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Re-imagining Chandless Estate Building Obsolescence in the Flatlands of Gateshead Edge Conditions June 2021
Harashadeep Kaur 190473413 Ivan, Zeynep, Christos
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Contents Introduction Spirit of Chandless
Obsolescence Thesis Development Architectural Autopsy Structural constraints Programming Drawings Internal spaces Larger interventions
Reflection and Statement Biblliography
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Introduction With the increasing polarisation of ideas of conservation vs perpetual growth in postmodern West, the dichotomy between the need of consistency and gradual evolution against serving a dynamic changing ecosystem in a city as questioned by Hobsbawm (2010) - becoming a pertinent question in the urban development of Gateshead which has seen a countless successive ‘renewals’ and demolitions. The ‘disposable’ nature of much of the property in inner Gateshead, specifically that in immediate proximity along either side of the freeway i.e. High Street/Trinity Square in the West, and the former Chandless Estate in the east of the highway poses a question about how architects / urban planners deal with ‘renewal’, ‘growth’ and dynamic change while still providing consistency. Forty argues that while Plattenbau in post-Stalin eastern European nations were initially borne out of financial necessity and scarcity of labour, in western Europe, and specifically in the United Kingdom the construction of these buildings were driven by doctrine of the government at that time that wished to be seen as ‘moving the country forward’. In post-war Britain, the Plattenbau or Large Panel System (LPS) built apartment blocks like that of which employed in the construction of Chandless Estate in 1961 which serve specifically as council housing was government in power’s attempt to make itself seen to attempt to eradicate the problem of lack of housing — more indirectly, changing the landscape dramatically with these monumental structures would make it seem synonymous with progress. Considering there were already precedents (in the United States for example; Pruitt Igoe that was notorious for having turned into a condemned area) of similar developments ultimately ‘failing’ in the recent past, it may be argued that this quick, instant slipshod method of construction was destined to produced buildings that fail from the beginning, with little regard to what would happen to them even thirty years later. Architectural obsolescence was a concept that land authorities were already familiar with and meticulously mapped from the beginning of World War I, and treated as a natural result of our ‘designed to fail’ capitalist mode of economy. Abramson (2017) argues that while there have been examples of architecture that thrived from the ideas of obsolescence, that level of care in design for such buildings was quickly unpopular in the early 1970s as obsolescence became synonymous with developments akin to the Tesco, Vue Student Housing apartment blocks in Trinity Square. While obsolesce in the case of Chandless is expressed by its absence in Trinity Square evident in its overabundance. But both represent either end of the life cycle of plots of land in modern capitalist system which values profit within a given time. This was the hypothesis in my research as I began to explore Gateshead as. Testing ground for building obsolescence
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‘ A city in the clouds ‘ Caput Inter Nubila Condit
How Gateshead got its name is subject to debate but its ambiguity is telling ; there truly has never been a demand to know. A stone bridge was built in the late 12th Century. The name of Goatshead seems to be connected with the Church. The Venerable Bede in the 700s described Gateshead under the Latin name of Ad Caprae Caput meaning Goat's Head. Just to confuse things, our word 'goat' comes from Old English 'gāt', which derives from Proto-Germanic 'gaitaz' but the actual source for its name is only but a guess. Newcastle was granted a monopoly on all trade in and out of the river, which gave first rise to continued rivalry with Gateshead, who challenged this monopoly .In the subsequent decades Newcastle attempted on several occasions to annex Gateshead . By the 13th century, coal mining was well established along the Tyne. Newcastle had begun to exploit areas along the banks of the River Tyne and coal mining long remained one of the main industries for the region. Newcastle is said to ve a a coal town without any coal, but it benefitted most from its presence and its neighbours . The cities slowly changed and their relation with the river changed. On the Newcastle side the tributary Lort Burn was filled in and later became Dean Street, and the further development of Grainger Town in the early 1800s. In this time Gateshead remains a ‘large village’. Its character changed with industrialisation, which brought population growth and an increasingly overcrowded riverside area. Urban growth led to rapid urbanisation and growth and large socio- economic changes in the region, and heavy engineering and shipbuilding.
