Private House by Thomas Bennell

private house

thomas bennell

re_map

We are principally concerned with the ownership of space, its perception, demarcation will be paramount. We will consider devices of appropriation, enclosure, severance,

N A T

S L

T K

Tebay Services

A590 36

Burton Services

A590

35a

Barrow-in-furness

â&#x20AC;&#x153;A 33 mile cul-de-sacâ&#x20AC;?

and [mis]use... The question of what constitutes territorial, networked and residual space fragmentation, and cultutral identification of space. [Unit statement] 33

Forton Services

3 4

1 29

9 2

manufacturing

employment

28% barrow & furness

8.5% united kingdom

80% manufacturing jobs in barrow with bae systems

2 National security

Owen Hatherley, architecture critic

Private The military has always been concerned with visual information. As Paul Virilio discusses in ‘The Sight Machine’, strategic success relies upon knowing the actions of the enemy. The manufacture of the submarines which form an essential part of the United Kingdom’s nuclear deterrent is understandably a senstitive activity. It is vulnerable not only in terms of military and national security but industrial designs and processes also need to be protected from espionage. As personal experiences in the town have demonstrated, these imperatives lead to restrictions on photography near BAE Systems’ Barrow Island factories that, while of dubious legal authority, will be physically enforced by private security.

royal navy submarines built in barrow

“Here, we’re so far from where the media might be looking...”

98%

Obscure Hidden in plain view

Barrow’s peripheral location and historically dominant industry combine to create a place with a deeply ingrained culture of privacy. This culture, borne out of factors which combine to give the town a precarious economic future, could be an important asset for an activity that sought to be discreet.

Barrow War economy

Barrow developed as a railway and steel producing town from the 1850s onwards. By the 1890s shipbuilding had grown to dominate the town’s economy as it continues to do today. The shipyards at Barrow specialise in designing and making naval vessels and submarines, sold to navies all over the world. The economic fortunes of the town have therefore been closely tied to world conflict. The end of the cold war hit Barrow hard, with 33% of total jobs lost in the early 1990s. The nature of work and geographical isolation has resulted in a close-knit homogeneous community. People collectively accept lower wages or shorter working hours to avoid redundancies. This sense of home is often cited by Barrovians as the reason why they wish to remain in the town.

# 1 white british population [85% in total united kingdom]

22%

most working class town in the uk

95% third highest % population on long term benefits

“Once you can see the target, you can expect “The most to destroy it” geographically obscure town in the UK” W.J. Perry, former US undersecretary of state for defence

Owen Hatherley

cosmetic surgery procuedures, 2006-2009, united kingdom 2009+ 5% 34,100 total

2008 + 11%

Apple’s iPhone, launched in 2007. The high resolution camera in this and other smart phones automatically geolocates images, identifies people, and can instantly distribute pictures to twitter, facebook and flickr.

2007+ 24%

2006 22,000 total

Retreat Synthetic aesthetic, modern monastery

While defence procurement may be declining, it is not the only industry to value privacy. Cosemetic surgery procedures continue to grow in popularity amongst the public as well as wealthy celebrities, while many also make use of spa-like rehabilitation centres. Barrow’s isolated location on a forgotten peninsula, with a security conscious population, beautiful landscape and private airfield suggest an exclusive retreat for the wealthy who wish to discreetly indulge in cosmetic reshaping or recover from addiction without risk to their public image.

Environment Austere beauty

Ten miles from the Lake District National Park, the south end of Walney Island is designated as a nature reserve of international importance. This is a landscape of dunes and gravel pits, waste tips and shingle beaches. Carelessly used by man, it is scattered with enigmatic monuments to war, navigation and energy production: a ruined castle, lighthouse, offshore wind farms, concrete gun emplacements, gas pipeline, rigs, beacons and the nuclear power station at Heysham. There is a melancholy, lonely beauty here.

“I’d say at least 75% of black celebrities have had some cosmetic procedure” Elsie Neal, actor and dancer

30 St. Mary Axe, City of London. “Photographs are not permitted in the public plaza.”

6 High re(s)volution Global revolution in imaging technology The ongoing development of digital cameras and internet media poses an unprecedented challenge to traditional security procedures. Apparent restrictions on photography are not confined to military sites: personal experience teaches that photographers will experience restrictions near corporate headquarters, transport interchanges and shopping centres. These problems have grown alongside the mass inclusion of cameras in mobile devices, allowing the capture and instant distribution of images across the world.

“The famous often use rehab as an excuse to escape from the media...”

The question therefore must be asked: whatever the reasons behind this apparent fear of photography,

how can a building be made less vulnerable to invasive photographic intent?

OBSCURITY

BUNKER WC NATIONAL PARK BURY

WAR ZONE

REMO

CLOUD DAZZLE

SCALE LESS

MIRROR

MUTE

INSCRUT

3 BED HOUSE SUBSTATION

HOTEL

SUBWAY VENT DISGUISE FIRE STATTION

Unphotograph?

The revolution in portable and digital imaging technology over the past ten years means that traditional means of controlling photography are increasingly ineffectual, and yet intimidation by the police and private security guards has become so commonplace that professional photographers have marched in protest. The precise reasons behind this fear of photography remain opaque, but they seem to stem from a fear of terrorism or an invasion of privacy. The difference between a photograph and simply seeing is that a photograpic image can be interrogated for its information at the viewer’s leisure, while to gain an equivalent picture by looking would require a long

stare and an excellent memory. So the important factor is the visual information about the building that the photograph contains. If any photographs taken contained less relevant information, then would they present such a security risk? Classic modernism eschewed traditional ornament. Instead, architects often used the building’s function, structure, services or materials to give the building expression and interest. Examples include the Centre Pompidou, where structure and services are dramatically exposed on the facades, or the Richards Laboratories by Louis Kahn in which expressed vertical service towers support laboratory floors with bands of horizontal windows, revealing their

internal form on the facade. This idea of truth is still a dominant idea in contemporary building design, and results in highly legible buildings. In the context of the fear of terrorists with cameras, however, perhaps alternative means of expression should be sought. An ‘unphotographable’ building may take many forms, depending on the threat and its purpose. Historic examples and categories are shown above. Military structures are often hidden out of sight behind guarded perimeters and/or buried. This extreme solution is rarely appropriate to other building uses although it is

CLARITY MATERIAL AS EXPRESSION

STAY OUT

OTE

STRUCTURE

COMMON PLACE

STRUCTURE AS EXPRESSION

DULL

SERVICES SERVICE VS SERVED

TABLE

SERVICE AS EXPRESSION

FUNCTION AS EXPRESSION FUNCTION

ACTIVE SECURITY

an increasingly popular approach to new development in sensitive environments. Another way of confusing visual information is to use disguise. This approach has also been used by the military, but can take many civilian forms. A popular idea is to disguise, as houses, infrastructure such as substations and vents that are in residential areas. Alternatively, houses have been disguised as agricultural buildings in order to circumvent planning restrictions. Perhaps the mildest form of disguise is pastiche: Poundbury in Dorset is a new housing estate stylistically disguised as an ancient town. These examples suggest that the value of an investigation into the semiotics of buildings may have a wider application than simply security, but is also relevant

ZEIGEIST

to the construction of new or incongruous buildings in sensitive landscapes. Disguise and burial are, however, relatively crude methods. There is little point disguising a railway terminus as a farmhouse; once the disguise is revealed the ridiculous building would be just as open to photographic capture as before. Other strategies rely on obscuring rather than expressing the important elements of a building. Some contemporary styles wrap the whole in a homogenous veil, resulting in a scale-less, illegible crystalline form that is only half animated by light moving around it or by the indistinct shapes of figures and processes within.

