architecture + urban design
portfolio
andrew allen
Andrew Allen Contact
andrewa2830@hotmail.com 07702885620 21 Ravenhill Reach Mews Belfast BT6 8RE
Skills
DWG
DWG
Rhino
Tactical Urbanism
Cycling Infrastructure
Greenways
Education
AiAiAi IdIdPs IdPsPs Illustrator
Design Interests
InDesign DWG
AutoCAD
Photoshop
June 2020 - Present PgCert Software Development Queen’s University Belfast September 2017 - October 2018 MSc Urban and Rural Design Queen’s University Belfast
Ai Id Ai Id Ps Id Ps Ps Ai SketchUp
October 2012 - June 2016 BA Architecture Manchester School of Architecture
linkedin.com/in/andrew-allen-
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projects
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belfast Tactical Urbanism as a response to the Primark fire
stockp ort River Mersey Cycleway and Retail Complex
ardglass Ardglass Greenway
dublin A Playful City, North Dublin Regeneration
north coast Causeway Coast & Glens Borough Council Branding
belfast Tactical Urbanism as a response to the Primark fire On August 28th 2018 a small fire began in The Bank Buildings in Belfast City Centre. Within a few hours the fire had spread it’s way down through the building floor to floor leaving the Grade B1 listed building internally destroyed. The fire left the structure of the Bank Buildings unstable, meaning that a significant portion of neighbouring streets were closed off to pedestrian and traffic access. Footfall in the city centre quickly dropped and Belfast City Council searched for ideas to bring life back to the city centre. This project looks into how tactical urbanism could act as a response to the Primark fire and hopefully lead to longer term regeneration in the area.
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The Bank Buildings Designed by Sir Robert Taylor (1785) and W. H. Lynn (1900) THE
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The Bank Buildings found their way into the ownership of Primark in 1979 after another major regeneration project after damage was caused by 3 bombs during The Troubles.
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Pedestrian Traffic Before: Before Royal Avenue/Donegall Place and Castle Street/Castle Place are the main routes North/South and East/West.
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Pedestrian Traffic After: After Pedestrians have used side streets to travel around the area. A pedestrian ring road around the site has formed.
With a new circular route normalised around the city centre, the overall plan was to use each of the now dead ends as small parklets to bring people into the area and therefore increase footfall for local ROAD businesses that had lost foot traffic from the new routes. Space for independent marketsPARKING was also allocated along Berry Street and Donegall Place to allow shops that had to close to still operate.
ROAD PARKING
The short term plan was to use on street parking that was no longer in use to reclaim the street for pedestrian use by extending the footpath area.
ROAD FOOTPATH
belfast
Base Platform: The base platform for the parklet aims to create a seamless transit creating a platform with an identical height as the footpath, the movement betwe
Materials: The material of the base platform should fit it’s short term approach by platform should be made of sustainable wood (recycled where possible) and a stee
Drainage: Where the parklet will cover existing drainage infrastructure it is important of the base layer that gets the focus of rainfall should have slight gaps in between to allow for rainfall to pass through onto the ground and into the drainage. The sem platform.
tion between the already existing pedestrian footpath and the newly built public realm on top of road space. By een the permanent and the semi permanent is flush.
not using materials that was a large footprint on the ground beneath. To allow for an easy setup the base el frame. This allows for the base to be built in-situ and also be taken apart and transported away if needed.
