PROJECT Unfolding Story

LOCATION Georgetown, Washington DC, United States 

PROJECT COMPLETION DATE  12/11/2015

PROJECT CATEGORY  Graduate / Upper Level Design

PROJECT TYPE  Studio

ENTRANT  Maryssa Timberlake
TEAM MEMBERS  Stephen Pasquerello

SCHOOL  University of Maryland

FACULTY SPONSOR  Peter Noonan, Professor of Practice / Architecture

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT

Designing for Creativity

Our challenge was to design a new headquarters for Pigmental Studios, a hollywood based animation studio relocating to Washington DC. This building is a 45,000 square foot mixed-use creative workspace with a public amphitheater and cafe, audio and video production spaces, storyboard rooms, and screening rooms.

Our focus was to use the building to enhance connectivity between users and community, people and places, and the built and natural environment. Creating spaces for artist interaction with community and visual connection to the city was our highest priority in satisfying our client’s vision of a rewarding workplace. A public amphitheater and cafe, as well as gallery space for local artists on the ground floor provides space for the exchange of ideas with the community.

STUDENT'S STATEMENT

No artist exists in isolation. Interaction with the community and local context is essential to the creative process. Pigmental Studios seeks a new headquarters where their team of skilled artists can influence - and be influenced by - the culture of DC. The proposed studio in Georgetown provides constant opportunities for public interaction by showcasing their craft to the community and hosting space for social and cultural exchange.

The form of the building reflects the natural terracing seen across the C&O Canal, allowing for green roofs on every level, gradually stepping down and relating to to the human scale near the pedestrian walking path. The southern facade, which directly faces the urban street and the Whitehurst freeway bridge, reflects these characteristics and features ground floor public space along a hard linear edge as it meets the urban context.

Our goal was to design a building that physically fit within the landscape while providing flexibility in a culture of change. If the studios sees growth in their company, the gallery space on the ground floor would adapt into an expansion of their existing office. Conversely, if they exceed the building’s capacity and vacated the building the gallery could expand into the office, allowing for the production studios to be transformed into black box theaters, providing Georgetown with flexible performance space.

The existing site was underused and forgotten despite its key location at major intersections of Georgetown. We saw this site as a lost opportunity to connect so many significant pieces of Georgetown - the Key and Whitehurst bridges, C&O Canal, Potomac River, Capital Crescent Walking Path, Waterfront Park, M street, Francis Scott Key Park, and most importantly the people who inhabit these spaces. By integrating our building into the landscape, we hope to become integrated into the community's lifestyle as well.

IMAGE CAPTIONS & CREDITS 

IMAGE 1:  Unfolding Story_High Res Image1 , Site Plan in Georgetown, Washington DC , Stephen Pasquerello + Maryssa Timberlake

IMAGE 2:  Unfolding Story_High Res Image2 , Approach from the C&O Canal Trail , Stephen Pasquerello + Maryssa Timberlake

IMAGE 3:  Unfolding Story_Image1 , The Public Viewing Theater , Stephen Pasquerello + Maryssa Timberlake

IMAGE 4:  Unfolding Story_Image2 , Open Artist Studio Space , Stephen Pasquerello + Maryssa Timberlake

IMAGE 5:  Unfolding Story_Image3 , The Urban Street Entry , Stephen Pasquerello + Maryssa Timberlake

IMAGE 6:  Unfolding Story_Image4 , Views from Above the Whitehurst Bridge , Stephen Pasquerello + Maryssa Timberlake

IMAGE 7:  Unfolding Story_Image5 , Sustainability Axonometrics , Stephen Pasquerello + Maryssa Timberlake

MEDIA FOR DOWNLOAD

Project PDF