A3 Design Book - Ethan Cranfield - C3366408

COMMON

PLACE ETHAN CRANFIELD

ABSTRACT The built environment should serve people effectively and enduringly. A home and a community should therefore offer programmatic, financial, social, and environmental conditions which are resilient to change. Flexibility, communalism, debt-lessness, and, reparation are the key means through which ‘Common Place’ aims to establish such conditions in Mayfield North-East. Through programmatic flexibility, ‘Common Place’ resiliently expands and contracts to changing residents and needs, while the reparation of the site induces change in the existing environmental condition in order to establish future resilience. The civic quality contrived from landscaping and residential connections, in conjunction with common living and working spaces, develop a context which encourages resilient social wellbeing through connectedness. Lastly, to enable fiscal resilience, the financial model of the development mitigates ownership and debt, while proposing an investment model which grows wealth at an equal rate to the capital gains from traditional property ownership.

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CONTENTS

U M B R E L L A O F R E S I L I E N C E

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C O M M O N P L A C E

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C O N D I T I O N S O F S I T E

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D E S I G N P R O P O S A L

C O M M U N A L I S M

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F L E X A B I L I T Y

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D E B T 32 F I N A L P R O P O S A L

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A T O N E M E N T O F B E L O W

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UMBRELLA OF RESILIENCE

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Through the understanding of Resilience as a political, environmental and, economic concept, three key concepts emerged.

Communalism, Flexibility and, Debt ultimately formed the philosophy of ‘Common Place’; allowing the resilient design of ‘A City Within A City’

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COMMON PLACE

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‘Common Place’ imagines a city based on the philosophy of resilience. By creating a scheme focused on communalism, flexibility and, debt avoidance, the social, political and, economic experiences of residents.

These three key aspects have been utilised as design tools, from macro to micro, to rigorously develop a ‘City Within a City’ founded in connection, growth and, equity.

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CONDITIONS OF SITE

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Home to the former BHP steelworks, our site at 99 Selwyn St Mayfield North operated as a steel production facility for 84 years, from 1915 - 1999. Having detrimental impacts on the site’s soil conditions; over the years, toxins associated with steel production have contaminated the site so much so the production of food within any design would not be possible.

To ‘resolve’ the issue of contamination, the site has been clay-capped. Merely brushing toxins under a proverbial carpet; turning a blind eye to the social and environmental impact.

CAN THIS BE REPAIRED?

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SITE

ANALYSIS

Native Land:

Awabakal and Worimi Land

Location:

Mayfield North -32.898720, 151.757038

Elevation:

3 - 9m above sea level

Prior Usage:

Broken Hill Proprietry Steelworks

Heritage Overlay:

Heritage BHP Administration Building

R ESTRICTIONS Flood prone site 30m max building height Heavily contaminated land not suitable for growing edible food

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DESIGN PROPOSAL

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COMMUNALISM

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PRECEDENCE

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ARTILIER 5 - SIEDLUNG HALEN Due to the size of the site and the number of residents required by the brief, high density housing became a focus. The stigmatic mindset surrounding living in small spaces can be altered when communal spaces are viewed as places of connection and community building rather than a problematic shared space required through a lack of space.

Siedlung Halen influenced ‘Common Place’ through Artilier 5’s ability to build a sustainable community of 79 minimal houses through the concept of communalism.

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Image finalised by Jye Rousell

RESIDENT MAKEUP

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A healthy sense of community for the city starts at a much smaller scale.

Using Newcastle City census data, an indicative resident makeup of ‘Common Place’ has been formed through the consideration of varying family unit types and count.

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CLUSTERS

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To feel a part of a rich community, one needs to find an individual connection to the community.

Clustering of unit types have been designed in a way to force fruitful social interaction. Each floor comprises of a mixture of unit types as to avoid segregation of demographics. Additional spaces of connection are spread throughout the clusters. Communal kitchens and laundries are utilised to aid in the social and environmental resilience of ‘Common Place’.

Adequate space for food production, able to feed all residents, has been designed into ‘cut-outs’ within each cluster, giving residents a level of responsibility and connection to a wider community.

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REPURPOSE FOR COMMUNITY

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The philosophy of ‘Common Place’ upholds the concept of environmental and economic value of resilience. This translates into the reuse of what the sites history has to offer. Existing BHP buildings have been re-purposed in a way that fosters the building of community.

Redesigned to be utilised by all residents, the existing structures need little modification; reducing material cost and environmental impacts of new construction.

MARKETS & RETAILERS

SHELTERED OUTDOOR GATHERING

SPORTS & RECREATION

ARTS & WORSHIP

OFFICE TYPE SERVICES

RESTAURANTS BARS

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FLEXABILITY

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THE GRID

A modular grid system based on a ‘Studio’ sized unit was implemented over the site to determine the location of clusters, ensuring residents lived equitable distances from communal services located in the re-purposed existing BHP buildings.

This grid aids in minimising overshadowing and allows each unit within ‘Common Place’ adequate natural lighting, subsequently reducing heating costs.

