Exercise 1 - Second attempt & Exercise 2 - shadow analysis

Second Attempt

THESIS

The idea that helped me derive the form for this design was to produce "Architecture that was in harmony with the landscape" or an "architecture that represented the local topography of the site". In the little sketches on the top left of the drawing below we can see this notion. In the end the site was a little too small for all the buildings to fit into and some apartments weren't receiving any natural sunlight. It was a good starting point though.



In these Google sketchup model images, we can see the 3d form of the building and the shadows that may affect the neighbouring buildings. The heights of the building work well with respect to the Heritage building behind and this is one of the patterns that I've selected, SACRED SITES. There are only 4 images for each hour, 9am to 12pm, because after 12pm the heritage building overshadows the building on the south side of the site and my building no longer has an affect.

9am winter solstice shadows


10am winter solstice shadows


11am winter solstice shadows


12pm winter solstice shadows



ANTI-THESIS

The thesis was too "blocky", very spread out and didn't have solar access to all apartments. So in the anti-thesis I went for a circular form which was more economic in its building footprint, had more than the minimum allowable area for all apartments, introduced the idea of an elevator core and gave some space back to the public. The entire north-east and north-west of the building would have solar access, which is another positive.

The negative aspects were that its height was a little over the limit and it would totally stand out from the existing streetscape, which can also be a positive thing.

This exercise did help me experiment with different shapes and forms so that a final design could be accomplished. I was accused of "shape-making" by the tutors when it is all a part of the process that led to a better design solution by me later on.





Anti-thesis Solar Study

9am Winter Solstice


10am Winter Solstice


11am Winter Solstice


12pm Winter Solstice



SYNTHESIS

Due to time constraints, there aren't any drawings for the synthesis, only a Google sketchup model showing the 3d form and the shadow analysis.

The synthesis is placed at the far north-east corner of the site as this is the area that imposes less overshadowing on both the heritage and building to the south. There is a void at this corner to allow for light and ventilation. Both sides of the building have great solar access. All apartments had great views to Coogee beach which was one of the patterns "Still Water".

The negative aspects included the small scale of the eastern side, which was going to be used for the elevator core. In this attempt I also tried going for split level apartments but the circulation needed for the building bulk was unsuccessful.

9am Winter Solstice


10am Winter Solstice


11am Winter Solstice


12pm Winter Solstice

Exercise 1 - Designing using a THESIS, ANTI-THESIS and SYNTHESIS

FIRST ATTEMPT


THESIS

The exercise involved starting with an idea as a Thesis and challenging that idea with an Anti-thesis and resulting in a Synthesis, which either brought the best parts of the two ideas together or just the one that stood out as the better design. We also had to account for the 5 patterns that we chose. The 5 patterns that I chose include:

• Building Edge - attracting people to the cafe
• Still Water - which relates to views
• Beer Hall - Jazz club
• Degrees of Publicness - separation of private and commercial spaces.
• Sacred Sites - Respecting the local context and heritage value.


There was no major idea pushing the building design forward apart from trying to get sunlight into the building, ventilation, complying with setbacks, using all the patterns in the design and fitting the building bulk onto the site.

All three schemes were unsuccessful because I took the wrong approach to the exercise. The only positives that came out of this attempt was the discovery of certain site lines, where and when the sun has an effect on other buildings and what size the buildings have to be in order to fit in all the apartments, cafe, carpark and jazz club.




ANTI-THESIS






SYNTHESIS

Site Analysis - Design Studio 5

Site: Corner BEACH and ARCADIA street, COOGEE NSW 2034




This Elevation and Section serve to show what the existing streetscape of the site looks like and the slope of the Beach Street facade.I found the slope to be roughly 6 degrees incline. I chose to draw the buildings behind and the Heritage building (Rosilyn Mansion), existing cafe/restaurants that currently occupy the land and the units across the road to see the relationships in height and building sizes. Due to the steep incline/decline of the site, the current cafe/restaurants have a very small effect on the surrounding buildings in terms of height and view obstruction.


This 1:500 Site survey looks at the building numbers and heights in terms of storeys, roads and footpaths as well as trees and shrubbery in the local context. I did a little extra research into the site's listing in the Randwick DCP and found that the Beach St facade is of importance to the FORESHORE SCENIC PROTECTION line, which by definition helps prevent designs that make the streetscape look "unsightly". The soils in and around the block of land are in a high level of Acid Sulfate Soils, so we are going to have to take extra precaution when going underground for the Carpark/Jazz Club.



