of the first built project in 1913, Gasson Hall, architect Charles Donagh Maginnis established his reputation as an esteemed designer in Collegiate Gothic style. 

Maginnis responded to the current American enthusiasm for the Gothic style with his own interpretation, one that, while still English in attitude, was more Ecclesiastical and highly appropriate in supporting BC’s Jesuit mission. Proportions are more vertical here, reflecting a style aligned with pre-Reformation English architecture. Maginnis’ work at Boston College strongly influenced other contemporary Gothic architects. The tower at Gasson Hall became the model of the iconic collegiate Gothic spire and influenced the later developments at Princeton, Yale and Duke Universities. 

Purpose of this study

This study and analysis was an “informal design package” submitted to Boston College as an example of our design sensibilities and approach. What follows is an explanation of that approach and some specific conceptual solutions.

Design approach

Athletics plays a principal role in the mission of Boston College. We recognize its importance in forming the identity of the institution. Just as Stokes Hall represented the high principles and ideals of the academic curriculum, your new athletic/recreational facility should speak to your deep commitment to the health and wellbeing of each individual student.  This is another opportunity where all aspects of the BC mission may come together, reinforcing the notion of body, mind and spirit.

With early and invaluable help from Pam Scott, from SportsPLAN Studio in Kansas City, MO, we developed a program that includes a medium size swimming pool, a number of tennis, basketball courts, etc. It is a quick outline of a reasonable program and appropriate adjacencies. Beyond that, this study shows a collection of schemes that we recognize have been developed largely within a vacuum. The purpose of this package is only to show some design ideas as they relate to what we see as the BC context and culture.  

Defining the building type

Any sports and recreational facility of this type should first be a place of fun. It is a special destination for both students and faculty to socialize, relax and play together. Informal gathering spaces should be numerous and open to view. Sightlines, up and down, may be provided allowing for the dynamic interplay of interesting spaces. We feel that there should be a strong relationship in the program development between the Student Center and the Rex/Plex Center. How these uses support each other is central to the investigation of its program. 

Image

The new Rex/Plex Center should carefully and thoughtfully convey the unique culture of Boston College. There is an opportunity to speak to issues around good health for body and for mind, demonstrating the importance of athletics to the university and its relationship to the humanities. 

Central open space

The spaces between buildings play as large a role in the creation of “place” as the design of the buildings themselves. Within the master plan for the lower campus, the green space plays a crucial role; activated by a rich variety of uses, including housing, student center, athletic facilities, administration building and recreation center. How this space lives with and is integrated with the automobile and service routes, as well as stadium tailgating, will need to be carefully considered.

Function room

The function room is its own, singular, destination point on campus. While it shares its location with the athletic facilities, it has its own identity.  This should be immediately understood as one approaches the complex. The function room location should be clear from the outside of the building, providing its own separate entry perhaps from the stadium side.

Pathways

Circulation paths crisscross the entire site linking student union, stadium, administration offices, and residence halls together in a dynamic pattern.  The building forms should reinforce important pathways that will help activate the site.  They should mark important entries and respond to the geometry of the site.

Campus connectivity 

We realize there is a great difference between the Upper, Middle and

Lower Campuses and yet we also feel there may be great opportunities for strengthening the aesthetic and functional relationships between them. We see opportunities for strengthening the language between the Lower and Middle Campuses though thoughtful organization of the buildings and open spaces.

Building scale 

The Rex/Plex Center is very large. It could potentially overwhelm its surroundings. The building composition should be carefully considered. Building elements should be sensitive to the human scale. 

Building textures and materials 

The materials and textures should be of a proper scale and definition.

Some portions of the building will be very large, with a very wide footprint. How to treat the massing of this building so that it responds to its context in a proper way needs to be carefully studied.

Distant views 

Visibility of the roofscapes is also important as one makes their way down from the Middle Campus to the new college green. The roof-scape to the east end of the campus may also provide opportunities for occupied outdoor spaces that could cascade down toward the reservoir. The north side of the building connects to the residential residence halls creating a natural flow of pedestrian traffic.

