Theodore Coles
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B.A. Architectural Studies, Stage 3 Session 2013/14 Newcastle University
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Contents Page Year Design Report 8-9
Re:Constitute, Middlesbrough Introduction 10 Masterplanning 12-15 Development 16-17 Final design 18-43 Models 34-39 Technology 40-43
Can Ricart, Barcelona Site Location & introduction 46-47 Site analysis 48-52 Site Plan 53 Plans 54-56 Elevation 58-59 Axonometric & technology 59 Sections 60-63 Models 65-67
Charrette, Condencl Charrette 70-71
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Year Design Report Throughout the 3 years of this degree I feel I have developed a certain style and way of working as a designer as well as increasing my architectural knowledge. Inevitably it hasn’t all been plain sailing and the degree has proved to be just as difficult as it is rewarding. Throughout the 3 years I feel my progression has been constant but felt some parts of the degree has come easier than others. Technology has been one of the more challenging aspects for me but I feel I have constantly improved with my designs and presentation.
Larger scale models allowed me to show more detail than I previously had done and by using these helped the design progress, enabling to see what was sympathetic to the old façade wall instead of just seeing it in sketches (images to the left). Going to site certainly helped as staying in Barcelona for a week allowed an emersion in the way of life and an understanding of the local materials and climate.
Can Ricart
The little response to wider context including the public realm design and links to other parts of Barcelona such as the parade route were a weakness, however I have now improved this by paying closer attention to La Machine’s sculpture parade, enabling public areas to be designed around stopping points, such as the Southern part of the site where seating has been designed for spectating the parade as well as viewing the projection wall at night.
Being the first project to use old buildings it brought on a new challenge, one that I may not have initially been hugely enthusiastic about however it constrained the design to be more sympathetic to its surroundings a lot more which I didn’t achieve well enough in 2nd year. The intervention on existing buildings allowed 3 approaches towards the rebuilding of the site, these are restoration, preservation and alteration. My concept lent itself more to preservation and alteration and tended to have a sympathetic approach to the existing buildings, with the new build having as little of an impact to changing the original façade where possible.
I struggled initially with the project and it took me a long time to develop a concept and design far enough for me to be happy with it and progress to a final design which may have been due to an unrefined concept.
The project started with a macro scale approach and having external public spaces was important to the design. I feel that I didn’t spend enough time designing the public realm which led to that area of the project being underdeveloped; this was due to focusing too much on designing the additional new build instead. I feel I have learnt from this and understand that external public realm plays an equally important role in how the building functions and works which I have tried to develop into the following project.
Coming back to Can Ricart after the graduation project allowed me to see the weaknesses in the design much more clearly due to a fresh perspective and improvements in techniques I had learnt. To continue the development of the project improvements I would want to make would be a re-design of the top of the building. At the moment I feel it is too warehouse like, whereas it needs more of a ‘show piece’ design. The idea to flip the canteliever new build to oppose the main route up would be striking and work better.
I felt my meso and micro scale approaches to the design were the stronger and more developed part of the design and with the technology integrated into the designing it allowed a more feasible scheme, and also helped make design decisions. This consideration of how the new structure meets the old was important and I feel this came across in the design. Upon feedback I found I can further reinforce this by increasing the gap between the old build and new to help it tie in with my concept of thresholds further.
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Graduation Project - Re:Constitute I have thoroughly enjoyed my graduation project designing a Marine Research Centre in Middlesbrough, which is situated within Middlesbrough dock itself. I believe this is due to developing my own brief which allowed me to get more involved with my building because a lot more research was needed. As well as this it was a building type and location that really interested me motivating me throughout the project.
A strong concept from initial design output really helped me focus my design intent and allowed continuous progression week by week. I was surprised by this as I usually struggle to come up with an idea that drives the project in a certain direction. This also helped decide environmental strategies and materials used, as did the site. The tech aspect needed to have better knowledge of waterproofing. I followed this up with further research and have developed my technical studies.
Along with designing, the model making has been enjoyable, using resin casting and 3D printing has been a challenge but came out well, although not as expected (top image). I also designed and created a fish tank which was achievable by the research undertaken during the project and creating a model that is being constantly used is a nice change too. Social & Ecological sustainability, Material awareness and collaborative processes such as working in a group, designing neighbouring external spaces and consulting other students played key parts within the Re:Constitute studio and I feel this will help a lot in the future when in the workplace.
