Kieran Withey Application Portfolio
Contents: 1 Yr 3 Final Project: Vtopiae
A future society that uses Sir Thomas More’s Utopia as the manuscript for a new age of society built from the ashes of a post Brexit United Kingdom.
2 Yr 3: Body Architecture
A look at how architecture and the built enviroment can cause emotions. This project looks at how the feeling of isolation can be created.
3 Placement work: Pylle Manor Grade II*
Refurbishment of a Grade II* manor house to meet the demands of a family in the twenty first century whilst protecting and repairing it’s historical features.
4 Placement work: Victoria Road Development
Design for seven, three bedroom houses on a brown field site within Frome, Somerset. Looking closesly at brick detailing.
5 Yr 2: Community Hub 6 Yr 2: Later living Housing Project.
7 Analogue Photography work
Yr 3 Society: Vtopiae
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rrival at Vtopiae, a society born from the ashes of Brexit.
The decision by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union has left our society facing great uncertainty about the future. At the time of writing and working on this project the UK Government is still at a negotiation stage with the EU, leaving the UK no wiser about their future. The BBC and other news outlets can only speculate as to which deal or no deal Brexit will hold for the UK. They have reported that the cost of living will rise, food shortages and unemployment will increase. Within the scenario of this project a ‘No deal’ Brexit has taken place leaving the UK in a dystopian condition. The project looks at using Sir Thomas More’s Book Utopia written in 1551 as the manuscript for a new age of society within a dystopian post apoca-brexit UK and how More’s idea of a ‘perfect’ society could influence architecture. The book produces the brief of the core spaces that are needed for the society to function. These spaces and their function reflect the nature of a new age of society and therefore do not relate to spaces that we use today. In brief the society is about being pure, communal and self sufficient and places emphasis on craft and academia. The ambition is that the architecture will reflect the values of the society.
Setting the Scene TODAY: BREXIT NEGOTIATIONS
2020: REVOLUTION
20??: NOMADIC SCAVENGER LIFE
20??: TOWNSHIPS
2088: DECLARATION OF PEACE
2103: VTOPIAE, Date of Project
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31st OCTOBER 2019: NO DEAL BREXIT
2023: AFTERMARTH OF REVOLUTION
20??: HOMESTEAD
2072: 16 YEAR WARS
209?: REVIVAL OF THE PAST
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all of Bristol. The revolution makes Bristol a danger zone. Refuge camps are set up at airports and ferry terminals. Some stay in the wastelands post revolution. Others migrate to main land Europe or America.
cavenged. Those that stayed follow a nomadic lifestyle moving between old cities scavenging whatever they can to survive.
eturn and shift. Vtopiae becomes the new centre of Old Bristol, drawing people back to a formal society or providing a trade centre for the nomads.
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rowth. Vtopiae becomes the centre of a network of trading settlements all following the same ideology as Vtopiae.
The Island 2020-2023 REVOLUTION: Site used as military base for Bristol. Gabion military defence wall.
2020 BEGINNING OF REVOLUTION: Site used as Brexit refuge camp. Temporary hoarding established.
16 YEAR WAR: Site used for natural defence and access to water. Thick concrete wall established.
2090: Establishment of small dwellings behind the wall. Wall in derelict status
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he Island located at the entrance to the floating harbour would historically represent the end to many who transported goods on the open water. It is now however dominated by the
road and Plimsoll Bridge, that cuts right through the site. This has directly isolated this part of Bristol (Hotwells) from the rest of Bristol.
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he wall is one of the only architectural elements that More speaks of within his book,
The town is surrounded by thick, high walls, with many towers and bastions”. (More 1992, Pg.34)
Within the project the wall has been developed so to correspond the time-line and the events that lead up to the date of the project.
Society Within the Wall
SELF SUFFICIENT
COMMUNAL
PRODUCTION
KNOWLEDGE SHARED/TRADE
The Orginals, Colonist of More’s new “perfect” society. Names unknown:
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he society that More has described places an emphasis on five aspects; production of goods and food, being self sufficient, a communal shared lifestyle and desire of knowledge and academia.
