Mark London email

Posted June 15, 2007

The following email dated June 8 was sent to Island officials and hospital designers:

As I'm sure you know, last week, the Martha's Vineyard approved the Hospital architecture last week, recommending that the original tower design be restored, and asking for samples of the brick before it is ordered. Paul Foley is sending a certificate of compliance to the Oak Bluffs Building Inspector.

However, the Commission's approval of the architecture was not without considerable discussion, if not to say a certain amount of concern. When a Commissioner said that the earlier "shingle" design was a better-looking building, several Commissioners agreed.

Given the highly exposed location, the decision to go from siding to brick was prudent in order to reduce the risk from natural disasters. However, it must be admitted that converting this into a brick building means it is much more difficult to make the Hospital fit into the character of the Vineyard. There is no denying that it will be massive compared to other buildings on the Island; the use of brick will make it stand out even more.

Of course, there had been issues with the original design - not obvious in the small perspective sketch - such as what the uniformly-colored artificial shingle would really look; the fact that the front facade was so different from the other three facades, the fact that much of the detail might seem somewhat fake. And there were concerns about the second design, a brick building with vestiges of wood trim, at least on the front.

At and after last week's meeting, Commissioners questioned some of the same aspects of the design of the main facade that we all had concerns about before: Besides the loss of the wood trim, concern seemed to focus on the large expanses of brick,.and that the building was generally too stark.

With respect to the color, Commissioners repeated the discussion we had previously about the pros and cons of grey, beige, and red brick, as well as the possibility of trying to match the brick made from the clay on the Island. The comment was made that "the perspective makes it look pink; we don't want a pink hospital!" I suggested to Tim Walsh and Tim Sweet that you get a mock-up made of the proposed brick and mortar including the joint profile. I would think the Hospital administration and Board would also want to see this.

Though the scheme has been approved, we might ask ourselves whether a few final refinements could reduce the visual scale of the building and especially the expanses of brick. Here are some personal reflections.

1. On the large bay left of the tower, the conversion of the hip roof to a gable roof made the vertical wall much higher and resulted in a large expanse of brick above the second floor windows. Despite the fact that this bay is much wider and taller than the others, the windows are the same height as the other windows, and the roof vent is the same size as the others; so the proportions that work well on the other bay projections just don't seem right here.  An option would be to consider making the windows higher, possibly adding clerestory windows in this bay. Perhaps the roof vent could be enlarged into a more substantial element, even if only the upper part is used for ventilation. There might be other ways to refine the scale.  (Of course, going back to the hip roof could bring down the perceived height, eliminate the large expanse of brick at the gable end, and might save money, though it would no longer visually balance the three smaller gable projections on the right.)
2. The brick pattern could be used to add a level of refinement at minimal cost. Often, the scale of a large expanse of brick is broken down with the introduction of features such as a different pattern in the corners or with soldier-course banding or lintels. Here, there is no differentiation of the corners, and the coursing and lintels are in stone. Also, it might be appropriate to make the lintels a bit higher; they seem small compared to the size of the openings.
3.  
4. Adding to the massive look of the brick is the fact that the corner so prominent in the perspective has no windows. Even though it is an exit stair, it might be worth adding a few windows to break up the brick.
5. In comparing the perspectives of the two carports, the previous version seems much more refined. I remember discussing the elimination of the somewhat gratuitous curve in the arch, but in the informal committee of architects always encouraged you to keep the carports and canopies in front of the building as refined as possible. Perhaps you can compare it to the previous version, see why it has apparently lost its detailling, and see whether it might be appropriate to bring back some of those refinements.
6. Whatever the ultimate design, planting ivy would be a good way to soften the brick facade. Small planting areas could be placed periodically along the perimeter of the building, and especially where there are windowless areas of the facade. Contrary to popular misconception, most types of ivy do no harm to a modern brick wall. (In a previous life, I did a fair amount of research into this for a book on Masonry that I wrote for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. By the way, I'm writing this on a bus coming back from Boston and the difference between those sound barriers which are covered with ivy and those which aren't is like day and night.)

All of the above suggestions for your consideration are easy to implement, low-cost refinements. Based on last week's discussion, I'm pretty confident that if you came back with a few minor refinements, it would be dealt with expeditiously. 

The informal committee of local architects remains willing to provide feedback at any time, to help make this the best possible building. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

Mark

Mark London
Executive Director
Martha's Vineyard Commission
508-693-3453
P.O.Box 1447, Oak Bluffs, MA, 02557