Historic Trolley Shed - Former GRTC Terminal

As a graduate student in my second (and final!) year, I will be spending the majority of both semesters working on my thesis project. This semester will focus on the research necessary to be able to execute the design project in the spring, and while I am still not entirely sure what on earth I'll actually be designing (I'm leaning toward a casual, "inhabitable" Richmond history museum), I have found the site I'd like to use and am extremely excited about it!

Meet The Greater Richmond Transit Company's former headquarters or, more specifically, "Lot G," its old paint and auto body shop. This 16,000 historic trolley shed is more than 100 years old and is located at the corner of Cary and Robinson Streets in Richmond's fan district. I'm not sure what year this shed was built, but have seen a map from 1895 that includes it.

This picture shows the building's East (front with garage doors) and North facades. With all of those large windows, you know that building is receiving some serious natural light!

Speaking of natural light, this image from Google Earth shows an overhead view of Lot G, with its 42 skylights:

Once inside the shed, I was blown away at just how much light entered the space. These interior shots were snapped at approximately 4:00 pm on an early September afternoon:

There are a few artificial lights suspended from the building's truss system, but I rarely noticed them until I re-examined these pictures after leaving the building.

So, I'm in love with this space, but I have a very long journey ahead of me when it comes to flushing out my thesis project. The amount of natural light that floods the shed during the day is one of the many reasons I'm excited to use this building, but I need to consider the fact that natural light can destroy art and artifacts - which I plan to display in my "inhabitable" museum. So dealing with natural light in a museum setting will absolutely pose a design challenge. Also, adding additional artificial light sources will be essential as this museum will need to cater to visitors after the sun has set. I plan on incorporating different types of spaces (exhibit area, restaurant/cafe, retail, etc) and treating each of them with appropriate lighting solutions will be essential.

More to come on the development and evolution of my thesis project... 

Kate