Acknowledgement
This thesis would not have been completed without the contributions and varying support of many people. Sincere gratitude goes to Hugo Hinsley [Co-Director of Housing & Urbanism Programme], for his time, valuable guidance and suggestions throughout the course of my writing process. Special thanks goes to Elad Eisenstein and Naiara Vegara, for their useful comments and insights in the thesis work. I would also like to extend my special gratitude to all the lecturers at the Architectural Association School of Architecture for equipping me with skills that will ultimately prove worth during my career trajectory. My thesis dissertation is a special dedication to my mother Latha Boban and my father Boban Maney, you instilled in me the value of education. I must acknowledge my husband and best friend, Ashik Kurian, without whose love, encouragement and assistance, I would not have finished this thesis. Above all my special thanks and praise to God for the favour, mercy and grace granted throughout my study in all spheres of my life.
Table of Contents 1.
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2.
The demand and design principles for better neighbourhoods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2a.
Increasing population and Housing Demand
2b.
Housing and Social Mix:
3.
Planned urbanity in HafenCity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3a.
A new urban experience:
4.
Potential of the Farringdon area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4a.
The role today
5.
Impact of Cross Rail and Area character. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5a.
City Voids and city spaces
6.
Current station and its limitations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6a.
Area’s Context
7.
Bridging the Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
7a.
Tampere Travel and Service Centre [Exemplar]
8.
Concept for the Farringdon Station area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
9.
Case Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
9a.
Plassen Cultural Centre, Norway
10.
Vertical Urban Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
11.
Cultural Organizations and Changing Trends
23
11a. Context of Culture in UK cities 12.
Design Concepts and Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
12a. Active Street Frontage 12b. Housing as a strategy 13.
The Mount Pleasant Site
13a.
Land use of the Mount Pleasant site
14.
A Proposal for the Mount Pleasant Site:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
14a.
Thickened Ground as Public Realm
15.
Thickened Ground – Distinctness:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
16.
Creating a valuable space for Farringdon and Rethinking Student Housing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
16a.
ArtA Cultural Centre - Design Proposal
17a.
Existing Housing Typology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
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17b. Changing Trends in Housing 18.
Promoting a social mix in the Housing Sector:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
18a.
Bikuben Student Housing - Exemplar
19a.
Redefining Density: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
20a.
A strategy for sustainable neighbourhood planning:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
21.
Bibliography
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1. Introduction:
Neighborhoods were often thought of as areas that include residential functions with certain civic components. Economic generators were pushed to the urban periphery as they were considered less important than civic integrators. Hence, this stereotypical image of neighborhood might be summed up as one that was designed to promote sociability between people. As we move from a service based economy to a knowledge based economy crossovers are seen between spaces of residence, business and education. The traditional layout of the neighborhood does not accommodate this mix and hence a new concept needs to be developed that facilitates the creation of multifunctional environments that have the capacity to support and enhance these crossovers. This needs to address the question of to what extent the planning of a different typological cluster can form this new neighborhood model in a contained space, and understanding what can be shared with housing, and creating a diverse environment providing a neutral territory promoting integration and attractive to talented people.
Traditional Neighbourhood Plan
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4 The available land in Central London can be used more efficiently not only by intensifying it but also inserting an urban quality trying to get the right mix helping the economy of London.
2. The demand and design principles for better neighbourhoods
2a. Increasing population and Housing Demand :
2b. Housing and Social Mix :
In recent decades, the landscape of cities has changed significantly because of rapid urban population growth. By taking a closer look at the population growth in United Kingdom, London was found to have the highest growth.
More efficient models of housing in central areas can be cited as the primary cure for the increased demand and pressure on the land resources, but more often monolithic structures are built unsympathetically within the surroundings in order to achieve the density, but they end up forming an exclusive neighbourhood or even a gated community.
The number of people living in London is expected to grow by more than a million in less than 10 years. Its population will reach more than nine million by 2020 - an increase of 14 per cent in a decade - pushed up by immigration and rising birth-rates. And in a further decade London will be home to more than 10 million people as it continues to draw in migrants and generate young families. According to London’s analysis of housing statics from the Department for Communities and Local Government [DCLG] and Greater London Authority, 526,000 new homes are needed to be built between 2011 and 2021 in London just to keep up with the current housing demand. A major feature of fast growing cities is urban sprawl, which drives the occupation of large areas of land and is usually accompanied by many serious problems including inefficient land use, low density and high segregation of uses. Coupled with land use speculation, current models of city growth result in fragmented and inefficient urban space where urban advantages are lost.
