architecture portfolio luke emery

luke emery09007493

architecture portfolio

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why a music venue?

culture is often described as the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achieve-ment regarded collectively. i think music is one of the defining attributes of a peoples’ culture, and is often hard to represent through images or models that can be easily displayed in mu-seums or galleries

music is an experience that can only be tru-ly appreciated in a live music venue. often in cities other venues that celebrate a culture at prominant, such as restaurants and places of worship; but music is often overlooked

this music venue will celebrate music from around the world, and help educate an enrich the people of bristol with culture

in european cities plazas are often the cen-tral area of a city, surrounded by large ornate municipal and religious buildings. they are wel-coming places, bustling with activity and often postcard worthy

bristol lacks a large plaza area; it has areas that have generally been poorly designed and fail to attract large numbers of visitors, the fountains and millenium square are two modern exam-ples

the location of the site, and the foot traffic that will be passing; as well as the addition of a mu-sic venue and performance pavillions will invite people to meet, sit and explore the plaza

the music venue will act as the main perfor-mance area for live acts, with a 160 seat music venue, and a music shop/museum that sells music, instruments and educates the public about music from different cultures.

the pavillions dotted around the site at the bot-tom of steps are there to allow street perform-ers the freedom and opportunity to entertain crowds. the design of the pavillions act like a gramophone and have been designed for acoustic performance. the steps act as a nat-ural auditorium and encourage people to sit, watch, listen and enjoy music they may never have heard before.

why a plaza?what will the music venue and pavillions do?

cultural forum

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bristol plaza music venuecolston hall

arnolfini

hippodrome

thekla

O2 academy

m shed

tobacco factory

performance venues not specifically for music

performance venues specifically for music

4 precedent study - cultural forums and musical performance venues

msheireb cultural forum - qatar

muziekgebouw - amsterdam

street performance

the msheireb cultural centre aims to bring together qatari and internation-al artists, performers and the public in a place of shared encounter. the design is open, welcoming and bro-ken up with different fenestration and materiality patterns; this breaks up the size of the building. the open en-trance lobby is inviting and gives the user option.

the muziekgebouw musical perfor-mance venue in amsterdam is locat-ed on a site close to water, similar to the castle park site in bristol. this building is interesting in it’s design as it has a large open glass lobby area, with a dark windowless building ex-trusion from the side of it; this design method splits up the users interpreta-tion of spaces within the building. the floating floors and open music areas are also interesting.

my music venue doesn’t want to be limited to within it’s walls, it wants to spill out into the plaza and the park ar-eas next to it. on a busy day in bristol there are many buskers trying to earn a living and to entertain passers by. my design will intergrate performance areas outside that are free to perform in without a license.

5 modern architectural language of bristol and castle park

internal plaza and open lobby

emphasis on plastic cladding

irregular glass patterns

modern glass facades

connection with the river

6 modern architectural language of bristol and castle park

st mary le port protected ruin pre-war castle park was an urban area castle park aerial - prominant green areas

castle mead imposing over the park

dramatic contours allow for anti-social beghaviourconnection with river

7 concept sketches

parti - a place for journey parti - masterplan

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plaza nature river

concept sketches

topography diagram steps act as a natural auditorium

9 early concepts and models

parti diagram of layout

this early parti diagram of the layout of my buildings was made in as simple form as pos-sible. i seperated the rooms into large areas and moved them to create an appropriate fit. being a music venue, i knew that the performance area had to be seperate from the main building; i wanted it obviously different in design and form to inform the passer by that something interesting is going on in there, and because of the lack of windows it must be performance of some kind. i also wanted a grand entrance lobby, as most precedents i looked at of well designed public spaces have large entrance lobby’s with beautiful staircases, that is what i wanted to design.

the accomodation area was seperated from the other building, they are quite clearly different buildings with different purposes, and it was a concious decision from the be-ginning of the design to seperate it off and even change the shape of it to differentiate it further.

the early structural diagram deals with the pillar layout in the main music venue.

