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Leeds Metropolitan University School of Architecture, Landscape &DesignBA (Hons) Architecture

AC3.1 Interdisciplinary Report2011 – 2012

Hannah Daisy BraidHannah Daisy Braid

CONTENTS PAGE

1. 1 Background 4

1. 2 Personal Account 5

Day One 5 - 9

Day Two 10 - 15

Day Three 16 - 17

Concept Images 18 - 19

Presentation 20

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1. INTERDISCIPLINARY REPORT

1.1 BACKGROUND

During the final week of our academic year a three-day

Interdisciplinary Project took place. The aim of this week was to enable

students from varying courses to gain opportunities to work together

amongst a team environment, resulting in a group submission that

would be presented on the final day. This project would not only

provide students with a demanding project brief within a short time

scale, it also challenged the dynamics within an ‘alien environment’ and

for Architecture students such as myself, it formed a fundamental

element of BA3 Context module.

1.2 PERSONAL ACCOUNT

Day One – Wednesday 14th December

Upon arrival, we were split into several different groups consist-

ing of third years from a variety of professions. Amongst my

group there were four architects, including myself, two project

managers, one landscape architect and a town planner.

The brief set within walking distance, located in the South of

Leeds, in the Clarence Dock area.

The aim of the project was to rejuvenate and bring the site back

into public view, allowing revenue and people alike to be reintro-

duced to the area.

I was eager to participate within the group and was very much

looking forward to gaining experience from the other students

within my group.

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After a quick introduction and brainstorm of ideas we decided

to visit the site to gain a greater knowledge of the brief and task

ahead. During this we realised there was a brick wall enclosing

the site meaning views were restricted from neighbouring

buildings and sound was buffered from the main road

surrounding the site.

Unfortunately due to extensive building work taking place on the

site we were restricted to how much information we were able

to gain from the site visit. As a result of this, we felt we didn’t

get much of an understanding of the site. It didn’t help that the

weather was very poor resulting in bad quality photographs.

Consequently, we felt the need to expand our research.

Myself and another team member decided to utilise our student

skills and visited a local Architects practice. Here, we met with

director of the firm, Architecture 519. This was a great

opportunity and really enabled us to gain a broader

knowledge and insight into the project ahead. Having judged the

Interdisciplinary project in previous years, David enabled us to

really get to grips with the brief.

Following this, we went back to share our findings with the other

members of our group. Whilst back with the group, we decided to

map out several important aspects of the site. These included

accessibility, surrounding vernacular and transportation. Within

the group we were then able to

brainstorm our ideas and produce several innovative schemes,

derived from the information we collated from the site visit and

meeting with the Architect.

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It was also important that we considered what we felt, (as

pedestrians to the site) the area lacked. Previous schemes for

this specific site propose a 900 space car park, art gallery and

recreational park.

As the site was originally a Tetley’s brewery we were keen to

keep the historical vernacular of the site, having previously been

an integral part of the city.

After a long day, we decided to designate tasks to each member

of the group. It was decided that the architects would work to

create a few concept montages which we would discuss the

following morning.

Personal reflections

Although I thoroughly enjoyed today, I found it particularly

challenging at times. Unfortunately, there were several conflicting

views regarding schemes amongst our group throughout the day.

It was particularly difficult for the team to pin point specific roles

however, towards the end of day we felt more confident having

split up into different disciplines to combat the workload.

Having delegating roles for all group members, it was decided

we would continue with our tasks and present them the following

morning within the group.

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Day Two - Thursday 15th December

Today, we decided to organise our ideas into a master plan.

Following our meeting with director of Architecture 519 yesterday,

we found the city of Freiburg to be a good precedent. As

architects, we were keen to develop the live, work, play

concept for this specific area of intervention. Following a few mild

disagreements, we decided as a group to settle with one main

concept, incorporating several smaller schemes.

This aim of our scheme was to create a social environment for

all ages giving access to recreational extreme and conventional

sports but still incorporating the historical background of the site.

From this, we decided to map out the areas of interest on the

site. Below is an image highlighting our aims for the site.

1. Xtreme Sports Centre – The concept of integrating

extreme sports into this area promotes a healthy lifestyle in

Leeds and is an opportunity for sports education within the area.

