Brief Book

BATTERSEABRIEFBOOK

TABLE OFCONTENTS

3 PROJECT III VISION TO AMBITION 4 THE PROCESS 16 INITIAL BRIEF 21 PLANNING POLICY 40 TYPOLOGICAL PRECEDENTS 58 THEORY 61 OTHER PRECEDENTS 72 THEORY 74 BRIEF INFLUENCE 80 BRIEF PROGRAMME 83 - ACTIVITY 96 - TIMETABLE 110 - INTERACTION 128 FINAL PRECEDENT 134 BRIEF DEFINITION

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PROJECT III THE INTERVENTION BRIEF BOOK

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BRIEF BOOKINTRODUCTION

This book is designed to present the flow of ideas from the formation of the initial brief from Projects I + II to a final project brief. While Pro-ject I initiated the site interpretation and Project II defined the brief and its techniques and processes by exploring spatial and programmatic implications through prototypes, these preliminary ideas must now be consolidated onsite. This specific document is the progression from the generic to spatially and performatively specific. This clarification is done through a three stage process. Step I is called Vision to Ambition and presents the finalised brief from the culmination of Projects I + II. This is included as it is the basis of the vision of the final intervention. Fol-lowing this is stage two, Research. Is it important to investigate relevant aspects to the typological, physical, social cultural and environmental implications on or of the initial brief ideas therefore ensuring all avenues have been explored and fully exhausted. This is completed through the investigation of planning policy mapping, precedents and theory. The last stage is named Approach to Instruction and, as the name suggests, defines activities which translate the vision of the initial brief and re-search context. These defined activities must be analysed in a hypo-thetical manner to discern any connections or disconnections the cho-sen spatial activities have. This therefore informs the final, aspirational briefing statement shown opposite.

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The process culminated in the establishment of an initial design propos-al, based upon the general site quarter and not based in any specificity.What must be initially established are the specific intentions of the in-tervention and, in accordance with the parameters already established,a suitable site in which the intervention can be placed in order to give it full value and meaning. Therefore a brief summary of the process must be undertaken to be able to fully articulate ideas and proposals and ensure a cohesive result taking account of all previous ideas and con-cepts. The transfer of conceptual ideas from the initial palimpsest stage through to the defined site parameters has been set out through the an-alytical and interstitial drawings which informed descriptive, distinct spa-tial effects in the matrix. From that stage the brief definition undertook a 4 stage process: Influence, Intention, Definition and Parameters. The descriptive drawings relating to this process are presented over the next few pages giving context to the finally defined brief statement. To move, productively, forwards there must be an in depth analysis of these ideas in reference to the specific chosen site, program and planning policy. The specific chosen site must be analysed in terms of scale, massing, density, mobility, voids and open spaces, land-use, programme, time-scales and patterns and environmental or ecological conditions.

THE PROCESSSUMMARY

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DEFINITION

The creation of ‘community centres’ to supplement the local infrastruc-ture in a way that can be beneficial to all facets of society. These are in terms of health, education, childcare and leisure. Interventions that would be fully integrated into the local area with the use of interstitial spatial units, a connected network of which act as the first stages of regenerating the area of Battersea. This must be explored, in the site quarter, methodically and strategically. Placing these interventions in the correct places is essential: ie learning-based interventions supplement-ing existing learning infrastructure, health based interventions sup-plementing existing health based infrastructure and so on. Thus, upon visiting Battersea, possible interstitial sites must be mapped against ex-isting infrastructure to give an indication of possible typological usage. The individual character of the interstitial spatial unit must also be tak-en into account to determine its contextual appearance and method of functionality. I have expressed in excessive detail during the process of sustainability and flexibility, especially true in the matrix, which shows another fundamental need: the interstitial space to be reintegrated into urban framework. However I must not be blinkered in this approach. I must consider, as has been said, the individual identity and rich history of the individual spaces and celebrate the ‘fortuitous’ urban void.

INITIAL BRIEF

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‘a network of community-based, in-terventions designed to supplement existing infrastructure in health, education, childcare and leisure. To ensure integration into the existing framework and sustainable use of local resources these interventions are to be sited in ‘interstitial spaces’ who’s character will be explicit in their aesthetic and functional sys-

tem’

Along with this very gen-eral idea must be a more succinct set of parameter values which define my in-tentions and give me clear definition into what I am try-ing to achieve so that I do not get distracted. In short, my brief can be defined as:

BRIEFDEFINITION

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BRIEF TO RESEARCHMOVING FORWARDS

As set out in the introduction to the book The Process undertaken thus far has remained in the generic, not factual realm. This needs to pro-gress towards a project brief with a defined programme, spatial units and site. Through this book will be the clarification of ideas proposed in the initial brief therefore allowing the consolidation into a physically defined form. Before this, however, there needs to be a process of re-search on all aspects relating to areas of the brief. This will be carried out through a thorough investigation of relevant planning policies, map-ping, precedents and theories.

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PLANNING POLICYAN INTRODUCTION

The Battersea planning policy is ruled by the Wandsworth Local Devel-opment Framework, who’s most recent update was approved in Octo-ber 2010. This local guidance is regulated by The London Plan. ’The LDF sets out the Council’s spatial vision, strategy and policies to deliver the strategy, including where appropriate the proposals of partner agencies so far as they have a spatial dimension, for the different places that make up the borough, guiding change for the next fifteen years and beyond.’ The core strategy of this document is separated into sections, these are classified by: Attractive and dis-tinctive neighbourhoods and regeneration initiatives, Areas of flood risk in Wandsworth, Transport in Wandsworth, Open space and the natu-ral environment, The provision of new homes, Meeting the needs of the local economy, The main locations for industry and waste manage-ment, Town and local centres and important local parades, The River Thames and the riverside, The Wandle Valley and Specific Boroughs. Addressing these issues are the core policies: Promoting sustainable development, Sustainable design, low carbon development and renew-able energy, Promoting good quality design, Protecting and enhancing environmental quality, Achieving a mix of housing including affordable housing, Community services and the provision of infrastructure and Planning obligations. These requirements and guidance will, of course, govern what can and cannot be implemented in the final intervention.

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PLANNINGPOLICYISSUES

‘Due to the areas increased popularity’ the population of Wandsworth grew by 5% between 2001 and 2007 and is projected to be over 300 000 by 2015. The major issue here is affordable housing for first time/less wealthy buyers.‘The quality of the existing urban terrain is held in high regard’. New developments must not detract from this: One third of the area is housing, a quarter open land and parks and remainder split between industry, transport and service infrastructure.‘Utility and heavy industry have left the Wandsworth Thames riverside’ replaced by logistics, catering and other service industries, in particular media. The majority of brownfield land is being utilised for residential purposes but the small business thrives in Wandsworth. ‘Wandsworth does not have one strategic retail centre. It has five town centres serving five distinct areas of the borough, backed by nine local centres.’ These centres are popular but could use some revitalisation, particularly regarding roads and office space.‘Development that meets the needs of the present without compromis-ing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ ‘The concern over climate change has led the Government to require local planning authorities to produce a Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA).’ Flooding is high risk in Battersea/Nine elms due to the flat land sitting in the corner of the river Thames.

Population increase and housing demand

Townscape

Business and Industry

Shopping and Town Centres

Sustainable Development

Climate Change and Flood Risk

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PLANNINGPOLICYISSUES

‘Battersea and Roehampton show levels of deprivation on some, if not all key indicators. These are the borough’s priority neighbourhoods.’ Employment, health, social care, housing and crime are all issues.‘The public transport infrastructure, particularly the rail and underground networks, is struggling to cope’ particularly their capacity at peak times. The predicted rise in inner city employment will exacerbate this problem. ‘Traffic congestion was one of the most prominent issues to come out of consultation’. Development of the Nine elms area will bring greater focus on the waterfront and therefore the river can be better utilised in the transport network. ‘The London Plan requires boroughs to set out policies regarding tar-gets, types and broad locations for new and enhanced waste manage-ment sites with the objective of becoming roughly 85% self sufficient by 2020.’‘There has been considerable redevelopment over the previous thirty years’ especially on brownfield sites. The Nine Elms/Battersea Power Station area has been defined by the London Plan as an ‘Opportunity Area’ where mixed development can be promoted. Also pedestrian and cycle routes from Wandsworth town centre and the Thames must be strengthened to overcome physical boundaries of South Circular and railway viaduct.

People in Need

Transport

Waste

Redevelopment

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PLANNINGPOLICYPOLICY PL1

A ‘Regeneration initiative’ it almost exactly what has been proposed in the initial brief. The site lies on the boundary between the areas of Queenstown and Shaftesbury on the map opposite: two areas with very different ‘z-scores’ (scores with no value who’s sole intention is to nor-malise statistical data i order to allow for easy comparison). Therefore the relative conditions between the two areas are divorced in terms of poverty, deprivation and inequality. This was identified in Project I there-fore it is highly apt that the site reflects this divorced nature. This will therefore allow a transfer, both in a metaphorical and literal sense, of knowledge, culture, wealth etc from the clearly successful area of Shaft-esbury and the less successful estates North of the trainlines.

Attractive and distinctive neighbourhoods and re-generation initiatives:

‘b. Deprivation and inequali-ties will be tackled through regeneration initiatives and the focusing of mainstream services and resources on the highest priority areas, especially in parts of Bat-tersea’

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Although not directly effecting the site the trainlines are due to be up-dated creating an ‘Airtrack’ to Heathrow’ and extending the East London Line. This may, therefore, create greater traffic on the tracks thus giving more vibration issues and the rail companies may want to create addi-tional lines to supplement the existing ones which may, in turn, cut down or seriously effect the site. Provision must be made for these issues as future development may damage the intentions of the intervention.

Transport:

‘b. Clapham Junction will be upgraded and improved as a major transport interchangethrough investment by the Council, TfL, train operators and developers (see PL13).’

‘c. The Council will promote major transport infrastruc-ture schemes including Crossrail 2, East London Line Extension Phase 2, Airtrack and Tramlink ex-tension, to be delivered by other parties including cen-tral government, TfL, public transport companies and private developers.’


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Open space and the natu-ral environment:

‘b. New developments will be expected to incorporate appropriate elements of public open space, and to make a positive contribution to the wider network of openspaces’

‘g. New development should avoid causing ecological damage and propose full mitigation and compensa-tion measures for ecologi-cal impacts which do occur. Where appropriate new de-velopment should include new or enhanced habitat or design and landscaping which promotes biodiversity, and provision for manage-ment, particularly in areas identified as deficient in na-ture conservation’

As can been seen opposite the site lies within a band of land described as an ‘Open space (local parks) deficiency area’. Thus the incorporation of public, open space is important. The typology which is trying to be achieved is directly in line with this ideology therefore the utilisation of spaces which supplement the current network of open, public areas thus giving a positive superposition. Point ‘b.’ is, in this way, highly relevant to the project brief to be proposed. Point ‘g.’ is more of a general guideline to ensure current ecological conditions are not disturbed. This has been outlined previously in the sity analysis chapter, pages 48 and 49.