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Historic background to perceived ‘rivarly’
While some of the benign rivalry between the cities is in a way part of the history and heritage of the Tyne, and may have led to more bolt and potentially higher quality development on the Gateshead side, the recent collaboration in terms of planning is seen as valuable. It is one landscape and needs to be considered as such.
It is an area of two halves. The two sides of the river are very different but they each have their own strengths. I guess, the key issue is topography and the bridges that scale the topography. I think that’s what defines it as a gorge and as a city centre. Then you’ve got the weight of all of the decades, the centuries of later development on the Newcastle side and you’ve got the more 20th century influenced Gateshead side where you’re essentially looking at large cleared sites that have been subsequently redeveloped, not fully, but there are still older bits there and there are still undeveloped bits, but [...] if you change the Newcastle side then Gateshead suffers. It is a whole place, and the two sides need to work together. Clearly, the principal interest is the historical development plans on the Newcastle side. [...] But the Sage and the Baltic have got an international profile, which Newcastle Guild Hall doesn’t have, and All Saints doesn’t have. But together you’ve got a place of huge impact, which has got a global reach, so it deserves that kind of attention. [...] the bridges drive that because you can stand on the Millennium Bridge and look across at the others, or you can stand at the Baltic or at the Newcastle Pitcher & Piano and get a view of everything in one go” (Conservation Manager North England Civic Trust, 2017)
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“I’d like to see Newcastle, Gateshead as one city. As one place, but that’s a whole different ball game, isn’t it?”, with Gateshead and Newcastle not really getting along “It’s just that Newcastle [and Gateshead] can’t get on. That weakens it. So, you’ve got this mayoral thing going on, where you’ve got a north of the Tyne mayor... and you think, well that’s a bit ridiculous isn’t it? So... [...] Surely, they should be able to get on at the end of the day. So, that’s why I despair of politics. If those two organisations can’t get on, then what hope is there –?” The TWBPT would like to see more collaboration but is pessimistic
The iconic nature of the Tyne Landscape between Newcastle and Gateshead comes with a loss of industrial character especially referred to for the Gateshead side makes this landscape ‘at risk’ for failure to meet the ‘icon’ standards. “It’s not long since the Gateshead side, you looked across at it and there were abandoned factories and things” (Conservation Officer Newcastle City Council, 2017) The historical sites, residential areas, warehouses, on the Gateshead side of the river have been cleared and as result the quayside lost a lot of industrial character. The Gateshead Quayside can often lose its genus loci because historically more small scale buildings and piecemeal development is lost, and the resulting development goes against typology of the character of the original area. Developments like the Hilton are seen as something that is undesirable and does not bode well the yet to be developed sites, both on the Newcastle and the Gateshead sides. Yes, I would say the Hilton was a missed opportunity, hugely. There was Bottle Bank, that whole kind of bridges conservation area, it was ripe for a much more intricate scale of regeneration. A kind of urban village scale regeneration. It wouldn’t have brought the money, the instant ‘Wow!’ impact of money that the Hilton brought, but it would have created a much more desirable townscape to enjoy doing it that way and, I think, that was a hugely missed opportunity. [...] I think there are still opportunities to be had, whether they will be missed or not, I don’t know. The gap between the Baltic and the Sage is going to be key and that, I think, needs some serious master planning. There’s the potential there for something really ‘Wow!’ Really, really exciting, in the right master planning and the right design hands. Equally, there is some potential for something excruciatingly bad that will be forever regretted because of its location. [...] So, I think, that’s the biggie. [.. ] On the Newcastle site it is the Spillers site that is “probably, is a good opportunity to try and do something which echoes the fact that it is the end of that landscape, [...] probably the opportunity for something quite dramatic, as well. Again, if you get that wrong it’s going to be always something you try and look away from” (Conservation Manager North England Civic Trust, 2017). 7
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Potemkin Gateshead A City that turns its back on itself
As (Miles, 2005). States “the Quayside has emerged as a focal point for the ‘imagining’ of Newcastle-Gateshead; an imagining that has developed into a mobilising force in the public realm of governance in Newcastle and Gateshead. [...] Politically, the Quayside has been a catalyst for revitalising a climate of political collaboration between two rival councils.” Justified from a purely economical perspective, but some agree that while some of the benign rivalry between the cities is in a way part of the history and heritage of the Tyne, and may have led to more bolt and potentially higher quality development on the Gateshead side, the recent collaboration in terms of planning is seen as valuable. The key issue may be argued as being topography and the bridges that scale the topography. The weight of all of the decades, the centuries of later development on the Newcastle side against primarily 20th century modernist influenced Gateshead side ; sites that have been subsequently redeveloped. It is a whole place, and the two sides need to work together. Evidently the principal interest is the historical development plans on the Newcastle side. The Sage and the Baltic have got an international profile, which Newcastle Guild Hall and All Saints does not have.