By enforcing tank reclamation within the site, facilities will be

provided such as rock climbing, indoor skydiving and the

opportunity arises for deep water diving well. Thus, creating a

unique experience.

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2. Microbrewery & Restaurant – This will be located within

the existing building, so as to keep within the historical aspect of

the site. With a long history of brewing, the use of a microbrewery

will allow visitors to see the process of creating a produce well

known to Leeds. Produce could be sold to the city as well as on a

micro scale on site.

3. Wildlife Garden

4. Play Area with Pavilion for parents

5. Flower beds and landscaping – The local are has been

taken into consideration during the design and planning of the

landscape. This helps to give the centre of the city a green site

that is directed towards families and local residents, something,

which we feel Leeds is lacking.

6. Main Entrance – The proposed site will be linked into the

surrounding context through new street paths and landscaping.

7. Raised Seating

8. Main Water Feature – The main focal point of this land-

scaped green space is the fountains, providing an attractive

feature in which people can congregate and relax by.

Due to the expansive space, there was also an opportunity to

create a pop up market. Such market stalls would be situated

along the main route running through the site, lining the path

and attracting people from the city centre to this area of Leeds.

The market stalls could also function as dual purpose, creating

temporary exhibits for the arts. The market would stock only local

produce and would be run by local residents, creating a sense of

community and well being within our site.

In conclusion, during day two, the group worked much more

efficiently and well together. Towards the end of the day we had a

developed scheme and a presentation to show for the final day of

the workshop.

The project managers of our group created the presentation,

therefore I feel it was heavily weighted towards their skills and

understanding of the site. Throughout they explored deliverables,

strengths, opportunities and objectives for our proposal.

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The deliverables included the following; green field area, sports

complex with extreme sports facilities, a restaurant and micro

brewery, a children’s play area and extensive green open space,

essential for a city.

There were also many strengths explored throughout our scheme

such as the improvement of the local economy, promotion of

healthy lifestyle and creation of new jobs. The scheme was also

heavily family orientated and nearby main roads provided easy

access to our site.

Furthermore, we feel the proposal fills a gap in the market and

provides an opportunity for sports education within Leeds City

Centre. Not only will the scheme strive to improve the local

community, in turn it will also increase in footfall and turnover for

local businesses. A main benefit of our proposal is the

opportunity to create a fully sustainably built complex with

materials being reused from the previous buildings.

Finally, the objectives to which we feel imperative amongst our

proposal include; supporting urban regeneration, promotion of

social inclusion and community cohesion and health and well

being amongst Leeds.

Personal Reflections

Fortunately, with a day to go, the group were able to come

together and create a scheme with each team member

contributing to every aspect of the design process.

Although several tasks proved hard to overcome at first, we did

eventually agree and overall, I am happy with the end result.

Now we had a scheme, we were able to designate more tasks for

competition ahead of the final presentation.

Within the group, myself and another architect assigned

ourselves the task of creating several concept montages to

portray our intentions for the site.

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Day Three – Friday 16th December

On the final day of the workshop, within our groups we were to

deliver our presentations. Unfortunately presenting our scheme

was restricted to just two members of the group, with the project

managers volunteering to take lead.

Overall, the presentation was well received. I felt the comments

we received from the panel were encouraging and constructive

and the main concept of our brief had been explored. However,

due to the timescale to which we were given for completion of

this project, I feel there was much room for improvement.

Working within a team enabled me as an individual to gain

knowledge of other professions and work within a different

environment. Although I thoroughly enjoyed this week I feel more

could have been gained from this experience.

Unfortunately, at times the group did not work well as a team.

This is something I do not have much experience of however, it

enabled each member to voice their opinions and eventually, a

scheme was resolved.

During the presentations, I found it beneficial to see what other

groups had proposed for the site. Unfortunately, we did not win

however, I not only made friends from this experience but I feel I

gained valued experience not only in my own subject but also in

the understanding of similar professions.

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I feel my involvement within the team was a positive experience, I

contributed several concept images and mappings of the site, as

well as attending a meeting with Architecture 519. In addition to

this, I also, toegther with a project manager, attended a tutorial

in the lead up to our final presentation. Below are some images

from the Interdisciplinary workshop for our proposed scheme.

Conceptual Montage of the site - Author’s own image Pop up market stall concept -

Author’s own image

Tank Reclamation - Author’s own image

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