Zombie Apocalypse

For some reason, my AutoCAD decided to keep shutting my computer off while I attempted to put in my RCP. It is waaay too early into crunch time for my computer to start malfunctioning (that usually doesn't happen until rendering time!). It could be that I am working in SketchUp AND AutoCAD continuously, but even then it usually doesn't have a problem. My computer has always been trustworthy and I think I may be taking advantage of said trust.

Cue panic mode.

What I have for you today is I planned where I want my perspectives to be. I am uploading pictures I took with my iPhone... sorry. I know its lazy and all I really did is draw a person's perspective standing in the room of the areas I want to show, but it gives you somewhat of an idea of what you'll be seeing in the near future on project due day (27 DAYS). Sadly, I may start referring it as the zombie apocalypse (referring to the sleepless nights that will turn the design students into zombies).

Here are the areas I am already building up in SketcUp, but may have to reconsider again. You see, I have a total of 13 rooms that I want rendered. That's A LOT. Maybe I'll get it down to 11 rooms?

As you can see, this is the first floor. The rooms I have highlighted for perspectives are: the family library, administration offices (this is a maybe), lobby, group therapy room, nurse's station, occupational therapy, and physical therapy.

The second floor I have: children's play room, art room, parent's corner (this is a maybe, as well), private tutor classroom, and the children's library.

The spaces are all so unique that I have to show a lot, especially since I am using neat custom made ceiling installations and great colors throughout the space. We shall see.

Crawling along, sleepily

I noticed that I never put up my promised second floor space planning, so I will introduce it to you now. Unlike the first floor, which focuses on the more therapeutic an psychological aspect of my building, the second floor deals mostly with the educational and "play" parts of the space. It includes the private and group classrooms, children's play area, art studio, and children's library. While I'm at it, I am going to include the first floor space planning as well - I finally added in the physical therapy equipment! Right now I am working on my reflected ceiling plan (lighting my space). I've completed the second floor's RCP but have yet to put in into CAD. I am still working on the first floor. I decided to start with the second floor because I wanted to work on the neat custom shapes of the ceiling and lighting elements.

Here is the first floor space planning with the completed physical therapy unit (Oversized so you can see the details): 

And here is the second floor space planning (Oversized so you can see the details): 

Anyway, I will hash out the details to my reflected ceiling plans. I can't wait until those are finished in CAD, I know they will look really good. In the meantime, I will continue ordering samples and working on my chromo therapy focus. ONE LAST THING that I almost forgot about - I made a survey asking different questions looking for emotional responses to color. It was very successful I might say, with over 70 responses. If there is anyone reading this blog and would be willing to take it, please do so and help me out! The link is:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BVDJQRR

That's all for now. It is 1:19AM and I am still in my studio with a couple of my fellow students. It seems to be quite the routine nowadays, staying up here in the design building until the early hours.

Good morning!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Top o' the mornin' to ya! I am writing this post after a full day of not working and celebrating my Irish heritage here in Baton Rouge. Due to fun times throughout the day, I am stuck at home working all night on my project and digesting the copious amounts of green food and drinks I consumed today.

This was me celebrating this morning before the parade struck and I caught about 10 lbs of beads and trinkets:

With the fun aside, tonight was productive on my end. I took today to order several samples for my project. I still do not know exactly the materials and finishes I want for my building so I thought I'd start now while I'm ahead. I ordered several different fabrics, many with crypton backing (for the messy kids; it's very durable and cleans easier) and mostly high performance fabrics that will withstand the constant flow of kids and educators. A majority of the patterns I chose for my fabrics are large in print and very geometric; almost contemporary. Children respond better to bolder patterns and brighter colors, so that was the aim I was going for. I also ordered many great wallcoverings and paint samples. I'm thinking of using dry-erase paint on a few of my walls so the children can express their creativity and imagination on the walls with markers, while also maintaining the cleanliness of the space. Hopefully that doesn't encourage them to draw on the walls at home or school :).

Unfortunately, our projects are never done until they're done. That may sound redundant, but really there is always something that needs to be changed or fixed or added, even when we print out our boards and pin them to the walls. With that being said, even though I ordered so many samples, I will probably spend many more hours going through catalogs and websites and ordering different flooring and paint samples, etc. I know I am not in this program for decorating, but this is one of my favorite parts of the project. I love mixing and matching the colors and patterns to help create the space.

That's all I have for now. It's late and I did a lousy job of saving images of the fabrics I ordered, but tomorrow I will try to put up images of the materials I ordered. I will post more soon as I will have had a lot of progress by Thursday.

Book Madness

 The past few days have been absolutely nuts with my project. In my midterm reviews we discovered that since I want to add an extra floor to my building, I did not take in account that the structural load-bearing walls had to remain where they were. Needless to say, the floor plan I had for my building was wrong. Very very wrong. I had to essentially redesign the whole place. It was stressful because I have the problem, I'm sure like many of my  fellow designers and classmates, of liking my first design so much that it's hard to change it around. And it was. By the time I was finished my first floor space planning, I ended up really liking it. I still have not put in the equipment for the physical therapy room because I am still waiting to hear back from a company that specializes in children physical equipment. I need to get those measurements still and quite possibly find blocks in CAD so I don't have to draw them in myself :).

Here is my first floor space planning:

I am still working on my second floor and am almost at a good stopping point. I don't want to put it up on the blog until it's finished. I might do that tomorrow. By next week I need to have my floor plans, reflected ceiling plans, and elevations all underway and close do complete AND my 3D modeling started. *phew*

We turned in our books today. I am actually quite pleased with mine. I have a lot of missing pages, but who doesn't. I am planning on adding on as I go. It's all falling together quite nicely, really. My original book layout from last semester was SO UGLY. This one is more creative and colorful and is an overall better layout.

Project: EduCare

Well, better late than never I delve into the details of my project. The only update I can give right now is I am still space planning and finalizing my floor plan. Of course that takes FOREVER and we are never satisfied until the very end. Regardless, it is coming along and I am getting more inspired each hour I work on it. I had to change my focus a lot from last semester, as well. I was focusing on childhood psychology and school reintegration, but Phillip (focus teacher) suggested I go into more depth. We came up with a good idea to utilize the research I did for school reintegration and apply it to my new focus, which is color therapy and color psychology. The two go surprisingly well, as color is a helpful factor in quick "fix it" emotions for people (definitely not a permanent therapeutic means).

The building I chose is (ugly) located on 5220 Essen Lane. It is in the center of the "medical center" of Baton Rouge. This city doesn't really have one. I am from Houston where it has the largest and best medical center, so bare with me. Not only is it easily accessible right off of I-10 for parents, but it is in the perfect location near: Women's Hospital, Our Lady of the Lake Hospital, Baton Rouge General Hospital, Ochsner Medical Center, Surgical Specialty Center, Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, Earl K. Long Hospital, Vista Surgical Hospital, and the Baton Rouge Clinic. PHEW. With all of those hospitals combined, there are sure to have enough kiddos to fill up my developmental center.

HERE is the building I chose (might I remind you, I did not choose it for its looks. It was a wonderful location).

Anyway, that's it really. Not to mention it has an immense amount of daylight and a spacious parking lot. I proposed to add another floor, because it is only about 12,000 sf and I need a lot of space for the types of rooms I am building.

I really hope this project is well received with everyone. I am really getting into it. As far back as sophomore year when I first heard about the senior capstone projects I knew I wanted to help the cancer babies I've grown to love with my years at MD Anderson. If this were to ever truly exist, I hope my visitors would leave my building THIS happy:

The little cutie in the green dress and the curious lad in the purple are silhouettes of some of my favorite patients at the hospital.