Nick Tartaglione

OVERVIEW Full renovation of a 1974, 288 bed, 115,000 GSF undergraduate dorm with an accelerated project schedule

LOCATION Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

ROLE Designer & Graphics (Predesign-CA)

I was involved in stakeholder engagement with early concept, programing and parti design. These early meetings were crucial for establishing a parti and project goals that met the desires of the owner, design team, and building users.

I was part of a sub-team for exterior surveying, envelope studies, energy analysis, and restoration design. The findings of these surveys and studies allowed us to restore and improve the envelope for an astonishing 60% improvement in energy consumption compared to the existing building.

Due to the accelerated project schedule, owner engagement on key design decisions was critical. Our solution for this issue were Decision Making Handouts (DMH’s). These short, stand alone documents were to quickly address a single issue and provide potential solutions including the design team’s recommendation. I was responsible for the creation and management of the DMH’s which allowed for very quick design decisions to be made by the owner to keep the design on schedule.

I was part of the construction administration team thru phase 1 of construction. In addition to RFI’s, Submittals, and OAC meetings, I was responsible for overseeing the exterior restoration and window replacement.

PROJECT TEAM completed at Goody Clancy with Zsuzsanna, Roger, Amanda, Matt, Pam, Nina, Lori, Thanhthuy, Andreas, Jeff, Lisa

YEAR 2016-2017, project completed in 2018

RENEWING THE BUILDING TO REVITALIZE THE COMMUNITY

New House is a family. Built in 1974, it was designed to house nine distinct affinity communities, where students join as freshmen and live, shop, cook, dine, and socialize around shared academic focus or identity in their selected community until they graduate. It has remained a highly sought after living choice since its inception. 

Rather than demolish and replace it, MIT chose to invest in New House, taking advantage of its lovely riverfront site and the physical form of the building that supported the uncommon community there. That decision means addressing the pressing exterior envelop issues- window and cavity wall failures and related energy concerns, solving accessibility concerns (there are no elevators in this five-story building, and only a small part of the building was designed to be universally accessible), and renewing HVAC systems within a highly constrained 8’-3” floor to floor dimension. Design was completed in six months, with construction planned in two phases over 15 months to minimize the time that beds are offline, and the community is disrupted.

The most transformative aspects of the project though, are changes to better support the affinity communities of New House while preserving its distinct culture. These include:

- Relocating kitchens and dining to upper floors to imbed that important part of communal life into the heart of each community.

- Introducing a “commons corridor” through the ground floor, lined with social spaces the serve the whole house to create a greater sense of shared identity in the building, while maintaining the strong identity with their affinity community.

- Opening spaces to the courtyards facing the Charles River to better capitalize on the building’s remarkable (and under current regulations, largely unbuildable) site.

All of these changes maintained the current 288 bedcount, while increasing the proportion of shared space in the building. The project focuses on communal over private space, increasing the amount, scale, and visibility of common spaces. They move to the right places in the building, to amplify the particular community culture that students find so desirable in New House.

OVERVIEW New construction for a 98,000 GSF business school

LOCATION Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ

ROLE Programer, Designer, Digital Lead, and Graphics (Predesign-CD)

I aided in completion of a new building program and developed graphics and reports for stakeholder presentations in a 4 week right sizing effort.

I worked with the project team to develop early concept massing, parti, and site design during Concepts and SD . During DD & CD’s, I focused on interior design of classrooms (including innovative “cluster” classrooms), breakout rooms, hub, centers, and conference rooms that are integral to the collaborative nature and functionality of the new building.

As Digital Lead, I was responsible for the management and coordination of the Revit model with the internal project team as well as consultant teams.

PROJECT TEAM completed at Goody Clancy with Rob, Zsuzsanna, Victor, Ray, Ryan, Chee

YEAR 2013-2014, project completed in 2017

A GATEWAY BUILDING THAT ENGAGES REGIONAL BUSINESSES & ACADEMIC COMMUNITY

The new 98,000 SF Business Hall is the school’s first building dedicated solely to business education and nearly doubles the amount of space for the Rohrer College of Business. Its design reflects the university’s goal of providing distinctive experiential learning opportunities that prepare students to actively participate in the economy.

Programs, such as a trading room and centers (including the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Center for Professional Development, Center for Responsible Leadership, and Graduate Center), are organized around a two-story, daylit “Hub,” the social and academic heart of the building. The facility’s design and programs welcome regional businesses into the space to engage with students.

Business Hall’s classrooms include tiered “cluster” classrooms that easily toggle between instructor-led learning and small group collaboration in a single class meeting to simulate post-graduation work environments. The building also features conference rooms, computer labs, administrative and faculty offices, and collaboration rooms.