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Town and local centres:

‘c. A diversity and mix of appropriate uses is encour-aged to locate in the centres,including shopping, res-taurants and bars, leisure, recreation, entertainment, cultural, offices and other business uses, educational, institutional, medical and healthcare, community and housing, and other uses which contribute to the vitali-ty and viability of the centres including the development of the evening economy. The existing street markets in Clapham Junction and Balham will be promoted and local shops and distinct areas of important, unique character, such as Northcote Road, will be supported’

It is clear that the focus in development is on these 5 defined ‘town cen-tres’ and 9 ‘local centres’. The site does not lie within any one of these but approximately in between Battersea Park Road and Lavender Hill (which is about a 5 minute walk). The nearest ‘town centre’ is Clapham Junction at just one mile away. Despite the site not being located within any one of these defined centres it will be able to perform its duty even more effectively: As people visiting the ‘town centres’ may be from some miles away non-local residents would have obvious access to the facili-ties, being implanted within the residential area gives the clear advan-tage of only being seen by local residents, thus local residents will have full use of the facilities.

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Nine Elms and the adjoin-ing area in north-east Battersea:

‘e. The Stewarts Road/Sil-verthorne Road area, which forms part of the Queens-town Road SIL, will con-tinue to provide a reservoir of land for industry, logistics and waste management and enhancements will be sought to the environment of and access to the indus-trial area’

This rather inaccurate map depicts the Parkfield Industrial estate directly to the East of the site. This is the industrial site that the vehicular access for runs through the site. This policy shows that the industrial estate is to be kept as such for the foreseeable future. This vehicular access is a serious issue that needs to be looked at in detail during the design process to provide options for either incorporation into the design or moving elsewhere.

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PLANNINGPOLICYPOLICY IS1

Sustainable Development:

‘a. Maximising the use of previously developed land and vacant and underused buildings, taking account of the suitability of sites for high density mixed use de-velopment and the impact that development will have on the borough’s natural resources, environmental and cultural assets and the health of local people’

Interstitial Utilisation has been one of the key factors in site choice since the beginning of Project II. The chosen site abides by these rules and is therefore highly approved by the planning office in this part of the Core Strategy. A ‘High density mixed use’ development is the exact typologi-cal classification that could be given to the proposed intervention. Thus this policy has already been completely abided to.

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Sustainable design, low carbon development and renewable energy:

‘b. All development will be required to make efficient use of natural resources (e.g. energy and water), employing good standards of sustainable design and construction, including sustainable drainage, work-ing towards low carbon and zero carbon standards. The Council will encourage new residential development to achieve at least level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes and other develop-ment to meet the equivalent BREEAM standards. New buildings should be de-signed for the climate they will experience over their lifetime. Major development proposals will be expected to demonstrate and justify their approach as part of an Energy Assessment’

Again already stated in the Project II brief, sustainable design and ef-ficient use of, if possible, local materials is very important. The project is intended to help the local population in any way possible and generally improve standards of living in the long run. A sustainable building ideol-ogy is complements with this typological aspiration and therefore is an important facet of the design.

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Good quality design and townscape:

‘b. The layout, form and design of new buildings and the spaces around them should contribute positively to the local environment, creating places, streets and spaces which meet the needs of people, are visually attractive, safe, accessible to all, sustain-able, functional, adaptable, durable, inclusive, and while having their own distinc-tive identity maintain and reinforce local character. Designs and layouts which make efficient and effec-tive use of land, including innovative approaches that help deliver high quality out-comes will be promoted’

Taken as a given: The building must be aesthetically pleasing. However the connection to its surroundings, contributing positively to what is al-ready there and creating spaces which meet the needs of people are all things that must, obviously, be seriously considered. They must be investigated in their own right, not just taken as a given. Efficient and effective use of land is another of the fundamental principals within the initial brief: Interstitial Utilisation.

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Protecting and enhancing environmental quality:

‘d. Ensure development is safe regarding the re-use of contaminated land, in rela-tion to proposals involving hazardous processes and materials and development located close to hazardous installations’

Again an obvious policy but with serious implications with the typology and site choice of this project. With the possibility of extended use by children and babies when it is surrounded on all sides by train tracks could cause serious issues. Therefore the train tracks must be com-pletely cut off from the intervention itself. Access will obviously be pro-vided for the railway engineers however for the normal visitor the tracks must be referenced, but not touchable. Also noise levels on the interior may become unusable if not properly insulated against the trains run-ning outside. Therefore specific insulation values must be attained.

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Community services and the provision of infra-structure:

‘a. The Council will sup-port the provision and/or improvement of facilities for community services includ-ing education and childcare, health and social welfare, police and other emergency services and the prison ser-vice. It will work with partner organisations to support the provision of adequate, high quality social and commu-nity facilities by:ii. Seeking to secure the provision of new, or improvements to existing, social and community facili-ties.iii. Supporting the dual use of social, educational and community facilities, for a mix of sporting, social, cul-tural and recreational uses.

The typological ideal (as is being continually reiterated through this planning process) is the supplementation of the existing infrastructure in terms of health, education, childcare and leisure. This proposal is in line with the stated planning policy especially in the multifunctionality and therefore full utilisation of a new or existing space. This last point is of the highest importance if this intervention is to be successful in the long run. There is, technically, no guarantee of its use and therefore consid-erable risk in its construction however if it is designed and programmed correctly it could give serious aid to the underprivileged ‘Queenstown’ area as previously shown.

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PLANNINGPOLICYSUMMARY

These 10 policy statements, along with the 10 ‘issues’ stated on pages 70 and 71 must be addressed throughout the design process. The meth-odology should be in a circular motion: Idea, design, reference, design idea etc. There should be constant reference to these points to ensure the proposal isn’t incongruous compared with the planning guidelines. Possibly the creation of a checklist in the format column 1: Policy and column 2: How it is being met. This form of document is of the type that can be reused many times in order to ensure implementation of the cir-cular method of working. Moving forwards from this is more research on the general typology the initial brief has laid out and therefore ideas on what works and what does not.

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INTRODUCTION

Gathering any knowledge from previous typologically similar built forms is imperative in any design process however with the slightly ambiguous state the program of the intervention is in at the moment. There must be a thorough investigation of all facets of the building and wether they work or not and why. Therefore the same set of parameters used in the matrix could be used to evaluate the precedents. Tying these ideas within the corresponding matrix squares can give an interesting com-parison with existing and hypothetical ideas. The projects that are to be examined are a range of existing community based centres:

Battersea Sure Start The Hub

Central Venture Park I Grassroots

TYPOLOGICALPRECEDENTS

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BATTERSEA SURESTART

The project comprises a new build and a conversion of an existing listed building. A cafe is created within the original building, plus community space, kitchen and SureStart offices and creche. In the new building the building’s section allows for differing scales of play space and for covered outdoor play and provides two separate children’s areas plus a baby unit. A series of small coloured windows along the back eleva-tion cast light at different heights and intensities throughout the day and act as a screen against the view of the railway line behind. The existing buildings were made accessible to DDA requirements and upgraded to meet current Building Regulations and the Georgian Facade was ex-tensively restored. The building acts as a multifunctional venue aimed at the development of young children and babies. Surestart centres provide ‘a variety of advice and support for parents and carers. Their services are available to you from pregnancy right through to when your child goes into reception class at primary school.’ They also give advice to young mothers who are struggling to cope.


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BATTERSEA SURESTART

This project is exemplary in its provision for children’s play on a tiny site within a built up, urban environment. The different scales of child and adult spaces work well next to one another. The main points that can be gleaned from this project are the way in which its function is indicative of its form yet it is still subtly hidden away from the urban environment (it is probably actually the other way round: itself hiding from the urban environment to protect the young children). Also its extensive range of functions it provides: A Locality Teacher, Childminding Support Service, Creche, Enhanced Health Team, Early Years Multi Agency Panel (EY-MAP), Educational Psychology Support, Family Support Service, Group Work, Midwifery Support, Parental Involvement Service, Principal So-cial, Worker Support, Play Development Service, Special Needs Sup-port, Speech & Language Therapy and Young Parents Support. If a tiny creche of this size can provide all these different services a community centre of 5000 metres squared should be able to provide a far wider reaching service.


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THE HUB

Winner of the British Construction Industry Regeneration Award 2005 and runner up for Prime Minister’s Better Building Award, The Hub houses business start up units, multi-use space, a cafe, the City and East London Mental Health NHS Trust, and a Foundation for Learning nursery, contributing to the regeneration of the area. The front facade is south facing and has integral Photo Voltaics. A grey water recycling system harvests rainwater, reusing it for flushing WCs and irrigation and a ground loop heat pump lessens energy consumption. The building is naturally ventilated and the structure is designed to be demounta-ble. The popular healthy eating cafe opens out onto the street in good weather integrating the community with the building. The form creates an open, transparent feel like anyone is invited to come in. There is a large, multifunctional space with a capacity of 100 people available to hire, cafe which only serves healthy foods and promotes healthy living.


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THE HUB

This precedent teaches us a lot about the way a ‘community centre’ should be architecturally. It is bright, clean, airy and, above all, transpar-ent. It has the open, inviting feeling that the judges for the Better Public Building Award 2005 described as: ‘The optimism that was represented by this high-quality social, as well as physical regeneration project.’ Its serious green credentials play into this feeling as well. Maximised natu-ral daylighting and high thermal efficiency lend the building responsibility to its place and context. This hugely successful centre is the epitome of a sustainably successful building that has even led to the in-house community mental health team recording a reduction in high-stress situ-ations with clients.


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CENTRAL VENTURE PARK I

The brief for this project evolved out of extensive community consultation with the young people for whom it is designed. The scheme transforms a derelict wasteland into an oasis unlike any other park. A wide range of activities such as adventure play, toddlers play, climbing, skateboarding, basketball and football are available. The focal point is the central build-ing, which is integrated into the landscape and accommodates a multi-purpose hall, climbing wall, training space and youth offices. There is a wonderful view from the roof over London to the Millennium wheel and beyond. This roof is sloped accommodating a play area running down to the skate boarding bowl. The road side elevation is fair-faced concrete with an ‘egg-crate’ finish, whilst the park side elevation is predominantly glazed, opening out the building to the park.


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CENTRAL VENTURE PARK I

This project is again a community centre however based in leisure and sporting activities rather than childcare or multifunctionality. It incorpo-rates a beautifully landscaped exterior area that creates a beautiful place for children to play sports. The drive of this project, similar to The Hub, is as a catalyst to change the young people of the area it is integrated in Peckham. The creation of usable and of outstanding quality exterior space from what was once wasteland is one of the fundamentals of the initial brief and therefore has been integrated into the project with the choice of site. The real lesson that can be learnt from this project is the integration of landscaping into a project thus creating a multilayering of space: The roof can be used as a play hill and interior used for basket-ball for example. To create full utilisation of the interstitial space that has been chosen the entire site must be used responsibly.


