Fold Strand Node Final Report

Basil Spence 2010

Fold Strand Node A film institute for Spike Island

Group 22

A Sarah Firth A Ben Morgan Jones A Richard Winter E Jake Smith

Contents 1 Analysis

2 Scheme

3 Detail

06

Brief / Response

19

Site Plan

58

Construction Section

07

Concept

20

Ground Floor Plan

60

Structural Strategy

08

Site Approaches

21

First Floor Plan

62

Tectonics

09

Timeline

22

Second Floor Plan

66

Environmental Strategy

10

Adaptive reuse

23

Roof Plan

68

Model Photographs

12

Fold

24

Unfolded Elevations

14

Node

26

Perspective Section

70

Conclusion

15

Strand

28

Elevations

32

Visualisations

48

Analysis of Strands

03

Analysis 06 Brief / Response 07 Concept 08 Site Approaches 09 Timeline 10 Adaptive reuse 12 Fold 14 Node 16 Strand

“Let's start from the beginning again, Jeff. Tell me everything you saw...and what...you think it means.�

Lisa Carol Fremont Rear Window, 1954

05

Synopsis of Brief “The central endeavour of this project is to use the medium of film to investigate the implications of the modern condition.

Cinema - the seventh art - has many affinities with architecture and engineering in that its very essence intertwines technological invention, with the aspirations of ontological narrative... The project also demands the development of an attitude towards modern and historical cinema, and the moving image, through the themes of Darkness, Machine, Screen and Space. “

Reaction To us, Spike Island feels like an understated area, given its history and the wealth of creativity that it harbours from internationally acclaimed artists and businesses. We did not want to overwhelm the island’s unique character, but promote it on an urban level and bring its energy into the public domain.

“In Search of the Miraculous” (Trinta anos despois) Bas Jan Adler

1975

06

Film as public art

Connecting the city

Rediscovery

Our approach is to film as a public art. Seeing it as an art form akin to

Spike Island occupies an intermediary location within the city, a

From its industrial roots, Spike Island is developing a new cultural and

painting or sculpture, and viewing it as a cultural record of our cities

missing link between the areas of Bedminster and Southville and

urban agenda. The activity of this era is finding its place adapting and

and their development and not as an isolated experience.

the city center. It acts not only as a destination but as a passage, a

reinventing the topography of the historic harbour.

permeable screen connecting multiple aspects.

07

City approach Spike Island from in front of the Arnolfini. The utilitarian aesthetic of the M Shed and the Stothert & Pitt cranes evoke a deep sense of industrial place, revealing the site’s industrial past

Residential approach Cumberland Road forms a noisy buffer between Southville and Spike Island. The elevated rear end of the site affords city centre views, a strong opportunity for connecting with the city visually

08

Site Approaches

1495

Discovery of the Americas John Cabot Historians generally assume that on arrival back in the UK Cabot went directly to Bristol to seek support. A royal patent dated 1496 stated all expeditions should be undertaken from the city.

1804

1st May - Official opening of the Floating Harbour

1809

Floating Harbour - William Jessop The construction began on the scheme proposed in 1802 with the installation of a dam and lock at Hotwells to create the harbour.

The Cumberland Basin provided a way to equalise levels in and outside the dock, maintaining flexibility and efficiency of operations undisrupted by the huge tidal variations on the river Avon.

Great Western Railway - Brunel Linking Bristol and London, driven by the desire of Bristol merchants to maintaintheir city as the second port of the country, and its primary link to the USA.

1833

1999

Established in the MacArthur warehouse, providing studio space and shared resources for local artists.

The footbridge links the At-Bristol center and Canons Marsh to the city center.

Pero’s Footbridge Eilis O’Connell

Artspace Bristol

1833 1809

1976

1843 1838

1980

SS Great Britain - Brunell

SS Great Western - Brunell

1908

Royal Edward Dock Avonmouth The shipping industry gradually relocated to Avonmouth and Bristol City Docks in the Floating Harbour became redundant as freight docks.

