Whittaker, Hazel

Hazel Whittaker Portfolio

BA(Hons) Architecture Liverpool School of Art and Design

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About me

I have recently completed my part 1 architecture degree at Liverpool School of Art and Design. During my studies my projects have been based in sites around Northern England and I have been interested in how places are changing, both in a rural and urban context. During my course I have really enjoyed hearing other peoples’ ideas and working as part of a team. A highight for me was taking part in the RIBA Design Charette in February 2020.

I chose to study architecture because it is an interdiscaplinary subject requiring a combination of creative and technical processes. I enjoy the inital conceptual stages of projects and translating this into a real world situation. Throughout my architecture degree I have been particularly interested in lighting and shadows. I was awarded the Clare Wrigley lighting prize for my first year ShadowSpace project. A sustainable design approach is increasingly important and I have made sure that this has been a starting point in all of my project work.

I enjoy the outdoors and I regularly assist disabled climbers at a climbing wall in Sheffield. In 2015 I helped set up a charity called Climbing for All Sheffield which creates opportunities for people who have disabilities to participate in adventure sports. Volunteering for this charity has helped me learn that something which could be seen as impossible can be made possible by careful adaptation and personalised support.

Working with people and finding out about their requirements and wishes is an important aspect of the design process. I believe that architecture should be about meeting the needs of people, but also looking after the environment and improving peoples’ connectedness to the environment.

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Contents BA Year 3 Semester 2: Northern Powerhouse Assembly CDP

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BA Year 3 Semester 1: Weather or Not

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BA Year 2 Semester 2: Timber Workshop

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BA Year 1 Semester 1: Archifilm

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Contact details

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The Peoples’ Powerhouse

Northern Powerhouse Assembly

Comprehensive Design Project January - May 2022

In modern democracies it is important to make civic institutions inclusive and accessible to the public.

The opportunity to build a Northern Powerhouse Assembly in Manchester City centre provides an opportunity to create much needed indoor and outdoor public spaces. The interaction of the public with this space is likely to lead to both passive and active participation in politics, which is especially important in a region which feels disconnected from the central government in Westminster.

I would like to incorporate a specific citizens’ assembly chamber in the Northern Powerhouse Assembly to put the representative process at the heart of the debate. This will have a flexible seating pattern which can adapt depending on the setting, the different layouts could be related to the three phases of the assembly: learning (classroom/exhibition), discussion (circle) and decision making (horseshoe/ opposing benches). I want to hear voices from all over the north and create a central citizens’ assembly which could facilitate satellite assemblies in other areas in the north, this could be a virtual network or a travelling hub. I would also like to provide a large amount of freely accessible indoor and outdoor space. Although this is difficult to balance with ensuring people are safe, I believe with effective zoning it would be possible.

Context: the site is located on a historic canal basin with a mixture of modern and historic surrounding buildings.

Existing connections through the site

The site: an empty plot in the heart of Manchester, one continuous space with existing shortcuts crossing the site

Building up means existing connections through the site are lost creating a disconnect between politics and the people

Push down to create routes through the site

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Maintaining connections and encouraging people into the space

Glazed debating chamber at the heart of the site: encouraging transparency with the people Citizens’ assembly high up allowing representative ideas and voices to inform decisions in the debating chamber

Addition of green spaces and multipurpose areas, encouraging public access and bringing a diverse demographic into the space

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Develoment through model making

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1:100 section model

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shortcut

offices citizens’ assembly seating over cafe canal relaxation space multiprpose active zone 8

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shortcut throught the site, bringing people into the space

Diagram showing rooftop zones, aiming to bring a diverse demographic into the space. People should be encouraged to use the space how they please: for recreation, relaxation, protest or debate. Therefore this will become a fully public space where the people are encouraged to take control of what happens there.

paths around the site

horseshoe opposing benches rlaxationcanal semicircle/classroom circle

Activity like walking and talking is likely to premote less deliberate modes of thinking - good for generating ideas, premoting a healthy workspace community culture. Deliberate modes of thinking required for tackling detail and more complex tasks are best done in a formal office space.

Contoured roof creates seating areas which mimic the typologies of assembly buildings around the world. These could be used for more informal debate or performance spaces, premoting debate andcreating inclusive, visible and comfortable spaces for this to take place.

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Site plan drawn at 1:1500 @ A3

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Second and third floor (offices) 1:500 @ A3

First floor (citizens’ asse

embly) 1:500 @ A3

Ground floor 1:500 @ A3

Lower ground floor 1:500 @ A3

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EcoSwim

Weather or Not September - December 2021

Architecture can harness the positive experience and connectedness with water whilst also responding to the threats posed by water in the built environment. Reflections in the water within architecture and of architecture allow for a different perspective which changes throughout the day and year.

These reflections can be harnessed to celebrate the dynamic engagement of water in architecture.

When light enters water it can either reflect creating shadows on a surface (caustic reflection) or the light is absorbed and the shadows are projected onto the base of the water (caustic projection). The more movement in the water, the more dynamic the patterns.

Purified treated water is allowed to be pumped into Windermere however there is a lack of monitoring meaning the system is exploited and untreated water is entering the lake. Windermere is located in a wild, beautiful and sparsely populated landscape so people assume that the natural environment is clean and unpolluted, however this may not be reality. Pollution of the water will result in an ecologically damaged habitat which may prevent people’s healthy enjoyment of and access to the water.