10 music venue concept collage

the concept of the muscial venue is to bring the cultures of music from around the world to one place. the venue will be a celebration of all music types from around the world and from all time pe-riods.

bristol has a strong musical history, especially in recent years with a number of successful artists coming from the city, particularly in the urban and dance music scene. bristol is seen as a city iconic with it’s art, showing off it’s liberal attitude towards

graffiti and street art. this forum hopes to give bris-tol another art form to be proud of, and put it on the map as a cultural hub.

bristol has a strong connection with different cul-tures, it has one of the largest ethnic minority pop-ulations in bristol and festivals like st paul’s carnival celebrate international music. this cultural forum wants to encourage the celebration of music from around the world, as well as domestically.

11 masterplan and landscaping concept collage

the hilly landscape that castle park currently has will be leveled into two areas, the raised plaza and the natural forested area below hugging the river. the flat areas encourage people to stay in the area; they are often more inviting and safer. the most popular meeting places in the world are often flat hard landscaped areas; and flat soft land-scaping encourages recreational use. cur-rently the downs in bristol is a more popular area for recreation than castle park

st mary le port will be incorporated into a water feature in the plaza. the water feature will help prevent anti-social behaviour relat-ing to the tower, as well as framing it nicely and welcoming it as a feature in the overall design, combining contemporary and an-tiquity

the plaza is often the inconic meeting area in a city, as well as acting as a place for ceremony and celebration. currently bris-tol does not have a plaza, and adding this into the design will turn it into one of bristol’s most vibrant areas. musical performance and festivals will be held here.

topography -

st mary le port -

plaza -

12 site analysis - circulation

site shopping centres - the galleries on the left and cabot circus on the right. these two major shopping areas generate a significant amount of foot traffic. a large proportion of visitors to castle park come due to a shopping trip

minor shopping areas - these areas are heavily pedestrianised in the central areas. the idea is to incorporate these pedestrianised areas into my masterplan

zones - blue: retail and commercial, red: mixed used with residential, yellow: business.these zones describe the journeys people will make through castle park - walking from the bus to the office, shopping and eating at lunch time, walking home etc


major routes through bristol - these are bristol’s busiest roads minor routes through bristol - these are bristol’s next busiest road, these are often used by shoppers

bus only routes - these areas only allow buses, cyclists and taxis. they allow freedom of movement on foot because of a low traffic accident risk. these areas are often heavily pop-ulated with shoppers

pedestrian only - these areas are often the busiest places for foot traffic, as well as per-formers and as a general place to wait and meet. this pedestrian only area will be linked into my design


with all the analysis layered on top of each other you can begin to see some clear patterns. a large ring of major traffic goes around the outside, working it’s way in with intensity down to pedestrian traffic in the centre. it was important to

continue the loops of pedestrian traffic into the design of the plaza to improve the accessibility for the public. pedestrian only zones make much more pleasant areas in heavy built up areas, especially shopping districts.

15 masterplan

looking from the west over the newly landscaped park to the south, the plaza, music venue and student accomodation to the north and bristol bridge to the very south, you can see a broad idea of the final design for the masterplan.

the park land is open and flat with lots of trees positioned in no particular order, the concept was to take things out of uniform

lines and grids, but to keep them organised. jan gehl writes that people will take the shortest path between two points re-gardless of whether there is a path there or not. this was taken into consideration with the design, the paths cross the park at the most convenient places. the same with the location of the steps up to the plaza. the steps are also shaped to create an auditorium for the band stands.

16 masterplan

key

1 - student accomodation2 - music venue3 - bristol central plaza4 - st mary le port and water feature5 - river avon6 - bristol bridge7 - student village8 - new pedestrianised area9 - church ruin10 - performance area and steps

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‘one of the most important demands of a well-functioning pedestrian system is to organise pedestrian movement to follow the shortest distance between the natural destinations within an area’ Jan Gehl

17 masterplan

landscaping - to the west is the majority of the hard landscaping. this has been raised above the soft landscaping in the style of a european plaza, the idea is to create a space where people can gather to celebrate music. the plaza can be used for musical performances. the soft landscaping aims to give people a ‘journey’ through the city

circulation - the pathways that cross around the soft landscaping are designed to give the user variety in journey, as well as helping to appreciate nature within the city. the pathways are set out in a way that benefit the user by offering the shortest path between natural destinations.

building placement - the music venue and the student accomodation to the west are laid out in what appears to be random. this layout decision was taken to prevent similarites in external space, giving more places to setup external music performance areas, and different pathways to take through the plaza.

the brown extensions to the north west and the area that hugs the edge of the plaza to the west are existing roads that have been turned into solely pedestrian areas. this is to continue the loops of the shopping areas, and make the plaza a more pleasant place to inhibit.

