Exercise Study

 As the site was part of the Riverwalk before it was closed after the floods, there is a strong connection to exercise. Assuming that the path would once again be accessible, I have decided to incorporate public exercise equipment into the design as there is currently not much activity in the area. This analysis map shows the gyms, parks and public exercise equipment in the area:

I also looked at what types of exercise equipment was used in creating exercise parks to see the different ability levels and demographics.

I found that it doesn’t matter what one is wearing, their age or ability level as the equipment is more often used as a fun activity rather than actual workout equipment.

London's Pensioners Playground in Hyde Park

London's Pensioners Playground in Hyde Park

London's Pensioners Playground in Hyde Park

Exemplar Ferry Terminals

The Yokohama International Ferry Terminal by Foreign Office Architects is probably the most famous architectural ferry terminal in the world. The disorientation angles alter ones perception and functional public space roof are both recognisable elements of the building.

I appreciate the use of timber throughout the building as a link to the environment and traditional wharf materiality.

The sharp angles of the building envelope also develop an unique quality of light within the building, another element I am particularly fond of.

Shane Thompson’s Ferry Terminal proposal for the competition after the floods run by Brisbane City Council is a local example that I find to be very inspiring. Not only is it an aesthetically beautiful proposal but it is well thought out and very logical.

From my own research, I have found that little nodes within a ferry terminal work the best as it provides space for people to gather in smaller more intimate areas allowing more comfortable proxemics.

The use of biomimicry within the proposal is also very relevant for my design. In this example, inspiration has been drawn for the form of the structure from mangroves which plague the riverbank and a lily, also a natural feature associated with water.

Ferry Terminal Study

To better understand how people use the space around ferry terminals I investigated a few of the terminals surrounding the site.

Holman Street Wharf

Holman Street as a sheltered area accessed by the walkway to the entrance the ferry. It has a few seats and area to stand protected by the natural elements. Here people crowd to wait for the ferry as they will be able to see the approach of the ferry and can wait in comfort.

Thornton Street Wharf

Thornton Street wharf does not have an area as large as Holman Street to wait. Because of this, commuters spill out into the surrounding area and wait in clusters near the green space.

Riverside Wharf

Riverside Wharf is one of the busiest terminals in Brisbane, because of this it has quite a large sheltered area to wait. Due to proxemics however, patrons often feel uncomfortable waiting in this space and spill out onto the walkway to wait for their ferry.

Eagle Street Wharf

At Eagle Street Wharf there is no sheltered space provided for ferry patrons. Because of this, the walkway is often blocked with people clustering around waiting for their ferry.

Dockside Wharf

Like Eagle Street, Dockside Wharf does not have sheltered space for ferry patrons. Unlike Eagle Street however, there is ample green space at Dockside Wharf so patrons centralise themselves around their rather than blocking the pathways as the green space is more appealing.

Ferry Terminal Design Considerations

After the floods of 2011, Brisbane City Council ran a design competition for ferry terminal proposals. These are some of the requirements and considerations put forward by the Council:

• PASSENGERS
• Access for Passengers
• Waiting
• Boarding
• Disembarking
• Comfort
• Shelter
• Seating
• Handrails
• Safety

•  FERRY
• Mooring
• Impact
• Size: approx. 18m x 6m

•  PLACE MAKING
• Identity
• Site Planning

• UTILITIES
• Security
• Power – Lighting
• Water
• Signs
• Information
• Tickets

• ENGINEERING
• Flood strategies
• Maintenance
  
  
•  DURABILITY

• SUSTAINABILITY

Ferry Terminal

As the access to the site is currently very limited, I decided that I would incorporate a ferry terminal, a space that is both transitional and a destination, that provides a hub of activity in connection to the water.

Currently there are no ferry terminals that service the north bank of the Brisbane River between the Riverside and Sydney Street terminals. As both the CityCat and Inner City Ferry pass right by the site it would be entirely possible to slightly alter these routes to stop by Howard Smith Wharves. The route of the Cross River Ferry could also be extended up to the site making HSW the only place all three of the ferries visit.

The site even has the added advantage of having existing wharves, meaning that to save resources these could just be easily retrofitted to accommodate a ferry terminal.

Biomimicry – Ripple Pools

When water is disturbed by movement or vibration small ripples occur on the surface. I came across an experiment by Nodoka UI and Kohthaji SETOH at KEIO University looks at this while focusing on awareness of surroundings.

The ripple pools pick up on vibrations from the surroundings and create ripples on the surface to relate, thereby generating awareness of the surrounding area. For example, if one person is standing stationary to the pool, there will be a singular regular, if two people were to be standing next to the pool, two ripples would be emitted etc. If the movement of the person surrounding the pool was energetic, the pool would produce rapid irregular ripples. I think this is a really good way to subconsciously interactively demonstrate awareness of surrounds, which relates to the folie concept.

