Eureka Springs is a town located in the beautiful Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas. The entire town is on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the state. Eureka Springs is a unique Victorian resort which has its own culture and lifestyle. The city has steep winding streets filled with Victorian-style cottages and manors. The buildings are primarily constructed of local stone and brick, and lie along streets that curve around the hills and rise and fall with the topography in a five-mile long loop.
Most of the stores and shops in the commercial district are locally owned and managed. They consist primarily of specialty shops featuring local crafts, antiques, local art work, and standard Ozark tourist fare. This, of course, brings us to the retail store design for the final DU architecture project for Fall 2009.
The front facade, where all the big windows are, faces west with the stone towers to the left facing north. When you walk along the shop, your view constantly changes due to the angles of the west columns. This is meant to push and pull your perspective of the building, guiding you into the entrance. The west also has spaces between the columns that allow you to walk underneath the building, experiencing what's going on inside the store without actually being in there. But because of the angles, your view inside is narrow when your in this space and broadened when you're looking through other windows.
When you first walk in, you are greeted by the cashier underneath the walkway. To your left (north) you gaze upon the massive stone towers that curve from one end of the building to the next, eventually leading you to the stairs. Upon the stairs, you begin your climb to the second story.
Reaching the second story, you turn the corner to see into the office area on your right. Ahead of you is a familiar sight. The column fixture you saw on the first floor looks as if it were flipped and built onto the second floor. You also notice that where the first floor angles brought you under the building, the window system rises all the way through to meet with the second floor.
Facing north you see a door to the outside. Once you go through the door you see that the giant towers from the first floor have risen to the second floor, creating a series of benches with potted plants on either side of each bench. You are also able to walk to the west where the columns stand and experience the first floor all over again.
Pictures of the drawings, context model, site model, and detailed model can be found below this post. The detailed model is of the west facade to show the relationship between both floors.
I'd like to thank my professor for allowing me more time to finish this project, Bruce, David, and Michael for critiquing me, Cody for helping me with some ideas, and my family and friends for encouraging me to continue with the work. As frustrating and time-consuming as this was, I had a lot of fun.
