Sean Callaghan Design Portfolio 2020 2019
Contents 01 WASTEWATER
02 INSTITUTION
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Sean Callaghan +61 457593285 seancallaghan13@gmail.com
03 FOUND TIMBER
04 COLLECTIVE
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01 Richmond Wastewater Treatment Plant The project brief called for the design of a wastewater treatment plant in the regional area of richmond, a town found in Sydney’s northeastern boundary on the periphery of the urban and the rural. After visiting the site and conducting further research on the conditions, culture, and issues of the area I discovered that the closely neighbouring RAAF Base was reported to have been leaking dangerous levels of toxic polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) into the ground water within a 10 km radius. It was from this finding pertaining to issues of authoritarian misuse of land, environmental sustainability, and community disempowerment that I sought to base my design.
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Contents [01] Sectional Axo [02] System Axo [03] Narrative Axo [04] Ground Floor Plan
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Richmond Water Treatment Plant Plan Virtual Mockup // 1:50 here . there . away . Sean Callaghan . 13251816 Leo (shuohua) Li. 12961912
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Richmond Water Treatment Plant Wild Card here . there . away . Sean Callaghan . 13251816 Leo (shuohua) Li. 12961912
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01 | Wastewater Treatment Plant | 2020 | Sean Callaghan
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01 | Wastewater Treatment Plant | 2020 | Sean Callaghan
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The proposal consists of an interior space dug into the surrounding landscape which houses the main operational systems of the wastewater treatment plant, and a publicly operated and accessed ecosystem on the roof of the structure. The treatment plant’s main objective is to gather and safely treat ground and waste water within the Hawkesbury region before it has the chance to endanger both human and non human inhabitants, achieving this though a network of industrial scale ground water pumps dispersed throughout the region. The treatment plant challenges the lack of transparency of the RAAF base by allowing the public a clear view and observation of the plant and its operation, embracing the wastewater process as a system that is beneficial for all users and should be celebrated as such. The public ecosystem situated above the interior space acts as both a communal space for the dispersed community of the region and as a point of interaction between the wild natures that populate the space and the human intervention that maintains it, reflecting the nature of the site at the boundary of the urban and the rural; protecting a number of native species of flora and fauna which are threatened by the continual urban sprawl of Sydney into its outer periphery. Beyond the immediate site, the proposal acts as a gesture towards how water can be used as a political tool against government and corporate misuse of our environment, with the treatment system having the potential to address other environmental issues affecting the country, such as the destructive nature of the coal industry, which is responsible for losses of up to 8 million litres of water per day in Sydney’s catchment area.
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01 | Wastewater Treatment Plant | 2020 | Sean Callaghan
Contents Model Photo 1 [05] Model Photo 2 [06] Exterior Render [07] Interior Render [08]
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[08] 01 | Wastewater Treatment Plant | 2020 | Sean Callaghan
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02 Barangaroo Post-labour Institution The project brief of designing a university for local site Barangaroo in a post-labour society presented a wide variety of new opportunities and challenges. The large spanning scale in terms of both program and form for the project and its setting in a largely theoretical context meant that the design was constantly redeveloping, with new directions and ideas being integrated, removed, and harmonised on a constant basis. In order to establish the program and mission of our institution, we analysed and dissected our interpretation of how a post labour society in the worlds current environmental and political climate might operate.
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From this analysis we came to the contentious conclusion that within a contemporary paradigm, a stark transition into a post-labour society would only exacerbate current day issues relating to the environment, overpopulation, housing, and resource availability due to exponential consumption. Meanwhile meaningful work to solve such issues would struggle to keep up and resultantly stagnate. Thus, our approach for a post-labour university was to establish a research institution that seeks to solve the issues of the post-labour world in which it finds itself Contents [01] Developmental Plan [02] Developmental Plan [03] Master Plan 07
02 | Post-labour Institution | 2020 | Sean Callaghan
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02 | Post-labour Institution | 2020 | Sean Callaghan
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The proposal consists of a highly self contained institution which seeks to develop the mind of the individual in both objective and subjective fields through a life long career of research and discussion. Assisting them to re-establish their drive in this new world while also furthering the scope and understanding of various fields, creating a symbiotic relationship between the institution and the user. The project utilises of a rigid bounding space that encloses and defines the site of the institution, wherein individuals perform research in order to solve the issues of the global context they find themselves in; as well as a less clearly defined forum space, wherein individuals and the collective whole of the institution come to contemplate, debate, and discuss more subjective and philosophical fields, embracing the discourse that arises between these conflicting mindsets for the purpose of developing the individual’s ability to gain new perspectives and establish their own understanding of the world around them. Users perform research in the institution in a predominantly self directed manner within a hierarchical structure, with this research being peer reviewed by a jury of senior members before entering it is entered into the universities collective study.
