FRONT COVER
CV
CONTENTS
TO LIVE/TO WORK : AN URBAN HOUSE
TO GATHER A CATHOLIC CHURCH IN INVERERAY A PLACE OF WORSHIP ‘A SENSE OF SPACE’ 2011 Project Aims ‘ The general aim of this project was to investigate in comparitive fashion what it means -to gather-, understood as a basic human need, to congregate comunally in celebration of shared values. Specifically students were asked to design a medium scaled public facilty dedicated to communal activity, with associated private residential accomodation, within an accessible and legible man-made environment. In addition, the focus was a continuing programme of an understanding and awareness of advanced and experimenal usage of both computer based and hard based media in architectural design production. The aim was to develop a solid skill base in a variety of techniques, and an awareness of a broader cultural frame of reference regarding architectural representation. This learnt knowledge was used in an integrated manner from initial design through process and presentation. ‘
OUTRAGE & DELIGHT King's Drive / Kelvin Way
Renata Sawicka Krisjanis Klava Diana Milenova Raffaelle Capasso Rachael Claire Smith Mihail Kostov
Urban Design 01 - Unit 2 - Semester 2 05 May 2015 - University of Strathclyde
INTRODUCTION The study of Outrage and Delight examines two streets, which are very similar in terms of positioning in the city, street metrics and surroundings features – Kelvin Way in Kelvingrove Park, and King’s Drive in Glasgow Green. Both streets are dividing the two major parks of Glasgow in two segments, they both have the same width and number of lanes, and are surrounded by numerous landmarks and attractions in the parks and area around. Despite the similarities, they differ greatly in terms of how successfully they serve the people of the city. King’s Drive is part of the A74 road, which starts in the Gorbals and crosses the Clyde at the King’s Bridge, runs through Glasgow Green (King’s Drive) past the Celtic Park Football Stadium into the suburbs and goes east as far as Powburn. Therefore, it is an important connection for the residential suburban areas of Glasgow. Past the King’s Bridge, King’s Drive separates Glasgow Green into two parts, which however are directly connected with Clyde’s Walkway running under the bridge. The two parts of the park have distinctly different character and function, which have developed throughout the history of the park. The first and larger one is a typical urban park with multitudes of walkways and memorials. The second is mainly used for various sports activities. Kelvin Way connects Argyle Street and Great Western Road in the West end of Glasgow, passing through Kelvingrove Park. The park itself was originally created in 1852 by noted English architect and gardener Joseph Paxton and was intended to provide for the continued expansion of the city to the west. It has been the site of three Great Exhibitions during the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th. Kelvin Way passes through Kelvingrove Park, dividing it into two segments. The western segment is very quiet and peaceful, allowing for the sounds of the river and wind to create a serene atmosphere. It is also where the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Glasgow University are located. The eastern part is much larger
SURVEY
People Factor By analysing people, both in an observational and analytical way, we can prove the level of success of Kelvin Way. Many circumstances to do with the “place factor” affect human interaction and influence peoples behaviour – the overall success of a street therefore, is a combination of “people factor” and “place factor”. To enhance the examination of the street and to understand its use, people were asked ‘why’ and ‘how often’ they use the street. The interviews were collected immediately after the end of the people count.
Peak Time
2.00pM-2.30pM
Exercise
Furthermore, 10 different people were asked ‘why’ and ‘how often’ they use the street. The interviews were collected immediately after the end of the people count.
Exercise
Families/ Visiting Local Attractions
The data was gathered on Sunday in peak 12-12:30 and off-peak 14-14:30 time slots at the same time in both streets. This decision was mainly advocated by the large numbers of students on Kelvin Way
Going To Park
Families / Visiting Local Attractions
King's Drive
Going To Park
Car Parking On street
Car Parking
Going To Park
Kelvin Way
Families / Visiting Local Attractions
There is a broad spectrum of comparisons to be made between the two streets. It is important to understand that a street can be successful in more than one manner – it can be judged by the number of people on it, the traffic importance, stock market impact, historical and cultural significance, and more. This paper will focus on the success related to people, as it is one that can be directly influenced by the design of the streets. The study will be divided into three factors – people, cars and place. For the de-
termining of success, an observational and analytical study of people will be presented, including the counting of people passing through the street in peak and off-peak times, as well as interviewing them for the reasons that had brought them to the street. After determining the more successful street, the research will focus on the reasons for the success. This will be done by comparing firstly, the car speed and number of cars in peak and off-peak times, and secondly the differences in street lanes, pavement and car parking proportions, positioning and size of trees, and street furniture.
