Flushing Chain-Store
Chain activity system for senior Flushing immigrants
Bisheng Hong, Jiaying Qu, Yuening Jiang
Flushing, New York
Flushing's senior population, like many immigrant communities, faces significant challenges in their living environments. Issues such as limited activity spaces and conflicts arising from changes in land property rights—most notably the "McDonald's incident"—have created ongoing tensions. To address these problems and enhance the quality of spaces for seniors, we proposed a multi-scale architectural system along Main Street, tailored to the area’s narrow, elongated lots. This system incorporates a variety of social and commercial activities across three architectural scales.
The smallest scale introduces a semi-exterior pavilion designed to support senior recreational activities and exercise. The medium scale combines retail and diverse business spaces, providing essential services tailored to seniors' needs. At the largest scale, a senior-focused community center serves as a hub for activities, including a senior dating center, while also promoting intergenerational communication by incorporating spaces shared with younger generations.
The spatial strategy relies on three primary elements: core, semi-space, and void. The core forms the heart of the design, comprising vertical circulation cores and senior activity hubs. Semi-space functions as a flexible, transitional zone that accommodates both senior-specific programs and businesses for other generations. Using movable walls, these spaces can easily be reconfigured to adapt to diverse uses. Void spaces, acting as light wells and ventilation channels, ensure natural illumination, temperature regulation, and air circulation throughout the building.
The use of cross-laminated timber (CLT) enhances the project’s sustainability, offering superior thermal performance and energy efficiency. This ensures the architecture maintains a low-carbon and eco-friendly profile while meeting the functional and social needs of Flushing’s senior community.