Integrated Design Report - Edinburgh Music School

INTEGRATED

INSTITUTE

OF

DESIGN

CONTEMPORARY

REPORT

MUSIC

AND

PERFORMANCE

KINGS

STABLES

ROAD

Donal J Hardy Yr 4 050007429

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CONTENTS Introduction Integrated design Appendices

(A) (B) (C) (D) (E) (F) (G)

Unit Groupwork Site Site analysis /masterplanning Brief Precedent Design development/process Technology MP+L

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Introduction Located in Edinburgh, the site that will be the premises for this years Integrated design project is on a length of road that,

through

our

investigation

into

the

area,

has

been

coined the ‘dirty mile’. (see appendices A). From a number of possible sites along this study area, the first site was chosen for a number of reasons.

In the area of Edinburgh there are no purpose built facilities to the teaching of contemporary music and performance.

The

facilities

teaching tion. of

While

adults

in

children

the

wider

from

facilities

are

located

area

primary that

in

are

the

are

mainly

focused

through

secondary

focused

on

university

and

the are

on

educa-

education somewhat

closed from the general public.

Edinburgh has a rich and vibrant contemporary music, however,

it

is

laden

with

the

classical

music

image.

While

Glasgow has a number of contemporary music facilities that teach

innovative

technology

and

composition.

Edinburgh

is

lacking and requires a purpose built facility that encourages

public

participation

and

promotion

of

contemporary

music in Edinburgh.

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The

study

area

Grassmarket

and

itself Cowgate

has

a

strong

having

many

music

presence

locations

with

with small

venues in which music thrives. However, with many of these being

the

locations

of

bars

and

clubs,

it

may

not

be

the

best location for an education facility, however with the first

site

having

such

an

inspirational

setting

in

close

proximity to the castle, It would we an ideal location for a educational and creative institution of a series of which that could make of a Masterplan.

The

site

on

Kings

Stables

Road

is

adjacent

to

the

castle

and currently is the location of a multi-story car park. As a prominent city centre location next to Edinburgh’s most recognisable landmarks it has great potential to something more. A challenge that will be taken on through this design project and investigation.

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SITE ACCESS This site has a number of directions from which it can be approached. The main access for the public who will be using the proposed music school and film school on the site will be along castle Terrace.

To promote the sites connection to the landscaped area of Princes Gardens as well as the pedestrian route that is exits onto Kings Stables Road, this will be made into a pedestrian zone allowing for some soft landscaping to move onto the master plan strategy. So how are the buildings serviced? This could have been achieved by using the pedestrian areas as an access point for delivery vehicles etc. However, this would have meant that the service areas are in full view on what could be the most desirable area the schemes. As a result a service road is run along the back of the site allowing for all buildings on the site to be services without any disturbance to the pedestrian zone.

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CHURCH BUILDINGS. Two of many landmarks

that

puncture

the

Edinburgh

skyline EDINBURGH momument.

CASTLE:

Key

Important

historical

internation-

ally as well as nationally.

COUNCIL OFFICES: 70’s office block with limited architectural merit.

EDINBURGH

NEW

TOWN:

Part

of

world

heritage site has strong grid system.

EDINBURGH road

at

OLD the

TOWN:

Kings

begining

Stables

of

‘Dirty

Mile’ retains some of the qualities of the old town.

PRINCES STREET GARDENS: Historically,

the

site

formed

part

of

these

gardens before multi-storey carpark was constructed

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SITE CONTEXT The site of Kings Stables road is situated in quite an awkward

position.

It

located

at

the

junction

of

3

very

dif-

ferent conditions, The strong grid of the new town to the south, the green landscaping of Princes St gardens and it the site itself has much of the same character that is highlight though the study area and the old town of Edinburgh.

Not to mention the dominance that the castle has over the site. A proposal that would fit into the new town urban gain would be unsuitable as it would be ignoring the parkland and old town. A Proposal using the old town as influence would be ignoring the new town and the gardens. What is required from the site is an independent response to its context. The proposal must be able to stand alone as having a character of its own and site within its context. With regard to the sensitivity of building adjacent to a world heritage monument, this approach is given license by the buildings that are in the immediate area, In particular there is a block of council offices (marked in red) alongside the site that is in equal proximity to the castle. This a 10 storey 70’s office

block

with

questionable

architectural

merit.

