thearts

block

srd363design 3a

anthony richardsonid | 213151412

contents01 introduction

02 workshop 01 | urban + site analysis

03 workshop 02 | precedents study

04 initial concept

05 concept development

06 interim review

07 design development

08 workshop 03 | sectional study

09 finalreview

10 reflection

01

introduction

the brief

the brief for artifex:fabrica was to design a scheme for a multi-use building for a predetermined client within an existing urban environment. The project includesastudio,residenceandgalleryforfiveartists,withafocusonarchi-tecture and place.

while not recognised today, the area once stood as the centrepiece in gee-long’s theatrical heart with three theatres, the geelong theature, the regent theatre and the corio theatre.

the project includes a number of uses and elements, and must include the following spaces and components....

‘dwell’ component a residence for 5 artists - each no more than 40m² in area

the residence must be of a compact size that suits the urban context for whichyouaredesigning.therewillbefivepermanentartist’residentstobeaccommodated on site. the arts will live on site for any period up to 6 months at any time, therefore the dwellings must feel like ‘home’ whilst remaining ap-propriately scaled for the urban context.

secure bicycle storage unit - for up to 15 bicycles. the artits staying at the ‘fabrica’ will not require motorised transport. instead, the requirement is to provide space for up to 15 bicycles in secure storage.

total area (approximate) 225m²

‘create’ component a studio space in which the resident artists can develop their works

administrationareaand/oroffice 25m² meeting or conference room 50m² workstations/computing facilities 50m² functional workshop area (well ventiliated) 100m² open working area 100m²

storage area (for art work) 100m²

total area (approximate) 425m²

‘exhibit’ component a public exhibition space in which the resident artists may display their works

public exhibition space (for 100 people) 500m² storage space (furniture, signage, etc) 50m² reception / lobby / public entry 50m² public amenities (restrooms, cloak room, etc)

total area (approximate) 650m²

the exhibition gallery must be a space or spaces to exhibit the work of the resident artists for the period that they are in residence. the gallery is a public use typology, but should be considered how the public interfaces with it as an entity.

the site is approximately 5,140m², with the total area approximately of the uses being 1,300m².

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the clients

thefollowingartistswillformthefirstresidentsinthe‘fabrica’. the residences must be designed ac-cordingtoeachoftheartist’sprofiles,takingintoaccount their style, personality traits, working hab-its,influencesandartisticdirection.

thomas mckenzie the oil painter

thomas is an artist spe-cialising in traditional landscape oil paint-ings. hailing from the gippsland region, most of thomas’ work has revolved around the subject of the pictur-esque coastline along bass strait. thomas is begging to establish a reputation for his finetechnique, which of-ten involves the cel-ebration of the natural ecologies of victoria’s southernmost rugged coastline. thomas has come to geelong as part of his personal study tour to paint the south-west coast. he enjoys surfing, reading,cooking for his friends and has generally a very outgoing person-ality. thomas’ paint-ings range in size, from 300x300mm pieces to 2x1m canvases. he usu-ally produces one can-vas per week, when in fully effective produc-tion mode.

shari wales the sculptor

shari is a wood sculp-tor. she is currently on a working holiday in australia and has land-ed in geelong to com-plete a commission for a local school’s new campus, which has just been built in the region. naturally, shari enjoys most forms of art but relishes working one-on-one with the community on projects that will enhance their sense of pride by cel-ebrating their culture and history. shari loves collaborating with oth-er artists, even if it just a quick over a cup of tea. her work ranges in size according to the availability of timber resources, but does not tend to exceed an ap-proximate volume of 10m³.

william jeffrey the street artist

billy is a qualifiedgraphic designer who has earned a name for himself as one of syd-ney’smostprolificstreetartist. billy is in geelong to complete a number of commissions for lo-cal council, including the painting of some large-scale murals. he is staying at the ‘fabri-ca’ to take advantage of the access to a stu-dio and to be amongst other artists where he hopes to develop some new ideas for his artwork. billy works mainly in ‘paste-up’ medium, often print-ing his art onto paper and using a special wheat paste to attach it to walls. he is hoping to work on some new compositions whilst in residence.