Located at the main western gateway to the campus, the striking building reflects Rowan’s rising stature as a premier state research university. The L-shaped building’s two fronts welcome students from both Mullica Hill Road—the main road leading to campus—and from Meditation Walk—the natural, landscaped path through campus. It shapes outdoor meeting and socializing spaces while also helping solve campus-wide stormwater management issues, providing new flood water storage capacity to reduce chronic flooding.

OVERVIEW New construction of a 43,000 GSF humanities school on a difficult sloping landscape

LOCATION Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem Israel

ROLE Designer & Visualizations (DD)

As a new member to the firm and a project team that was already into DD, I (while working closely with the [principals) was responsible for the interior design of the major forum, meeting, classroom, and lecture hall spaces in the building.

I was also responsible for all visual representations of the project for owner and donor meetings. The decision I made during the visualization process had direct impacts on the design of the project including furniture and finish selection and taking an underutilized program element and transforming it into a highly celebrated space that is now one of the main attractions of the new building.

PROJECT TEAM completed at Kallmann McKinnell & Wood Architects with Michael, Kathy, Stephanie, Sean

YEAR 2011-2012, building completed in 2016

The Mandel School for Advanced Studies in The Humanities at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is an academic building accommodating a mix of office and meeting spaces dedicated to the advanced study and research in the humanities. The 43,000 gsf., building is sited on a sloped hillside at the edge of the Mount Scopus campus, overlooking the Isawiyah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. The main entrance is located on the top level, which appears as a shaded glass pavilion resting on four levels of native Jerusalem Stone and accessed by means of a bridge from the botanical gardens. The entry bridge provides an outdoor seating area under a shaded trellis and green walls which allow vegetation to grow up the sides of the bridge. The top level of the building is a continuation of the campus level containing classrooms, conference rooms, a cafe and a balcony looking onto the double height public forum space. There is also a shaded terrace that provides breathtaking views of the city. The all glass top level creates visual connections and a transparency of research to the university and general public.

Within the four stone levels of the building are a 100 seat lecture room, MA-student research space, small conference rooms, seminar rooms, study lounges and research offices to allow for interaction between staff and student to foster both individual research and intellectual intercourse around Humanistic Studies.. The research offices feature large floor to ceiling windows that look out to either the desert or gardens. The interior is composed of Jerusalem stone floors and trim, wood ceilings, and painted walls that provide a warm, modern environment within the building.

OVERVIEW $11 million dollar, 35,000 GSF new construction business school to become the new signature gateway building on campus.

LOCATION Husson University, Bangor, ME

ROLE Project Manager, Project Architect, Programmer, & Visualizations (Predesign-DD)

Led the design effort while working closely with the Principal in Charge to create and develop three concepts. Through a series of meetings where I presented concepts tot he Building Committee, the team developed a Preferred Scheme for fund raising.

Managed the internal project team, led consultant coordination, and  was the main point person for client relations.

Led and developed a new building program by engaging with building users and stakeholders in a series of workshops. 

PROJECT TEAM Completed at Goody Clancy with Rob and Olivia

YEAR 2018

A SIGNATURE BUILDING TO DISPLAY THE PREMIER PROGRAM

The new business school creates an environment that puts the unique, hands on program on display to the public and users of the building. The two story Hub space provides the campus with a new and much desired lounge space for students to hang out and collaborate between classes. Classrooms and major collaboration spaces (like the Agile workspace, Ronan Center, and Interactive Workroom) are adjacent to the Hub, separated by a buffer zone of collaboration nooks and soft seating. Classrooms were developed to be flexible for the multiple teaching arrangements and hands on simulations that are unique to Husson’s program. The new building is physically linked to the neighboring Center for Family Business to create synergies between the business program and local businesses. In an effort to avoid redundant program on campus, the two building’s can use overlapping program such as the Hub space and Agile Workspace in the COB and the 100-seat meeting room in the CFB.

At the far ends of the building are faculty offices arranged in “office neighborhoods” of 4-8 faculty and a central student meeting space. These neighborhoods provide students the opportunity to meet with faculty for 1 on 1 advising or in larger group areas outside of the classrooms, which is another unique aspect to Husson’s business program. 

The exterior character of the building is in contrast to but respects the existing brick buildings on campus. The simple form address the large, open site and compliments the gentle rolling hills. Large expanses of glass are limited to the Hub space and entries of the building to minimize the heat loss in the cold climate and reduce construction cost. 

