Ben Whelan MArch. RMIT Folio Sem1 2017

RESILIENT ENVIRONMENTS METRO CBD NORTH MASTERS OF ARCHITECTURE STUDIO SEMESTER 1 2017 TUTOR: JONATHAN WARE BEN WHELAN S3534484

RESILIENT ENVIRONMENTS - CBD North MASTERS OF ARCHITECTURE TUTOR: JONATHAN WARE ARCHITECTURAL THINKING AND CLIMATE CHANGE / URBAN RESILIENCE

This design studio encourages a role for architects in which they operate as strategic figures aiming to integrate complex systems and seemingly polarised aims, from the scale of urban infrastructure through to the domestic realm. Therefore leading to innovative and provocative combinations of program, siting, and built form where outcomes can be far reaching, addressing issues beyond the traditional domain of the building and/or individual object.

How and where people live, work, share community activities, participate into the world from their specific places and how these solutions interact with the natural environment must be re-thought to combine resilient social and environmental conditions. These issues lie at the core of architecture, and yet are rarely pursued openly, what role can architecture play?

STUDIO AGENDA

The studio will place architectural design in a central position to develop design-based proposals of urban resilience by considering the traditional separations of built and open space anew. It will investigate the role and effects of ‘infrastructural development’ applied to urban environments that are currently undergoing intensive urban transformation. The Melbourne Metro project, will be explored as a relevant case-study context that will be tested at many different scales. A range of urban, landscape, and housing projects will be tested within the vicinity of the CBD North Station, seeking to transform current urban and environmental conditions into a set of innovative integrated resilient urban/architectural/landscape and infrastructural environments.

This studio will utilise the Melbourne Metro project as a catalyst for new resilient infrastructures in the city by creating vibrant and livable urban habitats which does not combat but accepts the incoming tide of climate change.

Our urban interventions will work toward incorporating ecologically performative systems which help to reduce the environmental impacts of cities on their local and territorial contexts, while simultaneously generating opportunistic and generous architectural outcomes that directly engage with, and accept natural phenomena as a contextual opportunity.

A key architectural concern will seek to address housing as a fundamental aspect of resilient urban environments.

What alternatives can supply a demand in housing to a disenfranchised generation in urban environments? By treating architecture as an infrastructure for living we will suggest occupiable frameworks as an alternative to the generic apartment tower typology which continues to drive the speculative housing market.

Part of the reaction against this type of architecture is their reluctance to engage with anything outside of the market parameters. They sit within current planning and housing strategies that are generally left to developers who design in isolation from the context, therefore reducing the relationships between housing, natural systems and amenity of landscape, setting up a clear distinction between built space and vegetated space, favouring the built space in any figure ground. Compounding this issue is their lack of ‘civic presence’, with little consideration of their relationship to the human scale at the street and seemingly no acknowledgement of their urban form in the context of the city.

We will look at the values gained and the lessons learnt from the radical and brutalist architecture of the sixties + seventies and attempt to relate these to the current situations, extending the social and political agendas of these works into the contemporary situation with a focus on housing, urban rehabilitation and the acceptance of natural phenomena + climate change as a meaningful architectural protagonist.

We will seek to work intelligently and intuitively with the available built fabric + open space, rather than working in isolation. This will require a substantial interrogation and careful observation of the existing conditions in order to find the available (+ new) opportunities and relationships to expand upon, that may already exist on site.

The projects encouraged by this studio will aim to create opportunities for positive architectural alternatives in a dense urban setting which has become largely separated from its environmental assets and no longer offers sufficient diversity in housing opportunities. It sustains the scientific fact that urban ‘bush’ contributes to ecological conservation and biodiversity. It aims to carefully consider the role of architecture and its inevitable land use on a small and large scale.

This studio will strongly encourage students towards a design approach that is interested in ‘contextual’, ‘ambiguous’, ‘generous’ and ‘opportunistic’ projects, that are left in a state of ‘potentiality’ rather than in expressive, iconic, symbolic or metaphorical architecture. The projects will be inclined to establish critical relationships with their immediate and territorial contexts rather than to produce isolated and individual interventions.

