FOLIE TO BUILDING- Dradt Sections & Plans

Sections and floor plans are now scaled. Total footprint is just under 500m2, including central courtyard. Total height is eight meters.

The total floor space for shelving is less than a quarter of the entire building. It may be necessary to place another level, or half level to increase fraction. Provision of informal reading areas is ample with verandahs and undercroft. However, there is not a lot of space for quiet study, which is again an issue.

Equitable access has been prioritized, with main entrance being a single ramp for everyone. However, this presents issues with presentation, and is an area that needs to be resolved. I have some ideas, such as incorporating a hanging garden or living wall into the ramp so it acts like a terrace. The main doors would need to announce themselves at the top; a bit of a retake on getting to your destination the long way.

Cross section of reading room and undercroft. Interior wall of reading room has cubicles for quiet study; they overlook the interior garden. The exterior wall is ringed with the shelves and outside that is the veranday running round the circumference of the building. The undercroft is deliberately bulky and over engeneered. The idea is that the underside can be slowly carved out into sculputure and seating over time. At the start, it is undressed stone.

Floorplans and an Elevation: the floorplan is radial. Spaces for use have taken shape, but there is a low ration of actual book shelf space. this may need to be remedied with another storey or rethinking access.

FOLIE TO BUILDING- Refined Designs

With the help of some exemplars, a better idea of the library is taking shape. Using the idea of large prefabricated ribs from the Vennesla library in Norway. Ultimately, the materials and overall form will be very different, but the method is highly adaptable to the open yet clearly compartmentalized (paradox, much?) shelving and reading area, as well as the undercroft.

The floorplan takes on a circular shape

The last section before taking on the Vennesla concept

Current section showing Vennesla influence. Undercroft area broken into six to eight ribbed sections. Each section supports stairs and a ramp winding from ground to first floor.

FOLIE TO BUILDING- Exemplars

This entry is a week late and probably just as well. Last week I forged ahead with some drawings rather than posting exemplars. I have been looking at old school buildings around Brisbane for some inspiration; the HSW site is steeped in history and the context seems to ask for something that harks back as well as looks forward.

Therefore, most of my drawings so far have in the style of old school houses with the raised classrooms and various undercroft areas. These are useful as extra shade and would be a bonus on the HSW site for flood mitigation purposes. However, I was struggling to come up with something that wasn’t simply a replica or variation on the old colonial school house.

St Lawrences College (www.ozatwar.com/locations/stlaurences.htm)

Fortunately, some of the other students interpreted the brief correctly and seeing their exemplars was a bonus. I was particularly taken by the Vennesla Public Library, Norway. This building with it’s prefab ribbed construction gave me my inspiration for (ironically) creating the undercroft. I have since extended it to the upper level.

Vennesla Library, Norway (www.inhabitat.com/vennesla-librarys-ribbed-prefab-design-features-energy-efficient-strategies-in-norway/)

Another Australian library from the exemplars which interested me initially because of the materials used. However, the website for the project contained some diagramming which has provided me with some ideas for presenting in Week#9.

Surrey Hills Library, Elevations (www.lippmann.com.au/publicbuildings/surryhillslibrary/tabid/728/default.aspx)

Surrey Hills Library, Floor Plan (www.lippmann.com.au/publicbuildings/surryhillslibrary/tabid/728/default.aspx)

FOLIE TO BUILDING- Initial Thoughts

SCHOOL STEPS:- A library space for young people aged 6 to 16.

Create a facility that promotes learning. This is not a wired environment. It is a place for books, face to face communication and practical experimentation. It is a place for quiet concentration and simple study.

Qualities:

Natural light and temperature control

Basic use of materials; arches, alcoves, stairs and ramps

Steps for silting on and teaching from

Quiet places for reading

This is an alternative space; connectivity and instant access to information are now the norm, in public spaces, libraries, parks... anywhere a person can obtain a wireless connection. Almost without any conscious thought, we have come to cater almost exclusively for one learning style.

This space deliberately provides an alternative. It deliberately evokes a sense of isolation from the connected world, for when even a child wants a moment's peace with their thoughts.

Initial ideas placed the library close to the cliff, creating
an alcove between the building and the cliff. Masonry
and verandah's were included to create a distinctive
facade

Early plan and section; close to the cliff wall

Initial light diagram for the early section revealed
that lighting against the cliff is problematic.



Current plans for a fully detached building creating its own enclosure

After considering lighting issues with a building close to the cliff, a detached building creating its own enclosure is now being considered. The floor level will consist of a colonnaded and arched undercroft area with a garden in the middle. This lifts the building out of the way of flood and also creates a permeable ground level.

One or more library levels will have alternating enclosed and decked areas with room for individual study spaces. The steps, garden and undercroft are for talking, teaching and experimentation. The library rooms themselves are silent spaces.