Biomimicry – Finding inspiration from the site

Situated along Brisbane River, the site has a very strong physical connection with water. There is also a historical connection with water as the site was once a wharf and also briefly home to the water police. Because of this I wanted some kind of connection to water.

After doing some brief research, I found that traditionally, water sources were a destination and a place of strong social interaction, in the 21^st century, this is not so. With the improvement and modernisation of plumbing, communities no longer need to use a well or river to get their water, therefore, water is no longer a meeting place. This aspect relates to my goal of making the site a destination and enhancing the social aspects and identity of the site.

Site Vision

After completing my additional site analysis, I wanted to create a set of design principles that relate to site issues, biomimicry and the brief:

• To create a space that does not IMPACT too greatly on the existing environment.
• To create a space that is both a DESTINATION and TRANSITIONAL.
• To create a space that has a strong sense of IDENTITY.
• To create a space that raises AWARENESS of real world issues, derived from the folie.
• To create a space that is SOCIALLY SUSTAINABLE.

Further Site Analysis

Physical characteristics of the site not previously explored:

Accessibility

The below image illustrates that the path previously (before the 2011 floods) accessible to the site. This route is currently closed making the site inaccessible. Potentially, the site could be accessed from the above bridge or cliffs, and with the addition of a dock, the site could become a stop for the city cat or ferry.

Site Accessibility

Neighbours

Being the centre of commercial and residential (purple and orange shaded sections respectively) the site has potential to become a popular destination/thoroughfare. The last option is especially viable if the existing path is repaired and reopened, allowing commuters and exercisers to pass through the site.

Neighbouring sites, Orange: Residential,
Purple: Commercial, Green: Green Space

Neighbour Distance

The below picture illustrates a radius of a five minute walk. (*Five minute walk along a flat, strip landscape).  This demonstrates that if the site were to become a popular destination it would very close and reasonable proximity to the CBD and New Farm residential areas, this would in turn enhance Brisbane on a whole.

Green area indicates 5 min walk

Greenery

Green space is a very common way to activate a public space and to enhance a city. The site already has copious amounts of greenery along the cliff face which is currently being neglected not only in maintenance but as aesthetic scenery. The below image demonstrates the green space on the site.

Site Green Space

Personality 

As the site is currently abandoned and not accessible the strong sense of Brisbane’s’ history illustrated in the remaining buildings is not being portrayed. The site is lacking identity and purpose; it is instead sitting idly as wasted space on prime real estate. 

Learning Types

There are three main learning styles recognised by most educators:

Visual: Learn things by watching

Verbal: Learn things by listening

Kinetic: Learn things by doing

Although most people are sufficient at all three styles, there is often a dominate style that most favour. Because of this, I want my learning space to rely on a mix of exciting visual, verbal and kinetic elements.

Theme group: Learning from Nature

Being very passionate about sustainable design, I elected the learning from nature theme group.

Theme description

Nature has been acting as a global research lab for around 4 billion years. Human beings are relatively young in comparison, only existing on Earth for 200, 000 years. This makes it obvious that we have a lot to learn from nature as for millennia’s it has be providing complex solutions for itself. We can use these as inspiration to address current issues such as resource efficiency and waste management.

APPROACH: Looking to nature for metaphors to achieve a better sustainable outcome. To use “nature as a model, measure, and mentor, then imitates these design principles and processes to solve human problems.” (Benyus, 1998).

Nature as a MODEL

Nature as a MENTOR

Nature as a MEASURE

DESIGN: A learning centre for the natural environment.

Project Two: Folie to Building

To transform the folie into a building we had the following guidelines

• The total buildable site area (maximum building footprint) does not exceed 500 square metres.
• The height of the building cannot exceed the height of the cliff. (Small entrance allowable above this height)
• The rest of the site will be parklands
• There will be a ferry pier incorporated at some point along the site.
• The existing warehouses/shelters cannot be removed or demolished. The can, however, be retrofitted or incorporated into the design.
• There should be no public car parking space near the site, alternative access needs to be sought. 

Design criteria:

• CONTEXT: The building should take into account the site, the surrounding context and climate.
• CONCEPT: The folie concept should be further developed to be applied to the building.
• FUNCTION: A range of programs and activities relevant to the concept should be studied and incorporated.
• TECTONIC: The building should included formal structural elements which are creatively documented, deriving from the folie.
• CONTRIBUTION: The social and cultural relevance of the building should enhance and contribute to the surrounding communities.
• COMMUNICATION: A digital presentation and blog should communicate the transformation of the folie to a building.