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GRASSROOTS

Grassroots Community Resource Centre was described by Comission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) as exemplary and awarded it with the ‘Designed with Care - Neighbourhood Healthcare building’ badge. It is environmentally sustainable, using natural energy sources, with a combined heat and power boiler, natural ventilation and passive cooling from the concrete roof slab. It has integrated solar pan-els and harvests rainwater for landscape irrigation. Grassroots houses a variety of facilities including: a cafe; Multi Purpose Hall; Children’s Health Centre; Early Years Centre, Sure Start North Canning Town headquarters and creche and a GP centre and is partly sunk into the Memorial Park, with usable landscape running over it. This is the ty-pology the interim brief set out: Including all facets of community help: Education, health, childcare and leisure. It is the model by which the intervention can run.


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TYPOLOGICALPRECEDENTSGRASSROOTS

Grassroots has been developed on the basis that a well designed, sus-tainable, energy-efficient building would contribute positively to the peo-ple who use it and the wider neighbourhood, and it really does work. The main parts of this building which can be taken forwards into the design process and to consider in the project brief are a synthesis of The Hub and Central Venture Park: Exterior space complementing interior func-tion, with a sustainable first principle. The examination of these four built forms has presented the need for a conclusive, holistic approach. The Hub and Grassroots are both part of the government’s New Deal for Communities initiative, a key programme in its strategy to tackle multiple deprivation in the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country. The ‘Peckham Model’ needs to be examined as it is very successful and the exact type of intervention, or set of masterplanned interventions, that the initial brief has set out.

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THEORYTHE PECKHAM MODEL

‘Preventative healthcare, based on the principle of holistic health, de-signed to build real well-being rather than treating illness’ was the man-tra under which George Scott Williamson began ‘The Peckham Experi-ment’. Another core value was not imposition of his ideals but working with the community, a ‘synthesis’ – a key Peckham word - meaning ‘the living power to build up a basic organic design from the substance of the environment’. The Peckham Experiment was ‘a field of function where individual and environment work in strict mutuality’, where mutuality was seen as an unending process enriching both the living organism and its environment. Core tenents of the method are:

‘1. To study health, rather than disease;‘2. To cultivate all the facets of health and well-being – physical, psycho-

logical, social and spiritual;‘3. To operate as a social club for families and kinship groups;

‘4. To develop skills in the individual and community in a non-competitive way;

‘5. To focus on nutrition and to cultivate and grow food on its own organic farm.’

Core to the project was the theory that developing people’s skills en-hances well-being, and that if that can be done in a way that creates exchanges within a locality, it will also build community. Thus the mantra under which this project brief must abide is created.

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THE PECKHAM MODEL

The New Peckham Experiment is built on the understanding that:‘1. Healthy, socially just, economically resilient and environmentally

thriving communities are possible, can be cultivated and;‘2. Responding actively to the challenges of climate change presents opportunities to create environments that increase well-being, revitalise

local economies and increase equality. It echoes the original Peckham Experiment’s proposition that whole-community health is better built in practice than in theory, rooted in evi-dence that shows: ‘1. Greater equality increases well-being for all sectors of society across

a range of indicators ; ‘2. Well-being can be increased by creating the conditions in which it

can be cultivated ;‘3. Active engagement with the arts improves community cohesion;

‘4. A transformation in food culture can be delivered in a way which in-creases both health and community well-being ;

‘5. A healthy environment is a crucial underpinning for social justice;‘6. Skill-sharing and small-scale enterprise are at the heart of community

resilience and health .

THEORY

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THE PECKHAM MODEL

This model, and these ideals, are the exact match to the ideals pre-sented in the initial brief. Therefore can be informative to the final project brief and help to define the techniques and processes that the design process and site strategy must abide by. The holistic approach to cre-ating a healthy society utilising the influence of architecturally sound spaces and places must feature heavily in the final briefing statement to ensure the principles of this Peckham Model are fully understood. A rigorous and succinct set of bullet points relating to this theory must be understood and put next to one another to form the framework of the fully holistic approach thus enabling quick and easy reference in the de-sign process. It is not just, however, the functionality of the building that is under direct scrutiny. The aesthetic value must also be maintained to, as the argument for ‘architecture as art’ could be expressed: The Bilbao Effect.

THEORY

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Examining these programmatically similar architectural impositions is not enough to be able to fully understand or be able to create a suc-cessful intervention. There must be greater understanding of the aes-thetic and methods of the architecture of urban voids: Interstitial spaces. There will be an examination into the drawing power of the mantra previ-ously stated, ‘architecture as art’ in a philosophical summary after the analysis of the following buildings:

The Highline The Marsupial Bridge

Total Fluidity: Urban Voids

OTHERPRECEDENTSINTRODUCTION

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OTHERPRECEDENTSTHE HIGHLINE

The High Line is a public park built on an historic freight rail line el-evated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. It is owned by the City of New York, and maintained and operated by Friends of the High Line. Founded in 1999 by community residents, Friends of the High Line fought for the High Line’s preservation and transformation at a time when the historic structure was under the threat of demolition. It is now the non-profit conservancy working with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation to make sure the High Line is maintained as an extraordinary public space for all visitors to enjoy. In addition to over-seeing maintenance, operations, and public programming for the park, Friends of the High Line works to raise the essential private funds to support more than 90 percent of the park’s annual operating budget, and to advocate for the preservation and transformation of the High Line at the Rail Yards, the third and final section of the historic structure, which runs between West 30th and West 34th Streets.

OTHERPRECEDENTSTHE HIGHLINE

This intervention: The creation of a beautiful public park out of space that would otherwise be left to rot; is a stunning example of how a regen-eration project can revitalise districts or areas it touches. Even before its opening in 2009 almost 30 new projects had cropped up adjacent to its 1.45 mile track. The intervention that is being proposed here is nothing like the scale as The Highline however if this intervention follows the same path as New York’s newest park it would be a huge success. Bold statements such as this draw people in, following the architecture as sculpture ideal which will be delved into more detail later in this book. This use of left-over, what has been called ‘interstitial’ space, is a beauti-ful summary of the ideals presented thus far.

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OTHERPRECEDENTSTHE MARSUPIAL BRIDGE

The Marsupial Bridge is a pedestrian walkway that uses the existing Holton Street Viaduct structure as its “host”. The bridge weaves through the existing structure that was originally engineered to support trolley cars, a transportation system which was abandoned with increased automobile use in the early 1900s. Hanging opportunistically from the over-structured middle-third of the viaduct, The Marsupial Bridge re-sponds to the changing transportation needs of the city by increasing pedestrian and bicycle connections. The bridge is a “green highway” that activates the unused space beneath the viaduct, encourages alter-native forms of transportation, and connects residential neighborhoods to natural amenities, Milwaukee’s downtown, and the Brady Street com-mercial district. The Marsupial Bridge’s undulate concrete deck offers a counterpoint to the existing steel members of the viaduct, inspired by the notion of weaving a new spine through the structure. Recalling the wood docks along the Milwaukee River, formerly an industrial corridor linking northern territories with the Great Lakes, the concrete deck is finished with wood deck and handrails, and stainless steel stanchions and diaphanous apron. Floor lighting is integrated behind the apron, and precision theatrical fixtures are mounted above to create a localized rib-bon of illumination with minimal spill into the riparian landscape below.

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OTHERPRECEDENTSTHE MARSUPIAL BRIDGE

This bridge again epitomises the interstitial utilisation that has been ex-amined previously. It, however, acts as a manifestation dependant on the original bridge for its existence. This hugely intelligent use of a space which would otherwise be left aside of the urban terrain is something which should be interpreted, itself manipulated and utilised in the design process of this intervention. As Bucky Fuller once said: “Our beds are empty two-thirds of the time. Our living rooms are empty seven-eighths of the time. Our office buildings are empty one-half of the time. It’s time we gave this some thought.” This is exactly what has been done here, what could never have been used is now consistently used and has improved a circulation route once seriously lacking.

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THEORYTOTAL FLUIDITY: URBAN VOIDS

‘Formal dynamic of the installation was conceived as an inverted land-scape, using complex curvilinear geometry, seamlessness and smooth transitions – integrating the diverse forms which connect disparate city-scapes. The installation deconstructs the organic forms explored in our morphological research to create a series of suspended vertical ele-ments – moments captured in time through continuous transformation within the piece as a whole. As in time lapse photography, ephemeral qualities and diffused forms are frozen at irregular intervals to illustrate key motifs in our architectural repertoire.’ Zaha Hadid.

This installation at the Lisbon Architecture Triennial has an incredibly similar form to one of my previous matrix models. That model was an expression of the ‘boundary space’ articulated at the connection between two distinct forms. In essence this is an enlarged, greater articulated expression of this ideal: The disparate connection between sections in the urban environment. Through this ideological thought the intentions for the final project brief can be derived.

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THEORYURBAN VOIDS

These final two precedents are examples that follow the ideals of the ‘uban void’. They utilise structural elements of a form that was not origi-nally intended for that purpose: They manipulate the existing fabric of the city to implement a new purpose and direction. These ‘urban voids’ are being used as a solution to a problem which has arisen due to mod-ernist urban planning and should not be looked upon as a detrimen-tal part of the urban fabric. They are to be celebrated as, the planning policies put it, opportunity areas: Not simply spaces left over that can eventually be used to solve problems created by the aforementioned modernist urban planning but forms in their own right to be used in their specific function. Taking a cynical view of the world at present Battersea is trapped within the modernist urban planning since the industrial revo-lution where mobility was key (as it still is today). The priority of cities was transportation and accessibility: The form and figure come after the functionalist grid is mapped as efficiently as possible. These interstitial spaces therefore become blips against the perfect framework of the city. The growth of Battersea has not been perfectly planned however, there-fore the prevalence of the interstitial space is far greater lending it even more importance within the urban terrain as functional form in its own right. This fundamental reasoning lends itself well to the functionality of the proposed intervention.

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THEORYSITUATIONIST MOVEMENT AND APPLICABILITY

The Situationist Movement theories take a critical view of capitalism and social structure as it was (1957-60’s) at the time. The derive taken in project I is a Situationist principle of how the city should be arranged. Si-mon Sadler, in his book ‘The Situationist City’, examines SI principles for the city and city living: Radical rereading of the urban terrain, a constant play of contrasts, between confined and open spaces, darkness and illumination, circulation and isolation. Reading the city became an ex-ercise in its own right, graffiti regarded as a sign of the primitive energy of everyday life of the masses. The suggestion of abolishing museums and distributing masterpieces to bars and restaurants thus undermining cultural imperialism and elitism. Following this the articulation of these ideas became a reality in their proposal for the New Babylon in which they reconstructed a set of ‘situations’ which would no longer be driven by capital and bureaucracy but by participation. The creation of constant drift meaning fun is not a break from work but integral to it. This drift causing disorientation and thus every space is temporary, nothing is recognisable, everything changes and nothing can serve as a landmark. The Urban Void is a modern space in accordance with these principles: A space of disorientation, of temporal purpose and flexible multifunction-ality. This unitarian view of equality and fun is an essential theory of the purpose of this intervention.