Private house is an opportunity to explore a building programme with reference to the visual information conveyed, in order to protect the privacy of those who seek its services.

photography in a different context: walking the un buffer zone in nicosia If the control of photography is an issue in the UK at both quasi-military and non-military sites, then how is it accomplished in a place recently emerging from a long and violent conflict? While the island of Cyprus is a popular tourist destination, its capital city is still divided by a heavily defended demilitarised zone. Photography is illegal here despite attempts to attract visitors. How is it prevented, and what does it feel like?

PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHY AND AND FEAR FEAR ALONGSIDE ALONGSIDE THE THE BUFFER BUFFER ZONE ZONE NICOSIA, NICOSIA, CYPRUS CYPRUS

ARMED ARMED SOLDIER SOLDIER WATCHTOWER WATCHTOWER INFRARED INFRARED CCTV CCTV CAMERA CAMERA DO DO NOT NOT APPROACH APPROACH NO NO PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHY SIGN SIGN

TOO TOO FEARFUL FEARFUL TO TO TAKE TAKE PHOTOGRAPH PHOTOGRAPH PHOTOGRAPH PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN TAKEN WITH WITH GREAT GREAT CAUTION CAUTION

PHOTOGRAPH PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN TAKEN NATURALLY NATURALLY

Begin at the Ledra Palace Hotel checkpoint and walk east. The zone is not shown on any civilian maps, so to set out to follow it is necessarily an unplanned journey with unexpected directions. There is a continual process of approach and retreat, made more complex by the labyrinthine street pattern that has been further broken by the zone itself. In Cyprus it is forbidden to take photographs of any military installations. Pausing within sight of a sentry will result in the enquiry: “can I help you?” Recording the zone by taking photographs is problematic. The act of taking a photograph becomes a way of describing the environment beyond the mere content of the image. It is a way of indexing fear. To approach the barricade down a narrow street is to enter the grey area of the zone. An old couple leave a house which except for the front door is entirely within the zone. Elsewhere, furniture and car repair workshops form the crumbling boundary of the zone itself. Any systematic survey will attract attention. Be careful not to pause for too long in any one place close to the boundary. Try to avoid taking photographs when there are people around, or if you hear an engine approaching (several military jeeps). To be near the zone is to be constantly on edge.

Perhaps you can be too cautious. My walk resulted in an old man becoming angry, shouting from his suburban garden as his wife looked on. That was all. There is a park on the Roccas bastion where the zone is unusually thin. The park is fenced all the way round and there is a sentry at the entrance, but there are swings and slides, children playing, and a small pavilion selling Turkish coffee. The park contains two concrete structures, one at each end. They are staircases going down into the ground. They are marked WC, ladies and gents. There are lines of vent shafts poking up through the ground between the staircases. The WC signs must be the cheapest disguise a bunker has ever had. Being split in two has not been a good thing for the old city. Old, congested, with basic amenities, mud-brick buildings and narrow streets, it was always at risk of being forgotten and impoverished. But it is now forcibly on the periphery of both Turkish Nicosia and Greek Nicosia. The labyrinthine streets lead to barricades.

Staff accommodation 46m²

Accommodation suite Security centre 10m²

Recovery 15m²

Accommodation suite 25m²

Staff shower 4m² Staff changing 4m² Staff toilets 14m²

Recovery 15m²

Operating theatre 24m²

Anaesthetics 15m²

Central management office 12m²

Staff common room 12m² Store 3m² Quiet space 10m²

Cooking space 10m²

Eating space 20m²

Cellar 3m² Food store 3m² Food store 3m² Kitchen 15m²

Common space 15m²

Housekeeper's office 3m² Cleaner's store 3m² Laundry 6m²

Security centre 10m²

Staff entrance 10m²

Client entrance 10m²

Accommodation suite 25m²

Surgical preparation 15m²

Accommodation suite 25m²

Visitor accommodation 30m²

Accommodation suite 25m²

Bar restaurant 25m²

Staff accommodation 46m²

Staff accommodation 46m² Visitor accommodation 30m²

Staff accommodation 46m² Visitor accommodation 30m² Lounge 25m²

Beauty clients

Porter 3m²

Gatehouse 6m²

A590

Staff acco

Accommodation cell 15m²

Rehab clients

programme

a residential retreat for wealthy celebrities who need medical assistance to enable them to overcome drug problems or indulge in cosmetic reshaping.

While the treatment of drug misuse and the practice of cosmetic surgery may initially seem to be a curious hybrid, both are closely related to the pressures of celebrity, and may recur in the career of a single individual. Medically and emotionally, both client groups require seclusion and isolation while a treatment programme is followed. The cosmetic clients are not ill, and will expect appropriate levels of indulgence, while the drug rehab clients are not subject to restraint and must be encouraged to remain. An environment must be created that is a controlled blend of luxury hotel, private clinic, comfortable home, and monastic retreat. Three distinct groups: the rehab clients, the beauty clients, and the staff, move between shared spaces and individual spaces. There is potential to use architectural means to control and shape the relationships between these groups, and ultimately to create a building whose design generates an emotional bond with its users and contributes to the healing process: a memorable interior housed in a forgettable shell. The programme offers an unusual opportunity to explore architectural responses to the control of image, space and orientation both for the public and for clients. The disconnection between the requirements of the building as seen from the outside and as experienced on the inside translate into a deliberate separation in architectural approach to the external form and materials, and internal spaces.

Public

Clerks

Witness box

Witnesses

Advocate

Exit room 15m²

Camera obscura 6m²

Accommodation cell 15m²

Clerks

Jury

after Dr. Julienne Hanson, The architecture of justice, arq: Vol 1: summer 1996

Police

circulation Within a typical county court building

Cubicle hall

Male cells

Dock

Female cells

Magistrate

Interview

Kiln space 8m²

Wet space 8m²

Store 5m²

Craft space 16m²

Greenhouse 50m²

Compost heap 10m²

Grounds maintenance shed 24m²

Individual therapy 6m²

Light therapy 6m²

Fitness suite 30m²

35° bath 49m²

16° bath 5.4m² Multifunction space 24m² 45° bath 7.1m²

16° bath 8.2m²

Toilets & massage Physio 6m² 24m²

Toilets 6m²

Changing 3m² Changing 3m² Showers 10m²

Medical staff office 3m² Medical staff office 3m² Store 3m²

Pharmacy 4m²

Accommodation suite 25m²

25m²

mmodation

Staff + service

“three separate but contiguous buildings which, like pieces of a Rubik’s cube, happen to interlock”

Staff accommodation 46m²

Biggar village

BIGGAR

REFUSE TIP

wfl

at Lane (public r oa

site 0.0m/yr

The site chosen is the south end of Walney Island, six miles off the end of the A590 in the centre of Barrow. Out here the landscape is wild, open and empty, far from the suburban settlements further north.