The issue is how cities can use land more efficiently not only to intensify it but also to insert an urban quality, trying to get the right mix, helping the economy of London by providing affordable work spaces and living spaces so that people don’t spend their time commuting, congesting all the roads and creating pollution. The availability of different residential types and price range in any given neighbourhood to accommodate different incomes helps to promote the cohesion and interaction between different social classes in the same community, and to ensure accessibility to equitable urban opportunities. Social mix provides the basis for healthy social networks, which in turn are the driving force of city life. With intensifying urbanization has come a growing awareness of the need for a city to support social cohesion, and to become a place where ideas and economic, social and cultural skills can be exchanged. This condition is only found in a few places today, with well functioning neighborhoods, and has largely been lost in the inner city centres.
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3. Planned urbanity in HafenCity Exemplar
3a. A new urban experience: Diversity and mixing are seen to be a source of economic renewal and cultural vitality, but achieving the full potential of urban diversity requires more than just a celebration of abstract diversity. Leonie Sandercock defines planning as an ``always unfinished social project whose task is managing our coexistence in the shared spaces of cities and neighbourhoods in such a way as to enrich human life and to work for social, cultural, and environmental justice.’’(New Urbanism: Life, Work, and Space in the New Downtown). HafenCity in Hamburg, Germany, has planned urbanity. At 157 ha it is currently Europe’s largest redevelopment/ regeneration project (see http:// www.hafencity.com). In fact, when completed HafenCity will increase the size of downtown Hamburg by 40%. Located in the old port and industrial area by the River Elbe HafenCity is being redeveloped as a mixed-use inner- city space, with office and residential uses, retail, restaurants and bars, as well as cultural and leisure facilities. HafenCity is a complex sustainable development being coordinated by HafenCity Hamburg GmbH (owned by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg). Urbanity basically arises from an appropriate urban structure made up of a variety of land uses in and outside buildings, as well as the presence of a large number of people of different types’’ (http://www. hafencity.com/en/glossary-s-z.html).
The development team has made great strides to create what they call ``a new kind of urban experience’’ with finely grained vertical and horizontal mixture of uses, and subdivisions into various quarters with individual identities of its own. 12 000 residents share HafenCity with 40,000 workers and 80,000 visitors. Myriad uses are concentrated in a limited space: homes with offices, shops, cafes, etc. The target market is equally varied: singles, young families, empty nesters, retirees, gay couples, etc. HafenCity seeks to bring together “people, milieus, lifestyles and interests that might otherwise never come across each other’’. The fine-grained mix is not just at the neighbourhood level, but also at the level of individual buildings. The ground-floor stories of buildings are publically accessible and there are numerous opportunities for social encounters: ``The public urban spaces with their different characters invite the most varied uses, while public right of access on private ground between buildings is also widespread. Its urban development is underpinned by a model that is old and new at the same time: it is rooted in the European city, with its high structural density and great urbanity potentials, but also new to the extend in which, although the ideas exists for the European city overall, these are lacking for its core, the “city” itself. HafenCity takes up the challenge of redefining the city core. The masterplan by Kees Christiaanse/ Astoc has set new international standards in this respect.
Ground-floor stories of buildings are publically accessible and has numerous opportunities for social encounters
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4. Potential of the Farringdon area
4a. The role today The area is exciting and has an important potential in the London development context. It lies at the boundary of three boroughs in the heart of central London with all that this implies in respect of function and opportunity. It has developed a special and unique character over time, gradually evolving to the current eclectic, but largely, until recently, unfocused mix of uses, but with an emerging focus on the creative industries. The area is rich in history and character and though not homogenous contains a group of linked neighbourhoods, each with a strong character, unique spatial qualities and uses. For example, the characters of Clerkenwell South, Bartholomew Close or Hatton Garden are distinctly different from the Fleet Valley and station area. A number of large institutional uses play an important role, both spatially and socially in the area; Smithfield Market with its central location and rich heritage, St. Bartholomews Hospital which is being consolidated and renewed, the Charterhouse and the Medical College who together control a number of the area’s private green spaces. People rely on the streets and alleys as places of public interaction due to the dense urban fabric. According to my analysis the number of alleys in the area was quite high compared to the open spaces, and fewer family housing units were found compared to the studios and one-beds.
