RUSHMORE CENTER. RAPID, CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA

How can work places be designed so that they enhance teamwork and collaboration while incorporating principles of sustainable design? In preparing the program, master plan, and concept design for this 120,000 square foot office complex at Ellsworth Air Force Base, Dr. Gillem was able to explore two sides of collaboration: 1) user participation in the design process, and 2) creating places for users whose work processes require ongoing collaboration.

Gillem conducted several on-site charrettes with members from the using agencies, and with their help, developed specific design principles as well as a detailed program. For instance, one principle, Natural Light, emerged when we asked the users what they preferred most in their office -- the majority of them said they would like to be near a window. While this is unsurprising, the challenge was to create a design that provided for access to natural light for more than a few supervisory positions. Also, when questioned about teamwork, most of the users expressed a clear desire to balance openness with privacy.

The final design met these and other objectives by using narrow wings to capture light and by creating team-based work settings. Instead of an open-floor plate, however, conference rooms and private offices aligned perpendicular to the exterior walls define each team's work area. As a result, the light-filled wings capture nearly twenty foot-candles of daylight thereby reducing the need for artificial ambient lighting by almost 50%.This facility has won several Air Force Design Awards for its supportive team spaces and environmental conservation.

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA

A primary goal of this project was to provide new and renovated space for a growing congregation in a way that responded to the site and context. The final plan accommodated two-levels of underground parking, a new three-level education and office building, a new choir room and chapel, renovation of an historic wood-frame schoolhouse, and creation of a new public plaza and garden.

The project incorporates ample daylighting to provide comfortable and efficient classrooms and offices, uses passive cooling and heating strategies to reduce energy use, and includes generous public spaces for gathering and worship. Working as the concept architect, we prepared the program, master plan, and preliminary design for this $26 million project. We also acted as the project manager, sheparding the project through the financing, public approvals process, and construction. The project was completed on time and on budget in the fall of 2005. The renovation of the McKinley Annex received a Preservation Award in 2006 from the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association.

SESTO EDUCATION CENTER, CALIFORNIA

		This four-building complex at Vandenberg Air Force Base converts an historic theater into a lecture hall and adds additional classrooms, faculty offices, and a new libray to create a small educational campus. Arcades link the buildings together, and the buildings work together to define a new campus quad.