Current Work of Harding Partners

pharding · Post by **pharding** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 7:09 am

As requested by Karnut and others, I am posting two current projects, New Faith Baptist Church International and Mumford Hall Renovation and Addition. Both projects will be going out for bids within the next 3 weeks and utilize sustainable design strategies. The Mumford Hall project for the Salvation Army's Officer Cadet College in Chicago is one of two LEED Certified Projects that we are currently doing. Both projects shown here are subtly influenced by FLW, while being appropriate to our time and technology.

Harding Partners is a 10 person architectural firm located in Burnham and Root's 1901 Santa Fe Building in Chicago. Our work has received over 35 design excellence awards. We have invested heavily in developing our expertise in Sustainable Design. Our clients include religious and not-for-profit organizations, government agencies, and private homeowners which are prime candidates for Sustainable Design. Our restoration of FLW's 1901 Davenport House will be the first LEED Certified Restoration of a Frank Lloyd Wright Building.

New Faith Baptist Church International is a new 2,400 seat sanctuary in Matteson, Illinois, a south suburb of Chicago. The project has a construction budget of $27 million. The sanctuary uses state of the audio video technology and is fully equipped for the client's television ministry. The east and northeast facing window wall of the lobby is protected from solar gain by an exterior sunshade that modulates in response to the solar orientation.

Exterior View from the Northeast

Site Plan

Lobby

Sanctuary

The next project is a LEED's Certified Project for the Salvation Army Officer Cadet College here in Chicago. It has two components, Renovation and Addition to the 1969 Mumford Hall, and a new Central Mechanical Plant for the Campus. On the second floor of Mumford Hall existing dormitory rooms were converted into apartments for the students, some of whom are married. The dining hall on the first floor was expanded and reconfigured. Sustainable materials and finishes are used throughout. For the second component we designed a central mechanical plant that will have an energy savings payback of 6.24 years. We also saved the client $1 million on the construction cost of the central plant over what a previous engineering firm recommended. Sustainable design is not only great for our small, precious planet. It also saves the client money.

View of Mumford Hall from the Campus Quadrangle

Dining Hall

Student Apartment

Apartment Plan

EJ · Post by EJ » Fri Feb 15, 2008 10:42 am

I like it. The layout of the student apartment is good design.

Paul Ringstrom · Post by **Paul Ringstrom** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 10:44 am

Paul,
Do you use an outside vendor to produce these wonderful graphic images or do you do them in-house?

pharding · Post by **pharding** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:26 am

We do them with our staff. We have built up our expertise with the software over an 18 year period. We have developed well established standards including a material library that is the foundation for the renderings. When we do a medium size and larger project, the design and working drawings are based upon a 3d computer model which is updated continuously and carried through 90% construction documents. Most of the construction documents reference back the the 3d model. We study all of the major spaces with perspectives. Some are simple studies, while others are fully rendered. We also build museum board study models of complex or challenging exterior parts of the building and complex interior spaces like the sanctuary and lobby of New Faith Baptist Church. The sanctuary alone was designed over 3 month period using both a large scale museum board study model and computer studies.

jlesshafft · Post by **jlesshafft** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:24 pm

This is off topic and will probably get deleted, and me banned, but....any non-profit religious organization (church) that can spend $27m for a 2400 seat auditorium (over $1k per seat by the way) ought to have their tax exempt status removed.

I would like to know how much they spend annually on charity...I bet it's a pittance.

If they don't spend at least as much on charitable efforts as they spend on themselves, then they should not be tax-exempt

And I am not anti-religious...my parents were missionaries in Africa as was I when I got out of college.

OK...rant over.

Nice designs Paul.

Deke · Post by **Deke** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 4:24 pm

I'm also impressed with the graphics. What programs are used? Archicad, Rhino, Maya? I'm trying to teach myself this kind of thing and if you can recommend any books on the subject...

