February 17, 2003
VOL. 32, NO. 22
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Building Boom Heads West
Construction begins on the San Martin Center and
its wooded setting
By Greg Rienzi The Gazette
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Trailers and fencing will take over the Valley parking
lot early next week as site-clearing gets under way on a
construction project that will add another physical piece
to Homewood's near-complete building jigsaw and transform
an asphalt expanse on the western edge of the campus into a
woodland setting.
The latest in a succession of major capital projects,
the new San Martin Center is an expansive three-part
facility that will sit in the Stoney Run stream valley
below San Martin Drive.
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Ready to go: Tim Nugent
and John Hill of the Office of Facilities Management on the
Valley parking lot where site preparation for the San
Martin Center will begin next week. |
The main element of the center will be a three-story,
79,000-square-foot structure built into the side of the
existing hill. It will be clad in variegated brick, metal
panels and copper shingles with an abundant amount of
glass, including several dramatic oversized windows.
Its companion building is a five-level, 523-space
parking garage upon which will sit a two-level structure,
currently designated for office space. The garage, which
will serve the facility and university employees, will be
brick with limestone trim, while the building atop it will
be aluminum, glass and brick.
A pedestrian bridge will be built over San Martin
Drive to make the crossing easier and safer for commuters
who use the garage and work uphill on the campus
grounds.
The main building will serve as the new home for the
Carnegie Institution of Washington's Department of
Embryology, whose scientists hold joint appointments in the
Johns Hopkins Department of Biology. Their offices are
currently located at 115 W. University Parkway.
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In these architectural
models of the San Martin Center, the new home for the
Carnegie Institution of Washington's Department of Biology
sits at left. The office-topped garage is at right. |
The existing parking lot will be officially shut down
on Feb. 21. (For related changes for Homewood parking
system members, see box below.)
The center was designed by Zimmer, Gunsul, Frasca
Partnership of Washington, which had been part of the
design team for the Bunting Blaustein Cancer Research
Building on the East Baltimore campus.
The center's two structures will be connected by a
walkway and what is being called a "green finger" of
plantings.
"There will be an extensive landscaping portion to
this project that will involve planting numerous native
plants and trees all around the facility," said John Hill,
program manager, who will oversee the project along with
Tim Nugent, senior project manager, both from the Office
of Facilities Management. Many more trees will be planted,
he said, than will be removed during the construction
process. "The goal is to return the area to a more parklike
setting," Hill said.
Bryan Cannon, the architect, said he considers the
landscaping work a "restoration effort." Portions of the
hill will be excavated so that a gentler, graded slope can
be built up around the building, he said.
"The hillside will be restored to an approximation of
its original slope down to the nearby creek, as compared to
the deep depression that exists now," he said. "Once work
is completed, the area will have a more open forest feel,
like the rest of the land along San Martin Drive. What is
now an asphalt interruption, in terms of the parking lot,
will become a more continuous stretch of green around these
two new buildings."
Cannon said the finished product will offer
spectacular views for those working inside the buildings.
"One reason we spread the center out is to offer
striking views from many different perspectives," he said.
"People on the west-facing sides, for example, will have a
lovely view up and down Stoney Run."
The work on the San Martin Center will begin on Feb.
24 and is expected to be completed by fall 2004.
Information for Homewood Parkers and
Users of Eastern shuttle
Along with the construction of the San Martin Center
come changes for staff parking members. Although the recent
paving of Garland Field has significantly reduced the
number of cars that will be affected at Homewood, it still
will be necessary for approximately 200 cars to park
off-site each day until the 523-space garage is
completed.
Friday, Feb. 21, is the last day that the San Martin
Valley lot will be open; on Monday, Feb. 24, a new lot will
be available at Johns Hopkins at Eastern, and an enhanced
intercampus shuttle service will be operating.
Existing faculty hangtag parking areas and faculty
member spaces on the visitors lot will not be impacted by
the Valley lot closing.
However, staff members using other lots at Homewood
may be affected by early arrivals reducing the number of
available spaces.
When lots are full, probably between 8:15 and 8:45
a.m., signs will be placed at critical intersections to
alert parkers; also, drivers may call 410-516-7275 to
determine the status. An attendant at the Stoney Run lot
(formerly R lot) will have directions to the Eastern campus
for those who need them.
All Homewood and Eastern campus staff parkers have
been sent notification of the changes by Ronald Mullen,
director of security, parking and transportation services;
and Raymond Infussi, Homewood parking manager. A Homewood
parking Web site will soon be launched to provide easy
access to necessary information and also to give advance
notice of special events or other circumstances that might
require adjustments.
What Homewood parkers and users of the Eastern shuttle
need to know:
The lot at Eastern
to be used by Homewood parkers is located at 33rd Street
and Ellerslie Avenue. (The upper lots are reserved for
Eastern hangtag permit holders.) The lot is spacious and
well lit, and it will be patrolled by parking and security
personnel. Security cameras and emergency phones also will
be in operation.
Shuttle buses will
run from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,
excluding university holidays; a courtesy van will be on
call after 7:30 p.m. (410-516-7275 or 410-516-4600).
Shuttles will run
every 10 minutes from 8 to 11 a.m. and from 4:30 to 7:30
p.m. Between 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., shuttles will depart
from Eastern every 30 minutes, on the hour and the
half-hour.
Eastern's shuttle
stops are the front entrance to 1101 E. 33rd St. and the
shelter on the Ellerslie Avenue parking lot.
At Homewood, there
are nine shuttle stops: MSEL front entrance, shelter at the
west entrance to the Garland parking lot, service drive
between Clark and Hodson, Credit Union entrance to Gilman
(on request), Dunning Plaza between Jenkins and Macaulay,
Hopkins Club (on request), Bloomberg Center, Space
Telescope Science Institute and north entrance gate on
University Parkway. The Shriver Hall stop will be
discontinued after Feb. 24. (The JHMI shuttle will continue
to stop at Shriver Hall.)
Ten spaces on
Garland Field will be reserved for employees with midday
medical appointments. To request a one-day pass, call the
Parking Office's service desk at 410-516-7275. Courtesy
spaces are first-come, first-served, and passes must be
picked up the day before they are needed.
Questions regarding parking may be directed to Infussi
at 410-516-7275 and those on shuttle service to Lt. George
Kibler at 410-516-6628. More details are available online
at
http://webapps.jhu.edu/jhuniverse/
information_about_hopkins/visitor_information/
how_to_get_here/homewood_campus/parklot1.cfm.
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