Images of streets and alleys in Farringdon used for public interaction
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Open space
The two sites - Mount Pleasant and the Farringdon station area - were picked to test a new model of development trying to achieve a better balance in Farringdon. Over the next 15-20 years, Farringdon is likely to undergo extensive development as a consequence of major transport works and this study establishes guidelines for this development. It sets out a vision for the area that incorporates exciting and attractive, but functional, public realm and aims for a physical development that creates a destination that is where people choose to live, work, visit and spend their leisure time. Understanding how the place operates, who the audiences are and what their needs are – and looking at all of these in the context of aspirations for the area – is a fundamental part of establishing a sound vision to guide future development. Why do we need to think about Farringdon as a destination?
Farringdon station area
Mount Pleasant site
The study area is characterised by the fact that it has grown up in an ad hoc and unplanned way over the centuries, and many of its unique and special features are the result of this. This proposal is intended to recognise and enhance these features as well as provide a holistic framework for future design and development of the area.
Residential
Residential and open spaces in the area
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5. Impact of Cross Rail and Area character
London is being hit by a massive change because of the Cross Rail. The new railway will be a service linking 40 stations between Reading and Heathrow in the west, to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east via central London and Docklands. It will bring an additional 1.5 million people within 45 minutes commuting distance of London’s key business districts. With the Cross Rail, Farringdon at the heart of central London will soon be one of the best connected transport hubs in Europe, connecting to Heathrow airport, and the underground Thameslink service running through St Pancras connecting to Gatwick and Luton airports.
missed opportunity of a valuable place like Farringdon? The railway cutting with the homogeneous block next to it is the only large open space after Mount Pleasant site in this part of London. CrossRail, Thameslink and development partner Cardinal Lysander could coordinate opportunities for a joint design approach for an over-site development with the London borough of Islington above the railway cutting and the western entrance of Farringdon Crossrail station.
5a. City Voids and city spaces:
It will be the only place in London where Thameslink and Crossrail will be integrated. It is a key strategic opportunity for Farringdon to be located at the centre of a worldwide movement network that includes London’s major airports and the Eurostar connection to Brussels and Paris.
Much of Farringdon is made up of institutional and largely private chunks of land which to the everyday observer do not figure in their mental map of the place. For many people they may just as well not be there; the buildings are in fact city voids. So the question arises, what of the public spaces that are available for use, and re-use?
Cross Rail is the first transport project which is said to deliver integrated station designs with three elements in mind: the station, above station property development and improved public spaces. The current proposal for a 207,000 sqft development, located at the corner of Cow Cross Street and Farringdon Road comprising of office space and retail units does not seem to be an ambitious project for Farringdon area. Does it really consider the
Some of the most amazing spaces in Farringdon are those not designed to be experienced, such as the railway corridor and the deep views across servicing infrastructure. In this way the spaces in the area are more useful than the buildings. And what of the opportunity to reconsider the role of these ‘absent’ chunks of city; surely they can be reawakened as relevant local players in the city fabric, and have a renewed presence and relevance.
Transport Links - Crossrail and Thanmeslink
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6. Current station and its limitations
6a. Area’s Context: Farringdon’s large institutional city blocks are complimented by a finer grain of small city streets. This lattice of side streets and passageways are remnants of medieval London and weave their way between the impermeable institutions and Victorian infrastructure. They illustrate what Farringdon used to be like before the Fleet river was capped and metropolitan railway was laid through the area, and made Farringdon unique in the London context. The streets and alleys in Farringdon are mostly used as plazas by local residents or workers who know the pedestrian short-cuts and scenic routes they offer. Together, they form a kind of inner city block of their own, bounded by main roads or impenetrable blocks. As a result, traffic tends to prefer the main roads as the smaller streets are not sympathetic to vehicular short-cuts. This has encouraged pedestrian use of the area. In effect, the street network has become readable as a singular public space that retains its neighbourhood characteristics by preserving its architectural and spatial variety. A pedestrian study around Farringdon Station was prepared on behalf of Cross Rail and Design for London for the Farringdon Urban Deign study. The report provides forecasts on future pedestrian flows
around Farringdon Station, with the highest increase on Cow Cross Street East and Farringdon Road. As a part of the study, a level of service assessment was made for pavements of the streets around the station. The level of service measures pedestrian congestion of pavements and comfort of pedestrians. The study concludes that pavement on Cow Cross street will be congested and the foot ways on Farringdon Road heading south from Cow Cross street will be jammed. The proposal focusing on the prime axis of Farringdon area not only tackles the issue of pedestrian flow but in terms of the city context it tries to bring in a real mix of users feeling like a normal place where you can see families, children and students. A variety of uses, unusual within the City of London. A multitude of unusual building adjacencies giving the public space a distinctive civic character and a range of users comfortably sharing and appropriating spaces. Additionally, the area’s streets offering unexpected glimpses of learning and creative processes. The mix created would then extend the area’s life through the day, week and weekend. The range of users and uses would then add diversity to its character.
