MAUD Project Report

TROUBLED LEGACY: THE CASE OF ARMAGH GAOL Project Repor t M.Phil in Architecture & Urban Design

Chris Hamill

Armagh, 1975. Loyalist protest opposing the repatriation of Mariam & Dolours Price to HMP Armagh from HMP Durham.

The Armagh Guardian via Paul Dickinson.

Used with permission.

TROUBLED LEGACY: THE CASE OF ARMAGH GAOL Project Repor t An essay submitted in par tial fulfillment of the requirements for the M.Phil in Architecture & Urban Design 2017-8

Chris Hamill Christ’s College With thanks to: Barbara Campbell-Lange Ingrid Schröder Aram Mooradian Dr Neil Galway Dr Andrew McClelland Primrose Wilson OBE Karen Latimer CBE

This report is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except where specifically indicated in the text.

Note on ethics The author is originally from, and during a period of fieldwork from June - December 2017 was resident in Northern Ireland.

Due to the sensitive nature of the site, and the fact that it is currently subject to a live project with vested and commercial interests, much of the information provided was given on condition of anonymity for the relevant parties. As such, where material with a very limited circulation has been provided, its inclusion within this report was conditional on attaining multiple sources, so that its disclosure cannot implicate any individual source by proxy.

It is relevant to declare that the author was formerly an employee of two conservation-accredited architectural offices currently practicing in Northern Ireland. The involvement of one of these practices, Hall Black Douglas Architects, in a previous proposal for the Armagh Gaol site is directly referenced in the report. This project significantly predates the author’s association with the practice and this association has in no way coloured the nature of the information disclosed. All materials related to this scheme were freely and reputably attained from other archival sources including Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council Local Planning Office. The discussion of this scheme and its comparison to others within the text in no way benefits the author financially or otherwise, as a result of their previous involvement with this or any other practice

Protesters outside Armagh Gaol campaigning for the release of Pauline McLauglin to hospital care on medical grounds. c.1980

Introduction: The Re-use of Armagh Gaol

This thesis, both in its design and written portions has been an exploration into the issue of contested heritage of Northern Ireland.

How particular sites and places come to be part of conflicting narratives about the past and who does/did what and where has been a constant research question and one which has been explored in detail.

The project also seeks to examine how contested heritage assets have been dealt with in Northern Ireland since the Good Friday Agreement and if the strategies which have been implemented or are in the course of being implemented can be said to be best practice in this field - both in terms of how socially responsive they are,but also how well they go about safeguarding these important and fragile (yet incredibly controversial) sites. In critiquing past approaches, the project sets itself up as a potential alternative to those previously attempted and the benefits of the proposed scheme have been explored continuously in both the design and written work and will continue to be so tested going forward.

Whilst is must be admitted that the proposal to transform the former County Gaol in Armagh into a bi-communal school for construction and traditional building skills will not be directly applicable to other difficult sites, the methods employed to navigate the treacherous political and societal situations surrounding any such project may be used and tested elsewhere in other instances of urban conflict.

Ultimately, this project stems from the observation that not only is Northern Ireland not dealing with the architectural fragments from the Troubles in a way which will preserve these important historic sites and educational resources for future generations to learn from, but in failing to even have the conversation about what these places mean in contemporary Northern Ireland to those communities still dealing with the lingering traumas of thirty years of civil strife, a valuable potential avenue for meaningful discussion and potential reconciliation is being needlessly squandered.

This project is an attempt at starting that conversation.

Contents:

1. Context Armagh Bonfires Mall Gaol

2. Proposals Theory Concept Development Phasing Material Hierarchy Proposed Scheme

3. Resolution Repair Materiality Construction Structure Environment Regulatory Alignment Implementation

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SECTION 2 INTRO .1

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CONTEXT

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Church of Ireland Cathedral (left), Catholic Cathedral (right) seen from Armagh Gaol (centre fore).

Armagh is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement on the island of Ireland and is seat of both the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches for the whole of the island. Both religions which have become so intertwined with Ireland’s history of conflict between Protestant and Catholic have cathedrals (both confusingly called St Patrick’s) in this town of 14,000 inhabitants, which stare at each other from opposing hilltops.

Site: Cathedral City

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Credit: Patrick Hughes Photography.

Site Location: Armagh, Ireland and the Border

Site Location: County Armagh, major settlements and historic Army surveillance towers

Site Location: Armagh & hinterlands with demographics and major transport routes shown

Map of distribution of religion brought up in by Small Area division for Armagh and its surrounding areas.

Note the broad trends of a Catholic west and Protestant east with relatively mixed areas between.

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Site Location: Armagh City & Demographics

Map of distribution of religion brought up in by Small Area division for Armagh.

Note the same trends present as were visible in fig. 23.

Catholic areas generally display greater segregation and isolation than their Protestant counterparts (appendix i.)

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Site Context: Site photos & sketches

Site Context: Site Photos

Site Context: Site Photos

Site Context: Visible symbols of segregation and contestation not found in Armagh

Site Context: Climatic Conditions

Armagh in the aftermath of a rain squall. 28.12.17

The key climatic factor which will be important to the project will be the high number of rainy days throughout the year. This suggests that covered walkways and arcades would be beneficially for moving around the site and transporting materials without leaving them vulnerable to the elements.

Historic Context: The Evolution of Armagh

Armagh Gaol founded c. 1780.

Historic Context: The Architects of Armagh

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Historic Context: The (Unbuilt) University of Armagh

First Recorded Proposal for University at Armagh 1583CE Proposals for the founding of universities at Armagh and Limerick which, if implemented, would have predated the founding of Trinity College Dublin by nine years.

Royal School Armagh Incorporated 1608CE By decree of the privy council to James I, “ there should be one free school, at least, appointed in every county, for the education of youths in learning and religion”.

Trinity College,The University of Dublin Founded 1592

Renewed interest in a University at Armagh 1787CE A provision for the sum of £5000 in the will of Lord Rokeby is intended to allow for the foundation of a university.

This does not come to pass.

Military Interest 1796CE In a letter to Maj. Gen Hutchinson, Thomas Pelham encourages the consideration that a university in Armagh might take the form of a military academy.

The Royal School, Armagh Founded 1608

A Second Chance 1845CE Interest in the proposal again rises, however the mooted university is ultimately founded in the rising population centre of Belfast, becoming the Queen’s University.

Ulster’s Second University 1955CE In a controversial move, the Lockwood report recommends the construction of the new University of Ulster in the town of Coleraine, beating out contending cities Armagh and [London]Derry.

A University, Albeit Briefly 1990-2004CE

Buttevant Barracks, Co. Cork Built c.1815

The Queen’s University opens a satellite campus in the old infirmary in Armagh. It closes in 2004.

Future Moves 2009CE The Armagh city masterplan states its intention to ‘attract university level education back to Armagh.’

While it can probably never be known what a university in Armagh might have looked like, an idea of its possible articulation can be gleaned schemes which were contemporaneous and which in many cases won out against the numerous proposals for higher education in the town.

Queen’s University, Belfast Founded 1849

Materiality: Geologic Conditions

Materiality: Armagh’s Material Palette

Drumarg Conglomerate

Mourne Granite

Dungannon Sandstone

Armagh Gaol, Royal School, St Patrick’s CoI Cathedral

Armagh Gaol, Courthouse, Museum, St Patrick’s Cathedral

Armagh Limestone

Armagh Gaol

St Patrick’s RC Cathedral, Armagh First Presbyterian Church

Most of Armagh’s building historically been quarried locally by generations of stonemasons the slow process of building the

stone has and dressed engaged in historic city.

One of the most unique materials used in the construction of many of the oldest buildings in the city is the unusual red limestone-sandstone conglomerate known as Drumarg Conglomerate, from which the front block of Armagh Gaol is built.

With the only known quarry for the stone recently having been closed and built over, stone matching for repairs will likely prove difficult, therefore efforts should be taken to preserve as much historic stonework as possible and to repair in situ rather than replace masonry as far as is practicable.

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Institutional Drumarg Conglomorate with Armagh Limestone Quoins & Rustication

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The city of Armagh exhibits a clear hierarchy of materiality and workmanship between its historic buildings. Buildings of an institutional scale, such as the gaol (A) and the infirmary tended to be of a much more rustic character, exemplified by the use of rusticated stonework and rubble infill between worked quoins. On the other hand, the city’s civic buildings such as the county courthouse (B), the Primate’s chapel and the county museum are made predominantly from finely-tooled, ashlar limestone.

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Civic Ashlar Armagh Limestone. Neoclassical Styling.

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Historic Context: The Troubles in Armagh

Armagh suffered more than most towns of equivalent size during the Troubles due to its proximity to the Irish border and strong republican support in the surrounding area.

Most incidents occurred within the town centre, which continues to exhibit the scars of these memories.

Bombing and arson attacks in Armagh were focused around the main shopping area at the intersection of Scotch and English Streets.

This was evidence of the IRA’s campaign of damaging the region’s economy in order to end British governance by rendering the region unviable financially (Rogers, 2000). As such, many of these incidents resulted in no fatalities, but massive damage to property and the local economy. Hastily repaired and rebuilt buildings can be found throughout Armagh, in infill sites between much older structures, and bear testament to the scale of trauma inflicted on what was (and remains) a provincial border town.