1896

34th St. New York City First public exhibition of projected motion picture

1914

1980s

1961

Harbourside regeneration begins

Arnolfini - Jeremy Rees Arts center opens with a programme of music, exhibitions, film and literature.

Relocated to Queens Square in 1970.

1914

1925

One of the most creative and influential personalities of the silent film era.

Pioneers of film with synchronised sound.

Using their Vitaphone they began making movies with music and effects tracks in 1926.

‘The Tramp’ - Charlie Chaplin

1988

Warner Bros

Cinema Paradisio Giuseppe Tornatore Academy Award winning in 1989 for the Best Foreign Film, Cinema Paradisio tells the story of young Salvatore as he develops his life long passion for film.

Spike Island / Film Timeline

09

precedent

Caixa Forum Herzog & de Meuron The building is conceived as an ‘urban magnet’, attracting people from a wide area to explore the building as well as the cultural program on offer. Not only to its cultural program but the building itself. The public realm is drawn beneath the mass of the former power station and up into the heart of the Forum.

Adaptive Reuse Historically, Spike Island was the site of working quays, shipyards, warehouses and associated dockside industries. With the decline in heavy industry in Britain there was a plentiful supply of disused warehouses and factories in harbour areas. Groups of artists began to acquire these spaces as studios from the 1960s and brought their creative energy to the UK’s abandoned ports.

The trend in artistic regeneration was influenced by the development of SoHo, New York. Artists infiltrated and took over the area known in the 19th century as ‘Hell’s Hundred Acres’, attracted to the cheap rents and large, adaptable spaces they could use both to live and work.

Space, London, established in 1968, was one of the pioneering examples of independent artists’ cooperatives in the UK, occupying warehouses in the South Bank’s Old Docks. Landlords positively encouraged their tenancy.

Deterioration of properties and the increasing notoriety of dockside areas were reduced, and gradually the variety of business and tenants increased, attracted to the culture the artists had created. This pattern of gentrification can be seen throughout both the United States and Europe.

010

SS Great Britain 1843 Designed by Brunel to take passengers from Bristol to New York 1845 Maiden Trans-Atlantic voyage 1886 Out of service, after over 1 000 000 miles at sea 1937 Abandoned in the Falkland Islands 1970 Salvaged and returned to the Bristol Dry Dock 2005+ Between 150 000 and 170 000 visitors annually after extensive reconstructive work to repair all surviving pre-1970 material

B Bond Warehouse 1908 Built by William Cowlin 1995 Create Center and Bristol Records Office Create is run by Bristol City Council as an environmental education center, hosting exhibitions, workshops and is a home to several organizations working in the field of sustainable development.

Brooke Bond Tea Warehouse 1960 Brooke Bond Tea packing warehouse 1976 Spike Island Artspace took over as studios 1998 Lottery funded refurbishment The Spike Island Artspace is ‘a place of production and exhibition of contemporary art and design.’ Spike Island provides exhibition, studio and workshop space to artists, students and the general public. It is also home to many small scale commercial creative buisnesses.

‘E-Shed’ 1896 ‘E-Shed’ cargo warehouse 1960s End of use as industrial storage 2001 Watershed The Watershed media center promotes ‘creativity, innovation and talent’, comprising three cimena screens, exhibition space and a cafe/bar.

Bush House 1830s Tea Warehouse Acramans Engineering Offices 1970 Arnolfini Arts Center One of Europes leading centers for Contemporary Arts established in 1961. The center houses exhibition spaces, a cinema screen, an auditorium, and light/dark studios.

Fyffes Warehouse

‘M Shed’

1980 Banana ripening warehouse for Fyffes 1995 Aardman Animation Studios

1950 Transit Shed 1974 - 2006 Bristol Industrial Museum 2011 M Shed Museum telling the history of Bristol from pre-historic to 21st century

Aardman Animations are the world leading studio in model animation, creaters of Morph and Wallace and Gromit. The studio has had seven Oscar nominations, and won four.

