Post Covid Housing Journal 1

OTHERWISE

‘Home not House’

STUDIO B: HILLTOWN SEMESTER 1 JOURNAL

HEMANT GINDA

This chapter introduces the initial field of analysis of Hilltown detailing the history and changes throughout the years. The analysis will help understand the existing conditions of the urban fabric of Hilltown from the past to the present day. It is through the analysis of the existing conditions of the fabric that will provide me with the information necessary for future development

CONTENTS

As a continuation of the introduction, this chapter will dive into the various theories and morphological patterns I have looked in to over the semester 1 as part of my theoretical research. .Alongside these morphological patterns, I studied several architects and theorists linked with these patterns. This theoretical framework, consisting of existing knowledge, definitions and my personal interpretation on existing theoretical assumptions has served as a strong starting point before developing my own strategy

03 CASE STUDIES

This Chapter will explore a diverse range of precedents that relate to the revised theories, this will provide a in depth understanding of how these theories have been successfully incorporated into these concepts and will further my understanding of incorporating these various elements into my own strategic design.

04 URBAN STRATEGY

This chapter will detail the underlying issues outwidth the issue of overcrowding and lack of housing, A stratgy will be made to identify ways to improve the impoverished area. As we know Hilltown in its current state is well known for being a dilapidated mess and in much need of re-development, with boarded up shopfronts on the streets and unkept Tenemets to say the least.

05

The strategic plan will deal with wider scape of Hilltown (Macro), presenting various solutions to the problems within the public realm and what to incorporate into the Hilltown Park to make it a liveable area. The next stage will be dealing with the site (Micro), and the components that will go into the site by using a series of iterative diagrams to inform my decision making when master planning it.

REPAIR & RECLAIM

RESEARCH: THEORY 06

Following the in-depth analysis of the site and Hilltown park will conclude with a series of diagrams. I will first deal with the Hilltown Park adding the necessary social inclusion and the new walkways and cycle paths connecting the Park to the site and also the surrounding new development. The second part is to strategically place the programme within the site in correspondence to its use. A detailed masterplan of the site will indicate this.

What is home? Home is a political ground. Home is an urgency in the context of urbanisation and climate emergency. We cannot address the question of home at the individual level, because understanding home is understanding society. Home life (domesticity) reflects a society’s value system and is subject to social, political, and economic pressures; just like the contemporary withdrawal from public life into the home reflects our privatised lifestyles. Therefore, the Studio’s driving question on home (not house) opens a much larger problem about public life: who are we as society?” (Sandra Costa Santos; Year 4 Coursebook; 2020)

Hilltown as a socially produced “enclave” (Enclave Urbanism; Wang & He) by unpicking historical, social, economic, and morphological factors. It is through the study of these issues that we, as a studio, will form different strategies which we will aim to implement into the fabric of the Hilltown. We will do so through a rigorous process of theoretical research which will in turn help form our individual hypothesis.

PREFACE

As a studio, Macro Micro are analysing and investigating Dundee’s historic Hilltown. Our group work aims to understand the

Hilltown was once of the fastest industrial area in the North of Dundee with an ever-expanding array of mills as part of the rapid industrialisation of the 19th century. However due to deindustrialisation saw the destruction of these once historic mills along with many tenements. The rising inequalities within the city planning is highlighted through the destruction of the historic structures, giving rise to The Hilltown Multis (later being demolished) and the Wellgate Shopping centre which inevitably cut off the main artery of Hilltown to the city leaving it as a segregated enclave within Dundee. Today the Hilltown is comprised of high ethnic segregation and housing segregation. It is for these reasons; the Hilltown could be considered an Enclave. An Enclave is a territory with distinct characteristics differentiating

itself from the surrounding territory, comprised of people from a similar economic and cultural background (Ethnic Enclaves & Segregation; Johan Klaesson & Ozge Oner, 2019).

Our understanding of Enclave has developed through a thorough investigation in which we have identified significant housing and socio-economic issues issues (overcrowding, High Crime rate, Unemployment, ethnic segregation, etc) within the Hilltown that makes it distinctive in character and nature when compared to its neighbouring context.

“who are we as society & how can housing support new types of collective life?”

(Sandra Costa Santos, Year 4 coursebook 2020)

To tackle the housing and socio- economic issues I will explore new themes and ideas, these will be translated through a series of theorists and architects and urban planners

(Jane Jacobs, Jan Ghel, Winy Maas, Henri Lefebvre, Carlo Scarpa). It is through these theorists that I can comprehend and better understanding of how I can understand these issues and develop a way solve these underlying issues rather than let the Hilltown develop into further dilapidation. The main focus is to create a new form of housing solution to tackle the ever-rising overcrowding whilst retaining the historic urban fabric of the Hilltown, this will be done in two parts in the project: The first one will be to repair and revitalise by adding more social activities to the dilapidated public spaces and parks withing the enclave of Hilltown, which

should in turn reduce crime and socially integrate the residents of Hilltown despite their ethnicities. The second is to reclaim spaces that were once owned by the residents that were lost through deindustrialisation or an attempt at gentrification.

