The vital signs project,
in essence, is a study on a specific aspect of a buildings performance.
Our group has chosen to look at the Eugene Airport in Eugene, Oregon.
The Eugene Airport is the fifth largest airport in the Northwest.
The field was constructed in 1941 with commercial air services opening
in 1943. Jet services were available in the fall of 1966. The
airport terminal itself has gone under recent renovation. In January
of 1990, new terminal facilities opened, showing off a new and improved
lobby and terminal reflecting a Northwest flare.
In approaching the
airport, you are greeted outside by a long sweeping arm, pulling you in.
You walk through the main entrance into a two-story lobby, air services
and bag claims to the right and left, respectively. Passing farther
into the belly of this whale, you are funneled through security and up
the escalator. The imagery and interior design is quintessential
of Northwest culture, while grasping onto elements of flight. As
you pass by halls of glass, you near the terrace-like cafe, situated at
the far side of the airport near the terminals.
The airport is interesting
because it deals with a considerable flow of traffic (
humans, automobiles,
and airplanes) as well as a variety of user groups. User groups include
airport employees as well as travelers and visitors waiting to pick up
travelers.
In visiting the site
initially, we formed questions that helped us to create a hypothesis about
a specific aspect of the airport. Our questions were:
Why are the heating and cooling vents
overhead?
On the building facade, what purpose
does the wave-like overhang leading up to the front entrance serve?
What purpose does the glazing on
the front entrance have if it is covered and shadowed by the building overhangs?
How effective are the entrances in
keeping out drafts?
Is it more effective to have one
sliding door vs. two sliding doors on the front entrance?
Is the heat loss lessened by the
amount of doors or the distance between the doors at the front entrance?
Is infiltration greater through automatic
sliding doors than manually opened doors or turn-style doors?
Why were all of the entrances treated
the same?
How much more will infiltration happen
through a main entrance as opposed to secondary entrances?
Was this taken into consideration
when these entrances were designed and built?
What does the vestibule space do
for infiltration?
How far back can you feel the wind
through the entrance doors when they are open?
How does the temperature change between
the outside and inside of the building at the entrances.
