The research produced in my Outline Design Project has directed the focus for my Comprehensive Design Project. The area of my developed masterplan that I will be focusing on is the studio workshop, gallery and exhibition building. It is important that the creative hub connects well with the rest of the masterplan, so I needed to find a way to integrate all elements of the masterplan with the area of focus in order to create a sustainable and functioning design.

To gather inspiration to drive the project I started to look at what processes and activity would likely take place within the space, this would then result in being represented throughout both interiors and external elements of the design.

 

 

Structured fashion, and fabric itself became a strong inspiration for the development of my design. I was inspired by the way fabric weaves together to form a structure, and how this structure can then be displayed as a main design feature to attract visitors by intriguing them to look further into the construction of the design and the work within.

 

The floor plans have been developed to create the best spaces possible for those who will be working and visiting the design. There are three main sizes of workshops available to be rented out, small (6m by 4m), medium (8m by 6m) and large (8m by 8m). The smaller work shops have been placed facing the central outdoor square of the masterplan as this will help with attracting more customers to their business, and help them to expand and create a reputation of their services. I have designed a framed walkway that allows for the exterior wall facing the square to be glazed so that passers by can integrate with the workmanship and processes, whilst provide solar shading so that little glare and solar heat gain will penetrate through the South facing facade.

 

There is space allocated on the ground floor for a shared photography studio, which will allow all businesses access to professional equipment that will benefit their work. This space can also be used by the public as classes can be run by professionals, this will help create social events for the residence of Louth to help with the aim of bridging the divide in the towns community.

I have created glazed voids along the South wings corridor that allows for displays of work to be visible to the exterior square on the ground and first floor. On the second floor this void connects with the roof, creating a lightwell for the enclosed gallery. The pitch of the roof means that only north light will fill the void, creating a constant flow of light throughout the day that would not affect an exhibition taking place in the gallery.

I wanted to explore the concept of connection taken through the plans and develop it also within the elevation. The centre atrium space is a key feature in the design which will be filled with activity and display all kinds of work and exhibitions. By creating a better flow between each level of the atrium the activities will become clearer and when on the second floor you can feel a part of the whole environment of the floors bellow.

 

These sketches show how I developed the spaces in plan from my inspiration of weaving threads to create fabrics. By offsetting guidelines from the site boundaries and the main sector lines created from my developed masterplan I created a mesh like plan that allowed me guided the formation of the plan and developed the design of the main catwalk that runs through the landscape into the central atrium.

One issue that I found when developing my design for the studio exhibition centre was that it did connect fully with the rest of the masterplan and had somehow managed to become detached from it. As the main concept developed from my Outline Design Project was to have a design that represented at strong connection with the town and the masterplan I decided that catwalk within the central atrium can be connected to the outdoor square.

 

The catwalk consists of both raised platforms, and flush to ground level pathways. The raised podiums are perfect for exhibiting work and can be used as stages for performances. The pathways give a separation to each exhibition stand, whilst at the same time connecting them. They guide visitors from one story to the next, creating a timeline of work produced by different creative individuals.