SPRING GARDEN HOSTEL

Second Year Undergraduate Studio Project

Located in the Spring Garden neighborhood of Pittsburgh’s North side, the hostel is an adaptive reuse project meant to provide a new public meeting place for the existing community as well as a place of rest for travelers. The design of the hostel makes use of the existing brick enclosure of an abandoned factory to internalize its scheme, allowing the central courtyard to serve as a quiet, tranquil sanctuary space for its inhabitants.

The scheme focuses heavily on internal transparency and reinforcing communal interaction. Copious amounts of glass is used facing toward the central courtyard, connecting all the of the public and semi-public spaces visually. The rooms of the hostel themselves are kept small, efficient, and minimalist, encouraging visitors to spend time mingling in the more open communal spaces.