Building Evolution

Real Life in Buildings

Highland Building

Cycling across the Scottish Highlands coast to coast from Aberdeen to the West Coast in May I recorded a few of the outposts that we came across.

The Sawmill in a previous post was part of this collection.

Most were utilitarian buildings, and many were abandoned or closed-up to protect them.

There is something I love about abandoned buildings.

I look for the ‘low road’ structures, the ones that tell us a powerful story about how they were used, and the people that might have lived or worked there.

They tell us about the budget the builders had available.

They tell us about what social aspirations the developer had.

They tell us about the difficulties of building on that site.

They tell us if the use was functional or formal.

They tell us what sort of weather dominates an area and from which direction it comes.

They are a good barometer for social, aesthetic and environmental change.

In my work dealing with rural buildings and renovation, they also inspire me to keep looking at the vernacular and traditional for inspiration.

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The Sawmill

A building that doesn’t change much over time.
A structure designed for and still used in the way it was intended.
It’s a rare thing.
And a joy to find tucked into a quiet valley to the East of the Cairngorms.
Much to be inspired about here.

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The Anatomy of a Terrace

Terrace

I just finished reading Quiet by Susan Cain

She talks in depth about the new obsession for group work or ‘groupthink’ and how this is shaping our workplaces with a bias towards the gregarious and extroverted.

It forces those who are not this way inclined into uncomfortable situations, where there is a high chance that they are not as productive as they could be.

I am working through some layouts for a small office scheme at the moment and the following questions have arisen thanks to Susan;

-What if we gave introverted personalities the chance to just be themselves for a time?

-Can they find a quiet corner to do things their way?

-Can we allow for people to have to opt-in to group space, not just be thrown into the public arena without choice?

-Can we do all this and not effect the extroverted, the people who really need connection, conversation and contact with others to be at their best?

-As designers, how can we convince our clients that what they have read about the benefits of open plan working, team working, and dread to think ‘brainstorming’, might not be all its cracked up to be for the modern workplace.

One answer to my planning problem might lie close to home.

This is the terrace where I live. Its quite unique in that we have a shared lawn (underneath which is the original cobbled street).

Each member of the terrace has a ‘terrace job’. It might be the painting the gate or mowing the lawn. There is a collective responsibility.

The grass is the space where we mix, play, party, relax. The older residents have seen several generations of kids grow up here. Ours kids are the latest installment.

One step back from the grass are the small front gardens, where the unwritten rule is ‘I’m here with my family or friends’. If someone is here, they want leaving alone except for a quick hello.

Once step back from here is the house, the private space where you can retreat if you like.

Terrace Plan_Wordpress

I have a suspicion that lawn does tempt the quieter types outside anyway, the lesson perhaps being that if you provide private space for escape, even introverts will join the party for a while.

http://www.thepowerofintroverts.com/

Layers of Time

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I’m working as an visiting lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University again this term.

We took a guided tour of the Manchester and Salford Junction Canal  tunnel last week, which was very interesting given the Deansgate and other major streets in the city centre are right above our heads.

The first years will be thinking through a narrative and use for these abandoned tunnels having been talked through the history of the canal and the uses of the tunnels since by Jonathan Schofield, a local historian and Manchester advocate. I won’t tell the whole story here, but leave that to Jonathan who I can highly recommend. To book him for the same or other tours in and around Manchester you can find him here;

http://www.jonathanschofieldtours.com/

I revisited a train of thought I often come across in my work with buildings and their spaces, about how much changes so quickly in our cities, and that what goes before doesn’t completely disappear. It just gets buried underneath everything that comes later.

A building designer should always have archaeological thread to their thought process to understand that their work is just a point in time. It will be the subject of endless revision and reinvention. I always think about what traces of each project might get let behind, and what that will tell people about me, my work and my clients.

Just like Westfield

 

Design and detail well a great big shed. Build it to last, not to leak and be flexible.

Invite multiple retailers in to lease a patch of space. Clump them into similar offers. All the butchers go together, so its easier to shop.

Give them free reign to be themselves as a business.

Apply some basic rules on space, height restrictions and signage but otherwise loosen your control within these rules to allow for the human/brand character to come through.

Not that much different from the modern shopping centre. I suspect Halifax market was initially controlled every bit as much as any new shopping centre is. Rigid rules on all elements that make up each stall/trading space.

Over time, Halifax market has become less of a centre for economic wealth in the town. Its slipped off the radar of the style police and is all the better for it.

The market feels alive, not sterile and manicured like your local shopping centre. Not contrived or used as a exercise in how companies can out design each other. Its all pretty cheap and pragmatic. I love how the old rules are starting to melt under layers of cabling, signage and other elements.

And if the market fades which I hope it doesn’t, the building is still there, a loose fit structure that could accept pretty much any use.

So the idea of the shopping centre was never that new. Halifax market will have displaced other local traders, and forced a shift in the fabric of the town, but it did at least stay in the town and provide a focus for trade. It dealt with the inclement weather of the Pennines but didn’t force people to travel across the county.

I am not a fan of the modern shopping centre and what they do to our cities but as a building type in some ways they are not much different from the traditional market hall, just bigger in scale to feed our voracious appetite for stuff. I

I wonder how the mega shopping centre will look in 100 years in a world of shopping on the web where we use our cars less due to the cost of fuel . The distribution centre (I’m thinking amazon) is already the new kid on the block.