Sustainability as part of the program and roof-scape design

By placing the building at multiple heights there is an opportunity for the creation of green open roof areas, accessible to the public. These may be year around spaces where winter uses are also incorporated. The green area around the edges of the roof could respond to the open space along the Chestnut Hill Reservoir.  The roof may allow users to travel up around the roof and back down again as they make their way from one into the campus to the other. 

The green rooftop area may also be a breakout room or an ancillary destination adjacent to the function room possibly allowing access from stadium events. Alternately, the pre-function room could be located to the south overlooking the stadium or to the west overlooking the central green and University Center. This building provides multiple opportunities to the principles of sustainable design. Trellises, garden areas, and viable methods of construction should be employed. 

Newton Pavilion is a hospital building within the Boston Medical Center area that is in the process of being refurbished to meet new community demands and is being reclad to meet more stringent energy efficiencies. This study deals with a new proposed design for the exterior only. It includes an adjacent building on the north of the site.

work done while design principal at tsoi/kobus & associates • building photos by robert benson photography 

office building area: 200,000 sq. ft.

program highlights: six-story office tower, various conference spaces, café/lounge seating, seven-story parking garage.

77CityPoint rests within the prospect park campus in Waltham Massachusetts. It is a modern building that is humanly scaled at its entry from the east, yet appropriately large to succeed as a regional marker from the west. There it over looks Route 128/95 from its hillside perch and its two hundred fifty foot façade is highly visible to traffic below. Its composition is simple, direct and to the point. It is a billboard, announcing its use as a contemporary modern building, whose use and organization is clear, even to those seeing it for the first time. The design of the exterior consists of two basic components. One is the curved body of the building and is made up of semi reflective glass and white precast supports. On each corner of the building are ‘bookends’ of rectilinear elements, built in dark glass curtain wall.

The building is crescent shaped. The entry is on the east side, at the center of a concaved curve. a fan shaped glass canopy marks the front door. The multi-story story lobby travels the full width of the building providing wide views west, overlooking route 128, Waltham and Weston. 

Overview

•  200,000-square-foot, six-story office tower

•  Class-A offices along with conference center

•  Seven-story parking garage for more than 700 cars

•  Certified with a LEED-CS (core/shell) silver rating - the first project in suburban Boston to receive this rating. Compared to conventional buildings, achieves a 30-percent reduction in water use and a 63-percent increase in natural light, along with other sustainable design features.

context and design

design work done while principal at tsoi/kobus & associates building • photos by robert benson photography

building area: 135,000 square feet

program: 19 stories, (190 guest rooms), office suites, fitness facilities, signature bar, and restaurant.

Located across the street from Boston's historic Granary Burial Ground, The Nine Zero Hotel marks its place as an important destination within the City of Boston. Its style, scale and use of materials were carefully considered and highly appropriate, responding to the important history associated with the site while speaking with confidence to its use as a cutting edge hotel.

The site is very small, totaling slightly more than 7000 square feet, and yet its function and quality of design is never compromised. Issues of program adjacencies, pedestrian as well as automobile circulation, daylighting and attention to building details were all carefully attended to while also responding appropriately to the history and spirit of the site.

The Nine Zero Hotel is a building of the city and recognizes its role in supporting a vibrant urban environment.  A primary goal of this design was to heal and strengthen the city fabric as much as it was to create a beautiful structure. To that end, its proportions and materials, its scale and rhythm of the façade, was designed to respond to the various scales and speeds of the multiple users, near and far. Designed as a lighthouse, its upper floors appear as multistoried crystalline lens overlooking the Boston Common and the Burial Ground. Here the building design marks its use from the distance. The base marks the entries for both the pedestrian and the automobile. Its façade at ground level is highly recognizable as a hotel destination to even the first time user. Clarity is primary. The middle, of the shaft rises up with strong verticals. 

context and design

work done while project architect at tsoi/kobus & associates •  photos by steven rosenthal

building area: 34,000 square feet

Marine Biological Laboratory • Marine Resources Center

Located in the seaside village of woods hole, the marine biological laboratory (MBL) is an international center for research, education, and training in biology, biomedicine, and ecology. MBL’s reputation as a global leader in marine research, combined with respect for the existing campus aesthetic and sensitivity to community concerns, have guided the design of new and renovated projects throughout the campus.

