1

BRISTOL InSTITuTe Of fILm

Architects

engineer

Eirini ChristofidouAran FreestoneCarolina Saludes

Richard Jackson

Sir Basil Spence Project 2010

The Building in Context 26- 29

COnTenTS

2

the Brief

the scheme

6- 13The Site

The Concept 14-19

The Landscape 20- 25

The Machine 26- 43

Long Section 30- 31

The Man 44- 49

Interior Views 44- 45Short Section 46- 49

Approach to site 20- 23The Landscape in detail 24- 25

Elevations 32- 35Plans 36- 43

Concept Development 14-17

Bristol + Spike Island 6-9Analysis of the Site 10- 13

Mecca 18-19

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tectonics

environment

Materiality

50- 57

Axonometric 52- 53Structure

Env. Strategy 60- 69

conclusion 70

Details 56- 59

The Strategy 60- 61Environmental Sections 62- 63Details 64- 65Materials and Accoustics 66- 67

The Strategy 54- 55

InTROduCTIOn

In our hectic lives with overflowing email inboxes, with devices that are smarter by the minute, under the tyrany of a ticking clock, we become fragmented. Over the years, there is a risk of living in the darkness and never daring to break the wall to allow for some light to come through our souls.

Film enables viewers to embark on a journey that transfixes their senses and emotions; reality is suspended.

The proposed Institute aims to act as an interval between light and darkness , between the outside world of Bristol and the fictional world of cinema.

The cinematic experience calls for total darkness and secllusion. Darkness is used in space to allow for viewers to develop a dialogue between theimselves and the projected image of the world on the screen.

Viewers complete their journey by gradually steppiing back into light, back into Bristol with hopefully a better understanding of their true selves.

“There’s the change from light to darkness, and the change from darkness to light... the same is true of the soul...”

THe SITe

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Bristol + spike islAnd

The site is located on Spike Island, a strip of land formed when the Floating Harbour was constructed in 1809. Defined by large bodies of water to the north, Floating Harbour, and the tidal New Cut of the River Avon to the south, Spike Island is part of the city’s centre. Connecting the commercial city centre to its historic industrial core and the suburbs, it is a transition zone.

Having played a vital role in the city’s long industrial maritime tradition, Spike Island is part of the Harbourside Regeneration Area part of the City Docks Conservation Area. The rich maritime heritage is evident through the many buildings and artefacts which date from the 1800s with the SS Great Britain at the end of the island and the “L” and “M” sheds which now house the new Industrial Museum of Bristol. Spike Island is a playful layering of history and an intersection between urban and suburban. Former industrial warehouses give their place to art galleries, public spaces and private housing develop-ments, thus transforming the character of the site.

The proposed site outlined in this report is confined within the Wapping Wharf development and the Museum Square, along the riverside.

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site

Industrial Museum of Bristol

Wapping Wharf DevelopmentCREATE Centre

Spike Island Artspace

Brunnel’s SS Great Britain

Floating Harbour

Arnolfini Gallery

Lloyds TSB Headquarters

Watershed

Map showing the South West of Bristol and most of Spike Island

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the site History of the Site

1870-1890

Princes Wharf has formed as we know it today. A number of transit sheds were built during this period, including the Princes Granaries.

1809 1826 184318311793

Jessop proposes the Floating Harbour scheme.

1816-1820

New Gaol was built, but burnt down during the 1831 Bristol riots and has been replaced by Horfield Prison in 1883. Bristol Riots

1701

As trade blossomed, Bristol became a major port. Merchants spend their wealth in developing their city. Queen Square finished in 1701, displacing shipbuilding south of the river.

Work commenced on the Floating Harbour in 1804. In 1809 it opened, controling the tidal range of the river Avon. Spike Island was formed when the New Cut was constructed. It be-came the centre of industrial maritme activity.

A dry dock was built at Wapping Wharf , known as Blanning’s Ship Yards.

The SS Great Britain project was launched by Brunnel on the Wharf.