Within Vtopiae there is no greed as there is plenty for everyone and there is no fear that others have taken too much because there is always enough. Nothing is owned by one person, it is owned by everyone.
Cycle of life
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griculture is the one occupation at which everyone works, men and women alike no exceptions.” (More 1992, pg. 36)
The role of working on the farms is shared equally amongst the community. In total on each farm there is 20 people working, each year 10 people move out and swap with the 10 people that have been there the longest. Resulting in everyone doing 2 years agricultural work and understanding where their food comes from. Those that wish to stay on the farm can do so.
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aw materials and goods are brought to Vtopiae from farms and quarries within the district.
Items picked up by the nomadic scavengers are traded for foods or exchanged for items produced by the society. The items from the society are either kept within the warehouses or sent back to the surrounding district.
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f the twenty four hours in the day, the Utopians devote only six to work. They work three hours before noon, when they go to lunch. After lunch they rest for a couple of hours, then go to work for another three hours. Then they have supper, and at eight o’clock they go to bed and sleep eight hours….. public lectures before day break.” (More 1992, Pg 37) The adjusted time table reads, wake up first light, wash (every other day), breakfast and lectures before 9:30am, work three hours, lunch leisure and education, followed by three hours of work, dinner and leisure. The daily routine of the project places an emphasis on using the spaces during daylight hours coupled with the fact that within the project, electricity is a finite resource resulting in the need for orientation and glazing to be carefully considered.
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ithin the book More does not describe the architecture or the plan of the city within Utopia, but speaks primarly of how the society functions. This includes speaking about the roles that each member plays, the daily routine
and how the main city is just one piece within a much larger network. It is by understanding the elements of the society that the architecture and the requirements of the built enviroment can be developed.
Master Plan Development
Lose the connection of the market where goods can be exchanged and requested and the water
Entering directly into the market place, acts as a courtyard that is surrounded by the production area, Great hall and the waters edge.
RESPECT THE WALL
Adjusting the size of the plan, lose its historic character.
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t was clear after reading through Utopia that the style of the plan should follow a monastic style, with everything being confined within a defensive wall. The initial space planning was about creating internal courtyards of areas within the greater walls of the site.
It was important to begin to think about the order of the activities throughout the day and how the daily routine of the society would dictate how spaces need to relate.
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nitial thoughts of the project were to look at production and the running of the society as two separate parts. The production had its own sequence of events where raw goods would be unloaded, processed, crafted and then stored for use. The middle link between the production side of the society and the running of the society was
the market. Initial idea was to place the spaces against the wall but after consideration I decided to treat the wall as a historical feature that should be protected as a homage to how it had protected the society over so many years.
Poetry of the Tectonic
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he column and how it was put together was a The final image above was presented at the big part of the development of the project and tectonic pin up, the key issue so far was over took several attempts to get right. cladding the timber beam in concrete, thus losing the purity of the tectonic. The ambition of the column is to reflect the pure and honesty that the society represents.
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y rethinking how elements can connect together in a way where no mechanical fixings are used. The above solution was resolved. It allows the timber joists to sit into the concrete beam.
The language of the column and the proportions that it uses are represented throughout the project, with all dimensions coming back to either the height or length of a single brick.
Ground Floor Plan
VTOPIAE Ground floor plan: 1
G R E AT H A L L
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WORKSHOP
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KITCHEN
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PORT HOUSES
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HOUSING PODS
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B AT H H O U S E 2
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The People of Vtopiae
- U N S E E N AU T H O R I T Y INSIDE
THE WALLS: NO HIERARCHY WHERE EVERYONE IS EQUAL
- DOCUMENTS ALL GOODS COMING IN AND OUT
OUTSIDE
- CHOSEN AS A TEENAGER, TEACHES YOUNG AND OLD.
- PRODUCERS OF THE SOCIETY
THE WALLS
- FOLLOW THE SAME M O D E L S O C I E T Y, L O C AT E D AT M I N E S O R ON FARMLAND
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- HARBOUR MASTERS
or the society to function it relies on each member to carry out their role. Having the society contribute equally reduces the need for long days of work. Production is a vital part to the function of the society. Everything that the society needs is produced within the walls.
