BSB Design 2018-11-05 12:39:57
At Gather Uptown, the bustle of college life in Greenville, North Carolina, is in full swing. Featuring over 400 beds and enhanced amenity spaces, including a 100-bike storage area with two repair stations, the project achieves a new standard in student housing. This vibrant community addition also reflects a bit of history.
Early site visits proved inspirational as the team took design cues from the art deco stylings of a 1960s era bus station occupying the project location. The vision for the building that would take its place incorporated the iconic blue exterior accent color juxtaposed with white panels, harkening back to the days of Greyhounds rolling in to gather their riders.
Michael Tripodi, project architect with BSB Design, explained: “Stacked forms in simple, linear patterns define the faÇade, including glass block windows in the stairwell – the same as those used in the old bus station. The style’s verticality is achieved with central height detail on each module, creating an undulating roofline that extends to the precast panels on the attached parking structure.” This continuity helps unify the entire building, which fills almost every inch of the city block.
In fact, the building footprint comes as close as four inches from the property line in places, requiring very careful planning and some design adjustments along the way to ensure boundaries and zoning regulations were met. Initial concepts even included a stylistic curve that filled the focal corner. The curve ultimately proved too costly, but when the team used a 90 degree corner instead, the city mandated a change to somehow increase visibility for the busy intersection.
The resulting design solution created the most distinctive element on the building, a creative compromise to the conceptual curve – and the perfect place to hang the sign. Clipping the corner to a 30 degree angle achieved the visibility required by the city and led to some unique opportunities inside (and on top of) the building. A two-story exercise space fills the first two floors, and above that the team designed custom unit plans to fit the angle. On the fifth floor, a walk-out rooftop patio was added – not part of the original program, but a welcome addition featuring campus views of nearby East Carolina University. ■
Project: Gather Uptown
Location: Greenville, NC
Developer: Rael Development Corporation
Architect: BSB Design
Engineer: Jordan & Skala Engineers
Land Planner: BSB Design
Landscape Architect: ViZ Design
Interior Designer: SouthPark Interiors
Photographer: Jacob Sharp Photo
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