Isaac Howell Portfolio 25 by IsaacHowellArchitecture

Isaac Howell

NOTT ING HAM 3

Design Grade First

Project Brief

Design a civic laboratory of change, which is to be experimental and meets the needs of future generations.

Project Response

Responding to the severe mental health decline in the UK over the last 30 years it is imperative that we design for human health, not profit. My interpretation of Gestalt therapy is that a connection of the Mind, Body and Earth in the present moment grounds, allowing people to focus on their personal wellbeing.

The proposal introduces a therapy centre scattered through trees and nature, promoting a grounding Paleolithic mindset; a ceramics centre buried deep into the Earth, serving as a sanctuary for individuals seeking to engage in contemplative practices; and an exhibition to articulate the journey of emotions through therapy, providing insight into what friends or family could be going through. I aim to promote a new typology of building for the modern city, one not focused on scale, efficiency and refined materials but instead connection to nature and the vernacular.

Green Space

The site is the only public green space in the vicinity

Location

Greens Windmill, Sneinton, Nottingham

The majority of the surroundings is terrace housing

Scheme Overview

Designation and Focal Points

Ceramics Workshop

Concept

: Connection of Mind, Body and Earth

Development

Initial Development Explosion

Developed a highly functional arrangement of spaces

Exploded the building into it’s components

Re-Assembly Refinement

Rotated, stretched, and submerged the volumes, developing a unique form intertwined with the Earth

Treated the building’s volumes as a hand in clay and roots in the Earth to ground

L 0.5 Plan 1:250

Ceramics Detail

Above Ground

Drip

Bio-crete Support with Drainage

Water Proof Barrier

250mm Rigid Insulation

SFS Supporting External Concrete

215mm Reinforced Bacteria Concrete

Reinforced Bacteria Concrete

Air Tight Membrane

Passive Window Frame

Insect Mesh over Weep Holes

Weep Holes

Tensegrity Supporting Bracket

Aluminium Flashing

Bio-crete Panelling

Water Proof Membrane

200mm Insulation between Metal Bracing

Air Tight Membrane

260mm Reinforced Bacteria Concrete

40mm Bacteria Concrete

Under Floor Heating and 50mm Rigid Insulation

Reinforced Bacteria Concrete Pile Foundation

205mm Rigid Insulation

Filter Fleece

Aggregate

Filter Fleece

Drainage Layer

Waterproof Membrane behind Elastic Tanking

Insulative Concrete

Permeable Drain

Ceramics

Distraction

Exhibition of Distraction

Geometry

A square form holds no tension, providing a sense of safety. The mind can become distracted

Compression & Release

Compression through the exhibition provides discomfort. Release settles the mind

Inserting Nature

The blank canvas allows nature to be highlighted as the focal point

Concrete

A stone like material synonymous with safety provides little stimuli, a neutral canvas

Form-work

Visible concrete form-work will guide the eye to the canopy above, connecting the self to nature

Seating and Shelter

Seating and shelter slows down life, encouraging the mind to wander to calmer places

Café

Openness

The café, entered through the exhibition, opposes the previous cramped, un-comforting corridors

Columns & Trees

Placing the columns ‘organically’ makes them read as the trees outside

Functionality

All café amenities need to be provided, along with complete disabled inclusiveness

Movement

Organic movement similar to walking through a forest, whilst slowly reintroducing people from the exhibition to the café, metaphorically the journey from therapy to society

Blending Environments

Broken heighted concrete walls have clear properties of both building and nature. The resulting windows encourage cross ventilation, mimicking wind within a forest

Lattice & Canopy

The wooden lattice extending from the building connects the roof to the outside canopy, completing the column-tree trunk connection

Cafe Wall Column Detail: Scale 1:25 Card, Beech, MDF

Therapy

Primary Focus for Therapy Spaces:

No Bias

The buildings hold no weighting of one space over another, supporting the client in following their own process

Privacy

All spaces feel private without feeling overlooked, supporting a sense of safety

Primary Focus for Therapy Reception:

Thresholds

A harsh threshold to enter a space engenders a sense of security. It dislocates from the outside chaos and relocates to a designated, emotionally contained space

Ease of Entry

In juxtaposition to a harsh threshold, ease of entry is essential for people trying to avoid conflict. The threshold to enter therapy must both be permeable and defined

Therapy Reception

Long Path

The path to entry can be the most challenging aspect to therapy, through creating a vague threshold the harshness of entry is diluted

Delineated Threshold

To engender safety a clear threshold is required, by slowly building up the arrival the central wall is easy to pass, while still being read as a delineator of safety

Low Ceiling

Once the threshold is passed the low ceiling guides the eyes into nature, acting as a clear relocation from the clients

external life

Column Density

To ease entry, column density acts as a cradling screen. Entering with low density columns is easy, while the door to fully enter the building is hidden behind dense columns, being both permeable and hidden

