These are photos from the Friday setup for the 2016 Cleveland Auto Show. I always appreciate the opportunity to photograph this event. I love getting an early peek at the latest designs and concept vehicles (This year's models include the Nissan Winter Warrior four track vehicle as well as the all-new Buick Avista), but for me, the event also serves as a reminder that spring is coming. I wouldn't miss it.
These are the facilities for the Sister Diana Stano Athletic Center for Ursuline College, located in Pepper Pike, Ohio. Designed By Van Auken Akins Architects of Cleveland, the facility houses a gymnasium, workout room, locker rooms, and support spaces for the Arrows' athletic teams. It was designed to replace an older facility that was destroyed by a tornado in 2013.
This was one of my last shoots of the fall, and I'm glad that I was able to squeeze it in. This is a beautiful little campus, and I think the building blends into it rather well. The forms, materials, and colors are sympathetic to the existing infrastructure as well as the surrounding countryside. Very nice presentation.
This is the STEM addition to the Beaumont School in Cleveland Heights. Designed by Van Auken Akins Architects in Cleveland, the 25,000 square foot addition houses four classrooms, a community "commons" space, as well as new administrative and guidance areas for the school.
The architect in me picked up on the details immediately: brick, stone, and glazing materials from the existing building are re-interpreted and extended into the new. The vintage aluminum trim cornice found in the existing building is also brought into the new construction and re-interpreted over the windows. The result is a distinctive new structure that maintains the heritage and charm of the original construction; it's an addition to an existing building - not a new one.
I also liked the openness of the student commons area. The clerestory ceiling and curtainwall are intended to bring together interior and exterior space, and the patio does a great job of softening the transition between the two.
I wanted to photograph the exteriors at the height of Fall; I think the warm foliage bring out the colors of the building nicely. I'm glad that I was able to squeeze it in before the leaves fell.