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BRIEF INFLUENCECOMPRESSION

Project I initiated the site interpretation and Project II has defined the ini-tial brief and the techniques and process supporting it this must be now consolidated on site. Until now what has remained generic becomes spatially and performatively specific. A process of Approach to instruc-tion must now be undertaken to move from the initial to the project brief. Following which the site will be chosen in accordance with the param-eters set through The Processes definitions. The questions of scale, massing, density, mobility, voids and open spaces, land-use, time-scales and patterns and environmental or ecological conditions will be considered against this brief and the outlined 5000 metre squared maxi-mum floor area. The clarification of ideas and concepts, both in terms of typological and philosophical means, will then investigated through the examination of a limited number of precedents and theories, which must be further explored throughout Project III. This secondary brief is the clarification of all intentions thus far discussed and formulate it with a hierarchy of design intentions and parameters. Therefore the specific points from these three areas: Brief, site and clarified architectural ideas must be summarised.

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This defined brief, ie the cul-mination of ideas presented in the process, presents a concentrated idea which just needs to be linked with an appropriate site. This final brief definition drawing pre-sents the defining thesis and intention: Community cen-tres that supplement exist-ing infrastructure in terms of health, education, child-care and leisure that are implanted within the exist-ing urban structure through the utilisation of an intersti-tial, fortuitous urban void. The next stage towards developing this brief is the acquisition of a specific site within the boundaries of the defined site quarter. This site must exist in accord-ance with the parameters set out in the final stage of the process.

‘a number of community based designed to supplement exist-ing infrastructure in health, edu-cation, childcare and leisure. To ensure integration into the existing framework and sustain-able use of local resources these interventions are to be sited in ‘interstitial spaces’ who’s char-acter will be explicit in their aes-thetic and functional system’

BRIEF INFLUENCEINITIAL STATEMENT

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BRIEF INFLUENCEPRECEDENTS AND THEORIES

BATTERSEA SURESTART

THE HUB

CENTRAL VENTURE PARK

GRASSROOTS

The protective manner in which the creche holds children within it, safely away from the urban environment. Particularly important when the site is surrounded by train tracks. Also, programmatically, the amount of fa-cilities provided on such a small scale should be scaled up to give a number of multifunctional spaces within the intervention.

An exemplary design in terms of sustainability: First in the way it com-pletely juxtaposes Battersea Surestart with its transparency and open-ness to the community. For the function it provides this is the perfect balance; second in its environmental credentials which lend beautifully day lit spaces which are naturally ventilated giving a healthier feel.

Utilisation of wasteland and then ensuring greatest value for money by multilayering of space, allowing the roof to be used for children’s activ-ity. The space has been elevated and has brought about a significant change in the manner of surrounding neighbourhoods.

Almost a synthesis of the two above ideas. Allowing multifunctional spaces to flow from inside to out, environmental pv panels expressing the facade, green roof. It is a hugely successful model of a new, contem-porary community centre.

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URBAN VOIDS

THE SITUATIONIST MOVEMENT

The view that the intersitital space can act as an effectively programmed space if utilised. These spaces within the urban terrain should be cel-ebrated as an opportunity not a ‘blip’ in the landscape. They present the opportunity to create something new and exciting that gives a different perspective to what architecture is already present in the immediate vi-cinity. This links heavily to:

The ‘situations’ defined by the Situationists New Babylon are the equiva-lent of a contemporary urban void. Spaces which disorient one from the typical layout of the city. Spaces in which everyone can be considered equal and that have to ability to take one off guard. Following the situ-ationist movement lends another level to a project that needs an iconic status to be fully appreciated and used in the fullest way possible.


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THE PECKHAM MODEL ‘1. Healthy, socially just, economically resilient and environmentally thriving communities are possible, can be cultivated and;

‘2. Responding actively to the challenges of climate change presents opportunities to create environments that increase well-being, revitalise

local economies and increase equality. ‘3. Greater equality increases well-being for all sectors of society across





resilience and health . Taking these ideas into a holistically driven design approach gives great-est scope for success. These eight points are the synthesis of 1960’s and 2011’s theories and have, in the precedents shown here, been suc-cessful therefore are a perfect model to follow.


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THE HIGHLINE

THE MARSUPIAL BRIDGE

TOTAL FLUIDITY: URBAN VOIDS

The influence a stunning, effective project can bring to areas of a de-prived nature is surprising. Utilising a decayed space and not only re-forming it into something new and beautiful that has created an iconic symbol of an area is the sort of aspirational ideal that the intervention aspires to.

The creation of something new, in a disused, disregarded space which utilises its current form and manifests itself onto it has been accom-plished in the beautiful bridge. This ideal would work well in the tunnel on site. Referencing back to a space’s roots is important to ensure it is grounded and does not become generic. This method is a very impor-tant one for the design process.

Connecting disparate spaces, forms, areas or zones is an important part of the brief. The site itself lies on the ‘boundary space’ between residen-tial zones of divorced economic level. This definition should be scaled in to the individual sensorial detail as has been extensively explored through The Process.

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BRIEF PROGRAMMEMOVING FORWARDS

With the above summary of influences thus far in the project there must be an in depth examination of programmatic features of the proposed design to give a view of how the building may function and what its inten-tion is. Therefore this investigation must entail at least:

DIMENSION ANALYSISUSAGE PERIODS, TIME

PLANNING POLICYSOCIAL ISSUES

From the investigation of these points there will arise new issues and opportunities to investigate and therefore a more detailed investigation can be undertaken. Therefore this process is to be generative however result in a a clarified design intentions brief. Following this a separate ‘room book’ will present a number of spaces, their sequential uses, at-mospheres and qualities, relationships between spaces and their net floor area. This book will act as an instruction to help the design towards a set vision giving guidance and therefore help with design decisions. The inclusion of descriptive drawings or made pieces to articulate these would be hugely useful.

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BRIEF PROGRAMMECHOICE

To allow for the effective progression of the brief a final decision on the actual programme of the building must be decided. After examining the Grassroots centre and how well its multifunctional spaces work provid-ing a space for out of hours community meetings and flexibility for future use. Therefore the spaces must be as multifunctional and flexible as possible. Taking this a step further could the whole building not be a flex-ible entity, constantly changing to evolve to the clients wishes. Through this aspirational idea spaces that can be infinitely flexible and usable in many different configurations will be possible. However there must be some standard space, for example storage. Perhaps using storage areas as zones that are unchangeable and which main spaces revolve around. There must be a decision, and soon, on functionality to be able to decide on what can be this flexible and what must be permanent. For example, a gp surgery, kitchen etc, must be permanent but gen-eral community meeting spaces and open spaces can be as flexible as needed. What can be fit in 5000 metres squared? The most pressing question initially is towards the activity of the building. As defined in the initial brief parameters.

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Boundary spaces used as sensorial ‘buffers’ between forms of differing function.

Sensory perception of different sites created according to program, form reflecting function.

Experiential expression of a fragmented plan.

A diverse network of interventions with differing functions therefore as-sisting the established infrastructure in many ways.

Different functions within an intervention can work inconsequentially of one another.

In accordance with the above some spaces are connected according to function, resulting in separated zones in the building.

Interstitial spaces within the intervention created and used for storage thus reflecting the site’s original nature.

Functions within the new intervention utilise the historic context in an explicit way.

Functionally flexible spaces created alongside specific ones therefore lending multifunctionality in its specific field.

SENSORY NARRATIVE

SUBCONSCIOUS SEN-SORY SEPARATION

FRAGMENTED SEPARA-TION

DYNAMICALLY INCON-GRUOUS DIVORCE

DISCORDANT DYNAMISM

FUNCTIONAL RELATION-SHIP

INTERSTITIAL UTILISA-TION

EVOLUTIONARY UTILISA-TION

EVOLUTIONARY REGEN-ERATION

BRIEF PROGRAMMEPROGRAMMATIC PARAMETERS

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BRIEF PROGRAMMEACTIVITY

In order to create a sufficiently relevant final proposal the initial brief parameters must be met. This will take place through an in-depth analy-sis of what the projects specific activities are. This has already been informed through the research and a fairly clear idea has emerged: Grassroots, The Hub both in accordance with The Peckham Model are the sort of intervention that is trying to be achieved, particularly through the Peckham model’s points on creating a preventative health solution. Before this can be adapted there must be a fundamental mapping into the current infrastructural dynamics of the area of Battersea. It would be pointless to create a community centre giving aid to the elderly if there is already world class facilities in that area. Following this mapping The Peckham Model must be explored and abstracted and a set of activities defined. As there must be constant reference to the set of parameters opposite it is at this stage that a matrix will be produced. It may be very empty as there are still many considerations to be made however it is necessary to constantly look back at these rules to ensure the project is not moving in the wrong direction. Following this matrix a detailed timetabling of each space will be undertaken to define its possible nar-rative. A further matrix will then be produced. Finally, informed by activity choice and narrative, the interaction between differing activities must be established. For a third and final time the matrix will be produced, informing the final brief summary.

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BRIEF PROGRAMMEACTIVITY - MAPPING

This is a map presenting land-usage. It shows that, within the immediate vicinity of the site there is lots of green space, seven separate schools (both primary and secondary), six places of worship and only one small library (there is another one on Lavender Hill but it is again, very small) and one tiny health centre attached to the Christian Centre North East of the site. The Stormont, Doddington and Bridge Lane health centres are currently run by the Primary Care Trust who are designed to provide care when a problem is initially felt. These centres are currently scruffy and in need of renovation. Despite the health overview and scrutiny committee meeting, on the 21st April 2009, agreeing upon the regen-eration of said trusts there has still been no action taken. The nearest hospital of any size is the Bolingbroke Hospital 2.4 miles from the quar-ter, which is vastly overused and understaffed (so much so it was to be closed until a recent campaign kept it alive). Therefore there is a need for a health centre, however it should not simply be a standard Primary Care Trust, but a centre adopting the principles of The Peckham Model: Preventative care. Therefore, taking elements from The Hub and Grass-roots, a health kitchen giving healthy cooking and living lessons, and clinic giving free preventative treatments as prescribed by the govern-ment (things such as immunisations, alcohol dependency, cholesterol and depression screenings amongst many more). One aspect of this site will be the preventative health care centre.

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BRIEF PROGRAMMEACTIVITY - THE PECKHAM MODEL

The established programmatic function of this intervention is a health centre and, following the research into the site quarter, precedents and theories a preventative health centre is to be established. Thus the first required space is a Preventative Health Clinic. One of the fundamental requirements of the project is to help as many different local people as possible. Therefore readdressing The Peckham Model to look for ad-ditional requirements for a successful preventative care centre is appro-priate. It is an established, proven theory and therefore as much should be gleaned from it as possible. The key points for this interpretation are:

ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABILITY GREATER EQUALITY

ENGAGEMENT WITH THE ARTS TRANSFORMING FOOD CULTURE

SKILL SHARING

Considering the obvious first the final 3 points have clear spatial con-notations attached to them: Arts centre, kitchen and job centre. These need to be considerably refined to define a specific space.

