Old Steine Gardens

EWAN MALLOCH

21845363

MASTERS OF ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN DESIGN DESIGN 1: URBAN STRATEGIES AIM17_2021

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON

2021-22.

PORTFOLIO.

REVEALING THE OLD STEINE GARDENS

EWAN MALLOCH STUDENT NUMBER: 21845363 MASTER OF ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN DESIGN DESIGN 1: URBAN STRATEGIES AIM17_2021 2021-2022 SUMMATIVE PORTFOLIO SUBMISSION DATE: 09/12/21 THE UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON

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Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

CONTENTS 6 —

FASCINATION

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THE WELLESEBOURNE

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THE UNDERWORLD

28 —

ANCESTORY

32 —

OLD STEINE

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SUDS - SPONGE CITIES

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INTERVENTION

52 —

PROPOSAL

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Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

01.

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FASCINATION. INQUISITION.

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Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

Castle Square has been identified as an area of ‘Fascination’. Whilst visiting the site a few key lines of enquiry stood out to me.

First of all the distinct change in volume whilst passing through the different areas of the site. The pavilion gardens stood out as a place of solace from the noise of central Brighton to the North, South and East. To the West The New Road provides a middle ground that has a rise in atmosphere and volume but in a different sense to the noise of Buses, taxis and cars. The pedestrianised street stands out as a positive piece of urban design within the sites bounds. I mapped the decibels at a series of points across the site and mapped them to illustrate my feelings and to help initiate the process of thinking through drawing (page 6 and page 9).

Whilst analysing the site using historic and geological maps of the area I established a second area of inquisition. The central, forked backbone that runs through the centre of Brighton has been an ever present feature of the urban landscape even before modern infrastructure took hold. This triggered questions about the way in which ‘the past’ influences the present with regards to Urban Design. Furthermore the way in which these influences build up as layers of history within the city. This intrigue became the foundation for my design exploration for Castle Square.

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Above; Line Map of the South Downs Right: Fascination study, highlighting areas of intrest within the Caste Square Site.

INQUISITION.

Areas of Fascination, Castle Square.

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Ewan Malloch

02.

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Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

THE WELLESBOURNE

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Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

The Wellesbourne River

Upon further research I established that the reason for this ever present feature of Brighton’s history was the ‘Wellesbourne’ river. A river that carved through the Sussex landscape a long time ago. Although no longer a permanently running river, the Wellesbourne continues to influence the landscape even today. As the water table rises through the porous chalk exposed by the old river the flat areas at the bottom of the Wellesbourne valley become flooded and as a result surrounding land has remained largerly unusable.

This drawing is an initial response to the themes I encountered during my initial research. It

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shows the Wellesbourne carving through the landscape. The section drawing at the bottom illustrates the underground flow of water of the “invisible river” that only surfaces when the water level rises to a sufficient height. The layered mapping on the right and left side of the drawing talk to the evolution of the urban landscape over the course of Brighton’s history. I feel this drawing was successful to an extent, it manages to incorporate all the themes I was thinking about into one succinct drawing. However, it feels congested and overly full. The next step was to compact these ideas into a clearer and more concise drawing.

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Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

The Hidden River.

The Wellesbourne river was the formative force that established the sunken spine of Brighton’s urban landscape. This series of drawings illustrates the influence that history has had over Brighton’s built environment and the layering dynamic of the forces at play. In particular, this drawing synopsises the themes of the previous drawing into a clearer and more manageable package. The strands running between the historical map, the landscape, and the hidden river illustrate the layering processes and the intrinsic connection between these defining urban factors.

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THE WELLESBOURNE

Ewan Malloch

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Ewan Malloch

03.

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

THE UNDERWORLD

“As we have amplified our ability to shape the world, so we become more responsible for the long afterlives of that shaping. The Anthropocene asks of us the question memorably posed by the immunologist Jonas Salk: ‘Are we being good ancestors?”

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Robert Macpharlane

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Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

What Lies Beneath?

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My research into the hidden underground river led my explorations downwards, beneath Brighton. I began to explore the presence of the often forgotten world beneath the surface. I found that exploring and speculating on the subterranean environment provided me a new outlook on urban design.

Viewing the world though a new lens informed by the writings of Calvino (in particular their short story ‘Summer’) helped to break down some of the urban constructs that often limit design thinking. Furthermore, I.G Simmons view on the ‘objective environment’ helped to expand my understanding of what we as humans perceive as our surrounding environment.

Hidden Underworld To the illustate the precense of the influential forgotten about underworld.

Ray Traced Section of Brighton Rhino Model. Conceptually speculating on the world below.