“‘Change life ! ’ ‘Change society! ’ These precepts mean nothing without the production of an appropriate space… to change life…we must first change space.”

Unless you transform spatial organisation, no revolution can be possible

(Henri Lefebvre, The Production of Space)

This chapter introduces the initial field of analysis of Hilltown detailing the history and changes throughout the years. The analysis will help understand the existing conditions of the urban fabric of Hilltown from the past to the present day.

It is through the analysis of the existing conditions of the fabric that will provide me with the information necessary for future development

RESEARCH FIELD 1.

1.1 HILLTOWN IDENTITY

The City of Dundee lies within the eastern central lowlands of Scotland on the North bank of the Firth of Tay. The name ‘Dundee’ is derived from Scottish Gaelic with a commonly interpreted translation to ‘Fort of Daig.’ However, there are alternative interpretations such as ‘Dun-De’ which can be literally translated to ‘The Hill of God.’

The translation to ‘The Hill of God’ may be a romanticised ideal of Dundee now that the city has expanded around the ‘Dundee Law’ a 572 peak. On the south, eastern slope of the law is where the ‘Hilltown’ of Dundee lies. This area that is referred to as the ‘Hilltown’ is not quite what one would expect ‘The Hill of God’ to be like…

From a sad history of exploitation and overcrowding the Hilltown is a jumble of different cheaply designed and built ‘affordable housing’ schemes where a large portion of the population of the City of Dundee resides. From tightly packed tenements, multi storey flats to 80s designed unwelcoming mix developments the quality of life in the Hilltown does not live up to the standards of Dundee’s Gaelic interpretation.

Thanks to the industrial revolution, Dundee vastly expanded due to the many trades that it participated in. Due to Dundee’s accessibility to the North Sea, and neighbouring Scandinavian and English ports, it was the perfect location for shipbuilding as well as the fact that it had been an active whaling port since the 1700s. In 1814 the first ship fitted with steam engines in the world was built in Dundee called the “Tay” by James Smart.

The shipbuilding industry had boomed by 1881 where in the previous 10 years, over 2000 ships had been constructed. At the start of the 20th century, however, the whaling industry had ended severing its connection with Dundee, greatly affecting Dundee’s jute production as importing oil was more expensive and was not as readily available.

Shipbuilding diminished in Dundee with the closure of 5 berths at the former Caledon Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in 1981, and eventually all production ceased in 1987 with many workers losing their jobs.

As stated earlier, Dundee had been a whaling port since the mid-1700s which in turn created the historically successful jute industry that Dundee has become famous for. Whale oil, a by-product of the whaling industry, was discovered to have properties to make the spinning of jute fibres from linen possible. This discovery led to construction of over 50 mills throughout Dundee, with 20 of them residing in Hilltown.

The success of the industry borough many locals and migrants to the area allowing Hilltown to become a bustling hub for workers and locals alike. Due to the vast influx of people, many tenements were built throughout the area to deal with the ever-increasing population. The

industry ran strong up until the 20th century, where in 1914, it had become cheaper to rely on imported jute from India rather than that from Dundee which had lasting effects on the trade. Because of this, the general workforce was gradually shrinking with only 18.5 percent of Dundee’s workforce being employed in the jute industry in 1951.

Eventually, all commercial jute production came to an end in the 1970’s with the last of the jute spinners closing in 1999. The majority of the mills have now been demolished and the few remaining mills have either been redeveloped for other business-related uses or for residential areas.

Dundee Ship Yard

Cox’s Stack

Although not as vastly successful as the shipbuilding and jute industries, Dundee was also known for its exportation of jam during the 19th Century. In 1797 Janet Keiller ‘invented’ marmalade (despite marmalade recipes dating back to the 1500s), and her grandson Alexander Keiller industrialised the manufacturing process of it during the 1800s. The industry employed around 300 people at the pinnacle of its success, which compared to the triumph of the jute trade may not have been as comparable, was still noteworthy to the city’s history.

Founded in 1905 by David Coupar Thomson, D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd is a publishing company that still operates today employing over 2000 people, distributing famous children’s publications such as The Dandy and The Beano, and more informative works such as the Sunday Post and The Courier. As the firm prospered, it stood alongside Jute and Jam as one of the three Js of Dundee’s fruitful traditional industries and is the only one still standing to this day.

James Keiller Marmalade Jar Image credit - The Vintage Wall

INDUSTRIAL TYPOLOGY

The Hilltown was once a booming in the 19th century, there was a high demand for workers in the textile mills which many people flocked too. As the numbers grew so did the mills and the demand for housing, new tenements were put up along with demolishing the old. In 1917 after the first world war there was housing needs for the solders, the city architect James Thomson came up with a plan for a series of new housing estates ahead of any other initiative in Scotland. The first of these to be completed was the pioneering Logie estate in 1920. The success of these industries brought many migrants to the city and to Hilltown specifically where many of the jute mills resided.