Peak Time
12 noon - 12.30 AM
CONCLUSION
People’s Palace and Winter Gardens
KING’S DRIVE
2.00pM-2.30pM
57 43 43 KELVIN WAY
Gender Distribution Kelvin Way Peak Time
off-peak
12 noon - 12.30 AM
Male
Female
One of the components of our analysis aiming to prove the superiority of one street over another is the “car factor”. It largely results from “place factor” (measurements of the streets as well as facilities among them) and at the same time affects “people factor”- people’s perception of the streets which is indispensible to state the success of one of them. All of the data was gathered both at peak and off-peak times in the same day on both streets. Car speed was measured by recording the time needed for 10 cars to pass 100 meters (once for peak and once for offpeak). The number of cars was measured by counting cars going in both directions for 10 minutes (once for peak and once for offpeak).
Male
Number of CArs Peak Time
As the park paths meet the street at crossings as well as in the middle of the road, the test was carried out at the midpoints of King’s Drive and Kelvin Way, where people would be most likely to cross. While it is recognized that neither of the streets have intense enough traffic to make crossing continuously dangerous (as, for example, on a motorway) the crossing time is still a highly valuable measure as it can reflect not only sheer speed and number of cars but also visibility and traffic management in the area around.
ing rush hour, from 8.30 am to 9.00 am to maximize the traffic impact and acquire more distinctive results. In order to acquire results that would represent a wider variety of people, test were conducted without running or waiting for cars to pass inbetween lanes.
Top Speed (mph)
off-peak
Peak Time
10.00AM-10.30AM
69
38,4
40,4
Number of Cars
79
32,1
33,5
Although there is no big difference in the number of cars passing in 10 minutes on both streets measured during peak and off-peak time (more cars on King’s Drive than on Kelvin Way during peak time, more on Kelvin Way during the off-peak), there is a big disparity in the actual speed of cars. The difference in the average speed on the streets reaches the value of 5-6 mph. The average speed on Kelvin Way is below the speed limit (30mph) independently on the time of the day while it is always above it on King’s Drive with a top speed even 10mph higher than the limit. The research showed that in peak times the percentage of cars exceeding the limit is 60% on King’s Drive and 10% on Kelvin Way, while in off-peak times it is 80% for King’s Drive and 50% for Kelvin Way.
Average speed off-peak
10.00AM-10.30AM
32,1
In a series of 10 attempts, the time needed to safely cross the street was measured. A thirty second timer was set prior to crossing to reduce bias. The test was conducted on a working day, during the morn-
27
40 mph
40 mph
35 mph
35 mph
30 mph
30 mph
25 mph
25 mph
20 mph
20 mph
Speeding
Peak Time
35,7 29,6
off-peak
Crossing the street One of the reasons for these results is the huge difference in the number of people walking along and crossing the streets. Since there are very few people on King’s Drive there is no reason for the drivers to slow down. Furthermore, while both streets are used for car parking, Kelvin Way has specifically designated car parking spaces unlike King’s Drive, where people park along the edge of the street. This creates an illusion that Kelvin Way is narrower, despite both being the same width. Another reason for the higher car speed in King’s Drive is the position of trees along the street. The lack of pattern and presence of trees creates a suburban feel to the street, while Kelvin Way’s continuous canopy above it enhances the urban atmosphere, leading to lower speed.