011

precedent

Auditorium Atlantida Josep Llinas The complex bridges between the consolidated town of Vic and future expansion areas as a ‘melted part of the urban fabric’. The public realm is folded into the building with varying levels of exposure. Above, the roof slopes down from the auditorium fly tower, spreading and folding over the remaining program and creating multiple entrances.

Fold Our proposal takes the archetypal figure of the industrial shed in its simplest pitched roof form. As the pitch runs through the building it distorts; rising, falling, dividing and merging, fusing the multiple program requirements beneath its continuous canopy.

Both roof and floor planes work in parallel to guide the user through the building. The ground level rises, folding through the site from the Floating Harbour up to Cumberland Road. It unifies the building’s internal activities and connects them with the external landscape and broader context.

fold |fōld| verb [ trans. ]: 1bend over on itself so that one part of it covers another noun: a form or shape produced by the gentle draping of a loose garment or piece of cloth

012

ORIGIN Old English falden, fealden, of Germanic origin

Old Gaol Stables

Brooke Bonded Tea Warehouse

Bonded Warehouse

Guinness Shed

M Shed

Fyffes Warehouse

E Shed

‘Found’ objects: 1. Wapping Wharf Master Plan

2. Old Gaol Stables

3. Guinness Shed

Wapping Wharf Ltd. propose an ‘intimate

Formerly the stables for the Old City

Built in the post war era as a storage

form of development... with a compact,

Gaol, built between 1855 and 1869.

and handling depot for Guinness. Since

intense character’. Retail and commercial

Currently used as storage unit for the

then it has gone through numerous

units at street level along Museum Street

Olive Shed restaurant restaurant on

reinventions, currently housing a

and Gaol Ferry Steps create an active

the harbourside.

framing workshop, gallery and tea

street frontage, with residential units

5

Mu

t tree mS s eu

above.

4 3

2

k Ropewal

1

Gaol

Ferry Steps

1

Node The objects found on the site act as nodes, anchored deeply within the industrial heritage of Spike Island. They are vessels through which the history of the site has been enacted, taking on multiple identities.

The introduction of three cinema auditoria establish the Film Institute’s position on the Island. The nodes are orientated with relation to existing site forces and geometries, embedding its program within its historical surroundings.

node |nōd| noun: 1a point at which lines or pathways intersect or branch; a central or connecting point ORIGIN late Middle English (denoting a knotty swelling or a protuberance):

014

derived from Latin nodus ‘knot’

rooms.

4. Railway Tracks

5. Stothert & Pitt electric cranes

The original tracks serviced

Four (of an original ten) electric

warehouses along the dockside.

dock cranes dating back to

As part of the Wapping Wharf

1951 can be found on the

master plan the inland track will be

quayside adjacent to the M

reincorporated in to a light rail route,

Shed museum. The cranes

connecting to the city centre

travel independently along a dedicated harbourside track

Strand The building’s program is grouped and arranged in strands, whose functions respond to the city at an urban level.

Anchored by the nodes of the cinemas, each strand has its own dynamic; drawing people across the Floating Harbour or from the local communities of residents and artists.

strand |strand| noun: 1a thin length of something such as thread, fibre, or wire, esp. as twisted together with others an element that forms part of a complex whole

2

ORIGIN late 15th cent.: of unknown origin

015

016

Scheme 19 Site Plan 20 Ground Floor Plan 21 First Floor Plan 22 Second Floor Plan 23 Roof Plan 24 Unfolded Elevations 26 Perspective Section 28 Elevations 32 Visualisations 48 Analysis of Strands

“I guess I thought the dream-space would be all about the visual, but it's more about the feeling.