SOUTH END

Caravan pa

Access by road is along a single track lane; the only road access to the island is across Jubilee Bridge via BAE Systems’ Barrow Island complex. It is therefore very easy to monitor traffic to or from the site.

NAVIGATION BEACON FAR SOUTH END [RUIN]

At the north end of the island, Barrow Aerodrome provides access for private jets and helicoters. The far south end of the island is a nature reserve with small visitor display. It is popular with bird watchers and those who come to see the shingle, Piel Castle on its island and the lighthouse. Development here is prohibited and it is too public for the private house. Between the reserve and the tiny mediæval village of Biggar further north is a large recently closed landfill site, which forms a long low hill. The shore side of this hill is comparatively distant from the public lane and hidden from it by the hill’s bulk; the recent history of landfilling means that the nearby caravan site and farms are screened from it with large earth banks and hedges. It is at this point that the gas pipeline from rigs in Morecambe Bay crosses the island, and there are large warning pillars. Any new structure here would be discreetly screened by the topography and could be interpreted as part of the gas infrastructure. The landfill site contains 600,000 m² of municipal solid waste and landfill gas from the site could power a CHP system for the project for the next forty years. The landfill must also be protected from coastal erosion, so the private house can benefit from existing coastal defence.

The map shows the location and subject of photographs available on the internet from walney-island.com, walneyisle.co.uk, southlakes-uk.co.uk, madaboutmountains.com, geograph.org. uk, federicamonsone.com, flickr. com, and panoramio.com. These sites were the top links for the google search ‘walney island’. Although certainly not an exhaustive search, they provide a good indication of the parts of Walney Island that are most attractive to photographers and that are most visible to the online public. The most photographed view/feature by some margin was the castle on piel Island, followed by the groynes and lighthouse. There are large areas of the island that are not photographed at all: these are generally poor-quality agricultural land. The density of photography must be put into context: a comparison of a larger area using the site geograph.com indicated that while the oS grid square that covers Barrow town centre had 24 photographs and Barrow island (home of BAE Systems) had 20,the most photographed square on south Walney had just12 and most had only one.

GROYNES

HIDE HIDE -0.3m/yr GROYNES

HIDE

PIEL CASTLE [RUIN]

Piel castle

ark

+4.4m/yr

OYSTER FARM

HIDE

LIGHTHOUSE HIDE HIDE

Nature reserve

JETTY [DIS]

-0.8m/yr

03 (3&"5&3 $)"/$& 0' 4&" '-00% &"$) :&"3

$)"/$& 0' 4&" '-00% &"$) :&"3

HIDE

03 (3&"5&3 $)"/$& 0' 4&" '-00% &"$) :&"3

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perfect World

object

horizontal

The top floor and surgical suite, used by the beauty clients, is intended to be pure and perfect beyond anything normally experienced in the physical environment. In this way it provides reassurance about the clinical responsibility of the centre, whilst also reinforcing the impression that it is possible to transcend earthly constraints on beauty and perfection.

Bedroom at the Hotel Puerta America, Zaha Hadid Architects. Lined with seamless white LG HiMacs (solid surface)

vertical stratification

high, bright, open Weather, horizon

sheltered, Warm escape from landscape

sea Wall Every room faces directly out to sea. Each room is articulated as a separate form. Form and materials refer to Second World War pillboxes, half buried and shifting in the dunes. The long corridor is broken into changing vistas by shifted rooms. Heavy materials are reassuring and protective.

form

Chapelle Notre-Dame du Haut, le Corbusier

loW

St Andrews Beach House, Sean Godsell Architects Transparency changes depending on viewing angle. Skin results in homogenous, scale-less form

perpendicular

bifurcated end

inscrutable skin

The common spaces of both beauty and rehab programmes each demand a share of the best part of the building.

The main body of the building is unified into a single, cryptic block by a skin of louvres and mesh materials. This skin protects the inhabitants from external voyeurs while allowing views outside, removing the need for windows. As a result, the form becomes scale-less: it is much harder to judge its size or distance. Its purpose is also difficult to read habitation or infrastructure?

Splitting the end gives each an obscured view to the other.

Plan, Rome

irregular geometry

Zumthor spatial arrangement

spatial complexity

As the programme seeks to explore a building of ambiguous meaning on the outside, so an irregular interior is created. Sky space, James Turrell

thermal baths

Studies have found that environments which may initially seem confusing paradoxically become highly imageable with time and familiarity. Mediaeval town centres are good examples. They can also seem much larger as the edges of the domain are not immediately perceived. Clients of this building will be spending significant periods confined within, so it is vital that they do not become tired of its spaces. The initial disorientation, developing into a proud territorial knowledge, should affirm the treatment processes practiced within the centre. The spatial arrangements of Peter Zumthor, neither figure nor ground, provide an instructive precedent.

Therme Vals, Peter Zumthor

Therme Vals, concept sketch by the architect

private house

[project, 2009]

The past ten years have seen a revolution in popular image technology, enabling the rapid distribution of images across the world. The corresponding increase in security and privacy concerns has resulted in attempts to restrict photography in public places. What would a building designed to address these fears look like? Private house proposes a residential retreat for wealthy celebrities who need medical assistance to enable them to overcome drug problems or indulge in cosmetic reshaping. Their wealth, and the risk to their image if such treatment were to become known, demands the design of an unusually low-key yet high quality building. This programme explores complex issues of power, control and ownership of space both externally, in the way the building responds to its context and location, and internally, how the building can have a powerful healing effect on its patients as well as providing the necessary technical and organisational framework for their treatment.

1 4

site

6 7

mean high water

mawflat lane

gatehouse and visitor accommodation

staff accommodation

landfill site

main building

kitchen garden

plan roof bb cc

bb cc

dd aa

9 9 10 bb cc

dd 9

7 6

3 dd

1 aa 5

rehab common room

rehab communal kitchen

rehab snug with hearth

rehab library

cosmetic lounge and bar

cosmetic restaurant kitchen

store

laundry

beauty suite

rehab orientation suite

plan first floor

plan groUnd floor

3 6

bb 6

17 11 9

9 4 5

12 12 12

19 20 21

porte-cochère

massage

client entrance

cosmetic recovery

director’s office

ensuite

group therapy

medical practitioner’s office

individual therapy

staff entrance

rehab cell

security centre

camera obscura

staff toilets

exit cell

general office

craft workshop

manager’s office

greenhouse

office

gym

loading bay

plan basement bb cc

2 3

16째 1

16째

3 35째

45째

7 cc

9 8

10 dd aa

sauna

steam bath

shower

wheelchair changing

surgical preparation

anaesthetics

operating theatre

recovery

therapy observation room

pharmacy

operating theatre plant

6. release small room with no windows approached through dark tunnel of camera obscura through barely noticed door last night spent here; meals and entertainment provided in room after goodbyes, no human contact in the morning the door is found to be unlocked opens to outside and waiting car

1. disembarkation paved courtyard sheltered under concrete fins

2. Welcome through narrow doorway and vestibule large desk, armchairs and bookcases meet director, welcome, discuss treatment programme

3. first night / assessment bright, translucent room approached by lift first night spent here

inhabitation rehab

meals and entertainment provided in room in morning, leave by different door and descend stairs

4. room monastic cell, through one of many identical doors in corridor deep wooden window reveal to sit and observe horizon also through embrasure by bath

5. therapy led back up corridor through concrete hall up staircase to common room introduced to other clients free to explore baths, workshops, gym, camera obscura and garden; appointments for therapy rooms therapeutic programme begins

1. disembarkation / 9. exit paved courtyard sheltered under concrete fins

2. Welcome / 8. release through narrow doorway and vestibule large desk, armchairs and bookcases meet director, welcome, discuss treatment programme/ meet director, conclusion of treatment

3. room bright, translucent, white room large with freestanding services private lounge/study area entertainment and meals available here views along coast

inhabitation cosmetic

4. relaxation introduced to lounge and restaurant free to explore building; find gym, spa, workshops, garden massage to soothe stresses of journey

5. preparation next morning led from room through different door down different passage lift to surgery

6. rescuscitation recover in bed with view of sky high above when well enough, move to recovery room on ground floor with view of kitchen garden

7. recovery stay for as long as needed in original room; about two weeks for visible bruising to disappear

elevation to north west

elevation to soUth east

elevation to soUth west

elevation to north east

long section aa

beauty suites

rehab orientation suite

beauty suites drive

changing boxes

fitness suite 16° pool

cross section bb

porte-cochère

director’s office

45° pool

surgery corridor

group therapy

library (quiet space) operating theatre

rehab common room therapy / observation room

surgical prep

surgery corridor

sauna

changing boxes

beauty suite

craft rooms

greenhouse

loading bay and plant

cross section cc

cross section dd

rehab main stairs

bath 35째

fitness suite beauty suite

wall mounted showers

bath 16째

staff garden entrance

central management office

surgery corridor

staff toilets

rehab cell

disabled changing

recovery laundry

recovery

snug

group therapy

rehab cell (bed)

operating theatre

anaesthetics

rehab cell (bed)

rehab cell (bath)

pUblic road The first sight of the centre from Mawflat Lane, as it bends around the marsh. The two long sheds are designed to resemble in form and materials the farm buildings common on this part of the island. They are strategically positioned behind an existing earth bank to reduce their visibility, while blocking any further views into the site. The large opening is the entrance to the site, controlled by a recessed gatehouse and large barn doors.

access track In context on the shore. The main building sits in a hollow between the rise of the landfill and the hill at the navigation beacon. Its upper storey, a horizontal monolith wrapped in multiple layers of louvres and meshes, is an inscrutable scale-less form in the wide landscape. Without visible windows or other signs of human habitation, it becomes a piece of infrastructure alongside the gas terminals, turbines and beacons characteristic of the bay. Below, transverse rows of rough cast, turf covered concrete cells form a protective sea wall as if all the second war pillboxes on Walney had been lined up together.

porte-cochĂ&#x2C6;re Disembarkation from the convoy of luxury vehicles is in a sheltered courtyard within the building, avoiding the disorientating experience of walking though a car park. Above, a mesh of deep concrete beams filters light and prevents surveillance.

directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office The initial experience at the centre is a final consultation with the director. The oďŹ&#x192;ce is a traditional square room, with floor to ceiling wooden shelves filled with books and a large oak desk. These are intended to provide reassurance of the directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s authority. Windows overlook a severe garden of marram grass and shingle.

rehab common room High over the beach with views along the shore, the rehab clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s common room is for informal therapy through social activity. Clients are required to cook meals together around the central long table which is also used for dining and group activities. A small, cosy room with a fireplace and tiny window overlooking the main stairs provides a warm escape from wintry weather while a sunken library above the group therapy hall is a place to sit alone.

cosmetic loUnge In the same elevated position the beauty clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; lounge provides high quality meals prepared by chefs, served by waiters to individual tables. Here the emphasis is on individual perfection. The narrow slot between the common room and the lounge allows for indistint shapes to be seen moving in the other space.

cosmetic sUite corridor The operation rooms may be used for all types of cosmetic treatment, not just surgery. It is important to create an almost surreal impression of high technology and sanitary perfection. White solid surface is used to line walls and ceiling, with radiused corners and LED light mats behind the translucent material. These rooms have no windows but there is no sense of being in a basement, just disconnected from the base, material world.

therme At the centre of both the rehab and cosmetic programmes, the thermal baths occupy the basement of the building. Cave-like, faceted spaces lead oďŹ&#x20AC; each other to be explored and to become lost in. Pools of diďŹ&#x20AC;erent sizes and depths hold water that ranges from chill to nearly scalding. Small openings lead to saunas and steam rooms. The exploring client will find showers at certain points under smaller daylight illuminated slots and niches to rest in. The layout is anchored by a central conical void rising irregularly above the main pool to a view of the sky at the top of the building. The cone is pierced by tiny openings at all floors allowing glimpses of activity on floors with very diďŹ&#x20AC;erent functions.

groUp therapy As the principal functional space in the structured rehabilitation programme, the group therapy room is given prominence in the plan. Formally more refined than the irregular cone of the thermal baths, it occupies an asymmetric square pyramid with occulus. This creates a sacred atmosphere, affirming the importance of the activities practiced there. The main circulation between the bed cells and the common room passes through this space, down a staircase that winds around two corners with openings at different levels offering raised perspectives of the space.

rehab cell corridor The small bedrooms for rehab clients are laid out along a single corridor. This ensures that all the rooms have a view over the sea and prevents territorial groups forming. At the far end, a camera obscura provides a distant space of contemplation and ensures that the full length of the corridor is public territory - there is no sense of entering a cul-de-sac. The individual cells are shifted slightly relative to each other as if the sand on which they sit had shifted over time, something that has happened to the second world war defences along the coast. This results in a complex space with changing perspectives, quite diďŹ&#x20AC;erent to an institutional corridor where the end is visible at all times.

rehab cell In contrast to the luxurious spaces clients may be used to, the accommodation here is provided in tiny, monastic cells. The furniture is built in to the fine concrete floor, walls and ceiling. The bed is positioned just below a large window looking out to sea so that lying down feels protected from the elements, but sitting up allows expansive views. A deep wooden reveal allows somewhere to sit and think.

exit cell The form of the induction sequence into the rehab programme is intended to create a physical disconnection with the past: it is impossible to remember or to find the way in, and therefore there is no way back. The exit room creates this separation at the end of the programme. Its entrance is concealed in the darkest part of the camera obscura and once inside, the door is hidden in the fitted furniture. There is symbolically and physically no returning to old habits. The room is has a familiar layout but without views; instead light comes down from the ceiling. Unlike the wood and concrete used for the accommodation cells, this room is white, for purity and perfection. The rehab client spends one night here. In the morning, the only door in the room is found to be unlocked. It opens to the expansive landscape outside, symbolic of freedom.

technological and legal resolution

Initial structural concept as described in the text.

Structure

Structural considerations The building proposal is generally not structurally unusual. Most of the accommodation is housed in single or twostorey blocks, and there are few very large spaces requiring large spans. The proposal does, however, include a large cantilever, and numerous spaces that are either partially or wholly buried. The site is very exposed and the building will have to be designed to resist live weather loads greater than normally expected. Wind loads will be particularly strong, and may be made more powerful in fierce storms by spray from the sea. Because the site is so close to the sea, there is a small possibility of a storm and tidal surge that could inundate the site. The structure must resist such an event. lt is unlikely that snow loads will be significant in this location. Loads create the forces that the structure must resist. Dead loads are generally the weight of the structure itself and anything that it must always carry such as claddings, finishes, and fixtures and fittings like built-in furniture. Their weight is not expected to vary greatly for the life of the structure.

Live loads are hmporary or variable. They include the weight of movable furniture, people, equipment and vehicles, and also the forces imposed by weather such as wind or the weight of rain or snow.

Foundation tactics The site covers an area of land that is both immediately adjacent to, and partly on, a recently closed landfill site. Even the land that is not landfill appears to have been raised in level by tipping. Below this layer, the ground is made of glacial deposition of clays, sand and gravel. This can be observed in the sea cliffs adjacent to the site. The site is about 1 mile from former commercial gravel workings. This combination rasults in extramely suspect bearing conditions, and much of the building will be carried on friction piles. Two spaces do not require piles, which are expensive and difficult to remove when the building is demolished. The buried spa, which will be below the level of fill and on firm ground, will have a reinforced concrete raft. Because it is buried, it is not expected that much settlement will take place because the imposed load of the building is unlikely to exceed the weight of soil removed. The columns that support the greenhouse will not carry sufficient load to justify piles and will rest on concrete pad foundations.

Primary structure The building contains spaces with distinct characters: those that are earth-bound, either completely or semi-buried, and those that are lighter or higher. The earth-bound spaces will be built from reinforced concrete and the lighter spaces of steel. This division will allow the qualities of each material to be exploited, both experientially and structurally. The earthbound spaces will use the concrete as retaining walls and slabs to support heavy roofs. where the loads are evenly distributed.The lighter relative weight of steel better suits the cantilevered space and the greenhouse, where the frame structure concentrates loads and allows for large and freely placed windows.

Secondary and tertiary structure The steel structure will be infilled with dense concrete block walls and precast concrete plank floors to provide thermal mass and structural rigidity. The primary structure of the greenhouse will be sufficient to support a proprietary patent glazing system.

Structure Weatherproof envelope Thermal isolation

detail study

sustainability Environmental issues have, over the past decade, become so well known and pressing as to become almost mainstream. The growth in living standards and resource consumption across the world threatens to have disatrous consequences for all of us if we do not reduce the damaging effects of our activities. This goes further than the simple carbon equation that has become so dominant. We have a wider responsibility, for example not to poison ourselves and environments in resource extraction and processing or use. Large-scale destruction of habitiats must be avoided. But this project does not propose an ‘eco’ building. As a thesis project, it must focus on certain architectural questions, there are control, surveillance, the legibility of spaces and visual obscurity. The building proposal that has been produced is really a first sketch attempt at exploring these themes. In its formal and material resolution, environmental priorities have necessarily been secondary to these themes. The building uses large quanities of steel, concrete, stone and glass - all materials that have a considerable environmental

impact in production. These costs have to be balanced against the expected lifespan of the building and its running costs. The building’s considerable expense, robustness and quality of finish would encourage a long life. A more detailed discussion of how this proposal responds to environmental issues will follow on sheet 2.

skin: intent

structure below ground: reinforced concrete box foundation/

basement. In made-up ground of indeterminate loadbearing capacity by the sea, so thick concrete walls used.

above ground: Steel portal frames at approx. 4m intervals,

monolithic Suggestion of activity visible behind the facade, but without clarity. Must be resistant to a photographer’s telephoto lens.

spanning the full width of the building (approximately 16m). First floor reinforced concrete slab with exposed soffit suspended from the portal frames to provide column-free space. Some support provided by reinforced concrete light funnels that protrude the height of the building from the basement.

internal experience Contrast between buried space and

Weatherproof envelope Kalwall 100 skyroof system

external appearance Homogeneous, scaleless,

elevated space Basement warm, wet, dark. Retreat from harsh landscape outside. Masonry and thick walls

First floor accommodation for cosmetic surgery patients. Translucent, white. Nothing completely opaque, but diffuse glow of daylight from all surfaces. Pure and perfect. Moving shapes give a suggestion of activity. Ground floor gym mediates between these extremes. Stone floor and concrete ceiling with diffuse glass walls. Timber changing cubicles. A more natural materiality than above.

and proprietary aluminium curtain wall system above ground. DPM below ground.

thermal envelope To achieve desired translucent effect,

very difficult to achieve necessary thermal performance in a single layer. Rather, several layers of materials overlap. Walls have unheated service corridor as thermal buffer.

legislation Approved documents that are relevant to this building section include: Part A, structure; Part B2, Fire Safety; Part C, resistance to contaminants and moisture; Part E, resistance to sound; Part F, ventilation; Part K, protection from falling, collision and

ROOF

Fins made from Siberian Fins made Larch, from corten Siberian steel,Larch, and galvanised corten steel, steel and leftgalvanised natural and steel painted left natural black and painted black Corten steel grating, Corten 76x25steel mm grating, mesh, bars 76x25 2mm mmthick, mesh, rods bars 4mm 2mm Ø, thick, on lightweight rods 4mm corten Ø, on steel lightweight corten steel support structure support structure Steel section purlinSteel to support section fins purlin and to grating. support Spans fins and 4m between grating. Spans posts. 4m Painted between darkposts. grey Painted dark grey Hot-rolled steel posts Hot-rolled at 4m intervals, steel posts painted at 4manthracite intervals, black. paintedBolted anthracite connection black. through Bolted connection through flashing between Kalwall flashing panels between above Kalwall portalpanels frames, above to minimise portal frames, thermal tobridging minimise thermal bridging Kalwall 100 SkyroofKalwall system100 Skyroof system Hot-rolled steel section Hot-rolled purlinsteel to support section Kalwall purlin Skyroof, to support painted Kalwall dark Skyroof, grey painted dark grey

Steel post to support Steel roofpost structure to support above, roof painted structure darkabove, grey painted dark grey 10 mm fibreglass honeycomb 10 mm fibreglass thermalhoneycomb insulation thermal insulation

I -section steel portal I -section frame, steel painted portal darkframe, grey painted dark grey

0.2 mm perforated 0.2 steel mm tray, perforated painted white, steel tray, in light painted steel white, frame in light steel frame

EXTERNALEXTERNAL WALL WALL

Fins made from Siberian Fins made Larch, from corten Siberian steel,Larch, and galvanised corten steel, steel and leftgalvanised natural and steel painted left natural black and painted b

Corten steel grating, Corten 76x25steel mm grating, mesh, bars 76x25 2mm mmthick, mesh, rods bars 4mm 2mm Ø, thick, on lightweight rods 4mm corten Ø, on steel lightweight corten s support structure support structure

Steel section purlinSteel to support section fins purlin and to grating. support Spans fins and 4m between grating. Spans posts. 4m Painted between darkposts. grey Painted dark grey Aluminium curtain Aluminium wall system,curtain dark grey, wall with system, triple dark glazed, grey, with triple glazed, argon-filled units with argon-filled two low-E units coatings with two low-E coatings Mechanically operated Mechanically louvres operated louvres I -section steel portal I -section frame, steel painted portal darkframe, grey painted dark grey Unheated service corridor Unheated service corridor

Channel glass (eg. Pilkington Channel glass Profilit) (eg. wall, Pilkington double-layer Profilit) wall, double-layer

RETAINIING RETAINIING WALL WALL

BASEMENT BASEMENT FLOOR FLOOR 50 mm basalt slab 50 mm basalt slab

110 mm foamed glass 110 rigid mm insulation foamed glass board rigid insulation board Bituminous waterproofing Bituminous layerwaterproofing layer 300 mm reinforced 300 concrete mm reinforced concrete

300 mm reinforced 300 concrete mm reinforced concrete

100 mm basalt block 100 mm basalt block 150 mm foamed glass 150 rigid mm insulation foamed glass board rigid insulation board 50 mm blinding 50 mm blinding 100 mm hardcore 100 mm hardcore

impact; Part L2A, conservation of fuel and power in new buildings other than dwellings; and Part N, glazing. The Approved Document with the greatest impact on this section of the building is Part L2A, because it defines the thermal and solar performance that the facade must achieve. L2A takes a holistic approach to the building’s environmental performance, and includes many relevant factors. Importantly, it specifies maximum limits for thermal transmittance of materials in the building envelope. These are defined both as area-weighted averages and as single element values, and are expressed as U-values (W/m²K), for different elements (wall, roof etc.) of a building.

Wall Requirement for curtain wall: area weighted average 2.2 W/m²K, max. element, 3.3 W/m²K. This solution: Triple-glazing units with two low-E coatings are available with U-values as low as 0.7 W/m²K, but the aluminium framing systems usually are less insulating. A typical average U-value for an aluminium curtain wall system with double glazed, argon filled, low-E coated glass is 2.1 W/m²K, meeting the minimum requirement. Because of the large area of curtain wall, there may however be problems achieveing the overall TER. retaining wall Requirement: 0.35 W/m²K This specifiaction: For 110mm Foamglas on 150mm in-situ concrete, U=0.33 W/m²K (Source: Foamglas). This meets the requirements alone, but the earth will aid insulation. roof Requirement: area weighted average 0.25 W/m²K,

max. element, 0.35 W/m²K. This solution: Kalwall 100 Skyroof with 8% light transmission is U=0.45 W/m²K. This is not low enough, so this design includes a 10mm honeycomb fibreglass sheet, which may reduce the thermal transmittance sufficiently. Notes: The requirements for roofs are much greater than for skylights, so if it proves impossible to reach the average U-value required for a roof then the design will still meet the requirements as a skylight. Although the roof will then be insulated more than the mimimum required for a skylight, it is likely that the additional insulation will be required to achieve the TER for the whole building.

floor Requirement: area weighted average 0.25 W/m²K This specification: For 100mm Foamglas under 150mm reinforced concrete on soil, U=0.19 W/m²K, so well within the requirements. Source: Foamglas

security Whole building The location and form of the building

have been chosen with security in mind. The building is physically remote from public roads, on an island accessible only via a single bridge. The site will be fenced, and there will be a dedicated security team who will patrol the site and watch CCTV cameras full-time. Road access is along a single drive through a security gatehouse. There are three entrance doors, all controlled by electronic locks that have to be operated by members of staff.

this section The external fins and mesh provide visual

as well as physical security. Low-level opening windows are positioned behind the mesh, which prevents unauthorised access.

communication The building will be equipped with a wired network with network points in appropriate locations, in adddition to a wireless network for notebooks and portable technologies. The steel mesh cage should prevent unauthorised network access from outside the building.

furniture Beds and bathrooms in accommodation rooms are built in as part of the design of the space. In the addict client’s rooms, the broad windowledge serves as a seat. The catering kitchen makes use of fixed stainless steel units, while the addict client’s kitchen is one end of a long fixed table that they also use to eat and for games and craft activities. Certain spaces require specialised furniture, for example the operating theatre. This space is designed to accommodate a full-size ICU hospital bed. In the gym, changing rooms are fixed but designed to appear as separate, timber objects in the space.

Earth sheltered blocks Translucent, screened block

Sea: coastal erosion storm surge

Strong prevailing SW wind

South facing garden and greenhouse sheltered from wind

summer day

Winter day

summer night

Winter night

Naturally ventilated areas Areas with special requirements

form 4 Environmental considerations

Walney island, in the irish sea, is a harsh environment. prevailing south-Westerly Winds are very strong and there is the risk of sea flooding. In response to this, and to maximise sea views from clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rooms, a string of robust concrete accommodation rooms runs along the shoreline. This sea wall protects the building behind, and, with earth banks at the ends, should provide some resistance to storm surges (which climate change and sea-level rise are likely to make more common). This very elongated form does increase the amount of external wall, increasing material use and heat loss. Heat loss is reduced by the very thick wall and earth sheltering (the tops of these blocks are covered with a deep layer of beach sand, pebbles, and soil forming a brown roof, and earth is banked up around the sides of them). A sheltered, south-facing garden is created where the central block crosses this sea wall. A greenhouse block faces south west to the garden to gain the most sunlight. The garden, while being an essential part of therapy for addict clients, will also be an important source of seasonal, organic, zero food-miles produce.

hvac

natural ventilation through opening WindoWs supplemented Where essential. The earth sheltered parts of the building are single-storey with narrow plans and are therefore suitable for this type of ventilation. They will be thermally massive with small areas of glazing and good insulation, and will be heated using underfloor heating which, being low temperature and slow to respond to temperature fluctuations, is ideal for this situation. Bathrooms will be equipped with simple mechanical extract ventilation. The three-storey part of the building shown in the sections below is made of a masonry basement containing the spa and a two-storey glazed shed containing the gym, accommodation suites and common areas. The basement is mechanically ventilated and locally heated, and the shed is largely naturally ventilated apart from the gym which is supplied with cooled air, and the bathrooms and kitchens which have simple mechanical extact ventilation.

summer day The mesh screens the inside of the building from the high angle of the hot midday sun. To cool the building, strip windows at the top and bottom of the service passages are automatically opened by the building energy management system. Hot air collects at the top of the double-height service passage and rises through the top window, drawing cooler air in through the bottom window. If there is a wind, there may also be cross ventilation between the top windows. The basement is thermally massive and will remain at at relatively constant temperature throughout the year. It is highly insulated, and generally heated by the hot water pools, saunas and steam rooms (which are individually controlled) The gym is supplied with cooled air at a positive pressure. The ceiling has an exposed concrete soffit which is cooled, reducing the radiant temperature of the space.

summer night Windows remain open as necessary.

Winter day The lower angle of the winter sun can penetrate the mesh layer and heat the inside of the building. The windows are closed by the BEMS, with trickle ventilation as necessary. The inner parts of the building are heated using trench heaters at the base of the glass walls to counter down-drafts, with the unheated service passages serving as a thermal buffer zone. The gym is not heated by trench heaters but the temperature of the air supplied is varied. This is because temperatures in this space will fluctuate rapidly depending on use and a system that responds rapidly will be required.

Winter night Bedrooms are generally cooler than other spaces, so the heating will not usually be used during the night.

noise The building is remote from other human activity, so external noises are likely to be natural. These may be more desirable than human activities (the sound of waves on the beach) or potentially difficult (wind whistling in the facade fins). The site is downwind from the Offshore Walney Wind Farm, although that is 7km away and it is unlikely to cause significant noise. Noise is unlikely to be a problem anywhere in the building except the bedrooms and therapy rooms. The addict client bedrooms and therapy rooms are remote from the rest of the building in the sea wall and, with thick concrete walls, earthcovered roofs and double-glazed windows are unlikely to be adversely affected by internal or external noise.

Generally daylit through windows Generally daylit through translucent facade Generally artificially lit, daylit through light voids

lighting

The aim has been to use daylight as interestingly as possible. The top floor of the building is intended to be gently translucent, while the basement is dark and lit dramatically by light filtering down from above in concrete shafts. Artificial lights will reinforce this, being placed invisibly in the ceiling on the top floor. In the basement they will not attempt to replace the day light shafts: instead, artificial lights in different places will emphasise the change from day to night.

day

night

The earth sheltered parts of the building have narrow plans and are lit through windows. The addict clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rooms have relatively large windows on a single side, looking south west across the sea. This could lead to problems with glare although the fine metal mesh that will cover the windows to provide a visual screen will probably reduce this. The rooms will be carefully lit, with variations in the intensity of light and indiviually controllable lamps. In the three storey part of the building, the layers gradually reduce the intensity of daylight while providing their own shadows or diffusion. The Kalwall 100 skyroof allows only 8% diffuse light transmission: the intention is not to have a brightly glowing ceiling, as in a conservatory. The ceiling

will change with the weather and seasons. The walls will allow more light through, and here it is intended that people passing along the service corridors will appear as vague silhouettes. Artificial lights are located above the translucent ceiling, so that light filters through during the night as it does in the day. Mechanically adjusted louvres in bedroom walls and ceilings will allow them to be completely blacked out for sleep. There are certain parts of the building which require very specific lighting. The operating theatre, for example, will be supplied with a proprietary adjustable lighting system. The craft workshops will have general diffuse illunination and also individual anglepoise type lamps for task lighting.

Supplementary heat sources

Primary heat supply and circuit

Heat load

lan d f ill gas + c h p

energy

The building is sited next to a large recently completed landfill tip that took MSW (municipal solid waste) from Barrow. According to the Environment Agency, (Guidance on landfill gas flaring, 2002), landfill gas is flammable and is, on average, composed of 50% methane. This gas has a greenhouse gas potential 21 times greater than CO2 (www. energ.co.uk), and 46% of UK methane emissions come from landfill (EA). Burning landfill gas is environmentally beneficial because it converts methane into CO2 which has a lower warming potential. There is cuurently a flare installed at the entrance to the site. It is proposed to use the collected landfill gas to power a trigeneration mini-CHP system. Landfill gas production varies according to the age of the site and prevailing atmospheric conditions, to to be sure of a reliable fuel supply

the energy plant is also connected to the gas main. CHP uses an engine to drive an electrical generator. The waste heat from this engine is used to heat the building. Because electricity is required all year, heat is produced all year and CHP systems are best suited to programmes that can make use of this heat all the time: that have a relatively constistent thermal load. One of the best examples of this is a swimming pool.

the heat produced must be used to prevent the engine overheating and shutting down, there is a radiator heat dump on the roof to exhaust unusable heat (for example, on a hot summer day) to the atmosphere.

In a trigeneration system, the heat is also used to drive an absorbtion chiller to provide cold water for air conditioning units.

CHP systems are inefficient if run at less than full load, so are generally sized to supply the usual running load of the building. A small gas boiler is included in the system to cope with unusually high demand (for example, very cold winter days)

Heat that is not required for the pool or general space heating or cooling can be fed preferentially to the greenhouse, located above the plant room. Because all

Because the pool will be emptied often (the Therme Vals is refilled once a week) there is a separate tank where used pool water is retained while a heat pump recovers its heat.

fire

The central part of this building is intended to be experienced as a landscape where different areas are ambiguously defined. Open voids connect the floors and partitions are made from translucent materials. It would be difficult for such a building to meet the guidance of Approved Document B, so a fire-engineered solution is proposed.

means of escape 36

Residents of the single-storey ground floor rooms can escape out of the windows, which will be designed as escape windows. The escape distance from the wheelchair accessible room to the nearest wheelchair accessible fire escape is 18m, the maximum allowable distance where escape is possible in both directions. The three storey part of the building will be fitted with sprinklers, which mean that escape distances can be increased. There are four staircases from the top floor to the ground, of which two are designated fire escape staircases, and one door for horizontal escape (the building is built into a hill). There are five staircases that connect the basement with the ground floor, of which two are designated fire escape stairs. One of these is continuous up the building and the other is separate as recommended by Approved Document B. Although the basement is sprinklered, the fire escape distances are within recommended limits (18/35 for residential â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; or 18/45 for recreation buildings)

compartmentation The building breaks down naturally into fire compartments, as shown on the plans. The largest compartment is in the central part of the building, and stretches from the spa in the basement through the gym and changing facilities on the ground floor to the sleeping accommodation on the top floor. Areas of greater fire risk, such as the kitchens, snug with open fire, medical suite with operating theatre and plant rooms are separated by compartment walls.

This compartment is large because this part of the building has many open voids and areas defined using translucent materials. If the fire risk to the sleeping clients on the top floor is too great, is may be possible to create protected fire escape passages where the service passage is (dotted line on plans) by replacing the Pilkington Profilit channel glass walls with fire-resisting glass, but this is very expensive and does not have the obscuring effect of the Profilit.

8 15

The basement spaces will require smoke vents, not shown on the plans.

equipment The building will have a centralised fire detection system compliant with BS 5839: Part 1 (required for residential institutions), linked to water sprinklers. There will be both ceiling mounted, automatic smoke and heat detectors and manual break-glass alarm points. The sprinkler system will have its own reservoir tanks and pumps to ensure sufficient water pressure. There will be handheld fire extinguishers provided in all areas of greater fire risk, including the kitchens, plant room, craft room, snug with open fire and the operating theatre where a combination of flammable gas used as anaesthetic, pure oxygen and very bright lights (which make flames invisible) create a significant fire risk. Kitchens will also be provided with fire blankets. Escape routes will be provided with appropriate signage and fail-safe electronic locks.

legislation The building must be shown to meet Requirement B1 from the Building Regulations 2000: The building shall be designed and constructed so that there are appropriate provisions for the early warning of fire, and appropriate means of escape in case of fire from the building to a place of safety outside the building capable of being safely and effectively used at all material times.

Because the access road runs past the building, at least 15% of the perimeter of the building is accessible to fire appliances. This is the most that Approved Document B requires. A building of this size does not require fire-fighting shafts or fire mains.

Sprinklered area Fire escape staircase Area of special fire risk Escape doors Escape doors from protected staircase Escape route, with 15 Escape distance (m)

To public sewer

These spaces are large in order to accept air-handling ducts and soil pipes from the ensuite rooms on the first floor.

On the second floor, lights and smoke detectors are placed within the ceiling void. Because the ceiling material is translucent and permeable, they can be placed above the ceiling surface. Cables run in trays attached to the steel structure.

Hot and cold water, soil pipes, heating pipes, electricity for sockets and data cabling for the first floor runs in the void under the floor, accessed by removable panels at important points. Lighing and fire detection cables and air handling ducts for the gym below also run in this void. Power and data cables for the ground floor run below the stone slab floor finish, while heating pipes run in cast-in trench heaters. Lighting and fire detection cables for the spa are placed in the ceiling above the finish of thin stone tiles. Other services run in the main trench in the floor. It is not anticipated that the building services or fittings will change rapidly or dramatically. The building itself is designed for a specific use and a change in this use would require major changes to the building fabric beyond changing the services. Many services are placed in relatively inaccessible places because it is anticipated that they will need to be accessed only rarely for maintenance. Those services that will require greater maintenance or access (for example soil pipes and junction boxes) are in more accessible locations. Generally, even the least accessible services are only hidden behind surface finishes (for example the stone flags on the ground floor) which can be lifted and replaced, rather than being cast into concrete and impossible to access.

To sea

1 2 3

Mawflat lane, public water supply and sewer Gatehouse buildings with stopcock and meter, recycling and bin store Plant room, compost heap and pool water outflow

Horizontal distribution in ceiling and floor voids Distribution in main service risers Plant room Foul water drainage Pool drain to sea

hydronics 9

Water supply and distribution Water will enter the site from the public supply pipe at Mawflat lane, approximately 780m from the main building described in this report. The stopcocks and meters will be located in the gatehouse buildings adjacent to the lane. Water pipes will enter the building in the plant room, before following the service distribution spaces around the building.

drainage and waste management Soil pipes from the WCs, and foul water drains from kitchens, will be fed into a main drain below the level of the basement of the building. It is unclear if there is a public sewer this far south on the island, but there is a caravan park with several hundred static caravans about a mile to the south so it is reasonable to assume that there is. It is likely that the main drain will be below the level of the public sewer and a small sewage pump compliant with BS EN 752-6 will have to be installed. An alternative is a reed-bed treatment system. Rainwater will be fed separately into a pipe discharging into the sea, which will be used mainly for disposal of used water from the spa. Solid waste will be sorted for recycling and stored in large bins in the gatehouse compound, for collection. Food waste from the kitchens will be composted in the kitchen garden compost heap, along with garden waste.

legislation

services

These systems will have to comply building regulations already discussed in this report, and also regulations F: ventilation and G: hygiene. F requires that there will be adequate ventilation for people in buildings: the approved document makes recommendations about access to ventilation equipment for maintenance, and points to other documents for more detailed guidance on ventilation for particular uses. Most of this building is adequately ventilated, except perhaps for the spa in the basement which may require additional menchanical ventilation. It should not be difficult to fit this into existing service spaces. The building complies with the very simple recommendations in part G.

The sea wall and other single-storey earth sheltered parts of the proposal are not heavily serviced and services run through them in a way conventional for small buildings. Hot and cold water supply pipes, electricicty cables for general power outlets, network cables and lighting cables run in a channel in the floor of the corridor that serves the rooms. Soil pipes run under the floor slab down to a common main drain beyond the walls of the building. Light switches, electrical sockets etc. are positioned in timber built-in furniture rather than being cast into the exposed concrete walls, in order to allow for future changes. The central part of the building contains those areas that are more heavily serviced: the spa, gym, kitchens and operating theatre. Horizontal distribution from the plant room is initially through a main service trench that runs in the floor of the spa. This connects the plant room directly to a satellite plant room adjacent to the operating theatre and to the main riser next to the central fire escape staircase. This riser connects to the upper main horizontal distribution spaces, in a cavity in the first floor and above the ceiling on the first floor.

Fire: detection circuit Fire: heat detector, smoke detector Lighting circuit General lighting Emergency lighting Heater Air distribution Water distribution Electrical and data outlets Electricity supply circuit

HD SD

SD SD

legislative framework Water supply and distribution is controlled by regulation H of the Building Regulations 2000. Regulation H1 foul water drainage, H2 wastewater treatment systems, H3 rainwater drainage, H5 separate systems of drainage, and H6 solid waste storage, apply to this building. The discharge of treated swimming pool water to the sea, and, if a reedbed is constructed, the discharge of reedbedtreated water, will require a discharge consent from the Environment Agency. The Water Supply Regulations 1999 apply to this building. They concern the relationship between the Water Undertaker, that supplies fresh water and removes sewage, and the building. They aim to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;prevent waste, misuse, undue consumption, contamination or false measurement of water supplied...â&#x20AC;&#x2122; (Baden-Powell, Architectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pocket Book, 2001). There is no reason why this building would not be able to comply with this regulation.

Tutored by Nick Dunn and Richard Brook the Manchester School of Architecture at the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University