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Postgraduate Studies
BAS Honours
Simulated Office: Testing Urban Ground
University of Cape Town. 2018.
Overview
The 2nd semester Honours Suite was selected to engage transformation questions in both the disciplinary knowledge and practice of architecture as an inherent consideration of design enquiry. In this way, the design discourse is located in the social practices of local urban conditions, the challenge of social programming in the configuration of space, In community engagement and co-production, through tectonic and economic design synthesis that evolves robust, affordable and replicable architectural provocations.
The project, in a collaborative team effort, formulated a simulated-office environment, namely 'Urban Studio', in which we engaged the technical Phase 2 to Phase 5 architectural practice stages. The Development Framework for District 6 sets out the ground for the development of open and vacant land, as a catalyst for re-occupation and development. Residential developments have been initiated toward the inner siting of the District. These developments aim to address the claimants from the forced removals, while not explicitly looking to test the programme and siting typology for the future of the District.
Site
The proposed site is located on the fringe District Six, being defined as an
entrance site to the District. This gateway holds great potential for the testing of
an urban model, responding to historical context and providing accessible
infrastructure to the building occupants. The importance of pedestrian routes is
highlighted, and the building is to respond to the narrative of not touching the
ground while providing a clear threshold for urban permeability.
Building Mass
The proposed site is located on the fringe District Six, being defined as an
entrance site to the District. This gateway holds great potential for the testing of
an urban model, responding to historical context and providing accessible
infrastructure to the building occupants. The importance of pedestrian routes is
highlighted, and the building is to respond to the narrative of not touching the
ground while providing a clear threshold for urban permeability.
Design Development Diagrams
Urban Square
The Utility land acquired from the council has provided the opportunity to provide extensive underground parking for the increased and existing site density as well as repurpose the existing land for public urban space such as market spaces/intimate gathering and multipurpose sports facilities. The idea of the basement has been challenged and reimagined as an open-aired, ventilated parking space with sufficient natural light.
Parking
The need for parking in an urban precinct is still a requirement of high demand, this scheme acknowledges the necessity to provide this infrastructure, however, challenge the nature, ownership and use of these facilities, the parking beneath the urban square will be used in conjunction with surrounding buildings, and occupants of the building, in an attempt to provide continuous cross-subsidisation for the public space upkeep.
Urban Threshold
The scheme’s main architectural objective is to facilitate urban access beneath the threshold of the building by providing a levelled and raised plinth to the main road. This portion of the underside of the building addresses visual access concerns to the castle of Good Hope as well as frame vistas to this historical setting. The materiality of the north facade is directly informed by its urban presence, in response to the historical context while the South facade is broken and has variety in silhouette.
Restitution Housing
The scheme accommodates a restitution housing proposal located on the ninth floor of the building. This space provides an opportunity as a halfway house to formal restitution housing located near to the CBD with employment opportunity. Locating these restitution units on the roof level inverts the typical model, by giving prime real estate to those which inherently may not have received it, while still associating its inner spaces with adaptive and easily appropriated infrastructure in a domestic scaled typology.
Analytical Design Threshold Diagrams
Selected Technical Drawings
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