The history of the Site from the 18th Century, explaining the main happenings but also what influenced us when approaching the site. We were specially influenced by the boat making industry in the area and the role of Spike Island as a entrance gate of goods from all over the world to Bristol and England

history of spike island

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1948-1952 1975-present18751872 1941 1974 2011

Prince Street Bridge,a hydraulic powered swing bridge replaced the existing timber bridge.

Reconstruction Period: the “L” and “M” sheds, now housing the Industrial Museum of Bristol, were constructed. By 1951 the Stothert & Pitt electric cranes were placed. A number of Guiness sheds were built.

A Booming Art Scene:From 1976 Artspace Bristol was established on Spike Island. The art scene continued to grow throughout the 1980s, “gentrifying” large har-bourside districts with similar cltrural projects. Since 1998, Spike Island hosts a number of internationally established art galleries.

The Fairbairn steam crane was erected.

During the Blitzes, a third of the city’s medieval part and buildings like the Princes Granary has been destroyed.

Closure of the City Docks, ending a 1,000 years of maritime history.

The Industrial Museum of Bristol is due to open in Spring 2011.

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the site

Surrounding Building Use:

Residential Commercial Leisure/Cultural

Hotel Centres of Worship

Retail at Ground Floor Site

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Study of Movement and People Flow:

Pedestrian Movement Vehicular Movement

Site

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the site

Surrounding Building Heights:

Six Storeys Five Storeys Four Storeys Three Storeys Two Storeys One Storey Site

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Sun Path and Prevailing Winds

THe COnCePT

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“Picture human beings living in some sort of underground cave dwelling, with an entrance which is long, as wide as the cave,

and open to the light. Here they live, from earliest childhood, with their legs and necks in chains, so that they have to stay where

they are, looking only ahead of them, prevented by the chains from turning their heads...”

the Allegory of the cAve, plAto

“...think what their release from the chains and the cure for their

ignorance would be like. When one of them was untied, and compelled

suddenly to stand up, turn his head, start walking and look towards the

light...”

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the Brief

Like Odysseus, our visitors embark on a journey from the city of Bristol, through the public realm and into film

Similar to the allegory, the proposed Bristol Film Institute allows for a dialogue between the outer and inner world of cinema to exist. Acting as a screen, a mediator between the known world, the city of Bristol and the undiscovered core of the Institute, of films and film-making, is the building’s own skins.

Inverting the allegory of the cave, we suggest that we are all prisoners on the outside, in the “light”

THe COnCePT

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The Diagram

The building becomes a skin, a container for the illusion of cinema. The viewer is metamorphosed from a passive into an active viewer, involved in the magic of film. Entering the cinema, the lights dim out and the music starts to play, and with the first scenes projected on the screen, you are no longer

part of the world outside.

A journey of liberation, of a man walking from darkness to light and from igno-rance to knowledge.

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the Brief

The building becomes a skin, a container for the illusion of cinema. The viewer is metamorphosed from a passive into an active viewer, involved in the magic of film. Entering the cinema, the lights dim out and the music starts to play, and with the first scenes projected on the screen, you are no longer

part of the world outside.

VIew of the atrium, between the Institute and the cinemas

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the concept Mecca

hateem: Remaining wall from Abraham’s original Ka’ba.

hajj: The end of the pilgrimage asks pilgrims to walk around the Ka’ba seven times.

The door is elevated by 2.13 metres off the ground.

Black stone corner

shaazarwaan: 55 rings of brass fixed on it.

Wall of Ka’ba

3 Pillars supporting the roof

Plan of the Ka’ba, the holiest building of Islam

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the Brief

The Ka’ba - ةبعكلا‎

An arabic word for cube, this small building is located within the courtyard of al-Haram Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is the centre of the Islamic belief as all Muslims turn towards its direction during prayer.

