MA Year 2 Semester 1 Urban Design ReportThesis Design
Site Parti Diagram
Transforming an eyesore into a landmark The tower at the core of this site is currently an eyesore, however this scheme aimed to utilise transform it into a prominent, iconic landmark. The first steps were to remove alternate floor plates, allowing the tower to be converted into a vertical farm, with natural light able to penetrate deeper into the structure.
Developing the Chrysalis In removing half of the floor plates, the lateral load capacity of the structure is to be reduced. Combined with the increase in dead-load due to the planters, reinforcement is therefore required. This is to be remedied with the insertion of a steel frame to increase the rigidity of both the tower and designated seed store. The frame also allows for easier redesign of the existing envelope to remove the current eye-sore. Benefits of this chrysalis include: • Increase the rigidity of the structure. • Increase floor plan size to increase usable space. • Provide easily accessible space for the large quantity of new services.
00- The Existing Frame
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Tom Chuter 2020 Portfolio
01- Reinforcing the Frame
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Enhance the visual qualities of an existing, prominent eyesore into a more attractive landmark to act as a centrepiece for the development. Create a “strategy” design which could be reused in different locations should this farm be seen as successful. This is part of the wider thesis brief which hopes to use this proposal as an experiment for a wider roll out of urban farming for healthcare purposes around the country. The idea is that such a technique could be directly applied to almost any existing building so wasted urban fabric can be re-purposed into urban farms.
02- Expanding Floor Plan
03- New Envelope
2020 Portfolio Tom Chuter
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