From stage 1 to 3 we have designed a wide range of building sizes, uses and shapes with the community in mind. This allowed the exploration of numerous different construction techniques and ways of designing for different clients. Understanding the relationship between people and buildings and between buildings and their environment, and the need to relate buildings and the spaces between them to human needs and scale has proven to be a key mentality and feature throughout the degree. I feel all my skills have improved over the 3 years, especially computer skills including photoshop and the presentation of my work (image below). This was helped by the work experience I gained the previous summer.
My project, situated in the middle of the dock, limits the amount of landscaping and collaboration I could do, however the area to the West of the dock designed in conjunction with the leisure building’s landscaping I feel worked well. Improvements to this were taken on board after the crit and more detailed studies and visuals showing the context with which the building sits and the progressive route from the dock to the research centre have been produced.
This year led me to think more critically about a range of spaces and designing for a wider range of people so I had to think about and cater for various needs. Both projects this year have been very different in designs, concepts and briefs which I feel as a designer has really pushed my boundaries and shown to myself what I am capable of.
I felt that the strengths of this project were the development of my own brief. This meant a lot of research went into a wide variety of spaces within the building as well as technical studies for the fish tanks and waterproofing. To back this up I visited Tynemouth aquarium as well as speaking to the Blue Reef manager and aquarium designers.
Along with my dissertation the grad project allowed me to gain a greater understanding of designing buildings within water which has expanded my views on architecture from not only building on land. I believe this will be extremely helpful for the future as it begins to bridge the gap between architecture and boat design which is what I aim to get into. I feel this project has been a nice step in the right direction.
Having real world objectives to positively enhance the community within Middlehaven allowed the project to take on a more realistic approach which I preferred to previous projects.
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Middlehaven, Middlesbrough is a largely abandoned area between Middlesbrough train station to the South and the River Tees to the North. The Studio’s aims are to redevelop this site into a vibrant hub for Middlesbrough and will combine group masterplanning with individual design. The project seeks to engage with social & ecological sustainability, material awareness and collaborative processes. Collaboration will take place in 3 groups to design a masterplan for Middlehaven, which will then be brought together and amalgamated into one developed design. Incorporating and merging buildings together will create interesting building types with complex strategies and briefs. From there we individually design one of these building types maintaining a semi-collaborative engagement to design external shared spaces creating a vibrant and developed masterplan.
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Re:Constitute, Middlesbrough
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Masterplanning Working in groups of 6 we set out to redesign the masterplan for Middlehaven, including key building types within our redevelopment. Deciding on 2 main hub areas: Middlesbrough Dock, an area of historical significance and largely a wasteland apart from Middlesbrough College and the Riverside stadium. This would be the more lively, ‘happening’ part of Middlehaven which would also thrive with night time activities. Nearer the Transporter Bridge the calmer part of Middlehaven was located, containing residential, education centres as well as leisure areas linked with the school and college, as well as an arts quarter which links the 2 hub areas together along the northern edge of Middlehaven. A secondary transport hub was proposed to the south side of the dock, providing better access to the Eastern part of the site as well as providing improved transport facilities for the Riverside Stadium. From this we divided the different zones between us to further develop the schemes and allowing relationships to grow between each project. Our finalised masterplan can be seen on the next page which shows our proposed building types within the site. After this we then brought the 3 different masterplanning groups together to compare site design and from which a refined and more thorough masterplan was created. From this we pitched our ideas for the projects that we wanted to design and from there came our designs.
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Site Analysis Diagrams - Group Work
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Masterplanning birds eye view map of Middlehaven showing locations of the proposed building types. Logos represent activity and sketches to the right reflect concepts from some.
Masterplanning Group Site Plan 12
Watersports
Middlehaven Transport Hub Floating Housing
Sketch concepts of various different building types within our masterplanning group work. These early experiential sketches allowed an idea to be gained of how the area would feel and work. The collated masterplan below is an amalgamation of the 3 groups ideas, concepts and zoning. Split into 3 main zones (1,2 & 3) each area will be designed in more detail by the students’ who’s sites occupy the area. Having been given the Marine Research Centre, located in Middlesbrough dock, in zone 3 and is surrounded by the sites of theatre, extreme sports, death, nightlife, transport hub and leisure which will have the closest interaction with my site.
Green areas Aquarium
Eco Centre
Arts Quarter 13
Urban Farm & Allotments
Initial Design & Development Using the slipper limet as a starting point I intially started by playing with the heights of each shell providing an undulating roofline, constructed from glass panels and solar panel cubes the facade was an interesting material idea. The route through which is key for the building did not work well and so developing from that designs related more to the experiential route through the building for the public. Having gone to meet the people who maintain Tynemouth’s Blue Reef Aquarium, more understanding on the private spaces that are necessary for the maintenance and running of the building was gained which also helped reinforce design decisions and public / private interaction.