that a semi permeable material is maintained above to allow water to pass through. The layer of wood on top each wooden strip to allow water to pass through. Underneath a semipermeable membrane should be placed mipermeable membrane exists to allow water to pass through but to stop items or rubbish falling underneath the
belfast
Main Structure: The main structure of all the parklets design is carried out in the seco platforms. The height for each layer is that of a large step or small seat allowing for the levels. Some of the parklets have sections made up of 3 levels allowing for a larg shopping. Other sections are a single leveling offering a basic bench with areas behind
Edge of Public Realm: As the scheme is designed to extend the public realm whilst st each of the parklets secondary levels act as a barrier between the road and the end provide a hard edge against the road, but not to too high a level where it is unsafe o road. For each of these raised areas there is either a slight wall behind to provide adde
Angles: The overall shape of the parklets was dictated by the parking space that wa to be created with similar walking lines as before, with broken up sections in between
ondary layer made up of varying levels of seat height the ability to walk up to the top or stop and sit on one of ge section of seating area for those working in the area or d or between for greenery.
till providing reduced access for some vehicles in the area, d of the public realm. Usually the levels will build up to or where the parklet is not visible from the other side of the ded safety or a buffer zone made of green space.
as being converted, this mainly allowed for a familiar shape n to allow for routes through the parklets areas.
belfast
Planting: City Centre environments are not known for their good use of green spaces. With trees in combination with sustainable materials to promote a healthier lifestyle and city cen public realm space and the road.
Seating: Permanent seating offered by the levels outline previously offer a more permane businesses can dictate how the parklets outside is used and allows the area to be changed seating to provide an environment that can be used to relax, eat lunch or even to do wor are closed it is still possible for the parklets to be utilised with good exterior lighting.
Bike Parking: The area around the Bank Buildings hosted several areas of sheffield stands us to incorporate integrated bicycle parking as outlined on the Royal Avenue and Donegall Plac transport.
h a mostly concrete and brick environment, parklets are a good means of introducing areas of grass, flowers and ntre environment. Each of the parklets has space for green spaces, usually offering itself as a buffer between the
ent style of furniture, though the parklets will also provide area for movable tables and seats so that local d accordingly. With this there is also the chance to add tables that will work in combination with the leveled rk outside. The parklets’ approach to seating via the stepped levels means that even at night when the businesses
sed for bike parking right in the centre of town. Due to the cordon these are now off access so it is important ce parklets. Safe bike parking in open areas promotes a healthier lifestyle by providing facilities for more active
stockport River Mersey Cycleway and Retail Complex
stockport River Mersey Cycleway and Retail Complex Stockport has an existing greenway along the River Mersey, although once it hits the town centre it completely stops and the cycle route moves to shared surfaces and busy roads. River Mersey Cycleway and Retail Complex aimed to streamline the cycling and pedestrian commuting in the area by joining up the existing greenway with the town’s main shopping and business centre. The idea was to create a bridge along the length of this section of the River Mersey that provided a scenic route under the historic Stockport Viaduct but also included a route that branched off through a cycling focused retail/cafe complex beside Stockport Bus Station.
By blocking out the ground floor footprint I split the building into 2 sections, the workshop/ retail side and the smaller cafe. Within these sections I then broke this down further into service areas and public areas. The 2 main sections were then separated to provide an access route easily joining the river commuting route to the bus station. River
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The design of the building was entirely based on how it would be best accessed via commuting paths. With a direct route through the middle of the complex on ground level and bridge above and a design choice to have areas of void along the river and more solid walls towards the station.
The River Mersey was completely covered up by the construction of the Merseyway Shopping Centre and subsequent development in the area. In 2015 a portion of pavement above the river was removed to allow the public to view the river beneath. This scheme had the potential to reclaim the forgotten River Mersey that passes underneath by adding a walking and cycling route and by introducing more areas of natural and artificial lighting to the covered section of the River Mersey.
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The concept behind the River Mersey Cycleway was to not only provide a destination or stopping point along the greenway in the form of the Retail/Cafe complex, but to allow level changes to introduce fluid movement via cycling and walking directly through the complex’s top floor. The cycleway would pass through the retail section and bridge across to the cafe, creating stopping points and a sheltered link between ground floor units.