Students will be required to engage with their projects initially at larger urban scales, in order to then be able to specifically focus on the design of a smaller portion of the context (either a new building, or the adaptive transformation and reuse of an existing building/infrastructure, etc.) at smaller scales, with the aim to closely integrate the final project to the larger strategic proposal, as a 'site consequence' of the thinking and design approach that will be undertaken at the large territorial/urban scales.

BRIEF

You are required to develop a new urban strategy which prioritises pedestrian / open space amenity within the Franklin St precinct between Victoria St and Queen Victoria Markets. Key programs to be addressed in your proposal are: • the proposed entry into the Melbourne Metro CBD North station at the corner of Franklin and Swanston Streets • ‘alternative’ housing prototype/s.

• Network / distribution / infrastructure of open space amenity between your housing site, vic market and the metro entry

Your proposal will work in close correlation with a (or variety of) natural phenomenological / climate change / environmental conditions. Some current and relevant ecological programs and issues include: • WSUD strategies (Water Sensitive Urban Design) which addresses flash flooding / rain water harvesting / storm water filtration / rain gardens / grey water filtration / porous ground surfaces for ground water penetration.

• Elizabeth street catchment integrated water cycle management plan • Urban heat island effect + extensive hard surfaces pooling heat • Urban wind tunnel effect • C.o.M Urban Forest Strategy • River and groundwater contamination • Carbon sequestration • Seed banks + propagation facilities • Rehabilitation of indigenous species

SITE

With the potential increase of populations that the Melbourne Metro project puts on the CBD (both housing and commercial populations), you are encouraged to think about the pressure this has on public and open space amenity. The City North station will facilitate RMIT, Queen Victoria Markets, along with many local commercial and housing populations. Our site is the wedge bordered by (however not limited to) Queen Victoria Market, Victoria St and Franklin St. DESIGN APPROACH

Drawing and designing are inseparable procedures. The way we choose to communicate our proposals should directly relate to the design intent of the author.

“drawing is also a thinking process, we let it happen” - Laura Allen, Smout Allen

Drawing is the process to develop and describe your design attitude and language, not simply to represent it. This studio relies primarily on the development of a suite of drawings which are intensively worked and re-worked over the course of the semester.

By combining intuition with rigour we will aim to reveal the rhythms and patterns of the context through carefully mapping, observing and diagramming the existing conditions. This is critical in enabling us to respond to, and interact with the site in a meaningful and intuitive way. From early on we should be able to see a clear position being pursued in your observations and drawings, revealing the genetic code of the urban fabric and the potentiality for architecture to be procured (not simply a reproduction of existing conditions).

Throughout the evolution of your project we will endeavor to strengthen your design concept by testing them through an expansion of scales simultaneously. Building a narrative through your proposal that small ideas can have far reaching impacts, and vice versa, that large ambitions can be pursued in the tiniest of projects.

FINAL PROPOSAL

An elevated transit system for pedestrians and cyclists links CBD North, Queen Victoria Market and the Docklands signifying the new recreation corridor

A River Punt enhances the existing cycling infrastructure taking cyclists from the docklands to the river side of the CBD

A new commuter cycle route links the Docklands through to CBD North with an undulating recreation space along Franklin St

Acupunctural additions and subtractions enhance the existing housing stock offering increased private green space

New green spaces supported by retrofitted grey-water recycling infrastructure

Pylons and water towers become places of shelter and rest with kiosks for small enterprise supporting the new recreational spaces

Isometric of ‘the Wedge’

Urban Transect along Franlin Street

Detail of Urban Transect

58% of wastewater generated is from the sink and shower

Food waste is taken from the market and neighboring properties in order to be used in worm farms and dehydrators for fertiliser

These plants are sold in the market below becoming an extension of the Queen Victoria Market

The 480 residents living in the tower generate 2,500,000L of water per month, equivalent to 1 Olympic swimming pool

The university botanics lab at the base of the building studies native dwarf hybrid plant varieties for use in urban habitats using the tower as a test bed

Native flowers are planted to attract butterflies and become an attraction at the base of the tower. The watertanks and topography provides a journey through the hung netting

This water travels through extensive infrastructure to a large centralised processing facility in Werribee to be treated

These spaces move up into the tower offering variable climatic control through use of industrial systems integrating into the residents shared space

By creating a self sustaining industry the tower gives generous space to the city in the form of an anti-podium, linking Franklin Street and the Queen Victoria Market

Water from bathroom sinks and showers is instead filtered through a planted filtration system and re-used for irrigation and flushing toilets

Australian Dwarf Natives are grown in the circulation spaces of the tower activating the South Western facade

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

7.