- ROAM THE COUNTRY F I N D I N G I T E M S T H AT THEY CAN TRADE.
Above is an example of the the roles within the wall of Vtopiae and those that work with the society but do not live within the walls.
Arrival to the Wharf
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ll items brought to Vtopiae by either the nomadic scavengers or from within the district are catalogued, recorded and stored so the society can see what they have too little or too much of.
Resources and items that are useful to the society e.g. books, batteries and tools must be requested out. General items can be traded within the society.
Housing Pods
11pm - 4am Housing pod in complete darkness
4:45am- 5am Natural east daylight directed on bed gradually waking Utopian.
5:30am - 7:30am Utopian awake and ready for work and learning.
6pm - 9pm West light provides Utopian with light for reading.
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he pods orientated north west are done so to ensure that first light enters the building to wake the occupants. Light Is a key aspect of the project as electricity is minimal so natural light and working during daylight hours is vital.
The plan for the housing pods is simple as they are merely for sleeping and reading late into the evening.
Language of Tectonic
295mm x 45mm x 91mm
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eveloping from the narrative of revival of old knowledge, the classical orders have been followed to determine the proportions of the columns and thus the room heights.
700mm x 700mm
The dimension of the single brick determins the dimension of the brick column. The height of the column and the room height is then determined by the classical order.
The Pure Trades
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he society of Vtopiae places an emphasis on reviving the pure trades and being a self sufficient society. The pure trades are as followed, smithing, carpentery, textiles, leather workers, pottery and stone masonry.
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Within the project these activies take place in close proximitry to the harbours edge so to aid in the cycle of raw materials into usable products.
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POTTERY
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BLACKSMITHS
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STONE MASONRY
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CARPENTRY
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STORAGE
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LEATHER WORKS
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Textiles
Yr 3: Body Architecture Through reading The Eyes of the Skin, by Juhani Pallasmaa, it’s clear to see that as humans we experience architecture and the built environment not just through our eyes but also through touch, smell and sounds. Stimuli created within the building or by the building can trigger genetically coded, chemical and neurological activities in our body and brain which in turn change our emotions. The emotions can be of happy, warm thoughts but also sad, cold thoughts. The brief asks to look at how architecture can create a curtain emotion beyond the visual. Within this project I have looked at creating the emotion of isolation with a particular look at the isolation and loneliness that the homeless feel. This has been done through the use of light as the void and an understanding leading up to this experience. The building has a contrast to this emotion providing a centre for the homeless to get help and interact with others.
Architecture and Emotion
To get an understanding of how buildings can produce the sense of isolation and loneliness, I first began looking at how art provokes the same feeling. In particular, I took note of how artists such as Edward Hopper, use light and contrast to provoke these feelings.
Jewish Museum, Danial Libeskind
SLIGHT OF LIGHT OUT OF REACH
JOURNEY BEFORE
The curated journey, much like Libeskind’s Jewish Museum which builds up to the light voids. A similar journey is undertaken. This curated journey of first hand account from the homeless is so to help place the users in the minds of the homeless. The aim of this is to understand what life is like, and to remind us that we are all human.
Church of Light, Tadao Ando
DIRECT LIGHT FROM ABOVE
SOLID (CONCRETE) VOID (LIGHT)
Leading on from looking at how Hopper uses light, the next step was to look at how previous architects have used light to produce a simular feeling, in particualr how they both use light, materials and the journey to produce an emotion.
Accommodation at the building needs to be simple and open plan. The ground floor to consist of a communal space, kitchen and wash facilities. The kitchen will act as a soup kitchen. Permeable ground floor to invite homeless into the building and use the facilities, as well as invite those that want to help enter the building. Have two entrances. An opening at the front of the building for everyone and a side entrance to go through the understanding experience.
Ground Floor Plan Expressing the contrast between an area to provoke the emotion of isolation and an area where those that need it, can get help. External Visual Form of the building is in such a way as to stand out from the surrounding vernacular which should hopefully draw people into the area.
1:20 Model show the space within the light well and how light will isloate anyone within. Section illustrate the contrast between the dark isolated space and the warm welcoming area.