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Initial concept came from the slipper limpet (pictured above), which attaches onto a rock and from there it grows by smaller limpets attaching themselves onto the lowest limpet. The concept came from this and each shell was inhabited by a certain activity and as the building gained popularity and visitors its capacity could also increase by adding more shells onto the existing ones.
Blue Reef Aquarium, Copenhagen
Ship building techniques
Batumi Aquarium, Georgia
Sunken walkway, Netherlands
Logarithmic Spiral The Logarithmic Spiral, also known as a growth spiral is a self-similar spiral curve which occurs in nature and can be seen in flowers and shells to low pressure weather systems and galaxies. The size of the spiral increases but its shape is unaltered with each successive curve (self similarity). My concept derives from the Nautilus shell (top right image). As it grows unused chambers are sealed off behind the living creature inside. Found around the world they are however becoming much rarer due to overfishing, not for food but for their shells as well as the innter shell layer which is used as a pearl substitute. This overfishing and possible extinction leads the Nautilus to be included in the research within Middlehavens Research Centre and the buildings form itself is taken from it. The spiral around also lends itself to spiraling downwards as well as seen later on, allowing closer interaction to the dock and nature. 15
Active marine conservation zones Area affected by conservation
North East England Coast Line showing Conservation Areas within the North Sea
Sea Life Centres Oban
Blue Reef Centres Loch Lomond
Tynemouth
Middlehaven Marine Research Centre
Scarborough “The Deep� Hull
Blackpool Manchester
Great Yarmouth Seaton Dunes Birmingham
London
Runswick Bay
Hastings Newquay
Brighton
Gweek Weymouth
Portsmouth
Conservation along the North East coast of England and in the North Sea. Runswick Bay, located North West of Whitby has a highly productive seabed. There are 7 different seafloor habitats found here including rock, sediment and gravel. Rocky areas hold kelp and red seaweeds and further offshore there are sea sponges, sea urchins and starfish. This area is important for burrowing creatures and provides spawning and nursery grounds for many fish including Herring, Sprat, Cod, Whiting and Plaice. Seaton Dunes are home to large numbers of resident and migratory wading birds as well as invertebrates and mammals. The Marine Conservation Society work to secure a future for living seas by saving our threatened sea life before it is lost. Establishing protected areas allow wildlife can recover and flourish. 88% of European fish stocks are overfished and depleted. MCS works to reduce overfishing and promotes sustainable seafood alternatives. Middlehaven Research Centre will focus its research and conservation on the Tees River as well as Seaton Dunes and Runswick Bay but will also contribute to conservation furtherafield including the rest of the North Sea, Eu16 rope and the rest of the world.
Middlesbrough Cultural Nodes
The Python Gallery
Platform Art Studio Kandi Sky Sculpture (Middlesbrough College)
Middlehaven Marine Research Centre Temenos sculpture
The Heritage Gallery
MIMA & ‘Bottle of Notes’
Middlesbrough Little Theatre
Cactal sculpture Teeside University Dorman Museum
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Middlehaven Site Plan
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Site Plan Situated in the Eastern end of Middlehaven, Middlesbrough dock has played an important part in the development of Middlesbrough and has now been left disused since 1980. Within the design; the Western end of the dock has been deconstructed, a hint towards the ecological steps being taken to reduce mans impact on the natural environment. Replacing the concrete steps with a beach softenes the progression from dock to water. A sunken walkway extends out from the beach and outreach building towards the centre of the dock, where the Research Centre is located. Entering 1.4m below waterlevel the building then proceeds to spiral down underwater 6m to the bottom. Activities in the dock include kayaking and sailing, mostly by Middlesbrough College, however water taxis and private boats are proposed in the masterplan. Space around the Research Centre to allow these activities to take place is vital.
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Lower Level 1:200
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entrance hall waterfall ticket desk overhead tank store food prep shallow ray pool
g - staff room h - Interactive learing i - research j - plant room k - cylindrical tank room l - filtration room m - ocean tank 21
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breeding programme kelp forest tank interactive research nautillus tank north sea tanks jellyfish tank ecology tank
u - hub v - restaurant v1 - kitchen w - research classroom x - auditorium y - feeding and talks z - research dock
Exploded axonometric
Main public route Secondary public route
This diagram shows the Public route through the building, passing the main tanks, interactive learning rooms and research areas it simplifies the complex room layout and allows understanding of the placement of the top floor in relation to the main floor. Access to the top floor is shown with the secondary public route through the cylindrical tank as well as the stairs from the entrance hall.
