01.
WRIGHT CONNECTION COWORKING HUB
ACADEMIC PROJECT
FULL SEMESTER
The National Aviation Heritage Area presented Ohio State's Desis Lab with the opportunity to create a coworking space on their property in the Wright-Dunbar neighborhood of Dayton, Ohio for Senior Thesis. The location site presented a large opportunity for design implementations for three students to address hand-in-hand; the solution consisted of the designs of an expanded walkway, working furniture, a noise absorption structure (Mae Welty), and a weather management design (Kate Belliveau).
**DISCLAIMER: this was a three pronged design solution; all work surrounding the research, development and final design of the sound management walls and weather shades was done by Mae Welty and Kate Belliveau and is not included in this thesis piece, just the spatial and furniture design.**
BACKGROUND
The National Aviation Heritage Area in Dayton, Ohio has challenged Ohio state's Desis Lab to create a co-working space on their property. The space should be designed to provide an alternative work environment, other than home or office, supporting productivity, concentration, and inviting community, such as local businesses, neighbors and downtown professionals to connect with each other, utilizing the space for free.
The Wright-Dunbar neighborhood is situated along a busy street, west of Downtown Dayton, flooded with historic buildings. The opportunity space is adjacent to the National Aviation Historical Park and an up and coming food hall.
The coworking space is designed for the very property that was once home to the Wright Brothers Cycle Shop, but has since been relocated to Detroit. This shop was their fifth location in Dayton and the site where they built the components to the first plane that took flight.
RESEARCH
.jpg)
.png)
A designed survey I made on the topic of co-working was shared through LinkedIn and Reddit. The results showed that almost all professionals had heard of co-working spaces.
Something interesting that I found was that 70% of the surveyed professionals don’t use these spaces even though that same 70% thinks the collaboration space could be valuable to their company.
Co-working spaces have popped up across the United States and globe as a way for individuals and professionals to collaborate, spark innovation in their companies, and increase business. These are often spaces rented or reserved to get a change of pace outside of the traditional office and encourage new ways of thinking that previously felt stagnant.
My classmates and I observed an outdoor coworking event, where professionals could work using wifi hotspots and electrical outlets. The Corrugated metal tables were not compatible with computer mouses. Tables and chairs were littered with natural debris and almost everyone set their work bags directly on the ground where cords from electronic devices were also snaked.
Data from both observation and the student-led survey show that there are consistent things that professionals need in order to be successful if working out of the office, like their phone, laptop and writing materials. The majority of these items require a stable work surface or seating for the user when interacting with them, in order to be productive.
At the property site, I conducted co-design research with community members through an image collaging activity where participants were asked to arrange images and visuals of Dayton in order to best represent the city.
Consistently, participants chose images that represented a historic or artistic vision of Dayton, but most importantly felt proud of the history of the Wright brothers.
Designing on this 12,000 square foot grassy piece of land means considering the access from the front of the property, at W Third Street, to the back of the land, where a free parking lot is located. Access to the property is also met with the need for the space to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, so all users can navigate the site equally.
Design conjectures were used as a research method to think through possible avenues and be be critical of and learn from initial ideas. These are several initial “bad concepts” that I learned from them in order to push past the first few ideas.
INSIGHTS
After analyzing research from my ethnographic observations and co-design on a digital whiteboard space called Miro, I have found that co-working spaces are meant to be the out of office experience, while still functioning like the office. For Dayton specifically, it means acknowledging and encouraging the innovative spirit that the opportunity space holds.
I concluded that this project will consist of designing walkways, seating, and a work surface in a cohesive manner to one another that professionals will want to use, while upholding the current character and history of the neighborhood.
These three elements will not only bring functionality to the professionals, but also practical usage of the site.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
This space is in need of a place-based installation that professionals will actually want to use.
Professionals want to use coworking spaces as unique non-traditional offices, while still requiring the basic elements that make an office usable.
DEVELOPMENT
To begin the ideation process, I used concept mapping and another technique called perspective shift to get into the mindset of the user and features that are needed for a successful work space.
This led into my rapid iteration phase where I quickly sketched walkways and seating arrangements, outdoor tables, and both benches and individual seating.
I also used the HYVE 3D or hybrid virtual environment program to draw on a 3D scan of the design site. This allowed me to map out walkways in the appropriate scale where I learned that the front fence of the site was acting as a barrier to the rest of the lot.
Next I needed to develop both a CMF and mood board to give the design concepts a sense of form and direction. This meant capturing the spirit of the city and street, as well as acknowledging the designs of the Wright bicycles and planes.