Surrounded by mountains and blessed with a spring of water, this shrine has been re-built by every tribe that controlled Mecca, as to protect sacred objects, like the Black Stone. The Quraysh tribe rebuilt the Ka’ba as we know it today, in the 7th Century, with alter-nating course of stone and wood. The exterior is still covered with a habrat cloth from Yemen. As years went by, more layers were added, mosques, a courtyard, protecting the holiest cornerstone in the Musilm world.

It is considered the assembly and return of all people. Myths surrounding this shrine trespassed time;it is a pilgrimage to self-awareness, a journey of thousand miles.People are removed from their lives, slowly entering the modern extention of Mecca, moving towards the old city which protects the mosque, the courtyard and the Ka’ba.

This journey is trully inspiring as there are different stages and different layers protecting what is holy and allowing pilgrims for a spiritual re-birth; all through the veils of a landscape and a building. Mecca in 1910

THe BRIef

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Approach to SiteTHe LAndSCAPe

Layering of the building in progression to the cinemas. The timber building effectively ‘wraps around’ the con-

crete building, protecting it

‘The building absorbs people, energy, light, during the day, releasing it at night...’

The diagram that shows how the Buidling interacts with the Landscape and with Bristol, and which would also be the base for our environmental strategy

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the scheme

The view of the concrete building from Gaol Bridge Street, on the South side of the site

The view of the North Facade of the building at night in front of the New Harbour and the MShed

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lAndscApe The landscape in detail

Axonometric View of the Landscape Axonometric View of the Landscape with the Projection Room

The Piazza

The Courtyard

Shopping Area/ Access from Gaol Bridge

The Projection Rooms

Pool of water Illuminates at night thanks to lightfrom projection rooms through Litracon mate-rial

Open space can act as a stagefor public performances

Garden on First Floor Level

Pool of water inside the atrium

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the scheme

Axonometric View of the Landscape with the Concrete Building Axonometric View of the Landscape with the whole Building

The Cinema Building

Entrances to Cnemas

Ground Floor stays as part of the landscape, completely open

Outdoor Café

The Institute Building

Atrium Between the two buildings, providing access to the cinemas and exhibition space

THe mACHIne

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The Institute

Serviced Areas

Served Areas

Served areas are kept light and open plan, so they can benefit from the diffused light and the flexibility of the spaces.There are several structural, environmental and spatial advantages to having the service cores grouped together, including noise, bin collec-tion and structural soundness.

Service- Served Areas

The institute is organised so that the ground floor is kept entirely public and very little involved in the film world, aside from the entrance to the exhibition space. There is a café that spills out into the landscape, a shop and the main reception. As you progress up, though, the edu-cational, cultural and financial possibilities unfold. The mediathèque is located on the second floor, with a full library and educational spaces. The first and third floor have foyer spaces that can be used for con-ferences or before the cinema. On the Fourth Floor are the admin-istration and film production areas, designed so that there is and interaction between public, businessmen and film makers.

Spatial Organisation

The main means of circulation up and down the building is through the main staircase on the north side of the service core. The side stairs act as circulation stairs but also as fire escapes for both the institute and the cinemas. The cinemas have special access bridges on the sides that lead straight into the stairs

Circulation

Admin + Film Production

Foyer + Restaurant

Mediatèque

Mediatèque

Main Staircase

Side Staircases/Fire Escapes

South Facade

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the scheme

The institute and the Piazza, public, transitional and a place of pilgrimage for those coming to the cinema...

28 The courtyard. Personal, human scale space that has at its very core the essence of film, the projection room...

the mAchine The Cinemas

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the scheme

Main Cinema

Small Cinema 1

Small Cinema 2

Studio Loop + Exhibition

Space

The Projection Room

Main Cinema Projector

Small Cinemas’ Projectors

Studio Loop Projector

The Projection Roomat night

Light coming from the Litracon wall and reflect-

ing on the water

The Concrete building contains the 4 main spaces for watching films. The ground floor houses the studio loop and the exhibition space,

much more open to the public. The first floor contains the two smaller cinemas, one more education orientated, the other more luxurious, business orientated. The top floor is dedicated to the main cinema,

which can contain up to 750 people and which is a symbol of the magic of cinema. There are several added environmental and struc-tural arguments for this arrangement, explained in following sections.