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BRIEF PROGRAMMEACTIVITY - THE PECKHAM MODEL

Engagement with the arts can come in many forms: Overhearing music from someone else’s headphones, glancing at a poster you pass in a car or actually going to a gallery. It would not be appropriate, in this sense, for the community centre to have a specified ‘art area’. That is not what the project is all about. The centre should act, through its circulation system, as a gallery exhibiting local artists work in whatever medium is required or wanted. Therefore almost smothering the visitor in culture. Transforming food culture is easily done through a learning kitchen how-ever to get the full culinary experience there should be some sort of facil-ity that allows the students to cook for members of the public. This gives a more community atmosphere and vibrance. Therefore there should be a subsidiary kitchen within the confines of the serving area; the cafe. Finally skill sharing entails the teaching of classes by experts to stu-dents. Therefore ‘workshop’ spaces are needed. Examining the work-ing of Grassroots and The Hub there are always multifunctional spaces which are adaptable and flexible: They allow the breaking up of space into more specific areas. This is how the workshop spaces should act. Therefore the are now established four more defined spaces: Creative circulation system, Kitchen, Cafe with subsidiary kitchen and workshop spaces.

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BRIEF PROGRAMMEACTIVITY - BEYOND THE PECKHAM MODEL

Examining around the subject is always important and, from the re-search carried out in Project I it is known that Battersea has one of the highest pregnancy rates in London and the UK. Therefore it is highly likely that there will be parents who want to use the community centre. They should not be discriminated against just because they have a fam-ily. Therefore provision for a childcare service should be given, possibly in the form of a Nursery which can take children for before-school activi-ties allowing parents to get to work on time. Examining other parts of the required activities it does not, at this moment in time, seem necessary for any further provision. Therefore the spaces that have been estab-lished are:

Health clinicDay care nursery

CafeKitchen

Workshop spaces

In addition to this there must be consideration of the final two unan-swered points of The Peckham Model: Environmental issues and equal-ity. there is little that can, architecturally, be done about equality, it is all down to the programme of activities running inside. However the envi-ronmental factors can be controlled.

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BRIEF PROGRAMMEACTIVITY - BEYONDTHE PECKHAM MODEL

Environmental factors have been an essential for this project from the outset. As in Grassroots and The Hub an environmentally friendly and sufficient system lends a more pleasant, caring manner to the building. However the intervention must be so much more than simply a scientific exercise in achieving recognition for its airtightness or thermal perfor-mance. It must be a considerate building consolidating and reinforcing its community principles. Natural materials and processes are always considered healthy and there is no better precedent to agree with this than the story of Chris Clarke and his home in Calignee, Victoria, Aus-tralia. The next page spread presents his beautiful home. Another facet of this emerging brief that has not been fully considered is the adaptabil-ity of workshop spaces and the method by which they work. What sort of systems have to be put into place and what components will actually create he sort of fully adaptable space which is required. A space on a different scale but, in principle, very relevant is the Christian House in Barcelona, Spain. It is a tiny home but its full adaptability allows it to function as a fully workable home.

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BRIEF PROGRAMMEACTIVITY - PRECEDENT

This bespoke house name Calignee II after the the Australian town it comes from it the home built by Chris Clarke. Calignee I was tragically destroyed just after it was finished in the Black Saturday bushfires. Ca-lignee II has risen out of its ashes and epitomises the environmental approach this project should be considering despite their clear positional differences: This project urban, Calignee II in the deep Australian bush. The palate of materials is restricted to three, wood, corten steel and concrete, much of which was recycled from the burn remnants of the old house and the rest recycled from elsewhere; all the wood came from an old, broken pier. The environmental strategy here is tailored to Chris’ delicate health. He wanted a pure, natural home to help him keep his health. This is the blueprint of what the Battersea Community Centre is trying to achieve. Concrete may not be considered as a sustainable material due to the processes that are required to get the raw materials. However in their raw state they are all natural, just raw stone miner-als and water. The principle of recycling and natural processes, with the beautiful landscaping and inside-outside spaces creates a serene environment, suitable for anyone recovering or trying to prevent illness. Creating an urban Calignee would be a huge achievement. v

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BRIEF PROGRAMMEACTIVITY - PRECEDENT

The Christian House in Barcelona is a beautiful example of ingenuity in abundance. What has been created is a full one bedroom apartment in just 24 metres squared. The scales of this project and the proposed intervention are vastly different however, as with Calignee, the principles employed are far more informative than the actual project itself. Every wooden panel in the apartment opens to uncover some form of storage area, utility or a toilet. In fact the only actual interior door in the flat is to the toilet. Fully equipped with storable bed, kitchen with all amenities, fridge, freezer, wardrobe, drawers, washing machine. It is an incredible feat of functional design which looks beautiful. A video of how it works can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juWaO5TJS00. Tak-ing these principles of the whole definition of a space being in its func-tionality and adaptability, that in the push of a lever it can change char-acter altogether through into the workshop spaces could result in some very interesting ideas.

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BRIEF PROGRAMMEACTIVITY - CONCLUSION

From the last few pages the activities and their constituent spaces have been defined as:

Health Clinic Day care nursery

CafeKitchen

Workshop spaces

The combination of these spaces and environmentally sustainable structure, recycled materials and fully adaptable spaces will conclude in a highly functional community centre. What must not be forgotten is exterior space. This is a fundamental requirement of the proposed initial brief therefore must be accounted for. Reinforcing this are the lessons learned from Calignee II: A stunning environment can improve ones health. Now that spaces have been defined it will be prudent to complete the first matrix of programmatic parameters against defined spaces. It is barely complete as there is still time and interaction positions to run through.

HEALTH CLINIC

CAFE KITCHEN DAY CARE NURSERY

WORKSHOP SPACES

EVOLUTION-ARY REGEN-ERATION

EVOLUTION-ARY UTILISA-TION

INTERSTITIAL UTILISATION

FUNCTIONAL RELATION-SHIPS

DYNAMI-CALLY IN-CONGRUOUS DIVORCE

FRAGMENT-ED SEPARA-TION

SENSORY NARRATIVE

DISCORDANT DYNAMISM

SUBCON-SCIOUS SEN-SORY SEPA-RATION

SENSORIAL BUFFERS BE-TWEEN WAITING AND MEET-ING ROOMS

SENSORIAL ROUTES PRE-SENTED TO THE OCCUPIER WANTING TO DRAW THEM THROUGH SPACES

CHILD FRIENDLY SENSORY PLAY AREAS

DIFFERING SENSORY RE-SPONSE IN DIFFERING SPACES

FORM REFLECTED IN THE WAY THE SPACES ADAPT, THEIR PURPOSE

FRAGMENTED AWAY FROM THE OTHER AREAS OF THE CENTRE

POSSIBLY THE CENTRE OR HUB OF THE BUILDING, EVERYTHING FRAGMENTS FROM THIS POINT

ENSURE IT IS FRAGMENTED FROM CHILD ZONES

FRAGMENTED SPACES GIVE A MORE PLAYFUL EX-PERIENCE FOR THE CHIL-DREN

EITHER FRAGMENTING SPACES AWAY OR CON-NECTING THEM

USING INTERSTITIAL SPAC-ES FOR STORAGE OF MEDI-CAL EQUIPMENT

INTERSTITIAL SPACES CRE-ATE PRIVATE AND OPEN AREAS

USING INTERSTITIAL SPACES FOR STORAGE OF KITCHEN EQUIPMENT

INTERSTITIAL SPACES CAN ACT AS PLAY TOOLS OR STORAGE

USE INTERSTITIAL SPACE FOR STORAGE OR AS ADAPTABLE METHODS OF FLEXIBILITY

MEETING ROOMS ACT-ING AS SEMINAR ROOMS - ADAPTABLE

CREATION OF A SUBSIDIARY KITCHEN IN THE CAFE FOR EVENTS


SPACES WHICH CAN ACT AS THEIR OWN ENTITIES OR BE CONNECTED: LARGE OR SMALL SCALE

MULTIPLE METHODS OF ADAPTING THE INITIAL FORM

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BRIEF PROGRAMMETIMETABLE - INTRODUCTION

As was predicted there are many blank squares in the completed matrix. This is because there has been no such analysis of how spaces work over time or how they interact with one another. Drawing out time-based narratives of these five spaces is the next stage of this process. Creat-ing a hypothetical timetable of a typical weekday of each five separate spaces then putting them together to compare and look at zones of in-consequentiality and of connection. Then extrapolating this data across a week, and finally an annual timetable. Doing this ensures a significant detail is not missed somewhere along the process. Over the next five pages are the individual space’s timetable and the sixth page presents their combined, daily timetable.

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HEALTH CLINIC

OPEN TO APPOINTMENTS ONLY

APPOINTMENT ONLY

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GENERAL ADMISSION // AL-COHOLICS MEETING

GENERAL ADMISSION // PREGNANCY MEETING

GENERAL ADMISSION

GENERAL ADMISSION

GENERAL ADMISSION // VI-TAMIN SUPPLEMENTING WORKSHOP

APPOINTMENT ONLY // VI-TAMIN SUPPLEMENTING WORKSHOP

APPOINTMENT ONLY

GENERAL ADMISSION // ALCOHOLICS MEETING // PREGNANCY MEETING

APPOINTMENT ONLY

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STUDENT NURSE SEMINAR


FULL CLOSURE

CAFE

OPEN FOR FAST COMMUT-ER BREAKFASTS

FAST COMMUTER BREAK-FASTS // CAFE OPEN FOR SIT DOWN BREAKFASTS

STUDENT COOKS USE S. KITCHEN IN CAFE

STUDENT COOKS USE S. KITCHEN IN CAFE // BREAK-FASTS FINISH // COFFEE AND TEA SERVEDCOFFEE AND TEA SERVED // ART EXHIBITION/SALE BE-GINS SETTING UP

LUNCH SERVICE // ART SALE UNDER WAY


LUNCH SERVICE // ART SALE UNDER WAY // LUNCH SER-VICE OVER // COFFEES AND TEASART EXHIBITION OPENS INTO A WORKSHOP ROOM // COFFEES AND TEAS SERVEDINTERACTIVE EXHIBITION ON // COFFEES AND TEAS

INTERACTIVE EXHIBITION ON // COFFEES AND TEAS // SET UP FOR EVENING SER-VICE

ART EXHIBITION/SALE SET-TING UP

EVENING SERVICE

EVENING SERVICE

EVENING SERVICE

EVENING SERVICE // SER-VICE ENDS

CLOSE // CLEAN

FULL CLOSURE

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KITCHEN

BREAKFAST PREP.