yuka lee the illustrator

yuka is an illustrator from japan who is in geelong on a teaching exchange for several months. her position at one of the local high schools will see her teaching media and visual communication students about the ba-sics of illustration. while yuka is here she plans to work on her latest project, a book compil-ing the last decade of her career as an anime cartoonist. yuka is an introvert, who likes to contemplate her work in private. she is often compelled to sketch at night, being inspired by the stars in the night sky. working with others in a common space is something she is not adverse to doing, but does highly value her own private space, even in an open plan area.

martin smith the portraitist

martin is a mixed-me-dia portraitist. he is in town on a sabbatical from his regular job in the uk. martin is an ex-pat, and having been raised on the bellarine peninsula, he is practi-cally a local. martin is classically trained and began his career us-ing oils and acrylics, but has developed his composition tech-nique to include many other mediums includ-ing paper, card, gold and silver leaf as well as natural materials such as timber and straw. martin is a very outgoing person, will-ing to learn about art styles and techniques and collaborate quite spontaneously in the studio environment.

1 | from little malop st2 | inside centrepoint arcade3 | concrete texture on stairs4 | yarra st5 | yarra st / little malop st corner6 | little malop st facade7 | little malop st view8 | back of the advertiser9 | centrepoint from ryrie st10|backofadvertiserwithgraffiti

site photos 11 | centrepoint ryrie st side12 | centrepoint arcade entry little malop13 | little malop st14 | side of centrepoint ryrie st15 | inside centrepoint arcade16 | little malop st footpath detail17 | geelong advertiser carpark entry18 | banks place19 | yarra st

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the site

the site is located in the heart of the cbd of geelong, with three street front-ages;

- little malop st- yarra st- ryrie st

the site is approximately 5,140m² with an unusual boundary line which en-compasses several different buildings including centrepoint arcade, victoria fitnessacademyandacouplesmallerbusinesses.

first impression

the visited the site twice at two major times, midday and at night time, and bothyieldedsomesimilarbutalsodifferentresults intermsofafirst impres-sion. the site, regardless of the time of day, has a very weak presence in the urban context and doesn’t leave a mark on you to make you want to return. it doesn’t make you go ‘oh wow’ or even take a photo to remember it. to be honest it is a very under whelming site.

there isn’t a real sense of safety when visiting the site, particularly on little malop st, and at night time much of the area is poorly lit you are taken over with a constant feeling of vulnerability. the nearby bus stop down the end of little malop st can cause a gathering of “less desirable characters” to hover around the area, making it uneasy for people to properly enjoy the mall.

while there are quite a few negatives, the positives are quite notable and exciting to explore such as the strong pedestrian-focused little malop st with its wide footpaths, tree lined street and nice material choice under your feet, it really creates a place where you want a strong focus to be on. ryrie st is alsogoodinthatithasastrongfoottrafficandwouldmostlikelybethemainsourceinwhereyoubringpeopleintothesite.althoughatfirstlookyarrastisrather bland, the street is apart of a greater scheme to redevelop and with yarra st having the longest street frontage of the site this opens up for great potential.

overallthesiteatfirstglancemaynotappeargreatoramazing,butwhenyou start to consider the potential and possibilities, the future and what it could be, then the site starts to become more attractive. issues like security, safety, presence, place and pride in the area can be solved through good architecture, so while it may not be present now it could be if the site is done right.

02

workshop 1 |urban + site analysis

figure ground analysis

the figuregroundanalysisproduced some inter-esting results and highlighted some poor qualities which could be addressed throughout the pro-ject. as with most cbds you expect density, which means plenty of black space, however comparing to a melbourne or a sydney, geelong is nowhere near dense enough to have a similar effect. in say-ing that, there are some spots with large amount of white spaces which someone may interpret as “open space” however if you were to overlay this map with an aerial view you’d see that the “open space” is merely car parking and not for humans to enjoy.

the outskirts of the cbd has the true open space with johnstone park, the waterfront precinct and austin park, however in the actual cbd there is a lacking of greenery for dwellers to experience.

building use analysis

it’s no surprise that the cbd consists primarily of commercial use, with retail focused around the twomainshoppingcentres(westfieldandmarketsquare) and down moorabool st which is another major road in geelong. there are some civic and special use buildings sparsely located (with the hospital taking up a couple blocks).

cafes and restaurants are well diverse through-out the cbd (the map may not have picked up every single cafe, restaurant or eatery) which makes the area a great cultural place with plenty of places to meet with friends/family. these cafes/restaurants/eateries are usually around laneways or smaller streets, however still face some of the major streets such as ryrie and yarra.

