Borealis Architecture

Thank you guys for all of your support! We received Top Illinois Firm, Top Midwest Firm, and Top Marketing Firm for the National Skyscraper Division. We will find out sometime this week as to which place we finished in nationals!

Indian Prairie School District :: News Congratulations to WVHS Students Culin Thompson, John Conway, Nahum Corona, and Zach Zielke who are participating in the Chicago Architecture Today's Mock Firm Skyscraper Contest. Identifying themselves as the group Borealis Architecture, the students are competing to design a multi-use skyscraper ...

Detroit Parsons Center Proposal
Borealis Architecture is a mock firm started in 2011 by students Culin Thompson, John Conway, Nahum Corona, and Zach Zielke at Waubonsie Valley High School. Located in Aurora, Illinois, the school has been a Mecca for future architecture students, sweeping state for architectural board drafting at the Skills USA Illinois state competition almost every year. These students are all involved in Waubonsie’s architecture independent study course, and all have future aspirations and goals of majoring in architecture or engineering. Each architect within Borealis Architecture has assumed a role and/or position for the Detroit Parsons Center. The divisions of Borealis Architecture specified for the Parsons Center are as follows:
• Project Head, City Interaction, Parking and Transportation – Culin Thompson
• LEED – John Conway
• Hotel and Residential Sector – Nahum Corona
• Design and Engineering – Zach Zielke
• Consultant – Kim Palmer – Interior Design
• Consultant – Steve Skorup – Architecture Instructor
• Consultant – Dominic Valvano – Krusinski Construction
• Star Total Print Solutions – Corporate Sponsor
While these positions are assigned to different architects, it is important to state that each person still contributes to almost all of these sectors. By assigning architects these positions we look forward to maximizing our efficiency and our project proposal.
Looking at the design proposal for the Detroit multi-use building, we felt that it was necessary to honor Detroit and have this building come to symbolize the future success and rejuvenation of the city. In an effort to portray this rejuvenation, we selected a site on the Detroit River which would be both visible to the world and is already in a booming community. The clear choice for our site was therefore 1351 W. Jefferson Ave. Located next to the Riverfront Towers and the Joe Louis Arena, our site offers easy access to sporting venues, entertainment, and housing to allow for a profitable site location to house a multi-functional skyscraper.
To begin designing the building, we decided that it needed to actually help redevelop Detroit, and we therefore created a city-within-a-city and intertwined the Parsons Center with Detroit. As symbolism of the second renaissance beginning with the Parsons Center, we wanted to develop a building taller than the Renaissance Center, but not overpowering the city. Incorporating the building into the city even further, we decided to have the total height of the tower reach 1,092 feet, approximately 313 meters (1,027ft.) – the area code of the city of Detroit. This height gives the building prominence over the city skyline, but does not overpower the skyline. We therefore determined that the most appealing antenna or spire height is around 18% of the total building’s height, and concluded to have the antenna(s) reach a total height of 1,272 feet.
The building is to take the shape of a diamond at the top, and symbolizes a new pinnacle era of Detroit. Lights spanning down the opening ‘curtain’ of the façade in addition to light surrounding the diamond shine wisdom and guidance upon the city and symbolize the excellence of Detroit. The building will include a Grand Hyatt Hotel, a parking structure, condominiums, an AMC movie theater, multiple restaurants, retail spaces, a pool, a recreational center and health center, and a CVS.
The skyscraper will consist of four general sectors: public space, hotel space, residential space, and commercial space. The first seven floors will host the public space including the lobby, fitness center, Movie Theater, CVS, and health center. Floors eight to forty-five will host private offices, and floors forty-six to seventy will host the Detroit Grand Hyatt. Grand Hyatt hotels are the third level of luxury within the Hyatt hotel line, ahead of the previously developed Hyatt Regency in Dearborn, Michigan. The Detroit Grand Hyatt will include a Grand Lobby, a Grand Club, access to the multiple restaurants within the tower, two ballrooms, access to the fitness center, and four-fixture baths. The rooms will comprise of the Grand Rapids Suite (Double Queen Suite), the Sterling Heights Guestroom (King Guestroom), the Ann Arbor Guestroom (Double Queen), the Lansing Guestroom (Queen), and multiple Presidential Suites. The residential sector, floors seventy-one to eighty-seven, will hold a specific residential lobby and multiple forms of condominiums available for purchase. Finally, the commercial space will be incorporated in the bottom four floors with the public space, but will also comprise of floors eighty-eight to ninety-one and will hold restaurants, bars, and clubs.
A prime example of the new Renaissance of Detroit, the Parsons Center and Borealis Architecture will incorporate elements into the city which will not only promote economic and business growth for Detroit, but will also give hope to the city and people of Detroit, Michigan.

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Prior work done by associates of Borealis Architecture

Our Concept Mixed-Use Center for the Contest

Hey guys, thanks for supporting us! Our competition is May 4th, and we get bonus points for having a 'liked' page, so invite all of your friends, it would mean a ton to us!