Structure

Matthew Bray

INITIAL IDEAS-RESEARCH INTO STRUCTURE

Havant

I started by looking at structure in and around Havant.

At first I looked at linier structure in the town centre, I looked at the difference between modern and old structure.

The old structure of the church was very much decorative as well as supportive, the whole framework was on show it also helps the building to look bigger.

This has been thought about in modern buildings especially the industrial units, shown right, the idea here is to create as much useable space as possible. In the Meridian shopping centre this has been used to allow light all the way through the building and to all layers.

Experimentation with wooden ball

This ball is made up of 30 individual balls connected with identical rods. Each ball has 4 holes drilled, in which they are connected to 4 other balls. I have used this to create an idea for a framework that could be easily erected and connected together. This could be used to create temporary structures for events or concerts or more permanent structures in parks or public places.

The ball has given me ideas because it doesn’t have any supports in the centre so creates a large space that could be utilised. In a ball all tension is spread across the whole structure so there isn't any weak points

Victoria park

After doing some thinking I began to look into structure within public space. This was brought on by the shape and formation of the ball. I originally thought about creating a pavilion in the style of the ball, using joints that could be connected in ways that allowed it to be self supporting.

I then turned my eye to Victoria park in Portsmouth city centre. This park contains a few unique features including its aviary in the heart of the park. This contains birds and small animals such as rabbits and Ginny pigs. I looked at the structure of this cage and a green house located next to this.

This greenhouse is falling into disrepair and is all that is left of a Victorian greenhouse that was first built when the park opened in the late 19th century. This greenhouse, housed tropical plants and other trees and flowers but had to be demolished in the last couple of years. This also connected to the aviary.

My plans are to create a large greenhouse to replace the aviary and greenhouse to create an all enclosed space that would house a tropical biome. This space would have an updated aviary where the birds can fly around part of the greenhouse. This would help to bring new life into this park as well as bringing back a part that has been lost. This greenhouse would be open to the public and would include paths and walkways for the public to view the plants. The greenhouse would fit over the existing footprint of 60m- 30m

INITIAL IDEAS- EXISTING BUILDINGS

City of Arts and Sciences -Spain

The city of arts and sciences is an ultra modern park designed by Santiago Calatrava. His style although being very organic, often reflecting birds or eyes in his work, is also very structural. His flowing buildings and roofs that seam to float have been a great influence in this design process.

The idea of incorporating water into the design so that it completes the building is very clever this along with the specially chosen lighting gives a great effect.

Gardens By The Bay- Singapore

Gardens by the bay is a huge complex that houses a giant greenhouse. This contains a flower garden and cloud forest. The large supports on the outside hold up the roof and acts as the structural supports for the building leaving the whole of the inside an open space. This helps the experience as your view is not disturbed by large columns in the middle.

Inside the taller biome is the cloud forest. This consists of a man made mountain in the centre from this a waterfall cascades directly into a pool as you enter the area. By climbing a path to the top of this mountain it allows visitors an areal view of the cloud forest. The flower gardens are separated by a building in the middle. This is much wider a flatter and offers many paths with no given route you should take and is free to just explore. The other things situated in the park is the super-trees these are giant structures that tower over the trees below. This also offers a raised skyway where you can observe the rest of the gardens.

botanical garden at Grueningen

I love this greenhouse in Grueningen the roof supports remind me of trees. As each metal structure branches off to a different corner of the room, the structure left behind is a clear, beautiful representation of western European engineering. These supports add rather than subtract to this greenhouse as they link perfectly into the undergrowth below. This link between organic and metal gives you a living building.

VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre

Although this is not a greenhouse it does give me some ideas in terms of creating sections of green roof and creating different wings to the building. This plant shape building is completely self dependant with its own water treatment and solar-heating and power this is a completely green building. The grass roofs help this building to blend into the surrounding area whilst the metal and wood make this building stand out. I love the curves of this building especially that of the roof. As a visitors centre this gives people information as well as housing function rooms that can be hired and used for events.

DEVELOPMENTS- MODELS

Brief

To design and develop a structure to replace the existing structures found in Victoria Park- Portsmouth. This should be in the form of a tropical greenhouse, that connects to the original Victorian structure, that will house a new area for the birds and ground mammals that are found in the aviary on site as well as many tropical plants. This new building must fit on the existing footprint of the aviary and old greenhouse complex, and must not be more than 15m tall. This should be a modern structure that will help to boast tourism and help to rejuvenate the city centre.

To give the impression of being in a rainforest I want to create a waterfall that will be in the entrance to the greenhouse this will help to create the right atmosphere as well as the humidity. I want people to be able to walk behind this waterfall as well as seeing views of the house.

These are my original models, they show experiments with forms of the outside shell of the building

I have tried to create a building that uses the rectangular shaped site to its best effect.

This first idea reminds me of the organic form of a leaf. The wide shape and the different heights in the roof makes this design a very complex design.

Paper responses

This idea encompasses four different greenhouses in a slight arch. These would connect to a large open space below ground level where the plants would be situated. Between each house would be a walk way at ground level from this you could look down from a canopy height.

The idea here was to create a more organic piece with a completely curved roof. I have also tried to create a green roof over the glass to create a contrast. I fell that a grass roof would help this green house to blend into the rest of the park better.

This is a development of the first paper model. It shows the basic layout of the greenhouse and shows of the fact it is underground level.

It also tries to show how you would walk down through the cave and walk through the waterfall. This is the key feature of my design and is what the whole greenhouse has been based on. The waterfall is so important as it creates the atmosphere and the humidity of the rainforest.

However, this shape doesn’t include a space for the animals to be housed. To improve this I recreated it to include this space.

Sketch-up models showing exterior

This only shows the shape of the building and not the inside layout. It shows the entrance to the greenhouse and how I can use this to be the animal house as well. Some of the birds could be situated in the greenhouse such as the peacocks that would be able to just wonder free during the day. I am copying ideas from Gardens by the bay, that uses a long dark corridor with a low ceiling. This compresses people into a small dark space before entering the large, spacious, light greenhouse. This is really affective and makes the space seam bigger as you go from one extreme to the next. I want to use this to create the same kind of atmosphere. I would also lay it out so that the tallest trees would confront you as you walked in so that the scale is really prominent. This green house isn't really ornamental but instead brings a piece of rainforest into the middle of an English city.

Concept sketches of the inside layout of the greenhouse

These are my conceptual sketches of the inside of the greenhouse. ← shows the view of the rock formation and the three waterfalls.

↑shows the view from inside, on the path into the greenhouse. It shows the internal waterfall that falls and flows alongside the path

Description of interior

As you enter the green house, at ground level, you will enter a room in which the animals and some birds will be kept. This space will have links with outside so that the animals can go into an outside enclosure as well.

From this room you walk down a gentle slope that spirals around the inside of the rock. This will lead past a crack through which you will be able to get a canopy view of the greenhouse.

As you continue down the path you enter a cave like structure. In here a waterfall will cascade between the paths as they turn the corner. This water will then flow down a small stream that runs along side the path and will empty into the main pool. To enter the main greenhouse you will pass over this pool via a bridge where another waterfall will fall creating the humid environment.

The entrance will be a teleport from a small English park into to the thick of the jungle. The depth below ground level will isolate you and stop you from seeing out creating a peaceful atmosphere.

Exterior

This final model shows the leaf like structure along with the depth. I used plastic heated and formed around a wire structure. This was used to simulate glass. This final model only shows the external frame and not the interior.

Final model