5th Year Portfolio

Lauren O’Donnell 5th year architecture Plexus City urban design project Wirral Quays joint project Behind the Facade building design project

Plexus City/the cultural platform plexus /noun, plural plexuses, plexus

a network, as of nerves or blood vessels. any complex structure containing an intricate network of parts:

behind the facade Lauren O’Donnell

“Plexus” defines the network of ‘green space’ from land to water, connecting the people of Hamburg back to the the river Elbe. Our master plan introduces a ‘green ribbon’ to the city of Hamburg connecting many segregated areas north and south of the river. The project takes influence from ‘New Yorks High Line’ split into three sectors, focusing upon recreation along the Elbe’s rich waterfront, that coincide with Hamburg’s greater master plan.

Connecting many of Hamburg’s cultural facilities stretching from Ballinstadt Emigration Museum to the south of the Elbe, to the museum mile located in Hamburg’s city centre. Our aim is to integrate a pedestrianised link making use of the rich waterfront connecting nodes, to form a medium between ecological and urban realms.

cultural network

wirral quays/joint project The design approach to Northbank was based around extending the existing residential development along the water’s edge. The layout that was adopted was informed by the existing language present in the current scheme, and the new residential blocks mirror these regular geometries. This provides a sense of continuation from the existing to the new, and helps integrate our scheme into the current fabric of the site.

In response to the briefs requirement for “civilised streets and hubs” the layout of our residential development will create a small scale but dense street scape, which will be orientated around a central retail core and green public space. The retail units are small scale so as to not detract from the residential focus of the area, and their purpose is seen as a functional response to expected resident’s needs.

The retail units help to distinguish a central green space, providing shelter, and also framing a striking view out across the dock.

Associated parking facilities have been incorporated to the north of the site adjacent to the road. It was important that the requirements for parking did not detract from the cohesiveness and overall aim for the residential quarter, which is to create a mainly pedestrianised area that responds to the briefs call to, “reclaim the streets and dock edges”. Specific information relating to construction, financing and sustainability is provided later in the document showing the overall viability of the scheme.

social space in commercial district

Masterplan to regenerate the area of The Wirral. This will increase the population due to habitable residential areas and also create jobs and oppotunities for further education.

education hub

knowledge quarter

behind the facade/everton Liverpool’s housing typologies are dominated by the terrace, such as the typical ‘two up two down’ in kensington, or the georgian fronted grand houses in canning street. the strong facade creates the street frontage, however through time and changes in how people occupy thier living space, you do not know what lies behind the facade.

custom living

pedestrian green street

bold facade

service street

parts of everton lacking in community

historic road mapping to influence design

to create a new social terrace

street arrangement

interior study

physical model