Scottish Women's Aid Office (Edinburgh). Maddy Davidson. [sem2, 2015]

SCOTTISH WOMEN’S AID OFFICE maddy davidson

CONT ENTS

005 overview 007 site 013 design 031 appendix

P R O J E C T S TAT E M E N T

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In it’s current state the SWA office feels cluttered, separated and fragmented with an array of clashing colours and wasted space. By removing the rooms at the back of the office it opens it up, allowing for a brighter space with better use of the natural light provided. Moving the conference room to the entrance and the reception desk in front of the main open plan office, separates public and private spaces. The helpline is opposite the kitchen as per the clients request and is a bright efficient space which will appear as if daytime during the night shifts with an LED lighting system. The meeting rooms which line the back of the office are covered in weaving plants, these are spaces where staff can go to relax and distress, yet also make private phone calls and meetings. The rooms are bright and the plant life offers a retreat and small oasis from some of the work that can cause staff members to feel stressed or upset. The plants gain a bit of natural light, however full spectrum lights are places above and facing towards the vining Philodendron plants. The CE’s office is situated near windows and next to the meeting rooms. This provides confidentially, yet the office itself is made of timber planks and glass panels to slightly merge the boundary of privacy and main office space. The materials of glass, plywood, timber and polycarbonate along with plant life, bring a much needed lightness to the space increasing productivity and also happiness.

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SITE

Scottish Women’s Aid is located on the second floor on busy R o s e S t i n t h e E d i n b u r g h C B D . T h e o ff i c e , c u r r e n t l y w i t h 2 1 s t a ff , l o o k i n g t o e x p a n d t o a n o t h e r 4 , w o r k s a t a i d i n g a n d supporting woman and children who have experienced domestic violence, working with policy and legislation and looking at developing public opinion.

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CA STL T E S

RO

SE

ST

RO

N

ST SE

N S L

SITE PLAN 1. 1000

THE CURRENT OFFICE natural light wasted space isolating office desk layout seeking collaboration seeking engagement partitions create barriers

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“the whole office is a confidential space”

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S I T E A N A LY S I S COLOUR STUDY OF CURRENT OFFICE

R E M OVAL OF P H Y S I C A L L IBRARY TO P R O V I D E SPACE F O R A HEL PL INE

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DESIGN

Changing the layout of the office to allocate public and private s p a c e a n d o p e n i n g u p t h e o ff i c e t o u t i l i s e t h e n a t u r a l l i g h t provided by the existing windows are the main features of the design. The construction of five specifically designed desks, s i t t i n g f o u r p e o p l e i n a c o l l a b o r a t i v e a n d o p e n m a n n e r, y e t also with the ability to privatise the workspace with retractable partition is also a major design function.

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CONFERENCE ROOM

HELPLINE

KITCHEN

RECEPTION

MEN’S BATHROOM

STORAGE

WOMEN’S BATHROOM

F

B

A

E

F

N

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SCOTTISH WOMEN’S AID FLOOR PLAN 1 .1 0 0

MEETING ROOMS

PHOTOCOPY ROOM

OFFICE DESKS

C

CE’S OFFICE

D

B

A

E

C

D

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TRANSPARENT DOUBLE POLYCARBONATE WALL AT 25MM

RANDOM PANELING OF POLYCARBONATE, GLASS AND PLYWOOD

SECTION A 1.100

LED WHITE LIGHTING FOR HELPLINE ROOM TO APPEAR AS IF DAYLIGHT DURING NIGHTSHIFTS

SECTION B 1.100

TRANSPARENT DOUBLE POLYCARBONATE WALL AT 25MM FOR PHOTOCOPY ROOM

SECTION E 1.100

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SERVICES FOR OFFICE DESKS COME FROM PILLARS FOR BOTH SIDES

SECTION G

PLYWOOD STORAGE UNIT

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ISOMETRIC DIAGRAM 1. 100

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SECTION C 1 .5 0

SECTION D 1 .5 0

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DETAIL OF RETRACTABLE PARTITION ON OFFICE DESKS 1.5

FULL SPECTRUM LIGHTING FOR VINING PHILODENDRON

POTS WILL BE PLACES WITHIN WIREFRAME ON GROUND FOR ROOTS OF PHILODENDRON PLANT

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SECTION F 1.50

“office layout shouldn’t be a compromise between private + public space, but one which offers both things to it’s employee’s whenever they need them.”- William Kremer1

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SECTION H

DETAIL OF CONFERENCE ROOM WALL PANEL JOINERY 1.20

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DETAIL OF POLYCARBONATE JOINERY WITHIN WIREFRAME 1.5

WHITE WIREFRAME FOR VINING PHILODENDRON WITH POLYCARBONATE PANEL INSIDE FOR ACOUSTIC PRIVACY

PLYWOOD BENCH WITH GREEN FELT CUSHIONING

SECTION G 1. 10

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SCOTTISH WOMEN’S AID LOGO DESIGN

the logo is designed to bring a sense of harmony to the organisation, using their chosen colour of purple and a watercolour circle.

