The school. Concept

Project "The school" continues the work on learning space that begun with an outdoor classroom design last semester.
The object of investigating is a primary school for 200  pupils.
The study project envisages moving existing Park Place Primary School to the new site on the Tay Riverside. 

The most significant features of the site are following. The site is bordered by cobbled and noisy Magdalen Yard Road along its Northern edge and railway along its Southern edge. Trains pass it from 3 directions every 15-20 minutes.

The site is well exposed to the sun all day long. Prevailing South - West winds lose a bit of their strong because embankment of Riverside approach works as windbreak.
The brief covers 4 main groups of accommodations: communal (assembly/ gym hall, dining room, kitchen etc); teaching (classrooms and all subordinate areas); administration (staff rooms) and ancillary (storage and plant room).  

The main aspects which have driven the concept of the school's design are the surrounding context and several ideas about an ideal school.  
On the site particularly significant role is played by Tay bridge whose rhythm of arches and contrasts between structural elements and voids inspired for the main architectural concept and structural design. 

As life is full of contrasts and contains the full spectrum of colours so school's architecture does. My design reflects these contrarieties and emphasises them through the contrastive modes of expression such as: inside-outside, structure-content, silence-noise, urban-nature, enclosure-openness, dark-light, massiveness-lightness, publicity-intimacy. 

School provides frame and space within it which then could be filled with content by curriculum, community, staff and pupils. There is strong backbone which holds and protects and there is content which embodies freedom, flexibility and openness. 

 Parti

Another important aspect I have borne in mind is Montessori method with its 'free work'. That means active pupil's participation in setting aims and creating learning process. Whereas that means changes in the organisation of classroom. 'Pupil can either work alone, with a partner or in a group'(Muller, 2002:127).

Precedents I found inspiring:

Montessori school in Delft by Herman Hertzberger

Access and circulation

 Articulated classroom

Frankfurt Sossenheim 'Kita' nursery competition entry

by Arup Associates

 Access and circulation

 Levels of privacy

Section

All this led me towards multilayered concept where several ideas play equal role. 

*The edge between urban dynamic and "silent" presence of nature. It is formed by street pattern and surrounding buildings.

The site

Rigid, massive "backbone" on the street side protects from noise and forms "urban pattern"

Loose, light, transparent volume on the South side provides

views and natural light. 'Green' roof makes school as part of existing environment and reduces visual impact on surrounding tenements. 

  Glazed contour articulates both inner and outer space 

*School as a micro-city where children develop and grow accordingly both curriculum given by society and their own inner world. Therefore school is designed as a city where are streets and plazas for socialising, houses for learning and small courtyards and bays for contemplation.

This city is open for local community which plays significant role in school's development. Thus "micro-city" is rounded with "public belt" which provides several spaces for public activities and creates tight links with community. It continues within a school where spaces such as gym, dining hall is open for local community too. 

'Public belt' 

In section building relates to the existing topography and 'opens' for visitors gradually with increasing height of space. Building is single storey in order to obscure views from tenements as little as possible.   

Section through main entrance and dining hall

Section through classroom, corridor and administration block

Organisation scheme

*Classroom as a scale unit for the whole school. It could provide uniformity of the shape, scale, structure and materials. 

I came to the hexagonal form as very interesting to explore in my design.

Structural schemes

 

Light Turret

During Winter holidays I found some spare time for participating in design competition "STORY-TELLING SPACE" for Dundee University Nursery. Organisator - DUNDEE TRANSITION TOWN Group  http://www.facebook.com/groups/204363026269920/
which is part of International movement Transition Network. See more on: www.transitionnetwork.org 
Brief was simple:
No more than 5x5m footprint.
Ecologically sustainable and/or recycled materials.
Easy to build by non-experts.
Able to be de-mounted and re-assembled quickly.

The site.

The site is located in Dundee University Campus area behind The Union building. The site is used by nursery nearby. It is quite secluded by trees around and within it and that makes it little bit unusual. Particularly with The Union building in the background.

The fully glazed facade of Postmodernist style building makes the site bright and glittering in sunny days. 

