Case Study in Brick: Intrinsic Columbia State Value ... · saw cut jamb. backer rod “This is a campus of Tennessee’s first community college, and Franklin’s ... Roof Detail

Intrinsic Value

Case Study in Brick: Columbia State

Community CollegeWilliamson Campus

Peabody BlendModular Brick

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Bauer Askew Architecture designed these three initial buildings as the heart of a ten-building master plan for an engaging new campus to create a renewed identity for this community college. Its Tennessee hillside site on an abandoned phosphorus mine created design and construction challenges that were turned to advantage with three multilevel brick buildings that foster student interaction and academic collaboration. Distinctive clay brick gives the

Site Plan, Campus Build-out

Architects reinterpreted historic brick buildings nearby in cleanly detailed modern forms that read abstractly from a distance and reflect the warm, tactile feel of brick up close. The materials and textures of these first three buildings set the tone for build-out of the college campus over time.

Brick Detail, Plan, Upper Level Gridlines

Pilaster Detail

1 Admin., Student Services 2 Arts & Humanities 3 Science /Tech./Engr./Math. 4 Tower

future buildings: 5 Health Sciences & Tech. 6 Wellness, Student Life 7 Economic, Workforce Dev. 8 University Center 9 Academic, Outreach 10 Fine Arts, Theater 11 Parking Garage

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sheathingmetal studs

storefrontmoisture barrier

concrete slab

brick veneercontrol jointvent weepflashingrigid insulationstainless drip edge

steel columnsheathingrigid insulationbrick veneerdownspout

metal studsbatt insulationbrick veneersaw cut jambbacker rodcurtain wall

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college an instantly perceived educational purpose and serves as the visual fabric of the campus. Exterior walls of classrooms and common areas continually frame appealing brick elevations across a central courtyard. Clay brick conveys a comforting impression of strength and permanence in architectural forms that express a mission to equip students to continue at a university or begin a specialized career immediately.

Exterior brick rhythm continues inside.

Brick Detail, Plan, Upper Level Gridlines

Pilaster/Endwall Detail

sheathingmetal studs

storefrontmoisture barrier

concrete slab

metal studssheathing

batt insulationrigid insulation

curtain wall

control jointbrick veneer control jointflashingvent weeprigid insulationmetal studsflashingmortar netanchored anglestainless drip edge

steel columnrigid insulationdownspoutbrick veneersaw cut jambbacker rod

“This is a campus of Tennessee’s first community college, and Franklin’s red-brick and limestone architecture dates to before the Civil War. Our challenge from the client was to show an appreciation for that history but look forward, and elevate the collegiate experience on a campus that encourages student engagement and collaboration. We took the one building envisioned by the State, and broke it into three, creating a unifying image through materiality with Acme Brick’s Peabody blend and a gray Indiana limestone. The design theme looks back with gabled roofs and timeless materials, and toward the future with clean lines and simplicity in detailing.

We used materials that have been around for hundreds of years – and will be around for hundreds more – but used them in a contemporary, modern way. The site presented a twofold challenge: the side of a hill is hard for accessibility; and its phosphate-mining history meant large sinkholes, and even a ravine with an abandoned

school bus. Ultimately, we designed a campus carved out of the hillside, with an arrangement that creates visual connections from one building to another. We continued to blur the lines between exterior and interior spaces by bringing the brick inside as a finish in the administration building. Brick has a pleasing tactile quality that feels warm, but with a true permanence inherent in the material. We used the same rhythm of the exterior fenestration for interior openings to divide spaces and create opportunities for additional design elements.

We looked at historical precedents in Franklin and also at Vanderbilt University nearby, but reinterpreted them in a modern way. With spare details, the brick reads as a slab from a distance, contrasting with monolithic limestone in color, and then in its modular texture when closer. These relationships set the tone for materiality, rhythm, and topology on the site, as the first phase of a ten-building master plan. We are designing a fourth building now, taking the first three as a base and reinterpreting the palette to allow other buildings to be unique as time moves on. Our vision is that the brick and limestone palette be used and reimagined each time, regardless of the architect.”

--JC Elder LEED AP BD+C, Architect Associate

storefrontsolid surface sill

J moldsheathing

metal studsbatt insulation

rubber basesteel beam

subsillbacker rodmoisture barrierstone silldownspoutstone cornicestone pilaster capflashingweep ventsteel shelf anglerigid insulationmoisture barriersheathingbrick veneerbond breakerstone lintelflashingcavity drainagesteel lintelopen head weep

Wall Section

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Abstracted brick pilasters and portico blend historical architecture of the region with a modern vision for higher education.