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FLOOR PLANS Housing should fulfill the needs of all residents of the city despite social or economical standing. Housing within ‘Common Place’ has been flexibly designed in three archetypes: STUDIO: 25m2 THREE PERSON SHARE: 50m2 5 PERSON SHARE: 75m2 Keeping space equitable has been achieved through the design of only 3 floor plans that can comfortably house majority of family units witnessed in today’s housing climate.

Flexibility extends to individual design. Each bedroom has the ability to be utilised as a sleeping or study space through the use of ‘Murphy’ beds.

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SINGLES COUPLES

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FAMILY OF 3 FAMILY OF 4 3 FRIENDS SINGLE PARENT F A M I LY

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FAMILY OF 6 FAMILY OF 5 SHAREHOUSE MULTIGENERATIONAL FAMILY

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DEBT

‘Common Place’ aims to create a more resilient economical system for its residents. By examining traditional property ownership, it is clear that with the cost of living ever increasing, owning a home comes as a financial and social burden We explored non-ownership models and devised a cheaper, more sustainable financial model; freeing residents from economic stress and surpassing capital gains on the appreciation of traditional ownership.

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Of the 3000 residents living in ‘Common Place’, based on Newcastle census data, 1800 residents would be wage earning people.

Our research showed that over a 30 year period, should all 1800 residents pool $250 each per week and invest that money into an standard performing Australian Stock Exchange index fund, their rent plus investment would be lower than the cost of a mortgage on a similar property.

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FINAL PROPOSAL

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M A S T E R P L A N 1:1000 39

Image finalised by Oliver Hyland

C L U S T E R M O D E L 1:100

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C L U S T E R M O D E L 1:100

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LAKESIDE VIGNETTE

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C L U S T E R M O D E L 1:100

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C L U S T E R M O D E L 1:100

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CLUSTER CONNECTION VIGNETTE

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Image finalised by Oliver Hyland

STUDIO

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SECTION FLOORPLAN 53

Images finalised by Jye Rousell

THREE PERSON SHARE

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SECTION FLOORPLAN 55

Images finalised by Jye Rousell

FIVE PERSON SHARE

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SECTION FLOORPLAN 57

Images finalised by Jye Rousell

ATONEMENT OF BELOW

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One aspect of ‘Common Place’ that required further development was how the site, through means of landscaping, could potentially become a resilient system; beneficial to the social, political and, environmental climates of the site.

The historical operation of the site have left an abundance of toxins in the soil. Leaving the site unable to grow food for the ‘City Within a City’. The contamination issue has been ‘resolved’, or more so forgotten by means of clay-capping the site to hide any political or environmental responsibility.

This undermines a philosophy of resilience. Further investigation for the reparation of site was undertaken, strengthening ‘Common Place’s’ foundation in resilience.

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SOIL CONDITIONS

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By investigating the site’s and it’s surrounds industrial past, areas that utilised heavy metals and excessive fuel in steel production can be identified. Before being decommissioned, the areas creating dramatic contamination included: COLD ROLLING MILL BAR MILL HEAT TREATMENT SHOP METAL FOUNDARY FERRO ALLOY SHOP COAL WASHERY

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The use of heavy chemicals and fuel are an integral part of steel production. BHP’s 84 year occupancy and the nature of production, the site has the potential to be contaminated toxins:

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LEAD ARSENIC BTEX MTBE PAH

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REMEDIATION

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Some plants have the ability to absorb the toxins observed within the site through a process known as phytoremediation. Through the investigation of phytoremediation in aquatic landscapes and on the surface of the site, ‘remediation gardens‘ can be utilised in creating a more environmentally positive and resilient landscape.

THIS CAN BE REPAIRED.

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THE DRY

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Whilst many plants are capable of extracting heavy metals from soil, research showed only a number of phytoremediating plants, capable of absorbing toxins at a rate suitable to the contamination levels of our site, are able to thrive in the within the site conditions and Australian climate.

These species are the basis of ‘remediation gardens’: Indian Grass (Sorghastrum Nutans) White Willow Trees (Salix) Indian Mustard (Brassica juncea L.) Sunflower (Helianthus Annuus L.)

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In an effort to repair the damage caused by the sites industrial past, unprogrammed space has been rethought and utilised as growing areas for ‘remediation gardens’. Over a number of years, these gardens absorb toxins and re-mediate the land to a state stable enough to grow crops. It is an outlook to create a resilient community many years in the future.

An idea that aligns with the basic philosophy of ‘Common Place’.

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THE WET

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Research shows the best phytoremediating plants are aquatic.

Similarly to ‘remediation gardens’, wetland planting systems are designed with plants that will thrive in the site conditions and reduce contamination as much as possible.

These species are the basis of the ‘wetland’ systems: Mosquito Fern (Azolla Filiculoides) Duckweed (Lemna Minor) Thin Pondweed (Potamogeten Australiensis) Watermeal (Wolfia family)

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Creating wetland areas throughout the site not only creates positive aesthetic and social aspects to the site, the practice also creates an opportunity for more extraction of toxins left beneath clay capping. Wetlands have been placed in a strategic manner, where groundwater has moved in the past in large quantity.

Aquatic, phytoremediating plants absorb toxins form wetland systems which subsequently absorb toxins from groundwater.

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RESILIENCE MASTER PLAN

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