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Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

Robert Macpharlane “I am reminded once more of how resistant the underland remains to our usual forms of seeing; how it still hides so much from us, even in our age of hyper-visibility and ultra-scrutiny.”

Pavillion Site

Hidden Rivers Rise.

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Although now well drained the ‘Wellesborne’ (although not an actual river) still rises during periods of heavy rain and stormy weather as the water permeates through the ground chalk. The illustration on the left shows a conceptual visulisation of the permeation up to the urban world above.

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Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

Strata build up, Royal pavillion bore hole

Water levels, Royal pavillion bore hole

2021 - 2022

Bore Holes In order to try and understand Brighton’s underworld better and to begin to reveal the layers of history beneath the urban surface I started looking at revealing elements such as bore holes and wells. The bore holes provided me with a break down of the strata build up beneath the pavilion near Castle Square. They also revealed the minimum and maximum water levels, giving me a better grasp of the sort of changes that happen unknowingly under our feet.

SURFACE

0000ft

0100ft UPPER CHALK 0200ft

0300ft FLINT MIDDLE CHALK

0400ft

SEA LEVEL

LOWER CHALK 0500ft GREY + BLUE MARL

0600ft

0700ft

UPPER GREENSAND

0800ft

0900ft GAUNT 1000ft HYBRID STRATA

The Lost Men - Royal Pavillion and Museum

1100ft

1200ft

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tztIic8xaCQ&t=1s Woodingdean Well

LOWER GREENSAND 1300ft

Another particularly interesting finding was the Woodingdean Well. A hand dug well which commenced in 1862 and finally hit water, four years later in 1862, at a depth of 1285ft. Making it the deepest hand dug well in the world, a title it holds even today. An incredible feet for the time and as a result special coins and a shell were made to commemorate the achievement. Stories and folklore of the men that dug the well speculate as to the world they encountered 1000s of feet below the worlds surface. See ‘the lost men’ video for further context, I’e attempted to embed the video above.

Well Depth Visualisation of the depth of Woodingdean Well in comparison to the empire state building showing the sections of strata the men dug through and the depth they reached. The Well now sits sealed and forgotten in a Nuffield Health car park. Another reminant of history hidden beneath the surface.

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Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

It was important at this point to change scales and begin to zoom in on the castle square site and begin to apply the themes that I uncovered on a more local area.

Water Levels

THE UNDERWORLD

Changing Scales

Using the bore hole information and key dates when the wellesbourne valley flooded I created this drawing showing the rise and fall of the water table beneath the Brighton pavilion.

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Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

Ground Explorations Exploratory drawing speculating on the underground world, showing the layers of rock and the layers of the urban landscape sculpted by the generations before us.

Castle Square Bore hole site map from 1976 showing the Castle Square site.

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Ewan Malloch

04.

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Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

ANCESTORY ‘Are we being good Ancestors?”

Jonas Salk

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Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

Ancestory

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I became interested in the urban remnants left by the generations before us and how we now live in a world curated by our ancestors. As a result, I made the drawing on the left to explore the users of each century and their influence on the urban landscape. Above is two landscape explorations showing the geological build up. Explaining the sunken spine created as a result of the old Wellesborne river.

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Ewan Malloch

05.

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

THE OLD STEINE

Under Ground Sewer Network In order to combat The Level’s constant flooding and the formation of cesspools behind nearby properties, a small brick sewer network was commissioned in the 19th century.

Construction on the main intercepting sewer began in 1871 and finished 3 years later in 1874 due to unexpectedly large volumes of water.

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With the help of the ‘Brighton Past’ Facebook page I created this map of the current sewer network (left), illustrating the mass convergence of sewers beneath Old Steine Gardens.

Initially, it was the presence of this underground activity that drew me to Old Steine Gardens as an area of focus within the Castle Square site.

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Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

Under Ground Sewer Network Prior to the construction of the sewer network, Old Steine Gardens was a marshy, derelict area which drained water into Pool Valley to the South East of the Gardens. Stagnant water covered this land which was used for drying fishing nets and storing boats in the 18th Century. Since the creation of the underground sewer network, though the amount of flooding in the surrounding area has been reduced, Old Steine Gardens remains largely unused.

The sewers were an engineering feet at the time. Brighton’s sewer network was amongst the largest in the UK proportional to the city’s size. However today, in a modern, and more environmentally conscious society, we should be adopting less invasive and destructive solutions to these natural processes that can threaten us.

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“For centuries it was an ill-drained area of grassland, devoid of trees, with the intermittent Wellesbourne flowing down the western side; indeed it was probably its swampy nature that prevented any development upon it.”

