Design + Build Pavilion

JOSEPH I.P. SMITH Tube続 Manchester School of Architecture BA Y2 Studio 1 2012/13

1. DESIGN 1 Site

-Annotated Site Plan +collage -Winter Garden Map -Client

2 Response

-Group Response -Individual Response -Precedents

3 Concept

-Form + Function -Relationship with site

4 Design

-Plan, Sections + Axonometric -Exploded Diagram + Assembly Guide -Detailing

5 Visualisation -Seasons -Inhabitation

2. BUILD 1 Programme -Tasks + Distribution -Schedule

2 Structure

-Design Iteration -Loading Diagrams + Calculations -Lateral bracing

4 Fabrication

Tube続 Pavilion on build day 14.11.2012

-CNC framework -Cardboard Tubes -Rubber and inserts -Weatherproofing

5 Construction -Assembly Guide -Build Photographs

*All works original unless stated* 0

Site

>Dunham Massey is a National Trust property in Cheshire, 12 miles southwest of central Manchester. The Winter Garden is one of its main features and, as its name suggests, it aims to attract visitors all year round to experience it in different seasons . The proposed lifespan of the MSA pavilions is November to April, hence it is important to consider the conditions of the site in winter and spring. >Site C is located deep within the Winter Garden at the end of a path. It is the only dead end in the garden- this gives it inherent significance that creates opportunity but also added responsibility.

The path is surrounded by plants ranging from delicate flowers to a great oak tree.

The evolving colours and forms throughout the seasons give life to the site all year round.

Dunham Massey Winter Garden 50m SITE C

N

Beech Trees

Dogwood

Client

>The National Trust is the largest member organisation in the UK and is also one of the largest charities and landowners. Founded in 1894, its principal aim is to conserve and protect areas of natural beauty and historical significance for the enjoyment and education of the public. Dunham Massey is its most popular attraction in the Northwest of England, consisting of a grade 1 listed 17th C. mansion, winter garden and deer park. It offers many additional activities, mainly for children, such as wildlife walks and historcial reenactment.

Site C Photocollage

Site C Plan 2m N 1.1

‘Plywood Camera Box’

Frame/Entice

Our first instinct in response to the site was to question how to draw people down the path. I was interested in the potential of false perspective to achieve this. I created a design of interlocking wooden boxes that children could climb into, which coincidentaly resembled the form of an old-fashioned camera, leading to the idea of a ‘picture frame.’

© UNSW Built Environment Team

Testing Scale

>When visiting the site, two children came running towards it, but upon realising it was a dead end, they promptly turned around and continued down the other path. We wanted our design to respond to this and provide a reason for young explorers to venture down this overlooked path. >Our initial response was framing the view directly behind the site and we discussed options of how this could be done using timber structures.

©Matthew Laws

©Model by Courtney Mcloughlin

Cardboard Tubes

>Maria studied a precedent in Sydney for her summer project that used cardboard tubes to create a pair of curved permeable walls. We decided to explore this idea further and discovered other interesting precedents such as ‘Bhuis pavilion’- a striking tesselated sculpture made of different sized PVCtubes, and ‘Packed Pavilion’, a dome made from 409 circular cardboard components tied together. >I was curious about using a curved form, since the most interesting plants are in front of the site rather than behind it. However, by comparing scale with the Sydney precedent and making a small model, it didn’t seem feasible in our compact site. >The simpler option was arranging tubes in one direction, inline with the path. Using straws to experiment with we created arrangements of stacked tubes, eventually leading to the form of a carved out cube made of staggered layers of tubes.

©Packed Pavilion Team

‘Tube Forest’ Following the decision to use cardboard tubes as a primary material, I envisaged a serpentine forest of vertical tubes extending the length of the path, creating an illusion of elongated space and a series of permeable rooms opening out towards different parts of the garden.

©Hoogte Twee Architecten

©Model by Oliver Pozegic

1.2

1

2

Tube³

>The Tube³ pavilion is composed of several layers of tubes arranged in a staggered formation.

This creates an organic tesselated form, akin to honeycomb, that is both beautiful and inherently strong. >The tubes fragment the view behind the site, bringing new focus to the plants and wildlife in this often overlooked part of the garden. From afar, the view is distorted, enticing one to take a closer look inside the different tubes to discover what lies beyond. Children and adults have to work together to discover all of the fragments; the design exploits differences in height to encourage interaction with it and between the people using it. >Initially taking inspiration from a butterfly cabinet in the Dunham Massey house, we developed the concept of ‘extracting’ hidden wildlife from the winter garden in the form of lasercut silhoutte inserts. Much of the activity in the garden is hard to see, such as bats, beetles and foxes. I wanted to reflect this natural habitat by reproducing the creatures within it and placing them strategically within the tubes to reflect their behaviour. This links into existing wildlife tours of the garden operated by the National Trust and thus is not only a visual feature but also an educational intervention.

1

Front Iso

Back

1:6 Scale Model ©Oliver Pozegic-laser cutting, tube cutting + photos

Clockwise from top left: 1. View from main path 2. View on path leading to site 3. View out from pavilion 4. View from path behind site 5. Fragmented views through tubes

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3

Garden Fragmented 4

Key Viewpoints 1.3

Technical Drawings

Supporting Weight

Assembly

Frame Joints

1. Place ground plates in position on rubber foundations.

Plan

[Academic use only]

I used CAD to produce technical drawings for the project. This made it much easier to quickly copy the hundreds of tubes and tweak them to the right lengths. In the final design however, this was not possible, as each tube was done to its specific diameter (being a non-uniform component)...thus highlighting one of the implications of using reclaimed materials.

