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01. Casting the Light Unit XV - Local Adaptation
MArch Thesis | Team: Kate Darby and Gianni Botsford | 2022
Design Brief In this project, the technological exploration of sunlight was the primary driver for design decisions. By identifying and curating volumes of sunlight with minute specificity, a set of geometries were produced that were then imagined as solids and used to ‘carve’ into the mound below the castle. Three sets of analysis of sunlight inform this project: 1. volumes of sunlight that penetrate through existing apertures in the walls 2. an understanding of which points on the site receive the most direct sunlight 3. the formation of 3 new apertures to channel sunlight on specific day With these volumes formed, a set of 3 undulating caverns are designed to interact with the sunlight events underground. From a technological standpoint this projects encompasses two main aspects. First, the application of digital analysis tools (Grasshopper and Ladybug) to identify volumetric occurences of sunlight, and second, to solve the complex construction problem of how to create complex geometries below ground without putting the castle above at risk
Site context: Cardiff Castle
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Response to the Brief The Keep at Cardiff Castle has served the people of the city for hundreds of years, acting as a stronghold, a residence and a landmark. Cardiff Castle’s response to the changing context of Cardiff has always been timely and relevant, from reappropriating the tunnels under the Roman banks to provide shelter during WW2 bombing, to erecting a new turret within the Keep in the 1920s to accommodate increasing numbers of tourists wanting a better view of the ruins.
The programmatic aim for this building is to re-adapt once more to the modern needs of people, specifically in response to the permacrisis experienced in recent years. With an overwhelming onslaught of bad news being directed at us through our devices at all times, there is a strong need for places of refuge and quiet within the city. Twinned with a lack of galleries and access to modern art within Cardiff, the building should position itself as a globally important and
Mapping and Surveying A key part of the mapping process was to understand the rich history of the site, and present it in such a way that its story is told, showing the patina of elements that make the place is what it today. By drawing attention to this long narrative of change, a new proposal for the site can be more appropriately considered
Storytelling section
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culturally relevant venue for the arts, as well as providing a place for respite for locals. From a technological standpoint, this project encompasses two main aspects. First, the application of digital analysis tools (Grasshopper and Ladybug) to identify volumetric occurrences of sunlight, and second, to solve the complex construction problem of how to create complex geometries below ground without putting the castle above at risk.
11th Century
17th Century
13th Century
Initially, the Keep was wooden. Although it wasn't as strong, it was quicker to repair, and was more flexible, allowing it to survive subsidence of the newly formed mound
The walls were rebuilt from stone - at almost 2m thick the Keep was now much easier to defend against attack
fort
Large forebuildings were constructed, joining all the way to the main Gate and splitting the grounds into 'wards'
stronghold
residence
Today
The forebuildings were demolised at the end of the 18th Century, but their foundations still remain today
landmark
The keep through time Section Through The Keep
turret added by Grant in the 1930s
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a great hall spanned the width of the keep, The windows and pog holes show signs of a three-storey structure
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repaired breach
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Section through keep
Lidar Scan to 3D Print
A series of complex processes were involved in creating a highly detailed 3D printed model. Though this was challenging, the models, both digital and physical, generated at each step were useful tools throughout the project
2. A point cloud was generated
3. A mesh was created from the point cloud
1. 2 High Quality Lidar scans were taken within the walls of the Keep
the Lidar Scanner
4. The model was 3D printed at 1: 50 in 10 sections, taking nearly 500 hours in total
Lidar Scan to 3D Print
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The Experience of Sunlight
Photographs taken in different moments of time
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Sunlight Analysis In this project, the technological exploration of sunlight was the primary driver for design decisions. By identifying and curating volumes of sunlight with minute specificity, a set of geometries were produced that were then imagined as solids and used to ‘carve’ into the mound Grasshopper Analysis below the castle.
inform this project:
With these volumes formed, a set of 3 undulating caverns are designed 1. volumes of sunlight that to interact with the sunlight events penetrate through existing underground. apertures in the walls
2. an understanding of which points on the site receive the most direct sunlight 3. the formation of 3 new apertures Three sets of analysis of sunlight to channel sunlight on specific day This script was adapted to increase the accuracy of finding a sunlight volume on a particular date and time through a certain aperture. rather than registering the volume from only one face of the aperture, the vast depth of the wall is accounted for by adding both interior and exterior analysis, and finding their intersection
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Script Output Cumulative sunlight volumes from a South-Eastern facing window for every day in December at 3pm
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1. geometries are assigned to walls, windows and exterior obstructions 2. a sunpath is generated, for which hoys can be changed in order to calculate sunlight for any possible time of the year 3. the sun is visualised 4. testing whether sunlight shines through any defined aperture at the given time 5. calculating the resultant sunlight volume 6. intersecting both calculated volumes and recording cumulative data day by day over the course of a month
Using Grasshopper to create volumetric studies of sunlight through a window
The volume is extruded beyond the floor, where eventually it will be used as a cutting device, allowing the sunlight to continue uniterrupted below the ground
[J aperture as pictured The total number of volumes there are 6 volumes of varying sizes and shapes The slicing geometry created by November 2pm light through shown aperture. Slice 2, shown on the right in blue is made up of this volume and the one from October at 2pm
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Only the largest apertures allow sunlight in consistently, they are shown here in red and blue, along with their corresponding resultant geometries
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Volumes formed by study of how sunlight pierces the walls on every day of the year ll
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DEC
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Sunlight Analysis ITT - Pog Holes Pog Holes were intially used to house timber beams, supporting internal structures within the Keep There are over a hundred pog holes in the Keep, but only a few have not collapsed, and only 3 channel direct sunlight
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Diagram I. Every pog hole
Diagram 2. Every pog hole observed to be open - there are 26
Diagram 3. The pog holes that could channel sunlight, according to Grasshopper analysis - Pog Holes 24, 25 and 26
t Blocked pog holes
The chances of light being able to penetrate this long, narrow, horizontal aperture are very slim
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Identification of pog holes - tiny holes in the walls historically used for housing timber beams
Constructed analysis: Holes in the wall
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First light
Last light
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Structural analysis: holes
The Proposal
Molding Space for Sunlight
Total Sunlight Analysis An overview of the volumes chanelling direct sunlight during all daylight hours of the year
Total Sunlight Analysis Sunlight Carving III - The Architects, Remembered
Sunlight Carving II - The Brightest Place
The Other Side - New Light, New Holes
Sunlight Carving I - Old Light, Old Holes
Because Sunlight Carving I penetrates all the way through the mound, new perforations are made which also let in direct sunlight.
