Ryan McDonough 2023 Portfolio

Located in Schiedam, a small city near Rotterdam, this project repurposes a 1950s Dutch glassworks, which has been vacant since 2017, into a unique coworking office, celebrating the buildings gritty industrial history. The scheme retains key parts of the factory, allowing workers to navigate the factory hall, dominated by giant industrial machinery, creating an authentic post-industrial environment where workers can physically touch a part of the city’s history.

The factory’s monumental presence is retained, while the former processing area is stripped to its shell, giving way to a botanical oasis in the least likely place, creating a secret walled garden showcasing the botanicals used by the distilleries to produce gin.

The concrete silos dominate the urban landscape, towering above its surroundings and acting as an urban marker and a backdrop to the offices and gardens. The vast size of the silos is celebrated with a panoramic elevator, which slowly carries you up the concrete cylinders to a high-end bar with panoramic views, crowning the structure.

LEVEL 2

LEVEL 1

GROUND AND UPPER GROUND

LOWER GROUND

Slow Schiedam

MA Architecture Second Year: Thesis Project

Slow schiedam is an urban design project which offers an alternate culture where inhabitants of the area enjoy a slower-paced environment.

The area will be home to diverse residents with work opportunities, leisure facilities and various amenities to sustain the community based on the principles of the 15-minute city.

Connected greenery stitched throughout the site create a garden festival-type sequence of public spaces, celebrating the historical significance of the dekuyper and nolet gin distilleries, which are still crucial to the area.

Lodge Lane Masterplan Toxteth, Liverpool

MA Architecture First Year: Urban Design - Group Project

The rethinking of Lodge Lane was a fun and challenging brief, where the once successful high street has declined in quality since the 1981 riots.

The scheme focused on the revival of the high street and addressed key issues in the area including illegal parking, heavy traffic and inactive facades throughout the day.

The introduction of diverse programmes at street level, inspired by Jane Jacobs, makes for a lively and exciting streetscape at all hours, and a radical approach to completely pedestrianise a significant amount of the street tackles the vehicular issues.

Cafes and restaurants are encouraged to spill out onto the streets, where the street is broken into ‘Stop’, ‘Slow’ and ‘Fast’ lanes provide an informal code of conduct.

At either end of the pedestrianised area, the creation of two districts provide opportunity for residents of the area, as well as creating a ‘destination’. An education district will drive the redevelopment of Edge Hill Library, and a new sports district will contribute to the healthl lifestyle and wellness of the locals.

Wellness Square

Spor ts centre & 5-a-side football pitches

W ellness centre with accessible rooftop

Mul tifunctional urban square with stationary bicycle-powered light masts, outfoor fitness equipment and basketball hoop

Education District

Residential bloc ks with private gardens

Ar t orientated educational buildings

Sunk en courtyard

New Lodge Lane High Street

Ne w three-storey blocks

Gr ound level commercial businesses

Residential on upper t wo storeys the brief was to further develop a section of the masterplan.

Taking precedent from Assemble’s Granby Four Streets, not far from the site, the design aims to use the powerful community initiative, giving locals a sense of ownership and pride food swap stations encourage neighbourhood engagement and further establish residents’ ownership.

A sustainable transport network encourages active mobility in the area, and a range of independently run amenities in the proximity aims to discourage personal vehicles.

The varied programme along the lane fosters a welcoming atmosphere, lively streetscape and economically sustainable neighbourhood.

The concept of the scheme promotes a strong, environmentally conscious community and a healthy lifestyle, where all design decisions refer back to the concept.

Materials within the scheme are chosen carefully for their durability, eco-friendliness and health and wellbeing properties.

Community pocket parks provides high quality outdoor spaces for the community as well as providing permeability between streets where the two communies can socially interract.

Semi-private internal streets connecting the two green spaces create passive ownership and community maintained planting fosters a strong sense of community.

As an extension of the original masterplan, active mobility is heavily encouraged with the provision of indoor bicycle storage allowing residents to utilise the wider cycling routes nearby.

Community-managed allotments and food compost station promotes a healthy lifesyle and a more circular economy.