fig 2.1 Detached House

fig 2.2 The Tenement

(diagrams: macro micro)

fig 2.1 Detached House

Existing Buildings

Tenement housing

Education Centres

Places of Worship

Mills / Factories

1. Law Mill (Jute, spinning)

2. Browbridge Works (Jute, spinning & weaving)

3. Clepington Factory

4. Rope Works (Rope)

5. Wallace Works (Jute, Hessains)

6. Rope Works (Rope)

7. Rope Works (Rope)

8. Kinnard Works (Jute, Sacking)

9. Factory (Hessains)

10. Maxwelltown Works (Carpets & Hessains)

11. Factory (Sacking)

12. North William Street Mill (Jute, spinning)

13. Hillbank Mill (Hessians Osnaburg)

14. Hillbank Works (Flax, Jute & spinning)

15. Ann St Works (Jute spinning)

16. Factory (Sacking)

17. Hillbank Factory (Hessains, Sacking)

18. Factory (Sacking)

19. Factory (Sacking)

20. Ann St Factory (sacking)

21. Rosebank Works (Jute, Sacking)

22. Factory (Sacking)

23. Rope lane Factory (Sacking)

24. Rope Works (Rope)

25. Factory (Sacking)

26. Rope Works (Rope)

27. Ladybanks Mill (Hessains, Jute & Spinning)

28. Ladybanks Works (Machinery)

29. Factory (Sacking)

30. Factory (Sacking)

31. Factory (Sacking)

32. Factory (Sacking)

33. Factory (Sacking)

34. Forebank Dye Works (Dye)

35. Factory (Sacking)

36. Factory (Sacking)

37. Dens Road Factory (Linen)

Existing Buildings

Tenement housing Education Centres

Places of Worship Mills / Factories

1. Lawside Works (Jute & Spinning)

2. Clepington Works (Jute & Spinning)

3. Browbridge Works (Jute spinning, weaving & finishing)

4. Albion Foundry (Steel works)

5. Rope Works (Rope)

6. Wallace Works (Jute, Hessains)

7. Caldrum Works (Jute spinning & weaving)

8. Hillbank Works (Linen)

9. Hillbank Works (Flax, Jute & spinning)

10. Whitehall Works (Jute)

11. Ann St Works (Jute spinning)

fig 1.1 1860

scale - 1:5000

(mapping: macro micro, data from Digimaps Historic Maps)

fig 1.2 1900

scale - 1:5000

(mapping: macro micro, data from Digimaps Historic Maps)

15. Kinnard Works (Jute, sacking)

16. Dundee Linen Works (Linen)

17. Rosebank Works (Sacking)

18. Rosebank Factory (Jute, Sacking)

19. Hillside Works (Sacking)

20. Carpet Works (Carpet)

21. Forebank Dye Works (Dye)

22. Victoria Road Works (Calendering)

23. Ladybanks Works (Machinery)

24. Ladybanks Mill (Hessains, Jute & Spinning)

12. Wellington Works (Jute weaving)

13. Maxwelltown Works (Carpet & Hessains)

14. Dye Works (Dye)

POST WAR TYPOLOGY

The Post war era generated an impending housing crisis, the number of Mills were dwindling becoming dilapidated and disused, people were living in overcrowded conditions, the war had impoverished people. To solve the residents housing needs the City of Dundee looked to High rise flat encompassing cheap, standardized boxes stacked on top of each other which forever changed the skyline of Dundee. During this time there were new inventive ways to further tackle this issue, this resulted in the old textile mills were converted into flats giving them a new lease of life. The effects of this era resonate in later years, as the number of residents were dwindling so too did the urban fabric, such as the Victoria Road tenements.

fig 2.1 Terraced Housing

fig 2.2 The Bungalow

fig 2.1 Multi Storey Flat

Existing Buildings

Tenement housing

Education Centres

Places of Worship

Existing Buildings

Tenement housing

Education Centres

Places of Worship

Terraced

Semi Detached

Multistorey Mills / Factories

1. Lawside Works (Jute & Spinning)

2. Densfield Works (Jute & Spinning)

3. Browbridge Works (Jute spinning, weaving & finishing)

4. Caldrum Works (Jute spinning & weaving)

5. Hillbank Works (Linen)

6. Hillbank Works (Disused)

7. Hillbank Works (Waste)

8. Ann St Works (Jute spinning)

9. Wellington Works (Jute weaving)

10. Maxwelltown Works (Carpet)

11. Dye Works (Dye)

12. Kinnard Works (Jute, Sacking)

13. Dundee Linen Works (linen)

14. Rosebank Works (Jute weaving)

15. Hillside Works (Sacking)

16. Ladybanks Mill (Hessains, Jute & Spinning)

17. Ladybanks Works (Machinery)

18. Victoria Road Works (Calendering)

19. Forebank Dye Works (Dye)

Terraced fig 1.1 1860

scale - 1:5000 fig 1.2 1900 scale - 1:5000

(mapping: macro micro, data from Digimaps Historic Maps)

Semi Detached

Multistorey

Mills / Factories

1. Lawside Works (Disused)

2. Densfield Works (Jute & Spinning)

3. Browbridge Works (Jute spinning, weaving & finishing)

4. Caldrum Works (Jute spinning & weaving)

5. Dundee Linen Works (Linen)

6. Dye Works (Dye)

7. Maxwelltown Works (Carpet)

8.Ann St Works (Converted)