roof trussessteel beam

sheathingmetal studs

batt insulationstud header

wood blockingshade system

roof assemblywood blockingmetal flashingmoisture barriergutter systemflashingstone cornicedownspoutbrick veneermasonry pilastersheathingmoisture barrierrigid insulation

cavity drainageflashingvent weepstone linteldrip edgesteel lintelstorefront

interior sillJ mold

wood blockingmetal studs

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interior sillmetal studs

concrete slabsteel beam

stud headerJ mold

shade system ceiling grid

storefrontspandrel panelrigid insulationcurtain wall bracketgypsum boardbatt insulationbrick veneer

aluminum stop blockbacker rod

storefrontbacker rodstone sillflashingsteel angleweep ventsheathingmoisture barrierrigid insulationbrick veneerbrick ties

cavity drainageflashingopen head weepsdrip edgewaterproofing

metal stud blockingframing bracket

sheathingmetal box header

wood blockingwindow shade

acoustical ceilingwood blocking

backer rod

asphalt shinglesroof trusseswood blockingmetal studsbatt insulation

metal gutterstone cornicestainless anchorsbond breakerbrick veneerdownspoutrigid insulationmoisture barriersheathingbond breakerstone lintelcavity drainagesteel lintelweep ventsteel drip edgebacker rod

solid surface sillJ mold

metal studsbatt insulation

steel shelf anglesheathing

basefinish floor

concrete slab vapor barrier

rigid insulationgravel base

cmu wall

curtainwallbacker rodstone sillflashingcavity drainageweep ventrigid insulationmoisture barriersheatingmetal studscavity drainageflashingweep ventsstainless drip edgefinish gradegrout cavity solidwaterproofingcmu blockdrainage matslope protectionfoundation drain

stone jointsstainless drip edge

counter flashingbase flashing

Primary among goals for Columbia State was creating a dynamic and vital image for community college as a partnership among education, business, government, and the community to prepare students for their goals in academics and careers. Clay brick was central to the new image, combining the tradition inherent in masonry campuses for centuries with the flexibility to design open and individualized buildings that fit their uses and contribute to a greater unified campus identity. Brick will continue to keep that

image cohesive across future buildings of varied forms that will increase capacity from 2,200 students today to 6,000 on completion. Brick satisfied the college’s goal of student and faculty collaboration by allowing for spaces that flow naturally from outdoor courtyard to interior commons and classrooms. The human scale of brick served well inside and out to create a sense of enclosure, yet encourage spontaneity in learning opportunities. Brick met the goal of echoing the history of the region while delivering the

optimism about its future opportunities, as a traditional material used in exciting new forms in a project that earned LEED Gold distinction.

Creating a sense of place through visibility across campus from classrooms and study spaces was central to the design. Architects used repetition in brick to provide a sense of the whole college, and variations in detailing as identifying cues.

Transparency creates a constant visual connection across campus with the college’s brick motif signature.

Austere details along roof lines frame simple geometric shapes made rich by the warm texture of brick.

Roof Detail

asphalt shinglesrigid insulation

vapor barriermetal roof deck

counter flash dripmetal flashing

wood nailersmembranesteel beammetal shimmetal studs

metal flashingbatt insulation

bond breakerrigid insulation

moisture barrier

metal copingmetal cleatEPDM flashingwood nailerbacker rodwood nailermetal flashingstone cornicemoisture barriersheathinggutter systemstone cornicebrick veneermetal studsbatt insulationdownspoutbrick veneer

Versatile clay brick met the project’s functional requirements to house a variety of functions—classrooms, library, administration, student services, a study

commons, faculty offices, and intimate study spaces—on a tricky hillside site, by allowing for three multilevel buildings with extensive fenestration, rather than a single, closed structure. Brick allowed steeply parapeted gable roof forms, establishing a design theme that will guide the campus’s buildout. This theme also enables the generous arrangement of buildings across the site, to create functional outdoor communal spaces and circulation. Contrasting brick with limestone accents and large expanses of

glazing, architects created rhythms of punched window openings to engage and inspire students. Brick was key to meeting a demanding $32 million construction budget accountable in large part to state voters, but also ten percent to the community college itself. By standardizing on a single brick as the core design element, architects anchored the essential requirement of an organizing material that will serve any conceivable future design program on the 36-acre campus.

Windows elegantly framed in brick take on heroic proportions crisply contained and detailed.

Window Head Flashing Detail

Window Sill Flashing Detail

sheathingmetal studs

batt insulationmoisture barrier

sheathingrigid insulation

lintel anglewood nailer

backer rodcurtain wall

sheathingwood nailer

backer rodshim

solid surface sillrigid insulation

reinforcing fibermoisture barrier

wood nailerrigid insulation

sheathingmetal studs

batt insulation

metal studsbatt insulationrigid insulationmoisture barriersheathingbrick veneerstone lintelvent weepcavity drainageflashingsteel drip edge

metal studsbatt insulationrigid insulationmoisture barriersheathingbrick veneerbacker rodcurtain wallvent weepflashingsteel drip edge

From the earth, for the earth.® leed-accredited engineers and full-service support

Columbia State Community CollegeWilliamson CampusFranklin TNarchitectBauer Askew Architecture, Nashville TNbrick distributorAlley-Cassetty Companies, Nashville TNgeneral contractorHoar Construction, Nashville TNmasonry contractorE.M.B. Quality Masonry, Cordova TN

Acme BrickPeabody Blend modular brick

Rion Rizzo, Creative Sources Photography, Atlanta

Not surprisingly, a complex of buildings designed around transparency between exterior and interior come alive after dusk. Brick carries through as the greatest unifying visual element.