In this 1:100 section through the site, I tried to analyse the site like the DCP and RFDC recommend where neighbouring windows, view obstruction, heights, overshadowing and setbacks are considered. This is a more detailed analysis that looks at the immediate context of the site.



In this 1:100 section we can see that using the maximum height from the south end to the north will have an effect on the Heritage building's facade and their views of the ocean. Another factor that was apparent is that with all the setbacks restricting our building footprint on the site, there simply isn't enough land for us to design for all the amenities. [3.5m minimum to the sides, 6m to the rear] We can object the setback of the Beach street and Arcadia street facades as it already has existing land-use rights.

Models

1:20 Sectional Model of Pier and Walkway underneath

I made this model with the intention to show both how people will interact with these 2 spaces but also show the concrete construction which makes up the parts of the building.

I have also drawn in the lights which are there to represent the old piles that held up the Coogee Pier. These lights will project straight up looking like ghostly piles and will contribute to the overall aesthetic of the walkway under the pier.


1:200 Model 

This is a close aerial view showing how well the buildings blend in with the landscape and the surrounding context.  


East Elevation   

This birds eye view shows the fluidity of the landscape and subtlety of the buildings with their flat roofs. 

In this photo I took out a section of my model so that the interior of the gym can be seen as well as the quality of light that permeates throughout the building from the skylights and the windows on the North and South side of the building. 

This is the section that I took out, it shows the ribbed ceiling and the height change that takes place on the left of the dividing wall in the middle.

In this photo you can see the extension that I made to the back of the grandstand, the walkway with the feature wall, the grandstand and pier as well as the other buildings on the right.

This is a clear view of the entrance showing how it aligns with the stairs of the pier. The contours of the landscape are also visible showing how they engulf the gym building.

East Elevation without Context

North Elevation showing the interior of the gym. 

View from the street.

Final Submission - Drawings

Introduction

My approach to this assignment is to use the history of the Coogee Pier and the experience of the beach to the new community centre. But more importantly when viewing an I found a photo of Coogee's famous amusement pier I paid close attention to the amount of people visiting the beach and the pier, its linear shape and the landscape that created a nice backdrop to this photo. These three ideas formed the basis of my design precedent towards the new communty centre.




Deriving the Final Plan

From left to right the 1st drawing shows an array of Parti plans that helped me finalise my design proposal. The first parti plan and the rendered one point perspective drawing of the grandstand below it inform the initial design precedent that began the development of my final scheme. The Parti plan presents some of the geometry whilst the perspective drawing captures the wave-like form of the existing Grandstand. The reason why I included this drawing is to represent the destructive winter waves of Coogee and therefore became the starting point in my search into using the "destruction and linear shape of Coogee Pier and the experience of the beach" as the core influence on my design proposal.

I used the next parti drawing to show all the lines that influenced the geometry of where the major walls were placed and what views would be most important. The thickest lines indicate these two themes. All these lines were influenced by the linear shape of the Pier.

The third drawing indicates the final shapes of all solids and viods. The darker shade of grey shows parts of the buildings that are deeper within the ground. This drawing also helped me realise the two main pathways created, one was the entrance and the other is the route to the multi-purpose rooms under the pier and the change rooms at the back of the grandstand.

The last drawing shows all the contours of the grass hills and overall landscape that will be produced for the new site and engulf the new buildings further exploring the idea of Reciprocity as the dominance of landscape or nature over architecture and Threshold where an area of movement or change is introduced.

The first drawing on the 2nd page is the final plan at 1:100 showing my resolution to the brief in the placement of the different areas required for the day to day activities of the community centre. It also shows the final shape and where the influence to this shape came from with the use of an image taken in 1928 of Coogee Pier laid out in the same way as its linear shape and a 1:500 site plan that has the Pier drawn in with projection lines towards the plan as if to suggest its importance on the overall shape and scheme of the new community centre.

The overall schemes is made of 3 buildings with an extension to the back of the Grandstand. From top to bottom ,in the plan view, there is the Community kitchen placed near the entrance for its easy access to the public, the gym and the administration area. The first building to the south is the cafe with its open outdoor area and all multipurpose rooms are next to cafe. Behind the Grandstand I placed the workshop and its associated storage and on the level above is the change rooms, rub down rooms with access to the main stairs of the Grandstand that allow the players to walk down and along the pier to reach the oval. This would involve the community's involvement in cheering for the players and allowing them to use the new pier.