6.

1. Existing Queen Victoria Market Food Hall 2. The Eating Green 3. Butterly House 4. Flower Market 5. The Botanics Lab 6. Blender Lane 7. Water tower pylon

View from the Queen Victoria Market Food Hall

View of the flower market and butterfly house

View from Franklin Street

Maximising space, light and air is a primary concern resulting in a single deep, slender form which allows every apartment dual aspects

A familyreed of 4 bed 12sq.m filtration

A family of 4

OR 12sq.m reed bed water filtration filtration integrated into the apartment A family of 4

Water filtration integrated into the apartment water filtration integrated into the apartment 12sq.m reed bed filtration

12sq.m reed bed filtration system required

Grey Water Filtering Plants

Examples of Australian Dwarf Natives developed and researched in the Botanics Lab and sold in the flower market

water filtration integrated into the apartment

Anigozanthos (Kangaroo Paw)

Banksia Spinulosa (Bush Candle)

Pimelea Ferruginea (Magenta Mist)

Phragmites, Typha (Bullrush)

Ranunculus inundatus

50sq.m

100sq.m

Lacaton and Vassal’s concept of space being the ultimate luxury is deployed by providing double the minimum area based on the better apartments space standards of a one bedroom apartment.

Cost effective yet high performance industrial materials are used in order to reduce build cost.

Every apartment is identical drastically saving cost.

Offering such a generous space provides options for subdividing and growing with apartments

PRE-MID SEMESTER INDIVIDUAL WORK

Luigi Moritti’s San Maurizio apartments in Rome were studied and adapted in order to work with a chosen part of our site. Rather than creating an entirely private enclosure the apartment building is modified in order to create a public ground floor linking Thery Street and Frankllin St through Blender Lane.

Public Semi-Private

Stop City Transplanted onto Melbourne would wipe out the CBD

LIMITED GROWTH

LIMITED GROWTH

Dogma’s provocation limits unchecked growth from outside the walls of ‘Stop City’

LIMITED GROWTH

This is then flipped to limit growth from within Melbourne

Dogma’s Stop city is used as a precedent modified to suit Melbourne. In Dogma’s provocation border buildings create an archipelago of high density creating a city of absolute limits with open space on the inside. This is flipped and growth is limited from inside Melbourne creating rings of density moving outwards. It is an architecture of totality that releases the city of limitless sprawl creating an absolute boundary for growth.

Huge housing slabs running along a green band limit the dense CBD from spreading into the rest of the city along with the middle and outer housing bands these provide enough new housing to cope with Melbourne’s projected growth.

INITIAL CONDITION

POSSIBLE FUTURE CONDITION

The slabs become infrastructural elements incorporating public social functions and transport infrastructure

Elizabeth Street Creek Burried below Elizabeth Street lies a waterway that was once known as Williams Creek. The creek regularly flooded causing a nuisance to early settlers. Today beneath the road lies the city’s main stormwater drain known as the Elizabeth Street Catchment. In the event of a flood this area is still at risk of severe inundation. The most spectacular flood occured in 1972 when in over an hour 78.5mm of rain fell on the CBD and Elizabth Street was turned into a fast flowing torrent, rising to an estimated height of nearly one and a half meters.

Tall Dead Gum Tree A tall dead gum tree once stood surrounded by bushland in the middl eof the Old Cemetery - which is now the QVM car park. The tree was a landmark that guided bushwalkers through the surrounding hills and valleys.

In 1837 a hand-drawn map of colonial Melbourne by Robert Russel depicts the area neare our site as a lightly wooded bushland of SheOaks, Eucalyptus and Wattle trees.

A large sectional drawing cut along Franklin Street was completed as an exercise in a group of three. This reveals the stark density difference between the two ends of Franklin Street with red highlighting future development.

The tall dead gum-tree is reinstated in order to become the new beacon marking the entrance to the new Queen Victoria Markets

A watering hole is created in order to accommodate the flood waters that would inundate Melbourne if flooding such was the case in the 1972 floods.

Urban acupunctural points use the existing conditions in order to enhance the open green amenity.

Grounding Section cutting through from Franklin Street to Thery Street.