Diagram showing the railway cutting bifurcating the urban fabric
Housing Space for New developments Mixed use
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7. Bridging the Tracks
Tampere Travel and Service. The Broadgate Development. Millennium Park. These developments, each built atop a complex network of rail yards, have forever changed the urban landscape of their cities . While rail yards can often fragment a city, dividing it into unsightly zones that are difficult to cross, developments can re-stitch the urban fabric, adding usable open space and potential amenities. Whether the rail right of way is privately owned (as in the United States) or publicly owned (as in France), these developments create value for owners, developers, government entities, and private citizens. The disposition of railway tracks and the presence of the railway station have always been key elements of the socio-economic geography of cities. Usually , railway stations and railway owned land are at the hub of urban activity, ideally located in terms of public transport, infrastructure and accessibility. While the station has traditionally been celebrated as an arrival point of major urban significance, the presence of the tracks and the noise and pollution generated by moving trains have always interfered with the continuity and quality of urban life. As a response structures can be build in these unused spaces above and around railway tracks and stations, in order to provide the opportunity for commercial/ residential developments and enhanced public amenities.
7a. Tampere Travel and Service Centre [Exemplar]: A concept used in the Tampere Travel and Service Centre in Tampere, Finland by COBE Architects has been applied to develop a proposal for the station area in Farringdon. The city centre of Tampere is divided into two by the railway yard that runs through the city. The area is characterized by urban backsides and poor connections across the railyard.
The urban fabric of Tampere is cut in two by railway yard The railyard imposes a large scar in the urban fabric
The vision by COBE Architects unifies the city centre into one coherent urban structure by extending the urban grid and introducing a new 21st century transportation hub characterized by the ease of travel, sustainable means of transportation, as well as services that meet the demand of today’s Tampere. Large circular openings in the deck structure will give the visitors a good overview of the station below, and establish an easily understandable station area. The project also proposes a new central park in Tampere located between the old and the new city centre. It will be a green lung in the urban structure, and become a recreational meeting point in the very heart of the city. An arcade flanking the park will provide the citizens with an active and qualitative edge zone that opens up towards the new urban space. By introducing a diverse urban structure that extends from the east to west across the railyard, the project provides a solid and robust foundation for unifying the two sides of Tampere’s city centre once and for all.
The Station Plaza
Section through Station Plaza
Extending the urban grid and creating an urban lung
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8. Concept for the Farringdon Station area
The proposal for the densification of the station is to build an entire neighbourhood atop platforms suspended over an active railyard making the best of the wasted opportunity in such a valuable space in Farringdon, and creating an east west connection. The massing of the building is set back from Farringdon Road at certain points to create pockets of interaction spaces. Low level retail/leisure pavilions frame the view of the mixed use development into the streets bringing them to life. A permeable three block was proposed retaining the highest part of the existing office building and a concept derived from the Plassen cultural centre was also applied here which is a multi layered pattern with a new landscape on top flowing through and linking to the ground level creating a new surface on top above which the tower sits.
Railway cutting bifurcating urban fabric
Creating an east-west connection and a new plaza for Farringdon
Conceptual Diagram
Existing circulation pattern in the area
Existing condition in Farringdon station area
Adding new connections
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9. Case Study
9a. Plassen Cultural Centre, Norway The Plassen cultural centre works as an evident meeting point. 3XN sought an optimal use of every square meter, creating a building that can function both when a hundred or thousands of people gather for concerts, festivals or theatre. The structure is flexible and multifunctional. During the day the roof offers a café with outdoor seating, a recreational area with views of the surroundings and an exhibition space for the building’s gallery; on the
other hand, the staircase on the side of the building is an essential link between the city’s upper and lower districts. Influenced by Plassen, the Farringdon proposal uses the folding and cutting approach towards the surface to create a continuous relationship between the floor and the roof, inside and outside. This results in an efficient and compact structure that not only encapsulates necessary program, but increases the overall usable space of this public city square, challenging the traditionally horizontal nature of such a space. The building is organised by a series of stages, galleries and cafes all of which blend into one another giving the impression of a continuous, unified space. Similarly, the new landscape flowing through and around the permeable blocks extends at certain points creating an amphitheatre condition that further serves to increase and articulate usable public space.