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External Visual
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Metal effect for waterfall backing in entrance
Glulam Beam construction with external timber cladding. (LeMay-America’s Car Museum) Weathering possibilities for external facades exposed to the saltwater
Precast concrete
Reclaimed timber slats
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Materiality Blue Spot LED’s for water troughs running from exit walkway down to the Hub
Research Room Facade Design Research rooms have been designed as private ‘back of house’ spaces but with public interaction in mind. With this, a facade has been designed to allow some areas to be more transparent than others, allowing areas that need controlled environments to be closed off and more public areas to be more visible. Designed using a fish scale pattern allows obvious links to the research being undertaken as well as being modular in design (only two tiles would need to be created, one solid and one hollow), allowing cheaper manufacture and ease of assembly. Constructed from ceramic tiles the texture will also provide a surface of interaction for visitors.
Ceramic fish scale tile
Lisbon Oceanario
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2 View towards entrance from sunken walkway
3 Entrance
Experiential Section & Storyboard
1 View across dock to Reseach Centre with live feed outreach buildings in foreground
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4 Shallow ray pools
5 Cylinder tank room
6 Research facade and ocean tank entrance
8 Ocean tank viewing
7 Ocean tank walkway
9 Kelp tank walkway
10 Projection screen
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14 Exit walkway
11 North Sea tanks
13 Hub
12 Final view of ocean tank
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Underwater detail Below the low tide waterline are tapered concrete columns 500mm deep which provide shelter, protection and habitats for sea life and encourage the growth of seaweed, barnacles and algae which leads to a cleaner habitat within the dock. Glass floor plates along the edges of the Research Centre allow visitors to view the habitats outside of the building which gives comparison between the internal tanks and the progression and growth of these external habitats, going from small man made enclosures to almost natural ones. The 1:10 model shows this detail with the water depth at low tide.
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Spill channel
High Water
Concrete outer wall Low Water
Timber inner wall
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
Timber slat flooring water overflow channel Concrete casing
Gap for cables and services
Concrete pile with steel reinforcement
Concrete base foundation in dock base
Sunken walkway Starting at the lowered section of the dock to the West, the sunken walkway protrudes into the middle of the dock to meet the Marine Research Centre. The walkway level is 1.4m below the high water level allowing the closest possible interaction with the water and nature as possible.
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
Constructed from concrete with piles supporting the walkway from the dock base by block foundations. Timber cladding internally allows any spillage of water to drain into the overflow channel which then carries the water either towards the dock edge or towards the Research Centre which will then be stored for use in the tanks. 39
Technical Sections
20mm Reclaimed timber slats 50mm Horizontal batten 20mm Vertical batten 170mm Insulation 15mm Boarding Breather membrane Glulam beam
Glulam beam detail 1:20
Steel angle bracket 100mm Concrete floor slab 75mm Insulation
20mm Bedding sand
Pile cap Pile in base of dock Reinforced Permatite waterproof concrete
Technical section through external wall including glulam beams, concrete casing below water and concrete pile foundations
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First floor detail and junction between concrete base and glulam beam construction 1:20
Pile plan NTS
High water level
175mm Reinforced Permatite waterproof concrete 125mm Insulation 20mm Vertical batten 20mm Reclaimed timber slats Low water level
Breather membrane
Tapered concrete column Concrete column
Concrete base detail 1:20
Technical sections are showing a section cut at the external edge (right edge) of glulam beam 6. This is highlighted on the Glulam beam grid system diagram to the right. The pile plan shows the positioning of the foundations. Situated underneath each glulam beam join with the concrete columns as well as secondary pile supports for the tanks (in a lighter grey) they clearly show the logarithmic spiral. CEMEX Permatite waterproof concrete is constructed by changing the composition of standard concrete to maximise water resistance as well as insterting a vapour barrier layer while casting the concrete base. 41
Glulam beam grid system
Can Ricart is a 19th century industrial semi abandoned group of textile factories located in Poblenou, Barcelona. This project explores the relationships between the preservation of historical architecture to maintain heritage while providing for the needs of ‘La Machine’, a French collective including artists and craftsmen who construct large objects and produce urban performances. Restoration, preservation or alteration are the 3 different approaches to the transformation of an existing structure and one of these will be used to be sympathetically design the project. Due to the site requirements laid out by the clients the brief allows work at both micro and macro scales which will create an interesting synthesis of design ranging from site wide layout down to small scale detail design.