LOCATION Dallas Museum of Biblical Art, Dallas, TX

PROJECT TEAM David, Matt, Zach, Olivia, Anthony, Miriam, James

ROLE Project Architect

YEAR 2018

The Celestial Sukkah was Goody Clancy’s entry for the The Sukkah Project: Dwell in Design, an annual competition where entrants design and build temporary shelters known as Sukkahs for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. In partnership with the Autodesk Build Space, the team utilized the CNC, 3D Printer, and laser cutters for prototyping and full size mock up construction. The Celetrial Sukkah was named a finalist and the full size sukkah was machined, flat packed, shipped, and assembled in Dallas for the week long festival.

As the exiled Israelites journeyed through the desert, they built their nomadic life around universal human needs: shelter from the elements, the companionship of others, and a sense of higher purpose. The Celestial Sukkah evokes this ancient quest.

This sukkah is composed of two wooden nesting shell structures, threaded with strips of textured fabric varying in color and transparency. The inner shell rotates so the sukkah can express a variety of configurations: entirely enclosed (to maximize shade), open to one side (to communicate welcome), or any position in between. The outer shell stands strong to provide an essential foundation, and together, the shells’ vertical lines gesture up towards the sky. The configurations are dynamic, evolving, and ever shifting, like a kaleidoscope.

In response to changing conditions, the Celestial Sukkah creates shade, filters light, and reaches out to visitors –  always with a view to the heavens. Depending on the sukkah’s configuration and the orientation of the viewer the lines of enclosure look and feel different.

Ribbons of fabric give the structure a skin and create the sukkah’s kaleidoscopic effect. Glimpses through layers of material, slivers of light and shadow create a sense of alluring mystery. The s’chach is the exterior skin, an open-weave natural jute fabric that creates textured shadows while the interior is translucent sheer white to capture the light and shade.

The Celestial Sukkah invites visitors to appreciate the temporal nature of life, even as they search for promise of the eternal.

WEBSITE

PUBLICATION

LOCATION University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH

PROJECT TEAM completed at Goody Clancy with Rob, Arjun, Amanda, Victor

ROLE Programer, Designer, Digital Lead, and Graphics (Concepts)

Led and developed a new building program by engaging with building users and stakeholders in a series of workshops. Decision making during this process was critical as there was limited available square footage and large wish list 

Led the design effort while working closely with the Project Architect to create and develop three concepts. Through a series of meetings where I presented concepts to the Building Committee, the team developed a Preferred Scheme for fund raising.

Created Programming and Concept Design Reports to document the options presented and decisions made during the entire study. 

As Digital Lead,  I was responsible for the management and coordination of the Revit model with the internal project team as well as consultant teams. 

YEAR 2015

TRANSFORMING A VOID INTO THE HEART

The Kingsbury Hall Atrium project is an addition to the existing Kingsbury Hall building on the University of New Hampshire’s (UNH) Durham Campus. The CEPS programs have seen continued growth and despite a major addition in 2008, requires additional space. In the fall of 2015, the UNH hired Goody Clancy to complete a Program and Concept Study to reimagine the courtyard as an atrium space. Through the programming study, the Focus Groups identified several programmatic elements to be incorporated into the atrium space such as: a 160-seat Classroom, a more centrally located Career Center, a Maker Space / Open Studio, a variety Group Meeting Spaces, a more visible Library entrance, and a central Gathering Space. These elements are needed to relieve the pressure on the existing building facilities and provide multi-disciplinary, multi-functional spaces that encourage spontaneous interaction between all users of the building and to further the mission of the CEPS departments. 

The preferred scheme was developed with the intentions of meeting the important project goals of:

-Create a gathering space that reinforces the sense of community within Kingsbury Hall.

-Provide a multi-functional space that allows for a variety of activities: receptions, poster presentations, Alumni Association meetings, State of the University speeches, and a place for students to “be all day.”

-Create spaces that are shared by all of CEPS: studio/maker space and additional group study spaces of varying sizes.

-Provide an innovative gathering space that puts science on display.

OVERVIEW Renovation & Addition for a 154,000 GSF 1960’s burtalist fine arts center  that has been neglected since its construction

LOCATION University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI

PROJECT TEAM Completed at Kallmann McKinnell & Wood Architects with Bruce Wood and Alicia Crothers

ROLE Programming, Design, & Renderings

YEAR 2012-2013

The existing University of Rhode Island Fine Arts Center, constructed in 1963 & 1967, brings together theater, music, art, and art history, each with its own set of pavilions linked by common areas for access to public venues. In spite of a mature landscape and several vignettes where the building and landscape are compositionally attractive, the general reading of the existing structure is one of abandonment or ruin, exacerbated by few and small windows, a deteriorating exterior surfaces and an incomplete construction site. The interior reflects the same neglect and is dated, deteriorated, and under-sized for the school’s current needs while also posing several ADA and life safety hazards.

