Contents Precedent Explanation
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Figure 2 / Section
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Structure (Text)
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Figure 4 / Floor Plan
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Figure 5 / Site Plan
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Elevation
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Relationship with environment
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Model making process
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Reflective summary
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Referencing
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Precedent Explanation The precedent I chose to focus on was De Royal Belgian Sailing Club. Designed by architectural practice Wim Goes Architectuur, and opened in 2013, this stunning contemporary and mostly transparent structure opens up its interior to its Figure 1: Photo courtesy of Filip Dujardin beautiful surroundings, allowing a ray of natural light to fill its interior space. With a marina on one side of the structure and a container port on the other, the architects designed the structure around its surrounding environment, a structure that conforms to both culture and economy, for the sole purpose of the sailing club members. What stood out to me about this structure was its open frame, naked kind of feel, with its dominant feature being its pine beams and open frame transparency. Constructed from the melting and cooling of one of the planets most abundant materials, silica, glass is one of the most rewarding materials available to us, for the pure fact that it gives us transparency as well as stability. It’s history dates back around 5,000 years, and to this day, it’s used in almost every human endeavour, changing the way we connect with and conform to our surroundings. Without glass, our architectural connection with the outside world would be very much limited, and our enclosed spaces would be dimly lit, and allow no natural light whatsoever.
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Figure 2: Section 1:200
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The Structure
The structure’s plans and dominant features call for a dynamic use; the laminated pine beams are surrounded by an unheated passage of single glazed, steel structured windows. The structure’s passage provides solar gains and acts as insulation during the winter, and ventilation during the summer. The glass pane façade, which at first glance looks like it could be full-length windows, are in fact doors, which can in suitable weather, provide the perfect opportunity for social events, creating a passage between the interior/exterior. The structure’s beams slide together through large notches that slide into one another, holding the structure in place and providing enough movement to relieve stress on the structure. There is also a layer of lightweight steel, which acts as a skeleton, supporting itself, which ultimately makes an easier job for the wooden structure. With the use of prefabricated components, which were assembled on-site, Belgian architectural practice Wim Goes Architectuur, was able to erect the building in only 100 days.
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Figure 3: Floor Plan 1:200
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Figure 4: Site Plan 1:900
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Figure 5: Elevation 1:200
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Environmental Relationship
The weather and cultural environment play an important part in this very modest and well planned out design. The building uses elements from the environment, such as rainwater, which is collected for the toilets, energy, which comes from the sun and wind, and heating/cooling, which come from the ground by means of a heat pump. The self-supporting steel windows hang with sliding joints, The weather conditions very much determine the use of space. A handling of glass surrounds the wooden core. The outer shell is an unheated interior space as a buffer for weather conditions. Depending on the weather conditions, the stacked wooden core will shrink and swell.
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Precedent Explanation / Model Making Process
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Reflective Summary
With my model experimentation, I tried to replicate a section of the structure, which I think connects both the interior with the exterior most. From the full-length panes of glass, which open to create interior to exterior transitioning, to a staircase, which takes you to the unsheltered above ground level floor, this specific section really does open the structure up to the surrounding environment. I am very interested with the use of glass in architecture, and how glass is becoming more and more a bigger part of architectural design, to the point where entire structures can be constructed from panes of glass, and this is what drew me to this precedent. In summary, from researching De Royal Belgian Sailing Club I have come to understand how important glass, as a material can be in modern architecture, and how to embrace your surrounding environment by creating a structure that doesn’t just fill a space, but actually coincides with its surroundings
“Dull glass boxes are cold and not friendly to humanity and I am trying to change some of that� - Frank Ghery
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Referencing •
Divisare.com. 2018. WIM GOES ARCHITECTUUR ROYAL BELGIAN SAILING CLUB ALBERTA, 2012. [ONLINE] Available at: https://divisare.com/projects/308357-wim-goes-architectuur-filipdujardin-royal-belgian-sailing-club-alberta-2012. [Accessed 22 January 2016].
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McLeod, V., 2011. Detail in Contemporary Glass Architecture. 1st ed. 361-373 City Road, London, EC1V 1LR: Laurence King Publishing Ltd. Introduction/ Pages 6-7
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Deplazes, A., 2013. Constructing Architecture Materials, Processes, Structures. 3rd ed. Birkhauser Verlag GmbH, Basel P.O Box 44, CH 4009 Basel, Switzerland: Birkhauser Verlag GmbH.
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World-architectscom. 2018. World-Architects. [Online]. [17 April 2018]. Available from: http://www.world-architects.com/de/wimgoes-architectuur-gent/project/royal-belgian-sailing-club
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Danny Hudson I designboom. 2016. wim goes architectuur completes hollistic royal belgian sailing club. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.designboom.com/architecture/wim-goes-architectuurroyal-belgian-sailing-club/. [Accessed 8 February 2016].
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Royal Belgian Sailing Club, Zeebrugge | VAi - Vlaams Architectuurinstituut. 2018. Royal Belgian Sailing Club, Zeebrugge | VAi - Vlaams Architectuurinstituut. [ONLINE] Available at: Festival van de Architectuur. 2018. D/a: Royal Belgian Sailing Club Alberta •
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Festival van de architectuur. [ONLINE] Available at: https://festivalvandearchitectuur.be/programma/da-royal-belgiansailing-club-alberta/. [Accessed 17 April 2018].
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