My question is what happens when you start messing with the physics of it.�

Ariadne Inception, 2010

017

018

Isometric overview of scheme in context

Site Plan 0

20

40

60

80

100m

019

01 Exhibition space 02 CafĂŠ 03 WC 04 Kitchen 05 Shop 06 Cinema 1 (170 people) 07 Box office 08 Cinema 3 (750 people) 09 Central space 10 Bar 11 Snack bar 12 WC 13 Cinema 2 / luxury (150 people) 10

06

05

13 09

07

01

11

12

02

08

03

Ground Floor Plan 0

5

10

15

20m

04

01 Exhibition space 02 CafĂŠ 03 Exhibition space 04 Cinema 1 (170 people) 05 Cinema 3 (750 people) 06 Restaurant 07 WC 08 Kitchen 09 Cinema 2 / luxury (150 people) 10 MediathĂŠque / archive 11 Historical archive 12 Film library 13 Independent creative business unit

06

07

08

04

09

13

03 01

10

02

05

First Floor Plan 0

5

10

11 12 15

20m

01 Flexible studio / exhibition space 02 Inhabited steps / education 03 Cinema 3 upper tier (200 people) 04 Cinema 2 / luxury (150 people) 05 MediathĂŠque / screening area 06 Recording studio 07 Office 08 Teaching space 09 Independent creative business unit

02 04

09

01

05

03 12 06

Second Floor Plan 0

5

10

15

20m

06

06

07

08

Roof Plan 0

5

10

15

20m

Unfolded elevations

024

025

Perspective section through community and exhibition strands

027

Elevation along cafĂŠ street, from New Cut to Floating Harbour

029

Front elevation from Floating Harbour showing public screening area and adapted Guinness Shed

030

Rear elevation along Cumberland Road

031

View from across floating harbour

Nighttime view from across floating harbour

Exhibition strand and Guinness Shed as a permeable threshold to the Film Institute

Development maquette and sketch of exploring building intersection with Guinness shed

035

Integration of cafĂŠ / restaurant strand in to public domain

Development maquette of elevation

036

View from balcony in to central space

038

Initial development model and sketch of central space

Internal view of cinema

“Nevertheless there are plenty of examples to show that film is capable of better things; not a great many first-rate works of art, complete, coherent, and highly finished - the art is still too young for that, it is still too much in the experimental stage - but there are enough films to show in individual scenes, individual inventions, in the efforts of individual actors, what might be, what still lies hidden and untapped.

And there is, in art, nothing to prevent one’s clinging to the little that is good, instead of the great quantity that is bad.�

Rudolf Arnheim Film as Art, 1932

040

View looking up inhabited steps towards exhibition space

042

Classroom in community strand; views over New Cut towards Southville

“Things need to be ordinary and heroic at the same time.�

Peter and Alison Smithson 1985

Model showing projecting classroom window

044

Interior finish

Sketch of timber-slatted ticketing office

Throughout the central space and inside the cinema, internal surfaces take on a ribbed appearance. This is achieved with layers of thin hardwood battens made from timber thinnings. A relief is milled in to the battens, creating an abstract, near moiré effect. On closer inspection a selection of key figures from film history can be seen.

Laid to a fabric backing, this finish has noise attenuating properties, making it suitable for large, open interior spaces. The timber is also carried through externally to window frames and points in the façade which denote key entrances and openings to the building. Timber louvers and window frames in the facade highlight entrances and openings, and allude to the internal atmosphere. Internally, the material is also incorporated as a tactile finish to key pieces of furniture such as the ticketing office and bar.

Faces from left to right:

Relief pattern in timber slats

Carol Reed Lumiéres Brothers Wong Kar Wai Kathryn Bigelow Jacques Audiard Tim Burton Wim Wenders Andrei Tarkovsky Georges Méliès Alfred Hitchcock

046

Original image

Models exploring light qualities diffused by timber slats

047

048

Strand Analysis

049

The exhibition strand breaks through the Guinness Shed and connects the building to the city by means of a projected image on the glazed end screen of the studio.

The projecting studio defines an entrance on the waterfront, giving access to a public exhibition and café within the original shed. The old station platform becomes a terrace, with the original train line being retained as the building bridges over it. The bridging structure creates an area of ‘inhabited steps’, an informal area for both teaching and film screenings.

050

View of shed exhibition

View of front courtyard

View from waterfront

Flexible studio Roof light

Exhibition space

CafĂŠ

Exhibition space

Box office / shop

Landscaped courtyard

The bridging structure defines a threshold to an internal courtyard which acts as both an outdoor seating area as well as entry point to the institute.