10.00AM-10.30 AM
8.30 AM - 9.00 AM
U p To
Speed Limit
U p To
Speed Limit
Above
Speed Limit
King's Drive
Above
Speed Limit
CONCLUSION Above
.......SpeedLimit
Diagram explaining the methodology for the study about number of cars. A distance of 100m was selected and the time was measured for which cars travelled the distance. Then through a basic formula, the speed was derived.
National Hockey Centre
Templeton on the Green
U p To
Kelvin Way
U p To
Speed Limit
Above
S p ee d L i m i t
speed Limit
Time to cross the street
Diagram explaining the methodology for the study about time needed to cross the street. A 30 second timer was started at the point of the person in the diagram. Once the timer had finished, an attempt to cross would be made. The time recorded after the end of the 30 second timer would be the time required to cross.
Peak Time 8.30 AM - 9.00 AM
40
The research shows that drivers are more aware of speed in Kelvin Way. The street feels safer and friendlier to pedestrians. There is no significant physical barrier of cars, preventing easy crossing from one side to another. That is why King’s Drive leaves an impression of being a transport connection road, while Kelvin Way appears as a street going through a park, making it more successful. The gathered data concerning the car speed shows that in the case of King’s Drive there is a physical barrier caused by vehicles - a barrier that is not felt on Kelvin Way.
30
17 s 12 S
20
10
0
TREE FACTOR
>10m
KINGS DRIVE
King’s Drive has no resting points, and fails to provide any special, comfortable areas that capture pedestrian attention. During the count there were no people stopping, slowing down or focusing their attention towards the street (even the secondary entrances to the park are very modest and go unnoticed). It is important to mention that during both counts there were no people waiting at any of the bus stop and no busses arrived, therefore it can be said that the transport link factor had no significance and interference with the count. However, this can be due to the fact that the count was done on a Sunday, which typically has less public transport servicing the city.
10.00AM-10.30AM
107
Peak Time
Pedestrians tend to slow down when approaching secondary routes to the park, especially on the bridge to take in picturesque views to the river, the monuments, Kelvingrove Art Galleries and Glasgow University. This reinforces the combination of people and place to provide a successful street.
SURVEY
off-peak
8.30 AM - 9.00 AM
122
8.30 AM - 9.00 AM
Observations of people on the street also provide evidence to its success. The street is used for recreational activities – running, cycling, tennis and walking, as well as an attraction to tourists, visitors and families.
The collected data further demonstrates that King’s Drive is also heavily used as a car park which lowers the aesthetics of the area and makes it more uncomfortable and uninviting to pedestrians. It can be assumed that the reason why the street is rarely being used for sport activities or walking a pet, is that the space is not attractive or satisfactory enough and people prefer to engage with those activities within Glasgow Green.
Based on the collected data it is fair to conclude that King’s Drive is not a successful street since it fails to draw people or engage them with activity. The street is not a desirable destination but a path to some other destination. Its primary function is to provide passage for the vehicles and it is less concerned with the pedestrians and their comfort.
2.00pM-2.30pM
Female
We can suggest from this data that Kelvin Way is a more successful street – the two parts divided by Kelvin Way act as attractive areas providing public and private amenities on both sides, Kelvin Way acting as the transitional area between creating pedestrian movement regardless of what time of day it is.
Overall, Kelvin Way connects both sides of the park provides opportunities in each, and connects to the city with the street running from north to south. This makes it successful and inviting to all age groups – activities are there to suit everyone and it is easily accessible to all four sides. Based on the analytical and observational data collected Kelvin Way appears more successful than King’s Drive, drawing large numbers of people (almost 5 times as many) to either the street, significant landmarks and recreational activities.
off-peak
341 327
8.30 AM - 9.00 AM
During both peak and off-peak time there was a very low number of pedestrians in comparison to Kelvin Way. The data demonstrates that the primary use of King’s Drive is as a link to another destinations, while the secondary usage is as an entrance to Glasgow Green. The major destinations for people using the street are assumed to be the number sport facilities and landmarks located in the area of Glasgow Green.
CAR PARKING
Number of Pedestrians and is always full of people and activities. While Kelvin Way is not as important of a connection for the daily traffic of Glasgow as King’s Drive, it provides a much needed link between Argyle Street and Great Western Road.