The Cinema Building

The institute is organised so that the ground floor is kept entirely public and very little involved in the film world, aside from the entrance to the exhibition space. There is a café that spills out into the landscape, a shop and the main reception. As you progress up, though, the edu-

cational, cultural and financial possibilities unfold. The mediathèque is located on the second floor, with a full library and educational spaces. The first and third floor have foyer spaces that can be used for con-

ferences or before the cinema. On the Fourth Floor are the admin-istration and film production areas, designed so that there is and

interaction between public, businessmen and film makers.

Spatial Organisation

The main means of circulation up and down the building is through the main staircase on the north side of the service core. The side stairs act as circulation stairs but also as fire escapes for both the institute and the cinemas. The cinemas have special access bridges on the

sides that lead straight into the stairs

Circulation

Education orientated

Business orientated

South Facade

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the mAchine Long Section- The Procession

‘The Procession to the Cinemas, ending in the projectionist as the man inside the machine....’

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the scheme

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Elevations at 1:500the mAchine

North Elevation

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the scheme

South Elevation

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the mAchine Elevations at 1:500

West Elevation

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the scheme

East Elevation

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the mAchine Site Plan

0 1 5 10 20

site plan at 1:500

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the scheme

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the mAchine Plans at 1:300

ground floor plan

key1. Entrance2. Shop3. Reception4. Café5. Lifts6. Atrium7. WCs8. Exhibition Space9. Studio Loop10. Projection Room11. Foyer/ Seating Area12. Bar13. Lifts14. Kitchen15. WCs16. Cinema 217. Cinema 318. Fire Escapes19. Projection Room

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104

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3

9

8

4

6

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the scheme

0 1 5 10 20

first floor plan

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12

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15

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18

13

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the mAchine Plans at 1:300

second floor plan

key1. Reception2. Open plan Archive3. Reading Areas4. Workshop 15. Workshop 26. Computer Area7. Lifts8. WCs9. Foyer10. Restaurant11. Lifts12. Kitchen13. WCs14. Fire Escapes15. Cinema 116. Projection Room

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the scheme

third floor plan

0 1 5 10 20

139

10 12

14

14

11

15 16

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the mAchine Plans at 1:300

fourth floor plan

key1. Reception2. Waiting Area3. WCs4. Offices5. Common area6. Recording Studio7. Editing Area8. Lifts

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2

3 4

2

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6 7

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the scheme

roof plan

0 1 5 10 20

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THe mAn Internal vIews

The young man goies into the darknes....

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...to come back to the light of Bristol older and wiser....

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the mAn Short Section at 1:150

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Short Sectionthe mAn

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‘The region revealed to us by sight is the prison dwelling, and the light of the fire inside the dwelling is the power of the sun...’

Plato, Chapter VII of ‘The Republic’

TeCTOnICS

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mATeRIALITy Axonometric

Exploded Isometric of the Institute Building

Larch Cladding covering the Facades and the Roof of the Institute. Larch is very durable so it is good for outdoor conditions.

Highly insulating sheep’s wool insulation. By using a natural though thicker material the Institute is kept very environmentally friendly in terms of the materiality.

Triple glazed low-e glazing. This is in keeping with the idea of the Institute and the Cinema buildings being highly insulated boxes with controlled openings.

eurban© larch ceiling module exposed on the inside of the Institute

Glulam columns joint vertically by loose timber flitch plates

glulam beams

Ground Floor slab with unbounded screed surface. There is no timber on the floor of the Ground floor to avoid deteriorating over time and to keep the material equal to that of the streets

Square flyash concrete composite piles

The Materials of the two buildings was kept as pure as possible, using engineered timber for the Institute Building and precast concrete panels for the Cinema Building.Both materials are used for what they perform at best and the amount of each used has been carefully considered, therefore making them extremely environmentally friendly.