The cycleway passes through the upper floor of the retail section with an enclosed space in between the path and the indoor area to provide space for bike parking. The bridge between retail and cafe provides a sheltered link on ground floor level also. The sawtooth roof design of the main retail building was inspired by the sites industrial heritage, where an old saw mill still lies underneath the shadow of Stockport Viaduct. With the windows facing south this would allow all direct sunlight to flood into the upper floor and ground floor via the mezzanine level.
stockport The cafe area to the east is flooded with light from a large roof window that is integrated into the northern frontal glazing. By keeping the cafe at single height and flowing the cycleway through the roof I was able to introduce a space for a roof terrace that again provided an area for bike parking. Like in the retail section, the area of glazing is kept to the north to allow views of the River Mersey with the more service area’s kept to the southern side of the building.
stockport
The complex opens out onto the River Mersey and the newly landscaped area by creating a large void to the north of the retail section. The mezzanine level above allows for the place to feel very open, to accommodate a number of uses that could be changed on the go to allow for more retail space or room to host workshops and events depending on the demand.
The cycleways design was influenced by the industrial arches of Stockport Viaduct, where the piers of the structure provide support for a larger arch above. The aim to was to leave as little a footprint on the river bed as possible, but for arms to branch out to span the width of the cycleway structure to provide greater support. These forms were explored via 3D rendering software and 3D printing to test the strength at a much smaller scale.
ardglass Ardglass Greenway In 1950 the railway line that once served Ardglass from Downpatrick as part of the Belfast & County Down Railway ceased operation. Like much of the railway lines to rural towns across Ireland, these railway lines and stations fell into disrepair and private ownership. Though as can be seen in examples like the former Belfast to Comber route and in Waterford, these abandoned railway lines provide the possibility of being repurposed as greenways for pedestrian and cycling use. I traced the former railway line to take note of what infrastructure remained and what would be required to repurpose this now private land and form an alternative commuting and leisure route to Downpatrick.
Belfast
Comber
Saintfield
Ballynahinch
Downpatrick
Ardglass
Newcastle
ardglass As the railway line made it’s way through Killough a lot more of the old infrastructure and break-lines in the landscape became clearer. This provided a good opportunity to visualise how new bridges could create scenic trips for both locals and tourists alike. The path then moves through private land under no longer used bridges towards Ardglass, passing by caravan and camping sites that could make use of a greenway especially in the summer period.
Much of the trainline is now under private ownership and is only visible today in breaks in tree lines and paths. Having attended consultations on proposed local greenways I had found that all of the opposition came from those that lived along the outlined route. It was essential that methods of creating non-intrusive lighting were examined to discourage anti-social behaviour. The likes of glow in the dark paths and low lighting would make the routes in the country feel safer without affecting residents and nature.
dublin Playful City, North Dublin Regeneration Whilst south of The Liffey would be regarded as the more affluent part of town, crossing to the North brings a different side of town where independent retailers, traditional markets and the signs of immigration in Dublin are much more visible. Working with Dublin City Council and A Playful City, this student project took inspiration from BIG/Superflex’s Superkilen in Copenhagen by introducing areas inspired by the many non-Irish cultures making up 31% of the population of North Dublin. Like in Superkilen I took different patterns or objects and introduced them into the park design with green walls from Mexico City, market pattern from Barcelona, trees from Poland, wall art from Paris and a bandstand from the UK.
north coast Causeway Coast & Glens Borough Council Branding Working with Causeway Coast & Glens Borough Council, I originally produced a student led Portrush Regeneration Strategy document highlighting and progressing ideas that a small group had produced in preparation for The Open golf tournament in 2019. Within this document I worked on a Culture Map for Portrush that highlighted some of the most popular and architecturally significant locations by adding my own illustrations of each. Taking forward my design of a Culture Map and logo for Portrush, I was commissioned by the council to produce individual logos for 6 of the main towns that fall within the Causeway Coast & Glens Borough Council.
Ballymoney
Coleraine
Ballycastle
Portrush
Portstewart
Limavady