Pylle Manor
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Murder Mystery with no ‘who did it’.
Working on Pylle Manor was as much detective work as architectural. Entering the crime scene to see and understand how the building had developed from when it was first constructed, in the late seventeenth century, to today. To also see how previous owners had added and developed the building to meet their requirments. The owners of the property would like to refurbish and restore the building to its former glory. To remove modern additions that are not in keeping with the character of this fine Georgian house, whilst adapting the building to meet the needs of a 21st century family. The information given to us about its past was only limited to a series of old photos and historical survey maps. So to better understand the history of the property we spent the day walking around trying to date aspects of the building. It was clear the building had some questionalable adaptations and repairs carried out during the 20th century.
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he first record of Pylle Manor, although not visable today, is believed to be Mesolithic, this is believed after an Archaelogical recording was carried out in 1997 and stated: The site lay to the south-west of Pylle Manor House, a Grade II Listed Building. During the recording exercise, environmental samples were taken from the lowest silts within the ditch. No dating evidence for the feature was recovered. However, its large dimensions indicated that it was likely to have represented part of a medieval moat. A flint core of Mesolithic or Bronze Age date and two sherds of pottery, one of 15th-17th and one of 16th-17th century date were discovered.
The proposal for the project is to remove elements that detract from the original building as well as make sympathetic repairs, all with the intention to protect the Grade II* manor house for future generations whilst meeting the demands of the 21st century. Status: Currently awaiting planning permision
Who Did It?, Kodak Portra 160
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he ‘Main House’ The oldest part of the manor that we see today, is the two storey Georgian manor house. This part of the house is believed to be the work of Sir Edward Berkeley. Below is a cellar that matches the foot print of the main house, although we looked through extensively, the use was unclear as there was no evidence of a range so unlikely it was used as the kitchen, unless all evidence of this had been removed.
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he Wings The east and west wing were added in the 19th century. The entrance to the east wing is still present. After carrying out the on site survey, it was found whilst looking behind an old false wall in the back of a cupboard. The hipped roof of the east wing is still present although hidden by a modern extension.
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ortman Additions Photographic evidence shows that between the early 19th century and the early 20th century Pylle Manor had little changes to its front facade. However, it is to the rear of the property where most of the damage was done. A chimney was added to the rear of the building as well as a green house. This resulted in one of the windows being blocked up and loss of symmetry to the building. It appears that the green house was adapted to fit the property by it’s offset ridge and back gutter.
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ock Tudor? In the late 20th century a second extension was added to the east wing, this was in the style of a tudor facade. However, at closer investigation it is unsure if this extension has been made to look tudor or if it is tudor and has been brought to Pylle and adapted. It was also likely that at the time there was a chimney fire (significant charing to orignal roof trusses in main house). When the roof was refurbished, a dormer and cornising was added. At a simular time a small lean to was added to the rear of the property.
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Proposed
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roposal. The proposal looks at removing elements of the building that have a detrimental effect on the original building. These elements include the 20th century lean to as well as the redundant chimney and greenhouse, by their removal it returns the building back to its original Georgian form and symmetry by reinstating the fenestration as intended and will vastly improve and enhance the historic asset. Many of the additions and connections within Pylle have been badly thought out. Our proposals will rectify this by reopening existing doorways. Our clear intention is to enhance the building with sympathetic repairs, often making good alterations that have been poorly executed. For instance reinstating the chimney on the north elevation which was constructed from reconstituted stone. We intend to rebuild this in ashlar stone with detailing to match that of the chimney on the east side. In addition we will look at replacing the poorly repointed stone work with lime pointing to match the existing. None of the proposed changes will lead to the loss of areas of original historic fabric.
Existing
s part of the work, the client wanted to redesign a dilapidated and poorly designed 20th century lean to. The proposal as model is to replace the lean to with a free standing canopy that is modest in size and form and does not harm the listed building. The new structure is intended to be built from timber and zinc. The concept of the canopy is to be a simple elegant structure that is neither a enclosed space but an open shelter. The form and structure will appear in an honest and traditional manner with a modern twist.