Plassen Cultural Centre, Norway
The cumulative effect of these approaches to form and space is a contemporary interpretation of a traditional social and organising feature of European society. Here the concept of tertiary axis asserts the value of streets as a great public place and reimagines it as a public space and also connecting the Clerkenwell bridge to the station. The axis turns into a place for pedestrians with large space for a wide variety of social, cultural and commercial activities. Section through the building
Internal arrangement of spaces in Plassen Centre
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10. Vertical Urban Design
An attempt has been made here to create a distinction between the private and public domain but that also benefits pedestrians [Refer Figure 1 (Bottom)]. Hence density can be achieved while providing quality suitable for families. The rooftop can start to work as an elevated ground used by the residents as a private outdoor space. Being physically detached from the street level guarantees security, and can still create a visual relationship that extends the private life towards the public realm. The built space between the tower blocks and the ground can be occupied by a number of functions like the cultural institutes and co-working spaces. Massing and Circulation Pattern
Figure 1
Cultural Organizations and Changing Leisure Trends
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11. Cultural Organizations and Changing Trends
11a. Context of Culture in UK cities: Cultural institutions are beginning to view their role within cities in a new way. No longer are they simply custodians of culture; today they are also educators, providers of civic amenity and public space, and producers of and collaborators in cultural processes and practice. Cultural institutions are also re-examining the spaces within their walls, often enhancing and re-imagining their functions. Examples include the Library of Birmingham, the City of London’s ‘Sculpture in the City’ program and ‘The Fourth Plinth’ Commission in Trafalgar Square. Art has also appeared across London’s public transport networks, through programs such as ‘Art on the Underground’, and Cross Rail’s forthcoming ‘Culture Line’. Art and performance are being situated directly in the public realm and not only within the walls of museums, galleries and theatres. The proposal is creating and allowing an additional approach to these spaces [workshops, museums etc.] from the proposed axis that flows through the building, providing space for socializing, installation, events and café; an extension of what’s happening inside.
There is a current trend for opening up spaces within cultural institutions, to allow visitors to go ‘behind the scenes’ and explore the processes of cultural production and curation. Examples of this practice include the Royal Opera House’s ‘Open Up’ project and the Artangel curated exhibition, and The Concise Dictionary of Dress which took place inside the V&A Museum’s working storage facilities. More than ever, cultural institutions are uniting to shape culture for consumers, sharing resources, expertise, spaces and audiences. In London, plans are underway to develop Olympicopolis in the east of the city; a new development that will bring together four major cultural institutions from the UK and US.
Library of Birmingham - Exemplar
New relationships are also being established between cultural institutions and artists and curators, based on principles of participation and challenging the traditional function of the exhibition; this trend is often referred to as ‘new institutionalism’, and is demonstrated by the Tate Modern’s immersive and innovative Turbine Hall art series. Farringdon, being a centre for creative industries, could be part of this trend.
Multi-functional spaces in the proposed building
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12. Design Concepts and Principles
12a. Active Street Frontage: Public life is the essence of urbanism. The city’s ability to facilitate movement, commerce, democracy, innovation and creativity resides in the currents and eddies of human beings at the boundary of public and private space, where homes, jobs, shops and civic buildings touch streets, parks and plazas. In good urban neighbourhoods, the ground floors of the buildings work symbiotically with the surrounding sidewalks and public spaces. The Farringdon Road can be made to be an active spine by creating a street frontage that can be permeated with apertures leading to spaces beyond, enriching the pedestrian experience with variation and discovery.
12b. Housing as a strategy: The monofunctional nature of housing clusters can be changed by accommodating learning and service delivery spaces, such as co-working and cultural spaces, to constitute an assemblage that can be organised on the ground with housing stacked above. Housing could then move from a mere provision into a strategy whereby along with providing new housing stock, the revenue generated will be used to pay the supporting activities below. Most companies cannot afford research and development, they bring together decision makers, engineers and market agents to work collaboratively in order to apply solution of one field to help resolve challenges of the other. A single company cannot afford to own such spaces, so its wise to build leasable space for a set of companies with shared facilities.
Section cut through the Building
The company could use a fixed amount of space for its core operations while the other meeting, projection, conference spaces could be rented out on a time and membership basis. Having service providers [a private enterprise corporation aided by a certain level of government support] who could create these spaces then would become an interesting proposition. The rents from housing stacked above, can thus be more advantageous as it could be a part of the membership base of collaborative space which could be associated with arts, sports, cafe etc. The current availability of flats in the area reflects the traditional understanding of family unit, since its internal organisation responds to the hierarchical environments of the family, without having proper spaces for collectivizing amongst the other residents, offering little variation of forms of living. Talented workers may want to share living space because they are interested in alternative interactions, more collaborative than their original homes.