Thin frame around the glazing and the insulation panels, attached to the glulam columns and beams

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tectonics

Exploded Isometric of the Cinema Building

PV panels fitted on the same grid as the concrete panels to create a homogeneous look throughout the Cinema Buidling Facade.

Pretensioned reinforced concrete beams. The beams are exposed on the inside of the cinema next to the ac-coustic panels

Separate concrete structure and racked seating. Arched con-crete floor slabs. The seating on top of it allows for the ventilation to go through.

Exposed acoustic panels on the inside of the walls next to the concrete posts of the structure

Black litracon© concrete suspended by steel lintels from the floor slab

Square flyash concrete composite piles

Ground Floor slab with unbonded screed surface

Concrete floor slabs and concrete beams exposed in the small cinemas below.

Post and beam concrete structure. This structure runs through the entire building

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STRuCTuRe Structural Strategy

The cinema building, as shown previously, is a precast concrete frame construc-tion and the Institute building, also shown previously, is an engineered timber frame con-struction.

The characteristics of the site, slightly slopped and with very poor soil conditions, informed our scheme from the very beginning, determining a foundation system of groups of piles. To make the performance of these piles as good as possible, and to avoid the excessive use of material, we opted for a grid system which also very early on informed the way the design was going to develop. A key decision in our scheme was to keep the footprint of the building to a minimum, thus making the grid of piles small. This deci-sion then triggered the choice of material for the piles (concrete instead of timber), which makes it much stronger to withstand heavier loads. However, we chose to use a flyash concrete composite which would make it much more sustainable than normal concrete. Finally, the grid structure imposed by the piles determined the module of the timber frame structure, which also informed from early on the architectural development of the Institute building.

The two buildings, the Institute and the Cinemas are structurally separate, which reduces problems such as different rates of thermal expansion of the different materials and different foundation settlement of the buildings. In addition to this, having separate structures avoids load carrying connections between frames, which would have made these connections very big, thus clashing with the idea of the threshold being clear of structural elements.

The global stability of the building derives from the cross bracing elements along the two buildings. In the Institute the bracing is placed in between the sheep’s wool insula-tion between the glulam columns, which is then covered by the plywood and Eurban© panels. This cross bracing is thus not seen in the Institute building, as the glazed open-ings are kept free of bracing. The stiffness of the cross laminated timber floor decking is sufficient to carry any lateral loads from the unbraced areas of the wall to areas with brac-ing, as the distances are never more than 4 metres. In a similar way, the Cinema building derives stability from cross bracing of struc-tural elements. Non moment carrying connections between precast structural elements are then reinforced with cross bracing, and because there are no openings on the exter-nal walls of the whole building, this bracing can be allocated all along the walls, making it a extremely stiff structure. The concrete slabs on each floor act as a deep beam that carries lateral wind loads on the facades of the building to the braced exterior walls. The depth of these slabs and the concrete beams also allow for acoustic insulation of the different cinemas.

key

Main structural elements accross the building on plan

Cross bracing in timber facadeCrosslam Lateral Wall reinforcing timber structure

Cross bracing in Cinema building to reinforce post and beam structure

Cinema Grid System at 4.2 m

Institute Grid System at 2 m

Grid of piles on both buildings

As mentioned before, the grid system means the construction process of the building is eased out, making it quicker, less labour intensive and more environmentally friendly. The concrete panels can be transported to site using lorries and the timber members can be imported from continental Europe using the New Harbour in front of the site.

Diagram of construction process

Pre- augering of holes for driven piles

Pile driving Load testing of piles

Install ground beams and labyrinth walls, then ground floor columns, either timber or concrete

Floor slab joint cast to top of columns and ground floor is cross braced. Construction begins on First floor

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tectonics

Construction Section at 1:200

Labyrinth used for cooling in summer. It allows for less material to be used as that space doesn’t need to be filed with con-crte and it compensates for the change of level in the landscape

Pv Panels on the roof of the building

Thick insulation running all along the outer skin of the building

Litracon Facade supported on steel lintels for a seamless effect

Glazed roof iconsisting of thin frames at-tached to both buildings and low-e triple

glazing for maximum insulation

Cross laminated timber bridges connecting the two buildings. Inside the cross lam are

the ventilation pipes .