WIREFRAME WITH VINING PHILODENDRON ON EXTERIOR AND POLYCARBONATE PANELLING ON INTERIOR

SECTION H 1. 10

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M O D EL 1 :20

model shows office desk design with three partitions down and one up.

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APPENDIX

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one SQUINT/OPERA MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

BY SIBLING

two HOUSE IN YAMASAKI JAPAN TATO ARCHITECTS

A similar wireframe structure is used on the design f o r t h e S WA o ff i c e , h o w e v e r t h e v i n i n g p l a n t i s encouraged to grow over more surface space and a polycarbonate panel is inserted on the interior of the wireframe structure. This is used within the meeting rooms and also on the front of the reception desk.

Polycarbonate is used for the structure of the office on this house. The transparency allows for privacy, but also for light to come through. Using this on the helpline room facade creates an intimate room so that the workers don’t feel isolated in the l a r g e o ff i c e s p a c e , y e t t h e t r a n s p a r e n c y d o e s n ’ t completely separate them.

These panel structures are made to be custom f o r m e d s o t h a t a n y s h a p e c a n b e m a d e f o r o ff i c e purposes. The quadrant arrangement in this image was useful in the construction of the designs for SWA. However, the quadrant design is a permanent s t r u c t u r e w i t h r e t r a c t a b l e p a r t i t i o n s a n d d i ff e r e n t material usage.

four NAB - THE VILLAGE MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

BY WOODS BAGOT This is an open collaborate workspace for small business owners with associations to the NAB bank. This 500 sq m space, has private meeting room spaces which can be booked, a high plant life and also open desks to allow for conversation and collaboration between business owners. This arrangement not only works well for a concept like t h i s b u t a l s o f o r s m a l l o ff i c e s p a c e s l i k e S WA i n need of collaborative and engaging spaces yet also privacy.

PR ECEDE NTS

three ABEO COMMERCIAL FURNITURE DESIGNS

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CONC EPT SKET CHE S

‘PEEK + BOO’ BY BOSS DESIGNS (IN GREEN) THE CHAIR WITH THE BACKING ‘PEEK’ WILL BE USED IN THE HELPLINE CENTRE WHERE STAFF WILL SIT AT ONE DESK. THE CHAIR WILL ENABLE THE STAFF TO FEEL PRIVATE WHILST ALSO APART OF A TEAM. THE SMALLER VERSION ‘BOO’ WILL SIT IN THE WAITING AREA IN RECEPTION.

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EAMES PLASTIC SIDE CHAIR DSW IN WHITE FOR MEETING ROOMS

‘COZA’ CHAIR BY BOSS DESIGNS WILL BE USED AT THE OFFICE DESKS

EAMES PLASTIC SIDE CHAIR DSW IN GREEN FOR MEETING ROOMS

FUR NITU RE

EAMES PLASTIC SIDE CHAIR DSS-N IN WHITE WITH GREEN UPHOLSTERY. STACKING CHAIR FOR CONFERENCE ROOM

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P LY W O O D

RENEWABLE NATURAL RESOURCE AND ENVIRONMENT CERTIFICATION. THE LIGHT WOOD BRINGS BRIGHTNESS TO THE SPACE

GLASS

FOR DOORS, PANELS ON CONFERENCE ROOM AND CE’S OFFICE

P O LY C A R B O N AT E

100% RECYCLABLE MATERIAL RETAINS HEAT PROVIDING INSULATION MULTI-LAYERED TRANSPARENT FOR USE ON MEETING ROOMS, RETRACTABLE PARTITIONS ON DESKS, HELPLINE ROOM WALL AND CONFERENCE ROOM PANELS.

TIMBER

FOR CE’S OFFICE AND OFFICE DESKS

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S O U N D P R O OFING

Between the conference room and the helpline centre there needs to be soundproofing. The material comes from the company Form Us with Love and is made from compressed shredded wood. It can be arranged in multiple patterns and colours.

PL A N T S

VINING PHILODENDRON

POLYPODIUM

SPIDER PLANT

CHINESE EVERGREEN

MAT ER IAL S

Plant life in offices creates cleaner air for productiv ity and relaxation.

These particular plants are suitable to indoor environments and low maintenance.

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REFERENCES

C H A IR S

www.boss-designs.co.uk www.vitra.com

Kremer, W. (2013) The pleasures and perils of the open-plan office.

Available at: http://www.bbc. co.uk/news/magazine-21878739 (Accessed: 15 November 2015).

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