King's Drive
During the people count for both peak and off-peak time there was a very high number of pedestrians in comparison to King’s Drive. The method of counting people both at peak and off peak times clearly displays which street is more successful – Kelvin Way had in a 30minute period over 200 people regardless of time of day.
The collected data support the suggestion that the street is used primarily as a link to other destinations. It is important to mention that 3 out of 10 people stated, without being asked, that they prefer to use more pleasant routes.
Exercise
Families/ Visiting Local Attractions
KINGS DRIVE
Kelvin Way
The collected data suggests that the Kelvin Way is used primary as a link to Kelvingrove Art Galleries and to enter/exit Kelvingrove Park. Most people interviewed were attending a specific event at the art gallery.
King's Drive
Going To Park
INTERVIEWS
Kelvin Way
A point of interest to be mentioned (though it does not add or distract from proving the success of Kelvin Way) is the increase of female pedestrians during peak time in comparison to the number of men. This raises the question as to why there are more women during peak times – perhaps not as many women at work compared to men, more women looking after children...
Car Parking On street
Exercise
CAR FACTOR
Nelson Monument
off-peak
12 noon - 12.30 AM
during the week. In order to eliminate this disbalance, the study was conducted on a Sunday. The count took place in 30 minute intervals for both time slots, counting people who pass through the street.
SURVEY
Another part of the study showed that there is a difference in the time needed to cross the streets. The average time for King’s Drive is 17 seconds and for Kelvin Way is 12 seconds. While the results show 5 seconds of difference in Kelvin Way’s favour, taking a look at the individual measurements reveals much more. 5 out of 10 of the attempts to cross King’s Drive took more than 20 seconds, while 7 out of 10 of the attempts to cross Kelvin Way took less than 10 seconds. Moreover, the longest waiting time for King’s Drive is almost 40sec. and for Kelvin Way it is less than 30sec. The reason for these results is obvious in the light of previous research on the car factor. The higher cars speed, the wider portion of the street occupied by moving cars, no designated car parking which could shorten the distance to pass from one place of safety to another place of safety – all of these factors contribute to a physical barrier of cars, as well as a lack of sense of security among pedestrians on King’s Drive. The contrasting results give the opposite impression on Kelvin Way, where it is safer, pedestrians rarely wait to cross the street and drivers are more aware.
National Hockey Centre
12 S
time recorded after the end of the 30 second timer would be the time required to cross.
Templeton on the Green
10
0
TREE FACTOR By carefully analyzing the physical shape and features of both streets, we can provide sufficient evidence of Kelvin Way’s success in comparison to King’s Drive. The physical factors dictate the level of comfort, sense of safety, extensiveness, and aesthetics of the two street spaces. Trees height and crown shape were carefully examined and categorized in order to demonstrate how they affect the street spaces. Three sections were taken through three areas of King’s Drive and Kelvin Way in order to validate the completeness and space quality of each street as a combination of tree height, arrangement and positioning, street proportions and metrics, and condition of pavements and street furniture.
SURVEY
KINGS DRIVE
>10m 5m - 10 m < 5m
The trees in King’s Drive were categorized in tree main groups according to their height. Small ones – up to 5 meters; medium – from 5 to 9 meters; big – higher than 10 meters. There is a rich variety of tree heights which makes the street look untidy, inconsistent and naked at certain areas.
Plan 1 - King's Drive
3.2
meters
6.0
6.0
Plan 2- King's Drive
2.7
meters
6.0
6.0
2.7
Section B-B - King's Drive
SECTION a-a - KING'S DRIVE The different tree height, sizes, and arrangement on both sides of King’s Drive consequences in a untidy feeling and lack of consistency. Trees are positioned between the pedestrian path and the park creating a barrier between the spaces, creating an impression that the pavement belongs to the street, rather than the park.
> 15m
3.2
Trees on the one side of the street are small and aligned while on the other side are big and randomly positioned. The street space is unbalanced, exposed and pedestrians are unprotected by the tree crowns.
