Madeleine Anne Hobern
BA (Hons) Architecture, University of Cambridge
Curriculum Vitae
Education
University of Cambridge, BA Architecture Oct 2020 - June 2023 Class II: Division I (First Class in Dissertation Thesis)
Digital Design Skills
Computer Aided Design AutoCAD, Rhino, Agisoft, Meshlab (3D printing), Revit, Lumion
St Bede’s Sixth Form Sep 2018- June 2020 A levels: A*A*A* A
Adobe Creative Cloud Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator
St Philomena’s Catholic High School for Girls Sep 2013 - June 2018 9 GCSE’s: (9-7) Responsibilities Experience
MS Office Word, Powerpoint, Excel
Work Experience, Scott Brownrigg, London Oct 2019 - Nov 2019
Women in Architecture UK, Committee Sep 2021- Present University of Cambridge Architecture Society, Committee Sep 2021 - Jul 2023
Work Experience, KSR Architects and Interiors, London Jun 2019 - Jun 2019 Jun 2018 - Jun 2018
Orwell Youth Foundation, Fellow May 2020 - May 2022
Work Experience, ATKINS, Epsom Aug 2018 - Aug 2018 Work Experience, Gensler, London Jul 2018 - Jul 2018
External Awards and Publications
Architect’s Journal (2022): ‘Alternatives for YRM’s John Lewis store to be shown at Sheffield design summit’ Orwell Youth Writing Prize (2020): Designing for distance: How will architects respond to the Coronavirus pandemic?’
Contents
00 Overview of Undergraduate Projects
00
Selected Works 01 The Castle: Reclaiming Flint’s Past Third Year Studio Project
01
02 Retrofitting the Old Department Store Second Year Studio Project
16
03 Kings Cross Station Second Year Engineering Project
22
Research 04 ‘Resurrecting Ruin: An analysis of Secular intervention on the church and its effect on the attached values and meanings of sacred space.’ Dissertation Thesis
26
Extra Curricular 05 Observational Drawings
28
06 Life Drawings
30
00 Overview of Undergraduate Projects 2020-2023
i. Inhabiting Flint Castle
ii. Survey of Flint Castle
iii. Retrofitting the Old Department Store: Permanence through material
iv. Retrofitting the Old Department Store: Debate Chamber
v. Kings Cross Station: Structural Analysis
vi. Cavendish iii, Cambridge: Structural Analysis
01
The Castle: Reclaiming Flint’s Past Sep 2022 Jun 2023
Tutors: Frederick Phillipson, Witherford Watson Mann Architects Laurence Lumley, OMA and Dyvik Kahlen Architects
Photoshop Collage onto 1.1000 Site Model
My final undergraduate studio project was located in Flint, North Wales. The site was early established as somewhat disjointed and disconnected to both its literal and figurtive qualities. After visiting the site, this disconnect felt most prevalent at the site of the Castle, Flint Castle. With freedom to dive into any part of the site boundary, extending to the industrial site, I chose to explore the Castle and its opportunity to extend attraction and gathering. The Castle sits on the rocky outcrop of the Dee Estuary in North Wales, now appearing as one of the many separate islands within the site amongst the industrial estate, the town and the estuary edge. Since its build in 1277, this castle has sat at the head of the towns body, but has sice been divided due to the man made cuts to the land. This project is both an exploration and execution of sensitive detail design, in addition to careful consideration of the landscape and topographical qualities of the site. Hand-Drawn Sketches
01 The Castle: Reclaiming Flint’s Past Introduction to the Site
Site Evolution
Medieval Town Plan 1610
1.1000 Long Section (Existing) Hand- Drawn
Railway division 1848
Industrial attachment 1890
Industrial detachment 1990
Strategic Intervention: The drive for this design was to respond to the division between town, castle, industrial estate and estuary edge. After investigating the evolution of the site right back to its medieval past from John Speed’s Map (1610), traces of the medieval town plan and its grid formation are evident today, but exposed in this strategic plan to connect each component of the site to its medieval past. This strategic proposal therefore traces the Medieval past of Flint in extending the twon grid plan to confront the castle. This concept was later materialised into a series of walkways and paths, raised and paved, that connect the town, castle, industiral estate and estuary edge once again.