This allowed the work surface concept to have a much clearer direction, where the form was derived from plane shapes without being extremely literal.
I performed an evaluative research assessment on four work surface concepts to see how their aesthetics were received as reflective of the mood board. After receiving feedback from over 15 participants, both designers and non-designers, I decided to pursue a combination of the first two designs.
My second assessment was making sure that my ADA approved layout was comfortably wide enough for users to walk through, as well as making sure work surfaces were spacious enough for users. Both designed plans were generous enough for users to work comfortably.
Developing a name for the site along with a brandable logo was important for this seat to be able to leave an impact. The final chosen logo of the W is derived from Wright plane engineering, but symbolizes users joining together, almost like two planes.
INITIAL CONCEPT
All this development leads me to my initial concept:
a four person table outfitted with hooks and with the opportunity for a place to host an electrical box.
The seating design was informed by the table legs
and has a sleek spot at the back of the seat for
water drainage for when it rains.
The initial walkway design eliminates the front gate, extending the existing tile from W Third Street into the space. The coworking space takes up only the front fifth of the site, but has access to the back parking lot.
FEEDBACK AND REFINEMENT
After receiving feedback on this initial concept from both peers, instructors and our project partner at the National Aviation Heritage Area, all three aspects were on the right track but needed some nudging forward. The walkway needed to feel less static and find a way to incorporate the Wright cycle shop. The work surface typology could be expanded into multiple sized tables and the metal frames of the designs needed to be less bulky and more “weightless”.
I refined the concepts through sketching and making prototypes of the furniture, thinning out the designed legs and also exploring ways to incorporate the cycle shop footprint. A weightless seat meant finding ways to make the wooden bench float with legs that didn’t compete aesthetically with the table.
FINAL DESIGN SOLUTION
The Wright Connection Coworking Hub offers the users three different sizes of tables and two different seating options for the different types of collaboration that occurs at the site.
The final table top is built with resin finished ash wood (same wood as the first Wright Flyer Airplane), to keep a smooth surface for writing as well as seal the wood from the elements. Hooks allow personal items to stay off the ground without compromising the side view of the table. The floating seats have also been modified to not need a back groove, but allow water to roll off the back.
This final concept also is more technically sound with a powder coated carbon steel frame crossed underneath the wood. Four outlets on each side of the table allow all users to charge several devices at once and keeps rain out of direct sight lines. The NAHA also has the opportunity to attach a tracking device to these furniture pieces in order to locate them if property is stolen from the site.
The walkway itself has also now been transformed to use ⅓ of the property, with the opportunity for the space to be expanded if necessary.
Similar to the primary concept, this design uses the same tile that already is in place on W Third Street, so the two spaces are not broken up, but are one cohesive space.
Based on surveyors maps of the property in the early 1900’s and drawings from the Wright Brothers, the slightly darker tile indicates where the interior footprint of the cycle shop was, so the user can be “working in the shop”. The seating direction has also changed to be more dynamic in the space.
The stone walkway allows the user into the space from the back of the lot to free parking, instead of walking through the grass.
With the opportunity to remove seats as necessary this site currently holds up to 56 users and is accessible to all of them. All furniture is designed for wheelchair users simply by moving seating out of the way. Free wifi will also be located in the neighboring building, accessible to all users. Trash cans are located along the street and restrooms can be found across the street at the National Aviation Historical Park.
USE AND IMPACT
In this user scenario, professionals can access the site from both the front and the back, with plenty of seating options to choose from; collaborating at large tables can encourage others to sit with them and join in on the innovative conversation, benefitting all users. Collaborating at the smaller tables can mean having more private meetings between professionals.
This design brings purpose to the site, honoring the Wright Cycle Co and first airplane while also providing the local businesses, neighbors and downtown professionals a space to gather, collaborate and innovate. Lastly, our partners at the NAHA have the ability to host events and showcase their historic site with little maintenance on their end.
SCALE MODEL
The process of building the table and bench meant trying out new techniques like aluminum welding and using a router. Through the process of trial and error of welding, the model ended up being made of wood, with the appearance that the table legs were metal.
Other materials such as epoxy, polyurethane, wood glue and spray paint were used in the process of building.
The final result is the four person table and two person bench built at ¼ scale.
FINAL NOTES
This project was truly a culmination of my entire education, from research to analysis, analog and digital sketching, to manufacturing and working alongside a real client the whole way.
The final design was presented to a panel of critiquers as well as a member from our partner company at the National Aviation Heritage Area. This project is currently being reviewed by the company to be considered for full implementation into the site.