Monthly Archives: March 2014

A Test Fit

Downtown OKCDowntown Adjacencies

Part of exploring the opportunities of the Fred Jones Manufacturing Plant for the transformation into a loft law school involved revisiting the space needs program for the OCU School of Law. While FSB had created an in depth evaluation of needs as a part of developing the Master Plan for the law school on the OCU campus, 5 years had passed since that effort and before this downtown opportunity presented itself. The academic program for the school had continued to evolve over those years, there were new needs based on being in a downtown location and the nature of library design was taking a new turn with the increasing advancement of technology and the expanded use of the internet.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Background, Design

Exploring Opportunities – assessing what we have

Details

Standing from afar or even just across the street, it was difficult to see and appreciate the level of detail that there was in the brick, stone and iron work that was a part of the elegant design and craftsmanship of the old Ford Motor Company plants. The closer you got, however, the articulation of the masonry and metal began to reveal itself and you could really begin to appreciate this industrial age architecture for what it was. Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Background

Downtown

OCU Law Downtown - cover

Downtown

Those of you of a certain vintage might remember that there was a #1 hit song by this name. It was sung by Petula Clark and she was the first UK female artist to have a US number 1 hit. It was so popular that it soared the charts worldwide after it was released in November of 1964. In the last lines of the song she sings “things will be great when you’re downtown; everything’s waiting for you.”

While the overall message of the song romanticizes about downtown life, the last of the lyrics seemed to be in line with suppressed desires of the Oklahoma City University School of Law. Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Background, Design

Divergent View 1

Custom Light

Every now and then there is an experience so singular that it demands interrupting the flow of the current story to share.  A recent experience presented one of those moments. It was a trip to Grand Rapids and a surprise visit to a project designed by one who is considered to be the greatest American architect of all time. The project is the Meyer May House. Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under Design, Interior, Materials