Private Custom Residence
Sunday, 10/30, visit to view construction progress
Monday, 8/15, site visit to a private waterfront residence in Virginia Beach by WPA.
View from the pier
Outdoor fireplace
Interior main fireplace
First Floor Plan
The Kiosk: site builds
First two days of the on-site Kiosk build was a success. There was even an article in Richmond’s Style Weekly.
Last day of the build will be Saturday, October 15th at Hull St. Public Library. So if you’re around, come and check it out.
Afterward, the kiosk will be presented at the ArchEX East 2011, which runs from November 2-4, and there its study and findings will be discussed.
Previous Posts:
Granby Fork Sidebar
The fork has been featured on the side bar of the front page of today’s Daily Break section in the Virginian-Pilot.
Earlier Posts:
The Plot
WPA has been heavily involved over the last 6 months with an ad hoc committee assembled by the Downtown Norfolk Council tasked with bringing life to an empty lot at the core of our downtown. The site is the future home of a Westin hotel and conference center that has been delayed by the economic downturn. Rather than let it sit empty and forlorn, we have put together plans to activate the space (on a very limited budget) largely using reclaimed materials.
The overall plan provides for:
-A stage and bleacher seating for programmed and impromptu performances
-Tables and seating for socializing
-Parking space for Food Trucks
-Recreation in the form of half-court basketball
-Shade
The reclaimed materials include:
-Deer rubbed trees from the city nursery
-Planters from the previous Granby Pedestrian Mall
-Used shipping containers
-Used shipping pallets
-Discarded sidewalk pavers
The Granby Fork
We recently completed installing our public art bike rack, The Granby Fork, at the newly renovated Flatiron park on Granby Street. The nearly 13-foot tall fork sculpture welcomes visitors to downtown Norfolk’s dining district and the 18-foot long noodle gives those riding in from outlying areas a place to secure their bikes. The fork is comprised of laser cut and bent steel plates while the noodle is made from hand-formed and welded steel strips.
The Kiosk: an update
Much progress has been made on the kiosk project mentioned previously here.
Several weekends have been spent in Richmond building the structure and it is nearing completion.
Visitors Center
WPA completed the design work for this visitor’s center for a government client.
Dare Marina Restaurant
WPA is currently completing the construction documents for a new restaurant building at Dare Marina in Yorktown. The site is classic Tidewater: a beautiful inlet of the Chesapeake Bay in Grafton, and the building relates directly to the local water’s edge vernacular. A deep porch wraps around for outside dining and taking advantage of the views and breezes. The main Dining Room is eighteen feet tall and includes high clerestory windows and double sliding glass doors on all sides for maximum day-lighting. And a cupola with wrap-around deck perches on top for observation over the whole of the marina docks at an even better vantage for the beautiful view.
Dog Days of Summer
Hope everyone is beating the heat. Work is as busy as ever here at WPA, but Zeke still managed to find a moment to kick back.
The Kiosk
Thom has been collaborating since January with 14 other architects, architectural interns, and students from around Virginia as part of the 2011 Emerging Leaders in Architecture program, an honors academy organized by the Virginia Society AIA. Part of this collaboration has been a study of the neighborhood of Manchester in Richmond, and the development of a Kiosk to serve as a physical point of conversation and engagement with the community. A portion of the Kiosk was built as a prototype by Thom, Dan Zimmerman, and Amrit Singh this past weekend in Charlottesville. The build will be installed in Manchester in September, and then put on display at this fall’s Architecture Exchange East in Richmond.
The Kiosk part 1 prototype, Dan, and Amrit.
Modeling by Amrit