9. Hillbank Works (Linen)

10. Hillbank Works (Converted)

11. Hillbank Works (Converted)

12. Forebank Dye Works (Disused)

13. Victoria Road Works (Disused)

14. Ladybanks Works (Disused)

15. Ladybanks Mill (Disused)

(mapping: macro micro, data from Digimaps Historic Maps)

THIRD TYPOLOGY

1.10 THIRD CITY

The Post war era generated an impending housing crisis, the number of Mills were dwindling becoming dilapidated and disused, people were living in overcrowded conditions, the war had impoverished people. To solve the residents housing needs the City of Dundee looked to High rise flat encompassing cheap, standardized boxes stacked on top of each other which forever changed the skyline of Dundee. During this time there were new inventive ways to further tackle this issue, this resulted in the old textile mills were converted into flats giving them a new lease of life. The effects of this era resonate in later years, as the number of residents were dwindling so too did the urban fabric, such as the Victoria Road tenements.

fig 2.1 Refurbished Mills

fig 2.2 Apartment Flats

fig 5.1 Examples of Regeneration

Existing Buildings

Tenement housing

Education Centres

Places of Worship

Terraced Semi Detached Multistorey Mills / Factories

1. Lawside Works (Converted)

2. Densfield Works (Converted)

3. Densfield Works

4. Hillbank Works (Converted)

5. Victoria Road Works (Converted)

6. Forebank Dye Works (Converted)

5.7 5.9 5.5 5.13 5.11

fig 5.4 Alexander Street (2002) fig 5.5 Alexander Street (2020)

fig 5.6 Hilltown Clock (1960) fig 5.7 Hilltown Clock (2020)

fig 5.10 Morrice Place (1971) fig 5.11 Morrice Place (2020)

fig 5.12 86 Victoria Road (1960) fig 5.13 86 Victoria Road (2020)

THEORETICAL RESEARCH 2.

As a continuation of the introduction, this chapter will dive into the various theories and morphological patterns I have looked in to over the semester 1 as part of my theoretical research. .Alongside these morphological patterns, I studied several architects and theorists linked with these patterns. This theoretical framework, consisting of existing knowledge, definitions and my personal interpretation on existing theoretical assumptions has served as a strong starting point before developing my own strategy

2.1 Winy Maas - Green Dip

As the population is nearing 8 billion there is the growing concern to determine how people will live, how and where will people grow food and what will be set aside for wildlife. We will have to deal with new densities of the future and keep enough space for oxygen and water management. To solve these issues of continuous topic of environmental sustainability Winy mass has ideas that are seemingly larger than life and pushes the boundaries of our urban potential by revealing the concept called the “Green Dip”, it is where cities are turned into havens for nature with sustainable buildings covered in trees and plants.

The green dip reimagines metropolises, like New York and Honk Kong and rethinks the typical set “green space”, merging it with the existing urban fabric and transforming concrete jungles into green ones.

noun

1. The Green Dip refers to the architectural strategies used to incorporate plants into buildings.

“I think it would be good to dip our planet in green, to somehow transform places like Hong Kong into a green dream.” (Winey Maas)

Green Dip [gri:n- dip]

In the past the central focus of urban planning was met with high rises and lots of lawns and open windy spaces, Architects had more disregard for the human, rather than focusing on the psychology of people they were more interested in the architecture and keeping the cars happy. Ghels answer to this was to develop the idea of liveable cities in which he looked at how architecture can “influence people’s lives”, and “how cities are used by people”. Ultimately thinking up ways to make a more positive and happier experience for people and how they engage in the cities they live in rather than on traffic efficiency and parking spaces. He came up with ways to improve a city’s liveability, by mixing the city and assembling the people rather than dispersing them into separate areas such as the industrial quarter, cultural quarter, living quarter. Much like Ebenezer Howards vision of the Garden city where he thought that members of the industrial working, the business and the agriculture class would stay within their class would hardly exist as a significant force in his utopia in

creating a liveable city. Lively cities are in Ghels vision are ones in which each neighbourhood offers access to all the necessary social infrastructure such as health, school facilities and workplaces, cites need to be compact and complex. The permeability of the buildings is another factor to take into consideration, by opening up the buildings you can view other people’s buildings and can engage the user which is contradictory to the gated community. By bringing the neighbourhood’s human faces out on to the street, on to ground level, cities are also made safer.

He also places an emphasis on the need for social inclusion “When we do city planning, we can make sure it will be a good place for children to grow up, and for the growing number of elderly people to live for many years after they retire.” Social inclusions include children’s play greetings and conversations, communal activities of various kinds, and simply seeing and hearing other people. The better a place, the more optional activity occurs and the longer necessary activity lasts.

1. It is a place that promotes healthy and happy people and community wellbeing – a place where people want to live. A more liveable city is a great place to live.

In the early twentieth century, the theory of planning and practice had a strong opposition to the density of a city, arguing that it was the main cause of high rates of crime and filth and a host of other problems. It was Jane Jacobs who questioned this ideal and developed the idea of the compact city which shows the advantages of density, it was not only a means to reduce commute times and address sustainability issues but to allow a socially diverse admix of human preferences, interpersonal relations, abilities, uses, activities.

to economic and urban development.