The Marine Resources Center (MRC) was the first facility of its kind in the united states with technology that enabled marine organisms to live under ideal conditions. Access to the waterfront is maintained, and landscaping invites area residents to enjoy the building’s surroundings and its water views. Bay windows along the street side of the first floor allow passersby to observe small sharks, horseshoe crabs, and other marine animals in their tanks. The building design is a fusion of traditional and modern elements.

The look and feel of the MRC is largely driven by its context, especially its relationship to the adjacent nineteenth-century candle house building. This older building is of solid stone construction where it supported the local waling industry within its largely fire proof facility.  The new marine resources center wraps around this existing building, faming a public open space along the town’s major though fare, water street to the south. To the north, boat access to the building is provided where the ground floor marine animal holding tanks are located.

national cancer center singapore  

work while design principal at tsoi/kobus & associates - in association with kahler slater architects and ciap architects • singapore

the national cancer center is a newly planned outpatient facility located on the northeast quadrant of the outram medical campus in singapore. tk&a joined kahler slater architects and ciap architects • singapore in the design of a 72,000 sm, 23 story building that housed all uses surrounding current cancer treatment practices. these include specialist outpatient clinics, divisions of radiation oncology, imaging, palliative medicine, medical oncology, surgical oncology, embedded laboratory research space, variously scaled teaching space and staff office and gathering spaces. a two story entry lobby is accessed by automobile on the west and by pedestrians arriving via public transportation on the east. we visualized the new cancer center as a place of hope and healing. we saw it as a place of tranquility, in balance with nature. the building concept and massing revolved around the notion of a sheltered garden. that garden is expressed as a man made tropical gorge protecting the user from the harsh singapore heat and humidity.

master plan studies: the first two images show suggested development for the harvard university law school done for the TK&A master plan and capacity study for the law school expansion.

the following vignettes show development plans for the harvard school of education. the study include capacity analysis and the concept design for two sites, cambridge and brighton, massachusetts.

The law school study looked at proving maximum and minimum square footage while properly supporting their long term program needs.  The study for the Ed School looked at the Harvard Brighton site an their existing Cambridge site simultaneously, to help facilitate their design decision to either move or remain in Cambridge.

harvard law school • interview • lewis international law center  This example of past work was for an interview that was recently presented to the Law School. It shows much of our core values in the development of a concept design. Buildings should be designed to take in multiple uses, if possible. To explain this concept, we chose, as a metaphor, the empty vessel.

Lewis Hall is located in the center of the law school campus, linked to by bridge and tunnel to a number of adjacent buildings. Its footprint is small and its core configuration inefficient. Studies were presented that showed different approaches to core locations, horizontal circulation and fenestration, and how each approach effected program flexibility, sustainability and cost.

work done while at perkins eastman

Fordham University Law School at Lincoln Center

The University sponsored a limited competition, investigating the use of their midtown Manhattan site for the expansion of the Fordham University Law School. The project design consisted of four major segments: the multi-level building entry lobby and public gathering spaces, three levels of law school classrooms - consisting of flat floor and tiered classrooms, moot court room and breakout spaces, the university law library, and ten levels of student dormitories. In total, the design raised 21 stories in height, including a mid-level mechanical floor. The lower nine levels provided a wider footprint and supported all academic uses. Separating the residence dorms from the academic use was a roof garden overlooking Lincoln Center to the north and Fordham’s internal courtyard, to the south. The three levels of classrooms were linked by a centrally located multi-story atrium. Circulation from classroom to classroom occurred primarily along the monumental stairway, freeing the elevator for general building use. Above the classroom levels were three levels of library space, excessed from the middle level. There an extended reading room facing Lincoln Center was expressed on the exterior of the building. Access to the roof garden was by elevator and open to all who could use the building. Separate elevator cores supported access to the dormitories, 10 levels above.