Reclaimed sleepers from the old railway are used to create benches, tables and raised planters.

051

View to restaurant terrace from Ropewalk

View from central space to bar and restaurant

Elevation Openings The louvered timber openings offer a suggestion of the internal finish and serve as entrances.

Conventional window

Box window

Louvered opening

052

Landscape window

The end of each strand is highlighted with an individual box window. In the case of the exhibition strand the glazed end acts as a film screen, projecting a moving image toward the city.

Large ‘landscape’ openings relate more to internal spaces which demand a strong connection to the streetscape such as the bar Other more regular rectangular windows are placed according to internal forces such as the spacing of tables in the restaurant.

Roof

Restaurant

Bar

Elevation

Landscape

The restaurant strand responds to the Old Gaol Steps which are both a destination within the Wapping Wharf development for commercial and residential activity and thoroughfare for locals from the suburbs of Bedminster and Southville, cutting through the site to reach the Floating Harbour.

The ground floor bar is accessible directly from the internal central space, and flows out onto the street terrace. The entrance to this area is aligned with the end of Ropewalk, and St. Mary’s Church Redcliffe.

053

054

End of community strand viewed from central space

Rear courtyard

View from Gaol Ferry Bridge across Cumberland Road

A sequence of library, archive, mediathéques, studios and professional and amateur artists and the general public, feeding in to and drawing inspiration from a growing wealth of information. from the busy central area. A small courtyard to the rear acts

Recording Studio Meeting Room Mediathéque / Screening Area

Teaching Space

E Historical Archive

Mediathéque / Archive

Film Library

The community strand is accessed through a courtyard, framed by the original stone wall and Old Gaol Stables creative business unit. Large window openings in the façade make connections with the as internal teaching and meeting spaces, with theand courtyard with its scattered benches, well giving direct access to the community acting as a continuation of these.

Accessed off the Cumberland Road the facilities education facilities of the building for the local communities of Bedminster and can be used directly by locals and artist for research, workshops and teaching.

Southville.

Courtyard

Old Gaol Stables Creative Business Unit

055

Detail 58 Construction Section 60 Structural Strategy 62 Tectonics 66 Environmental Strategy 68 Model Photographs 70 Conclusion

“Buildings of this technological age usually deliberately aim at ageless perfection, and they do not incorporate the dimension of time, or the unavoidable and mentally significant process of aging. This fear of the traces of wear and age is related to our fear of death.�

Juhani Pallasmaa Eyes of the Skin, 2005

057

Material 1

Material 2

Sourced from recycled material with an average energy consumption of 10% less than that sourced from ore.

In-situ poured concrete with fly ash cement and locally sourced aggregate.

Material 3

Material 4

Sourced from 14 forestries that are within feasible proximity to the site.

Using a resource that is otherwise considered waste.

Light and flexible structure with

Pre-patinated zinc

Hardwood timber thinnings

In-situ concrete

Steel Structure efficient large spanning abilities.

Detail 7

Material 4

Material 5

Material 6

Existing non structural skin of the Guinness Sheds.

Existing structural base of the Guinness Shed.

Material 7

Material 8

Existing material build up of Old Gaol Stables.

Structure of Stowford press cranes

Corrugated Steel

Stone

058

Red Brick

Industrial Steel skeleton

Detail 1

Detail 5

Material 1

Detail 4

Detail 3

Material 3

Material 2

1. Foundations The majority of substantial structure has been allocated to the south of the site to minimize foundation loadings to the poor ground conditions to the north.

2. Nodes Three heavily braced auditoria act as as ‘strong boxes’, providing lateral stability to the surrounding strand structures.

5. Floor Planes Six in-situ composite concrete floor panels are installed to provide lateral stability

6. Tertiary Structure The strand structure has a stiff, cross-braced roof that enables transfer of shear between the external façade of the connecting structure and the auditoria.

Structural Strategy & Construction Process

3. Strands A light Steel frame is erected with the bridge attaining longitudinal and lateral stability from a large truss and rigid portal frames along the length.

