SKETCH-BLOG

massing model

2009-03-16T10:26:00.001-07:00

massing study of the proposal in context

sketch design

2009-03-16T10:10:00.001-07:00

the images below show my developed design response. the accomodation is split between a number of building elements; an arrival point / admin building, a cafe and general visitors area, the changing/treatment and gym building and the boat store with access to the surrounding water. the elements over the island are suspended above on a large superstructure which effectively lets them float in mid air; well thats the idea anyway!

2009-02-16T01:18:00.001-08:00

walking the site

2009-01-29T11:00:00.000-08:00

spatial arrangement

2009-01-20T07:37:00.000-08:00

This diagram is intended to show the main spaces the building will accommodate and their arrangement in relation to each other. the spaces are broadly divided between wet and dry with secondary bridging areas between that will support the main accommodation.

building Visit; Cremorne Riverside Centre, London

2009-01-19T10:35:00.000-08:00

Designed by Sarah Wigglesworth Architects, the centre provides new canoeing facilities in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea.

Situated close to the World’s End Estate, and in one of the most deprived wards in the Borough, Cremorne Riverside Centre sits at the eastern edge of Cremorne Gardens, a public park on the north bank of the River Thames overlooking Battersea.

The new facility consists of two buildings: one to house the boat store and office, the other to provide changing rooms. Both have identical lozenge-shaped plans but with roofs that pitch in opposite directions. They are clad in Cor-ten steel, a low maintenance and, apparently, vandal-proof material to resemble rusting boat hulls. The platform between them is made of steel grille-work designed as a gathering space and effective draining point for both people and equipment. It is accessed either by a platform lift or a set of stairs.

The two buildings are constructed out of timber on a steel base, which holds them together for flood removal. The walls are insulated with sheep’s wool. Heating is provided through a ground source heat pump. No demolition material was removed from site as it was used to fill the training tank and to furnish the roofs of the buildings to help create a brown roof. This provides a habitat for spiders and other insects that birds, especially black redstarts, particularly like, and replicates the conditions of redundant urban sites.

The new buildings are sited closer to the river’s edge than is typically permitted and as a result the architects were required by the Environment Agency to make the buildings removable to allow repairs to be undertaken to the river wall in case of a flood. Accordingly the changing room building is demountable in three sections and the store/office is demountable in two parts. The EA also stipulated that the design team draw up a Method Statement covering the sequence of removal, crane hire, road closures, identification of a site on which to store the parts, design of a lifting structure, services disconnection procedures and so forth, in case of a flood. This seems extensive to say the least, and it crossed my mind that if the Thames were to flood to such a level, wouldn’t the EA have much bigger fish to fry that this little building?

I found the building surprising, the approach is blunt as you turn the corner from a busy street and there it is. It is striking in form – very sculptural and angular. Flanked by a public toilet and a pretty public garden, the space given to the facility itself seems tight. I found little in the way of security, as I met no gates or barriers before I was past the large corner office window (surely just asking to be broken) across the platform and down to the waters edge.

The cladding gives the building a very secure and sturdy appearance and so I was again surprised to find the lightweight timber frame of the structure. I did enjoy the character of this building, working well to blend with the rusting barges and boats along the riverside, however I did spot a few potential problems, which were later conformed in speaking to a very helpful member of staff.

The beauty of the building is indeed its asymmetrical sculptural form, however the practical application of storing boats with such a shape is not easy. The acute angles also create awkward spaces in all areas of the building and the practicality of interior spaces are compromised as a result. The steel grille flooring, although effective in drainage, is a nightmare for loosing keys, pens, loose change, etc. The large window to the office had indeed been vandalized and had been replaced within five weeks of the opening.

The member of staff I spoke to felt there were issues with space, both for boat storage and accommodating 30 kids at once (something he had never done) also that the storage area was still too far from the water and that space within the office building could have been better used as a classroom or covered gathering space.

I felt conversation with the end user of this building taught e a great deal more about its successes and failures and aim to take on much of what he said and consider my own end user groups when designing my own facility.

Building Visit; Manchester Aquatics Centre

2009-01-12T06:05:00.000-08:00

Providing Olympic standard facilities for swimming, synchronized swimming, diving and water polo, I decided to visit the Manchester Aquatic Centre not for its primary sporting functions, but more for the experience of an elite training centre and study the secondary supporting facilities such as the gyms and fitness studios. It was also interesting to see how visitors were dealt with upon arrival and how the supporting accommodation was organised in relation to the pool and diving areas.

The facility was purpose–built for the Commonwealth Games, costing £32 million to build. It is jointly owned by the Manchester City Council and the cities universities. The centre is the home of the City of Manchester Aquatics Swim Team, as well as Disability Swimming and Water Polo athletes within the English Institute of Sport. The building was designed by Faulkner Brown Architects and construction completed in September 2001.

The centre's facilities include:

Two 50 m pools, each able to be split into sections of varying dimensions and depths with the help of moveable floors and booms. In fact, the centre has the world's largest area of movable floors and booms in a swimming facility.
"Main pool" on the ground floor is 50 m by 25 m with a maximum depth of 2 m. Two sunken booms and two moveable floor sections can separate the pool into a 23 m by 20 m with constant depth between floor level and 2 m depth; and a 25 m by 20 m section at 2 m depth, which in turn can be separated by the second sunken boom to allow a section of 10 m by 20 m with varying depth. 1,000 permanent spectator seats overlook the main pool hall.
"Training pool" is located in the basement and is 16 m by 50 m in size, with a constant depth of 1.8 m. A traversable boom allows separation into two 25 m length pools, one of which can be varied in depth from floor level to 1.8 m. The training pool's ceiling is in the shape of two long waves representing waves on water.
25 m diving pool with movable floor to allow a maximum depth of 5.1 m. The pool is often also used for water polo, and scuba diving training.
Leisure pool - a shallow water area suitable for younger pool users, with two water slides.
Workout and fitness studios, a health suite including sauna, steam rooms, and sun beds
Poolside café.

I found the building to be well organised, with the different facilities well located to allow ease of movement between the varying functions it accommodates. In particular circulation running along side the pool viewing area connected to the gym and fitness suites created an interesting connection between the training and competition areas, as if users of the building were being reminded what their efforts in training were leading toward.

OLYMPIC INSPIRATION

2009-01-06T12:16:00.001-08:00

2009-01-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

site

2008-12-15T07:30:00.001-08:00

working narrative

2008-12-15T07:06:00.000-08:00

How can the city of Leeds build stronger connections with its surrounding areas and wider region, and through these connections become better recognised as the regional capital and one of the primary cities of the north of England?

The Olympic games coming to London in 2012 presents exciting opportunities for the people of Britain to become part of a global community and showcase the best the country has to offer in all areas of society. This opportunity is probably greater still for the country’s elite athletes and Olympic hopefuls, who have the chance to compete on a world stage in their own country. As the regional capital, Leeds should be a key conduit between the regions athletes and their progression to the London games, connecting the city with the growing Olympic community throughout the country in the build up to 2012 and also creating a strong feeling of participation for the people of the Yorkshire region.

I therefore propose to design an Olympic training facility in the heart of the city, raising the profile of Leeds involvement with the 2012 games and providing a state of the art training facility for the regions athletes. This facility will help athletes achieve all they can at the Olympics and share in the principles of the 2012 legacy program; going on to become a permanent sports facility for the development of future talent from the Yorkshire region.

tutor comment

2008-12-11T02:47:00.001-08:00

nice work; do a bit more to get consistency of graphics across the pages, eg layout dimensions, dark / light areas, fonts. the design looks more convincing in the physical model - montage especially. work to keep that quality of emerging from the earth, avoid 'details', make the canopy more like the rest, it looks a bit hesitant compared to the expamet version. keep at it, its a good idea!

>propose presentation

2008-12-04T03:02:00.001-08:00

model renders

2008-12-04T02:49:00.001-08:00

2008-12-03T11:19:00.000-08:00

>key ideas

2008-11-30T11:22:00.000-08:00

there are a number of key concepts that have generated my proposals for briggate; keeping in mind the points raised through definition and redefinition, through proposal i have aimed to change the perspective of briggate for the average user, i aimed to create an island of respite providing shade and shelter, to create greater connections between briggate and leeds and leeds and the wider region, i have aimed to promote sustainable practices and provide a missing function for the improvement of the street.

in providing a sheltered gathering space above street level, i have tried to create a lookout on briggate where the buildings and streets surrounding can be viewed and decisions can be made about the journey to come. taking people off street level changes the normal perspective of the street and eases tension on the user away from the constant flow of people.

rainwater collection is a key aspect of the design. this will be collected using the canopy structure, stored and used to flush toilets in the public wc below. the inclusion of such a system will be highlighted through the creation of a feature water wall, where a visual sculptural effect will be created by the water collected on its way to storage tanks for the toilets, raising the sustainable profile of the proposal.

the shard window fecade relates to the alternative perspective i have tried to provide the users of my proposal. the nature of the toilet areas being below street level dictates there will be high level glazing from the perspective of the interior spaces. the windows are designed to appear like shimmering coloured jewels in the rough concrete walls, like a subterreanean cave or mine. these jewels not only provide natural light to the interior, but pick out and frame key features of the surrounding fecades on briggate above street level, highlighting the historic jewels of the street. at night these will be lit and will glow providing an attractive sculptural feature to passers by.

>facade idea

2008-11-30T11:19:00.000-08:00

The urban water wall is an interactive fountain system in which falling streams of water can be controlled by digital means. The streams can be started and stopped or their pressure changed. The wall is urban scaled, like a canal running through the city, but twisted into the vertical plane so that one can experience it from a distance.

on briggate this idea can be used to show images of the wider city creating a link with leeds as a whole.

>initial model

2008-11-29T11:52:00.000-08:00

>tile-tastic!

2008-11-28T09:54:00.000-08:00

while researching the humble bathroom tile for my briggate wc, came across this. interesting.

>model in context

2008-11-28T09:19:00.000-08:00

2008-11-28T08:02:00.000-08:00

>sketch proposals

2008-11-28T07:49:00.000-08:00

propose>sketch model

2008-11-28T07:44:00.000-08:00

2008-11-28T04:52:00.000-08:00

Create by Kumiko Inui to celebrate the new bullet-train station in front of which it stands, this pavilion in Kumamoto Prefecture serves as a waiting area for travelers. From a distance, the pavilion recalls a typical house as drawn by a child. But as visitors get closer, the building seems to dematerialize, thanks to a blizzard of openings cut into the glass-reinforced concrete walls and roof.

2008-11-24T03:25:00.000-08:00

Public toilet provision has become increasingly unsatisfactory, because of closure of existing facilities and a general neglect and marginalisation of toilet issues by urban policy-makers.’ Why are public toilets of relevance to architects, or to the creation of Great Architecture? Architects are increasingly taking on the roles of urban designer, regenerator and policy leader, as legitimated by the Urban Taskforce agenda (Rogers, 2000). New Urbanism and urban renewal policies demand that architects contribute to meeting social needs through enlightened design. Public toilets are a necessary component for users of the built environment in enabling user-friendly, sustainable, safe, equitable and accessible cities.

>ref: inclusive urban design-public toilets.

toilet art (?)

2008-11-24T03:08:00.000-08:00

Public toilets have become cultural artefacts in their own right. Because in our society excretory functions, like using the toilet or sex, are seen as ‘dirty’, it is inevitable that the avant garde, seeking to shock, will use toilets as ’art’, often in association with depictions of ‘sex’. It is easy to be alarmed by those women artists who appear to have bought into the whole ’male thing’ about the ‘dirtiness’ of bodily functions and, as a manifestation, the ’ladette’ who mistakenly imagines ‘girl power‘ to be like the boys seeking to shock their audiences, But when it comes to attitudes to street urination presumably they find they are not really one of the lads after all?

