Balmain Boat Building and Sailing School

B Studio

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BDES2027

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Chris

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Koustoubardis

B a c h e l o r o f D e s i g n i n A r c h i t e c t u r e | S e c o n d Ye a r SID | 460376110 Tu t o r | K e n Ye h 2017

Contents

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The Manifesto |Adaptability

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The Site | Mort Bay Dry Dock

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The Concept | Balmain Boat Building and Sailing School

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The Design | Balmain Boat Building and Sailing School

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The Model \ Scale 1:100

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The Essay | Adaptable Architecture

I’m very interested in buildings that adapt to changes... buildings capable of responding to our physical and psychological needs in the way that clothing does...

Layering and changeability: this is the key.

Glen Murcutt

The Manifesto |Adaptability For too long, society has settled with a notion of architecture that defines itself as an independent, inanimate solid entity. It has lacked the consideration of one element that connects humanity, society and nature, the fact that they are all in a constant state of flux, changing, evolving and above all, adapting.

Thus set amongst such a shifting landscape, architecture must be adaptable to 2 key elements – people and place to result in an urban landscape that is sustainable and livable. It is important to recognize that architecture goes beyond 4 walls, a roof and aesthetic choices; it is a living organism, the blood that supports the body of urban life. We are indispensably connected to architecture, living, working and using these structures to support life, hence how well it can adapt to these elements and the changes with the functionality of spaces we inhabit will establish a greater connection to our urban environment. It is through operability and manipulation that allows spaces and elements to be malleable, having the ability to transform in order to establish a more thoughtful attitude to place. It is also through this idea of adaptability that also allows architecture to reveal and explore the intangible qualities of space and place, creating unique architectural experiences by understanding nature, history and its people. It allows architecture to be more than a structure and something that speaks, connects and relates to its users specifically. By perceiving architecture as an exercise in adaptability we are able to epitomize both the economics and atmospheric elements of architecture, creating structures that are functional and poetic.

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The Site |Mort Bay Dry Dock This site is steeped in the industrial and maritime history of Sydney, with it being in the late 19th century Australia’s largest shipyard. What remains is most the last insitu preserved dry dock of its kind. In 1855, Thomas Mort saw the need for a docking facility for the colony of Sydney, as the closest facility was located in Bombay. Mort Bay was an ideal location, being topographically suitable and close to the city. It began as the first dry dock in Australia for the repair and maintenance facility for steam ships, eventually growing to become a vital player in the growth and development of the colony and the community of Balmain in the early 20th century. A booming industry of manufacturing, brass and metal foundries and mechanical workshops surrounded the dock. During World War II, the dock constructed a number of Australian warships, second only to the Cockatoo Island dockyard in the number of naval vessels produced. Shipbuilding declined during the post-war period and Mort’s dock closed in 1958. The Australian National Lines in the 1960’s filled in and bitumened the site to accommodate the wharf and aprons that sit now within the site for container shipping until 1979. In 1989, the site was transformed into a waterfront dog park.

1960’s Container Wharf Additions 1890’s Extended Dry Dock 1870’s Original Dry Dock

Infomation sourced from: “Mort’s Dock | NSW Environment & Heritage”. Last accessed November 10, 2017. Environment.

Nsw.Gov.Au. http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=5061224.

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1. State Archives and Records | Image of shipbuilding in Mort Bay c.1961 2. State Archives and Records | Image of Mort Bay dry dock c. 1911-1945 3. Library of Congress | Image of typical steam hammer that would have been used in the blacksmith workshops

The Concept Sydney was a maritime city from its inception; with our connection to the water entrenched deep within our culture. Mort Bay has played an integral role in the cities maritime history, which the Balmain Boat Building and Sailing School intend to revive by choosing it as the organizations new home. Thus adapting this historical factor into the building is of utmost importance.

Hence the structure aims to celebrate this connection to the water, learning and adapting from the key qualities of maritime architecture, especially the sailing boat. This vessel has played an important role in Sydney’s recreational history and one of the boats at the core of the schools focus. Key architectural concepts of operability, economy, manipulation and adaptability embodied within the vessel have been explored to create a functional yet poetic structure.

The structure emphasizes movement through circulation, with its spatial organization encouraging a ritual procession from land to sea. The layered operable elements imbed a tactile involvement, responsibility and control within the architecture referencing the connection a sailor has with his boat, resulting in a greater connection and understanding of space, adaptability and the environment. The building is intended to be a living structure, with the act of navigating the climate, movement of people and changes in use being the lifeblood on the structure.

