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Donal J HardyYr 4

050007429

INTEGRATED DESIGN REPORT

INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC AND

PERFORMANCE

KINGS STABLES ROAD

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Integrated design

Appendices (A) Unit Groupwork Site (B) Site analysis /masterplanning (C) Brief (D) Precedent (E) Design development/process (F) Technology (G) MP+L

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Introduction

Located in Edinburgh, the site that will be the premises for

this years Integrated design project is on a length of road

that, through our investigation into the area, has been

coined the ‘dirty mile’. (see appendices A). From a number

of possible sites along this study area, the first site was

chosen for a number of reasons.

In the area of Edinburgh there are no purpose built facili-

ties to the teaching of contemporary music and performance.

The facilities in the wider area are mainly focused on

teaching children from primary through secondary educa-

tion. While facilities that are focused on the education

of adults are located in the university and are somewhat

closed from the general public.

Edinburgh has a rich and vibrant contemporary music, how-

ever, it is laden with the classical music image. While

Glasgow has a number of contemporary music facilities that

teach innovative technology and composition. Edinburgh is

lacking and requires a purpose built facility that encour-

ages public participation and promotion of contemporary

music in Edinburgh.

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The study area itself has a strong music presence with

Grassmarket and Cowgate having many locations with small

venues in which music thrives. However, with many of these

being the locations of bars and clubs, it may not be the

best location for an education facility, however with the

first site having such an inspirational setting in close

proximity to the castle, It would we an ideal location for

a educational and creative institution of a series of which

that could make of a Masterplan.

The site on Kings Stables Road is adjacent to the castle

and currently is the location of a multi-story car park. As

a prominent city centre location next to Edinburgh’s most

recognisable landmarks it has great potential to something

more. A challenge that will be taken on through this design

project and investigation.

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SITE ACCESS

This site has a number of directions from which it can be approached. The main access for the public

who will be using the proposed music school and film school on the site will be along castle Terrace.

To promote the sites connection to the landscaped area of Princes Gardens as well as the pedestrian

route that is exits onto Kings Stables Road, this will be made into a pedestrian zone allowing for some

soft landscaping to move onto the master plan strategy. So how are the buildings serviced? This could

have been achieved by using the pedestrian areas as an access point for delivery vehicles etc. However,

this would have meant that the service areas are in full view on what could be the most desirable area

the schemes. As a result a service road is run along the back of the site allowing for all buildings

on the site to be services without any disturbance to the pedestrian zone.

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CHURCH BUILDINGS. Two of many land-

marks that puncture the Edinburgh

skyline

EDINBURGH CASTLE: Key historical

momument. Important internation-

ally as well as nationally.

COUNCIL OFFICES: 70’s office block

with limited architectural merit.

EDINBURGH NEW TOWN: Part of world

heritage site has strong grid sys-

tem.

EDINBURGH OLD TOWN: Kings Stables

road at the begining of ‘Dirty

Mile’ retains some of the qualities

of the old town.

PRINCES STREET GARDENS: Historical-

ly, the site formed part of these

gardens before multi-storey carpark

was constructed

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SITE CONTEXT

The site of Kings Stables road is situated in quite an awk-

ward position. It located at the junction of 3 very dif-

ferent conditions, The strong grid of the new town to the

south, the green landscaping of Princes St gardens and it

the site itself has much of the same character that is high-

light though the study area and the old town of Edinburgh.

Not to mention the dominance that the castle has over the

site. A proposal that would fit into the new town urban gain

would be unsuitable as it would be ignoring the parkland and

old town. A Proposal using the old town as influence would

be ignoring the new town and the gardens. What is required

from the site is an independent response to its context. The

proposal must be able to stand alone as having a character

of its own and site within its context. With regard to the

sensitivity of building adjacent to a world heritage monu-

ment, this approach is given license by the buildings that

are in the immediate area, In particular there is a block

of council offices (marked in red) alongside the site that

is in equal proximity to the castle. This a 10 storey 70’s

office block with questionable architectural merit. With

this in mind, a proposal that may be ‘tall’ is acceptable

provided that it remains in proportion to the scale of its

context.