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Can Ricart, Barcelona
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Site Location Situated in the Poblenou district of Barcelona, Can Ricart occupies a whole square of city grid near the main intersection giving the area very good access and transport routes. The site specific map (bottom right) shows the location of my intervention and the spaces I have used in the urban context.
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Previously in a rural environment, Can Ricart was soon overrun by Barcelona’s rapid growth and this can still be seen by its off centre alignment with the cities normal grid structure. With its clock tower as the main focal point of the site I found this important to provide an axis to design around. My intervention is a simple steel truss with glazing and solar shading slightly offset from the long building and tower (site 2). Within the structure the public walkways are located with incisions into the old structure to allow routes over the private and semi private areas such as the exhibition spaces and workshop. In the urban context of the site the main entrance flows into a shaded orchard through which glimpses of the tower and intervention can be seen. When visitors arrive at the main square a flat bridge protrudes over a shallow water bed which provides a cooling effect on the air entering the new build. The main entrance into the building is located within the clock tower and then the route progresses up through the new build structure to the top of the building where the cafÊ and design studio is located. The architectural design of this is meant to accentuate at the verticality of the site but also the way in which Can Ricart has developed, progressed and grown over its lifetime. My concept revolves around the progression of thresholds throughought the site and inside the buildings itself, whether it is a threshold of the public and private, the movement through to a different space and material or through to a new view. Using this as a base for design decisions it allowed me to separate these various internal and external spaces to provide each area to be unique and used independantly. 45
Site Materiality
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Panoramic collage
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Initial idea. Public route along ground floor
2 Raising up new build to allow access and viewing from 1st floor and creating entrance in clocktower
Development of the addition of Can Ricart. The new build is constructed infront of the main facade of site 2. Entrance to the workshop and route through the building is from the old clocktower and then progresses along the building with the new build housing the public areas and private areas being held in the existing building. The public areas will then interject into the private areas on occasion to allow views into these rooms. The development shown here indicates the design process from original concept through to final design showing the steps and ideas I undertook to get there.
3 Differing heights allow interesting parts of facade to be highlighted and makes route more experiential
4 Interject new build into old building creating an interesting junction and differing materials but reduces thresholds
5 Angle new build upwards creating journey up through the building
6 Arrive at highest point of building. Cafe / gallery at the top 48
Diagram showing public route through new build and interjections into spaces behind
Sun shading mechanical louvers
Sketches of interesting textures I found on site. A metal grille left disused witha pattern commonly found around Barcelona
Precast concrete
Brick facade study and decorative feautre in the old district of Barcelona. I found the interaction between the clean limestone detail and weathered brick interesting
Coreten Steel
Reclaimed timber
Reclaimed brick
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Precident Study
The Pompidou Centre: Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers & Gianfranco Franchini
Hedmark Museum, Norway: Sverre Fehn
LMA Exhibition and Lecture Hall: SZK
CaixaForum, Madrid: Herzog & de Meuron
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Public route Worker route
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Parade route
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More London water trough, running from Tower Bridge to The Shard, creating an emphasis on the direct line of sight between the two
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Ground Floor & Site 1:400
1 main visitor entrance 2 orchard 3 seating area 3a projection wall 4 parade route stopping point 5 box office 6 information centre 7 exhibition space ground floor 8 toilets 9 projection room 10 marketing office 11 assembly area 12 wood working 13 metal working 14 structural assembly platform 15 storage 16 amphitheatre 16a plant room (under seating) 17 first floor exhibition route 18 lower viewing over assembly area 19 main route over assembly area 20 fire exit 21 cafe 22 drawing studio
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Benches rise up out of the ground, making the interaction between site and visitor who uses the bench to be more intimate
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Axonometric showing primary, secondary and tertiary structure
Technical detail showing vertical and diagonal steel I-beams, glazing junction and mechanical louvers
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Technical study of mechanical louvers
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Photographs of 1:200 site model
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Internal image of 1:100 model 64
1:100 model showing louvre distribution 65
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Charrette, Condencl
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A week long group project intergrating individuals from all years of the school. The brief was to ‘extract the essence and drink in the show’. Distilling the images, condensing the sounds and recording the scenes throughout the charrette week and then exhibit each of these via video, sound recordings and photographs. Taking snapshots of everyday life within the studio crossing all of the 11 charrette groups managed to encompass and engage with the viewer. The photographs of every student in the school was the most striking and really captured peoples emotions.
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