Our brief for this project was to develop a new senate house for the university. This relatively simple brief allocated new office space and a multi-use chamber. However the main functions became apparent to me after revealing the location of our site. As it was at the edge of the university campus it was to act as a new face for the university to the city.
For the building to act as a gatehouse to connect the university campus to the public I designed the ground floor to be permeable to the public, allowing for connections and interactions to be made. Leaving the ground floor to be mainly glazed encourages movement into and through this main space which is designed to encourage interaction between the university and city.
One of the main concepts behind my design revolves around a central section of my building. The ground floor designed to be open allowing for routes and connections between city and campus, but also as a space that can be occupied for special occasions with circulation elevated above to stimulate and aid interaction and use.
On the south facade orientated towards the city the selective use of glazing allows key features of the building to be emphasised. The university's debate chamber has been orientated along this facade and left visible to the public with a public balcony above it, inviting the city to become more involved with the university.
“The use of a centralised space provides the stage for a dialogue between the university and city.”
I started the development of my project be creating a series of collages superimposing a series of existing structures and features onto the site to help visualise my ideas and help refine them.
At the same time running parallel to the project we were tasked to design a basic master plan for the whole of the university including our projects to create a holistic concept across the entire university. Using a consistent design language I created two collages of the campus to illustrate our design concepts.
Looking at the site I then began to develop my project in response to different factors. I began to experiment with different forms across the site relating to context, looking at suitable materials to use, making models of these ideas and superimposing them onto the site. I found the layout was beginning to be influenced by different routes taken to reach the site and the viewpoints along these routes.
My final design was based around a concept influenced at the very beginning of the project during the masterplanning period, where I used a concept of leading the public to connect with the campus through the use of a series of public spaces. My design used this concept to create a central route through the building with circulation and the main functions based around this space, to encourage interaction and engagement.
