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