Translucent Light
This design was for a Montessori school, located on ground floor of an apartment building in Knoxville's historic Old City.
Our main concept for this project is the idea of transparent and opaque spaces. The front of the building is more transparent to allow in as much light as possible into the space. The further back into the building you go however, the more opaque the spaces become.
We aimed to accomplish this transparency with the use of wall materials and lighting, such as our transparent epoxy wall design and our opaque LED light wall design located as the central dividing wall throughout the school. In some bays you can see all the way through, while others are meant to only see a portion of the space. This idea of transparency also relates to the Montessori method of teaching within the school, allowing children of all ages to interact and learn from each other in an open room with minimal division.
Team: Kathryn Parker and Emily Hundley
Sustainable Design and Material Assessment:
• Existing wood floors- we cut out the pathway of circulation and flipped the existing wood in the opposite direction to provide subtle wayfinding as well as add some depth to the floor patterning.
• Reclaimed metal pipes to form the reception desk structure, with 15”x9’ recycled wood sheets to serve as the desk surface
• Reused rebar to form the structure of the Epoxy Wall
• LED lights with dimmers for flexibility and control of electricity as well as energy conservation.
• LED light wall with dimmers from environmental lights.
• Onyx stone used on light walls is 100% natural. Onyx stone is made of a combination of spring water + pressure + time
• Shelf structure in the classroom is made entirely from repurposed wood
• 100% Natural Leather on seating areas
