The Buskers' Club - Approaching the site

Approachi ng t he si t e

The Buskers’ Club Juliette Sung

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Hull, Unit ed Kingd om Site: Hull River Corridor and the East bank Our site is the Hull River Corridor, a strip of land to the East of the city centre. The River Hull acts as a physical divide, essentially a border or gateway to the city, providing a stark threshold between Hull’s historic Old Town to the West and the derelict and undeveloped East Bank. With a lack of active sites the area has a distinct transient nature, with a series of pedestrian and vehicular bridges, the predominant activity on the site is people moving through it to enter or leave the city centre.

The West side of the river has a strong physical frontage and density, defined by former shipping warehouses that have been converted into residential and office units.In stark contrast the East side of the river has an irregular and sparse urban grain, littered with abandoned buildings, in varying states of demolition or decay, and brownfield sites.

This contrast is a result of the historic layout of the city, with the entire city located to the West of the river facing the original port along the bank of the river. This observation is made evident when the number of listed buildings is analysed. The historic city to the West is densely populated with listed buildings, with very few to the East, although some of the bridges that span river have historic merit and are listed.

The area has also developed and grown as a result of reclaimed land, the physical edge of the city expanded southwards into the Humber estuary.Hull has been named UK City of Culture for 2017 and will hold that title for the next 4 years. Our studio is engaging with Hull at an important moment in its future cultural identity with aim to properly reflect this.

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0 1 Climat e Change I ssues

Hull’s location at the joint of the Humber Estuary and the River Hull means that the prominence of water makes future impact very severe.

Due to Hull’s flat topography, flooding is a major aspect of climate change that directly impacts a large extent of the site. In June 2007 an unprecedented amount of rain fell on the city and the surrounding area. All drainage systems were overwhelmed leading to extensive surface water flooding across the city.

In an attempt to mitigate the impact of flooding, the river bed is constantly adapted through the process of dredging, whereby the build up of sediment is removed so as to allow the river water level to remain at a level that will not overflow the current thresholds, in line with national directives. By carrying out regular dredging it maintains the river as an active navigation channel for trade routes entering the city.

The Humber estuary is connected to The North Sea, as a result a substantial length of the River Hull is tidallyimpacted. The Hull tidal surge barrier is an emergency response measure that has been put in place to reduce the impact of tidal surges.

In regards to existing adaptation within the built environment, there is evidence around the site of accomodation being removed from the ground floor. In this case the ground floor of this apartment block has been replaced with car parking, completely removing activity from the street scape.

related news and research

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0 2 S it e Analysis

Our studio’s approach will be to highlight the issues concerning climate change and issues regarding social sustainability, identifying where there is overlap and where one can be used to resolve the other, informing our approach to design.

The Tidal River Hull and Estuarine Environment The 21 mile length of River Hull is connected to the Humber Estuary, the North Sea, as a result a substantial length of the River Hull is tidally- impacted. Our site is nominally in the southern part of River Hull, by Humber estuary, suggesting responses to the issues raised.

Health/ Wealth/ Poverty Statistically, Hull’s socio-economic image is bleak. The unemployment rate is twice that of the national average and is the 10th most deprived local authority, with 52% of its inhabitants living in the most deprived areas of the city.

Historic/ Reclaimed Land Hull or ‘Kings Town’, as it was named in the 13th century, has been one of the most significant Britain’s commercial and political city for more than 700 years. Hull was a principal port, acting as a gateway to the rest of the world, while the docks are important to the trades happened between the UK and the world.

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R IV ER HUL L

D R YPO OL

MYTON

H U M BE R

HULL, UNITED KINGDOM

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R IV ER HUL L

D R YPO OL

MYTON

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FLOODING

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R IV ER HUL L

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BIODI VERSITY

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03 Field t rip Alongside with the studio in Sheffield, we visited Aarhus and Copenhagen in February 2016. It is interesting to see different approaches towards the river side/ water side development, in which giving suggestion to our studio in the approach of the new Hull master plan.

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Gehl Offic e v isit - J an Geh l Gehl demonstrated that easy to access places are more heavily used, especially if the space is well proportioned, with fine materials and a range of integrated options. Copenhagen managed to displace the ‘car invasion’ of the 1960s and 1970s. As necessary activities declined, the opportunity for passive and active activities flourished through active intervenion of the city.

It is a great precedent study of public space design and also an example on how do we study people behavior within the public realm. I think this study is quite similar to the public realm back in Hull, perhaps an extension or replanning of the pedestrian route towards the Hull River corridor is suggested.

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04 S it e S t rat egy

Our studio focuses on identifying and interrogating communities within Hull to create architecture that reinvigorates the area and is defined by its culture. The projects revolve around the people of Hull, aiming to provide a bottom- up approach to localised, sustainable cultural regeneration.

Flooding - wetlands (contours and water edge) Our response to this is a proposal to manufacture an expanse of wetland, with the aim to become a nature reserve, as a way of dealing with this disuse of the land as it stands.

Channelizing the wetlands edge gives it a steep edge which is not conductive to interaction with the water, and a limited capacity with no inbuilt plan for coping with additional water.

Flooding - new dock system, tidal surge and navigable channels The tidal nature of the River Hull poses a great deal of environmental and logistical issues. The decision of our studio is to permanently close Hull’s tidal surge barrier, in removing the tidal variance of the river, eliminating the potential for flooding from tidal surges.

Underutilisation of the old town - protection and activation To reinvigorate the old town we propose to create a more compact city centre by relocating existing businesses from the east bank to vacant properties on the west. Greater diversity of functions and denser population will activate the streetscape at all times of day. Vehicale access within the old town will be reduced allowing the development of pedestrianised streets and cycle routes.

Underutilisation of the old town - Cycle network Currently there is lack of guidelines or action plans to integrate cycling network within the wider transportation network, the new cycle strategy supplements the area wide strategy of intensification and compaction of the old town.

Safety of the water front

- walkways and piers

At present, the Western bank of the River Hull remains underutilised, undervalued and approached with hostility, activity along the existing main pedestrianized area remains minimal with most users deterred from engaging with the river entirely. Drawing from the framework of the old town, the scheme aims to create new social and commercially viable space along the riverbank in which an engaging waterfront activity may take place.

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Initial sketch

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Collective apporach on the new master plan

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Cycle network Wetlands

walkways and piers Protection and activation of old town Wetlands edge Building relocation to old town

New dock system, tidal surge and navigable channels

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