Within the city Jacobs supports the idea of using mixed use development, this is the integration of an array diverse of building typologies and their uses, whether residential or commercial, old or new. According to this idea, cities depend on a diversity of buildings, residences, businesses, and other non-residential uses, as well as people of different ages using areas at different times of day, to create community vitality. She saw cities as being “organic, spontaneous, and untidy,” and views the intermingling of city uses and users as crucial

Jacobs approached cities as living beings and ecosystems. She suggested that over time, buildings, streets and neighbourhoods’ function as dynamic organisms, changing in response to how people interact with them. She explained how each element of a city - sidewalks, parks, neighbourhoods, government, economy - functions together synergistically, in the same manner as the natural ecosystem. This understanding helps us discern how cities work, how they break down, and how they could be better structured. According to this idea, cities depend on a diversity of buildings, residences, businesses, and other non-residential uses, as well as people of different ages using areas at different times of day, to create community vitality. She saw cities as being “organic, spontaneous, and untidy,” and views the intermingling of city uses and users as crucial to economic and urban development.

Compact City [kəm-pakt- siti]

noun

1. The compact city or city of short distances is an urban planning and urban design concept, which promotes relatively high residential density with mixed land uses.

2.3 Jane Jacobs - Compact City

What is memory? Memory is defined as the faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information or something remembered from the past (oxford dictionary), it is also another way in which someone can describe their idea of home through the means of city and how it works. memory exists not only as an abstract category of thought but as it exists in the relation between the urban fabric of the city and those who inhabit it.

The locus inhabits the material dimensions of its architecture, the events that take place there, the minds of its architect, and the unique relation between place, building and activities that occupy it. it is many things at once, it is not a spirit (genius) anymore, but a set of relationships. Rossi reminds us that all those relationships are equally important to create a successful architecture, in and outside of the city.

Its within the city itself that people gather memory linking it to places that they have been or objects in the surrounding “The city is the locus of the collective memory” (Aldo Rossi). It is through this connection of the Locus and the observer that becomes the city’s main image through the language of the landscape or the architecture, over time these artefacts can become a distant memory through changes to the landscape or architecture and news ones can replace them.

1. The locus is a relationship between a certain specific location and the buildings that are in it. It is at once singular and universal.

2.4 Aldo Rossi - Locus

This Chapter will explore a diverse range of precedents that relate to the revised theories, this will provide a in depth understanding of how these theories have been successfully incorporated into these concepts and will further my understanding of incorporating these various elements into my own strategic design.

CASE STUDIES 3.

The Locus St Giles Church

Water features

Cambridge, England

Gillespie Kidd & Coia

This massive student accommodation redefines what colleges should be. Robinson College is a large building complex where it not only acts as a co- educational college but acts more like a compact city by using city-like elements to create form, internal, external spaces as well as the organisation of each accommodating component, not only does it have student accommodation but an array of other facil ities (chapel, refectory hall, teaching spaces, cafes etc) that are mixed into one single environment. Whether this be within on building or a cluster of multiple the college shows excellence in responding to the wider planning and strategy out with the site boundary and incor porating it within one complex guiding students to and from. The college is also successful in creating a memorable campus experience whether through its integration of the gardens or through its mate rial and texture, being comprised solely of one single material that resonates throughout the college it creates an almost alien experi ence to that of its other peers.

“Perhaps this is meant to evoke the feeling of the cloister or is it the city itself?” (Gillespie

Kidd & Coia)

Main square

Front court

Activated Front

3.3 Castelvecchio Museam

ornementaion

sculptural demoltion

Modular Housing Andy Stoane

Can housing be industrially produced? It was through Fordism that industry would change the world to a free market. Fast forward to today’s society and we are left with simple cookie box cutter houses, it seems housing has been left on the back burner as technology, cars have changed “so many cannons, airplanes, lorries, and wagons had been made in factories, someone asked the question, “Why not make houses?”” (Le Corbusier). Anabo is an answer to Le Corbusier’s vision of assembly line housing to create a better, equal, and fair society out of the industrial efficiency of a production line architecture to solve the global housing crisis. By breaking the house into a series of quantifiable and rapid assembled components, much like cars are produced. This allows for a leverage a set of standards of easily configurable components along a range of houses. This is not only a more affordable way of living, but it can create a sense of identity through the medium of home, flora can be incorporated to in the terms of an internal garden to further the idea of the green dip living amongst nature.

“There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.” (Edward de Bono)

fordism production line

3d render of Anabo corbs vision

single bedroom unit

two bedroom unit

three bedroom unit Plan layout of units together

Exploded Isometric of a unit

This chapter will detail the underlying issues outwidth the issue of overcrowding

and lack of housing, A stratgy will be made to identify ways to improve the impoverished area. As we know Hilltown in its current state is well known for being a dilapidated mess and in much need of re-development, with boarded up shopfronts on the streets and unkept Tenemets to say the least.

