Pullman Depot- Art B&B Project Final Boards

For this adaptive reuse of the Pullman Depot my design for it was to turn it into art hotel/ bed and breakfast.  The plan included a residence for the owner of the B&B, designed with special attention to universal design and ADA requirements for the owner’s legally blind wife.

     This process began by doing a walkthrough of the depot with plans in hand to make notes and take photos for reference while designing.  Next I started my concept design for the B&B.  Picking a train related object of inspiration to create abstract parti sketch, key words for a concept from it, and then taking this abstract parti sketch and repeating it in pattern to make a textile.  The object that inspired the parti sketch was one of 6 retro railway posters by Salvador Dali for the French rail way system.  I then made a 3D model of my parti sketch and key words, Contrast, Punctuation, and Layers.   For the B&B and residence I wanted to have visual contrast for the legally blind and contrast between the public and private spaces in it. Each space I wanted to have a focal point punctuating it and visual punctuation for someone with low vision.  Lastly I wanted to layer these ideas with the art and the design smoothly in a historic place.  The history and the modern new design I was adding needed to be layered in the space to keep some historical content, while making it feel modern.  I also wanted to have physical layers in the ceilings since the building’s historical ceilings were 15’ to a peak of 29’.  

     In combination with this concept development for the design I found a regional artist to inspire the art in the B&B.  I choose Stephen Hayes, a artist from Portland OR.   His beautiful paintings of landscape and more abstract prints were inspiration for my color pallet.  I also added to my concept with quotes from him on his philosophy about art.   The concept I took from his work was that nature reflects man.  The human condition can be reflected in nature and the world around us, and that connecting to it is important in his art work.  So in the B&B’s design I wanted implied and physical connections to nature. 

    Some main design points of the space would be green walls throughout the interior and points of punctuation and as a physical connection to nature.  These walls also divided patios on the exterior of the depot outside all the entrances and guest rooms.  These patios and landscaping around them allow for a physical connecting to nature for the guest and visitor and a secondary layer of space to inhabit.  In the lobby I used mirrors around the reception desk and in-between art work to reference nature reflection people.  The lobby and bar adjoining it had custom furniture pieces shaped like elements of the parti sketch.  This furniture’s fabric was chosen with a high contrast of value between it and the flooring.  The counter tops and bar were also selected to have a high value contrast with the floor to allow for the visually impaired to see a definite plane change.  Other spaces in the B&B include and dining multipurpose space with breakfast bar and seating for 16 indoors, and a patio with seating outside.   A commercial kitchen, laundry, and storage.  Four guest rooms  one single, two queens, and a king, the second queen being fully ADA accessible.   Also an office attached to the residence.  The  residence was designed to have value contrast between surfaces as well as textural wall changes between spaces. One main feature in the spaces with original exterior windows were cut outs ceilings like the pattern design.  These ceiling features where cut into dropped ceilings in rooms where the windows went up to 13 feet but the desired room ceiling height was 10 feet.  The ceilings were dropped to 10’ but the ceiling was cut out in a pattern with small colored lights hanging down through it.  This way light from the window above 10 feet, and sola tubes installed in the actual roof, could  still could come though the openings.  This feature expressed the key ideas of connecting to nature, with natural light, punctuation with colored lights, layers of ceiling, and contrast between solid and cut out ceiling.

   This project was challenging as an adaptive reuse of a space, an Art B&B, and residence under 800 sq ft.  A lot of time had to be put into reading about Art hotels, Bed and Breakfasts, designing for low vision, and, building codes.  The plan and final design where done in two and a half weeks with just as much time before that simply researching and coming up with a design concept.  I felt that I did thread the concept fairly well throughout the Depot, but with more time I could have explored better design solutions for the plan and concept application to it.  There are some rough areas in the plan that could have used some reworking as well as some of the rooms furniture layout could have also been place more successfully.   Over all I am excited with my product as a preliminary design for the train depot in downtown Pullman Washington.