With

this in mind, a proposal that may be ‘tall’ is acceptable provided that it remains in proportion to the scale of its context.

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INITIAL DESIGN IDEAS The scheme has gone through a number of changes in concept and organisation before arriving at the solution as demonstrated in this report. See Appendices E

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SITE MASTERPLANNING Left: thumb nail images of master plannig responses. A number of these were done and the masterplan developed through out the design process.

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SITE RESPONSE/ STRATEGY Taking all the key factors into account, the strategy for dealing with a site comprises of a number of key moves.

The geometry of the adjacent new town grid will be retained by keeping the vistas from these streets

free from building (yellow band), There will be three building on the site that sits on a ‘plinth’ that will mediate between Castle Terrace and Kings Stables Road. All three buildings that make up the strategy are of an educational function or institution. To the north end a community arts centre, the middle a school for contemporary music and performance and the south end of the site a Edinburgh Film School, all of which are connected by pedestrian route along the site (marked in red). These buildings are stepped along the site around this main route to create a number of different spaces between the buildings along Castle Terrace.

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Site model

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View: Castle Terrace

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SITE RESPONSE/ STRATEGY In addition to the general massing of the site, other issues were taken into consideration with regards to the general site strategy. In order to emphasis that these 3 building on the site are part of an over all educational complex, as a result they share an overriding architectural language that consist of multiple vertical members and rhythm. This is an appropriate strategy as this allows for uniform style that can be applied across the site easily while allowing for relative freedom to design the internal program of each individual scheme. See elevation below

As all the schemes on the site are using the axial route to orientate around, so too have the entrances

to each of the buildings. See diagram to the right.

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SITE RESPONSE/ STRATEGY The shared architectural language does not stop at just the rhythmic treatment of the facades. By splitting them up into a top, middle and bottom type arrangement it will reinforced the visual connection between them.

On the lower levels the spacing of the vertical elements/ columns is wider and creates a colonnade type arrangement. Encouraging public interaction with the buildings, the upper levels are then split into a middle and top, with the top piece being the lighter and the middle grounding the buildings to their surroundings.

Other aspects of the site strategy include the sharing of plant facilities. In particular between the music and film schools that have larger volume spaces (such as lecture theatres and cinemas) that are not necessarily used all the time.

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INTEGRATED DESIGN

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Programme Organisation The

organisation

program

has

of

been

the

set

buildings

out

from

an

early stage. The subterranean service

along

the

back

of

the

site

allows for the direct servicing of the main public areas of the building such as the venue and the café/ bar/

restaurant

back

of

areas.

house

All

of

the

accommodation

re-

quired for this accommodation will be

located

on

a

plinth

on

which

all servicing will be arranged. The main public spaces of the building such

as

the

venue

and

the

lecture

theatre’s do not require access to sun

light

lower

so

levels

locating is

a

key

them

on

move.

the With

all the large volume accommodation being located and organised in the lower

levels,

all

that

is

left

is

the private school cellular accommodation such as the studio spaces and class rooms. These are stacked to form a ‘tower’ type element that externally appears to sit independently on a plinth.

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The Diagram While the diagram to the left shows the scheme at a different orientation. The basic principles of the diagram remain constant

in

the

finished

scheme.

The

building will accommodate a number of different aspects.

Firstly

flects

an

the

master

connection

plan

between

re-

all

3

buildings on the site (red arrow). Of these three buildings the music school is

the

middle.

As

a

result

the

build

will be neither starting nor terminating this route, it will feed into and draw

from

it.

The

route

moves

under

and into the main public spaces of the scheme. The main venue will be open directly onto the route to and will have no solid walls or partitions. This is to

encourage

by

people

cilities

spontaneous

who

may

be

as

the

such

performance

using

other

café/bar

fa-

which

occupies the same space,

As

tates, ject

the

the

master

buildings

buildings

that

plan will sit

also act

on

dic-

as

a

ob-

plinth

created along the site. In the case of the music school, the private cellular accommodation is stacked into a light weight ‘tower’ like element. This sits in

contrast

to

the

public

accommoda-

tion that will appear much heavier as the subterranean aspect of the scheme.