Plan 3- King's Drive
meters
3.2
6.0
6.0
2.7
Section C-C - King's Drive Trees on the one side of the street are small and aligned while on the other side are big and randomly positioned. The street space is unbalanced, exposed and pedestrians are unprotected by the tree crowns.
Condition and Character The condition of the pavement is very different on both streets. King’s Drive is rather plain and hardly memorable. In many occasions, signage and lamps obstruct the walkways by being in the middle instead of at the edge. In Kelvin Way, the trees have overtaken the pavement, with roots coming out of the asphalt to show their age. Despite the trees’ sizes, the positioning on the outermost part of the walkway makes them non-obstructive to the fluent pedestrian movement.
Along with the car parking spaces, pedestrian crossing locations are distributed along the length of the street. They occupy the same 2.4m of the lane that the car parking occupies, thus also shortening the distance from safety to safety. Crossings like these are important for keeping the connection between the two sides of the street and the park stronger.
CONCLUSION
KELVIN WAY
6m - 15m < 6m
Plan 1 - Kelvin Way The trees located in Kelvin Way can be divided into three groups. Positioned along the edge of the street lanes – higher than 15 meters; between the pavement and the park – higher than 6 meters; smaller trees, which don’t follow a strict pattern – up to 6 meters. The uniformity and tidiness of the patterns and heights create a canopy over the whole street, creating a sense of belonging to the park.
Street Metrics Despite both streets having cars parked on their edges, the designation of car parking space in Kelvin Way creates a buffer between the pavement and the lanes. In this buffer, there is no danger of being hit by a car, since cars are either parked or drive at very low speeds before parking, and the street marking makes sure the pedestrian is aware of this. This creates a distance of 7.2m to cross from safety to safety in Kelvin Way, a distance which is significantly higher in King’s Drive at 12m.
meters
Plan 2- Kelvin Way
3.2 2.4 6.0 6.0 2.4 3.2
meters
SECTION a-a - KELVIN WAY Trees in Kelvin Way are similar in height and crown shape which results in overall sense of tidiness, continuity, and comfort. They are positioned between the street and the pedestrian path creating a feeling of safety and a relation between the path and the park. A strict pattern of 10 meters between each tree is followed along the whole street with very few exceptions.
3.2 2.4 6.0 6.0 2.4 3.2
SECTION B-B - KELVIN WAY Despite the seemingly random positioning of the trees, they follow the existing pattern where unobstructed by alleys. The height and tree wideness is similar which preserves the completeness and continuity of the street space. Positioned between the street and the pedestrian path they protect both pedestrians and parked under.
Plan 3- Kelvin Way
meters
5.0
3.6 3.6
5.0
SECTION C-C - KELVIN WAY Trees are similar shapes, sizes, aligned and positioned over the same distance from one another. The crowns swallow the street creating a tunnel and an incredible feeling of safety and comfort. Furthermore they enrich the street space by creating a game of moving shadows and light.
Various street furniture on Kelvin Way adds significant character to the place compared to King’s Drive. Through their thin and elegant nature, thin black coated metal fences form the edge from street to park without separating the two. Even the street lamps have a language that fits the street. Instead of the typical ones, they are hanged from cables running between 12 meter high posts at each side of the street. This creates another layer that visually suggests that the two sides of the street are connected.
Through the study of place, Kelvin Way has shown to have much richer and pleasant atmosphere, successfully engaging with pedestrians. It’s continuous canopy makes it feel part of the park, increasing the connectivity of the two parts of the park. Car parking spaces and pedestrian crossings make it safer to cross and transverse, further reinforcing the points made above. On the other hand, King’s Drive has shown to obstruct pedestrians, create an unpleasant walk through the park and completely separate it into two. Lack of tree patterns and their further positioning from the street, lack of designated car parking space, and the non-memorable atmosphere all contribute to the failure that King’s Drive is compared to Kelvin Way.