URBAN STRATEGY

ARCHITECTURE

GRAFFITI

As shown there are an alarming number of issues within the Hilltown which will continue to increase if not dealt with, a plan must therefore be set out to regerate the urban fabric of hilltown to address the areas of disrepair, reclaim identity and draw people into the area to revitalise businesses. Continued residential studentification of the Southern and Western areas in conjunction with new

appropriate amenities will help to evolve the dynamic of the Enclave and alleviate segregation. The scheme on Derby Street as identified previously will hopefully act as a baseline from which to bring Hilltown’s future architectural typologies into a modern era and attract people to live, socialise and spend money in the area, shining a light on this marginalised district.

As a group we discovered four viable sites within the enclave of Hilltown, by analysing the statistics of Hilltown we were able to deem what was necessary within the encalve. Hilltown requires an additional primary school, an improved cycle and path network, pedestrianisation of car-dominated spaces and streets, a range of amenities for younger people and an indoor space for recreation and sport. There are also no creative hubs in Hilltown, so the incorporation of an arts or design space would greatly contribute to the image of the area.

POTENTIAL SITES

1. Maxwell Multis 6136m2

- Currently serving as a temporary car park.

- Steep site conditions

- Direct access to main hilltown road.

- On ldp for development

- Smallest of the availible sites

- Great positioning within hilltown

- Quick access to commercial units and health center

Designation: Housing, commercial, entertainment, no education, mixed use

2. Ann Street 11672m2

- Former primary school

- Current proposal for custody center, construction not started yet

- On ldp for development

- Close proximity to schools

- Offers potential view towards tay

Designation: Housing and sports, no commercial

3. Rosebank Road 14768

- Not on ldp for development

- Brownfield site - former school

- Proximity to multi’s could have direct impact on local community, providing services that are not being currently met.

- Quick access from hilltown road

- Largest of the availible sites

Designation: Housing, civic, commercial, no education

Movement, Routes

4. Caldrum Works 18185m2

- Not on ldp for development

Education / Creative

Residential Commercial / Entertainment

Recreation and Wellbeing

fig. 14.2 Group Urban Strategy

(diagram: macro micro)

- Disused former Jute Mill Category B listed

- Distant from the heart of Hilltown

- Potential for intervention

Designation: Commercial, sports, entertainment, education, transport, housing, intervention

2.

3.

4.

1.

2.

3.

4.

4.3 CHOSEN SITE

Site 1: Caldrum Works

There are various sites to capture the essence of dealing with the socio-economic and housing issues within Hilltown. To solve these solutions a radical intervention must take place within the enclave to even think about making a chance to these issues. The Caldrum works is the most viable site this ethos, the site is a main locus of the history of the Hilltown as it was a former jute mill built in 1872 it was the second largest mill in Britain in 1920s. The mill now is a factory that extrudes polypropylene yarn for Astroturf, carpets etc. as Bonar Yarns Ltd. The old Mill is also a B-Listed building (regional or local importance) which will create a radical intervention of the layering of the building, merging the old existing with the new mixed use residential development. Although the Mill is distant from the main lifeline of the Hilltown it has a strategic location in which it is in the centre of all the surrounding enclaves of Dundee, (Hilltown South, Mayfield, Coldside), this will create a highly densified compact city which will facilitate and permeate by opening up to the surrounding areas of Hilltown.

4.4 PROGRAMME

The site will function as a mixed-use residential housing along with small shops and eateries down below whilst also creating a new vibrant public square/Agora and incorporating a Sports/well-being centre and Market, by mixing the programmes within the site the residents are able to assemble creating a more liveable spaces.

• Mixed Use Social housing

• Shop Fronts

• Community Cafe/ Foodhall

• Sports/ Wellbeing Centre

• Market Place

• Agora/Public square

• Community Gardens

• Educational Centre (nursery/primary)

Site Context Zoning - Aerial View

Community Centre & Our Lady RC Primary School

Hilltown Clock

Dundee United & Dundee F.C Football Stadiums

Coldside Parish Church

Deans Road Primary School Hilltown Park

The site is adjacent to the main public park (Hill town park) there is great opportunity to repair and redevelop the park, as of now its primary use is by dog walkers or people trying to take a short cut, it is very disused and dilapidated. By extend ing the park to the site it will further the idea of a Green dip turning the site into a natural haven, this will give new life and meaning to the park whilst also creating a better connection from the park to the new public square/Agora. The Park will also be accompanied by a Sports/ Well-being centre, this will create new social inclusions with in it giving the residents more options for activi ties to do, as there is only a few football fields and play park in all of Hilltown. This will deal with the socio-economic issues within Hilltown as it the new shops will create new jobs; the new pub lic park will facilitate in integrating the commu nity and reducing crime.

The site contains a structure in a gridiron forum interconnected by steel fink trusses, this gridiron form can generate new paths as certain bays can be removed opening the option for new channels allowing the user movement from within the site. The remaining bays can be then be used for each component within the programme, this not only will allow easy access to the programmes but will also retain the character of the historic building.

The dominant material which stands out is the stone which forms the wall of the Site, as it is a B-listed building it has never been removed since 1872. There are also various degrees of stone throughout the site as the building has been added to throughout the years. The surrounding buildings which envelop the site are comprised of forms of Brick, sandstone, and render, this will all be taken into consideration when master planning the site.