KMW assessed the program and developed options for the University and Departments to maximize their resources; including identifying opportunities for Shared/Common spaces and areas for formal and informal collaboration. A new 3-story central bar extends east/west with long elevations oriented north/south. The new addition is linked with connection to the existing Theaters and Concert Hall Pods which are to remain. Music program occupies the 1st and 2nd floors of the east side of the bar in close proximity to Concert Hall Pod. Art program is located on the west side of the bar on the 1st and 2nd floor and the entire 3rd floor, with Faculty Studios distributed on all three floors. A new open lawn is at the southwest corner of the site to provide a sense of entry and area for students to lounge.

LOCATION Detroit, MI

PROJECT TEAM work completed with James Browning

YEAR 2013

Invigorating Detroit take more than just business. While the downtown area claws its way back, it does so on the back of its hardened citizens and those who flock to the growing opportunity that the city provides.  The former Hudson’s Department Store site provides an opportunity to fulfill numerous needs of the current downtown area by acting as a destination for those near and far.  

Based on the three basic events of daily life (Work, Live, and Play) the design encourages social interaction by providing multiple opportunities for both designed and coincidental rendezvous. Not only does the design cater to offering amenities dedicated to each of these daily life events (ie. games rooms, communal kitchens, etc.), it also bridges the boundaries that define these basic events. The inclusion of an anchor store and well as multiple different scales of retail begin to create a destination for shopping along Woodward Ave. A residential component attracts a younger, more temporary crowd by offering many hostel components while also adding many new apartments to build the downtown housing stock. All in all, by becoming a destination on numerous scales the design fosters new relationships and promotes an interaction within and across the framework of  work, live, and play. 

LOCATION Brookyln, NY

PROJECT TEAM work completed at Roger Williams University

YEAR 2011

In recent years, the progress in communication technology has allowed the world to become more connective than ever, yet this evolution of communication technologies has further weakened human face-to-face communication with each new development. However there is a growing trend of re-introducing the human factor back into communication technologies with such developments as video chatting and early holographic. As part of NYU’s growth plan, the proposed Media Connections Center is a research facility that allows researchers, professors, and students to create and develop these new technologies while also creating an environment that creates spaces for collaboration, socializing, and interaction with the public. An architectural exploration of the idea of Hertzian space, the Media Connection Center brings together the human element back into technology and into the lives of its inhabitants.

A system of interlocking research lab spaces allow for visual and spatial connections while still allowing each lab to function independently The stepping pinwheel motion of the lab spaces allows for a space of informal gatherings and circulation in the form of lounges, exhibition spaces, and stairs that create pockets for socializing. This spiraling circulation path draws the public, students, professors, and researchers from the ground floor exhibition space through the building to the upper floor exhibition space and cafe that allows for a full comprehension of the inner workings of the center and research labs.

LOCATION El Parque Nacional De Timanfaya, Lanzarote, Spain

PROJECT TEAM work completed at Roger Williams University

YEAR 2009

The creation of Lanzarote is the result of two contrasting forces present on the island; the creative force of the volcanoes and lava and the eroding force of the wind and water. These two forces, creation and erosion, have worked against each other over time to create the rugged and weathered landscape that is Lanzarote today. These forces are present within a simple volcanic rock, once solid, carved away at by erosion to create the pores character present within volcanic rocks. 

Within the vastness of Parque Nacional de Timanfaya, the center itself is no more than the rock, a simple creative object. Like the rock, the center is eroded and carved away at, creating opportunities for light, wind, views, and the landscape itself to enter into the building, creating an experience of Lanzartoe within the building. Like the pores on the rock, the spaces within the center are a series of open and compressed spaces that allow for visitors to experience different areas of the building from one single point.

LOCATION New Bedford, MA

PROJECT TEAM work completed at Roger Williams University

YEAR 2008

The focus of Transit Oriented Development is to create communities with an emphasis on pedestrian and mass public transportation. Whale’s Tooth in New Bedford, MA creates a commuter community with a diverse range of residential, commercial, civic, and mixed use  programs that promote growth. The site’s unappealing surroundings to the east and to the west, create an inward focus along a central spine for commercial activity. It is complemented by green spaces that punctuate the gridded fabric in a checkerboard fashion. The angle of the rail line as it enters the site is maintained and its juxtaposition to the gridded urban fabric creates a transit nexus that brings bus, car, trolley and rail together creating a strong anchor for the development.