BREAKFAST SERVICE // WORKSHOP ON HEALTHY BREAKFASTS

STUDENTS FROM WORK-SHOP COOK IN CAFE


LUNCH PREP // FISH COOK-ING WORKSHOP

LUNCH SERVICE STARTS

LUNCH SERVICE

LUNCH SERVICE // LUNCH SERVICE ENDS

DINNER PREP. // FISH COOK-ING WORKSHOP ADVANCED


DINNER PREP


EVENING SERVICE STARTS

EVENING SERVICE

EVENING SERVICE

EVENING SERVICE ENDS

CLEAN

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DAY CARE NURSERYBEFORE-SCHOOL BREAK-FAST CLUB OPENS // NURS-ERY OPENS

READING AND FREE PLAY // BEFORE SCHOOL CLUB BREAKFAST

BEFORE SCHOOL CLUB BREAKFAST FINISH // TABLE GAMES

NURSERY BREAKFAST // CIRCLE TIME

OUTDOOR FREE PLAY // SNACK TIME

LUNCHTIME // REST

OUTDOOR FREE PLAY

CIRCLE TIME // WORK-BOOKS // TABLE GAMES

STRUCTURED WEEKLY THEMED ACTIVITIES // GET READY FOR TEA TIME

TEA TIME // STORY TIME

DANCING // SINGING // OUT-DOOR PLAY

WORKBOOKS // READING // TIDY UP TIME

HOME TIME // CLEAN

CHILDMINDING SERVICES// CLEANING



CHILDMINDING SERVICES // CLEANING

FULL CLOSURE

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WORKSHOP SPACESSPINNING CLASS // YOGA // PREPARING ROOM FOR EX-HIBITION

FITNESS CLASS // PILATES // PREPARING ROOM FOR EXHIBITION

FITNESS CLASS // ZUMBA// PREPARING ROOM FOR EX-HIBITION

CLEAR ROOM // FITNESS FOR THE OVER 50’S // PRE-PARING ROOM FOR EXHIBI-TIONPREPARING ROOM FOR EX-HIBITION // LIFE DRAWING

PREPARING ROOM FOR EX-HIBITION // WATERCOLOUR PAINTING CLASS


PREPARING ROOM FOR EX-HIBITION // CLEAR ROOMS

EXHIBITION // CINEMA SCREEN PREPARATION

EXHIBITION// CINEMA SCREEN PREPARATION


PREPARING ROOM FOR EX-HIBITION // LIFE DRAWING

EXHIBITION CLOSES OF FROM CAFE AND TURNS THE OTHER SPACES INTO CINEMA SCREENSINTERACTIVE EXHIBITION WITH FILM AND ARTISTS TALKING

INTERACTIVE EXHIBITION WITH FILM AND ARTISTS TALKING


INTERACTIVE EXHIBITION WITH FILM AND ARTISTS TALKING // EXHIBITION CLOSED // CLEANFULL CLOSURE

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FULL CLOSURE

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FAST COMMUTER BREAK-FASTS // CAFE OPEN FOR SIT DOWN BREAKFASTS

COFFEE AND TEA SERVED // ART EXHIBITION/SALE BE-GINS SETTING UP



LUNCH SERVICE // ART SALE UNDER WAY // LUNCH SER-VICE OVER // COFFEES AND TEASART EXHIBITION OPENS INTO A WORKSHOP ROOM // COFFEES AND TEAS SERVEDINTERACTIVE EXHIBITION ON // COFFEES AND TEAS

INTERACTIVE EXHIBITION ON // COFFEES AND TEAS // SET UP FOR EVENING SER-VICE

ART EXHIBITION/SALE SET-TING UP

EVENING SERVICE

EVENING SERVICE

EVENING SERVICE

EVENING SERVICE // SER-VICE ENDS

CLOSE // CLEAN

FULL CLOSURE

BREAKFAST PREP.

BREAKFAST SERVICE // WORKSHOP ON HEALTHY BREAKFASTS




LUNCH SERVICE STARTS

LUNCH SERVICE

LUNCH SERVICE // LUNCH SERVICE ENDS



DINNER PREP


EVENING SERVICE STARTS

EVENING SERVICE

EVENING SERVICE

EVENING SERVICE ENDS

CLEAN

BEFORE-SCHOOL BREAK-FAST CLUB OPENS // NURS-ERY OPENS

READING AND FREE PLAY // BEFORE SCHOOL CLUB BREAKFAST

BEFORE SCHOOL CLUB BREAKFAST FINISH // TABLE GAMES

NURSERY BREAKFAST // CIRCLE TIME

OUTDOOR FREE PLAY // SNACK TIME

LUNCHTIME // REST

OUTDOOR FREE PLAY

CIRCLE TIME // WORK-BOOKS // TABLE GAMES

STRUCTURED WEEKLY THEMED ACTIVITIES // GET READY FOR TEA TIME

TEA TIME // STORY TIME

DANCING // SINGING // OUT-DOOR PLAY

WORKBOOKS // READING // TIDY UP TIME

HOME TIME // CLEAN




CHILDMINDING SERVICES // CLEANING

FULL CLOSURE

SPINNING CLASS // YOGA // PREPARING ROOM FOR EX-HIBITION

FITNESS CLASS // PILATES // PREPARING ROOM FOR EXHIBITION

FITNESS CLASS // ZUMBA// PREPARING ROOM FOR EX-HIBITION

CLEAR ROOM // FITNESS FOR THE OVER 50’S // PRE-PARING ROOM FOR EXHIBI-TIONPREPARING ROOM FOR EX-HIBITION // LIFE DRAWING



PREPARING ROOM FOR EX-HIBITION // CLEAR ROOMS

EXHIBITION // CINEMA SCREEN PREPARATION



PREPARING ROOM FOR EX-HIBITION // LIFE DRAWING

EXHIBITION CLOSES OF FROM CAFE AND TURNS THE OTHER SPACES INTO CINEMA SCREENSINTERACTIVE EXHIBITION WITH FILM AND ARTISTS TALKING



INTERACTIVE EXHIBITION WITH FILM AND ARTISTS TALKING // EXHIBITION CLOSED // CLEANFULL CLOSURE

STUDENT COOKS USE S. KITCHEN IN CAFE // BREAK-FASTS FINISH // COFFEE AND TEA SERVED

STUDENT COOKS USE KITCHEN IN CAFE

103

BRIEF PROGRAMMETIMETABLE - WEEKLY

The timetable opposite represents a hypothetical day in the community centre. The highlighted areas show the connections between spaces that rely on one another. Predictably the cafe and kitchen are closely linked and the workshop spaces are all interlinked as is their nature. The day nursery and health clinic are more separate spaces, certainly the day nursery. It should be kept more apart from the other spaces due to the sensitive nature of its occupants. These connections will be discussed further later on. The weekly narrative of activity must now be defined. As it is unnecessary and pointless to do an hour by hour timetable of events a weekly usage timeline will be shown. This, highly hypothetical, chart is just an indicator of the usage periods and con-nections between differing spaces. It is a very vague, strictly fictional representation.

106

BRIEF PROGRAMMETIMETABLE - WEEKLY

This hypothetical weekly timetable of the five separate spaces is de-signed to, in a succinct and clear way, show the intensities of usage of each space compared to one another over the whole day. There could be a more detailed mapping but it is not necessary as it is not in the realm of reality. Despite previously stating there would be further ex-trapolation to a yearly timetable, after completing the weekly analysis it would be a waste of time. Doing this analysis it has been apparent that spaces can take on forms that are not related to in any way. Such as the art exhibition taking place in the cafe initially then moving over to the workshop spaces which can adapt from a single space into large open spaces. Similarly this kind of fluctuation and change should be allowed in other spaces. Specifically the relationship between interior and exterior space should be explored to reveal the full potential of, spe-cifically, crèche, cafe/kitchen and workshop spaces. For the creche the implications of this are obvious; allowing children to easily flow between interior and exterior space, opening up to the natural environment. for a cafe to open up into the exterior is very commonplace, however, for extra excitement, the cooking could be done outside. This would work especially well with a class. A workshop space opening up to the outside could enhance its flexibility and therefore allow greater scope for differ-ing functions.

107

BRIEF PROGRAMMETIMETABLE - OUTSIDE SPACES

It is fairly obvious the seasonal fluctuation the inside-outside spaces will undergo so there is no need for another diagram. What has not yet been explored is the outside spaces themselves. What function will they provide? The definition of that depends on the design and how interior and exterior spaces relate. It is really about connection: What do exterior forms associate or disassociate? What is the purpose provided by this association or disassociation? Does the exterior space have specific function or is it to serve the interior? These questions all rely upon the influence the chosen site has to offer. However if there was a hypo-thetically flat piece of land the exterior space should act just as it can be seen in Grassroots and The Hub: Assisting the interior space first then forming its own function and creation. The site is not tailored towards children (apart from the crèche area of course) therefore is it necessary to have a playground? It all depends on the chosen site. v

108

BRIEF PROGRAMMETIMETABLE - MATRIX

Comparing this matrix with the previous one shows a gradual increase in information. This was obviously going to be the case, however there must be an examination of which parameters are not met thus far to give an indication of what must be done next. The parameters not sig-nificantly met yet are:

DYNAMICALLY INCONGRUOUS DIVORCE DISCORDANT DYNAMISM

FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

‘A diverse network of interventions with differing functions therefore as-sisting the established infrastructure in many ways’ is the definition of the first. Therefore it can be clearly seen how time-based structure of spatial entities would not effect this parameter. For this to be met there must be a greater wide analysis of the site quarter to find the appropriate programmatic features of this ‘network of interventions’. ‘Different func-tions within an intervention can work inconsequentially of one another’ defines the second of these. It is clear that this is dealing with the interre-lationship of spaces and how they interact with one another, researched in the next section. ‘In accordance with the above (previous definition) some spaces are connected according to function, resulting in sepa-rated zones in the building’ is the definition of Functional Relationship. Again, clearly an expression of the relationship between spaces.