building height analysis

geelong has a rather low city centre with the tall-est buildings being somewhere around 4-6 storeys, with 2 storey buildings mostly dominating the cbd.

the two main shopping centres are more domi-nating with approximately 3 storeys, and some of the taller buildings on the corner of major streets or towards the edge of the cbd (such as the gee-long hospital and the tac building).

it’s understandable that the cbd is full of 2 storey buildings given the period the city was built in, with a rather stagnate progression of construction in the city which leaves it low, which very well suits the “regional city” tag geelong has attached it anda30storeybuildingmaynotfitwellcontextu-ally.

planning has also restricted heights to 30m (ap-proximately 7-8 storeys) and can not block views to the church from certain points.

site model

the site model (built by other members in the group) allowed us to visually see the scale, mass-ing and space of the site and surrounding blocks. the fall of the land was also made clear through the model and were able to easily view the site without being distracted by the detailing of the buildings where scale was more important than the type of window or parapet.

03

workshop 2 |precedents study

house at matsubara

architects | atelier hako architectslocation | matsubara, setagaya, tokyo, japanarea | 86m²year | 2011

features | - tiny corner lot- kitchen, bathroom, storage to north and living areas to south- lot of built-in storage such as shelving

program | -garage+bathroomongroundfloor- living + kitchen + dining on next level- bedroom, storage + terrace on upper level with more storage above- terrace has no roof, open to the sky

material + structure | - mainly white interior with timber stairs and black window frames breaking it up- the construction method is unknown but the ex-teriorisfinishedinblackcladding.

I chose this precedent to study due to its small site coverage and area. as well as the formal layout of the dwelling is intriguing. What I particularly like about the house at matsubara is how well consid-ered each area is and the design takes advan-tage of the volume as well (through the use of the small study space).

I feel as though if the wall separating the kitch-en from the living/dining were removed and be more open plan, they’d be an even greater sense of space on that level. what I may take from this dwelling and apply it to my own is the multi-level design for the residents, by perhaps separating liv-ing from sleeping not through walls but through volumes and levels.

storage

bedroom

terrace

terracestudy space

living

garage

bathroom

upperfloorplan|1:50

section | 1:50

dovecote studio

architects | haworth tompkinslocation | snape maltings [music campus]area | ??year | ??

features | - corten steel shell lifted into place as whole- nestled within ruins of another building-flexibleinitsuse

program | - studio- kitchen- storage- mezzanine level

material + structure | - corten weathering steel cladding- plywood internal lining

this precedent was chosen for a couple key rea-sons, one was the simple small open space which was flexible in its actual use. and two, the ideaof creating a space within a ruin of an old build-ing, connecting to the history but also providing a space where new history could be made I found to be quite appealing. probably the thing I like most about the project is the simplicity inside the studio in terms of detailing and lining with plywood which gives a nice warmth.

one thing I dislike about the project is the lack of detailing for window placement, where in the ru-ins you have two openings however the new stu-dio didn’t take advantage and put windows to look out of the ruins. however, the part I’ll draw my most inspiration from will be the simplicity in-side the space and the basic layout, and apply that to my studios in the project.

mainfloorplan|1:50section | 1:50

studio

entry

kitchen

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mezzanine

kitchenstudio

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buda art centre

architects | 51n4elocation | kortrijk, belgiumarea | 4,240m²year | 2012

features | - biggest part of the structure is re-used- two pentagons, one as an entry pavilion, the other hollows out the building internally- wide range of uses

program | - laboratory for manufacturing- multifunctional space- music venue- roof terrace- exhibition space for artists

material + structure | - pavilion from recycled yellow brick- re-used much of the existing structure

this building had a few good reasons to be cho-sen as a precedent for my project, which includ-ed incorporating a wide range of functions in the one building, adaptive re-use and the material palette and the rather “raw” interiors. parts of the centre I really liked were the pavilion, the large void which connected the levels and the materi-als used throughout.

there’s not much I dislike about the project, every-one was done so well. the inspiration I have drawn from this building does involve the entrance pavil-ion, large volumes with voids and a rather “raw” palette. in terms of a gallery/exhibition space, vol-ume and the materiality is rather crucial and by adopting similar ideas from this project to apply to my own, it can create a rather pleasant space.