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Approach
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Dormancy in the ‘High Street’ Trinity Square
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Spirit of Chandless
Romantic nostalgia at Chandless
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Parma-violet clouds, host of plastic golden daffodils sunrise, Purple rinses, purple-hearts, purple rain, Nicotine wallpaper, nicotine fingers Merging with bricked in of the flats Demolished by Thompsons Of Prudhoe
Sharon Bailey
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Plattenbau-style housing in UK
The emergence of the tower block style of council housing in Gateshead as is the case with the rest of the United Kingdom is fascinating as seen in the communique above which details the rapid erection of apartment block housing throughout the country in the late 1950s. Although the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries were not the inventors of industrialised housing it was used by such countries like Sweden and France on a greater scale than anywhere else on earth. Due to the totalitarian, forbidding, relentless appearance,but also because of what made it possible – the nationalisation of land, and factories committed to a central plan which while antithetical to the culture and politics in Western Europe, was employed en masse. From the 1950s onwards, nearly all housing had been constructed from industrially produced concrete panels slotted together, with such a degree of automation reduced the need for labour, forgoing any so-called craftsmanship altogether. The architectural outcomes are often lazily criticised for their homogeneity, uniformity or monolithic appearance, the appearance of each district can be deceptive. High-rise towers with open spaces between could be a thriving, desirable area, with schools, clinics and public transport better than anywhere in Britain; another may be a grim, gradually subsiding post-industrial waste with rotting joints and minus infrastructure or facilities.
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Aesthetic concerns of concrete quickly switched to issues of sustainability concerns in the late 1980s because it has a very large carbon footprint, uses a lot of water in its production. Concrete production estimated to consume annually 8 billions ton of raw materials mainly sand and aggregate, but also limestone.While these are fairly plentiful, its the amount of energy to produce them and the CO2 emissions that has concerned people (and 10 percent of emissions is from transporting concrete)
Environmental Case Against Demolition of Concrete Buildings Arguments to maintain concrete structures however include while these buildings have higher embodied carbon footprints, when you include factor of time, concrete has potential reduce emotions. This arguments applies only to buildings that consume energy like apartment blocks and not to civil engineering structures like bridges since the energy consumed over lifetime of a building in heating, cooling and lighting far exceeds the energy expended in its construction. Conrete has high thermal mass; good at storing heat and maintaining internal temperature
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Stakeholders of Gateshead ; far removed from the ground
Prime minister Harold Wilson opening St Cuthbert’s Village in 1970 against the foreground of his models that he voyeuristically prods at. Juxtaposed with this image is a similar examination of a housing estate plan by school children of Lindisfarne School as they provide the council with some feedback with regards to the site plan for the soon to be built Chandless Estate. Arguably, this involvement from the locals of Burdon and surrounding streets may be the reason for Chandless’s relative success as a neighbourhood as opposed to St Cuthbert’s which quickly became notorious for inhabiting tenants accused of ‘antisocial behaviour’. Either way the fate of the inhabitants of Gateshead towncenter was already in the whims and hands of powers beyond their local governance beginning post world war.