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xca ate and fill

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Building

mass

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Subtract

to include ex-

Cut cassion to form pro-

em-

terior spaces and em-

cessional canal and en-

phasis

add

close/layer building with

site and historical con-

bridge to maintain public

skins adaptable to nature

nection

connection with habour

century dry dock to es-

shape

as

tablich a protected cove

phasising

wharf the

with

narrow harbour

circulation,

White Daplon Sailcloth | Emphasising movement and the nature of the harbour - used for canal promenade

Polycarbonate Louvred Panels | ro iding filtered di ussed light into the spaces - used for the inner skin

CLT | Refrencing the construction material of the boats and previous historical buildings used for primary structure

Brass | Referencing blacksmith history - used for the mechanical elements of the building

International Orange Nylon | Referencing bright sail colours of optimist boats - used for retractable awnings

PTFE Fibreglass Membrane | Referencing optimist sails - used for the tensile roof

T he Design

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Arrangement no.1 | Boatbuilding closed and maximum use as public/event space

Arrangement no.2 | Partial use as boat building school and extended gallery/public space

Arrangement no.3 | Full use as boat building school

The building utilizes a glulam framed and CLT platformed floor system, reinforced with brace bracing, while the main structure consists of a glulam portal framed system with CLT walls. The glulam members employ intricate connections inspired by traditonal japenese joinery to pay homage to the lost craft of the great timber structure entrenched in Sydneys maritime history. This allows for a flexible interior polycarbonate shell cladded in operable louvres, the middle portion of which is retactable, sliding along an industrial bottom roller system that allows the structure to adapt to changes in use. The exterior skin consists of an operable international orange pivoting and folding arm awning system which allows for the adaptation to place. Arrayed retractable dacron sailcloth curtains hang in the canal, establishing a moment that enhaces the procession by illustrating the nature of the site, its place and the structure itself. Polycarbonate roof sheeting covered by a hyper tensile canopy establishes the roof structure, the canopy material is PTFE fibreglass membrane which evokes the sleekness and lean nature of the sailboat. Pulleys and sliding platforms allow for efficient connections between spaces - A platform on a pulley and track system allows the traffic of goods and boats above the canal, the walkway across the caisson incorparates a drawbridge to allow the flow of boats through the canal at high tide and lifts allow the transition of boats between spaces and to the water.

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Long Section

Custom Markilux© 930 swing retractable and pivoting canvas awning system bolted to glulam beam via steel bracket

300x300 Dressed plantation Tasmanian oak Glulam post

60H Heavy duty roller chain finished in brushed steel

Brushed brass wheel pulley and locking mechanism

20mm Individual brushed steel rod railing screwed into fixing embeded in CLT floor panel

Awning System Detail | 1:20

2x 100x720mm Glulam rafter

100x720x950mm Glulam member

300x300mm Glulam post

100x520mm Glulam beam

100x520mm Glulam Joist

300x300mm Glulam post

Glulam Timber Construction | 1:50

The Model Birchwood, paper, trace paper, bronze wire, polypropylene, plywood, white card and acetate.

1.70 m x 0.49 m Scale 1:100

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The Essay | Adaptable Architecture The spaces we inhabit are vessels that contain the shifting urban landscape of people and place. Hence architecture is required to be in a constant state of flux such as the environment that surrounds it, adapting to changes in nature, spatial functions and context. Supported by modernist architectural principles and Kenzo Tange’s work, this design for The Balmain Boat Building and Sailing School presents a suitable solution for a sensitive site and demanding brief. It exemplifies how adaptable architecture can create a sustainable, functional public structure considerate of its place, users and context. The concept of adaptability presents as a larger solution to the establishment of a more livable and sustainable urban environment, designed specifically to the way we interact with space, nature and each other.

The Modernist architectural principle of form follows function stands as a foundation to which all architecture should be based upon. This idea exists as a pragmatic yet elegant attitude towards architecture, people, place and nature; where the beauty of form is derived from pure functionality. As expressed by Adolf Loos in Ornament and Crime, “The greatness of our age resides in our very inability to create new ornament”1. Architecture is no longer trapped by the confines of style and ornamentation, allowing the expression of pure beauty of form through functionalism. We only need to analyze traditional Japanese architecture to understand how function creates beautiful forms, tangibly and intangibly. The aesthetics are driven by a need for spaces and elements to change, be manipulated and conform to standardized measurements. Kenzo Tanges own home presents as a Modernist example of the Japanese architectural principles adapted to modern living2, where by functionality creates an elegant form. For example, the tatami and fusuma modular construction used to create literal and phenomenal transparency creates a human, beautiful and sensitive form for its users. Le Corbusier re-enforced these principles of functionality proclaiming “the aesthetic of the engineer”3. In his eyes buildings needed to be designed like that of humanities greatest machines, as they do not include anything more or less than is required and the

1. Loos, Adolf, and Adolf Opel, Ornament And Crime (California: Ariadne Press, 1998), 168.

2. Hildner, Claudia, Small Houses: Contemporary Japanese Dwellings (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2011), 17.