18 site section

plaza venue water drop

‘what attracts people most, it would appear, is other people. People didn’t move out of the main pedestrian flow. They stayed in it or moved into it, and the great bulk of the conversations were smack in the centre of the flow’william h. whyte describing how people inhibit a plaza

19 perspective

a view from the park looking up at the towering building of the student accomodation. i wanted to create a building here that had a uniform shape but had a framing element and something iconic. cutting away at the centre did two things, created a frame for views around the city and created two seperate towers, better for housing accomodation because of the increase in window availability.

the building also has it’s elevators running up through this central removal, made out of glass so the users of the building can look out over the city and thoroughly enjoy their journey from ground level to the floor they live on. lifts are often used in a boring fashion, and if you have ever experienced an exterior glass lift you will understand the joy it brings the people travelling in it.

20 perspective

the glass pattern here was chosen to break up the formality of the shape of the building, the same with the sculptured front entrance and the wrap-ping grey plastic cladding. the colour palette is simple, with complimentary purple highlights on the performance venue, that represents the lines on a page of music and the clashing of song on the other side.

21 perspective

the open lobby area with the large staircase leading up to the entrance of the performance venue as well as the other staircases that tower over the entrance lobby at 45 degree angles, inviting the user to stay within the building at every turn. it is a very sociable and open building, you should be able to hear the faint sound of music from most corners.

22 floor plans - plaza

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1 - performance area2 - venue3 - student accomodation4 - st mary le port5,6,7 - one man band stands

23 floor plans - music venue

ground floor 1st floor

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1 - cafe/restaurant2 - kitchen3 - female wc4 - male wc5 - lobby staircase6 - reception7 - music instrument shop8 - bar/waiting area9 - entrance to performance


2nd floor 3rd floor

key

1 - recording studios2 - chill out space3 - practise rooms4 - rental office space5 - chill out space6 - meeting rooms

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1 - entrance2 - staircase3 - stage4 - backstage areas5 - stage stairs6 - seating areas

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26 floor plans - student accomodation

key

1 - escalators2 - reception desk3 - lift entrance4 - common room5 - fire escape6 - entrance lobby flats

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first floor


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mid floors


top floor

29 elevations - music venue

north west south west

south east north east

30 elevations - student accomodation

west south

31 elevations - student accomodation

east north

32 pavillions - one man band stand

gramophone effect

the three pavillions situated around the site are design to house one person playing a musical instrument with a natural acoustic amplification due to the shape of the design.

the bandstands are situated at the bottom of the three sets of steps leading away from the plaza, this is to give performers an audience of people that will instinctively want to sit on the steps. steps act as a natural audi-torium, and are a main crossing point for people, so people on a journey can listen to music as they walk from one location to another.

the idea for the design developed from the shape and form of a gramophone, i wanted to create something that amplified sound naturally so performers would have an acoustic sound rather than using electronic ampli-fiers.

33 living bridge

what is a lving bridge?

living bridges were popular in the middle ages and up to the late renaissance. now there are very few examples in the uk, putney bridge in bath is one of the most iconic in this coun-try. london bridge and even bristol bridge were both living bridges at points in their history.

a living bridge is a bridge made habitable by humans, whether that be houses, market places, shops or music venues, they have to have some kind of human interaction on them apart from taking a person from one side of a river to another.

this area sits on the cusp of one of the busiest financial districts in the uk, and workers enjoy visiting bars and restaurants after work and for lunch.

the area has so many decent pubs and bars that most locals will know it seems only fitting to include another in the area.

the old duke, the apple, mad dog brewers and thekla are pubs and bars unique only to bristol and within a 2 minute walk of the site, it is the perfect place to locate an underground island bar.

why include a bar?