Fordham’s Manhattan campus includes a central courtyard that has been raised 18 feet above street-level. Access to this open-space from Lincoln Center is provided by a monumental exterior stairway that runs on axis with the central fountain of Lincoln Center and terminates at the campus administration building.

context and design

work done while design principal at tsoi/kobus & associates • building photos by jeffery totaro photography 

building area: 114,000 square feet

program highlights: food court, student activities center, university career center, campus media center, numerous meeting spaces, offices, 522-car underground garage, great hall (5,000 sq. ft.)

Awards: 2010 Palladio Award New Construction larger than 30,000 sq.ft.Danforth University Center 

Designing modern uses in a highly historic style

A major challenge to the contextual design approach lies in preserving design integrity without compromising the programmatic needs and ambitions of the users inside.

The Danforth University Center is a twenty-first century-ready student facility that provides a new front door and a new public face for the university. It serves as a campus crossroads, offering three outdoor courtyards and plazas as well as interior meeting rooms, office space, lounges, and a range of dining venues. The south side of the building features a public drop-off space for visitors and a formal entry hall. The north side offers a less formal entrance for students and other members of the university community. 

 Finding the right stylistic ingredients

When faced with strong context, how does one preserve a university’s strong campus identity, create a building that is of its time and avoid a design debacle? for any institution, the “right ingredients” are essential. At Washington University, these criteria included understanding the following basics 

English Renaissance: style and history

The English Renaissance style was chosen by Washington University to represent the institution’s values and aspirations. The style was one of transition, from gothic to classical.

Asymmetry and working with the picturesque

Another significant influence on the original design at Washington University was 18th-century landscape architecture—specifically its reliance on asymmetrical, informal, picturesque compositions.

Campus axis and quadrangle proportions

many university campuses are composed around square academic quadrangles, with building façades and entries opening rather formally onto a central green. the washington university, however follows its own unique pattern where the campus consists of a series of elongated rectilinear quadrangles running in an east/west direction.

Hierarchy of space and building scale

A relaxed hierarchy characterizes the courtyards at Washington University, beginning with the Brookings Quadrangle. Moving west, larger open spaces surround holms lounge and the Olin Library. The largest quadrangle, the campus green, is located west of the library. Simon Hall, the Knight Center, Anheuser- Busch hall and the new university center are located on this large central green.

Method of construction

The aesthetics behind the style are driven by the building technology and methods of construction. The building massing and wall proportions in English Renaissance buildings followed their own unique technical constraints. a typical building bay, for example, would span 32 to 34 feet, only wide enough to support the longest available roof wood timbers. the random ashlar stone wall seen as a coursed rubble infill, a field defined by the dressed limestone corners, or quoinings. the design integrity is maintained when the method of construction informs the building aesthetics.

Lessons learned

In responding to the university’s mandate that both the Earth and Planetary Sciences Building and the Danforth University Center adhere to its context, we felt a responsibility to go beyond the surface to create a building that not only represented the essence of English Renaissance but also met the exacting program needs of the users. We were able to capitalize on the distinctive features of the style and enhance and reinforce the unique characteristics and beauty of the campus as a whole, while also providing state-of-the-art facilities that matched the rigorous demands of the scientists, faculty and student body. 

context and design

work done while design principal at tsoi/kobus & associates • building photos by debby franke photography, inc.

building area: 151,180 square feet

program: labs, classrooms, state-of-the-art library, new gateway to the university connects the lower and upper campuses.

building design

Located immediately north of the university's iconic brookings hall, the earth and planetary sciences building takes on the role of a supporting a element in the formation of the strong campus gateway to the Danforth campus. 

designing modern uses in a highly historic style

A major challenge to the contextual design approach lies in preserving design integrity without compromising the programmatic needs and ambitions of the users inside.