Yearly Schedule
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hours of darkness
Total hours in the year where sunlight is responded to by a carving volume
NOV
DEC
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Proposal: Plan and key section
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Proposal: key visualizations
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02. Where Dust Settles whitchurch working retreat
Bachelor’s third year project | 2019
Design Brief Exploring the ability of architecture to be used as a device for ‘archiving place’, this project examines the social issues surrounding the repatriation of stolen artifacts from museums and private collections around the world and proposes that replicating and displaying these items is of equal value to education and experience as displaying the original. Based on this line of thought, the project seeks to investigate how an old mental asylum can be taken down and replaced with a new series of buildings to better serve the mental health and welfare needs of its local community. A distinction is made between what is (in this case) disposable - the materiality - and what should be archived - the spirit of place.
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MASTERPLAN Whitchurch Working Retreat
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1. Entrance, Offices and Seminar Room 2. Food Store, Aviary and Restaurant 3. Studios 4. Pool Building 5. Spa Treatment Centre 11 6. Courtyard 7. Greenhouses 8. Further Farming 9. Accommodation Clusters 10. Meditation Shelters 11. Sports Field 12. Bowling Green 13. Car Park 14. Shallow Pool
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Site plan
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BOILERHOUSE Whitchurch Working Retreat Functions: Food Bank, Restaurant, Open Aviary The boilerhouse is the most important building in the scheme, because it is the junction between the private guests, the community and nature, and thus represents everyone that the retreat helps. The open aviary is called this because it is open-air and merely uses the right plants and feeders in order to attract wildlife - in particular birds and insects. The aviary is also open to the public and guests as a place to sit amongst the attracted species and contemplate or meditate. The aviary also fulfils one of the functions of the old water tower, which was as a landmark and beacon for community. This is why it maintains its great height, and at night it will be lit from below to provide a warmly glowing structure which acts as a signpost to the site. The food store is easily accessible from the entrance, but this render shows the short journey one would undertake to get there. The idea is that even for busy members of the community stopping by at the food store, there is still an element of calm and beauty involved by walking over these suspended pathways that cross shallow pools. ACCOMMODATION Whitchurch Working Retreat
Because the pools are only 450 mm deep, barriers are
The walls that line various perimeters of the accommodation clusters have a random feel to emulate labyrinthine feel of the the old site, yet they provide privacy to the houses and articulate the space to make it not required, leaving the intermediate spaces openthe and more interesting. It has been shown that more ‘interesting’ places provide a more calming atmosphere than places which are bare and predictable, because it gives the mind a point of focus. flowing. Each cluster consists of 2 single bedroom houses and 1 two bedrrom house, ensuring that groups as well as couples and individuals can be accommodated. The small platfrom jutting over the water on the right comes from following the old floorplan. Rather than ignoring these peculiarities I have tried to optimise them, here providing a place to sit close to the water.
Here are eight 29 examples of the kind of birds and butterflies that could be attracted to the aviary
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Key visualizations
STUDIOS Whitchurch Working Retreat
Functions: Multifunctional teaching space for yoga, meditation, dance classes etc. The studios sit within a wildflower meadow, in the centre of a shallow pool. This render shows the dialog between the brick walls that surround the public area, as well at the studios in the background. The flowers painted here are the ones that, according to a soil survey, would grow the best and with the least maintenance over the green spaces in the retreat 32
Section examples The pond around the edge shows the footprint of what was the Occupational Therapy block, but this space was much too large for the studios, so I have used it instead to improve the atmosphere inside the teaching rooms. The studios are south facing, but an overhanging roof reduces solar gain whilst the light can still bounce off the water and create dancing patterns of light accross the walls and ceiling inside. To reduce glare at certain times of day, rice paper blinds can be pulled down to provide a soft ambience inside the rooms.
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03. Casting the Light Unit XV - Local Adaptation
MArch Thesis | Team: Kate Darby and Gianni Botsford | 2022
Design Brief At the WSA, MArch I runs alongside a year in practice, so the design module is less intensive than in previous years, being more concerned with introducing practice management and economics material. Rather than having to perfect every aspect of the building, I chose to engage more deeply than I ever had with sustainable building practices, learning about straw bale construction and passive technologies for heating and ventilation. The brief was to design a performing arts space for a local school using the site of Bishop’s Palace in Cardiff, Wales, which is Grade I Listed. Taking a strong approach to conservation, the building was designed so as not to interfere with any existing trees or structures, but instead wind between them, with all construction equipment and materials being small enough to fit through the existing gateway to the site. The building interacts with the old stone walls, using them as a backdrop for an outdoor stage, and enclosing a first-floor courtyard. Every system in the building was designed to be passive and incorporated regenerative principles to improve biodiversity on the site. The whole-life carbon footprint of the building was considered, and an end-of-life strategy formulated
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Sustainability water
building with straw
Straw bale construction and technology
Key visualizations
Plan: flow, access and use
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