34 continuation with seperation concept

bars

the continuation within seperation concept came to me when i tried to link bridges and bars conceptually. social groups are often seperated within a bar, but the bar itself is a continuation of their social environment. as an example of how the two are strongly linked - if a group of people enter a bar to have drinks, they will likely leave to go somewhere busier if the bar is empty, even though they don’t know the people inside. people need the continuation of the social environment beyond the seperation of their smaller group.

bridges

the river is the seperation of a city by water and the bridge is the continuation within that seperation.

35 bridge analysis

the area has a number of bridges from different periods in history and diferent styles. the two at the bottom are obviously built for trade, they have the ability to let ships passed. the top right, bris-tol bridge is one of bristol’s oldest bridges and has taken many forms in it’s lifetime. now it is very inconspicuous and understated. pero bridge in the top left is a modern footbridge near the site, it displays the harboursides aspirations for the future.

36 area analysis

site bridges

financial district bar and restaurants

37 area analysis

from this diagram you can see how this footbridge would be a busy crossing point for people, as well as a good location for a bar

38 precedent study

the fibonacci sequence which is often referred to as the golden ration occurs in nature, and wanting an organic form it continues with the continuation within seperation concept of shapes seperating into smaller shapes but continuing the pattern of one large shape.

heres a couple of examples of footbridges that i studied when looking at unconventionally curved footbridges. the ones to the left are in amsterdam and to the right is a footbridge in hull.

39 concept collage

this concept collage looks at the continua-tion within seperation principle in two forms. the mass crowd of people flowing across the river to get to the other side, with an almost endless array of heads fading into the background.

the other image is of a heavily militarised area protecting the river from passers by, rivers often do this on their own but i want-ed to portray what the river can do in it’s most extreme view

40 perspectives

41 perspectives

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1 - bridge entrances2 - sitting/viewing platform3 - river avon

masterplan

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plans

43 plans

key

1 - bar2 - stair entrance3 - toilets4 - seating area5 - kitchen6 - store room7 - footbridge

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plan of bar

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1 - footbridge entrance2 - bar3 - supporting column4 - river avon5 - staircase below level6 - staircase above level

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sections

45 details

key

1 - barrier2 - drainage system3 - reinforced concrete walkway4 - supporting column5 - concrete slab roof6 - angled soil holders

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detail of bridge structure

detail of island structure

46 ferry terminal

ferry terminal

bristol was built around the river avon, a few miles from it’s mouth at the bristol channel. the city was built around the wealth from trade, and later industry, especially that of slavery, to-bacco, coffee, spices and tea.

the vast amounts of wealth created a thriving harbourside, constantly evolving and chang-ing. the site where the ferry terminal is to be located is within the floating harbour, and man made harbour to control the water level regard-less of the tide height.

the ferry terminal is to serve as another stop on the ferry service that runs around the floating harbour, it will be for both tourists and locals alike.

47 history

arnolfini

the arnolfini is an international arts centre and gallery in bris-tol. it has a programme of contemporary art exhibitions, artist’s performance, music and dance events, poetry and book readings, talks, lectures and cinema.

the building is a former tea warehouse from the 1830’s, it is a relic of bristol’s trading history and should be considered when designing the ferry terminal

slavery

bristol is often referred to as being built on the slave trade. it is true that it was one of bristol’s main forms of income and trade before it’s abolition in 1833.

pero is one of bristol’s iconic figures of the dreadful trade, he was the last living slave in bristol; and probably britain. it should be remembered out of respect for those that lived and died in the trade.

trade

one of the uk’s biggest and busiest ports, bristol served as one of the main places of trade, importation and production of such goods as tea and tobacco.

all around the harbourside, especially at the arnolfini corner are relics from the past - warehouses, cranes and large boat sheds, as well as the floating harbour itself.