4.10 VISUAL SITE CONTEXT

This gives a clearer visual detailing the journey from the Hilltown Park to the site. It details the conditions of the site as well as the Park, when walking to the site via the Park there is a sense of isolation. In this destitute green wasteland, there is barley any activity apart from the odd dog walker or child in the play area. The Journey to the site is the dilapidation of Hilltown continues through the park and into the site in the forum of graffiti, broken murals or destroyed seating area. When finally reaching the site there is a unwelcoming presence, the only thing that you are greeted with are parked cars or the occasional lorry gaining access to the Building.

The strategic plan will deal with wider scape of Hilltown (Macro), presenting various solutions to the problems within the public realm and what to incorporate into the Hilltown Park to make it a liveable area. The next stage will be dealing with the site (Micro), and the components that will go into the site by using a series of iterative diagrams to inform my decision making when master planning it.

STRATEGIC PLAN 5.

SOLUTIONS

Walking up the main lifeline of Hilltown there has been an attempt to create small breaks for the public to engage, in closer inspection they are in need of repair and renovation as they have been dilapidated and graffitied on. As part of the strategic plan, these breaks will be repaired with new proposals to create a new identity for the public realm of Hilltown aiming to provide an inviting a memorable experience.

The public realm could be coupled with public art in the form of shelters or murals. These murals can be

used as canvases for diffusing ideas on a massive scale, they can also create a setting that evokes the character of the local area and encourages people to dwell in the external space. A Locus can be implemented within the public realm to create an inviting and memorable experience drawing the public in whilst guiding them thought Hilltown. To further the idea of creating an inviting and memorable experience foliage can be planted to break away from the concrete jungle of Hilltown and into a green one.

Glasgows wall mural Southgate, Bath public seating

Glasgows wall mural Glasgow Fort sculptures

Hilltown & Victoria Street juction

Hilltown & Alexander Street junction

The top of Hilltown

Hilltown Park entrance

Hilltown Multis entrance

The life line of Hilltown

5.2 THE MACRO HILLTOWN PARK

Breaking from the artery of Hilltown lies the Hilltown park. The park was opened in 2008 as an urban park to attract the local residents and visitors, since then it has been in a state of disrepair due to vandalism, graffiti and crime. A proposal must therefore be put forward to greatly improve the park to its intended use, analysis of the park showed that the park main use today is for the residents to walk their dogs or to use the park as a shortcut. The main activities within the Park are a small children’s play area and outdoor exercise equipment, it is the lack of social inclusions that fails the park to welcome the residents. When guiding through the Park there is nothing that you can attach memory to make it memorable place, it lacks a relationship between the locus and the user to attach their memories to.

DILAPIDATION SOLUTIONS

The proposal is to repair and revitalise the Park by incorporating new cycle routes and paths, by following the existing gridiron within the urban fabric there is an opportunity to interconnect not only the proposed site via the park but also the new developments surrounding the Park giving it new meaning. New social inclusions will also be incorporated within it: new Sports Courts will be incorporated to facilitate the Sports Centre giving rise to more activities, for the younger residents the play park will be extended and uplifted to allow mothers and their children to engage in it, a water feature will be included as a main locus to create a more memorable experience whilst attracting the elderly in the adjacent care home and in Hilltown. The proposal for a new nursery/primary school can strengthen the neighbouring care home, as age segregation is on the rise the interaction between children and older people to sing play or chat can decrease older people’s loneliness, delay mental decline, lower blood pressure, and reduce the risk of disease or death.

Broken Tiles off Mural entrance

Destroyed seating

Graffiti on adjacent walls

Glasgow Queens Park Tennis Courts

Glasgow Green Playpark

Glasgow Queens Park Duckpond

Hilltown Park Entrance Outdoor Exercise Equipment St Salvadors Church

Bield Elderly Carehome Small Childrens Play area

Hilltown Park Plan

5.3 INITIAL STRATEGY

THE CALDRUM WORKS SITE

When dealing with the site the iterative diagrams to inform my decision making, I will use the theories i have researched aswell as Kevin Lynchs “image of the city” to create a loose narrative in which to create elements within the city. In his book he uses 5 elements (Paths, Edges, Nodes, Districts and Landmarks), this will guide me in understanding how the user finds their way in a space and how to make it a memorable one. these are some initial ideas for the masterplanning of the site.

As mentioned previously the Caldrum works is a B-listed building (having significant value of Hilltown). By highlighting the mass it is a good place to begin when master planning the site, informing the decision making on what to diminish, what to reveal and creating a continuous dialogue between the new layer and the historic building.

Master planning the site at once realistically is not a viable option. Therefore, a plan has been set to divide the programmes into three phases, the first and second phase will be on the site tackling the mixed-use residential housing and the facilities integrated within this new compact city. The third phase will be repairing and redeveloping the Park to attract the local residents and visitors.

