Design Concept
Potts point is a residential suburb near Sydney CBD and it is a lovely area as it sit on a hill which is able to play with different design technique.
Stair is one of the major element which is used for connection of different area. In this area, because of the different elevation on landscape, spaces are linked by slanted street and also stairs. And I noticed these staircases has already been as part of life of residents, they use it daily and they even has their own name.
Therefore, I choose to use stair as my design element, and separate rooms and area on different levels while using stairs to connect them. It is try to create a mini version of suburb inside the house.
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| Butler Stair next to the site. |
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| 9 stairs in my design |
The basic idea of my design is the positive and negative. From the plan of the area. it is not hard to observe the buildings are positive, while the streets are in opposite. This relationship is very clear and does not overlap.
While inside our building, public and private sector should also be clearly divided. So i decide to make the area which is positive in the gallery space will be the negative in residential area.
Followings are the plans, sections, elevation and the axonometric.
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| In the site plan, we can see the stairs which sit on the south of the site and their orientation is the same as the long but narrow site.The long one which is connected to the public garden is designed to have a virtual connection with it. |
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| Plans |
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| Sections, one of the house ceiling height is lower to 2400mm in order to make the height of the gallery space is met the standard |
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| Elevation, The site has only one side which is facing the street, and i use the terrace house which is symmetrical and practical next to it as the basic design. It has the basic proportion of the windows and doors, however some of it are shifted towards the corner in order to have the closer view of the trees. They are also enlarged to have more morning natural light. |
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| Shows the two void in residential part, they are the centre yard of each housing but also the top of the gallery space. With bi-fold doors which make a seamless transition between inside and out. Each house also has a roof garden to provide wonderful living environment even in a denser suburb. |
Models
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| 1:100 Site model, using card board for the surrounding building and balsa for the street to emphasize the connection of the building and the street. It is also easy to notice that there are number of terrace houses sit in this area. Also, due to the landscape, even the gallery level, which is lower than the victoria street can also have the open view ( it is the same height of the roof of the front building) |
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| There is no opening on the side as both side are buildings,and on the left of this image, it seems there is open space however trees and stone wall are on that side in reality. Due to the bad view on side, I just focus on the front and the back view. |
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| Public Garden at the bottom and 2 roof garden on top for 2 clients, each of them will have their own view of city and due to different levels, the views are different. The glazing on the first floor is moving backward to increase the privacy and is used as a balcony at the same time |
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| There are two aluminium sheet sit in front of 2 windows on the ground floor. They are used to increase the privacy and control the view of resident only to the trees at Victoria Street but not to the cars and road. However, it seems that i have missed the connection between the house and things happened at the street after having the feedback from guest tutor. |
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The basement will be the gallery space, with 2 small room for sculpture and photography . The corridor is designed as the starting is narrow but when you walk though it, the space become wider and to the end the open public garden. this also try to drive people toward the public garden.
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| Two gallery space is made with fostered glass as it can diffused the natural light, so it can prevent direct sunlight damaging the artwork but there will have enough light quality. |
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| Detail of the glazing wall. It is made of separate pieces of fostered glass to encourage the natural ventilation . |
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| The skylight which provide the natural light to the pathway and the gallery space is built with mesh. It is because mesh can let light in and also wind pass though. With this features, the pathway, which is also the outdoor gallery space, will have all natural weather conditioned and this emphasize the concept of extending the street into the building. It is also used to connect the yard and the living area. |
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| That stair is connected to the storage room and a large door is designed for easy moving huge sculpture. |
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| The stairs on the gallery level are also designed for seating as well. |
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| Two residential foyer and also the laundry on the right side of this image. The one step up platform clearly divided the street and the residential houses and they are also the first step of the stairs. It is totally opposite to the public gallery space. the former is separated the residential from the busy street and urban life, reminding residents that they have reached home, while the gallery is extension of the street, driving people into the gallery and garden. This is also part of the positive and negative concept. |
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| The corner window is designed and opened to trees which is planted in front of the building. and the wall of the bedroom is also cut with a large opening. So, there will be a clear room separate line but client inside can still have the tree view. In the other house, the bedroom has the same quality, but this time is the view of city. They can both ensure that there is enough light in the core part of the building. ( sorry that the wall between two bedrooms is missing) |
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The top of the building would be the office and have two glazing cubic structure. These are come with the Gehry's residence and I try to design it to have fantasy feeling when people is in that area.
For the small one, it is designed for standing so people standing there can act look at the roof surface of his building and it looks like you are floating on the air and having a bird view to the green Victoria Street.
The bigger one is for seating, the glazing structure can act as a low platform for putting books or used as rail for hold the hand. It will be great are for reading and relaxing. |
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| The 1:50 part section model |
Please leave comment or feedback for me to improve, so I can do even better next time. Cheers.
Thanks for teaching us this semester.
