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mississippi state university | college of architecture, art + designfall 2011

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BRASFIELD & GORRIE

mississippi state university | college of architecture, art + designfall 2011

STUDENT D E S I G N

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The Brasfield and Gorrie Student Design/Construction Competition was established to encourage and promote architecture,

building construction, and interior design students and faculty to collaboratively work together on a building project. This two-

week collaborative project addresses issues related to integrated practice and project delivery within a studio setting.

The leadership at Brasfield and Gorrie General Contractors has been on the leading edge of project delivery innovation for

a number of years. The company has become actively engaged in assisting the College of Architecture, Art, and Design at

Mississippi State University to respond to these important issues. Shifts toward integrated practice and evolving design

delivery solutions are affecting architects, designers, and constructors; and, as educators, we are privileged to help

develop the individuals that will embody these changes. We have the imperative to prepare students to take on this critical

collaborative role successfully. The College has responded in part to this imperative by providing a focus on the development

of methodologies for implementing historically absent collaborative teaching/learning between architecture, interior design,

and construction. Brasfield and Gorries five-year commitment to fund a collaborative competition made up of teams of

architecture, interior design, and building construction students targets this focus. Faculty members from each of the three

disciplines team-teach throughout the competition. There is a singular project that all student teams engage and a panel of

industry professionals, including constructors from Brasfield and Gorrie, and faculty from the three disciplines review the

resultant building design, construction estimate, and schedule. The Brasfield and Gorrie Competition funds the operation of

the studio, field trips, and cash awards to the top three winning teams as selected by the jury panel.

There are several major benefits that accrue to the students involved in this collaborative work. Students have a focused

opportunity to learn and understand the complexity of collaborative interaction and to practice technical and social skills

required to successfully complete this type of work. The students gain first hand experience working with the cohorts outside

of their own professional discipline with the focus being delivery. The project scope helps develop students understanding

of their professional role in the design and construction process, as well as an awareness of what other professionals value in

a design build environment, and how they work. Finally, the projects expose students to the significant scope, importance, and

use of the technology necessary to support this type of integrated project delivery.

The College of Architecture, Art, and Design is pleased to partner with Brasfield and Gorrie General Contractors to provide our

students with this important learning opportunity.

Jim West, AIA

Dean, College of Architecture, Art, and Design

MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

Faculty Editors

John Poros

Suzanne Powney

Design

Suzanne Powney

Typeset in Aller & Calibri

Printed by Blurb Inc.

2011 College of Art, Architecture & Design

Mississippi State University

All rights reserved

All photographs and drawings are courtesy of the contributors and students unless otherwise noted. All efforts have been

made to obtain lawful permission to reprint copyright images. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner

without written permission from the publisher except for copying permitted by sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law

and except reviewers for the public press. Every effort has been made to see that no inaccurate or misleading data, opinions

or statements appear in this portfolio. The data and analysis appearing in the content herein are the responsibility of the

contributors concerned.

Table of Contents

Overview

competition information 11

guest reviewers 12

faculty advisors 13

student presentations 14

smithville story 18

Research

existing site conditions 22

regional site research 24

community research 26

project collaboration 28

Design

designs 32

top presenters 36

over

view

competit ion informationproject overviewguest reviewersfaculty advisorsstudent presentationsteamssmithvi l le story

SMITHVILLE 9

over

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Competit ion Information

BRASFIELD & GORRIE STUDENT DESIGN COMPETITION

Brasfield and Gorrie are a team of full-service general

contractors, construction managers, and community minded

people. B & G are ranked 28th among the nations top 400

contractors according to Engineering News-Record. Some of

their most recent achievements include being ranked No.1

among the nations Top Contractors in the Southeast,

ranked No. 3 in the nation for Top Green Contractor,

ranked No.16 among the nations Top 50 in Domestic

General Building Revenue, No. 28 among the nations

Top 100 Contractors by New Contracts, as well as No. 2

among the nations Top Healthcare General Contractors.

They employ 229 L.E.E.D. Accredited professionals and are

responsible for 46 green projects.

Their involvement with Mississippi State University in the

fall of 2011 was an unprecedented event for the College of

Architecture Art and Design as well as the Carl Small Town

Center. For two weeks, teams of students from the fourth

year Architecture studio, Building Construction Science,

and Interior Design were led through a series of lectures

and collaborative design methods to help enhance the

understanding and importance of teamwork, having clear

goals, and making contentious design and developmental

decisions from the very beginning of a project.

The project presented was a civic complex for the town of

Smithville Mississippi. Included in this complex would be a

city hall, a police station, a volunteer based fire station, as

well as a public library. Prior to this project the architecture

students had been working with the town and residents

proposing various master plans. These proposals focused

on new ways of approaching the idea of rural downtown

centers. There were four total master plans. Each group

had to work within one of these plans. Zoning,

infrastructure, and commercial business were considered

when locating the Civic Complex within the master plans.