Cross laminated tim-ber stairs connecting

all the floors

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mAteriAlity Architectural Details

150x50 mm Larch Timber Cladding

50 mm Larch Counter-Battens

150x 50 mm Larch Battens

Vapour Membrane

Plyboard

Pavatherm© Insulation Boards

Pavatherm© Insulation Boards

Glulam Primary Structural Frame

50x50 mm Larch Battens

Larch Timber Frame

Timber I-Joists

Double glazing

detail one: institute Building facade

The glazed facade on the Ground Floor opens up in warm weather, creting an outside café

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tectonics

200 mm Precast Flyash (Black) Concrete Panel

Steel Lintels

Neoprene Bearing Compressive Insulation Pad

Escapement Grill for the labyrinth. It also cre-ates a shadow gap around the Cinema building, intended for archictectural purposes

Pool of Water that runs all around the Cinema Building

50 mm Cavity Gap With Vapour Membrane

100 mm Mineral Wool Insulation

100 mm Litracon © Precast Panels

The concrete bench is a continuation of the pool and the Cinema building, merging with the landscape

Inside of Cinema Building (top to bottom): Main Cinema, Small Cinema below, Studio Loop and Exhibition Space

detail two: cinema Building facade

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mAteriAlity Architectural Details

Felt on Plywood Decking Covered With Stone Chippings To Prevent Uplift From Wind and To Protect From Solar Radiation

Gutter

200 mm Rigid Insulation Board

Timber Joists

Vapour Control Air

Plyboard Decking

Pavatherm© Rigid Insulation Board

Glulam Frame

Glass Roof

detail three: institute Building roof

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tectonics

3 Layers of Roofing Felt

Metal Coping

PV Panels

Timber Joists

400 mm Rigid Insulation

Precast Concrete Slab

Timber Angle Fillet

Vapour Barrier

Plyboard

200 mm Insulation Board

PV Panels Fixings PV Panels Fixed To Yimber Joists

detail four: cinema Building roof

envIROnmenT

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envIROnmenTAL STRATegy Overview

in an attempt to design a building as close to zero-carbon as possible, a thorough environmental strategy has been implemented from the start. The overriding philosophy is a reduction in energy usage and heating/cooling demand. When there is a demand for electricity, heating and cooling, it has been attempted to supply it with the minimum environmental impact.

The scheme is treated as a highly insulated closed system (average U-value = 0.13w/m2K) with controlled openings. Inside the system, the materials used for each building reflects the types of heat load-ings experienced. The concrete copes well with short periods of heavy loading heat gains, whereas the timber copes better with long periods of lower heat loading.

There is mechanical heat recovery of exhaust air via exchanger ducts in the roof space of the inner building (as shown on the following page). For cooling there is an underground labyrinth of exposed concrete to chill incoming air and the timber building also uses cross-ventilation. The concrete building has its frame exposed internally to utilise thermal mass in smoothing the peaks of daily temperature variation, whilst the timber building is fed by ground source heat pumps (GSHP) to provide a low-level cooling or heating effect by utilising the ambient ground temperature.

About 75% of the annual electricity demand can be met through the annual electricity supply of an array of photovoltaic panels covering the roof of the buildings. However, the peaks of demand and supply do not coincide, so a feed-in tariff to the national grid is proposed to power the Institute Building’s equipment when it is overcast, offsetting this grid dependency by selling electricity when sun is shining in Summer. v

electricity

The demand for electricity is reduced by using low energy equipment and light bulbs such as LED lights. Building Management System will control the buildings’ lighting and openings to insure minimal electricity wastage. The large surface area of the Cinema Building (800m2) will be covered with Photo Voltaic panels on the roof which will produce excess electricity during the Summer, Autumn and Spring, which can be sold to the grid and then bought back during the winter months to meet all the electricity demands. Also low energy consuming projectors will be put in place to ensure that no excess heat is produced and that the electricity use will be kept to a minimum.

