floorplan progress.

(click to enlarge)

here is the plan i have developed so far. the part that i have not done much with is the kitchen....what i have on the plan is temporary. they don't serve restaurant-type food...more like snacks and bar food. however, they do have parties and cater for them. i need to do more research on a appropriate kitchen layout for this type of food service.

the party room is pretty large (about 1,200 sq ft). i plan to have a divider that can be pulled out if there are two smaller parties....and can be taken away where there is a larger party. there are two large windows that look out onto the lanes, so people in the party room can watch the games.

option 3

i discussed the two last plans with my professor, and this is the plan we came up with. i am going to have the entrance on the side where the parking lot is. i am making a few additions to the building: a porch on the front, covered ramp on the side, and additional space where the party room is located. the party room was moved from the left side of the plan to the right...to allow for a more spacious entrance.



my mentor, alicia, had a few really good points:
i need to rework parking lot & create closer handicapped parking. i will have the parking lot in the upper right will be for employees.
she also told me to think about exits....i designated where they could be in the plan above with red asterisks. thanks alicia!


i realized i had columns in my lanes and was afraid i was going to have to rework the whole plan. i am now doing some more research on the bowling lane equipment and found ways to work around the columns. i will post the new plan when it is done !

block plans on the site.

remember how my building actually consists of two buildings joined together: the large CMU building and the smaller metal siding building?

well i have a new idea floating around in my head. i want my site to look like there has been this old, nostalgic new orleans home there for ages, and in the 1950's the owners suddenly decided that they wanted a bowling alley. they then built & attached a huge building to the house. i want to take the small metal building and turn it into the house...and the larger building will be that "tacked-on" bowling alley.


i went to the site today and realized there there are two buildings close by. this affects the first option greatly. i put both plans on the site plan & analyzed the pros and cons of each:

OPTION 1 PROS:

• involves a side of the building that would not normally be involved if entrance was right off parking lot. this is perfect for the concept of the old new orleans home with the wrapped porch
• i would have an easier time incorporating a ramp that looks like it belongs there & doesn't stand out

OPTION 1 CONS:

• the space between those upper two buildings is around 30 feet. it may be awkward to have another building that close to my entrance. also, i know there is a lease line and i am not sure, for this projects sake, if i can cross it some.
• i would have to have a entrance for shipments that can be seen from the parking lot
• because the setup of the entrance, the kitchen is much smaller in this plan

OPTION 2 PROS:

• do not have to worry about those buildings (upper right corner of plan) being too close to the entrance; do not have to worry about crossing lease line.
  
• perfect place for shipments out of site of customers
• much larger kitchen
• longer entrance hallway: place for lines to form, great large place to display their nostalgic items, pictures, memorabilia.
  

OPTION 2 CONS:

• could be harder to put the idea across that the smaller building is a classic new orleans home...if i only can work with one side
  
• more difficult to implement a ramp and have it fit in
  
• long entrance corridor could be considered too long..especially for exiting.
  

please give me any opinions or advice. i am itching to get my plans finalized but this entrance dilemma is holding me back!

space planning options.

the options are basically the same, apart from the way you enter the building. i am going to place these block plans on the site plan to see which entrance works better. also, i need to keep in mind ways to get shipments in.

what i am going for .

these are some images i have been collecting to show what direction i want to go with my project. the first group of images, images of googie architecture & signage, is very different from the second group of images, typical new orleans shotgun/bungalow homes (with porches). because these two styles are extremely unlike each other, it would be interesting to see how i can design the exterior & interior to reflect both. the googie style represents the history of bowling alley design. the new orleans architectural style represents the history of the city..one in which rock 'n' bowl has had a large part in.

my two favorite pictures out of both groups are these two below. for the first, i like the manipulation of scale with the large light signage. for the second, i love the architectural detailing that accented with the colored lighting. it looks like an old shotgun house turned into a late night jazz club.