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Landscape of Demolitions in the West
The world-famous image of the implosion of Pruit Igoe in the United States (below) has helped to perpetuate a legend of failure, a failure that has been used to critique Modernist architecture and attack public housing programs altogether. Similar spectacles of demolition with onlookers watching were common for a short while in Gateshead in the 80s. Pictures above is the demolition of Nursery Farm Lane estates. Other high-rise estates suffered less dramatic problems – the lack of play areas at Barn Close was said to have caused problems of antisocial behaviour, Priory Court was apparently plagued by beetles breeding in heating ducts – but the shift from high-rise was now complete
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The Demolished (partially incl) Carbuncles of Gateshead
Redhugh Court Eslington Court 1966
1972-2012
Dunston Rocket / Derwentower
Bensham Court 1963
1970-1995
St Cuthbert’s Village
Peareth Court Park Court Priory Court 1957
Barn Close 1957
1960-2012
Owen Luder Carpark
Regent Court 1958
Chad Court Aiden Court Bede Court 1960s
Allendale Phase II 1960s
1961-2014
Chandless Estate
Crowhall Tower 1970
1970-1987
Nursery Farm Estate
Distaste for high-rise was began gradually from the late 60s its failure to deliver promised cost-savings and problems with construction and design, particularly on system-built estates. One early local response to this was the construction of Clasper Village in 1970 though the choice to build low-rise cluster blocks also reflected the existence of underground mine workings in the Teams area which precluded high-rise construction.
Demolition of the estate commenced in 2014. 21
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Tesco Express
Wardley
Tesco provides free routes from the outskirts of Gateshead into the town centre, but specifically to the Tesco Express at Trinity Square for no charge throughout the week every hour. This colonisation by corporation may be partly to blame for the exodus of business from these out-of-reach areas in close proximity to these council housing estates .
1km
In 2004, observers interviewed commented on the popularity of its ‘intimate scale’ – ‘accommodation there has always been in high demand; it remains an attractive and well-maintained residential unit’. Till today complaining of its lack of housing mix, a relatively high void rate, an annual turnover of lettings, and problems of water penetration affecting many homes persist. Levels of anti-social behaviour were said to be about average but perceptions were as significant. Stigma and reputation has significantly affected demand for properties on the estate. This plagues even the tower blocks in the small mile-radius areas highlighted on the map above within central Gateshead, many of which have been renovated if not partially demolished.
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Street map as recalled by Elsie Ewart (resident of Burdon Street)
High regular typology of terraced houses set out by borough council to manage explosion in population growth in ‘slums’
Burdon, Chandless , Eldon and surrounding streets cleared totally for construction of Chandless Estates. Similar flats like Park, Bede and Aiden court (seen in map) sprout in the 1960s and 70s. Tram depot converted to bus depot. School building changes to Lindisfarne Nursery
Construction of Freeway, sandwiched between St Mary and Abbot Court of the estate
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1961
1940s
2010
2011
Excerpt from Gateshead Housing Company Bulletin in 2010 shows extensive maintenance works conducted on Chandless Estate with future plans unto 2018
Sudden decision to demolish apartments and old tram depot comes as a shock to residents
Demolition of Chandless Estate and Omnibus depot Carpark and erection of Trinity Square
Primary roads Metro Tramway National Railway Wagonway
Mainly shop-lots* Mainly low-rise housing Housing Tower-block housing Railway service buildings Tram depot Omnibus depot Works / Factories / Goods Unused works / Storage School / Libraries / Halls Entertainment Reservoir Allotment Agriculture
Tramway Expansion
1851
1879
1880s
Metro
1941
1984
1986
2011
1961
2011
Construction of Owen Luder carpark
Demolition of Owen Luder Carpark and erection of Trinity Square
Lindisfarne Pub
Grey Horse Pub
Lindisfarne School
Lindisfarne Nursery
Community Centre
Library
Empire Theatre
Billiard Hall
Current
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Early precedent exploration
Focal point
Asia Society, Hong Kong
The past as a precious jewel to be conserved as in Asia Society, Hong Kong which deploys the construction of a long walkway that runs in proximity but at a respectable parallel distance from a recently restored historical masonry wall.