HEALTH CLINIC


WORKSHOP SPACES







SENSORY NARRATIVE

DISCORDANT DYNAMISM

SUBCON-SCIOUS SEN-SORY SEPA-RATION

ATMOSPHERE OF INTERIOR SPACE TO REFLECT FUNC-TION: CHANGEABLE OVER DURATION OF DAY/WEEK

ADAPTIVITY OF SPACE OVER TIME AS FUNCTION CHANGES AS A PRODUCT OF TIME

DIFFERING PARTS OF THE CRÈCHE CHANGE FUNC-TION OVER TIME: FORM MUST CHANGE WITH THIS

A REFLECTION OF THE SITES TIME-BASED PRO-GRESSION THROUGH THE ARCHITECTURE OF PLACE

AN INDUSTRIAL AESTHETIC IN A CHILDCARE ENVIRON-MENT IS NOT AN APPROPRI-ATE MIX. AN ACTUAL REJEC-TION OF ONE ANOTHER

UTILISATION OF PREVIOUS SITUATION OF SITE: AES-THETIC OF SCAFFOLD AND CORRUGATED STEEL





















110

BRIEF PROGRAMMESPATIAL INTERACTION - INTRODUCTION + INTERSTITIAL MAPPINGFrom the timetable matrix analysis it can be said there must be fur-ther exploration into the interaction and relationships between spaces. This is on all scales: Firstly at the wide site quarter where a ‘network of interventions’ is to be established; Secondly zooming in to the sit-ing of the intervention where zones are to be established, and thirdly the interaction of individual spatial entities within the now established programmatic framework. For the mapping of the network of interven-tions to be fully successful an in depth further mapping of the current land-uses must be undertaken, there is no point in the creation of these spaces if their particular function has already been accounted for in the area. Thus, here is presented a hypothetical map of the interstitial space present in the site quarter. It is a very rough diagrammatic view however it will gain inherent value through the site interpretation which is the next stage in this process (the next book). Its current state shows the clear plethora of spatial units along the juncture of the train tracks and residential zones. Therefore, it is becoming apparent, that the network of interventions could contain a similarity in siting as well as combined function, This is a positive as they become even more recognisable as a distinct, connective, network. Also their architecture will all be influenced by the component-based design of the viaducts and bridges thus a co-hesive aesthetic is also established.

114

BRIEF PROGRAMMESPATIAL INTERACTION - SCALING IN

Scaling in from the wide site mapping to the actual building presents the spaces as separate forms. These separate forms must interrelate to cre-ate an architecture which is cohesive and exciting within the context of the site. Spaces which work well together should be connected and ones which should not be connected should be disconnected. The opposite diagram presents the ideas on applicability of connection between the differing spaces. One of the main points on the diagram applies to the definition of a ‘centre’ of the intervention. Just as in Grassroots and The Hub there should be a reference space where one can move between differing functions and, upon returning to this reference space, recog-nise where one should go. This space seems, quite predictably, to be the cafe. If this is the case it would have to be more than just a standard cafe. It would have to become a space where people could congregate without disturbing those who have come to enjoy the food. It is also de-sirable for some people who are visiting one part of the intervention to not gain access to the other. The two spaces this particularly applies to are the Health Clinic and Day Care Nursery. Despite the centre being a place with ‘architecture that heals’ there shouldn’t be the easy connec-tion of the healthy activity goers with the very sick (these people would not be coming to this centre if they are that sick but just putting it to the extreme for comparison). It should be an uplifting space where people can feel healthy.

116

BRIEF PROGRAMMESPATIAL INTERACTION - DEFINING

Examining the diagram on the previous page reveals the need to graphi-cally present ideas as they are becoming quite complicated and difficult to read. Essentially what is presented here is the graphic representa-tion of the connections between specific spaces. The current position is simply the cafe acting as a central zone with connections off to the four, typologically different spaces. This will be developed over the next few pages to represent what has been established in the previous textu-ally based diagram into a format that is easily understood and adapted. Therefore there will be an analysis of each separate space and their connections to the four other types over the next few pages to fully ar-ticulate which spaces should attach and connect with which others.

118


From the initial diagram the health centre is primarily connected with the cafe and workshops, with subsidiary connection with nursery and kitchen. Connecting directly to the cafe could be slightly incongruous as spaces of food distribution and clinical care clearly do not mix. This is similar to all other functions of the intervention: they can connect, but must have a form of boundary space acting as airlock between the two. So, it has been established, the health centre connects, in function, to the rest of the building however in terms of pragmatic, practical issues such as health and safety it may not be as ideal. Therefore, through a complex arrangement of geometry the health centre could be embed-ded within the intervention just as the intervention itself in embedded within the site quarter. There must also, within this, be consideration in terms of the exterior space. In reference to the health centre the exterior space is very important, it is a space that can be used as a release, a natural zone in which ‘patients’ can relax.

120


During this process it would be logical to utilise the order at which the initial diagram is presented. However this would put the cafe as the next interactive space to be analysed and, although this could be done, it would muddle the configuration of the other spatial entities as they all rely on this singular space. Therefore, jumping both cafe and kitchen (kitchen is heavily reliant on the cafe therefore also seems sensible), next is the day care nursery. On the diagram it is almost its own com-plete entity. It is a far more sensitive space than even the health clinic as parents have entrusted the carers and teachers with their children there cannot be any exterior presence within the nursery but let the nursery use the facilities provided in the intervention. Thus a ‘no return valve’ or ‘diode’ (the symbol used in the diagram) should be used to allow one way traffic. This is a complicated idea architecturally, but with technol-ogy, such as swipe cards, it could be easily done. There should be no connection between the two ‘at risk areas of the design - Health centre and Nursery - therefore the nursery will have its own sick bay within the facilities it holds. The nursery, similar to the health centre, will have its own exterior space: Really an essential for a functional childcare cen-tre. There could be sensorial connection with the health centre for the benefit of the patients held there: Hearing young children playing may be therapeutic.

122


The workshop spaces should be connected and utilised by all other ar-eas of the intervention. These are designed to be infinitely responsive according to desired function. They must, when combined, be large and functional enough for community meetings, cinema screenings, five-a-side football tournaments (the minimum of which have a total size of 1 tenth the maximum required of the intervention therefore very easily attained) etc. These spaces should, obviously, interact with one another in order to create these larger rooms, however if they could also inter-act with the cafe and other spaces, if only in entrance facade, it would create a beautiful juncture. This is especially applicable in the juncture with the external environment. It has been stated throughout this briefing document that external environment and landscape is a very important part of the final design intention and the connection between the interior and exterior space a part of this importance. Therefore having an ever changing, adaptive facade/association with exterior space can facilitate and ensure this importance is met.

124


All the spaces interactions now defined should, from the initial definition of the diagram, easily integrate around the hub: The cafe. This should be the space in which the centre is dependant on. If taken away the whole community centre would fall apart and thus not be a workable solution. Therefore the cafe is integral to the community centre and, as shown opposite, connects all the spaces. In the proposed fragmented plan the spatial nature of the intervention is to be fairly complex therefore this central hub is necessary for the ability of visitors to be able to navigate their way around the centre. Its connection to the exterior is also ob-viously important. The diagrammatic visualisation of this lies opposite. Taking this forwards there is now all the information that is needed to create a succinct, informed, defined brief. Its function, hypothetical time-tabling and spatial interaction have all been defined and thus the briefic statement can be defined. However before this occurs there is one last precedent to explore.

126

BRIEF PROGRAMMESPATIAL INTERACTION - MATRIX

As can be seen the matrix is now fully complete apart from the param-eter DYNAMICALLY INCONGRUOUS DIVORCE. This is not due to er-ror, either in the judgement of these analytical processes or parameter value. The definition of Dynamically Incongruous Divorce is ‘a diverse network of interventions with differing functions therefore assisting the established infrastructure in a balanced way.’ This matrix is informative to the final design as a sheet of reference for each spatial entity. These parameters will be taken forwards into the room book and analysed through a series of different room dimensions, features and types. This also acts as a list of parameters in its own right, using this as a refer-ence grid during the design process will ensure the spaces become fully defined in the correct manner. This is the culmination of programmatic features that must be analysed in order to produce a fully articulated, understandable brief. Therefore the next stage is to define the brief in the light of what has been explored through this process. This will follow a similar path to the culmination of Project II and therefore will produce a final, aspirational statement commenting on the vision and ambition of the project’s final definition.

HEALTH CLINIC


WORKSHOP SPACES







SUBCIN-SCIOUS SEN-SORY SEPA-RATION

SENSORY NARRATIVE

DISCORDANT DYNAMISM

FOR A FUNCTIONAL KITCH-EN NOT APPLICABLE

ATMOSPHERE OF INTERIOR SPACE TO REFLECT FUNC-TION: CHANGEABLE OVER DURATION OF DAY/WEEK

ADAPTIVITY OF SPACE OVER TIME AS FUNCTION CHANGES AS A PRODUCT OF TIME

FOR A FUNCTIONAL KITCH-EN NOT APPLICABLE

DIFFERING PARTS OF THE CRÈCHE CHANGE FUNC-TION OVER TIME: FORM MUST CHANGE WITH THIS

A NUMBER OF SITES, DEALT WITH IN THE SITE INTER-PRETATION





THIS SPACE MUST BE IN-CONSEQUENTIAL OF THE OTHER SPACES IN ORDER FOR IT TO BE FULLY FUNC-TIONAL

NOT INCONSEQUENTIAL OF ANYTHING, THE ‘HUB’ SPACE FROM WHICH EVE-RYTHING STEMS

PHYSICALLY INCONSE-QUENTIAL TO HEALTH CLIN-IC AND DAY CARE NURSERY, VISUAL CONNECTION CAN STILL EXIST

A SYSTEM WHICH, FROM THE EXTERIOR (OF THE NURSERY) IS INCONSE-QUENTIAL OF OTHER SPAC-ES HOWEVER FROM WITHIN IS NOT

THE ANTITHESIS OF INCON-SEQUENTIALITY OR COM-PLETELY AGREEING WITH IT, DEPENDANT UPON THE FUNCTION ASSUMED

NO SIMILAR FUNCTION PER-MANENTLY PRESENT ON SITE HOWEVER CAN UTI-LISE WORKSHOP SPACES

SPECIFICALLY KITCHEN FOR THE ENTIRETY OF THE TIME, CAN REACH OUT TO ANY OF THE OTHER SPAC-ES AND FUNCTIONS

SPECIFICALLY CAFE, DE-PENDANT ON APPLICATION COULD BE EXTERIOR OR WORKSHOP

FROM WITHIN CAN BE CON-NECTIVE WITH ANY OTHER SPACE. MOST OFTEN WITH ITS OWN EXTERIOR

THESIS OF THIS PARAM-ETER : IS CONNECTIVE TO ALL SPACES

WITHIN THE AESTHETIC WHERE APPROPRIATE

A REFLECTION OF THE SITES TIME-BASED PRO-GRESSION THROUGH THE ARCHITECTURE OF PLACE

WITHIN THE AESTHETIC WHERE APPROPRIATE

AN INDUSTRIAL AESTHETIC IN A CHILDCARE ENVIRON-MENT IS NOT AN APPROPRI-ATE MIX. AN ACTUAL REJEC-TION OF ONE ANOTHER

UTILISATION OF PREVIOUS SITUATION OF SITE: AES-THETIC OF SCAFFOLD AND CORRUGATED STEEL





















128

BRIEF PROGRAMMEFINAL PRECEDENT - MAGGIE CENTRE LONDON

Richard Rogers and Partners’ Maggie Centre London is an exemplary example of the type of space this brief is finally going to define:‘The concept behind the design of Maggie’s Centre London is that of creating an environment that is welcoming, unthreatening, comforting and informal. The kitchen area acts as the heart of the building, which is created by the juxtaposition of surrounding courtyard winter gardens, sitting rooms and smaller, more personal caring spaces. The sense of an insular, protected environment extends through the courtyard winter gardens by use of selected vistas to the landscaped public spaces be-yond. The centre is surrounded by a collection of multi-stemmed trees, which ‘wrap’ the building on the two sides which face the outside world. These trees will help to filter the noise pollution from the nearby road, whilst providing an attractive view from both the inside and out.’

