Unforseen Futures M.Arch

DRAINED OUT // UNFORSEEN FUTURES

MARC5010 STUDIO 1 Morts Bay Dry Dock

Lauren Cvetko

Author’s Own Image, Morts Dock, Balmain, 2025

Drained Out no control, the future’s no ones, together we write a story, told by one, distorted by many, survived by some, physically we make do, but, in spirit we live I am circling the drain, calmly, composed because your roots remind me; Man’s voids are God’s invitation to remember —home.

Lauren Cvetko

CONTENTS

Interlude Circles, Spiral & Cycles Site Process Design Intent Final Drawings + Renders Models

03 04 05 24 28 29

INTERLUD

A long personal obession with the circle makes it way into this studio; exploring its simplicity, profoundness and relevence to conjuring connection in physical space. Architecture goes through phases of embracing and rejecting the circle. But we hold no control in supressing it’s presence-- as with the burried history of the ‘failed’ Morts bay’s Dry Dock.

Drained Out proposes an uncovering of the Dry Dock, suggesting room for artist studios, an open air gallery and space for public wonder. Two opposing ciruclar structures settle themselves into the revived void; housing the subtractive and addative art forms, the molding of clay and carving of stone. The site is navigated by a series of public paths who mimicing the adaptation of the fig roots which which have made the site home.

DE

Author’s Own Image, Bergamo, Italy 2025

CIRCLES, CYCLES + SPIRALS

My intrest in cricles was born out of regulation. When under accute stress I find it incredibly difficult to remain in reality; a harmless way I allow myself to disocciate is through running charcoal across a page. I begin my design procecess with my descociative nature; creating ‘art’. Once I have the capacity to stand back from my own story and witness how I’ve proccesed the sensory input from site trhough this lense I begin my architectual process. The next series of images are quick charcoals I created on site before moving on from my personal loops; please keep in mind it may not seem relevent but it informs my attchement to the roots of the fig trees and how they caress the site. Which is something I pull out later and refine into a serires of more charcoals.

As I began my charcoals, I thought on some of these excerts from an old Balmain cook book I had found in the Blue Mountains having family Coffee. Having found this book in an area heavily connected to my personal story, it opned up a loop where I was circling on my own background and the ‘essence’ of the dry dock park, which infomed my drawings.

I looped particularly on the affluences and identies Balmain has endured and cycled; relating this to my own story as a third culture kid and grwoing up in changing socio-economic backgrounds.

Author’s Own Image, Morts Dock, Balmain, 2025

Author’s Own Image, Morts Dock, Balmain, 2025

site visit

the process began with recognising how my personal loops, story and way of obeservation affect and distort how I process physical and historical input from site.

I allow this to happen; observe it, during and after the fact. Watching where my attention and thoughts drift.

observing plants...

curious birds...

...subtle topographies, and folding roots.

Rust and barnicles texture the threshold of the old dry dock’s end.

Sand patterns form under calm and shallow harbour waters...

... as my stomach tightens...

...at the sight of new faces.

...while I drift at the dock, on memories of unknown faces...

... and some familar.

... however, I allow the ‘irrelevent’ memory to pass through me.

I arrive back to ‘task’; present on site. the site felt safe to drift, and invited me to reflect on connection and memory. It offered me space to let go, for a moment. from this stage I made the decision to enhance this feature of the site through my choice in program.

DRA

AINED OUT Artist Studio Spaces + Sculpture Garden

PROCCESS

The original design very much mimiced the very literaly shape of the site, this was one of the reasons I tried to find insperation else wehre within the suroundings of the site. to the right is a plan from when my program was relativly loose, but I knew at this stage I wanted to explore how the site invited reflection, which lead me to exploring the site as a gallery space.

I used charcoals orginally to explore what I wanted my building to emote, eventually in the next stages I turned to quite literallly stufying the formation, and had a go at exploring the outcome leading to the final ramp formations.

To the left is an abstraction of the post cards task, which I began exploring how the patterners loop into each other and create new shapes on repition to see how this could inform the architecture.

Architectual Charcoals|1:200

After interim I began exploring how the site is navigated between structures, with many itterations. Spaning became difficuly and this guided me to have a look further into my old dry dock drawings, and photos of plants on site, like the tree roots.

I also was looking for solutions to clear the centre of the structure but this became useless because alot of large spanning strughtures require alot of height, so i decided to emabrace centring the design a round a core.

STRUCTURE

Glulam posts hold up a thin cncrete slab and timber decking to the rof pagala. The dipped turn in the roof minic the movement of the site.

DESIGN INTENT As one walks towards the park they’e led to a serioers of paths, one snakes it way down to the studio spaces and ther other a public ramp uiding patrons to the open roof paglola with good vantage points of sydney.

To the northern face of the building are sliding brisoles, which are double height giving the structure some anonomity of the interior.

A central skylight is traffficable in the centre with an interior balcony, focusing people’s view upwards, a break in stimulation from the site.

The access ramps of the building meet risen at the centre of the dock to create a vantage point. -- Posts can be moved and the centre can be removed for particular exhibitions.

From plan view the ramps look overwhelming, however when viewd at ground level they’re subtle, but varied anough to create unique vantage points around site-- the isea is tje dock os viewd almost as a canyon for storing sculpture.

LONG SECTION |1:200

GROUND FLOOR|WEST

GROUND FLOOR|EAST

Simple and open joinery that does not disrupt the daylight coming in.

STUDIO SPACES

LOWER GROUND FLOOR|WEST

DRY DOCK FLOOR|EAST

CENTRAL SKYLIGHT

DRY DOCK FLOOR|WEST

TRANSVERSE SECTION |1:100

1

TRANSVERSE SECTION MODEL |1:100

TRANSVERSE SECTION MODEL |1:100