This design intention can be applied to one remaining erect relic in the ruins that are Chandless estate which consists of a store front facade from its past in 1947 when Eldon Street extended all the way from the trunk road that is Park Lane today. This may become a focal point or node within the context of my larger design
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Typology
Augmentable and subtract-able Northwick Park Hospital, United Kingdom whose construction and typology allows for the swift movement of elements like external stairways and also extensions to the complex as needed in the future
Massing
Throughout Eastern Europe various tower blocks have been modified to suit today’s market. The past is as mouldable and adaptable as seen in Building 23, Ziln, Czech Republic. The highly regular grid of the soviet plattenbau style building typical for the region was strategically renovated to become a warmer and more open office space. The Highlighted yellow volume was a mass that was strategically removed to create skylights and a less imposing overall visual impact 24
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Thesis development Buildings may very well have agency, or the capacity to adapt in time and ‘learn’ (Brand, 1995). While ideas like Brand’s perfectly predict the introduction of buildings like the Arab World Institute, Paris by Jean Nouvelle with a facade compromised of thousands of apertures that bloomed and shut mechanically as some kind of stimuli to light. Integration of technology in new buildings - but can this apply to structures so haphazardly built in a time where long-lasting structure was not the primary force pushing the design of the project? An idea opposing my thesis may be are there buildings not worth ‘rescuing’ at all? British architect Cedric Price prided in the ephemeral nature of designs that were not designed to act as ‘artifacts’ - even aspiring towards ‘demolition’ to the point of strongly condemning the English Heritage foundation for listing his aviary at the London Zoo. Following my argument, under post-modern capitalism the almost schizophrenic dynamism of creation and destruction will determine the ultimate fate of buildings and the towns they are situated in - as opposed their intrinsic value or cultural significance. In ‘ Building Obsolescence’ Abramson shows how this state while seeming to bode badly on other buildings. The bulk of these demolished in entities in the United Kingdom are seen as not contributing to culture and it is difficult to see their value. Does their demolition then constitute murder? The demolition of buildings can be argued as being antithetical to the profession which the rise of the preservation movement and motivation to mention the existing ‘grain’ of a city. Italian architect Gustavo Giovanni proposes a kind of ‘building reduction’ which involved strategic subtraction of elements a more ‘polite’ introduction of new ones. Strategies such as adaptive reuse in this way offers a more nuanced cohabitation with conditions of wasting, a model that might offer novel possibilities to a city like Gateshead. If architecture as an entity is considered to be a living breathing sentient existence with a spirit and existence - which I believe i drives much of this project through some kind of nostalgic sentimentality over the existence of Chandless estate - then what do we make of the death of such an entity? Perhaps my motivation it is our inability to mourn or grieve for structures like this. It is understandable such questions about a buildings death via obsolescence, structural deterioration, decay etc. have only been discussed in the recent future as the idea of economic obsolescence only came to the zeitgeist in the early 1900s With the complete demolition of buildings, a confused and scarred memory of the building still persists. There lies a dissonance between the past, present and future whereby a town like Gateshead is not given the opportunity to evolve in the ‘natural’ organic way but rather the whims of administrative powers that are not invested. At a point of time like this, it is worth questioning, who are the parties then invested in the thriving of Gateshead ? Ideally one that can provide its inhabitants with a sense of continuity or permanence.
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Alternate to gif : https://pasteboard.co/JKbvxyt.gif
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all that is solid need not melt into air
Reconstruction is often imagined as the counterpoint to destruction. While the two are often seen as opposites, in reality, and particularly that in Gateshead city center, these instances are cyclical. Beginning the clearing of Burdon Street in the 50s, the Chandless area specifically has been constantly destroyed and reconstructed. I argue the the implications of ‘reconstruction’ are more destructive than the the physical demolition. An inversion of Karl Marx’s ‘ all that is solid melts into air’, the manipulated quote becomes my driving design narrative which strives to re-imagine, repackage and repopulate the white elephant tower blocks of the estates to a new kind of glory ; one where both cultural and financial profitability are of paramount importance.