4. Fold Structure The roof structure consists of deep pitched beams, that reflect the notion of the strands weaving their way through the nodes.

7. Folds The exterior warm, non-ventilated zinc skin is attached using a lightweight Metsec wall cladding system or alternatively laid straight on to steel decking.

8. Founds The found objects are renovated with a refurbishment of the Guinness shed’s exterior skin and the Old Gaol Stable’s roof.

061

2.03 2.04 2.02 1.01 2.07 2.05

3.06 3.03 3.02 3.01 1.02 2.01 4.01

2.06 2.01 6.01

7.01 7.02 3.03 3.04 3.02 3.01

7.03 6.04 2.05 2.04 2.02 2.07 2.01 3.03 3.09 2.11 3.08 3.05 3.06 3.07

1.02 8.02 4.01

Detail 2

Detail 1

2.05 2.06 2.08 2.10 2.09

Detail 3

Projecting Window Detail Glazed Unit - 2.20 W/m2K

Floor Structure

1.01

Internal Acoustic Timber Walls

1.00

Structure

2.00

Walls

3.00

Floors / Substructure

4.00

Ceilings

1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05

Structural Steel Columns Primary Structural Steel Beams Secondary Structural Steel Beams Tertiary Structural Steel Beams Truss

2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12

Kingspan Rigid Mineral Wool Insulation Breather Membrane Vapour Control Layer 12mm Cement Particle Sheathing Board Metsec Stud 12mm High Density Core Plasterboard VMZINC PLUS Standing Seam 50mm x 50mm Softwood Battens 150mm x 25mm Hardwood/Softwood Timber Thinnings Acoustic Damping Sheet Concrete Upstand L2L Insulation

3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09

Comflor 100 Composite Floor Deck 200mm In Situ Poured Concrete 50mm Underfloor Heating Screed Underfloor Heating Pipes Foundations External Steel Rainwater Gutter Concrete Paving Slab 200mm Kingspan Rigid Mineral Wool Insulation Vapour Control Layer

4.01

Suspended Ceiling

062

Tectonics

5.06

5.04 6.02 5.01

6.03 5.01

5.03 1.04 6.04

6.02 5.04 5.08

6.05 8.01

5.02 5.08 5.01 5.08 5.02 5.07

1.04 5.09

1.05 1.01

5.05 1.03

5.10 5.11 2.10 2.11

1.02

4.01 2.05 1.02 2.06

Detail 4

Detail 5

Exploded Roof Diagram Roof - 0.12 W/m2K

Ventilation Stack Detail Auditoria Roof - 0.06 W/m2K

5.00

Roof

6.00

Openings

7.00

Surface Finishes

8.00

Other

5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11

VMZINC Standing Seam 150mm Kingspan Rigid Mineral Wool Insulation L2L Insulation VMZINC Plus Gutter Corus D60 Structural Metal Roof Decking 50mm x 25mm Hardwood Timber Thinnings Precast Concrete Hollowcore Planks Breather Membrane Vapour Control Layer Metsec Hangers 12mm High Density Core Plasterboard

6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05

Double Glazed PPC Aluminium Window Double Glazed PPC Aluminium Skylight Skylight Flashing and Sheet Clip in VMZINC PLUS Roof Boarding PPC Aluminium Variable Ventilation Grill

7.01 7.02 7.03

Softwood Skirting Applied Floor Finish Softwood Window Cill

8.01 8.02

Solar Thermal Panels Services

063

1.01 1.04 2.05 2.04

5.01 5.08 5.02 5.09 5.05 1.02 5.04 2.12 2.05 1.03

2.12 2.02 2.07 5.04

2.07

2.11

1.01

2.06 7.01 7.02 3.03 3.04 3.09 3.02 2.01 3.05

4.01

2.06 2.03 2.01 2.05 2.04 2.01 2.02

3.06 3.07

Detail 6

Open Down Pipe Detail

Foundation - 0.19W/m2K

064

Rainwater strategy

Detail 7

Hidden Gutter Detail Wall - 0.22 W/m2K

“If we bring a little joy into your humdrum lives, it makes us feel as though our hard work ain’t been in vain for nothin’.”

