Assignment 2: Site Diagram

Site Selection
Cottage Creek Precinct
Identified as a key site to the revitalisation of Newcastle, this site will be an important component of the jig-saw of Newcastle's renewal. A strong and diverse urban context exists, ranging from the industrial port and recreational sailing club, through to the city and civic activity. Challenges with the site are opposing opinions of what should be built, and due to the large scale of the potential building, integration with the existing context will be important.


Urban Mass / Pattern Language

Axial Flow

Site Diagram Plan

Site Diagram Sections

Feedback

A more detailed analysis will need to be taken to draw a greater variety of public spaces. A large gesture may not be the answer and a successful approach will be a fine grained one.

Sections interesting, though the most curious spaces are the streets, railway and wharf and not necessarily the built forms.

An answer from left field may be adequate as the site is under scrutiny, and a potential to deliver a message exists. Also a grand gesture may not necessarily be the answer, as the site is so large, a small gesture could have as great if not greater impact.

Direction: Find the site constraints; with a large site they will be vital to beginning to design.

Site Visit

Cottage Creek

Wickham Promenade Disconnection

View towards Wickham

View Towards Newcastle Harbour

Research > Design: Progress

Deciding to leave the building type aside for a while, I began to investigate architectural interactions between the city and water.

Prostneset Terminal, Norway
Space Group
http://www.spacegroup.no/projects/prostneset_terminal
A very interesting idea addressing our perceptions of 'edge' where water, view, sky, light and land all converge. The terminal also confronts the enclosed nature of terminal buildings and establishes relationships inside and out, private and public, free and controlled to form a new and adaptive architecture.

Site Selection?

Site A

Cottage Creek Precinct
Identified in Newcastle Council's City Centre Plan as a key site, a development at Cottage Creek would play a major part in the revitalisation and networking of the waterfront and proposed new City CBD in Newcastle West.

Site B

Dyke Point
A dramatic location, Dyke point is a could make a statement about reflection upon Newcastle City. 

Precedent > Research: Update

As a convention centre may not satisfy the complexity requirements of a final year project, i began to investigate variations and alternatives.

Walker Art Centre

Herzog & De Meuron
An example of alternatives to monumental public space, where the use of light, materials, form and texture works to establish a flow between public, exhibition and the street.

Assignment 1: Project Orientation

Preliminary Project Selection

Newcastle Convention & Exhibition Centre

A tourism and event based architecture feels most appropriate on the site chosen. The idea of a civic destination is still valid in this type as it encompasses a great variety of public activity and sub-cultures. The challenge will be integrating the typically large spaces with a multitude of micro spaces, and overcoming a structural dependancy.

Precedent of Type

Melbourne Convention Centre

Denton Corker Marshall

Preliminary Site Selection

Cottage Creek Precinct
The building would feel most appropriate here as development would link the disconnected harbour side and form a major gateway from Hannell Street into Honeysuckle.
There is a strong and diverse context to draw from which has propensity to draw from an industrial heritage.

Secondary site: Dyke Point

Feedback

Convention centres are essentially large-spanning, multi-use open space with lots of assumed structure. I may want to avoid this as the project might not be complex enough for final year and has a tendency to become 'shed architecture'. Although a building type of that nature would be successful in this location.

Nice site selection; could see something converging and interacting with the water from both the harbour and Cottage Creek. Challenges will be dealing with mine subsidence and height limits while adapting to a diverse range of contextual forces.

Direction: Decide on either the site or building type as something to pursue, and investigate in detail.

Initial Precedents and Inspirations

From a discussion in the first tutorial, suggestions were to begin thinking, “What architecture interests me? And what would I enjoy working on this year? Then work backwards from there.” As I feel intrigued and influenced by deconstructive theory and form making, I began to research buildings and sites that would best respond to this approach.

CCTV, Beijing

Rem Koolhaas / OMA

Cinema Centre, Korea

Coop Himmelb(l)au

Museum and Performing Arts Centre
Reggio Calabria, Italy

Zaha Hadid

Federation Square
Melbourne, Victoria

LAB Architects

An example of successful connection and creation of public space, Federation Square generated a new civic destination from a site that had received minimal attention. Embracing a multitude of cultures and sub-cultures, allowed the creation of complex and unique relationships between civic, cultural and commercial activities. Something similar to Federation Square could be extremely successful in Newcastle.