The rehabilitation of these estates means more than giving facades a new fresh look, as it involves renewing typologies, improving living conditions and the urban environment. In the light of architecture's recent and promising shift towards re-use, it is worth examining different aspects of refurbishing existing housing blocks, improving the user's experience, conquering the shortcomings of the original design and extending the life of these buildings
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Design intention Renegotiating the austere estate composition
Adaptive reuse as the driving theme of design
Diffusing stark edges and elevations by creating more variation in elevations to encourage circulation that is not always linear
Pronounced connection between estate property on either side of freeway as
Flexible design typology that utilises primary structure but is augmentable or can be subtracted from according to necessity
Highly pedestrianised
Reducing capacity of buildings (foreseeable future)
Working within existing structural typology as much as is possible
Maintaining existent program such as kindergarten, school, library, pub, shops, playgrounds and community halls and parks as well as other landscaping features
Creating intimacy between maisonettes and tower blocks
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Thesis
Demolition begins in 2008
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Parallel Reality Re-situating Chandless on its site 29
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Existing site plan
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The Gateshead Highway flyover is an existing major barrier to the successful implementation of such an agenda in town centre, due to the chasm it creates and stark visual impact. The Council has a long standing ambition to remove the existing flyover, which acts as a bypass of Gateshead town centre, and in its place introduce a high quality boulevard style design with development fronting onto it. The council states this is likely to have economic benefits for businesses. In particular it will support construction of significant numbers of new homes in areas adjacent to the town centre which will provide additional retail custom. It is also possible that passing traffic will be more likely to stop and purchase goods and services.
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Architectural autopsy
Photographs throughout various stages of demolition and existence over decades
Still captures from 1960s (unspecified) filmed video on Gateway flyover soon after opening year.
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Architectural autopsy II Recreating the fabled estates
Many of the plans for the reconstructed Old Town of Warsaw were based on a series of paintings created by the Venetian urban landscape artist Bernardo Bellotto. As Bellotto’s 18th Century paintings were utilised in this controversial project, I will continue to endeavour in the digital reconstruction of the demolished Chandless Estate to completely commit to the reinvention or preadaptation of the former estate. The implication of my actions, which acknowledges I am reconstructing the estates at a certain arbitrary point of time to an almost mythical degree will be discusses in some detail in my thesis development.
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Reconstruction in progress December 2020
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As seen in the in-progress reconstructions of the estates above, the tower blocks, from left : Monk Court, St Mary’s Court, Abbot Court are surrounded by eight maisonettes of the estates that were all residential buildings, with the exception of one being utilised as a nursery. Smaller storage units or garages are also seen to be haphazardly set up in close proximity to each maisonette
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reinvention
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interventions
Many large council estates built in the 1960s and ’70s are laid out in ways that do not maximise land use; the layout is sometimes unattractive, though they invariably house far more viable communities Converting empty street level spaces into flats, shops and community hubs also creates a lively street atmosphere. The density of existing estates can be increased by at least 50 per cent in this way while retaining the existing homes and community
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Solving the Puzzle of the Towerblocks
As the original drawings of the towers are not recorded digitally, scouring the internet to attempt to find them took far too many hours that were required. Eventually by stroke of luck I had managed to acquire the plans and elevations of a set of tower blocks by the same contractor, presumably built in the same period. I used these as the basis of the presumed layout and structural layout of the three tower blocks that I will be investigating
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Structural assessment
Fire-rated and structural walls Rectilinear columns
With the assistant of Niel Burford, presumed locations of rectilinear colours and structural as well as fire-rated walls were determined. Without any beams but mere floorslabs supported on repeating columns and walls, any potential structural intervention had to be done both sparingly and surgical.