1.250 Archaeological Plan Hand Drawn with trace overlays
01 The Castle: Reclaiming Flint’s Past Surveying the Castle
Surveying the Castle: A survey of the Castle was then carried out. By revisiting the site, I was able to take a series of photographs to perform a photogrammetry analysis of the castle. This was then aligned and assembled in Agisoft and MeshLab to create a Digital 3D model of Flint Castle. Creating this model allowed for a precise and comprehensive base to work with throughout the course of this project, when imported into digital software such as Rhino 3D and AutoCAD. The file was then 3D Printed at both 1.500 and 1.250 to show detail in varying scale.
1.500 Model (Plaster Cast of 3D print)
01 The Castle: Reclaiming Flint’s Past Critique of Existing
1.20 Model
1.100 Proposed Plans Hand-Drawn
Inhabiting historic volume
01 The Castle: Reclaiming Flint’s Past Material Testing
Elevation: Physical Material Collage
1.250 Sectional Elevation Material Tests Photoshop collage over hand drawings
01 The Castle: Reclaiming Flint’s Past Detail
1.20 Wall Detail Elevation Hand-Drawn
1.20 Wall Detail Section
1.20 Wall Detail Plan Hand-Drawn
01 The Castle: Reclaiming Flint’s Past Detail
1.100 Sectional Elevation Hand-Drawn
01 The Castle: Reclaiming Flint’s Past Turret as Intersection
1.250 Sketch Model
1.500 Long Section Hand-Drawn
1.250 First Floor Plan Hand-Drawn
01 The Castle: Reclaiming Flint’s Past Confrontation and Connection
1.250 Final Model 3D Printed Castle on plaster base
01 The Castle: Reclaiming Flint’s Past Confrontation and Connection
1.250 Final Model 3D Printed Castle on plaster base
01 The Castle: Reclaiming Flint’s Past Confrontation and Connection
In this attempt to reconcile the divide between town, castle and wider landscape, this intervention creates a new inhabitable space for performance and gathering, on the site of Flint Castle. This proposal hosts an architecture that is defined by an extension of the Medieval town grid plan to confront the ruin. Through critiquing the existing, passive, interventions that exist today this proposal instead facilitates what is an already successful function, and promotes more widely a direct approach to architectural intervention on heritage sites that serve both an identity and memory to a town, like Flint.
1.200 Exploded Isometric Hand-Drawn from Rhino Model
Photoshop overlay on hand drawing
01
The Castle: Reclaiming Flint’s Past Sep 2022 Jun 2023
02
Retrofitting the Old Department Store Sep 2021 Jun 2022
John Lewis Store, Sheffield City Centre The brief for this second year studio project was located in Sheffield’s redundant John Lewis Store. The vacant space is situated at the heart of the City Centre, directly opposite the City Hall. An early aim for this project was to draw light on the connection between the valued City Hall and undervalued 1960s shell- the Old Department Store. My intervention focusses not only on the surface of the existing John Lewis building, but extends further to drive an urban ambition for the city scape of Sheffield. The history of the existing site was initially explored to inform a programme for the retrofit. It’s central location has been at the heart of social gathering and political activity. The programme therefore facilitates and encourages political activism in both the square that connects John Lewis and The City Hall, in addition to the vacant Store itself.
Photoshop over Rhino Model AutoCAD
1930
1950
1960
1980
02 Retrofitting the Old Department Store Short term intervention
Tutors: Katherine Nolan, David Chipperfield, Studio KA Alex Butterworth, Herzog & de Meuron, 6a Architects, Studio KA
Short ter
Engaging with the draping o
1:100 Model
Short term interventionEngaging the public square by connecting the City Hall with the newly repurposed 1960s building with fabric draping over the square to create a ‘public room’. This short term intervention encourages and attracts gathering in the square and into the building.