CONCLUSION K E LV I N WAY
University of Glasgow
SUMMARY
RESULTS
The Outrage and Delight project aims to discover successful ways to create urban environments by examining both good and bad examples, and then comparing them. This paper looked at two streets – Kelvin Way in Kelvingrove Park, and King’s Drive in Glasgow Green. The research was executed in four phases. The first one was gathering background research and information for the two streets. For the second phase, a study of people was conducted in order to determine which the more successful one is. The third and fourth phase – respectively study of cars and study of place - examined they key factors which contributed to the success measured in the second phase.
The results positively supported the initial hypothesis that Kelvin Way is the more successful of the two. The overwhelming difference showed that people prefer to spend time on Kelvin Way and use it extensively as part of the park. King’s Drive on the other hand was barely used by pedestrians, as there were more pleasant routes to transverse through the park. The study showed that drivers tend to drive much slower in Kelvin Way, despite the record of number of cars being very similar in both streets. Drivers in King’s Drive were also more likely to exceed the speed limit of the area. Pedestrian crossing time was also much higher in Glasgow Green, which is likely to the fact that the street is wider, cars go faster and there aren’t any designated
crossing zones, unlike Kelvin Way. By examining the character of the streets, the paper proposed that the canopy, positioning and scale of the trees, as well as the designated car parking spaces, pedestrian crossing zones and street furniture all contributed to the success of Kelvin Way. Overall, Kelvin Way showed to be the more successful street, as the original hypothesis predicted.
Just a single pedestrian crossing can have a great impact on the safety of the street.
Kelvingrove Art Gallery
Kelvingrove Band Stand
Stewart Memorial Fountain
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
GUIDELINES
The purpose of this Outrage and Delight study goes beyond just proving that Kelvin Way is more successful than King’s Drive. It shows how through subtle and sometimes neglected details, one street can create a very urban atmosphere full of people, as is the case of Kelvin Way; and a very suburban one, devout of pedestrians and pleasant character, as is King’s Drive. This is of particular importance for drivers, as urban settings tend to be full of people and require driving at lower speeds. The study further proves how two streets with many metric similarities can have a drastically different effect on people and their perception of them.
The research and the discoveries made can propose several guidelines that could influence future designs of streets located in public parks. In the case of King’s Drive, the street could benefit greatly from designated car parking and trees planted between the street and the pavement. There is an important connection to the sport facilities, which could be safer to cross if there was a pedestrian crossing at the junction. With only these few simple changes, King’s Drive could be considerably more pleasant to walk on and successfully connect the two sides of the park in a friendlier, more inviting way for pedestrians.
FURTHER REASEARCH The following suggestions could be considered during the proposal, design and inte The positioning of trees between the street and pavement can help to create a sense of belonging to the park and added protection and safety to the pedestrian. Designated car parking spaces on the street would create a narrower perception for drivers, creating a safer area, as well as shortening the distance for pedestrians to cross. Designated pedestrian crossings along the street, especially at im portant walkway connections, and secondary routes to the park would help the street to belong to the park rather than a separate en tity. Therefore, the street becomes more inviting and allows pedestri an life to flourish.
Positioning the trees between the pavement and the lanes allows for the walkway to be percieved as part of the park, rather than part of the street.
The study also provides ground for further investigation. Firstly, more factors can be considered for Kelvin Way and King’s Drive in order to understand why more people occupy the former. Studies of light, materials, and urban context are all important for better understanding the results. Secondly, the two streets’ success can be reviewed in different regards of what success means. This paper examined them in regards of people on the street, while other comparisons, such as traffic importance, stock value impact, various events and festivals, historical significance, and more, are all equally interesting and engaging topics. Finally, Kelvin Way and King’s Drive can be compared with similar streets in different places in the world,
which also divide parks in order to see how different cultures address the issue of street passing through a park. This study of Outrage and Delight is of paramount importance for urban designers, showing how observations and analysis of existing successes and failures can be incredibly valuable for the design of future urban environments.
The pattern of the trees can create a continous canopy over the street, creating an enclosed atmosphere, leading to lower car speeds. Furthermore, speed bumps can be placed to intentionally lower the speed around public facilities or crossings.
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