THE OLD STEINE

Ewan Malloch

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Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

Sewer Isometric 3D Sewer Isometric Drawing illustrating the mass sewer network beneath the Old Steine Gardens and the drainage out to sea beneath Brighton Pier.

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Ewan Malloch

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Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

SUDS - SPONGE CITIES

“We require a broad range of solutions to a long-term problem.

We could start by insisting on the greatest degree of permeable ground in all new developments. We should also break up as many existing concrete and tarmac surfaces as we can and plant trees and shrubs in their place. Our cities must become more sponge-like.”

David Grandorge

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Master of Architectural and Urban Design

Sustainable Urban Drainage

2021 - 2022

Case Studies

This project has increased my awareness of the vital importance of sustainable drainage in the face of the environmental emergency our society is experiencing, as extreme weather and widespread flooding become more common but no less threatening.

Sustainable urban Drainage Systems, or SuDS, provide a solution to the management of surface water runoff from the urban ground. SuDS allow ground water recharge which reduces water pollution. They also enhance biodiversity, and provide landscape amenity enhancement.

The integration of Sustainable urban Drainage Systems into Old Steine Gardens would provide the site with improved functionality, increase community benefit, and would also help to expose and preserve the sites history - a key driving force throughout this project.

Climate change poses numerous threats to our planet so it is absolutely crucial that we rethink the ways in which our human, urban environment interacts with natural, environmental processes. A series of new developments in China, ‘sponge cities’, encapsulate this ethos on a vast scale. These city wide strategies effectively manage and integrate water absorption.

What is a sponge city?

A sponge city is an urban area which has been designed to cope with excess rainfall using a variety of techniques. Existing urban areas often have to deal with flooding caused by heavy rain, high tides or swollen rivers, and sponge city design can mitigate or prevent such events by providing the area with the ability to naturally absorb the water.

Ulsoor Lake, Bangalore

Simply reducing the number of hard surfaces and increasing the amount of absorbent land, particularly green space, can make a significant difference in reducing the severity and frequency of flooding events.

Supplementing this approach with efficient channelling and storage systems can help to counter the frequency of water shortages, which can be particularly acute in large cities.

Piet Oudolf, Soft Edges, Transition Between Marshland and Paving

Xiong’an masterplan, Sustainable Urban Drainage Design - Sponge City 40

SUDS - SPONGE CITIES

Ewan Malloch

Malmo Sweden 41

Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

07.

Initial Ideation.

The Old Steine Gardens were introduced at the end of the 19th century. The gardens featured a spectacular fountain and was in many ways an upperclass eden. What is now a bus stop, was once a place for live performances and at times was used as a meteorological station.

Since opening, the Garden has fallen into disrepair and visitor numbers are very low. It is now frequented by late night partygoers and is an area of unusually high criminal activity. It is dark and dangerous in the evenings and an awkward thoroughfare during the day. These factors, combined with the marshy site and interesting history, encouraged me to focus on The Old Steine Gardens as a point for intervention.

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INTERVENTION The latest Uk Climate Projections (UKCP09) show that in the south east of England there is a 90% chance that winter mean precipitation will increase by 55%, and summer mean precipitation will increase by 7% by 2080 43

Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

Inital Sketching.

Revealing the sites past was a key part of this project.

However as a result I felt it important not to impede too heavily on the existing historical aspects of the site. The fountain for instance pertains to a certain era of the gardens existence and it would challenge the ambitions of retaining and revealing the hidden landscape were it to be removed. Similarly, initial ideas of changes in height through the movement of ground and formation of mounds contradicted my fundamental design constraints.

This initial sketch shows my thought process at the time. I wondered if there was some way for the gardens to interact with the the sewer network below. However I think this would have taken away from the main goals of this project and created too many challenges. Beginning to consider the introduction of water elements on the site as well as returning elements of the site to marshland.

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Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

Reflection Reflecting on the different elements of the gardens history helped me to progress the design. I managed to establish that historically the west side of the site was especially susceptible to flooding and standing water built up frequently, when pool valley flooded.

This information helped me to begin to break down the large site and begin to position my interventions within the sites boundary.

Developmental Sketching.

These more developed sketches show me beginning to place different elements within the site. I also identified a key sightline/ potential thoroughfare across the South West corner of the site. This was due to the somewhat convoluted mishmash of roads, islands, paths and bus lanes leading from Brighton Pier to Castle Square.

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Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

Layering

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Using some of my previous visualisations I began to layer the site in order to break down different sections and begin to reveal the gardens hidden history in a contemporary way. I took my sketches into Rhino and began to model some standing water pools (on the west side of the site where the water would build up hundreds of years ago) and a series of timber walkways. All whilst maintaining the existing and recognisable quartered layout of the gardens. I envisioned the bus shelter as a meeting place, coffee spot or some form of weather/ climate station, harking back to the buildings history as a meteorological station and performance space.