As the tower element site independent of the plinth, the street edge of castle

terrace

is

addressed

by

a

heavy

element that appears to be part of this plinth

that

‘floats’

and

accommodates

the library and IT suite required for the private school.

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VENUE: A SPACE TO PERFORM One of the driving concept of the music school is the idea that music and performance come hand in hand and it is very much part of the day to day activity of the school. Those who use the school facilities will be individuals who are not afraid of performing and are likely willing to perform whenever possible. As a result the main public venue of the building has been opened up and become part of the same space that is the cafĂŠ/bar as well as the main route that connects all educational facilities on the master plan. To encourage the venue as being a space that could be more readily occupied, a visual connection to the park is made by glazing the back wall of the venue. There will be no fixed seating in the venue also as it forms part of the main route so this would be inappropriate, In addition to this it encourages people to use the space in a more free way. If someone would prefer to perform on a step, they may do so.

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Cork school off music: Studio

Design Agenda As a school of contemporary music and performance, the main design agenda is focused around creating spaces that are spaces for the users of the building that will inspire and promote creativity. To bring light back into the practise spaces and make a connection to exterior. In the pursuit of acoustically and environmentally perfect spaces can result in studio spaces that are not particularly inspirational. Left shows how the pursuit of this has resulted in the having small slit windows that are not open-able and the ad-

Cork school off music: Acoustic Wall Panel

dition of acoustic panels to create flexible acoustics and sounds separation.

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Plan: Level -2

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CIRCULATION The

main

vertical

circula-

tion of the building is done by

a

stair

way

that

through

cellular created

space. by

carves

the

The

this

its

‘boring’ spaces

stair

mov-

ing though the building act as break out spaces for the studio

and

tween

classrooms

lessons.

By

be-

having

the stair open it allows for visual

connections

between

floors and gives the ‘tower’ a unified feel, rather than a tower block with each floor being treated independently from another. dition

to

protected north

In

this, fire

there core

adis

to

a

the

corner

of

the

build-

ing.

However

as

the

scheme

is

stories

high

7

there

is

a fire regulations requirement

for

a

second

means

of

escape. Therefore, the main circulation stair, while it may

be

an

open

engineering propose used

as

may

be

Fire

used

to

this

stair

is

second

means

of

that a

stair.

escape.

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Design sketches: Circulation

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FIRE ENGINEERING With a completely open stair acting as a second means of escape, it

is

proposed

that

fire

engi-

neering could be used to make the open

stair

route area

as of

occupancy

viable

as

the

tower

low

fire

is

and

escape

itself risk

is

and

relatively

low

an its at

approximately 180 people at full capacity. The primary system employed in the stair way is a smoke extract system that will be activated

in

the

event

of

an

alarm.

In addition, on each floor there are fire doors, that are normally held open by electro magnets, that close to make each the area around

each

open

stair

a

lobby.

See Appendix F for complete fire strategy report

LEVEL 04

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Plan: Level -1

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/ SUSTAINABILITY The

main

overriding

material

that

is

evident

throughout the building is its concrete frame. The reason

for

which

is

primarily

qualities that could

for

its

aesthetic

not be achieved though using

steel or other construction methods. However, concrete is a material that has a high embodied energy in

its

manufacture

and

might

not

readily

be

con-

siders as a sustainable material for construction.

However, the design of the building addresses the issue

of

sustainability

in

a

number

of

different

ways.

Firstly,

to

help

address

the

issue

of

the

concrete, Much of the building is divided up into repeated

structural

formwork

that

is

members,

use

during

This its

for

the

construction

allow

can

be re used repeatedly on other parts of the scheme.

Plant,

located

in

the

shared

block

between

the music and film school there is plant that services all the lecture theatres/cinemas and venues on ing

the of

low

levels

plant

and

of

the

two

facilities

schemes.

allows

for

The a

shar-

reduced

amount of plant for the same amount of facilities.