night cooling

The ground source heat pumps run at night to precool or preheat the buildings for next day, minimising the use of energy. The ventilation system also runs at night to take advantage of cool temperatures and a lower cost.

lighting

All served spaces in the Institute Building, where most of the daily activities take place, are glazed and orien-tated towards the North, providing constant diffused light throughout the day. The requirement for artificial lighting is therefore reduced and electricity demand lowered. The position and amount of glazing on the facade of the Timber building has been carefully designed and controlled, with a total of 50% of the facade being glazed, to ensure adequate light levels and freedom to play with the light and dark characteristics of the spaces.

Atrium

The atrium provides a ventilation stack effect during summer months, which provides a natural air flow rate, pulling the warm air from the buildings and drawing fresh air from the labyrinth. This air flow can be supported by fans in the ventilation ducts. The glazing frame has openings to the inside of the concrete wall of the Cinema building to allow the air to go out, regulating the pressure of air that creates ventilation within the space

Humidification of Water

The pool of water to the south of the site and the harbour to the North humidify the air before being pulled into the building. This works especially well in summer months, as the water can cool the air down. This aslo works very well in the Atrium, where the internal pool of water makes the stack effect work better in summer, and helps sta-bilise the temperature in winter. Note that the internal and external pools of water are separated by a concrete wall and glazing to avoid thermal bridging.

The Building Form

A reduced building footprint reduced the number of piles required therefore reducing the amount of concrete needed to form the piles. A smaller surface area building, which is also beneficial structurally, means smaller fabric heat loss throughout the building, resulting in a more efficient environmental strategy

Reusing the soil dug out from the piles and car parks in the Wapping Wharf development to landscape the site, creating the 1m height rise to prevent flooding of building and to create front public performance space.

partial view of the perspective section through the Building

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environment

Environmental Features on Roof Plan

Environmental features on Building Plan

key

Ventilation Ducts

Ground Source Heat Pump Pipes

Thermal Labyrinth Underneath the Building

Water Pipes From Rainwater Harvesting Tanks

Photovoltaics Panels

Rainwater Gutters

Downpipes

Distribution of Rainwater Harvesting

key

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environmentAl strAtegy Environmental Sections

Environmental Strategy in Summer at 1:150

Warm Air

Cold Air

Ground Source Heat Pump Cooling

Thermal Labyrinth

key

thermal labyrinth

The thermal labyrinth is made from the ground beams between the pile caps. It preheats the air in summer and precools it in winter before entering the ventilation ducts. It uses recycled glass bottles with water inside to double the thermal capacity of the labyrinth and increase the contact surface area with the air passing through.

ground source heat pumps

It is the most efficient way to heat or cool, with an energy coefficient of 3.The heating or cooling from the ground source heat pumps is delivered to the building through under floor metal tray radiators in the institute or under floor heating in the cinema floor slab. The pumps are installed within the concrete piles for ease of construction and cost.

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environment

Environmental Strategy in Winter at 1:150

key

Warm Air

Cold Air

Ground Source Heat Pump Heating

Heat Recovery Units

Labyrinth

heat recovery units

During winter months, the ventilation ducts for intake and exhaust air run on top of one another through the roof and walls and as a result have a high contact surface area allowing for a heat recovery rate of 70%.

Fans and filters are housed within the vent ducts and since the ducts are placed on the inner skin of insulation, they are easily accessible for maintenance and filter changing.

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environmentAl strAtegy Accoustics + Materials

Acoustics

The main issues that had to be addressed in our building in terms of acoustics were insula-tion of the cinemas from the outside and, more importantly, insulation between the three cinemas. As seen before the three cinemas are treated as three separate boxes structurally so that noise can’t get through to each other be it by vibration or by sound. There will also be separate ven-tilation ducts installed on each of the cinemas to remove the risk of noise transfer through the ducts.