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In-situ modules
Fire-rated and structural walls Rectilinear columns
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Conceptual programme Co-Living
Accommodating this open-flow of space s within the building proved to be a challenge with the rather unforgiving structure of the tower blocks. 42
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Programming
2011 Totally residential
Minimum required circulation
Generic flats throughout
Residential Community/public Semi private roof garden Communal
2021 Mixed program
New stairwell and lounge on select floors on Western elevation where proximity to noise-polluting freeway will lower the number of residences located on this wing
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Mixed typology of flats
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Communal ownership Co-Living
Communal spaces
Student living / Couples
Displaced Chandless Residences
White students, and other new-tenants that consist of small families . The originally displaces residence of Chandless estate will have the ability to select any one residence within the estate of their choosing so as to prevent any risk of gentrification or the accusation of ‘sanitising’ a neighbourhood of its original inhabitants. 44
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Isolated
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Hypothesising connections
Creating necessary linkages between the residences of the estate with neighbouring residences and businesses aims to create dependence between consumers and businesses, as well as mitigating the issue of this site turning into another isolated carbuncle in the future
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Precedent Lacaton+Vassal
Location and Vassal became my primary precedent inspiration when deciding the overall tone of the tower blocks which were to be transformed into a more airy, lightweight user experience and visual experience despite its inherent imposing monolithic structural makeup. The decision to include large balconies was to create loggias in the sky as well as increase the square footage of these notoriously small flats, largely protected from noise and sight pollution from the busy freeway below
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Ground Floor 2021 48
1 Main entrance
2 Large laundry space
3 Washrooms
4 Mail room
5 Lobby
6 Office
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Creating new circulation route Western elevation
1 Singlex studio
2 Duplex
3 Laundry room type B
4 Clothing donation room
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12th Floor 2021 49
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1 Duplex
2 Indoor gymnasium
3 Indoor playground
4 Shared storage
5 Shared kitchen
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13th Floor 2021 50
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1 Singlex studio
2 Duplex
3 Indoor gymnasium
4 Indoor playground
5 Laundry room type B
6 Clothing donation room
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14th Floor 2021 51
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1 Roof garden
15th Floor 2021 52
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Monk Court West Elevation 2009
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Monk Court West Elevation 2021
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Monk Court Southern Elevation 2009
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Monk Court Southern Elevation 2021
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2011 Section
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2021 Section
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Sample landscaping outside Monk Court
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N
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Interior spaces As it existed
Proposed
2011 Flat layout
2021 Duplex layout Removed elements Added elements
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2011 Typical flat 61
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2021 Student duplex 62
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2011 Typical flats layout
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2021 Double volume gymnasium 64
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Monk Court Section A 2021
Communal tool room
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Monk Court Section B 2021
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Winter Garden
Open Balcony
Monk Court Section C 2021
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Winter Garden enclosure
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Designating balcony types
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Exoskeletal balcony structures which utilise the existing column system for support
Eastern facade To receive open balconies
Western facade To receive closed conservatories.
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Balony exoskeleton
2011
2021
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Open balcony 71
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Balcony and loggia 72
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Indoor gymnasium
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New internal staircase and lounge
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PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION
TCB
TCB
Drain
FB
Tank
Bala ncing Pond
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Sports Court
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2011 Last remaining Relic Preserved The last standing ruin and proof of any historical past on the estate is this ruin of a shopfront that belonged to Heaton Paper Ltd. until it was dissolved in 1948 when this old tram depot was also taken down. As a last romantic gesture will turn this ruin into the centrepiece of the community centre which will act as a node for the neighbouring residences
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2020 PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION
TCB
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Bala ncing Pond
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2021
Community center Proposing brings to connect estates to new allotment space. With the national railway line skirting the site perimeter, this bridge becomes essential. Red walkways indicate they are new
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Lightweight scaffolding structure is not only modular and can be turned into multipurpose space but also protects wall ruin of old shopfront.
