The View on High

  by Taylor Brill         

           The View on High was built in the cusp of the new trend of development in Columbus. The idea of mixed use buildings combining parking, retail and apartment has been at the for front of recent designing in Columbus. The mixed use building trend allows developers to capitalize on higher land values in the urban environment and transform them into something multifunctional. The effort to combine these elements maximizes the real estate in Columbus, while also making places for people to live downtown. Slove Real Estate and Celmark Development are two local developers in Columbus that teamed up on The View on High project. The building stands five stories tall with the first floor being dedicated to the tenants and the upper four stories being apartments. The apartment complex of the building is comprised of 62 units most of which are two bedrooms. At the time of designing the idea was to build on an existing Wendy’s Restaurant site. The freestanding restaurant was torn down and was incorporated into the complex. The Wendy’s is now accompanied in the ground floor of the complex by a GNC and FedEx. The firm responsible for building and design the project is BBCO. They are a local firm in the city and they focus mostly on smaller apparent projects. The firm was able to maximize on the existing 4000 square foot space and create an additional 3000 square feet of retail, 132 space parking garage as well as, the student housing space. 

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Street view of the building. The ground floor is lit up where the businesses are.

            The building is located on the intersection of High Street and Woodruff Avenue on the North area of campus. The View on High was built during the same time as the north campus renovation that created more student housing. Its location provide access to many amenities on High Street and is within close range of the north campus academic halls. The view out the large glass windows overlooks high street and give a vantage on north east side of campus.

            The façade of the building is unique in that it blends together two stacked buildings. The uses of the various sizes and shapes of the windows. The storefront windows on the retail stores don’t clash with the smaller windows at the top in the apartments. This is because the middle of the buildings alternates the sizes of the glass so, the fade from large glass windows to walls isn’t as abrupt. The façade also starts to reveal the courtyard in the center of the complex. The middle strip of the building is the lowest part of the building. When looking at the building from High Street, the apartments in the middle are recessed from the other part of the building. The windows also line this void space with also gives hints at the courtyard.

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The courtyard

            The floor plan of the building is also interesting. The apartments are not sectioned by the size of the room, making each floor plan unique from the others. This adds character to the building and takes away the bland uniformity the older apartments possess. The varying floor plans also is similar to the way the designers varied the windows sizes. This creates a connection and allows for a flow within the design.

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A view of the building from W. Woodruff Avenue

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Bibliography:

“The View on High.” BBCO. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.

“The View on High.” The View on High. 2013. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.

Warren, Brent. “Mixed-use Development Proposed at Site of Campus Wendy’s.” ColumbusUnderground. ColumbusUnderground, 28 Feb. 2013. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.

Picture:

Courtyard. Columbus. The View on High. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.

The James Cancer Research Hospital

  by Taylor Brill       

         The Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and the Richard J. Solove Research Institute was opened in 1990 and was the first Midwest freestanding cancer research hospital. The project was designed by HOK, a global architecture, engineering and planning firm. The firm specializes in large scale projects. The James, today, is the nation’s premier institution for prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer. They strive to integrate scientific research and patient center care together to produce an approach that leads to better prevention, detection and treatment of cancer. Ohio State is one of only 46 National Cancer Institutes designated comprehensive career center. The James is one of only a select few centers funded by the NCI to conduct Phase I and Phase II clinical trials on anticancer drugs. The 21st century hospital is 1.1 million square feet and stands 21 stories tall. The James is on the cutting edge of cancer research and employs some of the nation’s best oncologists. There are over 200 staffed oncologists that specialized in only one type of cancer.

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South Facade

            The James’ 21 story design allows each floor to have its own specialty. The floors on the top of the building are sectioned by cancer type. The mechanicals and administrative offices are located midway up in the building. This is interesting because administrative is usually located on the bottom floor. The bottom section includes the lobby, radiology and surgery departments. What is interesting about the floor plans is that there is no third or thirteenth floor. There is no third floor so that the numbering system is consistent with adjoining building, Rhodes Hall. The thirteenth is absent because of the unluckiness associated with the number 13.

       One very interesting facet of the James Cancer Hospital is that the building itself focuses on sustainability. The hospital received a LEED gold certification because of its many sustainable elements. The building has garden terraces on the North and South sides of the building. The James also collects rain water in the rainwater-runoff basins and recycles the rain water. The building also employs materials like bamboo in the interior. The hospital also has extensive glasswork on all the facades. The glass not only lets in large volumes of natural lighting, but also is thermal efficient which helps keep heating and cooling costs down. The hospital makes a connection to nature and the landscape by providing an outdoor café and direct views to the garden terraces from the 14th floor where they grow vegetables with cancer-preventing agents.

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Interior view showcasing the large windows.

            The OSUCCC-James is also located right on Ohio States medical campus on 10th Avenue. It is within proximity to High Street, a major north/south axis for Columbus, and from 315, the major highway that runs through campus. The James is surrounded by other medical buildings and has a skywalk connecting it to the Hearth Hospital. There is a voided park that lies directly in front of the main entrance. This is the major green space on Medical Campus and it works to help separate the complex network of buildings. It also provides a recreational space among the sea of medical buildings.

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A view of the front of the building showing the small rainwater swells that line the building.

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Bibliography:

Brown, Reid, and Todd Bayha. “The James: Floor by Floor.” The Columbus Dispatch. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.

Hedman, Dan. “James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute Awarded LEED Gold Certification.” News Room. The Ohio State University, 14 Dec. 2015. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.

“The James.” NCCN. National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Inc. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.

“The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer …” HOK. HOK. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.