While certain construction materials can seem ordinary, Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects find opportunities to ‘wow’ in readily available items.
M&D used different types of bricks and concrete blocks, from glazed to a variety of textures, to create a unique wall design for the Marketview Arts building in downtown York.
What might seem like a normal brick or stone to the average person is a material that holds beautiful opportunities to Frank Dittenhafer. These readily available “off the shelf” items are often overlooked as simplistic, he says, but they can become components that add just the right touch to a project.
As President of Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects, Dittenhafer has worked with countless clients who have a variety of goals when it comes to creating or remodeling their spaces. Architects at the firm take the utmost care in understanding who will use the space and how people should feel when they step into a building, but there are many other attributes to a successful project. Often, that includes meeting a deadline and working within a budget.
Off the shelf materials allow Architects to get construction materials sooner while also keeping costs in mind, without having to seek custom fabrications. Beyond cost and time, these materials can add the perfect touch without compromising design.
“Often, projects can be full of unnecessary complexities, with structural aspects that are required to obtain some overly expressive final constructed result,” Dittenhafer says. “I’m more interested in avoiding those kinds of architectural gymnastics.”
The approach at Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects is focused more on celebrating the ordinary, where things that might otherwise be overlooked can shine or become a focal point.
“I’ve always had that philosophical design perspective to the point where I’ve embraced it,” Dittenhafer says. “Maybe it’s because I think there are even more possibilities when you look at simple approaches to design.”
Looking at things differently
The enclosure around an elevator may seem like an easily overlooked design opportunity, but it was a chance for Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects to do something creative with ordinary materials.
While walking through the yard at York Building Products, examining the different concrete blocks, Dittenhafer was struck with the backside of a red, split-faced block. There, he found an interesting pattern with grooves and indentations that were part of the manufacturing process.
He realized there was no reason why the backside of the block couldn’t become the outward facing part of the elevator shaft enclosure, visible to those who drove by the building but also exposed in the elevator lobby.
“It turned out to be this beautiful expression of an ordinary material,” Dittenhafer says. “You just had to think of it differently.”
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Like the split-faced stone, Dittenhafer has found brick to be another item that’s often overlooked as ordinary but holds a world of possibility if it’s used correctly.
Simply rotating the placement of the brick by 45 degrees or using recessed brick, Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects has found visually interesting options for this material that doesn’t become labor intensive. The shadows and reliefs that are a result of those minor adjustments add a dynamic visual.
It can be found in the Margaret E. Moul Home’s chapel, where the turned brick casts beautiful shadows as a way of appropriately and tastefully giving a sense of expression and identity.
Unique use of brick materials also can be seen in a newly designed wall at the Southern branch of the YMCA and at Marketview Arts, where different types of bricks and concrete blocks, from glazed to a variety of textures, were used in creating unique wall designs.
“Instead of looking for what’s perceived as a ‘higher level’ material, I want to take these common materials and highlight the authentic, inherently lovely opportunities they provide,” Dittenhafer says. “A lot can be done with some creativity by pushing the boundary further with typical materials that are unique and appropriate, rather than falsely trying to create some bizarre visual expression.”
Celebrating the material
In many of these practices, Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects is celebrating the material, and allowing the nature of the brick, stone, wood, or even natural daylight to be the inspiring component of a space.
“There’s often a drive to create something new or invent something in this world of design,” Dittenhafer says. “There are ways to do that, and I admire the sculptural work that exists. But, I find myself drawn to the design philosophy that highlights the common items that can easily be overlooked. By doing that, we’re being original.”
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