Grey water is recycled and used to irrigate plants grown on the facade of the building to be sold in the market at ground level.

Food waste is used from the Queen Victoria markets for worm farms creating fertiliser for the tower and public green spaces.

View at the base of the building showing the vegetated market space. Topography is manipulated to define levels of privacy.

Preliminary view exploring the entrance sequence into the apartments. This shows the grey water recycling plants used as a privacy screen and their relationship to the flowering plants grown for the market.

Generous shared spaces give relief from the bulk of the tower and act as the primary circulation route into the appartments.

The building becomes an extension of the street at both the market side and Franklin St side, denoting the new extension to the market.

MID - SEMESTER PRESENTATION

58% of wastewater is generated from the sink and shower

Based on an apartment with 480 residents. Approximately 2,500,000L of water is generated per month or the equivalent to 1 Olympic Swimming pool

This water is transported away from the city for treatment along with solid waste.

A family of 4

Requires 12sqm.m of reed bed filtration

This is integrated into the apartment

BASKETS Birds nest fern (Asplenium nitidium) Sturt’s desert pea Lechenaultia Scaevola Bracteantha (paper daisies) Hoya Pandorea Chorizema Dampiera Peperomia leptostachya Tassel fern (light shade) Drynaria whitei (fern) Cherry Candles Banksia is a dwarf shrub Bracteantha ‘Little Snowdrops’is suitable for pots.

Australian Dwarf Natives developed and researched in the Botanics Lab

SUNNY PATIO OR OUTDOORS Alexandra and Piccabeen Palms Silky oak (Grevillea robusta) Kangaroo paw Norfolk Island pine Baeckea Ceratopetalum (Summer Star) Correa Little Penda (Xanthostemon verticillatus) Prostanthera Thryptomene Brachyscome daisies Callistemon ‘Little John’ Compact lilly pillys such as ‘Tiny Trev’, ‘Lillyput’,‘Little Lil’and ‘Bush Christmas’ Banksia‘Birthday Candles’ Syzygium‘Cascade

Anigozanthos (Kangaroo Paw)

Banksia Spinulosa (Bush Candle)

Pimelea Ferruginea (Magenta Mist)

Phragmites, Typha (Bullrush) Grey Water Filtering Plants

INDOORS & SHADE Black Bean (Castanospermum australe) Cordylines Palms: e.g.Alexandra and Piccabeen palms (Archontophoenix alexandrae) cunninghamiana black palm (Normanbya normanbyi) fan palm (Licuala ramsayi) Carpentaria palm (Carpentaria acuminata) walking stick palm (Linospadix monostachya) Native ferns e.g.blechnum,davallia, Drynaria Zamia fern and Byfield fern Kauri Rhododendron lochae Podocarpus elatus Prumnopitys ladei Various ficus species

Ranunculus inundatus

POST-MID SEMESTER INDIVIDUAL WORK

existing tram lines new tram line

queen victoria markets

THE EATING GREEN

CARLTON GARDENS NEW MARKET SQUARE

PUBLIC LIVING ROOM

FLAGSTAFF GARDENS

SKATEPARK

COMMUNI-POD PARK

OUT-DOOR BATHS

franklin street

View exploring potential green corridors linking the site, the parks and the river

View of the densely vetgetated pocket parks at the base of towers

New CBD North Metro station entrance

New grey water recycling systems irrigate new pocket parks and green corridors

Urban Transect Along Franklin Street

These systems are also retrofitted onto existing residential buildings

‘Public Living Rooms’ become a place to slow down. Densely vegetated pocket parks are located at the base of towers

Urban Acupuncture gives new outdoor amenity to existing buildings

New CBD North Metro station entrance

View exploring the relationship between the site and the proposed linkage through to the Docklands. This is proposed in the Docklands Access strategy as a future commuter bicycle route.

Views exploring the wedge and its relationship to the Docklands

Structural exploration of the market under the tower. This space becomes an extension of the green corridor and Queen Victoria Market

Lacaton and Vassal’s concept of space being the ultimate luxury is deployed by providing double the minimum area based on the better apartments space standards of a one bedroom apartment. Cost effective yet high performance industrial materials are used in order to reduce build cost.

Every apartment is identical drastically saving cost. Offering such a generous space provides options for subdividing and growing with apartments.