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The Farringdon Road can be made to be an active spine by creating a street frontage that can be permeated with apertures leading to spaces beyond, enriching the pedestrian experience with variation and discovery.
The typological starting point of dwelling design has to reflect this less hierarchical order at the same time prioritizing adaptable spaces that are strongly connected with communal activities. Another main feature in the project, the station plaza, will be Farringdon’s new urban living room. A great roof structure hovering over the plaza and train tracks below will provide the visitor with an exceptional spatial experience.
Unit Floor Plans
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13. The Mount Pleasant Site:
Mount Pleasant is one of the last brown-field sites in the heart of London awaiting redevelopment. The site is located in the Clerkenwell Ward [Islington] and straddles the borough boundary with the Camden along Phoenix Place. The site is 4.8 hectares overall, with 3.6 hectares in Islington and 1.2 hectares in Camden and is located within the Central Activities zone as defined by the Greater London Authority.
13a. Land use of the Mount Pleasant site: The site currently comprises the Central London Mail Centre, some international distribution operations, the city Delivery Office and associated operations of Royal Mail. The site incorporates the British Postal Museum and Archive [BPMA] which is located within the south-western block of the main building. There is an underground Mail Rail depot located on the site that ceased operation in May 2003. The
service yard located north and west of the sorting office is used for operational vehicle parking and loading. The main access to the site is currently positioned on the eastern boundary from the Farringdon road. From the Victorian prison to the now privatized Royal Mail, Mount Pleasant has always been an isolated territory. It is extremely important that any future development of the site addresses this gap, partly by enabling public access through the site, and restoring a more traditional street pattern. Mixed use, with a line of shops and cafes on the lower floor with houses or offices above is common in the alleys and streets in Farringdon. But this character of the place is lost in some areas with primarily residential or commercial use. Also only locals associate with this, and many specific user groups may not feel welcome in this space which further reduces the diversity of people.
Royal Mail Mount Pleasant Site
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Proposed Landscape
14. A Proposal for the Mount Pleasant Site:
14b. Thickened Ground as Public Realm: An effort has been made to demonstrate the phenomenon of ‘thickened ground’, where the different elements of the ground and their interrelationships interweave together. The ground here is distinct from the upper floors, and is full of programmes, activities that lead to the other. The same concept has been applied in the proposed landscape in the centre of the site creating flexible spaces and forming a chain where each element connects to the next element in a sequence of events that begins to give new definition to the entire space.
Flexibility of Uses: Spill out Area
Site Plan:
Spill out Area
View from the proposed landscape
Casual Use Rooms are Independant
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15. Thickened Ground – Distinctness:
‘Thickened Ground’ has a special significance in the contemporary context. In the case of HafenCity in Hamburg the Thickened Ground begins to behave like a large collective public domain. Additionally, the space should possess an order and neatness, as against the random romantic liveliness propagated by Jacobs (Jacobs, 1961). Also, public places should reflect a sense of security and safety in their users. For publicly accessible spaces to become truly public domains, they have to be “positively valued as spaces of shared experience by people from different backgrounds or with dissimilar interests.” (Hajer, 2001 p.11). The success of each element of thickened ground depends on its design. It is the design that influences what kind of uses are possible in it. On the other hand, it is often the users that influence the way a space is used in unexpected ways! Yet, it is the design that forms the basis of use- and also, it is the design that must ensure that each element carries out its role of pulling together activities. Hajer (Hajer, 2001 p. 7) says, “.... spaces that have a strong public significance; places with which people identify and make the city what it is, forms an integral part of urban identity.” Thickened Ground also acquires an urban identity. As for thickened ground, people may begin to talk of the whole area more significantly than a subpart of it, as the boundary between parts is
extremely blurred-like reference to Fitzrovia is more usual than someone saying ‘Fitzroy square’. This further reinforces its ‘collective’ quality, and enables people to associate with it. The concept of sequencing of activities can prove to be a vital tool for designers. By ensuring that design and uses facilitate pulling activities into the spaces and beyond can provide better urbanism- more vital city areas offering livelier and diverse experiences. Also, this sequencing of spaces and activity can bring to use areas we normally consider as residual spaces. Specifically talking about thickened ground, it reaches a higher level of place than space. It acquires a scale that is larger than the sum of its parts! And, the permeability and the amorphous boundaries between its component elements turn the whole space in to a large collective public domain. It is a concept that works on every scale, and in part as well as whole.