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Aftermath of the killing of prison officer Agnes Wallace (40) outside Armagh Gaol. Thursday April 19 1979 The Armagh Guardian via Paul Dickinson. Used with permission.

On the morning of April 19th 1979, AgnesWallace (40) was murdered outside of her place of work by republican paramilitaries. Three colleagues were also injured in the attack.

This tragic episode is made even more poignant by its depressingly generic place amongst many others. Between 1968 and 1999, over 3500 people lost their lives in Northern Ireland during a period of sectarian violence which came to be known as ‘the Troubles’. Many of those killed were, likeWallace, in transit between the relative safeties afforded by the home and the office.

Wallace however, was deliberately targeted precisely because of that place of work; she was a prison guard working at Her Majesty’s Prison Armagh. Inside the gaol, upon hearing the explosion, colleagues still recall prisoners cheering. (PMA 2007) The building itself, prominent in the local newspaper photographer’s capture of the aftermath has borne witness to, and participated in, some of the most difficult aspects of Northern Ireland’s recent past; issues with which contemporary society continues to wrestle. It now lies derelict, with recent proposals to transform the site into a boutique hotel and spa seemingly having stalled.

Historic Context: Armagh in the Troubles

Opposite Top: 1973 Remnants of a car bomb at the junction ofVictoria Street and Barrack Hill.

Armagh Gaol centre in background.

The Armagh Guardian via Paul Dickinson. Used with permission.

Opposite Bottom: August 28 1973 Remnants of a car bomb used to attack the Hibernian Hall on Castle Street

Below October 1976 Aftermath of IRA bombing, Dobbin Street

The Armagh Guardian via Paul Dickinson. Used with permission.

The Armagh Guardian via Paul Dickinson. Used with permission.

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24 March 1976 Aftermath of bombing of Marshall’s fish and chip shop at the corner of Scotch Street & Dobbin Street The Armagh Guardian via Paul Dickinson. Used with permission.

Historic Context Armagh from the Troubles until today

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28 December 2017 Same view as previous Author’s Own

Social Context: Residential Segregation in Armagh

Neighbouring Villages

Two neighbouring settlements with very different demographic make-ups.

Extreme patterns of avoidance also common.

Armagh’s east and west zones could be said to fit this model.

The impacts of the Troubles still continue to affect Armagh, particularly in terms of where people chose to live and how they use the city. Patterns of residential segregation take a number of different forms depending on the particular characteristics of the area and the people who live there.

Contested Centre

Highly polarised communities lead to potential disputes over central services such as shopping centres.

Armagh’s centre fits with this model.

Neighbouring Estates

Areas of majority Catholic and Protestant populations which abut, but which do not contain defensive structures such as walls between.

Protected Territories

Similar to Neighbouring Estates, but with defensive barriers separating communities to prevent violence.

Closest Peace Lines to Armagh are found in Portadown.

Source: Bell, J., Jarman, N. & Harvey, B. Beyond Belfast (Belfast: CRC, 2010)

Centre Hinterland

Divided Village

A village or town which is relatively mixed but in which members of both communities opt to live in segregated enclaves.

Armagh is an example.

Thoroughfare

A relatively homogenous area which becomes contested on a temporary basis due to members of the other community using it as a route.

Centre is populated primarily by one community while the surrounding areas are see a majority of the other community. Concentration of services in centre, rendered inaccessible to ‘hinterland’ community. .Armagh’s east and west zones act as separate centres for their respective hinterlands.

The Border

The status of the border region may change and become a source of increased tension due to Brexit and Northern Ireland’s referendum result showing a Unionist/ Nationalist split.

Armagh is 12km from the border.

Social Context: Residential Segregation in Armagh

DEMOGRAPHICS

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Title: Context: Social Subtitle GPS tracking Protestant and Catholic Students in Armagh

Map Data from: Roulston, S. & Young, O., “GPS tracking of some Northern Ireland students – patterns of shared and separated space: divided we stand?”, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 22:3, 2013 pp. 241-258

Northern Ireland operates a multiply segregated education system in that Catholics and Protestants are educated separately but are also divided on the basis of academic selection at age 11 into grammar and secondary schools with marked differences in future educational prospects between the two.

In order to investigate the differences in spatial use patterns generated by religiously separate schools, Roulston et al. used GPS trackers to plot the movements of a series of students in Armagh over a two week period, and the map shown on this page is the output of that track. As is to be expected each group focuses on their particular school, but perhaps more interestingly, students from different schools also navigate the town in different ways. While some overlap is noted in terms of the areas frequented by both groups, the authors warn against interpreting this as evidence of intermingling, arguing instead that spaces are apt to become merely simultaneously inhabited by both groups rather than productively ‘shared’, with little meaningful interaction taking place.

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Social Context: Segregated education systems and resulting exclusionary spatial use patterns.

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Concept Development: Matrix 1.0 - Collages exploring the issues of contemporary segregation in NI

Concept Development: Matrix 1.0 - Collages exploring the issues of contemporary segregation in NI

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Site Context: Twelfth July Celebrations

The annual commemoration of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 takes place among Loyalist and Unionist communities across Northern Ireland every July 12th. These celebrations see parades led by the Loyal Orange Order and marching bands as well as large scale street celebrations.

In the weeks building up to the Twelfth, local youths under the watchful eye of experienced old hands collect and then assemble shipping palettes and vehicle tires into huge bonfires to be burned on the 11th night to mark the beginning of festivities. There is often a competition between groups of builders to see who can create the most impressive pile The bonfires are often set alight covered in symbols and paraphernalia representative of Northern Ireland’s Nationalist and Republican communities and are therefore generally seen as being highly sectarian events and not open to outsiders. Parades are also often highly contentious especially when routed through Nationalist enclaves, and in the most extreme case this can lead to violence and rioting..

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Social Context: Eleventh Night Bonfires

Local youths involved in bonfire construction during summer holidays

Social Context: Bonfire building traditions

Bonfires typically covered in Republican / Nationalist / Catholic memorabilia and sectarian slogans before being set alight.

The burning of bonfires on the 11th Night is an important community ritual for many Loyalist enclaves and is seen as an opportunity for festivities and cultural expression.

Precedent Studies: Temple, Derry

David Best 2015 An attempt to defuse the sectarian overtones of bonfire building in NI by reinventing it as a cross-community event, with an emphasis on hi-tech carpentry training for local youths.

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The Mall Seen from above Armagh Gaol (fore) with County Courthouse visible opposite (centre mid).

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Site Context: Listed buildings on the Mall and historic development.

The immense urban park known as the Mall lies in a depression between several of the hills and drumlins on which Armagh sits. Presumed to have been a gathering point and market place for the medieval monastic settlement, the area subsequently became a horse racing track known as the Common before such activities were banned in the late 18th Century by the Anglican Archbishops of Armagh who remodelled the area as a formal Georgian park and promenade. The buildings surrounding the Mall, especially on its northern and western sides exhibit the hallmarks of Georgian palatial frontages and are some of the finest examples of the type in all of Ireland.

The park is framed by the County Courthouse at its northern end and by the former County Gaol at the southern, with the resultant axis formed by these two buildings of the judiciary being relatively unique as an urban form on this scale and increasing the prominence of both buildings within the city’s urban grain.

Site Context: The Mall

Site Context: Mall Elevations

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Despite the gaol’s proximity to the large urban park known as the Mall, connectivity between the two - across 5 road lanes and two sets of traffic lights is poor. The issue of traffic management has, in recent years, become critical for Armagh, as the main thoroughfare routes through the town pass through its historic core and cannot bear the volume of traffic to which they are subjected, resulting in gridlock and damage to roads through overuse and the town’s historic buildings from air pollution.

A key crossroads for their arterial routes is located directly between the gaol and the Mall.

The Armagh 2009 Masterplan sets out the council’s ambition for the building of a new ring road (already commenced) around the town’s periphery, diverting through traffic away from the historic core. This is further supplemented by the proposed straightening of Friary Road through an existing car park at the bottom of Scotch Street. Combined,these infrastructure projects will significantly reduce the isolation of the gaol site from the rest of the town once completed.

Site Context: Traffic Issues & the Armagh Masterplan 2009

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Armagh Gaol at Night Note the considerable traffic issues posed by 5 roads merging in Gaol Square. This obstacle will need to be overcome to improve site access and links to the Mall opposite.

Photo Credit: Patrick Hughes

Site: Armagh Gaol

The former county gaol in Armagh is the chosen project site.

Beginning construction c.1780, the Georgian-era prison was expanded during the Famine years in the mid1800s in the then state-of-the-art Pentonville, axial style. When Northern Ireland was partitioned from the rest of the island in 1921, the prison held those convicted of politically motivated violence, subsequently becoming the North’s main women’s prison, although it would continue to hold men and boys under the borstal system. In living memory, Armagh Gaol is infamous for its housing of paramilitary prisoners, the murder of prison guard AgnesWallace outside of the gaol in 1979, the hunger strikes and dirty protests which took place within its walls and the complaints of abuse reported by prisoners. Armagh Gaol has therefore been a participant in many of the most painful aspects of Irish history, and today lies derelict, seemingly too saturated with contested historic narratives to be redeveloped successfully. This project is an attempt to navigate these issues by proposing a viable and socially conscious re-use for the gaol.