entry pavilion

large void area

groundfloorplan|1:250

section | not to scale

04

initial concept

the initial idea

the initial concept revolved around open space throughout the site, for pub-lic use with some private for residences. while undertaking the urban block analysis I was soon discovering how little open space there is in the cbd, be-sides the waterfront precinct, johnstone park and austin park (which are all on the edge of the cbd) there is very little in the actual cbd.

with little malop st potentially being a great pedestrian activated street front-age, and ryrie st being a bustling street as it is, I wanted to connect these two streets with a “green” corridor which would have grass, paving, trees and seating. a second link would come from yarra st and intersect with the main corridor,withthebuildingsfillinginthespaceinbetween.

the design wasn’t based around an architectural idea or form, but rather a more urban design, urban block approach.

little malop street

ryrie street

yarra

stre

et

05

conceptdevelopment

shifting and moving

the design idea started to shift and move forward from the initial concept of two green corridors and more towards a larger courtyard/forecourt arrangement with the main public uses backing onto this space.

the courtyard would allow for a place of meeting, relaxation, entertainment (through acts and per-formances) and even work.

public square

a public square with amiptheatre style seating was the next phase of design development, where the public could view sporting events, news, major events, movies and the like. behind and under-neath the seating would be standard shops for rent, however I wasn’t really sold on the idea of having a large dedicated seating arrangement for any viewing area.

the yard + hub

I started to develop some ideas besides the open space which included starting to expand the design beyond the brief and turning the site into geelong’s arts hub with flexible spaces toaccommodate the ever-changing artists com-ing through. the courtyard would shift focus from being an urban outdoor space to a place where artists could effectively work outside without wor-ries. the courtyard would simply be known as ‘the yard’ with some grass, compacted gravel and the open space for work benches to experiment with art on a larger scale.

the hub would accommodate more types of art including film, music, digital, architecture andmore, to go with the painters, sculptors, street art-ist and illustrator.

a pavilion now being added which acts as a sec-ondary gallery space, or a market place, or an exhibition area, however the artists want to use it.

the main gallery features drop-down walls which have the ability to rotate, allowing a huge variety infloorplanlayoutsforgalleries/exhibitionswhereyou can have all walls down for a full-on painting exhibition, or have all walls up for a large open area or have some up and some down for a mix-ture (which would be typical).

the grid

while I was laying out the site in basic blocks and started to measure to get areas I noticed that a 5mx5mgridsystemseemedtofitprettywellintothese areas. by using the grid I could easily desig-nate where structure would go, functions and en-sure it would all be straightforward.

the residences

the residences would be just a square box, break-ing the 5x5m grid and being 6x6m (36m² total) with plumbing at the entry. the main area has a wall, which rotates (like the gallery walls) which has the bed attached and a base for basic living (eg couch) and by rotating you (as the resident) can decide how you want your space orientated. for example on a hot summer day you can rotate the room so the living is on the south during the day and in the cool. or if you want to lay in bed all day and it’s a nice sunny winters day, you can rotate the room so the bed gets plenty of northern sun exposure.

this allows the artists to really personalise their liv-ing,andadapttothearea.itgivesastrongflex-ibility in the continuous use of the dwellings and perhaps a new model of housing in general when we are able to make the space orientate the way we like based on personal preference and day-to-day weather conditions.

the facades

the facades (besides little malop st) would be a plywood panel with perfo-rations in to generate a pattern, and behind these panels would be a series of leds that would light up. during the day you get this wonderful plywood facade with these patterns, and at night the shadows and lighting effect would be something entirely different.

the design of the perforated patterns wouldn’t be up to me, but rather it becomes a whole new art form on its own, with artists coming in and “buy-ing” a panel or two. using software and a laser cutter in the studio they can create their own facade, and every 6 months, panels would be taken down with new ones put up in their place. so one exhibition someone may come and marvel at the facade, but in 8 months time when there’s a new exhibi-tion (and new facade), this visitor will be shocked and able to appreciate the new facade artwork.

a heritage overlay on the little malop st facade, trying to work it into the designthatfitswithplywoodwasdifficultuntil Ihadan idea.what if Iwastogenerateafilethathadthelittlemalopstfacadeinperforationform,soalthough the original facade may be knocked down a new plywood one would go up and still reference it, only with holes and lighting behind it. this would bring the old facade into modern times, and if a panel was to get damaged you could easily just cut a replacement.