Lina Lamont Singin’ in the Rain

Fire Strategy Outlined below is an initial working fire strategy.

With the scheme’s complex plan ranging over several storeys, including three nodes (auditoria), three strands (various program) and a deep core, a very complex fire strategy would be required that could be developed through investigation from the initial set below.

Warning and escape t t t t t t t t

Heat and smoke alarms installed within all parts of the building.

Traditional audible siren to warn of a fire, as well as visual alarm (in the form of warning lights) for the hard of hearing.

Sealed fire lobby connected to all three cinemas.

Appropriate emergency lighting installed in all cinemas.

Doors to cores and cinemas to be fitted with automatic closing device in case of fire.

Automatically opening skylights within core space to allow ventilation in case of smoke penetration.

All exits and routes to be at least 900mm wide.

Hand held fire extinguishers distributed throughout building.

Internal fire spread - linings t t t t t t

Heavy installation of sprinklers within film archive and core.

Kitchen and Film Archive to have 60mins fire rating with automatically closing fire shutter on serving hatches.

All internal timber finished treated to resist flame spread over surfaces.

Fire-resistant glass used within core spaces.

Old Gaol Stables retrofitted to meet housing standards.

Additional hand-held extinguishers provided in higher risk areas: kitchen, film archive, plant, projection rooms.

Access for the fire service t

Roof drainage strategy Gutters Downpipes Run of water

t t

Access and parking for fire vehicle provided on both Cumberland Road and Ropewalk streets.

Min. 70% of perimeter to have vehicle access Water valves to be located in protected stairs for fire service use.

Fire strategy plan Compartmented zones with 30/60min fire rating Means of escape Means of escape from floor above

065

Identify and Ventilate

Reduce, Recover and Reuse

Natural Resources

Energy Generation

Identify

Reduce

Floating Harbour

Stirling Engine

As the service life energy consumption accounts for the vast majority of the total CO2 usage of a development (carbon footprint) the environmental design aims to create an extremely efficient integrated system that reduces overall usage.

Ventilate

The auditoria and recording studios are mechanically ventilated using a low velocity displacement system. Due to the requirement for acoustic isolation and comfort, passive ventilation was considered inappropriate for these key areas. Ventilation is provided in large ducting at low speeds to minimise frictional losses and noise.

The stands are passively ventilated using three suitable methods that take into consideration location within site, depth of zones and usage. Single sided and cross ventilation is achieved within the peripheral zones such as exhibition and classroom spaces. Stack ventilation has been effectively achieved within the deepest core of the plan, through the use of two ventilation chimneys that have been incorporated within the form of the small and large auditoria.

The largest of the stacks achieves a maximum differential height of 10m, and an adequate opening area of 225m2. This shall be the main driving force for natural ventilation, with fresh air being brought in via underfloor vents that connect to the outside via ducting. To increase the efficiency of the ventilation stack, a southfacing glazing strip has been incorporated in to the chimney detail, thus increasing the rate of ventilation through solar acceleration.

066

The initial starting point is to reduce basic energy consumption.

This has been achieved through the building’s structural strategy and massing. Steel structures have the ability to use significantly less material than concrete structures and are therefore lighter with less extensive foundations. With most of the substantial structure to the south of the site, the quantity and size of piles has been minimized, reducing cost and material usage. Lighting requirements will be limited to specific times, with Passive infrared (PIR) being used to illuminate public areas when a film is in progress. The core space requires lower light levels to aid in the transition between foyer and a darkened cinema. To reduce demands on heating and cooling systems a high level of thermal insulation has been applied to all external walls and roofing surfaces.

Recover

To make maximum use of energy within the scheme, a large proportion of usable high quality heat is to be recovered (50% efficiency assumed from recovery systems). These high grade sources include plant (55,000 watts) and projectors (4,000 watts).

A heat exchange ventilation systems shall also be used to recover any excess heat from the three auditoria, recording studios and kitchens. This will then produce a realistic recovery assumption of around 59,000 watts for high grade heat and around 70% recovery through the heat exchange ventilation.

