Core Team minutes 06.21.12

CORE

Thursday, June 21, 2012

8:01 AM

1.       Board Report

a.       Wrong Plan was presented (curved vs. straight).

b.      Concern over human experience.

c.       Design Team will  work and be coordinated through JC.
All correspondence will be  Blind Copied CORE team.

d.      A Site Plan Webinar has been proposed.

2.       Regenerative Design Team

            a. John, Joel and Bill will be at Yestermorrow teaching June 25-29.

            b. We should invite them to dinner- maybe Tuesday night @ The Common Man?

3.       DRB Deadline - June 29th! (but actually the 4th)

a.       Ag plan status needs to be updated

b.      We need a draft waste-water plan

c.       Ditto landscaping

d.      Site plan needs to be redrawn with paths, roads, landscaping, rooflines(?), infrastructure, parking, etc
so that the graphic can be "felt".

e.      A concern is that our reputation in Waitsfield for being "flaky" will not be helped if our design work is incomplete.

f.        Robin will be speaking with Susan at the Waitsfield DRB to adjust expectations.

g.       The plan will be adjusted to make it the most palatable to the DRB possible.

h.      Phase One Design Guidelines need to be presented that show the location, height, massing and materials for the first few buildings (intern bldg. Semester buildings, more dorms and all the shops/studios).

i.         So the Design Amigos need to understand that what we are going after are overarching design parameters within which we can practice Design/Build going forward.

4.       RESOLVED: We will go as fast and far as we can to meet the DRB deadline knowing that we are doomed to a "continuation".   This will bring us as far as we can toward our goal.

5.       RESOLVED: Everyone will look at the DRB Application, fill it out and then get it to Robin.

6.       SUGGESTED: Each phase of the Master Plan will be drafted up independently to show what the campus will look like in each phase.

7.       Design Parameters need to be defined before we meet with the DRB.

a.       Step One: List out all the categories that will require parameters.

b.      Step Two: List all the design parameters within each category.

Launching the Design Amigos field team

(from John Connell)

And then suddenly, there were fifteen!

1.    Steve Badanes

2.    Kyle Bergman

3.    John Boecker

4.    John Connell

5.    Andrew Eisen

6.    Martin Gehner

7.    Paul Hanke

8.    Erik Hegre

9.    Gunnar Hubbard

10.  Kevin Lichten

11.  Kathy Meyer

12.  Matthew O’Connell

13.  Jeff Schoellkopf

14.  Katrina Spade

15.  Gio Susini

This is the official launch.  Applications are closed (for now).

Yestermorrow is deeply appreciative of any time and effort you may dedicate to this endeavor.  It is not a trivial undertaking and we can’t allow it to be marginalized due to lack of time or other things.  Progress must be substantial and continuous.

The Design Amigos are assembled with a very simple agenda: 
To reignite the pursuit of formal design at Yestermorrow and to make it accessible to everyone in the Yestermorrow community including staff, interns, students, visitor, fans and even the UPS delivery guy.
A simple agenda, yes, but a daunting challenge.  And we may all be better designers for the effort.

A core priority will be to discuss design with words and syntax that anyone can understand.  In this regard, we are all arriving from different backgrounds and various traditions.  So I want to launch our work together with a simple book-club type exercise that I hope will serve better than going around the table and explaining who you are why you’re here.  Eventually we will need to overcome distance and schedules, perhaps using GoToMeetings, wiki exchanges, and similar online contrivances.  But for starters I’d like to ask that everyone introduce themselves through the following:

·         Three (or four at the most) architects or designers that inspire you in your own work.  Explaining why is optional.

·         Two books that help you think about design fundamentals.  Again, any annotation is optional.

Let’s put a deadline on this, say June 25^th?

I think this process will work best if we approach it with open minds and a willingness to explore our own visual intelligence as well as others.
Soon we will discuss and write about specific projects both large and small.  But for now, let’s just get acquainted.
I’m anticipating a fantastic ride!

All good,

John

CORE Team Master Plan Report to the Board

Since our last Board meeting in March 2012 the CORE team consisting of Robin Morris, Kinny Perot, John Connell, Kate Stephenson Kathy Meyer and Abby Martin have met weekly focused on reconciling the master plan and applying for Town and State Permits.

The attached current version of the master plan shows the known conditions and constraints including wetlands, steep slopes, stream setbacks, zoning setbacks etc. The building forms are “principle gestures” and have not yet been designed.

The CORE team’s focus has been on defining the build constraints of the proposed master plan and to

this end the following field teams have been established:

•    Forest, Agriculture, Wildlife, Wetlands – Kinny Perot, Abby Martin, Dave Warren, Buzz Ferver, Aaron Locker

•    Ground & Storm Water – Kinny Perot, Andres Torrizo, Tony Stout, Maeve McBride, Peter Lazorchak, Ethan Timm

•    Waste Water – Robin Morris, Pete Munoz, Peter Lazorchak, Malena Marvin, Barton Kirk, Harold Leverenz

•    Design & Plan – John Connell, Kathy Meyer

•    Energy & Solar – John Connell, John Ringel, Jeff Schoellkopf, Andy Shapiro, Kate Stephenson, Jesse Cooper

In January, the school submitted an application to the Waitsfield DRB for sketch plan review and plans to submit a detailed site plan application by July 24th (6 months after sketch plan review). The next review is a two-­‐step approval process and we anticipate that dialogue with the DRB during the first step will result in additional reconciliation and data generation prior to the final review.

Critical to our permit is the approval by the DRB of “design criteria” for the buildings in phase I & II that will allow a Semester Course to design/build a building without returning to the DRB for any approvals. This was discussed in the DRB at sketch plan review and will likely be a lengthy discussion.

On approval of a permit from Waitsfield DRB, the next step is an Act 250 application together with

other supporting permits.

Once we receive the Act 250 the school will be in a position to decide whether to move forward with Phase I of the build out including:

Phase Ia              Greenhouse Phase 1b       Intern housing  

Phase 1c                Semester Studio/Workshop and student accommodation

Applying and receiving Town and State permits for the master plan is critical to the school for the

following reasons:

•    The Town’s Adaptive Reuse Overlay District requires a master plan

•    The master plan provides a context for decision making of any built form on site

•    Additional permitting does not work for on-­‐site semester design build projects  

•    Master Plan provides clarity for the future of the School

•    The current waste water system will require moving to a replacement field

The financing of the master plan was from restricted funds specifically donated for Master Planning.

In summary, whether or not the school moves forward with the entire build-­‐out, a permitted master plan is critical to ongoing decision-­‐making.  The CORE team is committed to finishing this current stage of permitting and look forward to further discussion at the forthcoming board meeting.

Current iteration of master plan as of 6-12-12