06

interim review

07

design development

expanding the grid

where there was a 5x5m grid for each building previously, they were separated, however with the new arts block design, the 5x5m grid is laid out across the entire site. the buildings then align and speak to each other, being together on the same grid, which also effected the courtyard space and could become a reference point for users.... “meet me at d9”

facade treatment

where in my previous design I had interchange-able plywood perforated panels, here I wanted something a bit more grounded and permanent as I did get some feedback a week after the re-viewer that I gave the artist’s too much freedom and a lot of artists need to be grounded and struc-tured to work more effectively. I wanted to remain true to three materials, steel (structure), glass and timber, so timber panels and louvres were to be the main cladding.

I wanted my louvres so that an artist could paste up their image onto it, and when closed (and pro-tecting the interior) you can see the art (would be on little malop st and the studio facing into the courtyard), but when open it would create this distorted affect on the image and generate a whole new image.

where the glass faces east and west, timber bat-tens (vertically) would be installed assisting in blocking out the harsher suns.

08

workshop 3 |sectional study

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09

finalreview

10

reflection

the project

I found the project to be the most interesting one to date (including my tafe years) as it looked at a wide range of issues at both an architectural and urban design scale. the site itself was a challenge with not only the odd shape, but also the fall/slope (and having the entire site accessible for all), the large area compared to the program required area and issues such as overshadowing .

I enjoyed exploring more the urban design and engagement with the city, whether it was through street elevations, entry points or even the outdoor space.

the design

my tutor really pushed me this trimester in terms of design, and wasn’t afraid to tell me my design needed more work. from the very start I wanted to explore the outdoor spaces in relation to the gal-lery, studio, streets but more importantly the city as a whole. I feel this is evident throughout my design process and development and with the help from my tutor I am quite pleased with the way the out-door spaces ended up.

the gallery is a building I was extremely happy with the end result, and while some details and spaces wouldneedfurtherdevelopmentandrefining,asa whole it is a space I am proud of. the drop-down walls are easily my favourite part of the design of the gallery, but the entire space with the two-lev-els, the void, small galleries, the facade and struc-ture sits well with me.

the pavilion is another part of the design I am proud of, although not part of the original brief it was a structure that formed from my ever-chang-ing thought process. I felt it created a nice entry point from ryrie st, but also could work as a struc-ture on its own. if I was to choose a favourite be-tween interim-pavilion (with drop down walls simi-lar tothegallery)orfinal-pavilion(justopenwithtimberbattens),I’dgowiththefinal-pavilion.Ilikethe idea of it just being open, not fully enclosed (even sections of the roof are “missing”) and be-ing off from the geelong advertiser it sits much better in the street.

in terms of the grid system I incorporated into the entire site, that was something I am glad I did as it allowed the layouts to be mapped out easily. It also gave me the opportunity to work out a facade that fitted into thegridand italsowentdeeper and allowed the buildings to connect and “talk” to one another. one of the more posi-tiveresponsesIreceivedatfinalreviewwasthatthe ground plane of the external areas were de-signed/thought about, and that is because of the grid layout but also a couple tutors encouraging to follow the grid outside into the courtyard.

the experience

this trimester has certainly been hectic, under-standably with design being a two-credit subject, but even comparing to 2b (another two-credit but group work) it was more intense. some weeks were certainly tougher than others. sadly I did pushmyselftooharderandthefinalweeksofthetrimesterIburntout,whichdidmakeitdifficultget-tingreadyforfinalreviewwhenIhadnoenergy.

there were some late nights, all-nighters and tired eyes during this project, however in an overall sense its been enjoyable.. my tutor (scott eldridge) has been extremely helpful with his ideas, advice, wise words but more so just him questioning eve-rything I did. I also had some engagement with sok and felt he was very helpful as well with his ad-viceandideas.onethingIdidfinddisappointingthroughout the trimester was the lack of student engagement, with many of them going into their own bubble during studio, and then not returning tostudiountilthefollowingweek, itmadeitdiffi-cult to collaborate with one another, something I feel is quite valuable.

#archilife#artifexfabrica

#3a#theartsblock

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@ant_richo