Business Incubator Adaptive Reuse
Design Principle 1 of 2: Because the area is enclosed by the larger structure, the program can be inverted, creating a communal space inside the building frame.
Design Principle 2 of 2: Varying levels of privacy and viewership can be obtained through concentration of columns.
Axonometric View of Incubator and Market
Front Elevation
Floor 1 Plan
The goal of the assignment was to create an element of a SESC, A Brazilian community center, and a market within an abandoned market structure. I chose to create a business incubator space coupled with a used clothes market. This business incubator seeks to promote invitation, interaction, and inspiration, while advocating for economic agency for the users of the SESC. The clothes market seeks to outfit the users of the business incubator space and community with clothes for professional life at an affordable price.
The structure interacts with the already partially enclosed space by moving the circulation and satellite rooms to the outside of the building frame, which promotes invitation into the space by increased visibility. This increase in visibility is contrasted by the filters, which vary in density to privatize individual working spaces. Gently sloping ramps and stairs placed into the circulation make the entrance to the space obvious to the passerby.
Business incubators exist as platforms for entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs to share ideas and experiences. The structure manifests this necessity by providing a large central space that fosters interaction between different users of the space. The entrance to the stairs are on the corners of the space to allow conversations to flow in the center.
The space of the business incubator has very few walls, as a means to promote expansionary thinking and provide a space that allows for creativity to flow. The third-floor space allows people to view the SESC and reach new heights within the larger space. Small sets of stairs on either side of the space allow easy access to other areas of the SESC, which allows for inspiration to come from anywhere.
Together, the elements of the business incubator as well as the inclusion of the used clothes market in the SESC act as a means for the users of the space to minimize the costs of starting a small business, promoting economic mobility and autonomy.