Site Conditions: Former County Gaol, Armagh

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Site Conditions: Front Block - Former County Gaol, Armagh 07.07.17

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Site Conditions: Photo Survey

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Plan of Armagh Gaol as existing 21.07.17.

Areas hatched in grey are currently inaccessible due to structural instability. All levels above and below ground floor are likewise inaccessible.

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Site Conditions: Photo Survey

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Site Conditions: Front Block Elevation as Existing 06.07.17

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Title:Conditions: Site Subtitle Materiality

i. Bangor Blue Slates

ii. Mourne Granite

- Historic Roofs through.

- Boundary wall.

- Cell Block A

iii. Drumarg Conglomarate

iv. Armagh Limestone

- Front Block primary structure.

- Cell Block B.

- Rusticated quoins & window surrounds to front block.

- Rusticased lower storey to front pediments.

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Title: Context: Historic Subtitle Development of Armagh Gaol since 1780

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Historic Context: Armagh Gaol Drawings & Unbuilt Proposals

The Irish Architectural Archive in Dublin contains the Murray Collection, a series of unbuilt proposals for the extension of Armagh Gaol in the mid-1800s by one of the three architects who would contribute to the construction of the prison (the others being Thomas Cooley & Francis Johnston) as well as the final proposal actually built which now makes up Cell Blocks A & B. The drivers behind these unbuilt proposals are a vital insight into history of this site, but also of the town and wider society at that point in history.

Prisoners were made to wear face masks and chained together during ‘exercise’ periods in the yard to prevent communication and preserve the total isolation the prison regime demanded.

Whilst Armagh Gaol is regarded as a particularly difficult site to redevelop due to the fact that it operated through most of the Troubles and held political prisoners from that conflict, it is important to note that all historic prisons could be viewed as contentious heritage assets given the methods of punishment historically employed in these places now seem barbaric and inhumane to contemporary society.

Armagh Gaol was a site of executions until 1904 and most of those executed in the prison still remain buried within its walls in unmarked graves.

Moreover, the methodology of punishment employed in the design of Victorian Pentonville-style prisons like Armagh Gaol emphasised the importance of total isolation in order to prevent prisoners from learning ‘tricks of the trade’ during their incarceration. Whilst it is now known that this is incredibly damaging to mental health, this intent, and it’s architectural articulation is perhaps most clearly seen in the design for the chapel in the hinge block (opposite) with its closing booths and fixed sight lines ensuring that the prisoners had no view other than that of the preacher / priest.

Historic Context: Segregation & isolation in a Victorian prison

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Historic Context: Armagh Gaol During the Trouble

c.1980-1. Mairéad Farrell, IRA Officer Commanding at Armagh during the ‘no-wash’ protests. Note that the scene is lit by camera flash only as windows had been blocked by guards to prevent the discharge of waste (Interview 29). Farrell would later be killed by the SAS in Gibraltar in 1988.

Orla Brady playing the character,‘Eileen’ based on Mairéad Farrell, in Maeve Murphy’s 2001 film,‘Silent Grace.’ A notable difference obscured by the solely black & white photography available of the actual dirty protests is absence of menstrual blood upon the cell walls. Coomasaru notes that the film retreats from depicting this aspect, despite it being emblematic of the Armagh protests, and criticises the film for establishing it’s own form of heritage dissonance despite being one of the few media portrayals of the women’s prison. (Coomasaru 2001)

Timeline of Armagh Gaol 1780 1780 - Three bays of Front Block of Armagh Gaol built to designs of Architect Thomas Cooley 1819 - Two additional bays in identical style to the existing Front Block are built on its southern end generating the 5 part facade seen today. Francis Johnston possibly architect.

1845-52 - The Great Famine ‘an Gorta Mór’ leads to widespread starvation, disease and emigration intensified by evictions and debt defaults caused by crop failure. Massive increase in itinerant population.

1846 - 3-storey Cell Block ‘A’ is completed. William Murray is architect.

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1847 - 33 inmates reportedly died in Armagh Gaol in this year.

1852 - Additional 2-storey Cell Block ‘B’ is built on commission from the Armagh Grand Jury

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The Great Famine

1866 - The last public execution in Armagh - that of ‘a man named Barry’ was carried out in front of the gaol.

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1904 - Dec 22 - Joseph Fee is the last person executed at Armagh Gaol 1920 - Armagh Gaol becomes a women’s prison 1921 - Partition of Ireland. New state of Northern Ireland created within the UK c.1968-1998 - ‘The Troubles’ 1973-75 - 33 republican women are interned without trial in HM Prison Armagh during this period.

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1976 (onwards) - Prisoners begin ‘no-work’ protest refusing to carry out prison labour. c.1976 - Cell Block ‘C’ is constructed, reportedly to contain the Price sisters, Marian & Dolours for their accommodation in Armagh after transferal from HM Prison Durham.

1979 - April 19 - Prison Warden Agnes Wallace (40) is murdered in an INLA gun and grenade attack outside the prison.

The attack also injures 3 colleagues.

1980 - February 7th - Prisoners at Armagh begin the ‘no-wash’ or ‘dirty’ protests, refusing sanitary facilities and daubing their cells with excreta and menstrual blood. NB that prisoners claim this action was forced upon them by guards who refused them access to lavatory facilities.

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1980 - 3 ‘ArmaghWomen’ (Mairéad Farrell, Mary Doyle and Mairéad Nugent)take part in the 1980 hunger strike in solidarity with male hunger strikers at Maze/Long Kesh prison.

1920

1981 - Nell McCafferty publishes ‘The Armagh Women’ drawing widespread attention to perceived abuses of prisoners by guards, included forced strip and cavity searches.

1986 - HM Prison Armagh is decommissioned. BA takes over site. All remaining prisoners transferred to the newly opened HM Prison Maghaberry.

1988 - HM Prison Armagh closes. Site sold for development.

1997 - Armagh City and District Council reacquire Armagh Gaol.

1998 - ‘Hard Time: Armagh Gaol 1971-1986’ is published by the former R.C. Chaplain to the gaol, Msnr. Raymond Murray.

1979 1988

‘The Troubles’

1968

1999 - 15 Jun - Hall Black Douglas and Alistair Coey Architects submit a planning and listed building consent application (O/1999/0500/1) for converting Armagh Gaol into office space and conference centre. Permission is also requested to demolish the Troubles-era buildings on site including Cell-Block ‘C’.

2000 - August - Above planning and listed building consents granted. Demolition of Cell-Block ‘C’ subsequently carried out.

1998

2004 - September 06 - HRH Prince Charles writes to Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy expressing his support for the redevelopment of Armagh Gaol

2006

2012 - Apr 27 - Prince Charles visits Armagh Gaol

2012

2012 - Aug 03 - Planning permission application lodged for the Armagh Gaol hotel project by Kriterion Conservation Architects on behalf of the TOPG. (ref. O/2012/0349/F)

2017

2017 - Aug 07 - Listed Building Consent Application lodged by Kriterion for the TOPG. Decision Pending.

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CELL DIAGRAM + PMA

Typical Cell in Armagh Gaol c. 1980

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Historic Context: The Prisons Memory Archive

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Daphne Scroggie Prison Guard

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Jaqui Upton Loyalist Prisoner

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Josie Dowds Republican Prisoner

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Jenny Meegan & Patricia Jess Open University Lecturers

Vital to a complete understanding of the historic significance of Armagh Gaol during the Troubles was the Prisons Memory Archive, a videographic series of interviews with those who has experience of the prison during its operation, which were recorded within the derelict shell of the prison itself.

Many of the recordings feature significant spatial details of the prison itself.

“It is considered that the 1970s cell block is not of architectural merit and should be demolished.

All the other extraneous structures and buildings would [will] be removed from the site’ (ACD Council 1999, p.5. Correction in original).

In the immediate aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement, many of the most difficult sites, such as the Maze/Long Kesh prison or those most emblematic of the conflict such as the Army’s border watchtowers were wither partially or completely demolished to prevent their use as ‘shrines’ by opposing groups in the post-ceasefire society then developing.

At Armagh Gaol, the 1970s cell block, purpose built to house the socalled Old Bailey Bombers, Marian & Dolours Price was demolished in the early 2000s during a period of works on site otherwise preoccupied with the stabilisation of the existing buildings. This, coupled with the above justification statement which fails to mention the building’s history at all would seem to suggest that this cell block may have been silently demolished so as to make subsequent redevelopment of the site less politically contentious.

Historic Context: Demolitions of contentious elements

Aerial photograph of Armagh Gaol taken from British Army helicopter on 21 June 1975.

Note that Cell-Block ‘C’ has not yet been built.

Aerial photograph of Armagh Gaol taken shortly after closure in 1988.