Sections and Elevations

Some parts of the building in section were influenced by the linear patterns produced in plan and because I didn't want to obstruct the views of the Coogee Pensioners Club directly behind my gym the buildings have flat roofs and are embedded into the ground or just above. I increased the scale of the drawings to 1:100 in order to show the new building and its context more clearly. All sections have been drawn in a Poch'e style to show how it is grounded and the context in elevation and section are there to show how the building blends in and what views are being influenced if any at all.

Another reason why the buildings are embedded into the ground is because it is to suggest that aspects of the pier are being dug up and out of the ground. A metaphor exploring the idea of death and life of the pier as if it were a human dug out of the ground with only bones remaining. This can be seen in the section drawing of the gym where the ceiling is made of concrete T beams that run across the entire 20m span to meet the structural posts.

The drawing on the bottom right of the second page shows a small shadow analysis taken in the mid- afternoon. It displays the shadows of the buildings located directly behind the community centre. These shadows wont affect the natural light that enters the buildings too much until it is late afternoon.



Sectional Perspective

This 1:20 sectional perspective displays the interior of the administration area that is covered by the landscape and the oval on the right. It visualises the different ways that people will interact with the architecture and the landscape showing the workers, how the light enters the building and the oval as well as the crowd that are there to support the players. This harmonious view of the interaction between the people, the landscape and the architecture is what I envisaged throughout the design of the new Coogee Community Centre.

The Concrete roof and ceiling can be seen more closely in this drawing but the reason why I chose Concrete and Glass for the materiality of this building is because both materials use sand, something that I have brought over to this site from the experience of going to the beach.

Perspectives

Each of these perspective drawings frame views from the most important areas of the new community centre. The middle drawing shows the view from the entrance looking towards the oval and seeing the grandstand on the right. The top left drawing shows the end of this pathway at the entrance with the outdoor area of the cafe on the right and gym on the left. The shadows in this image are formed by the steel mullions placed to hold up the sloped glazing that encloses this area. The array of concrete posts running down the facade of the gym also add to this play of light therefore enhancing this walkway and further exploring the idea of bringing life back into the design of this new centre.

The top right drawing is a view when standing on the pier looking onto the oval. The design of this pier is also different from a traditional pier, it has angled glass on the edges and steel posts that help hold up the glass.

The bottom left drawing captures the view from the entrance of the gym looking straight across to the North where the combination of Concrete posts and glass allow people to see out. There also 5 skylights on the roof in order to allow more natural light into the building.

Finally the drawing on the bottom right is a feature wall that I have designed using extrusions coming out and into the wall so that in certain viod areas images of the history of Coogee can be viewed. There will also be the use of lights to illuminate this area and enhance the quality of this open space.

Exercise 3 - Submission

Drawing 1 - Submitted Plan sheet



In this A1 sheet I included a site plan, the three plans from the previous drawing and a perspective view in front of the grandstand. The perspective view of the walkway was lacking movement and this is the reason why I drew in modules of triangulated walls. Though my tutor and I agreed to work on other methods of enhancing this space using techniques such as texture, the addition of a feature wall or using illumination. We also decided that the pier itself was lacking innovation and that the piles interruped the view to the end of this walkway.


Drawing 2 - Submitted Section & Elevation



The East - West section (top left) show the main area of my design such as the grandstand, change-rooms, pier and multipurpose rooms. Next to this section is another section showing the community kitchen, gym/hall and administration area. The reason why I added this in is because I wanted to show the roof structure and that the administration area goes further into the ground compared to the rest of the building. On the right of this section you can also see the window that I drew in my previous blog post.

The North - South section shows the building from left to right mainly focusing on the North side of the building. In this drawing it became apparent that the roofs were too different and began to lose part of the overall scheme.

In both elevations I included some context such as the trees, roads, and surrounding buildings to show the scale of my building design and how it blends in with its surroundings. The building heights don't rise so high to prevent the Senior Citizens Club behind from losing their precious views.

Drawing 3 - Plans



This drawing consists of a series of plans showing my PARTI and how the final plan was derived.

On the top left is a drawing of the linear shape of Coogee pier and below it are the lines that helped shape the final plan. The darkest lines and the thickest lines are the most important as they make up the major walls and spaces.

The middle drawing is another PARTI drawing showing what solids/voids create the shape of the buildings and walkways. In this drawing the darkest shades represent the buildings that are embedded further in the ground.

