Aran Kamil-Thomas 2022 Portfolio
BA(Hons) Architecture Liverpool School of Art and Design
Contents About me
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BA Year 3 Semester 2: Comprehensive Design Project
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BA Year 3 Semester 1: Weather of Not
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BA Year 2 Semester 2: Experimental Project
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BA Year 2 Semester 1: Urban Design Project
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BA Year 1 Semester 2: A Place for Crafting
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About Me. Aran Kamil-Thomas is an enthusiastic and passionate architecture student at Liverpool John Moores University’s School of Art. His passion for art and design started at a young age, from his mother teahcing him how to draw, inheriting her studys and passion for the arts as a professional in fine art. Through out his teen age years Aran studied and took passion in various subjects in secondary school, especally Art, Technology & Design and Business Studies. Which birthed his love and desire to study Architecture through a module studing Architecture in his final year of Sixthform. From here Aran took to Liverpool John Moores University to persue his passion for Architecture as a creative outlet. Throughout his three years of studies Aran learnt and developed valuable skills such as techinical drawing, model making, and various C.A.D packages to further the quality and output of hsi projects. Which will prove to be invaluable skills once leaving university in search of work. The final project of his undergraduate studies explores the history of north-south divide of
BOUNDLESS
CONNECTIN
COMMUNICATION
UNITY
STEPPING STONES
ARAN KAMIL-THOMAS
6121ARC - AS1 : WEATHER OR NOT ? PRECEDENT STUDIES
DESIGN CONCEPT
These precedent studies gave me great inspiration in the design and development of my project. Tasked with a slopped site, Coal Point by Sam Martial Architects shows beautfiul detailed section drawings of their scheme and a countour model whichclearly shows the severe incline to their chosen site.
The inspiration for the building came from a visit to the site. The idea of ‘Stepping Stones’ sprung to mind when observing the unique characteristics of the River Leven site, the unique rock formations dotted around the area I was most interested in looked to me like stepping srtones leading me from a area of grass to the river, dropping in levels and contourse like a journey. Therefore feeling intrigued by the way this journey made me feel, I wanted to upscale this idea to the building design and create a journey, creating emotion and drama with space and archotecture rather than just an ordinary building.
Tuscon House by DUST, inspired the design and the stepping stone narative within this scheme. DUST’s use of bespoke granit cudes as a pathway to their Tuscon House provides a unique and intriguing entrance/ exit of the building whch I liked very much.
From this point I started looking at what the purpose of the building should be. Taking inspiration from my 6122ARC essay looking at rising water levels and the effect this natural force has on architecture, coupled with a floodable site it lead to the idea of a flood research centre in the heart of the strom to be the funtion of the building. Subsequently, bubble diagrams helped determine what spaces would be needed within the research centre and thus their hierarchy. These diagrams also planted the seed of the shape of the building by looking at how the building should circulate its population, the journey. Massing diagrams where of huge importance as the shape and orientation of the spaces within the building started to form. This allowed the ‘stepping stone idea and change in levels within the building to develop and evolve. Thus, furthering the narative and journey of the building.
RIVER SITE ANALYSIS - 1:500 SITE INFO RMATION The site chosen for this project which is situated on the banks of the River Leven, Windermere provides an ideal space in which to house a Flood Research Centre. Due to the River Leven flood level encroachment on a five year basis, This will allow extensive research to be obtained rapidly, therefore leading to more accurate results in the push to understand the effect rising waters will have on the future of Windermere. The Land. With a sloped terrerain the site houses multiple obstacles in certain areas. Such as, grouped rock formations left from water levels rises and dense tree cover. These issues are very important to highlight as the goal of the building is to aid cliamte change therefore, working with and around the nature of the site is paramount to the succsess of the project. The orientation of the building will be an important decision as sunlight will be scarce in the winter months due to the site being sloped and tree cover aboundant. Also, windpaths driectly from the water of the river will be a dominant force which will need to be addressed within the orientation of the building. Access to the site is sufficient with two main footpaths and a railway line that leads a 5 minute walk from the building. (Possible building location)
The Building will use a Water Reclamation System to retain water from rainfall which lands on the srea of the roof of the building. This water will be harvested via gutter drainage leading to a filtration system to be cleaned and filter out any unwated content. This clean water will then proceed through the system into the tank, which size has been calculated to minimise the risk of any overflow. The water stored in the tank will be used as Grey water, meaning it will be used for purposes such as toilet flushing and not for ingestion. Rainfall Harvesting Forumla Roof area x annual rainfall x run off coefficient x filter coefficient 1,026m2 * 1,407mm * 0.8 * 0.9 = 1,039,379 Litres per annum 1,039,379 Litres * 0.05 = 51,968 Litre Tank Size Miinimum This formula helps determine what size tank to pair with the system and for it to be the neccessary size to collect the amount of rainfall expected.
The heating strategy for this building will be to use a Ground Source Heat Pump, paired with an underfloor heating system, The use of coiled heat recovery pipes allows for the neccessary length of the pipes to be installed in a much smalled area yet yeilding the same results. The use of a underfloor heating system will allow the whole building to be heated and benefits from this as it is a single floor building. The building ventilates naturally with a vary of opening windows in the main spaces to allow fresh air to pass trhough the building from river. The natural ventilation will also help carry with warm air around various areas of the building creating a constant and stable temperature within the building. Exhaused air will be allowed to escape via the upstand glazed windows in the main pasage of the building. These windows will be controlled automatically when the building reaches a certain hight temperature or on a timed basis. The system will be powered a summer and winter energy strategy. In the summer the use of Photovoltaic glass will be used on the east facade of the building. Exposed to the most sunlight it will export the solar power into various areas of the building the heat pump beimg one of them. In the winter where the succsess of solar power is less prominent, the use of a Hydro Generator located in the river will provide power throughout the colder months where the river Leven’s levels are at its highest and most rapid. The use of LED lights can also bee seen in this section