Note Cell-Block ‘C’ highlighted. This block was demolished in the early 2000s

Development Context: North/South Joint Secretariat & Council Offices

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New debating chamber for the local council

Cell blocks to be transformed into open plan office space be removing

to be constructed behind the front block of the

front walls and walls between cells and propping with steel structure.

gaol. Adjacent courtyard to be glazed over to

Significant loss of historic fabric and costs associated with propping.

create lobby spaces and winter gardens. Front block converted into committee rooms.

In the years following the Good Friday Agreement which officially ended the period of violence known as the Troubles, a sense of optimism was palpable in proposals for heritages sites left over from the conflict such as Armagh Gaol. In order to attract developer interest, the council who gained ownership of the site after its closure, commissioned an exemplar scheme to explore potential uses for the site. One of the most interesting and emblematic of the optimism which predominated in the early 2000s was a proposal to transform the site into the council’s primary offices and chambers. The symbolism of situating a critical piece of infrastructure in the new devolved NI government in the site of some of the Trouble’s most contentious aspects was significant.

Another potential end user courted at this time was the then newly formed joint North/South Secretariat for the civil service. At that time, it was considered that this body might be under threat of attack from dissident Republican groups and therefore the defensive architecture of the site would be a benefit. Ultimately however, the Secretariat moved to a new building on Lower English Street on the site of the former Town Hall destroyed by an IRA bomb in 1976.

Development Context: Post-Conflict Optimism & proposals for Council Chambers

Development Context: Dark Tourism & the Osborne Group proposals for a hotel & spa

Wedding Ceremony at Troubles-era Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast

Proposed Plan Showing Significant Demolitions

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In order to make the scheme profitable despite the significant costs of

Existing walls between cells demolished and structure above propped. One

demolishing and propping in the existing cell blocks, 4 storey blocks

bedroom and en-suite bathroom to be formed out of 3 existing cells. This

of enabling development are planned for the south and eastern walls

represents a significant degree of demolitions for a ‘conservation’ scheme.

of the site.These are of a scale and materiality at odds with and dominant to the existing gaol buildings.

The issue of how Northern Ireland deals with its contested heritage asset has, in recent years been answered by the commercial market by a rise in incidences of Troubles-era sites been transformed into tourist destinations.

Armagh Gaol is currently subject to a live proposal for the site to be transformed into a luxury hotel and spa by the Trevor Osborne property group. This scheme has, at time of writing, been granted both Planning and Listed Building Consents and now awaits funding to be secured before commencing on site.

As previously demonstrated, Armagh Gaol borne witness to, and continues to represent some of the most terrible incidents of Northern Ireland’s recent past - a past which is still well within living memory.

This must of course beg the question as to whether so-called ‘dark tourism’ is an appropriate strategy for dealing with these sites.

The author’s proposals are therefore a critique of the hotel and other such schemes by investigating and proposing a viable and much more socially conscious proposal for Armagh Gaol without the need to commodify the very real pain and suffering the site represents and which continues to haunt.

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PROPOSALS

Matrix 1.3.1 The Hewers of Wood

Brief The problems presented by the built legacy of the Troubles continue to demand solutions in contemporary Northern Ireland.

Armagh Gaol has been subject to each of the three most visible strategies for dealing with contested heritage sites which have been attempted to date: namely demolition - seen in the moves to demolish Cell Block C in the early 2000s; an optimistic, ecumenical approach evident in the previously seen attempt to transform the site into local government chambers; and most recently, moves to metaphorically brush the difficult site under the carpet by allowing it to be developed as a luxury hotel and spa (see previous).

The brief for this project is to imagine a fourth approach.

Acknowledging that the contested history of the site renders it incredibly difficult to turn to productive, shared use in the near future, the scheme is therefore an attempt to prolong the lifespan of the structures on site whilst also drawing useful benefit from a derelict building. This not only allows the buildings to survive into a future where less fraught conversations can be had over their meaning to and within society, it also renders them an important educational resource to young people growing up in the post-Troubles era.

This is to be achieved by siting a bi-communal school for traditional building skills within the boundaries of Armagh Gaol. Confronting the sectarian overtones of communal building in Northern Ireland, this will recast the contentious site as a resource in the purest sense for vocational training, whilst also rendering difficult conversations about the past visible to its occupants, therefore making them harder to avoid.

Design Strategy: The language of repair

US Capitol building obscured by scaffolding and safety netting.

The project is an attempt to secure funding for the repair of a politically difficult site (divided along sectarian party lines) by recasting the necessity of repair and refurbishment works as a valuable training opportunity in traditional building skills - an area of skilled trades which has seen a marked decline in recent years and places all of Ireland’s heritage, North and South, at risk or dereliction and decay for want of the skills needed to maintain these important historic resources.

The unique change which takes place on buildings covered with scaffolding and plastic safety sheeting, rendering them in the most abstract and sculptural version of their massing is particularly interesting as a design methodology. The particular architectural qualities of buildings under repair are used by the proposed project to suggest a unified design language for the scheme as a whole.

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Design Principles - Phasing: Stage 1 - Repair of existing and building of scaffolding / secondary roof Learn to Repair

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Design Principles - Phasing: Stage 2 - Erection of timber sheds for sheltered site work Learn to Work on Site

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Design Principles - Phasing: Stage 3 - Infilling timber sheds with thermally controlled and conditioned internal volume.

Learn to Build New

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Implementation Strategy: Stakeholders

The site is currently owned by Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council who inherited from the former Armagh City Council after the 2015 merger of council areas. Aside from being the site owner, the Council are also a potential partner in the proposed client consortium and a vital source of funding, including releasing the site for development.

The council also have a statutory duty to maintain the integrity of the Armagh Conservation Area in which the gaol sits. Recently, the council have expressed a renewed interest in moving offices into the gaol site in any future redevelopment as the hotel proposals for the site have stalled.

The scheme imagines the foundation of a building preservation trust formed from local residents and other interested parties who will enter into a

ARMAGH . GAOL . PRESERVATION . SOCIETY

consortium arrangement with the local council for insurance and liability reasons, but for all other intents and purposes, will acts as the client for the construction school scheme. The BPT will also be heavily involved in raising public awareness and drumming up interest from potential funders.

The Southern Regional College currently operates two campuses in Armagh, one on the Killylea Road on the opposite side of the Mall from Armagh Gaol which houses the college’s non-vocational activities and is currently the site of a £35m redevelopment by the college to improve the facilities and buildings.

The other, smaller campus on the Hamiltonsbawn Road houses the College’s vocational training centre, and it is this outdated and cramped facility which this project’s proposals seek to replace.

The SRC is viewed as the main end user for scheme.

The Trevor Osborne Property Group are the developer leading the proposed £24m luxury hotel and spa proposals at Armagh Gaol. These proposals are currently stalled due to lack of funding while the site continues to decay.. Any potential co-opting of the site necessary for the building skills training college to be built would require either the TOPG choosing not to renew their lease on the site from the council or a potential buyout option. This could potentially involve the granting of preferred developer status on the Archbishop’s Palace, which is currently used as council offices. Given that this site would be much more easily converted into hotel use and the council have already expressed interest in relocating from their current facilities to the gaol site, this exchange seems logical and mutually beneficial.

The Ulster Architectural Heritage Society and Irish Georgian Society are the two most prominent historic buildings charities and advocacy bodies in Ireland. Whilst unlikely to be able to contribute financially to the proposed school, the UAHS and IGS contain among their membership a wealth of experience and an organisational structure and public outreach programmes which offer immense potential benefits to these proposals if tapped.

As each body occupy themselves primarily in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland respectively, by consulting both, the potential reach of the scheme is broadened to the whole island, helping to address the all-Ireland shortage of traditional building skills and creating resilience to the looming spectre of the UK’s exit fro the EU and a potential hard border 10km from Armagh.

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Design Exploration: Matrix 2.0 - Potential Programmes for reprogramming of site

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Design Exploration: Massing Options

Massing Exploration .1 Infill Courtyards

Massing Exploration .2 Spine Walls and Spurs

Massing Exploration .3 Perimeter Ribbon

As with any project proposing significant elements of new build and extension to an existing historic building, the massing of the proposals on site is critical.

This project is designed with best conservation principles as a key driver, focusing exclusively on what the SPAB’s key principles call ‘Essential Works’.

The massing on the new proposals is likewise deferential to the existing gaol. To this end,the above option of wrapping the proposed building around the existing boundary wall has been adopted as it minimised the loss of historic facades and clearly differentiates the mass of the new build elements from the existing.

It also allows the project to act as a transitional ‘thick wall’ (Pullan 2004) between the historically closed gaol and the wider cityscape.

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Roof Plan

FINAL ROOF PLAN annotated SHOW CRIT ROOF / floor PLAN? DEVELOPMENT?

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Precedent Studies: GMIT Letterfrack; Galway

Main entrance relocated from the centre of the front

Existing cill level is too high to look out from the

elevation to the wing in order to break the oppressive

interior. Cill levels lowered.

axial symmetry of the former industrial school.

Clear differentiation in massing, form, and materiality between the new build portion of the scheme and the existing school.

O’Donnell + Tuomey 2001 An attempt to rehabilitate a former Catholic Industrial school infamous for the institutional abuses which occurred on site by the addition of a timber-framed school for furniture making.