3. Le Corbusier, and Frederick Etchells, “Eyes That Do Not See” in Towards A New Architecture (London: Architectural Press, 1946), 151.

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[Fig. 1 and 2] Kenzo Tange, Architects Residence, 1953. Images from: https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/building/kenzo-tange-house. Last accessed November 12, 2017.

result is beautiful, highly functional pieces of design4. Following this way of thinking, the design understands the principles of sailing boats and how the manipulation and economy of its elements can create an elegant and poetic form via a priority on functionality and the adaptation towards people and place.

People are the nuclei of what architecture is, spaces are designed for people supporting and facilitating life. Yet our needs, wants and situations change, presenting a challenge for how architecture can adapt to this fluctuation. Structuralist’s such as Herman Herzberger proclaim it’s only through “possession of the structures through contact, interpretation or filling-in the details, do the structures achieve their full status”5. Essentially, it’s only by involving the user in the structure will functionality, growth and change be facilitated. As a proponent of Structralism and Metabolsim, Kenzo Tange exercised these ideas of adaptability, exploring organic growth and spatial flexibility through mega-structures and modular systems, such as in the Shizuoka Press and Broadcasting Center6. However as evident in designs requiring user participation, when complex or highly laborious gestures are required, rarely do users engage in altering their spaces. Hence in exploring this idea, the proposal for the sailing school attempts to employ simple, meaningful gestures of adaptation that significantly alter the buildings spatial configurations. The users of the proposed building are builders and sailor’s thus there is a desire for tactility, ultimately enhancing the operability embedded within the design. It’s this relationship that allows for a living structure; one that adapts to required changes to space and enforces Le Corbusiers idea of architects as creators of organisms7. The adaptability of space via user participation and operable elements becomes a facilitator for flexible architecture that has the potential to develop a livable and sustainable environment that can endure time itself.

Adaptability to place is essential to creating sustainable architecture grounded with a sense of meaning and purpose. Two elements of place that require consideration are the intangible (context) and the tangible (physical environment). Context refers to tradition and history, elements that form what ar

4. Corbusier, “Eyes That Do Not See”, 158.

5. Arnulf Lüchinger, Structuralism in Architecture and Urban Planning (Stuttgart: Krämer, 1980), 56.

6. Merin, Gili, “AD Classics: Shizuoka Press and Broadcasting Center / Kenzo Tange”. Archdaily. Last modified September 4, 2013, https://www.archdaily.com/422486/ad-classics-shizuoka-press-and-broadcasting-center-kenzo-tange.

7. Corbusier, “Eyes That Do Not See”, 158

[Fig. 3, 4 and 5] Concept models depicting ideas of adaptatability. Plywood, balsawood and polypropylene. 2017.

chitectural phenomenologist Christian Norberg–Schulz would describe as the Genius loci8. Adopting a Heideggerian approach towards architecture, he states “A place is a space which has a distinct character” and it’s an architects responsibility to visualize this character “to create meaningful places, whereby he helps man to dwell”9. By understanding the identity of place, true and meaningful connections between architecture, people and environment are established, allowing architecture to become a functional continuation of the landscape. In Tange’s work elements of the genius loci are clearly evident, such as in Tokyo’s St Mary’s Cathedral. He references the tradition of spectacle in religious architecture, understanding the grand and reflective spaces of gothic cathedrals10. However Norberg–Schulz also understood that places change and evolve11, thus we also need to consider how our buildings adapt to changes in context. The proposed design understands the connections, history and the traditions of maritime architecture and industry entrenched in Mort Bay. It’s expressed via materiality, construction, layout and respect towards the dry dock, capturing the experience and life of the urban environment. Yet it also considers the potential for change with place, establishing an open-ended space like that of the readapted wharfs of Sydney Harbor. It’s this connection to the sites context that allows it to become apart of the landscape, establishing an adaptable structure that enhances the identity of this polyvalent site.

