The North Shields Ferry Terminal

AnOdetoBeginningsandEndsofJourneys

Public transport terminals are often overlooked pieces of architecture in small towns, simply meant to serve a purpose, without acknowledging their being a constant for commuters and visitors. While people are usually only in them for a few minutes every day, they have the capacity of influencing the rest of their journey, whether they are going to work, visit or simply relax.

Smith’s Dock is a shipyard that offered the Tyne a collective memory, and thus an identity. Hundreds of employees were facing the harsh weather and difficult working conditions to fulfill their job requirements and provide the ships that the Tyne and wider bodies of water required.

The ‘Smith’s Dock’ Ferry Terminal proposes a relaxing environment to distract, even if for only a few minutes, from the problems of the day, and to enjoy the beautiful scenery North and South Shields offer.

Design Concept- Implementing the History of the Working Class & Industry

Smith’s Dock is a shipyard that offered the Tyne a collective memory, and thus an identity. Hundreds of employees were facing the harsh weather and difficult working conditions to fulfill their job requirements and provide the ships that the Tyne and wider bodies of water required.

Exploded Axonometric of Ferry Terminal

Location: Former Smith’s Dock site

Address: Ballast Hill Rd, North Shields NE29 6BZ

Typology: Ferry Terminal

1. Roof Structure

Glulam Beams with ETFE foil System made of extruded aluminium mullions (anodized to match the colour of the glulam), ETFE pillows, air pipes, galvanised steel end plate and galvanised steel end node

2. Curved Glulam Columns fixed to floor with baseplates

3. Upper Floor Structure

2mm vinyl flooring

25 mm dry screed

12mm recycled rubber sound absorbing layer

60mm flooring grade rigid wood fibre insulation

Breathable floor protection membrane

200 mm CLT

4. Ground Floor Structure

2 mm vinyl flooring

100 mm concrete screed

100 mm clayboard

250 mm reinforced concrete

Reinforced Concrete Piles with integrated pile caps and ground beams

5. Curtain Walls

Engineered Timber Curtain Wall Timber System, double glazed.

6 mm Pilkington Opthiterm Plus glass on the inside.

6 mm Pilkington Optifloat Clear glass on the outside.

6. Pavement

50 mm thick Yorkshire stone paving 600x600

30 mm mortar bed

100 mm aggregate laid and compacted in 2 layers of 50 mm Gutter

7. Deck

‘Bolt On’ steel system attached with a thermally insulated bracket fixed to CLT slab to avoid cold bridging

Notch at CLT junction accommodates the brackets

Anti-Slip Composite Decking over Waterproof Membrane

Steel Joists Structure

The Deck is supported by glulam columns at the edges

Technical Axonometric

As the sun moves on the sky, the roof and curved glulam columns cast shadows both inside and outside, creating unique lighting conditions at every hour. Natural daylight illuminates the spaces even on cloudy days.