Using the surrounding elements of the site to my advantage I will masterplan new routes and paths within the site. To liven this compact city the generated paths will offer access to the necessary social infrastructures from within. The Hilltown also results in lack of adequate cycle networks or paths out with the site, new cycle paths will also be incorporated into the site not only to liven the city but to control the traffic of Hilltown.

By incorporating the existing structure within the site, it will cease the need to restructure whilst also regaining as much of the buildings heritage and character as physically possible. This gridiron plan will assist in the development of the internal spaces within the site, the grid will also act as a dry archipelago from within Hilltown

By merging the park with the existing site, it transforms the site into a haven for nature the site, the Park should react with the site synergistically, in the same manner as the natural ecosystem. From this it will generate new elements (Paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks) to the site, affecting how residents will react to the site. From this new journey from the park to the site a new node in the form of a public square will be integrated and strengthened with an external landmark, this Locus will not only welcome the residents from surrounding areas but be memorable new focal point within Hilltown.

The Programmes are divided into their respected components depending on the scale. New paths were added to further separate and improve the movement from within.

Whilst master planning the site assisted by the gridiron plan a high street full of the social infrastructure was generated alongside the public square, by opening the buildings and mixing the city so the residents can assemble allows for a more permeable and liveable compact city.

The Programme comprises of mixed-use dwellings with shop fronts at ground level, whilst having social infrastructure centrally positioned within the site. A mixture of different housing types will be explored. In revising the masterplan the public facilities will be strategically positioned adjacent to the park and public square , while the private housing should be positioned to the rear. The components within the site although different in proportions they should have a reoccuring theme in the sense of materiallity and style.

5.4 MODULATION

THE HOME

As the site possesses its own structure, all that is left is the components. The Preferred route of construction of each component is the modulation by factory production, this not only a cost effective and sustainably viable route but it also gives the user a sense of identity form within their dwelling, breaking away from the conventional pattern. The modules will work on a grid and will vary depending on the number of occupants, getting larger as the numbers increase. On the grid the panels will be interchangeable, by subtracting and adding various panels for the user to customise their dwelling to their own preference.

REPAIR AND REVIVE 6.

Following the in-depth analysis of the site and Hilltown park I will conclude with a series of diagrams. I will first deal with the Hilltown Park adding the necessary social inclusion and the new walkways and cycle paths connecting the Park to the site and also the surrounding new development. The second part is to strategically place the programme within the site in correspondence to its use. A detailed masterplan of the site will indicate this.

6.1 THE SITE 6.2 PHASING THE SITE

Phase 1 Redevelopment of the Hilltown Park to allow more activity within it by adding an array of tennis, basketball, football courts. with the addion of a water feature.

Phase 2 : Affordable Multi-generational housing for families, potential apartment flat, with community garden all with ade-

Phase 3 : Development of high quality retail areas with and a Community Centre for the residents to allow community activites and access to various amenities.

Phase 2

Phase 3

Phase 1

As previously mentioned, the proposal for the park is to repair it through a series of social inclusions in order to make it more liveable. These social inclusions include: incorporating and extending new cycle paths and public paths withing the existing urban fabric interconnecting adjacent new developments as well as the proposed site, new sports courts have been introduced along with the extension and renewal of the children’s playpark to create more activity within, the park is not only available to the few but for the many as new seating will be included around the Park including the local church with acts as a foodbank for the less unfortunate, a new water feature will also be installed as a main locus to make the park a more memorable on as well as attracting the local elderly in the adjacent care home to the park. The park has also been subject to the ‘Green Dip’ as well as all the social inclusions the Park will also be enveloped in foliage, this will not only benefit environmentally but will create a positive effect on the inhabitants. This proposal is to create a more liveable park by incorporating many social inclusions as the better a place, the more optional activity occurs and the longer necessary activity lasts.

HOUSING & AMENITIES

Leading from the Park in phase one, the second and third phase will focus on the proposed site. The Park will be extended leading the public to a new node in the forum of a public square, this new node will be a new focal point of Hilltown. As previously mentioned, the proposed site is a B-listed mill meaning the structure must remain. Modulation is the route taken in constructing each component as it is sustainable, cost effective and gives the owner a sense of identity as it can vairy depending on material or occupant size. Finally, new amenities in accordance with the program will be incorporated into the proposed site, a new spots centre and education centre will strengthen the connection between the proposed site and the Park as they will work in tandem, the marketplace/food hall and shopfronts will be incorporated at the ground level within various residential dwellings creating a diversity of buildings that permeate and engage the user, by mixing up the this new compact city you also allow as much necessary social infrastructure that is readily available. ‘The Green Dip’ also is spilled out on to the proposed site in the form of plan foliage and the use of community gardens, this not only can provide fresh produce for residents who are less fortunate, but it also can improve physical and mental health too.

Isometric of the Caldrum Works (initial idea)

Elevation of the Caldrum Works (initial idea)

Plan of the Caldrum Works (initial idea)

Phase 2 - housing

Phase 3 - amenaties

Phase 2 housing

Phase 3 - amenaties

Isometric of Hilltown Park and Caldrum Works (initial idea)

Plan of Hilltown Park and Caldrum Works (initial idea)

Elevation of Hilltown Park and Caldrum Works