Deke

karnut · Post by **karnut** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 5:15 pm

Nice Pictures, Though I see nothing new. But, Build it and they will come.

pharding · Post by **pharding** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 5:31 pm

We use Architectural Desktop 2008 for design and working drawings. On all medium size and large projects we develop the design and construction documents as a 3D model. This is carried through Issued for Building Permit, basically 90% Construction Documents. At this point the 3D model is flattened out because further development of the model is not required. The renderings use the 3D model throughout the process. Initial camera points and the perspective view are initially set in Architectural Desktop 2008. The model with this information is ported to 3D Max 2008. Camera point refinement, material selections, material mapping, lighting, preliminary and final rendering take place in 3D Max. From there the final work is done in Photoshop CS2. From there it goes to Adobe InDesign CS for final cropping, border, and text. We maintain logs so that we can get repeatable results on future renderings with other staff.

Learning. The best way to learn to use the 3D capabilities of Architectural Desktop is to take classes offered professional service providers, as opposed to academic institutions, or by book. The advantage of this approach is that there multiple ways to do most tasks. In a class they explore those multiple approaches along with their relative advantages and disadvantages. Each person has the tools to select the right approach based upon the challenge at hand and one's preference. Learning the full potential of Architectural Desktop is not possible by using a book. 3D Max can be learned using the tutorials in the program and through experience. Photoshop as applied to renderings can be best learned through a 4 to 8 hour professional course.

Time. The exterior view of New Faith Baptist Church was rendered in 1 1/2 weeks after 3D model was built. This was accomplished by superb architect with me working with him 30 minutes a day to get what we are looking for.

Deke · Post by **Deke** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 5:37 pm

Thanks for the overview. I'll look into those programs. And that church design kicks....fanny. Sleek, crisp, clean...wonderful.

Deke

Roderick Grant · Post by **Roderick Grant** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 5:53 pm

Since John Wellborn Root died in 1891, did Daniel Burnham continue to use his name in the title of the firm, or is 1901 not the correct year of the Santa Fe Building?

pharding · Post by **pharding** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 6:23 pm

Thanks for pointing that out. I stand corrected. The architect was D.H. Burnham & Co. with a 1904 completion date.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 7:48 pm

So, the apartment plan of the S A Officer Cadet College is a reworking of existing space, Paul ? I think that's a really pleasant space arrangement.

I suppose that a functional difference between this and a typical studio apartment or SRO unit (?) might be the lack of doors between "public" and "private" spaces ? Was this an innovation, or a client requirement ?

I like the plan, and its appearance in the rendering, a lot. Thanks for the peek.

SDR

pharding · Post by **pharding** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 10:10 pm

SDR wrote:So, the apartment plan of the S A Officer Cadet College is a reworking of existing space, Paul ? I think that's a really pleasant space arrangement. SDR

Thank you. The second floor has typical small dormitory rooms. The second floor will be gutted completely. Two dorm rooms will be converted into a one one-bedroom apartment.

SDR wrote:I suppose that a functional difference between this and a typical studio apartment or SRO unit (?) might be the lack of doors between "public" and "private" spaces ? Was this an innovation, or a client requirement ? SDR

It was my idea as a means to give a modest size one bedroom apartment a more spacious feel. in addition by not running the partition into the window mullion at the outside wall, the daylight could be shared more effectively. It also saved the client the cost of the door, frame, and hardware for a door that would be rarely if ever closed.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 10:33 pm

Thanks. Of course, I meant "one-bedroom" rather than "studio or SRO". . .

SDR

googieagog · Post by **googieagog** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:31 am

pharding wrote: It was my idea as a means to give a modest size one bedroom apartment a more spacious feel. in addition by not running the partition into the window mullion at the outside wall, the daylight could be shared more effectively. It also saved the client the cost of the door, frame, and hardware for a door that would be rarely if ever closed.

Great ideas -- nice application of continuing rooms around the corner and borrowing light from ajoining spaces. This is much nider than a standard college apartment. Nice furniture choices in your renderings, as well. Any chance the clients will budget for, or follow, your suggestions?