CONCEPT
HORIZONTALITY seems to be everywhere near & in the site: from the beach & it's horizon as viewed from Arden Street, the Coogee Beach steps, to the grass strips of the oval (as viewed from Dolphin Street), the metallic seats there & the blinds in the Senior Citizen’s Hall of the current Coogee Oval Community Centre. Even the Grandstand itself has horizontal element applied across it, which can be clearly seen on its south-west façade. Personally, I think that horizontal element has a calming effect & therefore it's suitable to be used in the design of the Coogee Beach Community Centre (CBCC).
But a ‘break’ is introduced & that is the VERTICAL element, like the trees on
Facade facing oval
Facade facing Brooke Street
PRECEDENTS
- John Lautner
- (Segel House in Malibu [1979] & Rawlins House in Balboa Island [1980])
- John Lautner deals with the surrounding context rather organically & reciprocity seems to to occur in every part of his building designs. Each part & bit of the house are connected nicely, even though they are of different materials.
- Herman Hertzberger
- (Verdenburg Music Centre in Utrencht [1973-78] & Apollo Schools in Amsterdam [1980-83, 93])
- Herman Hertzberger's sense of order & organisation is strong, with clear circulation systems linking all of the rooms or spaces. The choice of materials is also carefully thought through to create a welcoming gesture.
- In the Apollo Shools, he has grouped the rooms round & open onto the heart of the school, where I tried to apply the same idea into my design (e.g. the arrangement of the multipurpose rooms, foyer, administrative rooms)
- Mario Botta
- (Gerbio Residences in Switzerland, 1992-96)
- Mario Botta is an expert in using brickworks to create the forms & spaces he wanted. The selection of brick types, textures & colours also goes well with the surrounding context.
DRAWINGS & SKETCHES
The 5 keywords, from top left down: Insertion, Infrastructure, Threshold, Reciprocity (3 images including the one on the bottom right). I personally like 'materiality' for it relates more to the senses; what one sees, touches, feels, smells etc.
A map showing the mass of building blocks & the location of the site (in red) in relation to the surrounding context.
A diagram showing the sun path, the location of the building in relation to the surrounding buildings & natural elements, human flow, & visual & physical permeability (red & blue arrow respectively).
The foyer act as a central 'heart' which pumps in human flow from the 2 different entrances (one from the street & the other from the park) & allows them to be redirected to other places, such as the cafe, multipurpose rooms, common kitchen, gyms, & flexible workshop. Most of the rooms have clear views into the oval since it is the most happening place of the site. The kitchen is placed near the Grandstand to activate that area; they can have BBQs there & watch a rugby/cricket match at the same time.
From south to north, the building slowly changes from rigid, angular shape to a more fluid form, just like the context of the site, where there is more built environment on the south compared to more 'natural architecture' on the north.
A ramp leads the people down into the gyms, toilets, change rooms & rubdown rooms. Separate change rooms & rubdown rooms are created for the convenience of people & also for the different teams which would be playing in the oval.
Physical Permeability & Circulation
Circulation path on ground floor
Circulation routes on lower ground floor
Visual Permeability & Transparency
Program & Colour Coding
Red: Community & sporting facilities
Blue: General facilities
Yellow: Administrative spaces
Sections & Elevations
Elevation 1:
This is the Brooke St facade by using different coloured bricks, showing the concept of 'horizontality' with a break by vertical columns. The Grandstand's darker brown bricks are continued with the introduction of a lighter coloured brickwork (greyish-brown) & it slowly turns to an even lighter colour near the north side. This exoskeleton of the building implies a strong robust quality of the building that seems to hold up its structure, just like the rugby or cricket players.
Section/Elevation 2:
The interior facades have a warmer colour to create a welcoming gesture, which is done by using timber strips, all placed horizontally as if guiding one's view into certain spaces.
Elevation 3:
CBCC as viewed from east.
Longitudinal Section:
Rendered section of the spaces to show how the light or shadow plays in the rooms.
FINAL MODEL
Overall view of design:
Ground Floor
Lower Ground floor
The huge columns which produce a rhythm. There is also a sense of transparency here. People can see what's happening in the large gym hall through the 2000x2000mm windows on the ground floor without having personally going down into the gym.
The indented wall of the main entrance from Brooke Street.
A clear view of all the routes linking the floors of the building once one is in the foyer.
The 2nd entrance linking the park & the playground to the CBCC.
The cafe is of an organic form since this part is linked to the (natural) park & it implies a softer side of the building. A deck is placed here facing the north so that people can enjoy & experience the nice views & quality of the park while having a cup of coffee.
An angular deck of the care framing the view of the oval.
A slit through the roof to admit natural light down the ramps.
The roof of the large gym hall opening up to the north to gain maximum sun light during winter.
CONSTRUCTION DETAILS of the 'secondary street' & the large gym:
