PODCASTS > Arcat Detailed Podcast Episode
120: Adaptive Reuse | ArtCenter Mullin Transportation Design Center
55m 23s | 2024 Dec 27
In this episode, Cherise is joined by Darin Johnstone, Principal from Darin Johnstone Architects in Los Angeles, California. They discuss the ArtCenter, Mullin Transportation Design Center in Pasadena, California.
The Mullin Transportation Design Center (MTDC) at ArtCenter College of Design is a masterful transformation of history into innovation. Once a supersonic wind tunnel designed to test objects fixed in space, the structure has been revitalized into a state-of-the-art facility that invites motion, creativity, and experimentation utilizing a building-in-a-building concept. Located within ArtCenter’s South Campus in Pasadena, this adaptive reuse project redefines the boundaries of design education.
The Mullin Transportation Design Center (MTDC) at ArtCenter College of Design is a masterful transformation of history into innovation. Once a supersonic wind tunnel designed to test objects fixed in space, the structure has been revitalized into a state-of-the-art facility that invites motion, creativity, and experimentation utilizing a building-in-a-building concept. Located within ArtCenter’s South Campus in Pasadena, this adaptive reuse project redefines the boundaries of design education.
Click here for the extended length interview on YouTube
Darin Johnstone is an award-winning Los Angeles-based architect and educator at SCI-Arc Institute of Architecture. With 30 years of experience in the field of architecture and 25 years spent educating young architects, Johnstone offers a unique perspective at the nexus between practice and academia.
His work has been published in a host of publications. For the past 20 years, Darin has worked in education in support of the next generation of young architects. He's received industry recognition including multiple AIA awards and grants for his teaching work at Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI_Arc). Darin offers a unique perspective at the nexus of practice and academia.
In 2004, he founded Darin Johnstone Architects (DJA). Just two years later, LA Architect named the firm one of the "10 to Watch" in Los Angeles and in 2021 Archello named DJA one of the top 25 architecture firms in Los Angeles. DJA is known for work that spans genres, from architecture, urban planning and landscape design to interior design, furniture design and site-specific installation.
In the past ten years, DJA has designed and completed multiple award-winning renovation projects and comprehensive planning work for both ArtCenter College of Design campuses in Pasadena. In 2017 DJA completed a master plan for the SCI-Arc campus in the arts district of downtown Los Angeles. Recent projects include the ArtCenter Peter and Merle Mullin Gallery, the Bruce Heavin and Lynda Weinman Alumni Gallery, and the Ahmanson Auditorium. Current projects include the Mullin Transportation Design Center, and the Hyundai and Kia innovation lab.
Since 2002, Darin has been part of the SCI-Arc faculty. From 2010 to 2016 he created and directed Design Immersion Days (DID), SCI-Arc’s introduction to design program for high school students, which was widely recognized, winning multiple awards and grants. He also led a collaboration between SCI-Arc and Habitat for Humanity in 2015-16, resulting in the design and construction of the multi-award winning IVRV house.
Darin received his Bachelor of Architecture from California State Polytechnic University of Pomona and a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University.
This project is an adaptive reuse / revitalization of a historic space within the ArtCenter College of Design’s prestigious art and design college campus. The project is a "building in a building" housed in a volume that was once home to a supersonic wind tunnel. The original volume is 220 feet long and 85 feet wide with 43 feet clear height to the underside of the bowstring truss roof. The mostly wood structure is nestled in a collection of concrete buildings that wrap it on three sides.
The project is a state-of-the-art educational facility for a world-renowned Transportation Design program with 31,000 square feet of specialized creative labs, large-scale maker spaces, classrooms, exhibition areas, studios, and offices.
The project is designed to replicate a professional design studio experience with the latest technology and full-scale vehicular access. Structured as a hovering "building in a building", it features open opportunities to showcase, inspire and fuel imagination by displaying large-scale design projects taking shape in alignment with the college’s "see, think, do" ethos. The original wind tunnel was designed to simulate motion by testing objects fixed in space, while this new work has been designed to accept real motion in space. The overall design acknowledges the interplay of time and the evolution of design processes related to transportation and modern aviation. A taut, smooth aesthetic of strange lightness hovers in contrast to the rough lovely wooden vessel of the original wind tunnel.
Photo Credit: Joshua White
Darin Johnstone, Principal, Darin Johnstone Architects
Darin Johnstone is an award-winning Los Angeles-based architect and educator at SCI-Arc Institute of Architecture. With 30 years of experience in the field of architecture and 25 years spent educating young architects, Johnstone offers a unique perspective at the nexus between practice and academia.
His work has been published in a host of publications. For the past 20 years, Darin has worked in education in support of the next generation of young architects. He's received industry recognition including multiple AIA awards and grants for his teaching work at Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI_Arc). Darin offers a unique perspective at the nexus of practice and academia.
In 2004, he founded Darin Johnstone Architects (DJA). Just two years later, LA Architect named the firm one of the "10 to Watch" in Los Angeles and in 2021 Archello named DJA one of the top 25 architecture firms in Los Angeles. DJA is known for work that spans genres, from architecture, urban planning and landscape design to interior design, furniture design and site-specific installation.
In the past ten years, DJA has designed and completed multiple award-winning renovation projects and comprehensive planning work for both ArtCenter College of Design campuses in Pasadena. In 2017 DJA completed a master plan for the SCI-Arc campus in the arts district of downtown Los Angeles. Recent projects include the ArtCenter Peter and Merle Mullin Gallery, the Bruce Heavin and Lynda Weinman Alumni Gallery, and the Ahmanson Auditorium. Current projects include the Mullin Transportation Design Center, and the Hyundai and Kia innovation lab.
Since 2002, Darin has been part of the SCI-Arc faculty. From 2010 to 2016 he created and directed Design Immersion Days (DID), SCI-Arc’s introduction to design program for high school students, which was widely recognized, winning multiple awards and grants. He also led a collaboration between SCI-Arc and Habitat for Humanity in 2015-16, resulting in the design and construction of the multi-award winning IVRV house.
Darin received his Bachelor of Architecture from California State Polytechnic University of Pomona and a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University.
Project Name and Location: ArtCenter – Mullin Transportation Design Center, Pasadena, CA
Site Conditions:
This project is an adaptive reuse / revitalization of a historic space within the ArtCenter College of Design’s prestigious art and design college campus. The project is a "building in a building" housed in a volume that was once home to a supersonic wind tunnel. The original volume is 220 feet long and 85 feet wide with 43 feet clear height to the underside of the bowstring truss roof. The mostly wood structure is nestled in a collection of concrete buildings that wrap it on three sides.
Program:
The project is a state-of-the-art educational facility for a world-renowned Transportation Design program with 31,000 square feet of specialized creative labs, large-scale maker spaces, classrooms, exhibition areas, studios, and offices.
Design Intent:
The project is designed to replicate a professional design studio experience with the latest technology and full-scale vehicular access. Structured as a hovering "building in a building", it features open opportunities to showcase, inspire and fuel imagination by displaying large-scale design projects taking shape in alignment with the college’s "see, think, do" ethos. The original wind tunnel was designed to simulate motion by testing objects fixed in space, while this new work has been designed to accept real motion in space. The overall design acknowledges the interplay of time and the evolution of design processes related to transportation and modern aviation. A taut, smooth aesthetic of strange lightness hovers in contrast to the rough lovely wooden vessel of the original wind tunnel.
Project Team List:
- Architect: Darin Johnstone Architects
- Darin Johnstone, Principal
- Sandra Hutchings, Studio Director
- Matt Liese, Technical Director
- Howard Chen, Project Manager
- Sean Davis, Senior Project Designer
- Dennis Lee, Project Designer
- Long Pan, Intermediate Designer
- Kaita Saito, Junior Designer
- Sue Choi, Intern
- Te-Kuei Huang, Intern
- General Contractor: Del Amo Construction
- Project Manager: Parthenon
- Structural Engineering: Labib Funk + Associates
- MEP engineering: Novus Design Studio
- Code Consultant: Simpson Gumpertz & Heger
- Lighting Designer: KGM Lighting
- Acoustical Engineering: Antonio Acoustics
- Elevator Consultant: HKA Elevator
- LEED consultant: ZC Sustainability
Unique Products:
- Acousti-Seal, Modernfold
- Zip 2, Vode Lighting
- Boxrail, Vode Lighting
- Acoustibuilt Ceiling, Armstrong, Wall, Soffit, Acoustical Assembly
- Echopanels, Kirei
- TC670 Arcadia Partition System for Interior Glazing
- RP325 Series Arcadia Doors
- Edge, Fleetwood, Multi-Slide Sliding glass Doors
- Auto Showroom Doors, Kawneer
- Entrance Doors, Kawneer
- Trifab VersaGlaze, Kawneer