Reuse

The reuse of existing material and structure played a large part within the scheme. Wherever possible existing structures and objects have been incorporated and reused, reducing the initial embodied construction energy of the proposal. Key material choices were made on the availability and realistic sourcing of recycled material.

The floating harbour shall be incorporated in to an open loop heat exchange system, to be used as a heat source in the winter and combined with a Turbocore compressor in the summer to aid cooling. Although the film institute has a constant cooling demand for projectors, plant and mediathĂŠques all year round, an alternative passive strategy of heat recovery ventilation is developed to cool in the winter. Turbocore compressors are a highly efficient system, being a third more efficient than any conventional method. This system enables an efficiency of 1 unit of electricity equating to 5-15 units of cooling.

There are a number of constraints that need to be considered in the implementation of an open loop heat exchange system: - The inlet and outlet have to be a minimum of 20m apart.

- There may only be 50C rise between inlet and outlet water temperatures.

- A license with an associated yearly fee must be attained from the Council for the extraction of harbor water.

- The temperature of the harbor fluctuates from a minimum of 70C in the winter to 200C in summer

Solar

A large bank of south facing solar thermal panels cover the large auditoria to the rear of the site. These solar panels can generate up to 330,000 watts (values obtained from SWTHA).

Rainwater Harvesting

The roof plane of the luxury cinema is to be used for rainwater harvesting. With an adequate surface area, roof falls and proximity to plant and service spaces, it provides a useful water source. The downpipe and filtration system has been incorporated into the form of the cinema block.

A Stirling engine that utilises the waste heat from the heat exchanger, plant and a large bank of solar thermal panels covering the auditoria drives the mechanical ventilation. A Stirling engine can convert any available heat source difference into kinetic energy. The theoretical efficiency of a Stirling engine is limited by the Carnot cycle (40%) and directly proportional to the temperature difference between the two sides of the cylinder. The pressure of the working fluid also contributes to the efficiency of a Stirling engine. By increasing pressure and hence the thermal mass of the working fluid it may transfer more energy for a given volume. As we are working with a low temperature difference (600C) but a high volume (400kW gain from solar and plant) it is possible to attain 40kW of mechanical power.

This is a conservative calculation, as a 50% transmission loss has been assumed. This level of mechanical power will be ample to drive the low velocity ventilation in the auditoria and recording spaces. Thus resulting in all mechanical ventilation to be provided passively. The engine will also be linked up to a generator so that when the ventilation demand is at a low the engine may generate a modest amount of electricity.

Alternative Generation

The Floating Harbour is flushed regularly (to avoid stagnation) and is replenished by the river Frome. The flow rate of the Frome is given as 1.7m3/s at a station above Bristol. For these reasons it would not be possible to generate sufficient electricity to warrant installing a water turbine running from the harbour to the new cut. With insufficient depth a tidal flow turbine in the Avon would also prove ineffective. On-site generation is almost always a compromised solution. As all generated power is fed in to the same energy grid it would make more sense to invest in an off-site wind generation program in a more suitable location.

Solar thermals Rainwater recovery

Stack ventilation

Inflow of fresh air

Heat exchange ventilation

Cross ventilation

Water into open loop heat exchange

Water out of open loop heat exchange

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Entrance to cafĂŠ strand

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View from Cumberland Road

Intersection of exhibition strand and Guinness Shed

Front courtyard view

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Conclusion Our building was not designed to impose a new identity on to Spike Island, but deeply respond to its existing condition and make public its unique creative wealth. Film was used as a platform to fulfill this urban and social agenda. We feel that our low key proposal works on a local as well as on an urban level. Its responsive nature is evident through its form and materiality, balancing historical and progressive forces, urban and sustainable, as it folds to establish its position within the site.

The idea of adaptive reuse could have been further investigated, developing an architecture more responsive and flexible to the future demands of the community and city that it serves.

Our working process over nine weeks has been measured and coherent as we grew to understand the intricacies of the locale and how the program could penetrate and heighten its complexion.

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