ECOSWIM is a natural swimming pool which monitors Windermeres lake levels and pollution and aims to create innovative eco and natural methods of producing clean water. When people visit ECOSWIM they engage in a journey through a series of different pools which change depending on the flood level of the lake. Caustic reflections will be present in each of the pools and caustic projection will flood through the basement from the glass bottomed rooftop pool. My scheme aims to showcase the relationship of people and buildings with water to help reshape people’s understanding of the aquatic environment and the importance of unpolluted water, encouraging people to interact with and respect precious water resources whilst also mitigating the risks of and raising awareness of flooding in the Lake District.

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SOUTH EAST ELEVATION (1:100) 14

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As the flood level rises, water floods into the pools. This enables people to visually monitor the flood level and rasises awareness for the flooding isues in Windermere.

ELEVATION AND SECTION SHOWING THE POTENTIAL FLOODING OF THE POOLS

WATER LEVEL - 0.3M

WATER LEVEL - 1.35M ONE

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SECTION LOOKING NORTH EAST (1:100)

ELEVATION AND SECTION SHOWING THE POTENTIAL FLOODING IN THE BASEMENT (1:100)

WATER LEVEL - 2.55M TWO

THREE

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STRUCTURAL MODEL PHOTOGRAPHS - shows the loadboarding concrete walls and beam structure of the glass swimming pool.

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Timber Workshop

Experimental Design Project January - May 2021

The starting point for this project was the ‘skyscraper tree’ located in Sheffield. The skyscraper tree became a landmark in my local woodland and when it was knocked down last year I reflected that my perception of this natural sculpture differed from other people and what to me was a local landmark was invisible to others. After I had noticed this tree, I observed many other natural structures which reminded me of the built environment, some of which were unique to me, for example, the Cheesegrater, and some deliberately designed to reflect the environment, for example, the Harpa Opera house. Trees are meaningful to humans and are often planted to commemorate people and events; can enhance peoples environment and can create a strong sense of place.

Timber, as a construction material, can be used to create interesting buildings inspired by forms found in the natural environment, including trees themselves, for example, the helical twisting of trees, thigmotropism, is a fundamental shape found in both the natural and built environment. Timber structures provide a heightened sensory stimulation because of the smell, sound and texture of wooden surfaces and therefore they are very pleasing to humans. The use of timber in a spiritual building is important because of the subconscious spiritual connection that humans have with timber, both in forests and mature trees and the built environment. This celebration of timber and the connection between the built and natural environment is central throughout the design of my timber workshop.

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COLUMN POSITIONING A canopy will cover the entire site mimicking the canopy layer seen in rainforests. I have experimented with column positioning to provide the structure for the canopy. Initially I thought about using a regular grid of columns, similar to the Cambridge mosque however this did not leave enough space for a column free workshop specified in the brief. Therefore I experimented with columns around the perimeter of the canopy. Although this would allow for a column free workshop space this is not how trees would naturally grow. The final plan uses random positioning of columns with a clearing for the workshop. This allows for a column free space whilst mimicking natural groves of trees in each of the other spaces under the canopy.

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To create the sense of a spiritual space, the combination of light verticality and a sudden stillness is important. Therefore I have experimented using different patterns to create interesting shadows.

Within my timber workshop this could be created both a tree canopy and more structural patterns could be purposefully created within the design. I would also like to integrate live trees into the design, these could be planted when the construction begins and over time would create an emergent layer over the canopy, this can be seen in the Seel Street context section and elevation.

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Over the spiritual space the canopy will be exposed timber lattice beams, celebrating the use of timber in the workshop.

These will cast shadows into the space shown which is important in the creation of a spiritual space. Furthermore, I have designed the entrance of the workshop to mimic gothic arches often seen in churches and places of worship. I would use a combination of weaved hazels, which can be bent to create interesting shapes, alongside taller silver birch trees and more structural scots pines to create the arch.

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TIMBER WORKSHOP OVER TIME

I would like to integrate live trees into the design of my timber workshop, which could be planted when the construction begins and over time will become the emergent layer over the canopy. These trees would also create dappled light within the canopy and would create a strong sense of place for the timber workshop. Benches will be placed within the canopy to represent the shrub layer.

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ShadowSpace

Archifilm October - December 2020

Shadowspace was an exploration of space and place looking at the interplay between light and shade and how the building can enhance or manipulate that.

The output was a short film aiming to convey the human experience of being in the space.

ShadowSpace is a floating folly based on Lake Windermere. It was my first project and was completely about experiences and feelings and was not constrained by reality! I really enjoyed experimenting with light to create shadows, patterns and reflections and was awarded the Clare Wrigley Lighting Prize for this project.

This interplay of light and space has been a central part of subsequent projects throughtout my university degree.

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Hazel Whittaker

Email: hazelwhittaker@hotmail.co.uk Mobile: 07710672446 LinkedIn: Hazel Whittaker

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Hazel Whittaker

Email: hazelwhittaker@hotmail.co.uk Mobile: 07710672446 LinkedIn: Hazel Whittaker

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