The existing buildings are currently used as offices with the planned second phase of works, involving significant alterations to the historic fabric (lowering window cills, remaking an off-axis approach, removing floors in sections) not having been implemented due to overspend on Phase 1.

Existing building. Former railway shed. Holds main visitor attractions and interpretation centre.

Two wings of new build with distinct materiality and massing / form. Contains conservation labs and site amenities.

Precedent Studies: The Engine Shed; Stirling

Historic Environment Scotland 2017 HED’s new conservation training and outreach centre based out of a former train shed at Stirling Railway Station. The site contains significant areas for public engagement as well as lecture and conference facilities for training and Continuing Professional Development in conservation skills. Additionally, a focus on hi-tech restoration and digital archaeology is facilitated with extensive laboratory and IT facilities.

Precedent Studies: Carcere Sant’Agata; Bergamo, Italy

Politechnico di Milano, Ongoing Former prison now derelict, this site is used as a training opportunity for students in architectural conservation both as a case study and as an opportunity for on-site vocational training in repair techniques. The prison is also used to host exhibitions of students’ work at the end of each semester.

Recording and repair of former cells used

Former cells and concourse used as

as a training opportunity for students at the

exhibition space and gallery.

Politechnico di Milano. doing units based around architectural and historic building conservation.

Chapel repurposed as conference facility

Precedent Studies: Les Grandes Ateliers; L’Isle d’Abeau, France

Main concourse and vertical

Cellular secondary spaces under the primary structure.

circulation unifies main workshop

Insulated and environmentally conditioned allowing for

spaces and cellular zone.

longer inhabitation and more careful work.

External and uncovered work spaces and plant

Main workshop directly under primary roof.

Unheated but covered, large span space suitable for large building projects.

Lipsky + Rollet Architects, 2012 Workshop facilities for local architecture and engineering courses funded by France’s Ministry of Culture. An over-arching butterfly roof protects a flexible workshop space below from the elements, whilst still permitting the maximum number of possibilities to expand the enclosed space as necessary. Fixed, cellular ancillary spaces form a central spine through the building and divide the primary workshops from secondary work spaces, plant and material storage areas.

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Precedent Analysis: Programme area estimation based on precedent studies

The precedent studies carried out have been instrumental in defining the brief and programme for the site, both in terms of the spaces required, their relationship to one another and the overall size of an appropriately scaled proposal of this type. For comparison is also included the existing and proposed Southern Regional College buildings located across the Mall from the gaol as the project is intended to be a satellite campus for the SRC’s vocational training programmes.. N.B. the proposed new SRC campus on the existing Killylea Road site is intended primarily house their academic and non-vocational functions, therefore there is no unnecessary duplication of programme with the proposals.

Project Strategy Programme & Phasing

PHASE 0: RETAINING WORKS

1. Temporary Workshop 2. On-Site Offices 3. Conveniences + Scaffolding as required

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1. Workshop 2. W/C 3. Print Room 4. Reception & Office 5. Office 6. Store 7. Plant 8. Changing & Lockers 9. Classroom 10. Material Store +Vehicle Access + 10-15% Circulation

PHASE 2: 1. Workshop 2. W/C 3. Print Room 4. Staff Room 5. Office 6. Classroom 7. Archive (Public Access) 8. Material Store

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1. Forge 2. Kiln 3. Secondary Plant Room 4. Restoration Workshop & Labs 5. W/ C 6. Print Room +Vehicle Access

1. College / Public Library 2. Rentable Retail Space 3. Temporary Market 4. Possible Accommodation or Additional Archive Space

Project Strategy Programme on Site

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Preserve Conservation Approach Dealing with contested heritage through choice of programme

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Title: Subtitle Armagh Gaol is a unique challenge in terms of building conservation as it is both a derelict building in urgent need of stabilisation and repair works, whilst at the same time being such a significant and poignant reminder of Northern Ireland’s recent conflict that conversations over its reuse in the present often become mired in sectarian politics.

The choice of programme is therefore and attempt to extract useful and quantifiable benefits to society during the preservation and conservation stages of the repair works. By using the site as a training opportunity for local youths, the site can be funded and preserved, and the deliberately lengthened timetable the project’s phasing calls for, combined with the minimally invasive design of the new build elements proposed will help to preserve this contentious heritage asset into a potential future where its significance can be more objectively and productively debated.

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Planning Context Conservation Area & Listed Buildings

As the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in Ireland (North and South), it is perhaps not surprising that Armagh contains the densest concentration of listed building fabric on the island.

Listed buildings are places of particular historic, architectural, societal or other significance which are designated as being worthy of enhanced protection under the law. The degree to which a listed building can be modified is subject to additional scrutiny in the planning process and depends on the particular site’s listing designation.

There are 3 primary categories of listed building in Northern Ireland which operates a slightly modified version of the system found in the English planning system.

Grade A is reserved for ‘buildings of greatest importance to Northern Ireland including both outstanding architectural set-pieces and the least altered examples of each representative style, period and grouping.’

Grade B+ is for ‘buildings which might have merited grade A status but for detracting features such as an incomplete design, lower quality additions or alterations.’ and Grades B1 and B2 are for buildings which, while significant are of a more generic or less precious character.

Armagh Gaol is B+ listed and therefore the proposals must be designed with this in mind. The scheme is somewhat freer in this regard than might otherwise be presumed given the LBC has already been granted for the hotel scheme on the site which entails large degrees of demolitions and massive amounts of new build.

The front block of Armagh Gaol also sits within the Armagh Conservation Area and is therefore subject to the local authority’s statutory requirement to maintain the character of the conservation area.

The requirements for design within the conservation area have not been updated since 1992 and therefore the proposals will need to treat these as the most relevant design guidance for the local area.

Planning Context: Design Requirements for the Armagh Conservation Area

The Armagh Conservation Area as extended in 1992 has published guidelines explaining the design criteria that any proposals within its boundaries will be marked against.

The proposed scheme has been designed to meet these.

New Development pp.24-5 Whilst development in the conservation area is encouraged to be of a ‘traditional, classical’ design, ‘In certain places a sensitive, modernist style, could well enliven the local scene.’ This is the approach the scheme has adopted in line with the SPAB’s repair principles that; ‘New work should express modern needs in a modern language. These are the only terms in which new can relate to old in a way which is positive and responsive at the same time.’

Materiality p.24 The majority of the proposals visible from the streetscape will consist of the existing front block and boundary wall and therefore are well in keeping with the material character of the conservation area at large. The overhanging steel profile roof is however of a material character not seen currently within the CA, however due to its association with temporary buildings and construction facilities, it is argued that this material choice is appropriate in this setting and does not detract from the character of the surrounding buildings.

Neighbours Separate from, but related to the planning policy enforced within the Conservation Area is how the scheme addresses the needs and concerns of those dwelling in adjacent properties.

Specifically, the 6 houses which form the Gaol Square terrace must be preserved and disruption to these houses must be minimised during both the construction and the operation of the college. The most common objections formally registered against the planning application for the Osborne Group’s hotel proposal were concerned with the loss of parking and the possible issue of nighttime noise for local residents. The issue of night noise is minimised by the usual working hours of the college, and the issue of parking can be resolved by earmarking an area of parking for neighbouring properties off Gaol Square.

Proposed Roofscape

Roofscape p.25 As Armagh sits on and between a series of rolling hills and drumlins, staggered, ascending ridge and eave lines are common and add to the character of the historic townscape.

The Conservation Area Guidance demands that any new development within the CA boundary have a pitched roof and consider its roofscape as viewed from (a) a distance, (b) the street level and (c) above (as much of the city is overlooked by adjacent hills.

As shown, the proposed scheme adopts a pitched, sequentially descending roofline which mirrors the sloped gaol site on which it sits. This is both visually and architecturally interesting and keeps internal ceiling heights within a consistent range, whilst also respecting and referring to the traditional roofscapes of the surrounding area.

Stepped terrace and roof line.

Barracks Hill, Armagh, 06.07.18

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Strategic Context ‘Heritage Value’ and ‘Significance’ for Local Young People

Despite the prevalence of listed buildings in Armagh, the statutory designation of certain buildings as ‘important’ and therefore worth preserving is necessary to critique as it is often open to what is known as Authorised Heritage Discourse, which sees the opinions of local people and their significant places pushed aside in favour of the views of historians, architects and other experts.

Therefore, listed buildings may not necessarily have any relationship with the most loved or most used places and buildings in a given area.

In order to investigate what local young people find significant in their urban environment, a series of mapping workshops were carried out with apprentices at a local building college (the scheme’s intended users). This revealed clearly that the places significant to young people are completely different for the most part from official heritage designations.

It is therefore necessary to make the new build and conversion of the construction college on the gaol site of an architectural quality which will see it rise in importance for local people.

On the other hand, the teaching of young people within this heritage asset may go some way to addressing the problem of apathy towards the local historic built environment.

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In light of the previously discussed clash between official heritage designations and the significance given to certain places by that area’s resources, an (admittedly somewhat subjective) attempt at zoning Armagh Gaol in terms of its historic and societal significance has been attempted as a means of guiding the repair works and the design of the new school. It is noteworthy that this bears only a passing relationship to the age of the buildings in question.