VICTORIA ROAD FROME
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ictoria Road Frome. Project is currently live and has received planning permission within the last month. The brief for the project was to create seven, three bedroom houses aimed at young families. The site was previously a lorry repair depot and due to it being an employment site the local council stated that it had to provide a form of employment on the site. This was achieved by incorporating office space at the entrance to the site. The architectural form took inspiration from both its surroundings in the form of red brick Edwardian terrace town houses, as well as the sites industrial past and usage. The design queue incorporates both the traditional form and scale of the Edwardian red brick terrace houses, together with a nod to the sites industrial past, by incorporating a north light design to the roof structure. This has allowed us to form additional accomodation within the roof space at second floor level as well as a light well down the central stairs. As homage to the brick detailing on the edwardian terraces we have incorporated simple brick detailing to the facade. In addition to this we have constrasted the brickwork with a metal roof, again taking its design queue from the original industrial buildings on the site.
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Ground Floor
First Floor
Second Floor
4 1 25mm Parka Flooring
65mm Screed with underfloor heating piping laid within Vapour Barrier 125mm Insulation DPM Beam and Block Floor
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2 102.5mm Brick
46mm Queens Closer 70mm Cavvity 10mm Plywood 140mm Rigid Insulation 140mm Timber frame 25mm Plasterboard and Skim
3 VMZINC Plus Standing seam
Fixing Clip 18mm Plywood 40mm Battern creating a vented airspace 140mm Insulation protected by VMZ Membrane
4 VMZINC Plus Standing seam
Fixing Clip 18mm Plywood 40mm Battern creating a vented airspace 200mm Insulation protected by VMZ Membrane 200mm Joist 25mm plasterboard and Skim
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Yr 2: Community Hub The aim of the project is to produce a building for all generations and look at how these generations can interact and the benefits of this. The new Civic Building should be a place to gather and to be a resource for the town and wider surroundings. It should be a place to discover, gather and exchange between generations. This is achieved through several concepts. The creation of a central pedestrian avenue which leads to stepped seating where conversations and multiple activities can take place at once. Activites within in the building have been postioned in order to be viewed by people passing by or people moving through the building.
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1. Multi Functional Space. 2. Gym/Studio.
Yr 2: Later Living Housing
3. Outside Gym Equipment. 4. Electric Cars 5. Allotments with Greenhouses. 6. Central Courtyard.
Withies Farm Housing project is a new community style living that provides a healthy environment for the Active Third Age. The project is aimed at those that wish to downsize from their family home but are not ready for a retirement home or need health care. This is one solution to deal with the national problem in the lack of housing, particularly for first time buyers. With householders moving at the top of the ladder, releases housing stock for those in need below. The overall housing scheme is based on the work done by Jorn Utzon Fredensborg Housing and follows similar principles such as the orientation of the building and opening onto a private courtyard. This private courtyard allows residents the best of both worlds, larger public space for social activities and a private ‘paradise’ that residents can retreat to. Vegetation throughout the community is used to enhance the built environment but also to act as a threshold between spaces, whether that is from Keynsham to the community, or from public spaces to private spaces.
7. Raised Planters.
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Two Bedroom Two Storey
INTERNAL POCKET DOORS TO MAXIMISE ON SPACE OUTSIDE AND INDOOR BENCH TO HELP WITH TAKING SHOES ON AND OFF, ALSO FOR STORAGE.
One Bedroom Single Storey
Analogue Photography
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y other main passion is analogue photography, both 35mm and 120 (medium format). I think film photograhpy, like architecture, have given me a different insight in how I view the environment around me. Without studying architecture, most people will just walk past our built environment and only comment on how something looks without necessary understand its contect and form. When you and I study a building we look at how materials have been connected or how the designer has arranged the plan to produce a specific moment or critique a building with more words than just ‘nice’. I have adopted this same thought process within my photography work and it has taught me that if you look closely there is always a beautiful moment and story that can be framed, even in the ordinary, which allows you to engage with the image in the same way that good architecture should engage with its surroundings and people.
If you wish to see more of my work Please scan the QR Code below or look on Instagram: curated_volumes