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INITIAL DESIGN IDEAS

The scheme has gone through a number of changes in concept

and organisation before arriving at the solution as dem-

onstrated in this report. See Appendices E

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SITE MASTERPLANNING

Left: thumb nail images of master plannig responses. A num-

ber of these were done and the masterplan developed through

out the design process.

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SITE RESPONSE/ STRATEGY

Taking all the key factors into account, the strategy for dealing with a site comprises of a number of key

moves. The geometry of the adjacent new town grid will be retained by keeping the vistas from these streets

free from building (yellow band), There will be three building on the site that sits on a ‘plinth’ that will

mediate between Castle Terrace and Kings Stables Road. All three buildings that make up the strategy are of

an educational function or institution. To the north end a community arts centre, the middle a school for

contemporary music and performance and the south end of the site a Edinburgh Film School, all of which are

connected by pedestrian route along the site (marked in red). These buildings are stepped along the site

around this main route to create a number of different spaces between the buildings along Castle Terrace.

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View: Castle TerraceSite model

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SITE RESPONSE/ STRATEGY

In addition to the general massing of the site, other issues were taken into consideration with regards to

the general site strategy. In order to emphasis that these 3 building on the site are part of an over all

educational complex, as a result they share an overriding architectural language that consist of multiple

vertical members and rhythm. This is an appropriate strategy as this allows for uniform style that can be

applied across the site easily while allowing for relative freedom to design the internal program of each

individual scheme. See elevation below

As all the schemes on the site are using the axial route to orientate around, so too have the entrances

to each of the buildings. See diagram to the right.

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SITE RESPONSE/ STRATEGY

The shared architectural language does not stop at just the rhythmic treatment of the facades. By splitting

them up into a top, middle and bottom type arrangement it will reinforced the visual connection between them.

On the lower levels the spacing of the vertical elements/ columns is wider and creates a colonnade type ar-

rangement. Encouraging public interaction with the buildings, the upper levels are then split into a middle

and top, with the top piece being the lighter and the middle grounding the buildings to their surroundings.

Other aspects of the site strategy include the sharing of plant facilities. In particular between the music

and film schools that have larger volume spaces (such as lecture theatres and cinemas) that are not neces-

sarily used all the time.

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INTEGRATED DESIGN

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Programme Organisation

The organisation of the buildings

program has been set out from an

early stage. The subterranean ser-

vice along the back of the site

allows for the direct servicing of

the main public areas of the build-

ing such as the venue and the café/

bar/ restaurant areas. All of the

back of house accommodation re-

quired for this accommodation will

be located on a plinth on which

all servicing will be arranged. The

main public spaces of the building

such as the venue and the lecture

theatre’s do not require access to

sun light so locating them on the

lower levels is a key move. With

all the large volume accommodation

being located and organised in the

lower levels, all that is left is

the private school cellular accom-

modation such as the studio spaces

and class rooms. These are stacked

to form a ‘tower’ type element that

externally appears to sit indepen-

dently on a plinth.

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The Diagram

While the diagram to the left shows the

scheme at a different orientation. The

basic principles of the diagram remain

constant in the finished scheme. The

building will accommodate a number of

different aspects.

Firstly the master plan re-

flects an connection between all 3

buildings on the site (red arrow). Of

these three buildings the music school

is the middle. As a result the build

will be neither starting nor terminat-

ing this route, it will feed into and

draw from it. The route moves under

and into the main public spaces of the

scheme. The main venue will be open di-

rectly onto the route to and will have

no solid walls or partitions. This is

to encourage spontaneous performance

by people who may be using other fa-

cilities such as the café/bar which

occupies the same space,

As the master plan also dic-

tates, the buildings will act as ob-

ject buildings that sit on a plinth

created along the site. In the case of

the music school, the private cellular

accommodation is stacked into a light

weight ‘tower’ like element. This sits

in contrast to the public accommoda-

tion that will appear much heavier as

the subterranean aspect of the scheme.