The cell blocks and front range are viewed as being the most significant as they are both intrinsic to and emblematic of the gaol and a historic prison and are the only buildings within the site visible from the outside. Every attempt will be made to preserve and conserve these areas while finding appropriate uses which respect their historic integrity.

The boundary wall is deemed to be of lower significance due to previous modifications and its presence as merely one of a series of boundary lines within the historic gaol. It therefore presents an opportunity for more radical intervention.

Some elements built on site in recent years are deemed to be actively detrimental to a reading of the site and will therefore be demolished.

Significance High Significance Medium Significance Low Significance Detrimental Additions

Project Strategy: Gradations of Significance

Date of Construction c.1780 c.1810 1835-9 1846 1852 1889 c.1950 1976 (since demolished)

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Failure of skylights allowing water ingress to interior and degrading of cast iron access gantries. To be determined whether roof envelope additionally compromised

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Retaining wall now propped with steel supports.

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Due to water ingress, widespread dry rot is present in this area. All organic elements compromised and require treatment and / or removal.

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All organic elements previously removed from this section in 2001 repair works.

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Vulnerability High Degradation Medium Degradation Low Degradation

Project Strategy: Degrees of Vulnerability

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Internal Degradation Areas inaccessible due to structural instability during site visit 21.07.17

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Prop retaining wall with concrete buttresses.

Prop and support internal floors and gantries with structural failure or critical weakness.

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Begin stripping out organic material containing dry rot mycellae.

Repair or replace rotten structural timbers.

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Repair and replace glazing, leadwork, ironmongery, rainwater goods etc.

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The phasing of the new build elements of the scheme follows the sequential nature of the necessary repair works as a means of determining its direction and pace of expansion. This provides a clear logic to the expansion of the proposed school, and new construction sheds and workshops are built alongside those parts of the exiting buildings under repair at the point in time.

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Design Principles - Reuse of Existing Fabric Conversion of existing gaol into public / college library and archive

In order to justify the repair of the existing gaol buildings and the construction of significant amounts of new build on site,consideration must also be given to how the existing buildings (once stabilised and repaired) can be repurposed to the benefit of the proposed building skills training college.

Care must also be taken that all of the existing buildings on site are not re-designated by the scheme as to do so would preclude a plurality of functions and future uses and cut off important sources of funding.

The scheme will utilise parts of the existing fabric as and when needed, turning Cell Block A into temporary material storage and the former kitchens into the main plant room. On this page is shown the proposal to transform the front block of the gaol into a public / college library and reuse Cell Block B as environmentally controlled archival space. The hinge block, already in a ruinous state and arguably the nexus of the site’s troubled history given that it was the point from which prisoners were surveilled and controlled, is left as a ruin, symbolically marking the building as transitioning out of its difficult past into a more socially conscious role.

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Project Strategy: Material & Construction Hierarchy

The aforementioned phasing of the new school which is required by the sequencing of the repair and stabalisation works necessary on the existing gaol buildings implies a material hierarchy in the new build elements of the scheme.

In the initial phases, scaffolding, secondary roofing and work sheds around the site perimeter will be constructed from simple, butt-jointed timbers, allowing the works on site to commence as quickly and cheaply as possible.

The work sheds are subsequently infilled with floors and insulated interior spaces which become the school’s main workshop facilities. The construction of these inner volumes will be carried out to a higher quality of finish and the jointing techniques employed will be more complex to reflect the progression of the apprentices’ skill sets.

These workshops will then be used for highly specialised skills training such as CAD-based production techniques, advanced carpentry and cabinetry / furniture making.

Indeed, the phasing, structure and finish of the scheme can be viewed as an analogue of the hierarchy of joinery > carpentry > cabinetry in woodworking.

In this way the phasing of the scheme’s construction can be seen a parallel of the school’s curriculum, with simple forms and techniques continually supplemented by more complex and refined methods. Students at each level of their training will thereby be able to work on the building of the school itself simultaneously, despite their different skill levels and time spent in training.

Semester 1

Basic Skills & Techniques

Semester 2

Intermediate Skills & Techniques

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Advanced Skills & Techniques

Joinery Hierarchy Progression of Training Curriculum

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Through-Mortice & Tenon

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Mitred Corner Bridle

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Rabetted Mortice & Tenon

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Project Strategy: Design inspiration for new build elements derived from repair scaffolding

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Project Development: Test elevation

Project Resolution: Site Plan

The careful phasing of the project, derived from the necessary sequencing of critical repairs to the existing buildings on site, drives the continual expansion of the proposed construction stills training facility around the outer boundary wall of the existing site.

Viral training opportunities are gained from the repair of the historic gaol, the building of the new college and also from the proximity students have to such a vital (and difficult) part of the region’s recent history.

Spaces for interaction between students of all backgrounds are therefore a key consideration in the design as, for many students and apprentices joining the college, their enrolment will be the first time they will have been educated alongside their contemporaries from ‘the other side.’ The scheme also makes no attempts to shy away from the conflicts and disputes which inevitably arise in a school context, and instead seeks to create spaces which, in an agonistic manner, can be used to resolve these conflicts, again providing vital lessons the students can reuse back in wider society.

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The circulation for the scheme ramps up and around the significantly sloped site in order to allow for wheelchair access and ease of bulk material transport.

The external portions of the walkway are covered by projecting eaves from the main sheds to create arcades sheltered from inclement weather.

Alcoves inset from the main circulation zone on landings allow for passing places and create opportunities for quieter, more intimate moments to sit and relax off the main passageway.

All main entrances have benches, boot storage, lockers, coat hooks and wash basins in proximity for the convenience of the occupants and improved building upkeep.

Project Resolution: Parti Diagram of Circulation Zone

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Project Resolution: Urwarrpped Elevation showing Phasing -

Project Resolution: Model Photos

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Project Resolution: Model Photos

Inhabitation: Section through entrance and timber workshop

PERSPECTIVE SECTION 2

Title: Inhabitation: Subtitlethrough loading dock and Cell Block A temporarily repurposed as material storage Section

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PERSPECTIVE SECTION 3

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PERSPECTIVE SECTION 4

Inhabitation: Section through dining hall and canteen.

Project Resolution: External Elevation showing project interaction with wider cityscape

Changes envisioned resulting from the new college up to 2060

Impacts of Proposal upon Armagh’s Urban Form

Project Aspiration: Summary of proposals and pedagogical intent

iii. 2030.

Construction & Repair programmes move elsewhere. Students reconstruct parts of the historic gaol to learn about segregation & the prison’s troubled history.

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RESOLUTION

Technical Design: Overview

As a school for construction training and design, it is imperative that the project treats seriously the technical issues arising and engages with them in order to arrive at innovative and workable solutions given the budget and skills available.

As explored in sections 2 and 3, the design bases itself around a material hierarchy of construction and joinery techniques; itself informed by the necessary phasing of the project in parallel to the repair of the existing gaol and the development of the skills of the apprentices within the curriculum. This has clear implications on the structural strategy, given that the enclosed spaces which comprise the new-build elements of the scheme begin life as a series of covered, but open sheds which are subsequently infilled and thermally upgraded to provide the necessary environmental stability for more refined workshop spaces.

This ‘outside-in’ approach to phasing and construction poses unique challenges which the following section seeks to address and resolve.

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MODEL FACADE

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Material Strategy: Materiality of Proposals

The primary materials for the proposed scheme are whitewood (spruce) for the primary structure, birch ply for internal finishes and cladding and sacrificial pine flooring within the workshop spaces (easy to replace when / if damaged).

These materials are also used to construct the scaffolding for the repair of the existing buildings.

Likewise, the corrugated steel profile sheets used for lightweight secondary repair roofing will also be used as the primary roofing material for the new build elements of the scheme. Sections of this roofing will be substituted with translucent polycarbonate panels to the same profile, allowing light into the workshop spaces underneath.

From the outside, this roofing material, and the existing boundary wall of Mourne Granite will he the only parts of the scheme visible, aside from the punched apertures in the wall which will be inlaid with ply for visual contrast.

Construction Strategy: Detail Section 1:50

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UDL

Wind uplift at projecting eaves

Buttresses at 5m centres provide additional lateral bracing and support. Additionally, these members serve to hold down the overhanging roof structure in situations of wind uplift.

Member in tension

Member in compression Reaction force

Additional bracing for frame before internal volume and associated cross bracing is constructed. To be removed upon commencement of internal volume’s construction.

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Primary Structural Strategy:

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Truss Loading & Member Sizing

Member Sizing Wind Uplift - 0.5 - 1.1kN/m2 Snow Load - 0.6kN/m2 Self Weight - 0.5kN/m2 Additional Construction Loading - 0.5kN/m2 Total - 1.5kN/m2

= 1.5kN/m2 x 102 8 = 18.75kN BM = wl2 8

= approx. 15kN

Capacity of raw timber = 5kN/m2 Wind uplift at projecting eaves

Capacity of raw timber = 5kN/m2 15000N 5

Truss bearing on existing perimeter wall. This provide additional support and bracing against shear forces. SE to verify existing wall can bear extra loading before construction commences.

