Forgotten Voices | Concert Hall & Pier, Weymouth Final Undergraduate Project (Spring & Summer 2018) | [p

03 Forgotten Voices | Concert Hall & Pier, Weymouth Final Undergraduate Project (Spring & Summer 2018)

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1. 3-way collaborative drawing 2. Projection mapped interactive model 3. Final interactive massing model 4. Touchdesigner script for final drawing

Initial designs explored themes of transition & ritual. Informed by critical research into the history of the music hall and its contemporary transition from wallflowers to cultural emblems. removed from the context of the Georgian Esplanade my scheme sits as a solitaire piece along the coast. This limited the options of arrangements available to me as there was no clear front or back of house.

Early designs also built upon the typology of the pier. Vehicles of escape & leisure, piers provided an extension of the promenade which drew the city out to sea & allowed the residents to connect with the water while also creating panoramic views of the cityscape behind. These are typically crowned with an architectural ‘jewel’ at the end, rewarding the public for their travels with a house of entertainment.

However, these structures become financial burdens as they weather & decay, informed by the light approach of the successful dRMM Hastings Pier renovation I instead chose to keep the concert hall on the shore addressing the city & freeing up the pier structure.

Analysing precedents which transformed the typology, highlighted the importance of programme structure and the potential of transforming the user experience. Whether the egalitarian organisation of Han’s Scharoun’s Berlin Philharmonic or the blurred boundaries & scripted experience used in Casa de Musica by OMA, the intent of the architecture can be extracted from the layering of programme and how the public, private & back of house spaces are intertwined.

This began my first set of studies, a series of models which explored these possible arrangements accompanied by critical analysis reflecting upon the intents of the brief & the site. A key limiting factor was the site itself. Surrounded on all sides &

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1. concert hall 2. audience lobby 3. performer antichamber 4. control room 5. practice rooms 6. restaurant 7. gallery/function space 8. bandstand 9. public foyer/cafe

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Reflecting upon the potentials of the site & my prior research into the development of the typology my scheme aimed to address these three following areas:

Transform perception of music. I wanted to restore the sanctity and monumentality to the musical experience lost upon the personal listening devices and streaming services of today. The solitaire nature of the site provides this potential.

Ritual of transition. Both the audience and musicians must prepare before a performance, transitioning from the distractions of day-to-day life into the art of the performance. The architecture should aid these transitions by carefully considering the arrangement of programme & the story of each user.

Communal centre. Music events can create a shared experience which unites people of any age or background, evoking a sense of community. This was highlighted by my contemporary issues essay into the bandstand & the success of the brass band movement which saw music become the heart of towns across Britain.

ethereal event ritual of transition communal centre

These aims were realised in the form of an open flexible public pier injected with musical programme in the form of two key spaces.

The first, an enclosed auditorium that places music at its heart, making the community as much a part of the experience as the music. Here the audience are sheltered from the harsh conditions of the exterior within an acoustically separated space which allows them to focus upon the performance.

The second, an open-air amphitheatre exposed to the elements and echoing the legacy of the bandstand. During summer months free events will bring activity to the pier with musical performances enlivened by the open nature of the sea. The scheme reintroduces the demolished pier & the connection it provided Weymouth to the sea. Through its public nature, the pier extends the Georgian esplanade providing much needed flexible public function space.

Year-round activity is ensured through two permanent performance spaces. These are raised above the deck to ensure the pier remains public, creating a lobby/cafe space below the 450-seat auditorium and a simple roof providing some temporal protection for the open air amphitheatre.

The end of the deck drops to heighten the connection with the sea while the auditorium is wrapped in a skin of glass dissolving its massing.

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two opposing performance spaces raised above a public platform connected with the context

foyer amphitheatre

1. perspective visualisation - amphitheatre 2. public realm plan - pier deck 3. flexible pier diagrams 4. tectonic section - amphitheatre

At the beginning of the pier is the enclosed foyer for the auditorium which provides complete shelter from the exterior. Housing event space and supporting food and sanitary facilities, this space activates the pier throughout the year.

The deck itself provides an open platform for a variety of community events, fitted with the necessary infrastructure for temporary installations, market stalls and amusements. Voids are cut into the deck to further increase the connection with the sea, reducing the overshadowing of the beach and enforcing circulation routes around its perimeter.

The greenheart timber deck will weather with time producing a patina in places exposed to the rain and sun, this will subtly indicate where the areas of protection are located at both the amphitheatre and around the foyer space.

1. perspective visualisation - auditorium 2. tectonic section - auditorium 3. acoustic diagrams

The auditorium places music at the centre of the stage creating unique yet equal experiences for the audience. Lined with warm timber which creates a striking contrast to the weathered pier deck below signifying the protected jewel within, the audience are drawn to their seats as the adjacent doors provide one final glimpse out through the opposing foyer space out to the sea.

A simple shoebox form is given for its cost-effective acoustic performance. Based on two cubes the acoustically separated box is 16m wide by 32m long with a three-storey height ensuring long reverberation times required for chamber hall music. However, simple acoustic devices are employed to mitigate flutter echo and allow for the acoustic space to be tuned dependent upon the performance.

Acoustic curtains housed in the upper tier absorb reflected sounds to reduce the reverberation time required for spoken word & amplified music.

If required, the reverberation time can also be extended by opening the flanks of the auditorium. This doubles the effective size of the acoustic space as the audience lobbies become antechambers at the sacrifice of acoustic separation.

closed: short reverberation

Final third year project, a small cultural museum set within the old streets of le panier, housing seven exhibition spaces for rotating displays. Having explored the city of Marseille I was stricken by the spatial nature of the streets and how they became extensions of the home aiming to capture this within my scheme. This project was lucky to begin with a strong response to the site seeing a consistent design development and a finished result that fulfils the initial aims. Awarded the Oculus prize for ‘outstanding design work’.