The drawing on the right is the final 1:200 Plan of the abstract lines put together with the solids/voids drawings. This drawing also shows the walls that divide the spaces showing that I've considered the placement of each space thus satisfying the brief.

On the top the Gym/Hall has the admin area for staff on the very right and the community centre on the left. The cafe is situated in the middle of the drawing and the multipurpose rooms are underneath the pier. Behind the existing grandstand I have added in an extension 5 metres long to use the space for change-rooms, rub-down room on the top level and workshop and equipment area on ground floor.


Drawing 4 - Sections including Detailed 1:20 Section of Wall, Floor & Roof of Gym/Hall



After speaking to an engineer Waldo from ARCH1261 - Structures & Construction 2, I took his advise in using concrete T's that are precast and then concrete is poured in-situ above this precast system of T's thus forming the final shape of the roof. The system is structural and aesthetically great with good acoustics as well. The detail section shows this roof system as well as the floor slabs and wall connections.


Drawing 5 - Perspectives



These perspectives show the 3 main spaces.

It shows a view of the walkway in front of the grandstand and under the pier (left), the walkway that takes you through to the oval from the street (top right) and inside the gym under the skylight. (bottom right)

Model Photo 1


For this submission I made another rough 1:200 cardboard model to help me gain a better understanding of the building within the site and the depths and heights involved all over my design. I also cut through the building and site to see the inside spaces, how light enters the spaces and the scale and size of each space.


Model Photo 2


This is an aerial view of the model without a roof to show each new space that I've included in 3D.

Model Photo 3


In this model the part that is surrounded by the red highlight is the cafe (left) and gym, community kitchen and administration area (right) with a walkway/entrance dividing the two spaces. In the previous model this entire section of my design didn't as much a link to the core idea but now the geometry is linked making the design more meaningful, conceptual and practical.

Progress Drawings for Exercise 3 -Week 9

Image 1 - New Concept Plans



The previous plans for the community centre had no connection to the idea or the scheme and were only there because they had to take up space to fill the required areas. After recognising this I drew these 3 plans in class. I was really close to choosing the top right drawing though it became too complicated even at this conceptual stage. I chose to pursue the top left plan in my design solution because its link to the "core" area was so much more evident and the use of this continuity was more powerful than the broken up plan of the top-right sketch.

Image 2 - Progress Drawings 1



These two plans have the addition of the walkway/entrance to the oval providing a transitional space between two buildings. It runs perpendicular to the stairs of the pier framing it from the entrance right to when the onlooker walks onto the oval. At the lower end of the drawing are some ideas and concepts of what kind of roof would enclose this space.

The scale is another thing that I later addressed once I drew the new plan in Revit.

Image 3 - Section drawing of addition to existing Grandstand.



This flat roof placed at an angle (on the left side of the drawing) is another example of the use of the piers linear shape in my design. It takes from the existing shape of the roof and incorporates it with the new design proposal. The roof is facing towards North so I may also add in some skylights to enhance this new space.

Image 4 - Sections of Building & Grass hill



The entire wall will have soil and grass on its outside preventing any natural light from entering the building. These drawings are some concepts of how I'm going to allow light to enter this space. The final concept at the bottom-right of the page has the glass on the same slope as the hill to prevent water ingress and the backfilling of soil will help reduce this problem to the concrete walls as well.

Image 5 - Feature wall development



In this concept drawing it shows elevations, sections and plan views of the feature wall. The reason why I decided to change this wall is because I wanted to emphasise the transition between the beginning, middle and end thus further pushing for the idea of "threshold".

The shape of the modules that would make up this wall were going to be elliptical but I thought this would go against the linear design of the entire scheme so I chose to triangulate these modules. The sketch that derived this shape is vertically drawn in the middle of the page. The idea behind it is that it represent a heartbeat showing the pier but more importantly the community within Coogee is still alive.

At the very bottom left is also a concept drawing of the materiality of each pile. I would like to make them out of 100mm diameter reinforced concrete placed in a circular manner following the skin of a traditional pile. This concept for the new skeletal framed pile was derived from the idea that when people are buried and dug out only their bones remain. Once again it blends in with the core ideas of bringing back the pier to life.   

Image 6 - Revit drawing of Final Conceptual Plan



Drawing the plan in Revit helped me reduce the scale of the building as it were too large in the initial sketches. It also allows the better access to the entrance and produces more space outside the community kitchen. All the lines that represent the major walls are linked in some way to the "pier" and the plan has evolved from an abstract idea to a scheme with much more reasoning behind its design solution.