Therapy Rooms

Spatial Delineation Submergence

To support all therapeutic situations, internal, semi-external and external spaces need to be provided. The latter increasing connection to nature

Submerging the external space provides a grounded comfort, stillness and privacy without detracting from nature above

Perfect forms on a common grid make the space as predictable as possible, reducing conflict and tension

When entering the space all internal, external and semi-external spaces are visible and equally accessible

WHIT BY 1

Design Grade

Project Brief

Transform a Grade II Listed building into a whaling museum featuring a ‘crows nest’ lift

Project Response

Whaling was once the main trade in Whitby, a brutal and exhausting job. This museum captures the sense of being out in the Atlantic Ocean - cold, isolated and exposed.

The intervention hosts an external entrance constructed by the same method as a whaling ship’s hull. An external corridor intermittently clad in rusted metal only partially protects from the environment, amplifying the wind.

An external exhibition overlooks the sea without shelter. Local artists sculptures depict ‘Exposure’ as the building’s revealed structure reaches down.

The sea enters the internal exhibition, filling it with salty, dampened cold air. A feeling far too familiar to whalers of the early 1800’s.

External Exhibition

External Section - Drawn at 1:100

The lift sits within a glass case, surrounded by brick - a material synonymous with safety. As the lift rises the secure brickwork crumbles, replacing a sense of safety with vulnerability

External Exhibition - Local Artists’ sculptures depicting ‘Exposure’

External Exhibition - Exposure to the elements, building structure and vernacular materials

BRIS TOL 1 & 2

Bristol 1: First

Bristol 2: High Two One

Project Brief

Bristol 1: Create a Masterplan to rejuvenate the Urbanised Marsh Land of Bristol. The Design should Include Hybrid Housing.

Bristol 2: Convert a small portion of the Master plan to Passivhaus Standards

Project Response

Modern day cities were developed around industry and efficiency. To bring back to my philosophy ‘slow life down’ I developed a fractured master plan, Design Grade

Enclosed, semi-enclosed, open, meadow, urban, private, public, covered, shaded and sunny areas are scattered throughout the site suiting all functions

To unify people, the city and nature the main flow follows the canal and greenery as they intertwine with the buildings. The vernacular clay dug for the canal is used to render the buildings

Initial Massing Added typologies and diversity to each building, forming unique identities

Buildings raise towards the North providing all with Southern light. Shelter and aerodynamic roofs protect against wind turbulence and channelling

Vertically enlarged shop floors and string-courses emphasise the shops, denoting residential from commercial

Adding windows and balconies supports human scale; creating life that interacts between every level, engendering community and safety

Seating, plants, bike stands and small businesses spill out on to the street, creating practical, naturalistic, trancendable spaces. Deciduous trees and the canal aid the micro-climate throughout the seasons

Passivhaus Detail

This building uses a proprietary SIPS Panel and a Glulam construction to Passivhaus standards, resulting in an estimated EUI of 13 kWh/m²/yr (Passivhaus requires under 90 kWh/m²/yr)

Using Sefaira and PreDesign I concluded large levels of shading, photovoltaics and a square form factor allow for a very efficient building.

The triple glazed windows connect with an airtight membrane on the internal skin and a water tight membrane on the external skin, reducing air infiltration drastically. Sustainable measures used in the design are shown on the right.

The canal is used as a large thermal mass for underfloor heating/cooling.

Generation

Heat Recovery

and Active Shading

The Waverley

Location:

62-63 Market Pl, Chippenham

SN15 3HG

Project Brief

Retrofit the Grade II listed Waverley Café back into a prominent bar in the centre of Chippenham

Project Response

Designed a bar and internal space sympathetic with the historic building - while implementing modern standards commensurate with modern night life.

My Involvement

Stage 0-3

Present at all client meetings. Responsible for concept design, all drawings, all photographs and all detailing under the supervision of the lead architect

The Waverley West Elevation Photograph, Isaac Howell 2024

The Waverley West Elevation Drawn at 1:50 by Isaac Howell

The Waverley Taproom, Isaac Howell 2024

The Waverley Bar, Isaac Howell 2024

The Waverley Foot Rest Detail, Isaac Howell 2024

The Waverley Bar Elevation Drawn at 1:10 by Isaac Howell

The Waverley South Elevation Drawn at 1:50 by Isaac Howell

Sheelin Lodge

Location: Wiltshire

Project Brief

Retrofit and extend an ex-hunters lodge into a sustainable family dwelling. Design focus on connection to nature, exposed structure, timber and water.

Project Response

One vaulted single storey wing, with exposed timber ties and columns in rhythm with glazing. Surface water to take aesthetic prominence. Internal re-work.

My Involvement

Stage 4

After planning permission granted.

Present at client meetings. Responsible for all technical design under the supervision of the lead architect