There was nervous and excited energy in the Giles Hall

Harrison auditorium on the first day of the Brasfield and

Gorrie competition, from students and faculty alike.

Students from the Architecture, Interior Design, and

Building Construction majors were about to meet and be

teamed up for the first time in their college careers. Not

sure of how to approach a project of this scale and

collaboration, the students sat and waited eagerly for

guidance. Once the students were paired off into ten

different teams made up of 2 to 3 Interior Design seniors,

2 to 3 Building Construction seniors, and 2 to 3 fourth year

Architecture students, they split off to find their workspaces

for the next two weeks.

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BRASFIELD & GORRIE STUDENT DESIGN COMPETITION

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Guest ReviewersSam HardieLEED AP of Brasfield and Gorrie

Sam Hardie lectured on a review of Building Information Modeling (BIM).

Douglas LeeChief Estimator of Brasfield and Gorrie

As Vice President/Regional Preconstruction Director, Douglas works directly with the project manager

to develop cost-effective, realistic budgets and schedules. He leads our estimating teams on negotiated,

hard-bid, healthcare and commercial projects for construction and construction management work.

Douglass responsibilities include conceptual estimating, quantity surveys, final pricing, scheduling and

buyout. Throughout preconstruction, he leads the estimating team to develop effective scheduling and

value engineering strategies. After preconstruction, Douglas involvement in the construction phase helps

our team ensure that the customer receives the highest level of cost efficiency possible. He has a proven

track record for using his construction knowledge and skills to bring cost savings to all of Brasfield &

Gorries clients.

John T. Wood, AIALEED AP, Vice President of CMH Architects, Inc.

John Wood joined CMH Architects, Inc. in 2005 continuing a career as project architect. He has led the

design of a wide variety of project types both foreign and domestic. Included in his resume are Class-A

office buildings, high-end retail centers, educational facilities (primary, secondary and post-secondary),

manufacturing facilities and mixed-use projects. He has extensive experience in all components of

the building process including initial programming, design development, preparation of construction

documents and construction administration. Wood has administered architectural services for federal

and corporate clients as well as for financial institutions. Wood became a shareholder in the firm & Vice

President in 2011.

Faculty AdvisorsMichele HerrmannMichele M. Herrmann, Esq. is an instructor in Building Construction Science at Mississippi State University

focusing on construction law. She earned her Bachelor of Science Design from Clemson University and her

Juris Doctor from New York Law School, where she worked at the Center for New York City Law. She is a

member of the New York State Bar. Prior to joining the BCS faculty, she taught beginning design studios at

the State University of New York at Delhi and has experience in real estate and land use law.

Beth MillerBeth R. Miller is a certified interior designer, associate professor and Director of Interior Design at

Mississippi State University. She has completed all of her doctoral course at Mississippi State University

and is currently working on her dissertation. She earned her Masters in Education with a concentration in

interior design from Mississippi University for Women and her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design from

Louisiana Tech University. Her professional experience includes working for various firms in Mississippi

and Atlanta, Georgia as well as having her own firm in Natchez, Mississippi where she specialized in

historic renovation and restoration. Her primary research area has focused on improving and developing

the profession of interior design through education, accreditation and legislation.

John PorosJohn Poros is an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at Mississippi State University. He is

currently the director of the Carl Small Town Center, a community design and outreach component of the

School of Architecture. The Carl Small Town Center is a nationally recognized community design center

with awards from the American Planning Association and the American Institute of Architects. Work of

the Center has been shown at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. and as far away as Berlin,

Germany. Before joining the faculty at Mississippi State fifteen years ago, Prof. Poros worked with the

internationally known architecture firm of Kieran Timberlake Associates in Philadelphia for seven years.

Prof. Poros received his Masters of Architecture degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and

his Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University.

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Student Presentations

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Site 1Team 1:1. Katelyn Bennett (ARC)

2. Caitlin Wong (ARC)

3. Younju Choi (ARC)

4. David Morrow (BCS)

5. Nathan Boddie (BCS)

6. Rachel Taylor (ID)

7. Adrienne Glover (ID)

Team 3:1. Melissa Sessums (ARC)

2. Byron Belle (ARC)

3. Chris Rivera (ARC)

4. William Murray Poole (BCS)

5. Austin Holder (BCS)

6. Allison Evans (ID)

7. Lorin Chancellor (ID)

Team 11:1. Carolyn Ludermo (ARC)

2. Vanessa Robinson (ARC)

3. Philip Patrick McManus (BCS)

4. Michael Thomas (BCS)

5. Chris Ratzlaff (BCS)

6. Holly Davis (ID)

7. Jennifer Gates (ID)

Site 2Team 2:1. Nick Jackson, nkj11 (ARC)