=3000mm2 = Chord Member dimension of 30 x 100mm Double for safety margin = Chord Member dimension of 60 x 100mm NB for trusses generally, connection details are critical to the ability to bear and transfer loads effectively

The new build portions of the scheme are supported structurally by a repeating and continuously expanding series of truss frames at 1m centres made from butt-jointed 100x60mm timber members and manufactured on site before being craned into position and fixed in place.

The use of a relatively deep truss allows for the large free-spans required for workshop facilities and machinery while their construction from many small timber members allows for easy delivery of materials to site and assembly by the apprentices at the college.

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Structural Strategy: Primary Structure & Demolitions Plan 1:400

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Butt Jointed Timber Frame

Stainless Steel Bolts

Steel Footing bolted to RC foundation

Reinforced Concrete Pile Foundation

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Structural Resolution: Timber column / Foundation Detail

The use of timber as the primary construction material poses particular problems in terms of how the structure is affixed to its foundations in the ground. Timber will rot if bearing on or in the wet soil and so the scheme envisages a series of reinforced concrete pile foundations which will project above ground level by approx. 350mm. To these piles will be fixed steel footings, which will in turn hold in place the timber columns supporting the primary trusses.

The use of pile foundations also has the added benefit of being minimally invasive to the existing fabric of the historic gaol and is potentially much more easily reversible than a concrete slab foundation if a future change of use requires this scheme’s removal.

Finally, uprights supported on pile foundations allow for a much greater degree of flexibility in internal floor levels, helping to deal with the uneven ground levels fund on site and which cannot be levelled without unacceptable degrees of alteration to the historic setting of the gaol.

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The proposed scheme physically separates its weatherproof and thermal envelopes due to the staged nature of the envisaged construction.

The outer (earlier) layer acts as a rain screen for the internal spaces as well as containing the primary structure.

This separation allows for increased ease of maintenance and replacement of worn / damaged parts.

Corrugated steel profile rain screen roof

Thermal Envelope Acoustic Envelope Ventilation / Extract Ducts

The timber-framed sheds are subsequently infilled with a thermally performant and environmentally controlled envelope, allowing for much more delicate and precise work to take place inside (in all weather conditions) and for the safe operation of the machinery and control systems required.

Due to the nature of the work taking place within the building which involves the creation of large amounts of sawdust, powdered stone and other particulate matter, the workshops will have to be mechanically ventilated and extracted.

Environmental Resolution: Primary considerations

Daylighting from windows & clerestory

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Skylights aligned with transparent roofing above (open inwards for cleaning and maintenance)

Significant source of noise within workshops

Point lights suspended above working plane

The envelopes are highly thermally and acoustically insulated, allowing for greater degrees of thermal comfort within the workshops and acceptable levels of noise without.

Daylighting is provided by window apertures punched through the existing boundary wall, clerestory above and skylights aligned with transparent sections of the primary roof above.

Additional artificial lighting is provided by spot-lights above the working plane.

The building is heated by a wood-chip furnace in the plant room in the former kitchen block.

This is able to use waste material from the college as additional fuel. Electric point heaters are located in external covered work spaces to increase comfort and productivity in cold weather.

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Title: Environmental Resolution: Subtitle considerations General

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Plan showing areas and degrees of thermal upgrade proposed

The degree to which the buildings on site are environmentally upgraded must be considered in conversation with the requirement to preserve the greatest possible quantity of the existing historic fabric. The cost of upgrades and the limited budget available must also be taken into account and therefore it is proposed that there should be a hierarchy of interventions to improve environmental performance depending primarily on the proposed use of the spaces in question.

Spaces to be used as archive storage will clearly need very specific degrees of environmental control not possible without significant intervention, whereas other areas e.g. material storage will require very little if any upgrade .

Environmental Resolution: Degrees of thermal upgrade to existing fabric

Title: Subtitle 1. Significant intervention Large improvement to environmental performance Significant alterations to existing fabric Archives and delicate material storage houses within insulated and mechanically conditioned envelopes constructed within existing cells.

2. Moderate intervention Moderate improvement to environmental performance Moderate alterations to existing fabric Cells and other areas intended for continuous inhabitation to be thermally upgraded but with minimal damage to their historic integrity. Techniques including re-plastering with insulating plaster, retrofitting insulation between floor structure and replacing floorboards and adding secondary double glazing to the interior of existing windows.

3. Modest / No Intervention Limited improvement to environmental performance Minimal alterations to existing fabric Certain ‘low-spec’ areas demanded by the programme such as material storage do not require any significant thermal or environmental upgrade beyond that which the gaol already provides. These spaces to be left more or less as found (excepting necessary repairs).

These spaces may however be upgraded in future to level 1 or 2 depending on changing programmatic requirements.

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Regulatory Alignment: Wheelchair access to site at present

As a historic prison, primarily constructed between 1780 and 1860, Armagh Gaol is not particularly easily to navigate for wheelchair uses. Problems include defensive level changes (with no lifts), narrow doorways (under 900mm wide) and the steeply sloping site itself which limits access. As several of these concerns are intrinsically linked to the historic character of the prison itself, due consideration must be given to the upgrading of accessibility, especially when this comes at the expense of historic fabric.

All decisions taking under the provisions of Part M of the UK Building Regulations - General Guidance 0.17 Historic Buildings (p. 13) and British Standard - BS 7913:2013 Guide to the conservation of historic buildings

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Title: Regulatory Alignment: Subtitle Accessibility of Proposed Scheme

Part M General Guidance 0.15 Educational Establishments From 2001, maintained schools no longer have exemption from Parts M and K and this scheme must therefore be compliant with the stipulations of both.

0.18 Historic Buildings ‘The need to conserve the special characteristics of such historic buildings must be recognised... In such work the aim should be to improve accessibility where and to the extent that it is practically.’possible, always provided that the work does not prejudice the character of the historic building, or increase the risk of long-term deterioration to the building fabric or fittings.

2.13 Doors to accessible entrances Door widths for new build elements to be compliant with the requirements set out in Table 2 (p. 25).

Existing door widths within the prison often fall below the 750mm wide requirement for accessibility for existing buildings set out in Table 2. Upon completion of site survey and accurate measurement of existing clear openings, those areas of the proposed programme designated for public use will be subject to door widening to meet the requirements. To be completed to Structural Engineer’s requirements. Number of doors to be widened is to be limited in as far as possible so as to preserve the integrity of the historic gaol.

2.7 Accessible Entrances Power-assisted doors, clear signage, overhead shelter and landings clear from any obstructions present at all primary building entrance.

M1 Access and use of buildings other than dwellings M2 Access to extensions to buildings other than dwellings

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1.18 On-site car parking and setting down Disabled accessible car parking spaces are located adjacent to the main entrance to the building. Additionally, level access is provided through the main gates on the east wall and south west corner of the site. Vehicle access for drop off is also possible through the east wall gate and the north west corner gate.

1.19 Ramped access (see also 3.52) Ramped access to main entrance provided at a slope of 1:20 with a going of 10m and appropriate clear landings at each end. Ramps within the school also allow for wheelchair access to all spaces excepting minor mezzanine levels. All ramps designed to 1:20 slopes with 10m goings or less.

3.29 Passenger Lifts All lifts added to the building to be compliant with the provisions set out in 3.34 (pp. 33-34).

As no lifts currently exist within the plan, and the adding of external lift cores is deemed to have an unacceptable negative impact on the external integrity of the existing buildings, lift cores are to be formed by the removal of sections of existing floor plates and subsequent levelling of walls to the shaft to suit. To be completed according to SE’s requirements.

External lift in the hinge block allows access to the first floor levels of the archive building and the material storage (former Cell Blocks B & A respectively.)

4.5 Audience and Spectator Facilities Proposed lecture theatre to be compliant with the provisions set out in 4.12 (pp. 39-40).

M3 Sanitary conveniences in extensions to buildings other than dwellings 5.1 Sanitary Accommodation in Buildings other than dwellings All proposed WCs (barring those in the changing facilities) to be designed as unisex.

All proposed accessible WCs to be compliant with the provisions set out in 5.5-5.10 (pp. 47-49) At least one wheelchair accessible unisex WC cubicle to be provided to each area of the building. (see plan overleaf).

Additional ambulant cubicles provided in the main toilet blocks.

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Title: Regulatory Alignment: Subtitle Fire Strategy - Ground Floor

Part B B1 Means of Warning & Escape

B3 Internal Fire Spread (Structure)

Fire detectors & alarms located throughout the building with additional visual alarms for those hard of hearing.

Timber members to be sized so as to remain structurally integral through charring for 30mins (60mins within 1800mm of escape route). To Structural Engineer’s requirements.

All escape distances are within acceptable limits for a building of this type (45m in two directions and 25m in a single direction).

All facades within 1800mm of an external escape route to be of fire resisting construction up to a height of 1100mm.

Automatic sprinkler systems installed in high risk areas such as material storage in former Cell Block A. Fire compartments created between high risk areas of new build. Existing elements compartmentalised by the removal of the hinge block between Cell Blocks A & B. Self closing fire doors to all fire compartments and escape routes and lobbies.