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2011
2021 New pathways to connect grounds
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Exploded Proposing brings to connect estates to new allotment space. With the national railway line skirting the site perimeter, this bridge becomes essential
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Proposing green spaces
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New allotments New green enclosure for nursery
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PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION
TCB
TCB
Drain
FB
Tank
Bala ncing Pond
LB
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Sports Court
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TCB
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Reflection & Personal Statement
Demolition is a destabilising, and laborious process, as the existing tenants are seen as things to be left aside. Tenants will be frightened by the insecurity, the higher rents, the community upheaval, the lack of assuring promise of moving out somewhere. Degrading headlines about riots, drug gangs, criminals and scroungers, which end up presenting entire communities as “hopeless cases” are also detrimental to the psyche of the inhabitants of a city and the ability to draw a market back into it in the future. This site can become a testing ground to test the mode by which to provide the inhabitants of the city a infrastructure with both cultural and economic capital, which is able to withstand the tumultuous dynamic capitalist market which is eager to start-from-scratch and making structures obsolete while being nimble enough to be adapted for other uses in the future Throughout the academic year which was conducted digitally, lack of proper computing equipment and frequent power cuts in university accommodation, including worsening personal health has resulted in a challenging project, resulting in what I perceive to be designs that have not been realised to their full resolution. While I have appreciated the feedback and resources provided to us online via the form of zoom consultations or e-mail, this cannot make up for the level of engagement that occurs during an in-person studio experience. As a rather tactile designer, presenting and preparing my work digitally was certainly a disadvantage. My passion for this project expands beyond this module and thesis and I will continue to feel invested in the the fate of the old estate within the coming future where this plot of land is still heavily disputed.
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Initial Site Study and Exploration Techntonic solutions, urban intervention in and around Trinity Square
To resist the urge to produce something tectonic (as seen in my early exploration into this project in the following pages) too quickly without thoroughly understanding the implications of reconstructing a almost-mythicised Chandless Estate in this year will become one of my primary theoretical goals .
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Appendix Bibliography
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Cairns, Stephen & Jacobs, Jane. (2014). Buildings Must Die: A Perverse View of Architecture. Daniel M Abramson (2017) Obsolescence Brian D. Goldstein. (2017). Buildings & Landscapes: Journal of the Vernacular Architecture Forum, 24(1), 100-102. doi:10.5749/buildland.24.1.0100 Sam Wetherell (2020) Foundations. How the Built Environment Made Twentieth-Century Britain, Princeton University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691208558 Jane Rendell (2006) Condensing and Displacing: A Stratford Dream-Work Jane Rendell (2018)“Rebuttal Statement: Professor Jane Rendell for the Aylesbury Leaseholders Group”, Retrieved from http://bailey.persona-pi.com/Public- Inquiries/aylesbury-estate/Rebuttals/ALAG/ janerendellrebuttal.pdf D. Lumley (1932) The Story Of Gateshead Town, Northumberland Press Newcastle City Council, & Gateshead Council. (2015). Planning for the Future - Core Strategy and Urban Core Plan for Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne 2010-2030. Retrieved from https:// www.newcastle.gov.uk/planning-and-buildings/planning-policy/core-strategy-and-urban-core- plan Gateshead Council (2013) Bridges Conservation Area Character Appraisal. Gateshead Council. Retrieved from https://www.gateshead.gov.uk/DocumentLibrary/Building/PlanningPolicy/CoreStrategy- Documents/139.-SD-Bridges-Conservation-Area-Character-Appraisal.pdf Lennox, R. (2016). Heritage and Politics in the Public Value Era: an analysis of the historic environment sector, the public, and the state in England since 1997. University of York. Retrieved from http:// etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/13646/ Short, M. J. (2015). City rivalries: how Newcastle became a ‘poster child’ for the new north. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/mar/20/newcastle-poster-child-north-sunderland-rivals Arijit Sen (2020) ’Platforms : Flatlands’ retrieved from https://www.platformspace.net/home/storiesfrom-the-flatlands Rem Koolhass (2006) ‘Junkspace’, Quodlibet https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/housing-in-the-eastern-bloc Gateshead Council (2013) Exemplar Neighbourhood Supplementary Planning Document Gateshead Council, GT3 Architects (2020) Future Places Final Strategy Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council,English Heritage, Northumberland City Council (2005) Gateshead : An Archaeological Assessment & Strategy Philip McCouat, ‘Bernardo Bellotto and the Reconstruction of Warsaw’, Journal of Art in Society Retrieved from www.artinsocety.com
Documentary & video sources •
‘The Pruitt Igoe Myth’ (2011) Chad Freidrichs. Documentary retrieved from http://www.pruittigoe.com/watch-now.htm
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‘Thomsons of Prudhoe’ (2014) Steve Ronnie. Poem retrieved from https://vimeo.com/128312352
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1960s view of Gateshead via car on freeway retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=ImKluF9xWiI 86