Australia’s environment presents a unique opportunity to create livable and sustainable architecture, thus it’s key that our built environment adapts to physical elements of place. Land, air, sun and water are essential factors in the creation of architecture, as they create the landscape we build upon and facilitate urban life. Architecture that attempts to isolate these basic elements goes against the core principles of architecture, as in the words of John Ruskin, “firstly [architecture] must shelter us. And secondly, it must talk to us”12. Renowned Australian Pittwater architects such as Richard Lepastrier, Glen Murcutt and Pe 8.

Norberg-Schulz, Christian, “Place?” in Genius Loci: Towards A Phenomenology Of Architecture, (New York: Rizzoli,

1980), 9.

9.

Norberg-Schulz, Christian, “Place”, 5.

10. Zeballos, Carlos, “Kenzo Tange: St. Mary’s Cathedral, Tokyo”. Architecturalmoleskine, Blogspot. Last modified October 14, 2011, http://architecturalmoleskine.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/kenzo-tange-st-marys-cathedral-tokyo.html.

11. Norberg-Schulz, Christian, “Place”, 18.

12. Ozetecture, “Peter Stutchbury - Profile”. Ozetecture. Last accessed November 6, 2017, http://www.ozetecture.org/2012/ peter-stutchbury/.

[Fig. 6] Concept diagram of Shizuoka Press and Broadcasting Center highlighting the concept of spatial adaptability. Fineliner on trace. 2017

[Fig. 7] Concept diagram of St. Marys Cathedral Tokyo illustrating the adaptation of context. Fineliner on trace. 2017

ter Stutchbury epitomize this statement, as their architecture engages in a conversation with these basic elements and through it, they ground their buildings and users in a sense of place. In turn they encapsulate the character of the environment to create very human and comfortable spaces. Norberg-Schulz’ emphasized this connection, suggesting buildings must ensure people belong to a place by completely understating its properties13. The proposed design utilizes manually operable skins to adapt to the natural environment; embedding a tactile involvement between user, building and environment that fosters a greater understanding of space, environment and place. Fundamentally, architecture needs to be a living entity that navigates the landscape as the seasons change to provide livable and sustainable structures.

Through careful considerations of people and place, this design for the Balmain Boat Building and Sailing School stands as an exemplary example of an adaptable and functional attitude towards architecture. Via a light, meaningful touch towards place and operability of skins and spaces, what is proposed is a structure exemplifying architecture of sustainability and livability. It is a structure that withstands time, changes in use and purpose, developing a strong connection with its place and users. Essentially it encapsulates the notion that people and place should not adapt to architecture; but rather architecture should adapt to people and place.

13. Norberg-Schulz, Christian, “Place”, 18

[Fig. 8] Sketch diagrams of the proposed designs adaptation to place. Fineliner, pencil and marker on trace. 2017

Books Engel, Heino, Measure And Construction Of The Japanese House (Vermont:Charles E. Tuttle Co, 1985) Hildner, Claudia, Small Houses: Contemporary Japanese Dwellings (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2011).

Le Corbusier, and Frederick Etchells, “Eyes That Do Not See” in Towards A New Architecture (London: Architectural Press, 1946).

Loos, Adolf, and Adolf Opel, Ornament And Crime (California: Ariadne Press, 1998) Lüchinger, Arnulf, Structuralism in Architecture and Urban Planning (Stuttgart: Krämer, 1980).

Norberg-Schulz, Christian, “Place?” in Genius Loci: Towards A Phenomenology Of Architecture, (New York: Rizzoli, 1980).

Schmidt, Robert, and Simon Austin, Adaptable Architecture: Theory and Practice. (London: Routledge, 2016) Websites Merin, Gili, “AD Classics: Shizuoka Press and Broadcasting Center / Kenzo Tange”. Archdaily. Last modified September 4, 2013, https://www.archdaily.com/422486/ad-classics-shizuoka-press-andbroadcasting-center-kenzo-tange.

NSW Government, “Mort’s Dock | NSW Environment & Heritage”. Last accessed November 10, 2017. Environment.Nsw.Gov.Au. http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=5061224 Ozetecture, “Peter Stutchbury - Profile”. Ozetecture. Last accessed November 6, 2017, http://www. ozetecture.org/2012/peter-stutchbury/.

Zeballos, Carlos, “Kenzo Tange: St. Mary’s Cathedral, Tokyo”. Architecturalmoleskine, Blogspot. Last modified October 14, 2011, http://architecturalmoleskine.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/kenzo-tange-stmarys-cathedral-tokyo.html.