Another architectural feature of the site are couple of small turrets on the roofs of historic buildings near the site.

Concept.

I took a book as a symbolic base for the concept and structural idea.
Thus story telling space is:
    1. Enclosed from outside world and open at the same time.
    2. Airy, little bit dreamy and mysterious.
    3. Structural louvres as a book pages.

Another source of inspiration was a latern and a campfire because for me story telling usually associates with sitting around a campfire in a dark forest.
Thus I defined story telling space as:
    1. A source of light during dark time of the day.
    2. An enclosed space with light source (skylight) in the centre.
    3. A space with seatings located around the centre.

Story telling space is in form of a dodecagon (12 sided polygon)
and oriented with the entrance strictly north-south.  

It is a place where to lose all sense of time.
The light is only one which reverts it back. 

Structure.

The main structural idea: all elements of the building work as the whole structure. I chose OSB3 sheets as the main building material. It is cheap material with wide possibilities to use it.

I liked idea about standardisation which allows operate with certain sizes and use a material efficiently and parsimoniously.

For this shelter 90m2 is needed and that is around 30pc of OSB3 sheets. Thickness of sheets varies - 12, 15, 18mm accordingly to the structural purpose.

Another material used for this building is transparent polycarbonate for openings.

Here is a build-up scheme.

Building is easy and quickly de-mounted and re-assembled.

The lowest element of cladding forms perimeter of the dodecagon and braces it during assembling of the whole structure. 

Light turret consists of ribs that works in compression and pulls together all upper part of frame structure.

Light.

The light plays the most important role in my concept. Here is scheme showing different sources of light used to create different mood during twenty-four hours.

See more at STUDY WORKS.

The street

Borneo Sporenburg housing development in Amsterdam was a precedent for the new studio module “The street”. It is about defining and constructing a street by houses located along it. houses designed by individuals forms blocks and streets between. Parameters arranged by the group defines character of the whole block. 
I got unit at the very North end of our block (yellow).

The location: Dundee, Rosangle area, Taylor's Lane between Perth road and Magdalen Green.

The context of the site is mainly residential area with 2,3 and 4 storeys high terraced houses; calm, non-transit street (used just by locals) with moderate slope, close to the large parkland area and the river Tay. 

Open for significant views and close for a privacy

 The best view to the river Tay and Tay Bridge

  The street view

 Sun path

The main focus of this project is on relationship between different aspects of the built environment such as: public and private; individual and community; ownership and territory; interior and exterior.
There are 3 main concepts on which I based my design: community, function and light. 

1.Community 

Here I put emphasis on creating semi-public and semi-private zones to achieve the interaction between close neighbours. On the East side it is semi-private/semi-public area (in my case - transparent showcase) to make public pathway wider visually and fill it with public function.
On the West side it is set back threshold - semi-private zone between pavement and the main entrance under cantilevered volume. 

Diagram showing relationships with surrounding environment

Parti diagram - creating thresholds

2.Function

I expanded previously defined focus group (family of young professionals) to extended family (with some grandparents) because I found this family model more interesting and sustainable in urban living style. This is big challenge to design dwelling for 3 generations because of big differences between their life style, interests and requirements. I also split up function into three parts: living, learning/working and sleeping.

Parti diagram - interaction between inhabitants and functions

Initial scheme of spatial relationship between inhabitants and functions

Initially I used ramps for moving through different levels but it is not to implemented by Scottish regulations (4.3.11 Pedestrian ramps) which allows very moderate gradient of flight (1:12 with maximum rise 166mm(!) or 1:20 with maximum rise 500mm). It is appropriate for wheelchair users but too strict for pedestrians which can easily use ramps with gradient 1 in 10.
Then I came to idea about split-levels with moderate slope stairs between levels to provide accessibility for the all generations. I split up functions into two parts: private (sleeping) on the East side and common (living/working) on the West side.

This solution gives necessary enclosure and privacy for the each generation and in the same time allows validly communicate between them. 

The void (staircase) becomes a space in-between where interaction happens using all senses.  

3. Light

 

Exterior sketch. Night view

Interior sketch. Staircase

Model. Night view

 Model. Interior. Staircase