I regularly analysed the design through sketches, reflecting on the structural and practical implications of each design decision as well as the effect on its aesthetics. I believe this rigour was necessary to ensure the design wasn’t merely relying on the positive initial response from peers and tutors for its validity. Given a less restrictive schedule and more support from the rest of the group, I would have liked to critically assess the details of the design and explore its potential variations further to ensure the best realisation of the concept.

2. Place cross beams into corresponding recesses in ground plates.

2m [Academic use only]

3. Place lower sections of back two frames into position whilst threading some of the shorter tubes to tie the frames together.

Section A

[Academic use only]

4. Place lower front frame into position whilst feeding through the longer tubes to tie it to the back two frames.

Section B

[Academic use only]

Expressing Frame

[Academic use only]

5. Fix top frame sections to the bottom with metal plate fixings and thread through all of the remaining tubes until all are inserted.

1.4

My focus was on the technical side of the design, the design process and the analysis of the site. Consequently, it was difficult to gain input on the presentation images, compounded by the nature of group work and group dynamics. These renders however were well received and no doubt contributed to the success of the project and its being chosen

by Dunham Massey to be built on site C.

ŠRenders by Adelina Nedelcu

1.5

BUILD

2.1

During the build phase I continued to lead the technical progression and control of the project. The focus was primarily on the structural strategy, however being in charge of the technical drawings, and these being the only means of developing the design through its iterations, resulted in a lot of responsibility.

The original design had been shaped around the use of 150mm diameter tubes. However during the sourcing process (this size being unavailable), two iterations were required, first for 200mm diameter tubes and secondly for 100mm tubes, which was the size sourced for the build.

Both of these iterations had implications on the structural strategy and the aesthetics of the design. I considered these for both, for example by calculating the corresponding weights and their distribution through the structure.

In order to maintain the coherence of the form, I used a sphere to ‘cut’ the tubes to the appropriate lengths (since the new diameters meant different quantities of tubes and thus affected the shape of the curve). Once done, I measured the new lengths of the tubes and calculated the total length of tubing required to relay to the cutting and sourcing teams respectively.

Original Design -150mm diameter tubes

1st Iteration -200mm diameter tubes

Cube cut by sphere.

Final Iteration -100mm diameter tubes

+adjustment...

New 3D model used to find tube lengths for fabrication

2.2

Cross Bracing

I devised the structural strategy in the first phase of the project.

During the build phase it was difficult to make changes due to the implications on materials and subsequent reciprocal effects. One development that was made however was to add cross bracing members to the frame. I realised this would be necessary as it became clear that the tubes would not fit tightly in the frame and thus not provide any cross bracing function (something I had assumed in the original design). These cross braces were devised to be made using the same plywood as the frames, thus easing complications on material sourcing and fabrication- they were included in the same cnc routed sheets as the main frame members. They were also designed to slot into the frame without need for adhesive or fixings.

Diagonal cross bracing was considered early on: given the moment produced by the tall frame relative to its small depth of support in the ground plates, it was clear that some lateral movement would occur in the frames. This was not pursued due to the impossibilty of concealing diagonal braces in the frame (tesselation of tubes prevented this), thus adding an aesthetic implication to this solution, which would detract from the coherent structural and material integrity of the design.

Once built, the frames did move, and were deemed too unstable. This was result of sloppy measurement of tube diameters, and the resultant necessity for high tolerances in the frame holes(hence why many were far too small or did not fit), and the widening of the ground recesses due to an error during fabrication. The solution was to add to metal rods, which were successful in stabilising the structure.

Structural Loading

Live Loads

ŠPhotos Archontia Manolakelli

2.3

Components

During the fabrication process I focused on the production of the plywood frames, beams and cross braces on the CNC router. When possible I also contributed to assembling and sanding the timber components.

Tube Cutting

Tube Varnishing Frame diagram- how the 16 unique pieces fit together

CNC Router; Plywood Sheets Frame Varnishing

ŠPhotos Archontia Manolakelli

Beam Assembly

2440mm

I used CAD to create drawings for the CNC router. This required each plywood component to be drawn accurately in 2D and fitted onto 13 2440mmx1220mm sheets for cutting. With the assistance of the workshop technicians I learnt how to import the drawing into the routing software and process it to create cutting jobs for the CNC machine.

Sam Bennington, Sam Steel and I worked with the technicians to load and unload plywood sheets and clean between jobs (our frames created a lot of sawdust).

2.4

IN-SITU 1

Pre-Fab [Academic use only]

[Academic use only]

2

[Academic use only]

Having designed and oversaw the fabrication of the frames, I focused on the assembly of these during the build. I produced assembly drawings to guide the build process, which was largely a self explanatory act given the simplicity of the design, however required attention to detail, for example on the frame assembly where every piece was unique but not easily differentiated from the rest.

This frame assembly was split over two days; the frames were designed with transportation in mind and quick assembly. Attention had to be given to the location of bolts in order to maintain symmetricality and structural strength.

Hence I included these in the drawings and participated and oversaw the drilling of holes and their insertion in the frames.

On the build day on site, the frames went together rapidly and were quickly inserted into the ground plates and fixed with the cross bracing members. Unfortunately, the rest of what turned out to be a very long day was spent fitting misbehaving tubes into the frames. Following resilient filing all of the tubes eventually went in, and the Tube Cubed pavilion was complete.

[Academic use only]

[Academic use only] [Academic use only]

3

1. Ground Plates [Academic use only]

2. Frames

[Academic use only]

[Academic use only]

[Academic use only]

3. Tubes

ŠPhotos Archontia Manolakelli

[Academic use only]

2.5