It was a cold day, but we made the trip to Torquay College to meet with the principal, Pam, as well as the Manager of Planning for the Surf Coast Shire to discuss our new project : a 10-12 school extension of existing Torquay College.
Firstly, we met with 3 grade six students to see what they would want from a senior high school. Although this was a hard task, considering they were looking 4 years into the future, we did get some useful feedback from them.
A common factor was climate control for the rooms. It was discovered that not all classrooms had air conditioning and became rather hot during summer. This doesn't necessarily mean that we need to pump the rooms with high energy using AC units, but we should address passive cooling techniques as well as orientation of any classrooms.
It was interesting to hear how environmentally conscious the school and students were. The first student we interviewed talked us through the vegetable garden and chicken pen that provides the students a hands on learning experience.
Following these interviews, we were addressed by Pam. It was quite interesting to hear about the process in which the school went through when it came to choosing a design for the 7-9 buildings that are currently being constructed. Pam was able to justify some of the components of a perfect school that were missing (size, operable walls, etc), putting it down to government restriction. She also mentioned the name Prakish Nair, who is influential in designing for education. I stumbled across this video on Youtube that I found rather intriguing.
Following the Q+A session with Pam, we were given a presentation from the Manager of Planning for the Surf Coast Shire. Brydon provided us with a planning perspective of what the Shire would want. He discussed future population growth, zoning as well as planning controls and the Shire's support of a school extension.
After his presentation, we were taken on a tour of Torquay College, experiencing the classrooms first hand. I was a fan of the communal centre concept that was implemented in the classroom buildings. We were led through the school, eventually ending up at the Shire Offices, our site for the 10-12 school. We were given free range for about half an hour to explore the site, absorbing as much as we could of the climate conditions, existing buildings, etc.
It will be another tough assignment, with plenty to consider, but I'm sure it will be an interesting journey.
The problem with a web video for presentation, is that the compression of the video results in some images losing their quality. The following images are part of our submission and will be easier for you guys to view. Click to enlarge. Enjoy =]
It has been some time since my last decent blog post. It has been a very busy couple of weeks!
We decided to go with the dome concept, using triangular modules of different materials. This opened up a whole new area of research. We met up on a Saturday with cardboard triangles in an attempt to create a dome.
The result was thus: Obviously, things didn't go to plan, however, this led to some googling, which revealed a major flaw in the direction we were heading. It turns out that the geodesic dome is constructed of hexagons as wells as pentagons. We had thought that we could purely use the one triangle size, but we now have to use two, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Once we figured this out, we were able to create a template and create a paper dome.
I was quite a fan of the dome concept. I did some research on Buckminster Fuller, who is very well known for his use of geodesic dome construction. I found this video on Youtube which had different quotes and concepts brought forward by Fuller, which was rather interesting.
So, the time had come to work on our submission. We got our triangular pieces laser cut, thanks to the CAD template Terri had been working with. The pieces looked awesome, especially the ones with the transparent sheeting which were used to represent windows.
I was surprised as to how long it took to construct the model. The concept of the geodesic dome seems simple, but to put it into practice was freakishly difficult. We did it in the end, but I will admit that I wasn't completely happy with the finished product. We clearly didn't factor in the amount of time it would take to construct, meaning we didn't have enough time for those little embellishments which would have made the model pop. Having said all that, I get easily frustrated when I have an idea in my head and it doesn't turn out in practice. The dome was a great concept, and I still stand by our idea. I hope the people who view the model understand the concept behind where we were heading.
Then there was the video. For me this was a great medium to display our design process. I was able to incorporate the images of the final model taken by Patience + Munya, as well as the CAD images that Terri had supplied. I was a bit of a novice using the movie maker program, but it didn't take long to get into a groove. I created a storyboard so I knew what I had to incorporate into the video. Beginning with images of the finished model, I lead the viewer through the brief, then our concept, followed by images of the various triangular modules, then construction, as well as sustainable features, topped off with our process, ending with the final model again. The whole video was soundtracked with The Potbelleez "Are You With Me". To me, the song choice is just as important as the video itself. There were some lyrics that related to the project : "Together, together, we're stronger as one"; "From the inside, to the other side". I was very happy with the outcome of the video and I look forward to getting feedback from an international audience when it hits cyberspace.
Following the esquisse, we decided to continue with the triangle theme. Terri interviewed some school students of differing year levels, as well as some teachers to see what they needed from a classroom. It was interesting to notice which elements were common between all that were interviewed. This research encouraged us as a group to nut out which classroom elements were the most important.
We were then confronted with a series of new issues: classroom size, materials, modularity, etc. We left Thursday afternoon with plenty of research to do...
We met up on Saturday to discuss what we had come up with. It was unanimous that the triangle module was the way to go. We spent some time cutting out cardboard triangles to play around with form and space, allowing us as a group to have a greater understanding the space we intend to create.
Material wise, bamboo seemed to be the weapon of choice. The bamboo will be used to form the triangular frame, with a series of differing materials used to fill the triangle as needed; ie. glass (to create a window module), timber, cork, etc.
Although we had nutted out some solutions, we still have a bit to go.... Honestly, I am surprised as to how much thought has to go into what appeared to be a small project!
"Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness."
- Frank Gehry
"A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight."
- Robertson Davies
"Architecture is the learned game, correct and magnificent, of forms assembled in the light."
- Le Corbousier
About Me
Name: Dallas Andrew Home: Australia About Me: 3rd Year Architecture student at Deakin.
Work part time at Jackman Design gaining some industry experience. See my complete profile