It may be that the in-town market hall might well be prove to be the right balance between local and mass. Time will sort all that out.

The Veranda, The new Hallway?

Its been a long summer of hard graft, hence the last post being in April. I did get away on holiday once and managed to find the time at least to think about the blog, even though its taken me until now act on that thought.

Readers in Pembrokshire will recognise the building above, the Tafarn Sinc in Rosebush. Its a familiar haunt for my family, well the Welsh half at least.

Vernacular buildings are often of the place, built using local materials, techniques and traditions so the Tafarn Sinc has always intrigued me.

You usually see the veranda building type in tropical climates, where its extended roof-line shades windows, provides cooler outdoor living space and allows separation from the ground promoting airflow under the building.

The appalling weather we had during our week convinced me this building type can also work well for a wet British summer, allowing covered outdoor space and a connection to the landscape. A place to be outside without fully committing to the elements.

Perhaps some building types can translate across climates and cultures. I’d love to see a new housing development with veranda’s promoting street side living, with residents out on the street. Better than the dingy hallway surely.

http://tafarnsinc.co.uk/

Drawing is not enough

Mostly in the world of commercial interior design and architecture, you are limited to what you can draw, set down on paper, quantify and schedule.

Obviously, this is the only way any building work can be costed, and it takes time to produce this information.

There is a real skill in bringing the identity of a design concept and the vision of the client through in the final scheme.

Its a battle to preserve the character of the design. To stop it getting lost in the paperwork and bureaucracy of the process.

Increasingly, the magic I see in completed building design comes from owner/builders, that control their own project, and even their own contracting team.

Here is where you see spaces and places that have a soul, and an identity.

As it happens, this was the only way to approach the latest work we are doing with Fforest over in West Wales.

Here we are developing a complex piece of landscaping using difficult to work with materials, dealing with many levels changes, and all the time seeking to make these old building accessible to all.

We tried a few times to draw our intent, but frankly it was too difficult to make it work in either standard CAD layouts or 3D visualising.

In the end the scheme progressed with a series of sketches by both myself and the client which slowly directed the site work so it hangs together as a scheme.

I know that if we had turned up at site with a finished drawing it would have been flawed in many ways.

This might be counter to the accepted way of directing a building project in the commercial world, but it won’t be news to self builders of residential projects were an intimacy with the build is a given.

I also can’t think of a big commercial project I’ve worked on where there hasn’t been some sort improvisation at points despite what you might believe.

Change doesn’t wait for a design process to run its course. Sometimes you have to respond to what is in front of you instead of drive some abstract intent on a drawing.

The site is now nearing completion, in readiness to receive guests for the Do Lectures coming up at the end of this month. Its also a great wedding venue for Fforest.

http://www.coldatnight.co.uk/

http://www.dolectures.com/the-event/

Hiut Denim

Think about the difference between the factory space and the workshop.

One is about production, the other is about craft.

Remodel has helped design a new manufacturing facility for Hiut Denim.

One particular challenge was key.

Can you have a modern production space, geared to the high speed needs of the marketplace.

But still create a place that supports the workflow and thought process of craft.

The finished space has the space planning and organisation of an efficient manufacturer.

But also allowed to creep in here and there, is the mild chaos of the creative space, the workshop and the artists studio.

The new space tells the story of a serious little company, with its roots firmly in the craft tradition.

These are no ordinary jeans.

http://hiutdenim.co.uk/

Diversification to Specialisation

Something that made me smile recently. A now defunct business in Keighley.

Electrical services for two very different markets and all under the same roof. I’d have liked to have been a fly on the wall in this establishment. Just to see how it worked.

I have this image of a greasy leather clad biker (motor cycle customer) stood next to gent in tweeds (gramophone customer) at a wooden counter with lots of drawers and pigeon holes in it for electrical spares.

The Ideal Interior?

Some thoughts on the Dolls House;

-A totally flexible plan

-Infinite possibilities of layout

-No intruding elements of immovable structure

-Accessible Site

-Change is controlled by the occupants/users

-Time to play with different possibilities and learn about the best configurations

Of course, a dolls house is an abstract thing, but it points to a number of useful ideas that should drive useful commercial space in buildings.

The main appeal of the Dolls house for me is the idea of user control over interior space, something architects and designers are often reluctant to do.

In good newer commercial space, there is an increasing realisation that total flexibility is useful. Some older building shells also lend themselves to this approach.

We have to be careful here though. Often the possibilities of flexible space are never explored. Its not as easy as with the dolls house. Its costs money to play.

The real challenge perhaps is to achieve Doll house flexibility, (the right amount of useful change potential) and then mate this with an intent for users to make the space their own, like they would in their home over time.

Change will happen in a healthy way if driven by user need, not by a designers predictions. All we can do as designers is anticipate a number of different outcomes and then allow for these.

I think if you champion a degree of chance in interior design and allow for occupants to grow into their space and change it, you make better buildings.

You get closer to an ideal interior, that is different for every user, at least to some degree, and is fun to be in and contribute to the future of.

*Note – There was a queue of kids for this Dolls House. Each time they changed its configuration, searching for the ideal layout for them. None accepted what had gone before. They all wanted to participate in some way to change it. Definitely a lesson for building designers, who in my experience, almost never fully engage with the users of buildings.

 

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