Collective public domain of Thickened ground
The collective public domain of thickened ground follows Hajer’s statement: “...that we must focus much more on the design of the transitions, the crossings, the connections and the in-between spaces, than in the past.... The design task for the public domain does not rest on the intermingling, but in once again making sutures that correct those dissected worlds in the design of the in-between spaces.”
View from the Ground level to the Proposed Landscape
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16. Creating a valuable space for Farringdon and Rethinking Student Housing
The proposed landscape is a stepped and easy accessible roof landscape connecting the ground to the rooftop of the sorting office as a new valuable surface, and providing a grand view to the residents living next to the sorting office. London being known for its markets, the area could be used for market stalls, sport resources etc. The proposed landscape forms a catalyst of exchange between different programmes enveloping it.
16a. ArtA Cultural Centre - Design Proposal The ideas of the proposal were derived from the ArtA cultural centre project done by the NLA Architects, the images of which are shown below. The wedge shaped structure here unites different programmes and invites residents to experience the area from an elevated parkway. The space can be experienced as one large interior landscape or be turned into a sequence of distinct rooms with their specific performances and atmospheres. The cascade allows freedom in the organisation and at the same time offers a spectrum of unique spatial conditions. This formation grants the pedestrians two options for the access: up through the Baroque inspired rooftop or through the ground level “Art Square” which serves as a “public intermediary” between the building and the city.
Internal spaces of the building
Exterior views of ArtA Cultural Centre
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17a. Existing Housing Typology:
17b. Changing Trends in Housing :
The existing small amount of housing for students and young professionals in the area is designed withthe traditional long corridor layout with living cells on both sides, with the shared spaces usually on the ground floor such as kitchen, canteen, living room, computer room and laundries.
The question is how can domesticity shape the spaces of knowledge production?
These serve the need created by small living cells planned according to the principles of floor- area efficiency.Housing is not always considered an important part of the architect’s concept of “knowledge networks” and has no spatial or programmatic characteristics that would relate it to knowledge production. There is only a weak attempt to vaguely link housing projects to commercial, leisure and cultural functions [libraries, lecture halls, exhibition spaces and meeting rooms] and the surroundings.
The proposal for student housing is designed with a different approach in which spaces for interaction are placed randomly in the block, which would project the dwelling life into the outdoor spaces stabilizing the patterns of engagement between the private and public. The role of these ‘knowledge’ spaces linking working and living is to supplement housing, transform it into an attractive place – fostering additional communication between people. This group of buildings includes spaces of reproduction with shared facilities creating a “collaborative nature”.
Concept for Student Housing
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18. Promoting a social mix in the Housing Sector:
Another key aspect while designing the student housing was to rethink the social environment for students. By creating an inspiring spatial environment and maximising the opportunities for fellowship, the student residence seeks to avoid the loneliness and lack of social relationships that many students highlight as a problem with their current housing situation. For example, the intelligent arrangement of spaces in Bikuben Student Residence tries to avoid this issue.
The double helix structure creates an architectural whole, and connects the social life of the student residence across the different floors. In this way, the spiral structure provides the greatest possible contact between common and private spaces, while ensuring privacy in each dwelling. By rethinking the social space, Bikuben Student Residence has attracted major international attention. Arrangement of collective spaces in the inner core around the courtyard
18a. Bikuben Student Housing - Exemplar: Bikuben Student Residence appears as a cube, but is actually a double helix, which in its path around the central axis in the form of a courtyard, provides space for various indoor and outdoor spaces. The kitchens, living areas, gym, laundry facilities and roof garden are therefore staggered at different levels, where the kitchens and common areas are oriented inward toward the central courtyard. The student residence thereby avoids the classic dormitory corridors and instead creates a space where access to the rooms is linked directly to the social meeting places.
Elevation of Bikuben Student Housing
Bikuben Student Housing - Exemplar:
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A similar idea is being applied to the proposal in the other student housing floor plan, where the collective spaces are arranged in the inner core and the outer core has an extended area open on either sides creating a space for interaction.
19a. Redefining Density: The residential sector is a new model for healthy and green urban living. A high density development is proposed. There is a real misunderstanding about what higher density housing is, particularly in the context of London. Many of the problems blamed on density are in fact a combination of problems with location, design, allocation policies, lack of management etc. High density is not only necessary because the land is scarce but also desirable as it can deliver real social
benefits. For example: high density areas create vibrant, successful neighbourhoods, and the number of people who live there support local shops, transport and community facilities. It allows for private outdoor spaces and for shared spaces and facilities. Higher density neighbourhoods do not mean all higher density housing is the same.