130


The entrance to the Centre is approached from within the hospital grounds. The building is made up of four components: a wall that wraps around four sides, providing protection from its exposed loca-tion; the kitchen - a double-height central space which is the main focus and heart of the building; annexes off the main space, conceived as meeting, sitting and consulting rooms; and a ‘floating roof’ that appears to ‘hover’ over the outer wall and acts as the enclosure to the heart of the building. A key design challenge for Maggie’s Centre London lay in creating a sequence of internal and external environ-ments cocooned from its inhospitable surroundings. The aim was to make the Centre a welcoming retreat in the busy London streetscape. The sense of the building having a heart – reflecting the traditional notion of a home with a hearth – is manifested in the Centre’s kitchen area, and also through the inclusion of three fireplaces in the design of the building. The Centre is a retreat that is open to everyone. A key element of the design is the flexibility of the space, which is intended to encourage the Centre’s users to feel at home anywhere in the building, giving them ownership of the building rather than the sense that they are merely visitors. The design was conceived to make the building ac-cessible; homely; personal and comfortable, with a layout that is open but which incorporates varing degrees of private space. The external wall surrounding the building forms both a weather seal to the inter-nal rooms and a shield to the internal garden spaces. The wall has a colour rendered finish with glazed openings. The Centre has a ‘floating roof’ that ‘hovers’ over the external wall and acts as an enclosure for the building below. The roof also serves to obscure the view of Charing Cross Hospital, which is a dominant feature of the surrounding area.

132


This building is hugely successful, it has won numerous awards includ-ing the 2009 Stirling Prize and 2009 RIBA award for London. It is defined as an ‘open house in the city’ in its conceptual approach. Its connection to the urban environment yet creation of its individual, self contained space is beautiful. The connection of this precedent to this project that is currently being defined is in its caring, calm, beautiful atmosphere. The feeling of ownership that is created is what is being aimed for in the pro-posed intervention. A centre for the community, run by the community and therefore helping the community. If this created feeling of serenity and ‘home’ can be created by the proposed intervention it will be highly successful. The relative square meterage is hugely different however, as with many of the precedents examined throughout this book, its prin-ciples, components and ideals can be transferred from existing spaces to new ones. The next stage in this process is therefore the application of all the ideas, processes and concepts laid out in Project I, Project II and this book.

134

This defined brief, ie the cul-mination of ideas presented in the process, presents a concentrated idea which just needs to be linked with an appropriate site. This final brief definition drawing pre-sents the defining thesis and intention: Community cen-tres that supplement exist-ing infrastructure in terms of health, education, child-care and leisure that are implanted within the exist-ing urban structure through the utilisation of an intersti-tial, fortuitous urban void. The next stage towards developing this brief is the acquisition of a specific site within the boundaries of the defined site quarter. This site must exist in accord-ance with the parameters set out in the final stage of the process.

‘a number of community based designed to supplement exist-ing infrastructure in health, edu-cation, childcare and leisure. To ensure integration into the existing framework and sustain-able use of local resources these interventions are to be sited in ‘interstitial spaces’ who’s char-acter will be explicit in their aes-thetic and functional system’

BRIEF INFLUENCEINITIAL STATEMENT

135

THE PECKHAM MODEL ‘1. Healthy, socially just, economically resilient and environmentally thriving communities are possible, can be cultivated and;

‘2. Responding actively to the challenges of climate change presents opportunities to create environments that increase well-being, revitalise

local economies and increase equality. ‘3. Greater equality increases well-being for all sectors of society across





resilience and health . Taking these ideas into a holistically driven design approach gives great-est scope for success. These eight points are the synthesis of 1960’s and 2011’s theories and have, in the precedents shown previously, been successful therefore are a perfect model to follow. However the basis of the project cannot simply be on this model or it becomes simple repli-cation. The intervention must be a new interpretation of this previously defined model.


136

BEYOND THE LITERAL

BRIEF INFLUENCE

Moving beyond this literal and concrete Peckham Model is impor-tant to ensure this brief is not defined in a dry and constrictive man-ner. Thus far the definition of spaces as ‘Health centre’, ‘Cafe’, ‘Nursery’ and ‘Community workshop spaces’ lend the vision of dead, overused 1970’s ideals which are non-applicable in contemporary society, Thus a progression, almost in the reverse direction to what has been defined thus far, is required to create a final ‘visionary’ statement that has po-tential and opportunity. In this desire the Situationist Movement and its relationship with Marxism is the chosen avenue of exploration: The Situationist movement was inspired by the writings and theories of Karl Marx, in particular the 1867 publication, edited by Frederich Engels, Das Kapital. This book proposes that the motivating force of capital-ism is in the exploitation of labour, whose unpaid work is the ultimate source of profit and surplus value. Marx does this through five points: 1. Commodity is the trade force behind a capitalist regime, causing a rift between moral and objective economic value. Thus economics, law and ethics are divided; 2. As individual elements of commerce run in-consequentially of one another the economic formation (individual com-merce) of a society precedes the human administration of an economy (organised commerce); 3. The gegensätzliche Bewegung or structural contradictions of capitalism showing the twofold character of labour; 4. Economic crises show the contradictory nature of capitalism; 5. Tech-nological improvement and its consequent increased production aug-ment the amount of material wealth in society, whilst simultaneously diminishing the economic value of the same wealth, thereby diminishing the rate of profit — a paradox characteristic of economic crisis in a capitalist economy.

137

From the Marz-Engels collaboration the Situationist movement began to define their theories within the vague categories of the spectacle and spectacular society, recuperation, anti-capitalism, art and politics, détournement, the construction of situations, psychogeography and work, leisure, and play. Applicable to this scenario is the anti-capitalist, anti-authoritarian notions of play, freedom and critical thinking created through the creation of ‘situations’. Experience of objects due to capi-talist ideals has regressed to a stage where: ‘We live in a spectacular society, that is, our whole life is sur-rounded by an immense accumulation of spectacles. Things that were once directly lived are now lived by proxy. Once an experience is taken out of the real world it becomes a commodity. As a commodity the spec-tacular is developed to the detriment of the real. It becomes a substitute for experience.’ Advertising, branding and commercialisation now rule the human psy-che to a prescribed, non-informed view thus limiting the experience of the world to common convention. A ‘natural, healthy environment’ is not induced through this limiting of everyday experience thus, the aim of this brief must be to counteract the common capitalist convention, to delimit the everyday: A détournement of the current situation in the societal cul-ture of the specified site quarter is needed.

BEYOND THE LITERAL

BRIEF INFLUENCE

138

BRIEF DEFINITIONGOING BEYOND

Thus this intervention, this ‘preventative healthcare centre’ must be the decommodification of contemporary societies regressed natural state. The architecture created must not be limited by the now accepted branded, advertised and commercialised space. It should be a refresh-ing break from reality, a place where people can come to disconnect. Therefore spatial units must be expressive and connective in their form to create spaces of exploration and generative thought. The eventual aim is thus to create a ‘machine of modern health’, adaptive, evocative and, most importantly, highly functional to allow for maximum utilisation by the local population. The previously defined spatial units must exist within this framework: Clinic, nursery, kitchen and flexible units.

139

A subject little touched upon so far is the ‘network of spaces’ so thor-oughly explained throughout The Process. This network is a difficult thing to establish as the main subject of this investigation must be a fully formed building. Therefore there must be a masterplan, with the inter-vention described throughout this process the anchor: The first piece in the puzzle. A phasing schedule must be understood to sequence which interventions are in most demand and which may wait. This could be for a multitude of reasons. The initial, most important stage is the com-munity centre defined through this brief. This centre will be the starting point for further development along the Battersea viaduct to the East and West. Therefore, over the phases defined, additions to the exist-ing infrastructure will take place in culture, health, education, childcare and leisure. This mapping must, to ensure cohesiveness, be thoroughly analysed in the site interpretation stage once the ‘pivot’ or ‘anchor’ point has been defined, ie. the site for this intervention.


140


The programmatic requirements, ideological determinants, spatial log-ic, interactivity and overruling philosophy of the intervention has been established, along with the external context of connective interstitial spaces. This compression of multiple streams of thought and process have come together in this drawing. It is the depiction of a multitude of components (representing the site and thus the proposed intervention) connecting to their external context through these separated/connec-tive streams. In all the methods previously mentioned the intervention is connective and responsive to both future proposed interstitial interven-tions and the local community to which the site will serve. These com-ponents are therefore designed to facilitate this, and in their fully defined form will create this network of imbedded interventions that give back to the community what it is currently lacking. This is an overall statement of what the brief is aiming to achieve. There must be a more succinct way of presenting this: The Brief Statement.

144

BRIEF DEFINITIONFINAL STATEMENT

A masterplan of interstitially unutilised spaces will be used to propose a network of sites which will be transformed in the ambition to support and improve the existing cultural, health, educational, childcare and leisure based infrastructure. The first stage in this process in the establishment of a community centre which will anchor the proposed network to the site quarter. This proposed intervention will act as a Preventative Care Centre which houses a health clinic, community workshop spaces and day care nursery along with training kitchen and cafe. There must also be continual connection to artistic expression and cultural aspects along with externally landscaped, usable space. The main agenda of these parts being the total life care of the local community. These defined spaces will programmatically run as a supplementary service to the ex-isting infrastructural network of Battersea. A sustainable approach is key to fully exemplify the philosophical intention of the form: To help; to give back to the local community something that they have not had sufficient access to previously. Therefore locally sourced components form the basis for the design, which in itself is a component based form. The need for adaptability is therefore clear: To utilise, in the most efficient way, of the entirety of the site’s potential any proposed intervention must form spaces that can act multifunctionally therefore giving greater range of uses for the local community.

148

BRIEF DEFINITIONA VISION

Through the redefinition of the stagnated ‘Community/Health Centre’ ty-pology a supplementation and reintegration of community wellbeing is to be facilitated: The transfer of knowledge is an ever-occuring phenom-ena whether perceived or not and, as such, it is within human nature to continually evolve, a fact brought into sharp relief through the recent economic meltdown. Battersea is an area of diversity with juxtaposing societal and cultural presences merging to form a dynamic flow of dif-fering experiential meeting points. Through a condensation of these meeting points, with diverse origin and background, there can be the creation of a highly specific yet flexibly broad range of opportunities for the local population. Undefined spatial units create programmatically ca-pable spaces which cause junctures of cultural, social and educational backgrounds providing for their collision and the resultant knowledge-transfer. These meeting points facilitate community-wide skill sharing thus improving abilities and opportunities. One vitally important facet of any community is its collective health and, as such, the situations cre-ated through flexible spatial units provide a mechanism through which collective health can be upheld. Through adaptive meeting points the local community is engaged, opportunities are fabricated and a healthy environment created.

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