Marine Research Facility
This project entails a marine research facility on St. John's University campus in Oakdale, New York. The proposed facility sits on the southwest side of the campus right on the water. The facility is ADA accessible and has twelve wet labs, offices, lecture room, mechanical room, storage rooms, prep rooms, lounge, computer room, cafeteria, aquarium, observatory, and separate bathrooms for public, private, and faculty, and has to be seven feet above the flood floor elevation that is supported by marine grade concrete piles.
Concept sentence: "A dense L-shaped building barricading a glassed cylinder on the water."
The inspiration for this project is the Water Temple in Japan by Tadao Ando.
The main focal point of the facility is the cylinder aquarium that sits on the water behind the building. The aquarium is not visible from the roads or the main entrance. Its roof peaks out a little just enough for people to see and makes them wonder what that structure is. The facade of the facility in a way imitates the existing buildings on campus. The colors of the building is reversed, looks more modern, and has similar small punched windows. From the front, the aquarium is not visible. As you walk in the lobby, right across is a curtain wall with the view of the aquarium sitting on the water. It will make people wonder how to get across to the giant aquarium on the water.
To get to the aquarium, there are two elevators available and flight of stairs to go down to the ground floor where a tunnel leads to the aquarium. People can either take the stairs up or take a glass tube elevator that will give you the best experience with the aquarium. When the elevator goes up, it will give you the feeling of being in the aquarium since the elevator is surrounded by the it. There, people can walk around the aquarium or go to the observatory on the roof top, where you have a 360 view of the campus and ocean.
Below is a pdf file of my project. It contains the site plan, structure, floor plans, details, elevations, and pictures of the proposed facility to fully understand the project.
Site Study Model:
