Paul - Programme & Site Update

Hey,


Thought I'd post an update on my project.


In the attached document are various drawings and photos– just to remind everyone its a series of piers on the Princes Dock site in Liverpool. So far the information gathering is going great and I'm working on various drawings and research.


I am slightly stuck at the moment on what the exact programme for the site will be. Because of its location on the river I would like to incorporate it into the building.


My first idea is an aquarium used as a conservation and education centre for the species living in the river. Over the last decade the “Mersey Basin” trust has cleaned up the river and this building would act as a continuation of that work. With the aim to reintroducing species into the river and ensuring current ones are protected.


My second idea is a seafood market. Which would provide eating on the premises as well as stalls to buy from. The pier on site could be used to bring in food directly from the river.


I am currently leaning towards the first aquarium and conservation idea but I'd like to hear some feedback about either.


Thanks,
Paul 
 


http://www.scribd.com/doc/162987811/Sheet-1

Eleni Kaponi

Apologies for the late response, hope this post will shed
some enlightenment on my project.

My current proposal for this project is a ''Leisure Park'' in the suburbs
of Athens. The idea behind this project is to bring people to this 
small city and give life. Moreover, to entertain people and children 
from Chalkida and from the big cities nearby as well as people who
want to take a break from the busy life of city centre.

The site is on the South-East side of Chalkida, where the old historic
part of the city ends and the new developing part is starting to flow.
I have attached some pictures from google earth and a panoramic
view picture for you to see but unfortunatelly Chalkida doesn't have
 street view yet!

I am still searching for interesting precedents that could help me in 
the future. Are there any that you could suggest??
This, however, is all still rather primitive in terms of a program, and
therefore over the up coming weeks, I will research much deeper into
the subject.

Thank you all,

Eleni

Matt - Site

Sam - Sorry for the lack of response, I would have loved to go to Berlin and see the various galleries, as well as the museum of Architectural drawings; I had looked into getting a train from Munich, but unfortunately couldn’t afford to do it.

I have of course now chosen a site, which is the ‘island’ site near the parliament building, and am still looking to do a Museum of Energy.

The link below has various photos of the site, surrounding area and some information of the site.

One of my main reasons for choosing the site was, to make use of the river for references of hydro power, as Munich is very landlocked, with the only sea access in Northern Germany.  So coincidently when exploring the site I discovered that there is an existing hydro power plant located under the river, west of the site, which would perfectly tie the site in with the program.  Some images are located in the link above.

The site, although in a beautiful location, is rather unused compared to some other areas locally.  One of the main things I noticed was the sheer quantity of people sunbathing, and such, on any patch of land near the river, yet the site itself was underused by comparison.  Therefore in my opinion the by developing a building on this site wouldn’t be too detrimental, provided that the landscaping of the site is carefully considered, and improve the overall feel of the site.

I was also hoping to possibly link the new museum German Museum, a proposal of a sort of sister museum.  When exploring the museum I found that there was a small exhibition with some information about renewable technologies and some mention of nuclear power.  However my feeling on the exhibition was that it was too busy, with a lot of information to take in, in such a small environment.  The spaces I would like to create are to be more spacious areas, allowing for ‘room to think’, experiencing scale accurately, and showcasing the various technologies.

I also visited a lot of other galleries and museums, such as the Brandhorst Museum, Norman Foster’s new Lenbachhaus extension, The BMW Welt and Museum, as well as other galleries around Munich.

I shall post some more information regarding my program details and ambitions, and shortly start to look into some more precedents.

Site decision - Silk mill park, Derby

Site decision - Silk mill park, Derby 

I have chosen to base my project in derby as i was interested from the start in a general production/market theme. Derby has a rich industrial history and continues to in high tech manufacturing (Bombardier,Rolls Royce) and the citys scale makes it comprehendable. Derby like many east midlands citys and others across the country are suffering from a high number of unemployed, derbys at 10%. With many of those out of work being skilled engineers or technicians.

The site in question is in the city centre next to the River Derwent which runs through the town, currently an unused brownfeild site (previuosly a site for the ironworks corporate baths) next to a dilapitated building previously the citys police hq built in the 70s earmarked for development as offices or flats. The site is located just off of cathedral quarter which contains the citys gothic cathedral, opposite the site to the north is silk mill park recently landscaped and the industrial museum a redeveloped mill that was built on the site of the old silk mill which was a key player in derbys growth. 30m x 40m all estimates are rough at present.

Incase this site is not worth pursuing i have three back up sites

Derwent Street site historicley the site of the victorian timber industry(timberyard and sawmill), is opposite the silk mill park site, the other side of the river. The site faces on two roads either side Derwent St to the north and Exeter place to the south which as well as a small park provides views in front of the river. The east side of the area has had little investment and development, the buildings around the site are low 1 storey industrial units offering poor context. 20m x 30m

The Site on queens street is within the city centre offering good context, it is situated in the centre of a block of shops, very long over grown site it is very overlooked. 20m x 60m

The Duckworth square site is a locally notorious brownfeild site, located just outside the city centre it was a shopping centre built in the 70s since demolished. fairly larger site than others but surrounding by dilapadated 70s town planning buildings. 50m x 70m

Precedents include the Fab Labs and hackerspace open source technology concept and Zahas Bmw factory - Leipzig.

I have included images of satelite photos (which face north) of the sites and panoramas as jpegs

apologies for the late response hope this post will shed some enlightenment on my project

Regards

Adam

Wellness Centre – Continuing Site Research

So far I have immersed myself in the local history, the surrounding site, obesogenic town centre and ever expanding urban sprawl. The natural setting of the site has been recorded meticulously from multiple angles as visible in the attached link summarizing my latest trip. I have taken on-site dimensions of existing structures and key measurements which will be added to a CAD plan once attained.

My intention as you also suggested was to bring the river into use; the development can play with the water’s edge architecturally, whilst physically being used for boating activities.

An interesting avenue of exploration I have encountered is that of biophilic design, a concept which exploits a deep rooted biological mechanism in humans to need nature in a fundamental way.  Natural settings can reduce stress, enhance well-being and act as a powerful restorative force on an individual constantly bombarded by the constructs of modern society. Its core objective is to reconnect people to the natural world enhancing the environments where we live, work and learn.

The examples you mention, Chipperfield’s Wakefield gallery and The Brion - Vega cemetery in the Veneto, are two very stimulating designs.  I will endeavour to search for more precedents of a similar nature which will form the basis of my next post.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/158047167/Site-Images-2

MATT - MUSEUM OF ENERGY

 My Current Proposal is a 'Museum of Energy', looking at the combination of Science, Technology and Culture.  The idea behind the project is to educate and inform, as energy affects each and every one of us.

The main reasons for looking at this is to do with Germany/Bavaria's phasing out of nuclear power plants (Completely by 2022), and funding research developments into renewable energy, i.e. solar, wind, hydro etc. and obviously as the technology develops, so would the museum, exhibitions etc.
And it would not just be restricted to Germany's energy developments, but the rest of Europe and quite possibly the world.   as well as how producing energy has some adverse effects on the environment.
Also rather than the program being specifically science based, i will look at some cultural/artistic visual type stuff .  i.e exhibition spaces, such as photography, although this at the moment i am not quite sure.

This, however, is all still rather primitive in terms of a program, and therefore over the up coming days/week, I will research much deeper into the subject, as well as looking at precedents, in order to finely tune the program. 

I have also linked in some pdf's I have put together, the first being the my mapping of museum and visual arts locations, in order to establish a region of Munich where a museum would be more applicable, as well as a couple of potential sites that I have located.

Museums, Arts Visual & Research

Sites

Hopefully I will also be able to post more information tomorrow.  Also I am going to Munich on Sunday, so if anyone has any thoughts for me to take with me that would be great.

Thank you all,

Matt

Paul & Ade

Hey Guys,

I read your blog/comments the other day regarding the both your pier sites, and have a few possible precedent studies to contribute based on certain things that were mentioned.

firstly the aquarium;
when looking at cities (Basel) I came across a competition for an aquarium, funnily enough Zaha was one of the submissions.  Some interesting and very different design solutions, however the scheme is not located on a river front.  Perhaps look at the oceanarium in Lisbon for that.

http://www.designboom.com/architecture/boltshauser-architekten-beats-zaha-hadid-mvrdv-to-design-basel-aquarium/

the link shows most of the proposals, but if you look at the different architects websites, there maybe be more images, particularly internals which are quite lovely.

Sailing/Boating club
this is aimed more at Ade, but is actually close to Paul (Crosby Beach)
it is a Sailing Club, which is a lovely 'sustainable building.'
there isn't much information available online, but probably worth a visit, maybe more for Paul in hind sight.
So go grab and ice cream, chill out with Antony Gormley's 'iron men' and then have a mooch over to the sailing club.  it has a bar and nice views of the marina. A win win really!
the building is the Sefton Water Centre, and the architects are Owen Ellis Architects, local to Liverpool.  The original scheme was put forward by BDP, so that could also be worth looking into.  Maybe ask Matt Webb as he is currently working for them, thats if you cant find anything I suppose...

Hopefully this is useful to you, if not I liked it anyway.

Cheers,

Matt

Imagine with Zaha Hadid

Did anyone catch this the other night?

Available till Tuesday 6th if you didn't

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b037yx1l/imagine..._Summer_2013_Zaha_Hadid_Who_Dares_Wins/