As the tower element site independent

of the plinth, the street edge of cas-

tle terrace is addressed by a heavy

element that appears to be part of this

plinth that ‘floats’ and accommodates

the library and IT suite required for

the private school.

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VENUE: A SPACE TO PERFORM

One of the driving concept of the music school is the idea that music and perfor-

mance come hand in hand and it is very much part of the day to day activity of

the school. Those who use the school facilities will be individuals who are not

afraid of performing and are likely willing to perform whenever possible. As a

result the main public venue of the building has been opened up and become part

of the same space that is the café/bar as well as the main route that connects

all educational facilities on the master plan. To encourage the venue as being

a space that could be more readily occupied, a visual connection to the park is

made by glazing the back wall of the venue. There will be no fixed seating in

the venue also as it forms part of the main route so this would be inappropri-

ate, In addition to this it encourages people to use the space in a more free

way. If someone would prefer to perform on a step, they may do so.

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Cork school off music:

Studio

Cork school off music:

Acoustic Wall Panel

Design Agenda

As a school of contemporary music and performance, the main design

agenda is focused around creating spaces that are spaces for the

users of the building that will inspire and promote creativity. To

bring light back into the practise spaces and make a connection to

exterior. In the pursuit of acoustically and environmentally per-

fect spaces can result in studio spaces that are not particularly

inspirational. Left shows how the pursuit of this has resulted in

the having small slit windows that are not open-able and the ad-

dition of acoustic panels to create flexible acoustics and sounds

separation.

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Plan: Level -2

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CIRCULATION

The main vertical circula-

tion of the building is done

by a stair that carves its

way through the ‘boring’

cellular space. The spaces

created by this stair mov-

ing though the building act

as break out spaces for the

studio and classrooms be-

tween lessons. By having

the stair open it allows for

visual connections between

floors and gives the ‘tower’

a unified feel, rather than a

tower block with each floor

being treated independently

from another. In ad-

dition to this, there is a

protected fire core to the

north corner of the build-

ing. However as the scheme

is 7 stories high there is

a fire regulations require-

ment for a second means of

escape. Therefore, the main

circulation stair, while it

may be an open stair. Fire

engineering may be used to

propose that this stair is

used as a second means of

escape.

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Design sketches:

Circulation

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FIRE ENGINEERING

With a completely open stair act-

ing as a second means of escape,

it is proposed that fire engi-

neering could be used to make the

open stair viable as and escape

route as the tower itself is an

area of low fire risk and its

occupancy is relatively low at

approximately 180 people at full

capacity. The primary system em-

ployed in the stair way is a smoke

extract system that will be acti-

vated in the event of an alarm.

In addition, on each floor there

are fire doors, that are normal-

ly held open by electro magnets,

that close to make each the area

around each open stair a lobby.

See Appendix F for complete fire

strategy report

LEVEL 04

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Plan: Level -1

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/ SUSTAINABILITY

The main overriding material that is evident

throughout the building is its concrete frame. The

reason for which is primarily for its aesthetic

qualities that could not be achieved though using

steel or other construction methods. However, con-

crete is a material that has a high embodied energy

in its manufacture and might not readily be con-

siders as a sustainable material for construction.

However, the design of the building addresses the

issue of sustainability in a number of different

ways.

Firstly, to help address the issue of the

concrete, Much of the building is divided up into

repeated structural members, This allow for the

formwork that is use during its construction can

be re used repeatedly on other parts of the scheme.

Plant, located in the shared block between

the music and film school there is plant that ser-

vices all the lecture theatres/cinemas and venues

on the low levels of the two schemes. The shar-

ing of plant and facilities allows for a reduced

amount of plant for the same amount of facilities.