48 views and key buildings

the area has a number of iconic buildings and structures that make it one of the most interesting areas to visit in bristol.

the recent renovations around the harbourside, like m shed, milleni-um square and the lloyds building make the area popular for both tourists and residents alike.

the popularity of the area and the emphasis by the local authority on promoting it for regeneration indi-cates that foot traffic will increase over the years.

this requires a dominant location for the new ferry terminal. situat-ing it directly on the corner next to the arnolfini gives users of the ferry the best views of the area, as well as locating it with views to the arnolfini, one of bristol’s most iconic bvenues for exhibitions and seminars.

this location also requires the re-moval of the least trees for the design which is a benefit to the area ecologically as it is a heavily urbanised area. these trees will be replaced by additional planting on the island part of the ferry terminal

49 materiality

bristol’s rich industrial and importation past gives the area around the harbourside a unique pallette of colours, materials and textures which should be considered when designing the new ferry terminal at arnolfini.

dark industrial colours will be used in the design of the ferry terminal, mainly rusts and the existing pat-tern of the brick streets, with some additional injec-tions of colour on the edges of the ticket office to emphasise the outlines and frame the building.

50 concept collage

bristol’s struggle between industry and na-ture is evident everywhere you look. be-yond the stone and steel of the harbour-side is the rolling hills of countryside and nature. this was important to incorporate

into the design. it is represented perfectly with the installation of the urban trees, rust-ed steel sculptures that look like trees and act as protection from the elements as welll as a feature.

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pero’s treasure island

pero was the last living slave in bristol, he dies whilst still in slavery. pero was from the island of nevis in the caribbean. i want to incorporate pero’s legacy into my design as a stark reminder of bristol’s darker past.

as well as bristol’s history with slavery, there is a strong connection with piracy; blackbeard was rumoured to have been from bristol as well as one of bristol’s pubs being the basis for the spyglass tavern in robert louis stevenson’s treasure island

concept collaging

the original line drawing to the left was one of the first draw-ings i produced when coming up with the concept of the ferry terminal. i wanted to combine the ideas of the island of nevis and treasure island, with the shipping containers that are associated with modern shipping.

the palm trees informed the idea for the steel trees, the random formation of islands informs the plan of the ferry terminal platform, and the ferry terminal office is made out of old shipping containers.

concept collage

52 building the island

these are the islands of st kitt’s and nevis in the car-ribean, the original home of pero the slave; and a key island in the afro-carribean-uk slave trade triangle. it seems fitting to use these as the shape for the island in my design.

i configured the island by merging the two islands to-gether, turning them on their axis and then working in a shape that uses space most efficiently by giving the ferry a landing point at the end whilst keeping the irregular shape of the islands

53 precedent study

bristol’s history is strongly linked with the mass importation of goods from overseas, if you travel to the new docklands at avonmouth you can see the vast fields of stacked shipping containers. it seems only relevant to celebrate this iconic ob-ject by incorporating it into the design. not only is it a reminder of bristol’s shipping heritage; there are surplus containers sit-ting in docks all around the world waiting to be recycled. they are cheap, useful and beautiful when reimagined.

they are one of the most popular building components in modular design in the 21st century, there are plenty of ex-amples from around the world where designers have built homes, offices and buildings for entertainment purposes out of shipping containers. when looking to built an environmen-tally friendly building recycling a shipping container rather than producing new walls out of concrete or steel is a substantial alternative

54 precedent study

urban trees singaporewheelchair access level change

55 preliminary sketches

these early sketches identify the location of where the site is to be placed as well as the importance of combining organic forms and industrial materials.

the later drawings begin to cut away at the harbour edge to create the finished island look. a selection of basic materials is being built up at this stage.

56 preliminary sketches

these later sketches start to look at the site in more detail, with the addition of wheelchair ramps and sections through the site.

there is also an early perspective plotting an idea of what the finished project could look like, compare this with the finished render at the end.

57 urban trees

58 perspective

59 plan

key

1 - arnolfini2 - ferry terminal3 - ferry landing4 - planting and benches5 - ticket office and viewing platform6 - steps and wheelchair ramp

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60 sections

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1 - ticket office and waiting room2 - staff office and kitchen3 - toilets4 - viewing platform5 - steps to viewing platform6 - ticket office

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architecture portfolio luke emery

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