The volume of each of the spaces and the difference in occupancy (750, 170 and 140 persons) and therefore furniture has a profound effect on the difference in the quality of sound on each of the spaces. The reverberation in the small 140 people cinema is then higher than the reverberation of the 750 people cinema. The studio loop downstairs is not protected with acoustic panels, a deliberate architectural move to make the reverberation much higher, giving a more spiritual and exhibition-like feel to the space. The sound can be heard all through the exhibition spaces. For architectural and structural reasons the black acoustic panels on the cinemas are exposed, which makes their performance much higher. Having the panels designed in strips means the spaces benefit from the thermal qualities of the concrete whilst at the same time benefitting from the acoustic advantages of the panels.

Section analising Acoustics in the Cinema Building Plan analising Acoustics in the Cinema Building

keyConcrete InsulationAcoustic AbsorptionMineral Wool Insulation

key

Partial View of the Perspective Section through the BuildingAcoustic Panelling exposed

throughout the three cinemas

Studio Loop not sound insulated for archi-tectural reasons

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environment

thermal performance

The material properties of the two materials work in relation to the environmental in terms of the heat loading they receive. The Institute Building is exposed to smaller heat sources over a long period throughout the day, whereas the concrete cinema core is exposed to higher levels of heat gains over a shorter period.

The exposed concrete structure in the Cinema Building has a high thermal mass and can cope with the high heat loading over a short period by balancing it out using thermal storage.Timber in the institute has a poor thermal capacity and therefore has a quicker reaction time to heat and cool loading. Timber acts as a carbon store, whereas concrete acts as an anti-carbon storeExpressive structural feel to space inside, showing the contrast in the two materials, the light institute timber and the heavy concrete cinema core.

Sheep’s Wool Insulation

Timber Building

Concrete Building

key

materiality The Thermal Performance of the Building

Fly Ash Concrete

A flyash concrete composite has been used instead of standard Portland concrete, as the excessive use of the latter is extremely damaging for the environment. We do however try to make the most of the environmental benefits of con-crete, using it for large spans and for thermal mass.

Litracon©

Although mainly for architectural purposes, the Litracon also performs a small role in the sound environmental per-formance of the Building. During the day the Litracon, a material made out of 94% concrete and 6% fibre optic, allows light to come into the projector rooms, which are naturally dark, preventing artificial light to be needed inside.

Larch

There are multiple reasons (architectural structural and environmental) why we chose Larch as our main material for the Insti-tute. Environmentally we looked first of all at how timber removes greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere (as it is made of 50% CO2), acting therefore as a carbon store. Also, engineered timber would allow us to construct a lightweight tall structure that would consequently reduce the footprint of our building, saving a lot of material for the foundations.

For the type of timber, we opted for larch for a number of reasons. It is a very durable timber, perfect for the outdoor cladding. Also it barely needs any treating, saving in cost and environmental impact of chemical treatments. It is a timber manufactured within the UK, which means less transport usage and a guarantee of sustainability. Also, there has recently been a disease spreading amongst forests of larch in Snowdonia, so there is an exceptional availability.

The Litracon© within the context of the South Facade

Architecturally, we were also really attracted to the aesthetics of fly ash con-crete, as it ties in with the massive roughness of the Cinema Building

The Larch cladding and beams within the context of the North Facade

COnCLuSIOn

From the start of this project there was an aim to use the proposed building as a screen, a mediator be-tween opposites which developed from the nature of a cinema theatre; reality is suspended while a film is being projected. This screen mediates between public and sacred spaces using light and darkness, reality and fiction, production and art.

Sentiment and logic. A dialogue has been created between these opposites and it manifests itself through the layering of materials and thresholds of the building.

An integrated environmental and structural strategy provided from the start the arhitectural narrative with a framework to develop from. By carefully selecting ma-terials and construction techniques we have managed to design a building that collects energy and circulates it within itself, with minimal mechanical intervention.

Overall we strived to create an integrated project where all three key elements (architecture, environ-mental and structural engineering) work and support each other.