In the case of the Earth and Planetary Sciences Building, both goals were satisfied. These state-of-the-art science facility houses one of the most sophisticated programs in the country devoted to the study of earth as a planet. The wet and dry research labs include physical science, chemistry, biochemistry, specialized analytical functions and clean rooms for trace metal analysis. The 133 labs within the earth and planetary sciences building are varied and complex, requiring 60 fume hoods, sophisticated HVAC equipment and controls for optimal air changes. Some research activities involve the use of remote sensing devices that are part of NASA exploratory programs associated with the Viking Lander and Mars Exploration Rover.

Finding the right stylistic ingredients

When faced with strong context, how does one preserve a university’s strong campus identity, create a building that is of its time and avoid a design debacle? for any institution, the “right ingredients” are essential. At Washington University, these criteria included understanding the following basics 

English Renaissance: style and history

The English Renaissance style was chosen by Washington University to represent the institution’s values and aspirations. The style was one of transition, from gothic to classical.

Asymmetry and working with the picturesque

Another significant influence on the original design at Washington University was 18th-century landscape architecture—specifically its reliance on asymmetrical, informal, picturesque compositions.

Campus axis and quadrangle proportions

many university campuses are composed around square academic quadrangles, with building façades and entries opening rather formally onto a central green. the washington university, however follows its own unique pattern where the campus consists of a series of elongated rectilinear quadrangles running in an east/west direction.

Hierarchy of space and building scale

A relaxed hierarchy characterizes the courtyards at Washington University, beginning with the Brookings Quadrangle. Moving west, larger open spaces surround holms lounge and the Olin Library. The largest quadrangle, the campus green, is located west of the library. Simon Hall, the Knight Center, Anheuser- Busch hall and the new university center are located on this large central green.

Method of construction

The aesthetics behind the style are driven by the building technology and methods of construction. The building massing and wall proportions in English Renaissance buildings followed their own unique technical constraints. a typical building bay, for example, would span 32 to 34 feet, only wide enough to support the longest available roof wood timbers. the random ashlar stone wall seen as a coursed rubble infill, a field defined by the dressed limestone corners, or quoinings. the design integrity is maintained when the method of construction informs the building aesthetics.

Lessons learned

In responding to the university’s mandate that both the Earth and Planetary Sciences Building and the Danforth University Center adhere to its context, we felt a responsibility to go beyond the surface to create a building that not only represented the essence of English Renaissance but also met the exacting program needs of the users. We were able to capitalize on the distinctive features of the style and enhance and reinforce the unique characteristics and beauty of the campus as a whole, while also providing state-of-the-art facilities that matched the rigorous demands of the scientists, faculty and student body. 

context and design

design work done while project architect at tsoi/kobus & associates • building photos by steve rosenthal

building area: 293,000 sq. ft.

program highlights:  state-of-the-art computer technology, classrooms, major law library, moot court rooms, offices, bookstore.

Design

Located on the southeast corner of the Boston Common and across the street from the Park Street Church and the Granary Burial ground, Sargent Hall sits within the heart of Boston’s historic urban center. Its two hundred foot limestone façade along Tremont Street is composed of a series of interlocking compositions that respond to the modulating forms of its neighbors. The wall is set back from the parcel line to allow a five story bowed projected bay to come forward and greet the arriving visitor. At street level and at the center of the bay, a two-story arcade marks the building entry.  Above, the upper floors of the library are expressed with a stainless steel overhang and open loggia that travels around the full length of the building.  The Bromfield Street and Hamilton Place elevations reveal three story colonnades, similar to those found on the state house east and west façades.  

The seven-story university building was conceived of as a vertical campus. The more public uses are on the lower two levels.  Here is the main law school forum, as well as the university bookstore, law clinics and university administration offices. Each is easily accessible from the building entry.  Tiered classrooms, cafeteria, student breakout spaces, moot court and faculty offices are immediately above. All these public and semi-public spaces revolve around a central, multi story internal court linked vertically by a monumental stairway.  

The law library is housed on the most upper three floors and is accessed by elevator only and then only to a single point of entry.  Vistas to most of Boston’s legal, political and business communities are found within the reading rooms of the library. The Massachusetts state house is to the north.  Boston City Hall and Suffolk county courthouses are to the east.  The downtown business community is to the southeast.