AutoCAD Mapping of Protest, centred around the square
02 Retrofitting the Old Department Store Facade
Façade Treatment for the retrofit of a 1960s Vacant Building
Extrude
Photoshop Collage testing
Wrap
Expose
02 Retrofitting the Old Department Store Facade
Stone construction has the ability to express a powerful civic presence that alludes permanence and dignity over the public realm and city in question. In this context, I introduce stone to the facade and interior of the 1960’s concrete structure to compete with that of the city Hall. This intervention is to be a statement to the public that sustainable design can be both aesthetically pleasing and environmentally beneficial. This will achieve sustainable longevity that optimises public engagement in a political dynamic in Sheffield’s City Centre.
02 Retrofitting the Old Department Store Public, Private and Protest
AutoCAD 1.200 Long Section
AutoCAD 1.200 Ground Floor Plan
02 Retrofitting the Old Department Store Public, Private and Protest
02
Retrofitting the Old Department Store Sep 2021 Jun 2022
This retrofit of the Old John Lewis Store in Sheffield promotes, encourages and attracts political activity at the heart of the city. Its architecture competes with the City Hall opposite the square, of which has seen an abundance of political activity and social gathering for decades. The re-purposing of this building reflects the history of the site to accommodate the political dynamism of Sheffield and its Community. Through re-purposing the old John Lewis Store, sustainable thought inherently becomes the core of this project. This intervention puts forward a persuasive argument that buildings should be re-purposed, demolition to be avoided, extending to the potentially undervalued cases of more modern builds scattered across the country.
1.20 Model Plaster Cast
03
Kings Cross Station: Structural Analysis May 2022
For an engineering breif set, I chose to investigate John McAslan + Partners’ Kings Cross Station project. Through structural anaylsis and digital sketches, key elements of design were unpicked that reveal this project as a sensitive operation within a conservation site.
Digital drawings
03 Kings Cross Station: Structural Analysis
This new structure repaced the old 1970s, low, dim, structure that existed beforehand. Now, the sturcture distributes people in one direction to the main line platforms and up the escalators to shops and restaurants, for more a more leaisurely experience of the train station- overall tripling the space avaiable for circulation compared to the old configuration. Not only was the main structural element for this building designed to keep an open concourse space, but was also designed around the limitations of the site. As a grade I listed site, it was difficult for the engineers and architects to intervene to modify the structure, and justify taking things away.
Digital drawings
04
‘Resurrecting Ruin: An analysis of secular intervention on the church and its effect on the attached values and meanings of sacred space.’ Dissertation Thesis
(Westminster Archive Centre, London)
Abstract:
“This is a very timely and interesting subject, a well chosen case study with evidence of original research and an enjoyable read” (Commentary from Examiner’s Report)
In the current era of growing secularisation of the Church of England, religious spaces are becoming increasingly vacant and are being reused for a variety of different purposes. One school of thought towards this trend opposes houses of worship being left to a state of ruin and instead acknowledges the repurposing of churches as an act of resurrection (Meladze & Uekita, 2020). A methodology of interview and analysis into the case study of The Spire House, formerly Christ Church, contributes to an overall argument that sacred spaces being repurposed for secular function is more valuable to society than leaving it for unprotected ruin. This dissertation outlines the values and meanings attached to religious sites which are then closely analysed to suggest how these may shift as a consequence of secular intervention strategies. Whilst highlighting an array of different case studies and closely inspecting the Spire House, this dissertation offers insight into the wider context of how secular intervention of sacred space can be approached in a rising dawn of deconsecration.
04 ‘Resurrecting Ruin’ Dissertation Thesis
Comparison of Sustainability of Uses
Church Closures between 1969-2019
“And what remains when disbelief has gone? Grass, weedy pavement, brambles, buttress, sky,” (Church Going, Larkin 1954)
The Spire House nods to a commemorative application of gothic architectural features that arguably contribute to the communication of the original values of the church.
This further reveals the complex blend of the spiritual and the mundane in one building. The introduction of the mundane into the sacred allows for an opportunity of commemoration of the original religious values to the site to be appreciated, where they would otherwise be forgotten. (Data gathered from Church Commissioners report, 2020 )
05
Observational Drawings
05 Observational Drawings
06
Life Drawings
06 Life Drawings
Thank you.
Madeleine Anne Hobern 07469715804 | maddy.hobern04@gmail.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/madeleinehobern/