St Aidan's Short Project. Phase 1: Initial site visit and investigations.

-

To commence Semester 1, we are working on an exciting short project for ST3. A real-life proposal for the people of West Cheltenham.

St Aidan & St Silas Church sits off of Coronation Square on Queen Elizabeth Way. The site is where the chapel once stood, since demolished and currently resting as an under-utilised, fenced-off, grassed area.

Still owned by the Church, the client would like the space to be open to the wider community with gentle but significant symbolism relating to the Christian monastic faith. Our aim is to design a community centred garden inspired by the concept of the Seven Sacred Spaces, a place for worship, peace, play, education and to harvest vegetables for the local food banks.

As like any new project, we began with a desktop survey and an initial site visit to understand the site and the client's intentions/ expectations - this was such a great opportunity, and an exciting, new experience for us all. Below are my notes from the  site visit - an iPad is super convenient, it enables me to take images, layer diagrams and annotate on site!! 

Following the site visit came the site analysis, using the SOC approach guiding our thinking for the first response. Prior to the initial group meeting we individually put some ideas together, researching the concept, identifying the current movement through the site and creating a bubble diagram.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Design Precedent - Parco Dora, Turin, Italy

-
Image
This precedent has been chosen due to similarities shared with the site on Alney Island, spatially defined by the river Dora and characterised by an industrial past. Designed by Latz+Partner, the urban park has varied amenity areas for walking, cycling, skating and other sporting throughout the park. Notably, it repurposes an old strip steel mill into a covered event space, transforming the post-industrial landscape into one that is multi-use for local residents. Similarly, there is a potential opportunity in Alney Island to repurpose the Electricity Sub Station building into a unique post-industrial event space. The inclusion of street art in this urban park serves as a colourful remedy for the potential eyesores stemming from existing industrial features. Alney Island shares a parallel challenge with a few particularly unwelcoming road underpasses that could be improved through thoughtfully curated street art. This design approach will narrate the island's stories, myths, and i...
Read more

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT Phase 2: Initial design overlays & concept

-
Image
My initial overlay sketches to experiment with the site layout. I am still undecided whether or not to close North Place, the road running through the centre of the site. Although it poses constraints, it provides access for vehicles away from the main pedestrian entrance on the A4019, en route from the Old Town and Brewery Quarter. Currently, I am edging towards maintaining the ends of North Place road, providing vehicle access to the carparks, whilst opening up the centre to allow for pedestrianisation through the site. My initial concept is inspired by the ecology of the surrounding area - a bioregion that integrates with the local environment. Geographical features of the Severn and Avon Vales provide a foundation - rolling hills, low lying meadows and agricultural fields.  The multi-storey carpark will feature a rooftop park imitating the undulating hills of the Cotswold scarp, blending with the north-eastern background view of Cleeve Hill. Whilst the ground plane (beneath the...
Read more

Exploring the Art of Brick Bonding

-
Image
Brick bonding refers to the arrangement and pattern in which bricks are laid in a structure, such as a wall. It plays a crucial role in the structural stability and the aesthetic appeal of the brick work. There are multiple brick bonds, variations and combinations of patterns, leading to a wide range of possibilities.  The above poster was created for Weekly Task 1: to correclty identify five different brick bonds during a walk in the local area.
Read more