Proposed Student Housing
A mixed income residential development is the key component of the project. The primary goal is to provide a mix of rental and homeownership opportunities for people at a range of income levels to create a truly mixed income community. Designed around a series of stepped roof gardens, the proposal uses the interaction of nature and city as its organizing architectural concept. The scheme tries to
The design consists of different housing types to meet a diversity of residential needs. The key design concept is a series of multi-functional roof terraces spiralling from the top down to a central courtyard.
Unit plans for Residential
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development of new neighbourhoods to prioritise the buildings themselves, then if possible the public life. The buildings themselves were the focus, the public spaces whatever happened to be left over in between and the life at best a half hearted afterthought.
keep the enclosed common areas to a minimum, to reduce the impact of large number of children in the unsupervised access systems. Their safety and behaviour can be supervised from the windows of the surrounding housing. Rooftop gardens connect low-rise town homes, a mid rise building and a tower surrounding open air courtyards. The rooftop gardens and an open air courtyard supports physical activity through gardening and space for community interaction. Due to its north south alignment, solar panels could be installed creating a more sustainable approach to the design.
20a. A strategy for sustainable neighbourhood planning: The thesis aims to transform an inner city area into a neighbourhood which is willing to initiate an open and social urbanity as opposed to the exclusive traditional neighbourhood, giving it a spatial characteristic by intensifying the area, providing mixed use functions and inserting a series of spaces for interaction for both outsiders as well as the residents. They create the so called “knowledge networks” that are in fact a series of public spaces, indoor and outdoor, that appear to coalesce intospaces for collaboration. For a long time, it has been a common practice in the
The results everywhere are dreadful, deserted neighbourhoods. A much better strategy would be to consider initially the “Life”, then the “Space” and then the “Buildings”. Better public spaces are not created solely by virtue of form, design and choice of materials. All aspects were considered to ensure the creation of a useful public space for the area not missing out on the wasted opportunities.
The layout and flexibility of the public plaza created will promote life long learning experience that will work to build a community and neighbourhood that has strong relationships. The model being tested in Farringdon aims to achieve a place of mixed living and working, creating a flourishing community in the centre of the city, instead of the fragmented area that are typical. It needs to be seamlessly meshed and richly varied whole with all the activities and events making it possible. The two tests link together to demonstrate the concept of how Farringdon can work much better as an urban area instead of just having isolated site development.
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Bibliography: Urban Design for the Urban Century: Lance Jay Brown, David Dixon, Oliver Gillham Urban Design Futures: Malcolm Moor, Jon Rowland Public Places - Urban Spaces: Steve Tiesdell and Tim Heath Street Design: The Secret to Great Cities and Towns: John Massengale Density projects : 36 new concepts on collective housing: Author: Fernández Per, Aurora. Urban housing forms / Jingmin Zhou ; with introduction [sic] by Ian Colquhoun. Coupland, Andy ed. (1997), Reclaiming the City: Mixed Use Development, London: Chapman & Hall. Gehl, Jan (2001), Life Between Buildings- Using Public, Skive: Arkitektens Forlag; p. Hajer, Maarten; Reijndor, Arnold (2001), In Search of New Public Domain: Analysis & Strategy, NAi Publishers. Urban reports : urban strategies and visions in mid-sized cities in a local and global context Author: Schüller, Nicola, 1968 Jacobs , Jane (1961) , The Death and Life of Great American Cities , USA: Random House. Mumford, Lewis (1986), ‘ Home Remedies for Urban Cancer’ in the Lewis Mumford Reader, United States: Pantheon Books. Hafencity ( October 2009), Hafencity Projects- Insight into Current Developments, HafenCity Hamburg GmbH Hafencity website- www.hafencity.com/ Scandinavian-architects Project - http://www.scandinavian-architects.com/en/projects/33982_Bikuben_Student_Residence Plassen Cultural Center / 3XN Architects : http://www.archdaily.com/279891/plassen-cultural-center-3xn-architects Mount Pleasant Redevelopment: https://mountpleasantforum.wordpress.com/ http://www.islington.gov.uk/services/planning/planningpol/pol_supplement/Pages/mount_pleasant_spd.aspx
Farringdon Crossrail: http://www.propertyweek.com/Journals/2013/12/09/q/j/s/Crossrail-The-Impact-on-Londons-Property-Market.pdf