Model

Plans and Sections

Longitudinal section 1:100
Plan of first floor 1:100
Site Plan at 1:500

Sequence of spaces

Ceiling within a ceiling. The office and the workroom while contained with their own ceiling are accompanied by a ceiling that allows for some light into the space.
The forum of the 3rd floor displays a view of the spaces below and consists of an office and a workshop.
When travelling up the stairs to visit the 3rd floor, the balcony below and the curved glass wall on the 3rd floor work in tandem to create a vastness in the space. Once again the glass wall is curved to ease the eye on a 180 degree turn.
Exterior view of balcony facing King Street.
Once a 180 degree turn has been made a balcony facing King Street confronts the viewer. The entrance to the balcony is split into two; one using the ceiling of the 2nd floor and the other using the ceiling of the 3rd floor.
Travelling up the stairs of the building, there is a curved wall with a window welcoming the audience. The wall is curved so as to guide the eye in the direction it need to go, i.e. 180 degrees to the initial direction up the stairs.
Sculpture courtyard merges with interior of the ground floor.
Exterior of building with outdoor courtyard.

Geometrical development in Sketchup and Critical review

Geometrical configuration of gallery. However, after speaking to my tutor, I agreed that this arrangement could have been done with any other site. I decided instead to use existing walls of surrounding buildings.

Ideas

Basic configuration. Having a main axial entrance and a rear entrance for the storage through the street parallel to King Street.

A balcony facing King Street is important as it embraces Newtown as the essential setting for the gallery and the art featured in it.
Basic form. Initially I had an idea that the sculpture courtyard should be situated at the top of the gallery. That way the post office (a similar height as the roof of the gallery) would come into view among the many sculptures and so the sculptures and the gallery would be thought of as being a part of Newtown.
The Front of the gallery should be iconic and should spark interest. Should give the idea that by entering the gallery, the audience is entering a new threshold, a new world.

Basis for site selection

Above: Views from Site 2 upon the expanse of Enmore Road. I chose Site 2 because of its accessibility and its commanding commercial position.

Views of the amazing expanse of Enmore Road upon splitting from King Street.
Site 3:
- Surrounding views many. Especially those that hover over the expanse of Enmore Road.
- Hollowed out approach may be used, i.e. using the depth of the site to emphasise the entrance front from King Street.

Site 2:

- A number of fronts may be used as it is a corner site. Perhaps the most accessible of each of the sites because of this reason. Located near Newtown's iconic Post Office. At a powerful commercial location and not easy to miss if design strategies are used to emphasise this.



Site 1:

- Appears to be most suited to a hollowed out approach, i.e. using the depth of the site to emphasise the entrance front from King Street.

Client development

The client is an art dealer in Newtown. He has lived there almost all his life and intends on putting Newtown on the map as he believes that lots of its local art is often overlooked. The goal of his gallery is to therefore promote local artists and invite unrecognised artists to exhibitions held in his gallery. In order to do this he believes the gallery must have something special about it, it must stand out but at the same time consist of Newtown symbolism. This can either be through encouraging views of King Street and/or Enmore Road and various other landmarks in Newtown. Primarily his gallery will feature sculptures as he believes the art of sculpture to be the most innate to human beings, as it is the art of arrangement. The gallery in all must be an artwork of its own, a sculpture, it must appear upon first glance as an art gallery and nothing else.