The artist, Sarah Lucas, included a full toilet bowl in her exhibition at the Arnolfini Bristol, while Tracy Emin hastaken this trend even further. ’Disgust’ is the operative word infusing such art, not its antonyms ‘delight’ and ’pleasure’ which are words seldom associated with excreta. Lucas’s work was part of an exhibition entitled ‘Minky Manky’. This oeuvre was entitled TX: Two Melons and a Stinking Fish, no doubt alluding to the fact that many men say that women’s genitals smell of ’stale fish’. In reality many women clean out toilets, put down lav seats, wipe the bottoms of the very young and very old, and clean up after male, elderly and/or careless family members. So such ‘art’ is probably more annoying to ordinary women who do not have the luxury of being disgusted either by sights or by smell, but simply have to get on with it (Curtis, 2000).

This genre of art has its precedents in the origins of ’Modern Art’ in the early twentieth century - for example, in DuChamp’s painting of a urinal from 191 7 entitled The Fountain. DuChamp saw himself as an anti-art artist (see exhibition ’DuChamp‘s Suitcase’, 30.8.2000). More extreme is the work of Herman Nicht, an Austrian, who undertakes public performance art involving blood and entrails, and also Damien Hirst and his sawn-up sheep. Is this their way of resolving the clean/dirty dualism? Efficient sanitation and investment in public toilets would seem a better way to do so.

The work of the late Helen Chadwick is far more healthy (Cullis, 1993: 23-4). In 1991 she produced a series of sculptures entitled Piss Flowers. These consisted of bronze casts of the fantastic shapes created by her pissing in the snow in Canada, and were intended to be both beautiful and a way of breaking down taboos about it being dirty or naughty for women to urinate in public (or urinate at all!). Avant garde artist Andy Warhol also went through a phase of producing ‘oxidisation paintings‘ based on himself and his friends pissing on canvas and chemically treating the stains to create interesting patterns.

>ref: inclusive urban design : public toilets.

worth a read....

2008-11-21T16:29:00.000-08:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/apr/23/localgovernment

would you pee here?

2008-11-21T16:27:00.000-08:00

sketch idea.....

2008-11-21T12:42:00.000-08:00

as an intervention with a dual purpose, here the functionality of the wc is hidden or not overtly obvious concealed within a structure that could be an extension to the existing makeup of the street, with more emphasis on its impact on the surrounding urban landscape and the possible gathering spaces created.

public lavs, westbourne grove, london

2008-11-21T12:39:00.000-08:00

Public Lavatories

Westbourne Grove, London

The local residents’ association took the initiative of commissioning this design as an alternative to the Council’s own mediocre proposal. An area of triangular paving was reclaimed from the centre of two diverging roads and furnished with benches and trees. The plan of the building echoes the triangular site with the lavatories at the wide end, entered from either side via a lobby leading to the disabled lavatory to one side, with the remainder split into male and female by a central service corridor.

public toilets, gravesend - plastik archtects

2008-11-21T12:37:00.001-08:00

Gravesend, a small town on the River Thames in Kent, is undergoing significant regeneration. The site for the public toilet lies at a key junction along a new public footpath linking the heart of Gravesend to public parkland to the south. The brief was to provide a new toilet facility on the edge of a car park within the Lord Street / Parrock Street regeneration area.

Gravesham Borough Council required the building to be an eye-catching, 'minor-landmark' as a centrepiece to the adopted masterplan for the area. The basic form of the building is derived from the slope of the topography and the geometry of the site. A simple conceptual diagram provides four main load-bearing internal walls, defining the internal spaces, with sanitary items serviced from the eastern wall. The slope of the roof facing the new tree-lined avenue emphasises the slow incline up to Windmill Hill, reinforcing the view of the hilltop and creating a welcoming and bright entrance at its high point. A more fluid and faceted form was developed for the Parrock Street side in response to the fast moving traffic. The roof form is a distorted and inverted cantilevered pyramid, consisting of four triangular facets that meet in the lobby space. Roof planes fold upwards to hover above, but never touch the irregular external walls. Four faceted structural walls and two distorted columns are positioned to allow the roof seams to lead directly to the primary internal spaces - visually connecting the heart of the building to each corner. A single triangular roof-light was positioned along one seam in the heart of the plan, allowing the entrance space to be awash with natural daylight.

The mass concrete roof is separated from the tile-clad, concrete block walls by a continuous glazed clerestory; achieving a visual tension in the composition between architectural elements and allowing all internal spaces to be naturally lit. Structure is set away from the external wall to emphasise this separation. The design achieves a building that functions both as a landmark structure and as an efficiently planned toilet facility, housed within a sculptural form.

sketch ideas

2008-11-21T12:32:00.000-08:00

leeds public toilets, or lack of.......

2008-11-21T12:31:00.000-08:00

Public toilets

The following public conveniences are cleaned by us. If you have any queries about the service please ring or email us using the contact details on the right hand side of this page.

These facilities are locked overnight from 16.30 hours
Armley, Leeds LS12 – on Theaker Lane off Town Street near Burnsall Multi Storey Flats.
Boston Spa – High Street, in the public car park by side of the library.	open Sunday
Bramhope – Old Lane, in the public car park between the public house and school.
Bramley – Town Street near the Bus Station in district shopping Centre.
Farsley – Town Street next to no.45 near the High Rise Flats.
Garforth – Barleyhill Road in the public car park.
Hyde Park, Leeds LS6 – situated by play areas and skate park on Woodhouse Moor corner of Hyde Park Road and Woodhouse Lane.	open Sunday
Meanwood, Leeds LS7 – Green Road, on the junction with Church Avenue.
Morley – Wesley Street situated near the junction with Queen Street.
Otley – Nelson Street part of the library and visitor centre.	open Sunday
Pudsey - Market Place situated near the bus station and park.	open Sunday
Rodley – Town Street in car park next to the Owl Public House.
Rothwell – in Marsh Street car park.
Wetherby – in The Shambles, Cross Street near the market place and Town Hall.	open Sunday
Woodlesford, Leeds LS26 – Midland Street at lower end near bookies
Ash Road, Leeds LS6 – by the side of the Lounge Cinema building on the corner of Ash Road and North Lane.

ALL CISTERNS GO

2008-11-21T12:26:00.000-08:00

Public toilets closures opposed

More than 6,000 people have signed a petition against a decision to close 10 public toilets in Derby.

The city council's Conservative and Labour groups are sending 200 letters to businesses urging them to support a campaign to keep the facilities open.

Derby Labour Leader Chris Williamson said the impact on local businesses could be severe.

Funding for the toilets was cut to help balance the budget, a spokeswoman for the Liberal Democrat council said.

Closure programme

Mr Williamson said: "We're looking to get the support of businesses in the Cathedral Quarter, whose business is likely to be affected by a reduction in footfall in the area if people stop going there because they're concerned by a lack of public conveniences."

A motion has been tabled at the next full council meeting urging officials to have a rethink.

Six city centre toilets are due to close later this month, with two at Victoria Street and the Spot due to close in January.

Those at the Assembly Rooms and the Eagle Centre Market will not close until building work on the new bus station is completed later next year.

the article above is one of many i have come across in both national and local news reports, all highlighting the lack of and further closure of many public toilets in towns and cities in the uk. could this be what briggate needs? the provision of respite and shelter from the hustle and bustle.

>PROPOSE?

2008-11-21T12:12:00.000-08:00

the next step? through the process of definition and then re-defnition, it appears to be a natural progression that as a proposal some kind of installation that provides an alternative perspective of briggate or changes the existing pattern of the street in a way that is adds to the user experience of moving through the space. i would like to create greater connection between briggate and the wider city, and if possible connection between the city and the wider region. i want to provide a comfortable space for respite and contemplation of the surroundings. space that provides a shelter from the pressure of briggate and the commercial environment, where there is no pressure to spend and consume but only to appreciate the built environment around. iitially i had thought to propose some king of pavillion, that exists only for its own existance with no other function than itself, however further thought on this has led me to seek a greater functionality in my proposals and aim to create the contemplation space i seek to, but with perhaps a dual or hidden function. i aim to create an intervention that uses sustainable ideas and forward thinking technologies, perhaps something self sustaining that makes no demands on the system operating around it; an island of respite with hidden functionality.

>DEFINE>REDEFINE>

2008-11-11T12:02:00.000-08:00

>DEFINE in first defining briggate as a circuit board plugged into the mother board of the city of leeds, we were able to identify the lines of communication between briggate and the city, and see where there is room for improvement, and in particular, where there are errors in the system. the rich cultural features that exist in and around briggate are currently over shadowed by the dominance of retail spaces and commercial landmarks. the street is imbalanced and not reaching its full potential.

>REDEFINE through redefinition we seek to change the perspectives and experience of the average person passing through briggate by altering the focus of the street. the main aim of our redefinition is to identify the existing links between briggate and the city of the leeds, and then the further links that exist between the city of the leeds and other major cities. through the promotion of these links and altering the focus of briggate making these real and obvious connections with the wider community more apparent to its users, briggate can be redefined by simply making the most of what already exists and allow a free flow and greater connection of people with place throughout the city and beyond. in identifying the strenghts that exist in briggate and its place in leeds we can gain a stronger position in identifying an appropriate Proposal suitable for such a street.

>CONCEPT enhancing the existing links between briggate and key features of the city introduces the concept of a more connected city, where important and significant features can be accessed readily from a key street or node such as briggate. the character and dynamic of the street can be radically altered through such a redefinition.

>CONNECTIONS in reality these connections do exist and through their redefinition such a well connected city is achievable, we would see this done through the enhancement of upper and lower briggate creating a more coherent street as a whole rather that the fragmented existence briggate currently has. capitalising on the existing links east to west within the city is also key to our redefined better connected briggate. through redefinition it is also possible to further identify existing connections between the city of leeds and other uk cities; sharing in the character and successful design they possess and looking to what is possible to achieve in Briggate

>REDEFINITION from redefining briggate and the city of leeds in terms of their place in the national community, here we seek to redefine in a more intimate scale by an analysis and alternate look at the elevations that make up the the combined length of briggate. by breaking the street up into an intimately scaled grid and analysing each square and collection of built forms we are able offer a refocused and redefined view of the street. our redefinition provides an alternative perspective of the existing street scene and identifies links, routes, forgotten space and opportunities for enhancement of the street, as well as areas for possible future proposals.

model pics to follow.......

EXTEND BRIGGATE THROUGH WIDER CONNECTIONS WITH CITY:CONCEPT STRATEGY

2008-10-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

WIDER CONNECTIONS

2008-10-22T08:56:00.000-07:00

GROUP PRESENTATION > DEFINE

2008-10-17T10:37:00.000-07:00

Briggate > Define.

2008-10-13T04:37:00.000-07:00

Briggate, today and historically, is the main retail-shopping street in the commercial heart of the city of Leeds. The street completes its primary function as a commercial entity well, but for a place with such a wealth of history and important role within the city, it does little to evoke an emotive response from its users. The more architecturally rich building elements and interesting spaces in and around Briggate seem to be overlooked and underused as a result of the dominance of commercial advertising and chain store shop fronts that dominate the street.

As well as being an important destination in itself, Briggate is a key axis in the city of Leeds. It is an active route connecting transport hubs, education centres and civic areas of the city. Briggate enjoys huge occupancy during the majority of the day and is no doubt a primary draw to the city for both visitors and workers. Despite the large numbers of people using the street each day, gathering spaces and areas of respite are few and far between on Briggate, excluding the retail coffee shops and fast food restaurants. In stark contrast to the busy, pressured and stressful environment during the day; in the evening, after the shops close, Briggate is almost completely abandoned, with very little or no occupation of the street apart from those using it as a route through the city. This seems to occur as there are no evening business or activity generators operating after the trading hours of the stores in the main commercial zones.

Through further group analysis of Briggate, the richness of the architectural context was further underlined; however the dominance of the retail shop fronts and almost ignorance of the average user to the historic buildings still in operation above the ground level of store entrances was a key feature of our analysis. Also the spaces that seemed to be the most comfortable and pleasurable to move in and around were those that seemed

Among our group of architecture students the greater value and level of interest was found in the facades above ground level. This was highlighted to us in the sketches each member of the group chose to focus on, as illustrated below.

Perhaps the apparent ignorance toward the value of architectural context is due to the very busy nature of activities and movement that take place in Briggate. This also relates somewhat to the fact there is little or no areas of respite along the street, there are a few benches but no shade or shelter other that the shops. There is also a distinct lack of greenery and planting. Aside from the under used arcades feeding into Briggate, there is no enclosed or semi-enclosed space that can be used and enjoyed informally without having to spend money.

Thinking toward a possible proposal for the street, an informal gathering space, providing shelter and respite would do well to relive pressure on Briggate, slowing the transition of people and providing a space where a person is able to stop, chill out and appreciate the full richness of context that surrounds them.

Group Design Narrative > Circuitry of Briggate.

Briggate and the city of Leeds operate much like a circuit board. Functions and information are stored and transferred through the many methods of communication programmed into the system. The code of Briggate fulfils the requirements of a modern retail/commercial system but does little to spark and emotive response. The landmarks and many distinctive architectural features of Briggate are dominated by the commercial programs in action. Through a redefinition we would seek to change the perspective and experience of the average person passing through Briggate by, in some way, altering the focus of the street.

In our group definition we identify the buildings as the chips on the circuit board; where functions and information are stored and activities are generated. Next we identify a series of nodes or gathering points where the functions stored in the chips is accessed and information is dispersed and shared. Finally the circuits on the board are the lines of communication between nodes and chips allowing the collective functions and information to transfer through the whole system that makes up Briggate and its immediate surroundings.

Breaking the Code >

As stated in the design narrative; through a redefinition we would seek to change the perspective and experience of the average person passing through Briggate by, in some way, altering the focus of the street. We have begun to explore this changing of perspectives by breaking the code that exists in the facade arrangement along Briggate by identifying areas of architectural significance and rearranging the established pattern of retail shop frontage on the ground level with the historic context above. This improvised process of simply placing the mixed building elements in different combinations produces interesting results in exploring what comprises our expectations of a typical high street scene. This would be a worthwhile exercise in comparison with other shopping streets in other cities, to see whether there are distinct patterns in both the existing layouts and the rearranged combinations exist.

The activation of the elevation above street level would go some way to connect the ‘high street’ formula with the varied development of a historic and important commercial centre in cities such as Leeds. Introduction of evening activities or social generators would encourage occupation of such spaces after store trading hours and are a possible solution to the evening abandonment of Briggate and similar commercial/retail areas. During the day, and the streets main occupation, encouraging a greater interaction between users and context would go some way to encourage the appreciation of the built environment and architectural quality that exists, which is very much taken for granted in Briggate. This could be done is such ways as altering the way we access such buildings or through interventions in the way we navigate the street itself.

2008-10-06T07:47:00.001-07:00

THIS BLOG IS AN OPEN SKETCHBOOK OF MY YEARS WORK, WHERE I CAN RECORD AN ORGANISED DOCUMENTATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF MY THESIS PROJECT; FROM SITE ANALYSIS THROUGH SKETCH DESIGNS AND HOPEFULLY TO A SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION! I WANTED TO MAKE MY WORK AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING AND DEBATE TO A WIDER AUDIENCE, WHICH HOPEFULLY WILL RESULT IN A MORE PRODUCTIVE AND ENRICHED DEVELOPMENT OF MY THOUGHTS, IDEAS AND PROPOSALS THROUGH A GREATER LEVEL OF PARTICIPATION, DISCUSSION AND COLLABORARTION ON A POTENTIALLY GLOBAL SCALE. THE POSSIBILITIES ARE, HOPEFULLY, ENDLESS!