Contents Ventilation Detail Axo [04] Structure detail Axo [05] Sectional Axo [06] Master Axo [07] 09
02 | Post-labour Institution | 2020 | Sean Callaghan
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02 | Post-labour Institution | 2020 | Sean Callaghan
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Contents [01] Process Film [02] Photogrammetry Render [03] Photogrammetry Mesh [04] 1:1 Scale Construction [05] Material Character 1 [06] Material Character 2 [07] Material Grouping 1 [08] Material Grouping 2
03 Found Timber Given the loose brief of conducting a material exploration for found timber in order to synthesise a built form, we wanted to orient our design and process in such a way that would embrace the materials inherent character to the fullest extent. While timber in its most common commercial form is manipulated and processed to the point that it finds itself at a clear disconnect from its organic form, we instead sought to keep our processing of the material to the minimum.
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Limiting our processing to washing and sanding while connecting pieces via wooden dowels meant that the natural shape and character of the found timber would dictate the form and direction of the project. Natural grains, markings, weathering, and insect trails revealed themselves giving each individual piece their own distinctive quality and bringing something new at every step of the design.
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03 | Found Timber | 2019 | Sean Callaghan
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03 | Found Timber | 2019 | Sean Callaghan
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The unique nature of the project invited the incorporation of a variety of different representational techniques, including 1:1 scale construction models, hand drafted construction drawings and sketching, film, and 3D photogrammetry. The project required two proposals, each at starkly different scales and sites. The first of which, a pavilion located in Centennial Park is constructed from found timber sourced within the park itself with the intention of being constantly reinvented as pieces are both added and decaying. This approach meant that the pavilion would never have a finalised form, instead it would constantly change based on both the thinking of the current participant and character of the pieces used, embracing the transient nature of the material without costing the environment.
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The second proposal, a bank situated at the heart of Martin Place required a very different approach. In this case the found timber would take on a much more gestural role. Being far detached from the site the material is sourced, the found timber would need to be treated in order to prevent decay while and environmentally friendly ETFE substructure would support the bank itself
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The use of found timber in this context would seek to challenge the environmentally irresponsible investment practices of corporate banks, who regularly support coal and other unsustainable resource industries
Contents [09] Construction Detail 1 [10] Construction Drawing 1 [11] Material Hand Sketch [12] Construction Detail 2 [13] Construction Drawing 2 [14] Bank Proposal Exploded Axo 13
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03 | Found Timber | 2019 | Sean Callaghan
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LIQUIDAMBAR LAYERED FOUND TIMBER SPACE FRAME
DOUBLE-PILLOWED ETFE MEMBRANE LAYER
MULTI-POINT ETFE CONNECTION NODE
15 MM ALUMINIUM ETFE CONNECTION FRAME
[14] 03 | Found Timber | 2019 | Sean Callaghan
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Contents Section [01] Assembly Axo [02] 3rd Floor Plan [03]
04 Ultimo Student Housing Collective Within the contemporary student housing paradigm, inhabitants have become objects of profit for the institution. Who prioritise their capital gain at the expense of the students they claim to serve while exerting strict control over how spaces can be used and consequently disempowering the individual. Accordingly, the proposed student housing collective in Ultimo strives to re-empower the inhabitant, establishing a clear separation between the community and the institution, harbouring more communal modes of living where self-sufficiency and interaction are at the forefront. Wherein private rooms take on an auxiliary role to the communal central atrium, where all of the occupants’ actions of recreation, productivity, and expression take place, in which both individual and cooperative productivity take priority over conventional notions of personal life such as luxury and order. Creating a performance and stage whose audience and actors celebrate themselves.
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AIDAN HANCOCK . SEAN CALLAGHAN
SECTION
[02] AIDAN HANCOCK . SEAN CALLAGHAN .
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HARRY POTTER AND THE MISSING ROOF
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALL OF KITCHENS
04 | Student Housing Collective | 2019 | Sean Callaghan
PERSPECTIVE + AXO
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04 | Student Housing Collective | 2019 | Sean Callaghan
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Contents The proposal embraces a rejection of both the site and the broader cultural landscape in which it inhabits, disestablishing practices of authoritarianism and exploitative capitalism present in contemporary student housing in favour of a more productive and interactive co-existence between inhabitants
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AIDAN HANCOCK . SEAN CALLAGHAN
Sectional Model Photo 1 [04] Sectional Model Photo 2 [05] Sectional Axo [06] Site Axo [07]
04 | Student Housing Collective | 2019 | Sean Callaghan HARRY POTTER AND THE MISSING ROOF
[06] SECTIONAL PERSPECTIVE
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04 | Student Housing Collective | 2019 | Sean Callaghan
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