Escape stair cores to be kept spartan in design and free from any combustible materials.

B2 Internal Fire Spread (Linings) Fire extinguishers to be located throughout the building mounted on walls of fire resisting construction and clearly signposted.

Fire extinguishers not to be water-based due to the electrical hazard in the plant and workshop areas.

Greater regularity of fire extinguishers within areas of greater risk (e.g. plant, laser cutter room, kitchen etc.)

Fire walls

compartments of 60min

to fire

be separated by resisting construction.

Internal finishes to be treated to reduce fire spread.

Steel connecting pieces to be likewise fire resistant and designed to resist progressive collapse.

Fire in

compartments order to

to be prevent

structurally independent progressive collapse.

All structure to escape routes, including external walkways to be fire rated up to 60mins.

Existing cells constructed out of load baring masonry with wooden floors and cast iron gantries. Assessment of fire rating to be carried out on each to determine appropriate fire strategy.

B4 External Fire Spread Site is self-contained and separate from surrounding buildings, thus reducing the risk of external fire spread.

Fuel storage etc. to be sited in lowest-lying areas so as to prevent fire spread by free-slowing combustible material.

B5 Access for Fire Services Surrounding roads (Gaol Square & Grange Road) allow uninterrupted fire engine access to 80% of building perimeter.

Additionally, vehicle entrances on east wall and north west corner allow potential access to the interior of the site for fire vehicles.

Total building area (existing and extension) totals 6889m2 and facade height is under 11m in all instances. This means that according to Part B5 16.1, Table 19 (p. 108) vehicle access is required to 15% of the building perimeter. This requirement is more than met due to the conditions outlined above.

Dry shafts

risers and

incorporated stair cores

into with

protected lift external valves.

Hydrants located around building perimeter at intervals no greater than 90m. Additional hydrants dispersed within the site boundary (see plan overleaf).

N.B. Due to the significant and unique challenges of upgrading a historic prison such as Armagh gaol to meet Part B, it is envisaged that a fire engineer would be required as a consultant to the design team in order to formulate a specific fire strategy taking into account the unique circumstances of the site.

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Title: Regulatory Alignment: Subtitle Fire Strategy - First Floor

Part B B1 Means of Warning & Escape

B3 Internal Fire Spread (Structure)

Fire detectors & alarms located throughout the building with additional visual alarms for those hard of hearing.

Timber members to be sized so as to remain structurally integral through charring for 30mins (60mins within 1800mm of escape route). To Structural Engineer’s requirements.

All escape distances are within acceptable limits for a building of this type (45m in two directions and 25m in a single direction).

All facades within 1800mm of an external escape route to be of fire resisting construction up to a height of 1100mm.

Automatic sprinkler systems installed in high risk areas such as material storage in former Cell Block A. Fire compartments created between high risk areas of new build. Existing elements compartmentalised by the removal of the hinge block between Cell Blocks A & B. Self closing fire doors to all fire compartments and escape routes and lobbies.

Escape stair cores to be kept spartan in design and free from any combustible materials.

FIRE FF

B2 Internal Fire Spread (Linings)

Fire extinguishers to be located throughout the building mounted on walls of fire resisting construction and clearly signposted.

Fire extinguishers not to be water-based due to the electrical hazard in the plant and workshop areas.

Greater regularity of fire extinguishers within areas of greater risk (e.g. plant, laser cutter room, kitchen etc.)

Fire walls

compartments of 60min

to fire

be separated by resisting construction.

Internal finishes to be treated to reduce fire spread.

Steel connecting pieces to be likewise fire resistant and designed to resist progressive collapse.

Fire in

compartments order to

to be prevent

structurally independent progressive collapse.

All structure to escape routes, including external walkways to be fire rated up to 60mins.

Existing cells constructed out of load baring masonry with wooden floors and cast iron gantries. Assessment of fire rating to be carried out on each to determine appropriate fire strategy.

B4 External Fire Spread Site is self-contained and separate from surrounding buildings, thus reducing the risk of external fire spread.

Fuel storage etc. to be sited in lowest-lying areas so as to prevent fire spread by free-slowing combustible material.

B5 Access for Fire Services Surrounding roads (Gaol Square & Grange Road) allow uninterrupted fire engine access to 80% of building perimeter.

Additionally, vehicle entrances on east wall and north west corner allow potential access to the interior of the site for fire vehicles.

Total building area (existing and extension) totals 6889m2 and facade height is under 11m in all instances. This means that according to Part B5 16.1, Table 19 (p. 108) vehicle access is required to 15% of the building perimeter. This requirement is more than met due to the conditions outlined above.

Dry shafts

risers and

incorporated stair cores

into with

protected lift external valves.

Hydrants located around building perimeter at intervals no greater than 90m. Additional hydrants dispersed within the site boundary (see plan overleaf).

N.B. Due to the significant and unique challenges of upgrading a historic prison such as Armagh gaol to meet Part B, it is envisaged that a fire engineer would be required as a consultant to the design team in order to formulate a specific fire strategy taking into account the unique circumstances of the site.

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Regulatory Alignment: CDM Planning

Elimination

Reduction

Hazardous Materials

Detailed survey of existing buildings to be carried out prior to commencement of works to establish presence of asbestos etc. To be removed safely if discovered.

Workers to be given appropriate safety training in the handling of hazardous materials and appropriate safety equipment and clothing.

Temporary Structural Instability

Structure to be built sequentially to avoid risk of progressive collapse.

Temporary bracing to be used as necessary.

Falls from Height

Workers at height to be given appropriate safety harnesses when required.

Temporary handrails and balustrades to be fitted as soon as possible to high surfaces.

Falling Objects

Areas of risk identified and cordoned off whilst dangerous work is taking place above.

Safety nets fixed in place.

Hardpoints for harnesses for cleaning to be fitted at 8m centres along roofscape

Cleaning and maintenance not to be attempted in inclement weather conditions.

Hard hats compulsory on site.

Fall from / Through Roof

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Roofs to be constructed to withstand additional point load from cleaner & equipment.

Injury from Equipment

Students to be supervised at all times.

Appropriate safety training given to all using equipment on site.

Smoking not permitted in high risk areas.

Vehicle Collisions

Loading areas to have controlled access.

Clear signage for vehicle accessible areas.

All vehicles on site to be brightly coloured and equipped with suitable audio-visual alarms.

Drivers, students and staff to be given appropriate traing to be aware of risk.

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Regulatory Alignment:

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Health & Safety in Operation

As the project formulates itself around the unique training experiences offered by live project, and the fact that its primary occupants will be minors (aged 15-20), the health and safety planning and provision for the scheme is critical, so that learning can take place in a safe and regulated environment.

A full health and safety action plan for the operation of the school will be required before opening. This will need to be continually updated as the buildings on site are extended.

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Project Implementation: Inciting Incident

Project Implementation:: Repair Works Tendering

Project Implementation: Potential Funding Sources

Project Implementation: Cost Estimate - Up to completion of Phase 1

Total Gross Floor Area (New Build):

5130 m2

Total Gross Floor Area (Existing):

1738 m2

Gross Floor Area (New Build - Enclosed - Phase 1):

490 m2

Gross Floor Area (New Build - External - Phase 1):

291 m2

Area of Demolitions:

75 m2

Equipment Costs approx.:

40%

Contractor Prelims & Profits:

10%

Contingency (percentage of total build costs):

10%

Architects’ Fees

7%

Other Design Team Fees:

3%

Cost per m2 of New Build*

£710

Repair / Stabalisation / Enabling works estimate:

£2,000,000

GFA x Cost per m2 ((490 +291) x 710)

£554,000

With Equipment Costs (0.4 x 554,000) + 554,000

£775,000

With Contractor Costs (0.1 x 775,000) + 775,000

£852,500

With Contingency (0.1 x 852,500) + 852,500

£938,000

With Architects’ & Other Fees (0.1 x 938,000) + 852,500

£1,031,775

TOTAL:

£3,031,775

Funding is a critical aspect of this scheme as a low cost for the proposals is essential to make this a viable alternative to the hotel proposals currently planned for the site. Low material costs coupled with the savings granted by using apprentices to carry out much of the work in exchange for vital training will help to keep costs under control.

For comparison, the hotel proposal currently has a budget of £20m and is currently stalled because the developer claims to require an additional £2m from the local government.

This scheme will unlock potential funding from the local council who own the site, to be supplemented by the Southern Regional College (end user) and various charitable organisations with interested in integrated education such as Atlantic Philanthropies will also be approached Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/601846/industrial-building-cost-uk-2016/

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Project Implementation:: Building Preservation Trust formed as management body / client

Project Implementation: HLF Funding Secured

NB - A Management Contracting procurement approach has been illustrated here as this approach is deemed to offer some benefits to the proposed project over the main alternative for this scheme; traditional procurement. Whilst management contracting places a higher degree of liability on the client, which is sub-optimal in this case, the benefits of bringing in a construction expert into the project team at an early stage would produce a considerable benefit to a project which prioritises repair and refurbishment works as a training exercise for local youths.

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