The orientation of the building on the site

also helps with the sustainability criteria as it aligns

itself

with

the

prevailing

wind.

Thereby

reducing the amount of wind turbulance around the building, and

in

small

addition

width

this

allows

a

for

south

facing

natural

atrium

ventilation

either by stack effect or by single side

Site plan : Building orientation key to its environmental strategy

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Plan: Level 00

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MAIN ENTRANCE The

main

entrance

and

re-

ception to the building is the

first

occasion

where

the user is made aware of the

public

the

site.

the

public

the it

axial from

route As

a

you

through

member

over

and

view

route

a

of

walk

higher

vantage

point before moving around and

down

to

connect

with

the route and use the facilities.

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Plan: Level 01

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Plan: Level 01

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Plan: Level 02

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LIBRARY- ‘THE ARM’ DETAIL CONSTRUCTION SECTION

Detail Section 1:25

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Plan: Level 03

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STRUCTURAL STRATEGY A

predominantly

structure, lar

the

light

tower

accommodation

is

weight

of

cellu-

made

up

of

narrow Glass reinforced concrete columns and

of

800mm

1400mm

around

floor

plates.

floor when

only deep

plate

150mm at

a

the

edge

This

frees

areas

planning

in

for

each

width

spacing of

of the

up

the

freedom

floor.

Each

column supports the floors via a 500mm deep concrete beam spanning at

maximum

14m.

This

structural

system is made rigid a reinforced concrete escape core running the entire This

height

of

structural

throughout

the

the

building.

systemn building

is

used

and

is

not merely a structural solution.

It informs both aesthetic and environemtal strategy.

The

porting down

concrete

the

into

library

the

columns are

public

sup-

carryed

levels

on

-2 and helps to define the axial route through the site.

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Plan: Level 04

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STRUCTURAL STRATEGY Externaly the uniformaty of the structural grid is ever present as it wraps around the building. The appearance of this

facade

will

change

depending

on

where you observe it from and as you move around or past it.

The cellular accomodation in of

the building can be easily identified by two aspects of the design from the exterior. tion the

For

space inner

studio

the edge

and

breakout glazing of

the

classroom

and is

circula-

located

column

spaces

on

while

push

the

glazing to the outter face of the columns.

In addition to this, the cellu-

lar accomodation of the tower of studios

and

facade

classrooms

appears

inform

depending

on

how how

this the

spaces are being used. Between each of the columns in these studios are timber panel shutters, that can be opened or

closed

giving

the

facade

an

ever

changing dynamic appearance.

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Plan: Level 05

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STUDIOS / CLASSROOMS While

the

timber

panel

shutters

give

the

external

faรงade a dynamic appearance externally, internally they serve a more practical purpose. They are used to control any solar glare that may effect the spaces

(particularly

on

the

south

facing

facades).

In

addition, these panels may be used to give a level of control of sound within the space by covering the hard glass surface that reflects sound.

Artificial

commodation between that

is

each

light

is

lighting

achieved

beam

within

by

a

spanning

reflected

off

the

simple the the

cellular light

room

directed

underside

ac-

fitting of

so the

Detail C Plan - 1:20

Detail B Section - 1:20

exposed concrete slab.

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Plan: Level 06

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Ventilation Strategy The orientation of the atrium in the building allows for the stack effect to take place. Throughout the day the air in the atrium is heated is

and rises to the top and

exhausted

through

vents

that

are electrically controlled. This in

turn

pulls

air

in

from

the

classrooms and studio spaces (see plan)

and

ventilating

of

the

building.

of

ventilation

all

Other

were

areas method

considered

though the design process including

double

(See

skin

appendix

double

skin

faรงade

E).

The

facade

method.

use

was

of

a

regected

from teh design for two reasons.

It was decided that the potential gain of a complex double skin facade

system

on

a

building

witha

footprint width of only 14m would be

minimal

as

well

as

being

an

un nessisary expensive system for a

scheme

pendix

F

of for

this

scale.

full

strategy report

See

Ap-

environmental

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Plan: Level 07

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43

Plan: Level 05

44

Plan: Level 05

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