Royal Irish Academy of Music

The Royal Irish Academy of Music

A New Premises on Thomas Street

David O’ Brien C05812755

Proposed Site Plan

Typology Study Industrial Residential Apartment Religious Commercial Office Educational

The site occupies a site between busy Thomas Street and the quiet Hanbury Lane. It is adjacent to St Catherines Church, an important church historically, the plaza in front of which was once an important urban gathering space. The church acts as a fullstop Thomas Street, with the Cornmarket providing the punctuation at the other end. What is special about Thomas Street is the sense of continuity and spectacle; the street facade is continuous, with almost no derelict sites from end to end, and heavily populated with trades and crafts that are visible from the street, as well as the presence of street sellers adding to this.

Top Left:

Interior of St. Catherines Church during renovation

Centre Left:

Interior of St. Catherines Church during renovation

Bottom Left:

St Catherines Church

Top Right:

Street Seller on Thomas St

Below:

Interior of St. Catherines Church

Initial design

The concept began as a school of artistic craft visually displaying it’s contents to the street above a subterranean world, inhabited by the Opera House. I established early on that the visual connection to the street must be performative; therefore only Group Rehearsal Spaces were allowed to face directly onto the street, offering performance to passers by.

Top Left:

Sketch of the Current Condition

Centre Left:

Sketch of Proposed Concept

Below:

Sketched Concept Section

Top Right:

Sketched plan and early section

Early Model Studies

The project developed around a courtyard scheme, designed to create a number of spaces as a sequence; the park behind St. Catherines Church leads to the internal courtyard leads to the Opera underground, or could lead to the Orchestra Hall in St. Catherines Church itself. The sequence of spaces from above ground to the Opera Hall becamethe area of greatest focus in the project.

Site Plan

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Section 1/500

Early Model Studies

A tectonic idea began to develop out of a concern for acoustics without compromising quality of light and ventilation. As no rehearsal room is deeper than 7 metres, all rooms should be naturally ventilated, though this is problematic given how busy the street is. The solution was to recess all of the windows by 1200mm, allowing for each ope to feed light into 4 rooms; one directly ahead, two to either side and one below. The lining of the ope, cedar, would help to absorb noise, meaning the rooms remain quiet, well lit from naturallight and controllable by the user.

Above:

Each Ope brings light into the two adjacent rooms, the room below and the room directly ahead

Below:

Concept sketch of the rooms varying light conditions

Right:

Sketched Concept Section

Left: Right:

Study Elevation Study Section

Detailed Design

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Site Plan

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4 1 Reception and Box Office 2 Cafe 3 Group Ensemble Rooms 4 Room Type A 5 Room Type B 6 Room Type C 7 Percussion Tuition Room 8 WC 9 Foyer 10 Technical Box 11 Balcony 12 Fly Loft 13 Directors Area 14 Make Up Room 15 Changin Rooms 16 Bar 17 Auditorium 18 Orchestra 19 Stage 20 Prop Store 21 Green Room 22 Library 23 Office 24 Doctorate Study

Ground Floor

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1 Reception and Box Office 2 Cafe 3 Group Ensemble Rooms 4 Room Type A 5 Room Type B 6 Room Type C 7 Percussion Tuition Room 8 WC 9 Foyer 10 Technical Box 11 Balcony 12 Fly Loft 13 Directors Area 14 Make Up Room 15 Changin Rooms 16 Bar 17 Auditorium 18 Orchestra 19 Stage 20 Prop Store 21 Green Room 22 Library 23 Office 24 Doctorate Study

Upper Theatre Floor

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1 Reception and Box Office 2 Cafe 3 Group Ensemble Rooms 4 Room Type A 5 Room Type B 6 Room Type C 7 Percussion Tuition Room 8 WC 9 Foyer 10 Technical Box 11 Balcony 12 Fly Loft 13 Directors Area 14 Make Up Room 15 Changin Rooms 16 Bar 17 Auditorium 18 Orchestra 19 Stage 20 Prop Store 21 Green Room 22 Library 23 Office 24 Doctorate Study

Lower Theatre Floor

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1 Reception and Box Office 2 Cafe 3 Group Ensemble Rooms 4 Room Type A 5 Room Type B 6 Room Type C 7 Percussion Tuition Room 8 WC 9 Foyer 10 Technical Box 11 Balcony 12 Fly Loft 13 Directors Area 14 Make Up Room 15 Changin Rooms 16 Bar 17 Auditorium 18 Orchestra 19 Stage 20 Prop Store 21 Green Room 22 Library 23 Office 24 Doctorate Study

1st Floor

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1 Reception and Box Office 2 Cafe 3 Group Ensemble Rooms 4 Room Type A 5 Room Type B 6 Room Type C 7 Percussion Tuition Room 8 WC 9 Foyer 10 Technical Box 11 Balcony 12 Fly Loft 13 Directors Area 14 Make Up Room 15 Changin Rooms 16 Bar 17 Auditorium 18 Orchestra 19 Stage 20 Prop Store 21 Green Room 22 Library 23 Office 24 Doctorate Study

2nd Floor

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1 Reception and Box Office 2 Cafe 3 Group Ensemble Rooms 4 Room Type A 5 Room Type B 6 Room Type C 7 Percussion Tuition Room 8 WC 9 Foyer 10 Technical Box 11 Balcony 12 Fly Loft 13 Directors Area 14 Make Up Room 15 Changin Rooms 16 Bar 17 Auditorium 18 Orchestra 19 Stage 20 Prop Store 21 Green Room 22 Library 23 Office 24 Doctorate Study

3rd Floor

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1 Reception and Box Office 2 Cafe 3 Group Ensemble Rooms 4 Room Type A 5 Room Type B 6 Room Type C 7 Percussion Tuition Room 8 WC 9 Foyer 10 Technical Box 11 Balcony 12 Fly Loft 13 Directors Area 14 Make Up Room 15 Changin Rooms 16 Bar 17 Auditorium 18 Orchestra 19 Stage 20 Prop Store 21 Green Room 22 Library 23 Office 24 Doctorate Study

4th Floor

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1 Reception and Box Office 2 Cafe 3 Group Ensemble Rooms 4 Room Type A 5 Room Type B 6 Room Type C 7 Percussion Tuition Room 8 WC 9 Foyer 10 Technical Box 11 Balcony 12 Fly Loft 13 Directors Area 14 Make Up Room 15 Changin Rooms 16 Bar 17 Auditorium 18 Orchestra 19 Stage 20 Prop Store 21 Green Room 22 Library 23 Office 24 Doctorate Study

4th Floor

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Section AA

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Street Elevation

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Sedum Roof

London Stock Brick Sustainably Sourced Cedar Panels

Limecrete Polished Floor Ecocem: GGBS cement with recycled coarse aggregate from Laragh Quarry, County Wicklow The recessed opening allows for maximum lighting for a minimum number of wall opes, minimising acoustic interference Double Glazed, double hung windows allow for a controlled level of natural ventilation

Cedar Lining on 25mm batons absorbs noise in the upper part of the room and creates an air gap between rooms for a reduction in acoustice transfer

Polished reflective surface reflects sound back up, and the separation between floors minimises acoustic transfer

Part Elevation and Section

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Top Left Top Right

Birds Eye VIew from North East From West

Bottom Left

From South West

Bottom Right

View from Above

Model Studies of Rehearsal Room

Model Studies of Rehearsal Room

Model Studies of Rehearsal Room

Skecthes