PROJECT Six11

LOCATION  Ann Arbor, Michigan US

PROJECT COMPLETION DATE  10/1/2018

ARCHITECT  WDG Architecture

ASSOCIATED ARCHITECT/DESIGNER  

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN TEAM  Steven Schwartzman, Bob Keane, Mickey Finn, Masood Amintinat, Sandra Eremic, Meimaneh Gharavi

OWNER/CLIENT Campus Apartments

CONTRACTOR/CONSTRUCTION MANAGER  Spence Brothers

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Midwestern Consulting LLC

PHOTOGRAPHER  Brian Gassel

CIVIL ENGINEER Midwestern Consulting LLC
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER SK&A Structural Engineers, PLLC
MECHANICAL ENGINEER AHA Consulting Engineers
ELECTRICAL ENGINEER AHA Consulting Engineers
CONSULTANT Jensen Hughes
CONSULTANT Otis Elevator
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SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT  

Located at 611 E. University Avenue in Ann Arbor’s South University character district, Six11 is a mixed-use through-block, high-rise urban infill project fronting E. University Avenue to the west and Church Street to the east. The high-rise program of street level retail and residential lobby, parking at levels 2-3, and student housing apartments on levels 4-13 reflects the continuing evolution of the South University district from single-use low-rise to mixed-use high-rise development.

The 185,300-sf, 343 bed program offers a range of unit types, including studios, 4 bed-4 bath units, and 5 bed-5 bath units. Socially, the focal point of the building is a two-story 1,400-sf sky lounge on the 13th floor. This includes a lounge area with fireplace and multiple TV screens, kitchen with a communal dining table, and coffee bar. Located at the northwest corner of the building, the space offers commanding views of the University of Michigan campus. Additional 13th floor amenities include a 1,100-sf fitness room, 400-sf study lounge, and 800-sf outdoor sky terrace with an outdoor kitchen, flat screen TV’s, and fire pit.

As we studied the site and surrounding context, we quickly realized the axis of the University’s primary pedestrian path, known as the “Diag”, is closely oriented to the northwest corner of the Six11 site. Our solution was to carve away the masonry at the corner massing facing the Diag and fill it with glass. To reinforce the idea of a transparent corner, the glass is set back three feet from the face of the brick and the walls are treated as planes with reveals between the masonry fin walls and the glass. Further, the transparency of the building’s northwest corner has been programmed with the residential lobby and private living rooms, capped with a two-story sky lounge. The sky lounge, a favorite

place to study and socialize, acts as a grand lantern as seen from students traversing the University’s diagonal green space.

Ann Arbor’s zoning required a two to three story street wall expression at the building’s base, a setback from the street wall to the middle portion of the structure, and expression lines creating a base-middle-top composition. We programmed the street wall with the lobby, retail, and three-level parking structure. In the spirit of creating contrast in texture and materiality from the warmer upper portion of the building, we designed the street walls with a neutral pallet of cementitious rain screen panels, narrow horizontal frosted glass panels, corrugated metal panels, charcoal grey concrete block, and glass. The expression line at the top of the building comes in the form of a modern pergola/cornice frame that supports the glass wind protection at the sky lounge terrace.

JURY COMMENTS (If applicable)

MEDIA FOR DOWNLOAD
Project/Jury PDF

IMAGES (Captions and Photographer Credit)

1. Six11, Photo Credit © Brian Gassel
2. Six11 View from East University Avenue, Photo Credit © Brian Gassel
3. Six11 Interior Sky Lounge, Photo Credit © Brian Gassel

4. Six11 Interior Sky Lounge, Photo Credit © Brian Gassel
5. Six11 View from the 'Diag', Photo Credit © Brian Gassel
6. Six11 Sky Lounge Terrace, Photo Credit © Brian Gassel
7. Six11 Sky Lounge Fitness Center, Photo Credit © Brian Gassel
8. Six11 Unit Living Space, Photo Credit © Brian Gassel