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Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

Idea Refinement In these design evolutions two small timber bridges pass over the standing water in order to allow the water to flow freely. This shallow pool whilst echoing the history of Old Steine Gardens past also acts as a SuD solution, providing a body of water for urban run off to drain into. Equally the reclaimed marshland, covered by raised timber walkways, provides direct infiltration through a permeable top soil.

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Inital Site Plan Concept

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Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

08.

2021 - 2022

PROPOSAL

Revealing Old Steine Gardens 52

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Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

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Site Plan

A

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Revealing Old Steine Gardens. Stemming from my fascination with the hidden layers of Brightons urban history this proposal incorporates a re-wilding strategy that reveals and reignites the gardens marshy history. Strategically positioned SuDS pools provide the sight with a new lease of life and sense of purpose and reflect the historic condition of the site and the war memorial to the North of the Gardens. The raised timber walk ways, that follow important sight lines, provide a unique perspective to visitors as they pass over the rejuvenated ecosystem. The intention of these interventions are to reveal not to add upon. As a result, the overall layout of the gardens remains largely unchanged. The intercepting sewer meets the corner of the site on the East side and can be used in emergencies to redirect excess standing water from the SuDS pools.

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Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022 A

A

Long Section This Section (A-A) shows the different elements of the site to human scale and illustrates the fluid dynamic of the water containing elements. Each detail illustrates the water flow during heavy rainfall and how the renewed marsh ecosystem helps to absorb urban drain off overflow. The Raised nature of the timber walkways allow for water to pass underneath and flow freely within the site boundaries. In order to combat the antisocial behaviour and crime within the park during the night, large solar powered lights are positioned throughout the gardens.

Providing a safer environment for nighttime users. The small building on the site, shall be a multi-purpose space.

That provides information on the sites history and the reestablished ecosystems. i 56

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Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

Exploded Axonometric.

The exploded axonometric shows the layering build up of the proposed additions to the site and reflects my conceptual design ideology, revealing hidden history. The potential of the forgotten landscape has been harnessed in order to provide increased utility, Old Steine Gardens will now act as an urban sponge and help protect the surrounding urban landscape as environmental changes take place as a result of climate change.

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Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

Timber Walk Ways The timber walkways will sit above the marshy ground on short stilts allowing water and nutrients to flow beneath. Over flow during excessive rainfall and flooding from the SuDs Pools will seep into the sponge like marshland below the walkways and drain towards the centre of the site where it will return to the water table through the permeable topsoil.

Marshland The marshland will improve the water quality by acting as a sink to filter pollutants and sediment from the water that flows through them. The marshland will absorb water during periods of heavy rainfall and slowly release it into water table and out to sea, therefore reducing the potential for flooding. The marshland will encourage increased tourism, recreation, education, and research.

Phragmites australis The common reed, to be planted in the water and along the timber walways and edges of concrete pathways.

Tall Grass Tall grass will grow in the drier areas of the site and be allowed to go wild, encouraging wildlife to live and thrive within.

Algae Algae will be encouraged in the water and marshland, providing the ecosystem with essential nutrients and creating a wild evironment for wildlife.

Peat Beneath the water and marsh the peat will also provide nutrients and act as a sponge and natural water filter for the urban run off.

Limited Slab Surrounding the multi-use building in the North West corner of the site is a minimal portion of stone paving. Providing a strong and sturdy base for outside dinning and information boards. The paving has been kept to an absolute minimum in order to maximise permiable land.

SuDS Pools The SuDS pools are positioned to reflect the old standing water that would historically build up on the site. However their design allows for overflow into the marshland towards the sites centre. The water will not be treated an as a result will be encouraged to build up and retain flora and fauna. The Pools will only be between half a metre and a metre deep, in order to maintain a level of safety for visitors.

Infiltration Direction Direction of water flow if SuDS Pools were to overflow. Gradient of the site drains towards the centre. The SuDS pool to the North East of the site joins with the overflow sewer chamber for emergency drainage.

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Ewan Malloch

Master of Architectural and Urban Design

2021 - 2022

EWAN MALLOCH STUDENT NUMBER: 21845363 MASTER OF ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN DESIGN DESIGN 1: URBAN STRATEGIES 2021-2022 SUMMATIVE PORTFOLIO SUBMISSION DATE: 09/12/21

Perspective Section This section shows the timber raised timber walkways and drainage gradient of the marshland, with overflow gutter. The fountain will remain the centre piece of the gardens, in order to maintain and build upon the sites layered history.

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