2. Brennan Plunkett, bbp30 (ARC)

3. Brian Funchess, blf91 (ARC)

4. Amy Bragg, aeb283 (ARC)

5. Jordan Perry, jtp120 (BCS)

6. Ben Bennett, bgb46 (BCS)

7. Annie Bryan, alb518 (ID)

8. Aimee Grimes, amg282 (ID)

Team 5:1. Jonathan Hooker, jlh961 (ARC)

2. Michael Moore, mm881 (ARC)

3. Kaila Pope, kmp203 (BCS)

4. Jonathan Horton, jmh600 (BCS)

5. Kristina White, kdw163 (ID)

6. Elizabeth Goodnite, aeg136 (ID)

Site 3Team 4:1. Taylor Stewart, dts88 (ARC)

2. Drew Ridinger, dr330 (ARC)

3. Walter King, wk75 (ARC)

4. Michael Jeremy Kelley, mjk119 (BCS)

5. Jeremy Ryan Doler, jrd239 (BCS)

6. Hettie Brewer, hlb128 (ID)

7. Britney Buie, bmb261 (ID)

Team 6:1. Will Randolph, whr46 (ARC)

2. Zachary James, znj4 (ARC)

3. Robert Durham Jordan, rdj56 (BCS)

4. Wesley Rayner, whr45 (BCS)

5. Emily Ford, ecf55 (ID)

6. Caroline Cummins, clc503 (ID)

Team 9:1. Andrew Robertson, ar320 (ARC)

2. Cody Millican, scm159 (ARC)

3. Chris Newton, crn60 (BCS)

4. Trenton Cole Walker, tcw96 (BCS)

5. Janay Jones, jmj303 (ID)

6. Lindsey Leggett, lbe33 (ID)

Teams

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Smithvi l le StoryOn April 27, 2011 an EF5 rated tornado touched down

along Mississippi Highway 25 and damaged or destroyed a

3 mile long by 1/2 mile wide area of the Town of Smithville.

An estimated 25 percent of the towns total housing stock

was destroyed. The Town Hall, Police Station, and Post

Office were destroyed. The largest employer, a furniture

manufacturer, was destroyed and temporarily relocated.

The Smithville School and the towns only grocery store

were heavily damaged. The Town of Smithville was listed

in a Federal Disaster Declaration on April 29, 2011.

Site 1In Master Plan 1, the civic center is located at the intersection of Elm St. and Highway 25. The east-west

rail line that leads to the industrial area also passes to the west of the site. This site was chosen by the

teams and the town of Smithville because passing the rail intersection marks the beginning of the town

center. This plot of land was also advantageous because it is already owned by the town. The teams that

worked with this site emphasized not only the gateway nature of the site, but tried to create an urban

pattern that would be the model for redevelopment for the rest of the downtown.

Site 2In the second master plan developed by the students, a new downtown area was conceived parallel to

Highway 25 to allow for faster through traffic on Highway 25 and a better pedestrian experience in the

new downtown area. Site 2 is located in this new downtown area. With the new downtown area, three

larger public green spaces, amenities lacking in Smithville before the tornado are proposed. The new civic

center is on one of these public green spaces, taking advantage of this larger space for festivals and events

in Smithville.

Site 3In Master Plan 3, Highway 25 is divided by a green median meant to slow traffic down and allow for easier

pedestrian crossing over this busy road. The civic center just as in Master Plan 1 is located at the western

end of the downtown area. The civic center for Site 3 is meant to be a literal gateway into the town by

spanning across Highway 25 on two sites to the north and south of the highway. The groups that worked

with this site used this split site to change the character of Highway 25 from a fast, through road to a

slower, moving boulevard.

exist ing s ite condit ionsregional s ite researchcommunity researchproject col laboration re

sear

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Exist ing Site Condit ions

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Community Stitches Regional ProposalAirport Locations Public Bus Routes

Regional Site ResearchThe teams immediately got to work, discussing each others

strengths and weaknesses and learning how to rely on one

another. Instantly ,certain contributions to the project

were made clear. Building Construction could offer up more

realistic and fiscal approaches to a design conception, being

knowledgeable in regards to material costs, feasibility and

time lines for ground up proposals. Building Construction

students helped their teams realize how important it is to

design a building system that local vendors and construction

workers can understand, build, repair, and maintain. The

Interior Design students had an entirely different set of

skills. They immediately set up standards of lighting and

workspace needs. Interior Design students were able to

create spaces that are defined not by walls or partitions,

but materials, lights, and textures. The Architecture

students provided design concepts, positions relevant to

the community, city planning and life style of the people in

Smithville. Guidelines and expectations of one another, and

knowledge of code structure, space, and atmosphere were

combined to achieve a complete project. The architecture

students would be spending the entire semester on this

project and shared their regional studies with their groups.

BRASFIELD & GORRIE STUDENT DESIGN COMPETITION

SMITHVILLE 27

Community ResearchPrior to the tornado, there were little to no sidewalks

found in the town, making walking unsafe for pedestrians

and especially for children. Many of the proposed master

plans include an extensive networks of sidewalks as well

as bike trails in an attempt to promote a more active and

healthy lifestyle for the towns residents. These trails are

intended not only for youth, but also for all members of

the community. The bike trails and sidewalks encourage

connections not thought of before in Smithville. These paths

cross through various key points in the streets of Smithville,

lead directly to Smithvilles schools, and to points along the

waterway and throughout the downtown. Ease of navigation

and the safety of these paths will encourage use and

ultimately result in a healthy and sustainable way of life in

Smithville. Much like road way systems have intersections,

the points in which these paths meet and join various parts

of the town can help to encourage walking and discourage

the use of vehicles as a primary means of travel within the

immediate downtown area.

In one proposal the students designed a pedestrian walkway connecting residences to Main Street.

In another proposal, the students proposed a grid system of the new Main Street. Walking is encouraged with various

outdoor public spaces.

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SMITHVILLE 29

Project Col laborationDuring the first week of the collaboration, Brasfield and

Gorrie also participated in Mississippi State Universitys

School of Architectures Harrison Lecture Series. These

lectures included a review of Building Information Modeling

(BIM), given by Sam Hardie, L.E.E.D. AP of Brasfield

and Gorrie. A presentation of Leadership in Energy and

Environmental Design (L.E.E.D.) was given by John T. Wood,

AIA, L.E.E.D. AP, Vice President of CMH Architects, Inc. A

lecture on Integrated Project Delivery, (IPD) was presented

by Douglas Lee, Chief Estimator of Brasfield and Gorrie.

IPD is a contract system that involves all parties, designers,

owners, and builders, and urges a collaboration of these

disciplines early on in the design process. These lectures

were beneficial to the students by showing not only the

means of working within the three different disciplines, but

also in using real world examples and expectations.

The collaboration culminated in a day long event and

presentation to the CAAD faculty as well as the Dean of

the college, Kristin Murray from the Seattle architecture

firm Olson Kundig, and to members of the Brasfield and

Gorrie team including Sam Hardie. The ten student teams

stood together and proudly presented proposals for ten

very different and innovative civic complexes for Smithville.

Examples of project time lines, budgets, square footage

costs, material choices, lighting features, floor plans,

structural systems, building form and elevations, L.E.E.D.

objectives, as well as a multitude of other information was

presented.

There are a few key points to note when embarking

on a collaboration of this degree. It is important that

expectations and goals are made at the very beginning so

that a clear direction and end goal is evident. There should

be no hesitation with a collaboration of this nature. Each

field is proficient in their own nature and knowledge. It is

perfectly acceptable to ask what someones strengths and

weaknesses are and what their opinion is. There is always

something someone can contribute to in a collaborative

method of this nature. Communication is key and being able

to rely on one another is important. If you expect everyone

else in the group to contribute what you need of them, you

too must put forth the effort and enthusiasm necessary. The

strengths in working in these means are that decisions are

made quicker, correlations are lined up earlier in the process

and expectations are made clear. The end result will prove to

be a whole project, physically, and as a conscious collective.

desi

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designstop presenters

Library and Town Center Design

Fire Station Design

Top PresentersHere are some of the ways the

Brasfield and Gorrie exploration

impacted some of the involved

students.

The collaborative project gave

each field of study the opportunity

to communicate and share ideas,

which encouraged the critical

thinking process needed to

have a successful group. The

idea of partnering the three

industry related majors allowed

each group to openly discuss

project differences and possible

solutions that surround real

world applications.

- Michael Thomas, Building

Construction Science senior

The Brasfield and Gorrie

competition stimulated

collaboration across our

departments, created vital

partnerships within our college,

and provided us with the

opportunity to gain practical

experience in preparation for

the professional world.

-Jennifer Gates,

Interior Design senior

Each team was asked to prepare a presentation with

the following products: a schematic design with plans,

elevations, sections, interior and exterior rendered images,

a construction schedule with takeoffs and estimates, a lean

construction / constructability analysis and a LEED checklist

Three teams showed that they could accomplish these

objectives as well as working well together as a team. The

teams were Team 6, Team 7 and Team 11.

SMITHVILLE 37

FALL 2011BRA

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mississippi state university | college of architecture, art + designfall 2011

STUDENT D E S I G N

competition smit

hvill

e

BRASFIELD & GORRIE