The orientation of the building on the site

also helps with the sustainability criteria as it

aligns itself with the prevailing wind. Thereby

reducing the amount of wind turbulance around the

building, in addition this a south facing atrium

and small width allows for natural ventilation

either by stack effect or by single side

Site plan : Building orientation

key to its environmental strategy

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Plan: Level 00

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MAIN ENTRANCE

The main entrance and re-

ception to the building is

the first occasion where

the user is made aware of

the public route through

the site. As a member of

the public you walk over

the axial route and view

it from a higher vantage

point before moving around

and down to connect with

the route and use the fa-

cilities.

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Plan: Level 01

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Plan: Level 01

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Plan: Level 02

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LIBRARY- ‘THE ARM’

DETAIL CONSTRUCTION SECTION

Detail Section 1:25

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Plan: Level 03

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STRUCTURAL STRATEGY

A predominantly light weight

structure, the tower of cellu-

lar accommodation is made up of

narrow Glass reinforced concrete

columns of only 150mm in width

and 800mm deep at a spacing of

1400mm around the edge of the

floor plates. This frees up the

floor plate areas for freedom

when planning each floor. Each

column supports the floors via a

500mm deep concrete beam spanning

at maximum 14m. This structural

system is made rigid a reinforced

concrete escape core running the

entire height of the building.

This structural systemn is used

throughout the building and is

not merely a structural solution.

It informs both aesthetic and en-

vironemtal strategy.

The concrete columns sup-

porting the library are carryed

down into the public levels on

-2 and helps to define the axial

route through the site.

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Plan: Level 04

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STRUCTURAL STRATEGY

Externaly the uniformaty of the struc-

tural grid is ever present as it wraps

around the building. The appearance of

this facade will change depending on

where you observe it from and as you

move around or past it.

The cellular accomodation in of

the building can be easily identified

by two aspects of the design from the

exterior. For breakout and circula-

tion space the glazing is located on

the inner edge of the column while

studio and classroom spaces push the

glazing to the outter face of the col-

umns.

In addition to this, the cellu-

lar accomodation of the tower of stu-

dios and classrooms inform how this

facade appears depending on how the

spaces are being used. Between each of

the columns in these studios are tim-

ber panel shutters, that can be opened

or closed giving the facade an ever

changing dynamic appearance.

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Plan: Level 05

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STUDIOS / CLASSROOMS

While the timber panel shutters give the external

façade a dynamic appearance externally, internally

they serve a more practical purpose. They are used

to control any solar glare that may effect the spac-

es (particularly on the south facing facades). In

addition, these panels may be used to give a level

of control of sound within the space by covering the

hard glass surface that reflects sound.

Artificial lighting within the cellular ac-

commodation is achieved by a simple light fitting

between each beam spanning the room directed so

that light is reflected off the underside of the

exposed concrete slab.

Section1:50

Detail A Section - 1:20

Detail B Section - 1:20

Detail C Plan - 1:20

Section

1:50

Deta

il A

Se

ctio

n -

1:20

Deta

il B

Se

ctio

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1:20

Deta

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Pl

an -

1:2

0

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Plan: Level 06

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Ventilation Strategy

The orientation of the atrium in

the building allows for the stack

effect to take place. Throughout

the day the air in the atrium is

heated and rises to the top and

is exhausted through vents that

are electrically controlled. This

in turn pulls air in from the

classrooms and studio spaces (see

plan) and ventilating all areas

of the building. Other method

of ventilation were considered

though the design process includ-

ing double skin façade method.

(See appendix E). The use of a

double skin facade was regected

from teh design for two reasons.

It was decided that the potential

gain of a complex double skin fa-

cade system on a building witha

footprint width of only 14m would

be minimal as well as being an

un nessisary expensive system for

a scheme of this scale. See Ap-

pendix F for full environmental

strategy report

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Plan: Level 07

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Plan: Level 05

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Plan: Level 05