Site Analysis - Concrete Lawn
Jieru Xue, Yifei Qiu, Genevieve Kour, Jiali Sun 14/08/2016
Panorama 9 A.M. 11 A.M.
1 P.M. 3 P.M. 5 P.M. 11 P.M.
History Of The Concrete Lawn
The Concrete Lwan also the Union Lawn and the Sun Ribbon sculpture.
The Raymond Priestley Building
The Lake
Before the British settlers came to the Oceanian Land, the area was a swamp. In 1861, 6 years after the University of Melbourne was established, the swampy area was transformed into a lake in the campus.
The Union Lawn
In the year 1939, the lake was refilled to provide more space for new buildings. The area was left as a lawn.Also the new Melbourne School of Design was built partly on the filled land.
The Concrete Lawn The Union Lawn was redesigned with a lifted concrete green area, thus it is also know as the Concrete Lawn. The Sun Ribbon sculpture was constructed in 1982 as one of the landmark in the university campus.
Futures Of The Concrete Lawn
Currently the Melbourne University campus is characterised by a large collection of European architectural styles. Thus, it would be nice to put some ‘Aussie’ styled elements into the campus. The Concrete Lawn would be a great place to complement such style. The pathway of the lawn could also be filled with some Indigenous drawing elements so it does not merely consist of plain, grey concrete.
The Indigenous drawing
Union Lawn used to be a lake and the campus would benefit from bring the lake back; as great vegetation and water cover would make the area much more interesting. It would also create a relaxing space in campus where students could go to clear thee mind or rest between classes. Concrete Lawn could be replaced by a scaledldown version of the original landscape of the lake with walking bridges crossing the site to allow for pedesitrian movement between surrounding buildings.
Action
- The Intensities
Crowed Empty Vegetation
The population in the area increased rapidly at 12 a.m as many students have just finished their morning classes and the benches in the area to have lunch. The places are efficiently used, thus when future design is placed, the main walkways and benches should be kept.
Action
- The Intensities
Crowed Empty Vegetation
The overlapping of all the maps from 9a.m. to 3a.m.
Action
- Different uses
Walking Talking
Eating
Sitting Driving Cycling Running Smoking Vending machine
Reading
Walking, talking, eating and sitting are overlapping from 12a.m.-2p.m. in the diagram. This means the concrete lawn is a popular place to relax, it is also one of the major crossroads which is used from time to time. More benches may be added at the corner of the pathways for students to use to increase the space's function as a popular lunch space.
Highest Lowest
Temperature
Rainy days in winter/ Sun-baked days in summer In August, the sun is at the north of the tropic of Cancer, the sunshine duration reduces. In winter, 2/3 of the area of Union Lawn is low in temperature. Due to Melbourne's unconsistent weather patterns, it is also often rainy and windy. In summer, most area is in high temperature.
Conccrete Lawn is open and no shelter To maintain a consistent temperature and provide protection from rain and sun exposure, the area would great benefit from a folding canopy as a shelter. When it is warm and sunny, it can be folded.
Sunny days(breezy days) in winter
Shadow
Summer
Winter
9:00 A.M.
9:00 A.M.
1:00 P.M.
1:00 P.M.
5:00 P.M.
5:00 P.M.
Comparing the sun shadow in winter and summer, in winter months, the adjacent buildings have more impact of sun exposure on the site. Majority of site is in shadow. The situation in summer is on the contrary.
If a building will be built on the site, the material of the roof is required to transmit more sunlight to keep the indoor temperature in winter. Besides, it also needs to take the strong sunshine in summer into consideration. Therefore, glass roof with collapsible shelter is efficient.
Edge
Movement Car movement Bike movement Pedestrian movement
9 A.M.
11 A.M.
1 P.M.
3 P.M.
5 P.M.
11 P.M.
Large back section has little movement due to a hedge surrounding the site and blocking pedestrian flow, however parts of the hedge could be cut open to allow for more fluid movement around the site. The site is mainly used to cross across campus. Few people stop to chat or eat in the space in comparison to the amount of people moving through. However, more seats and tables could be put in to encourage using the space for study, eating and socialising.
Cycle ways and pedestrian ways intersect which congests the area in busy times, however cycle paths could be put in place to separate the flow of people and allow it to flow more smoothly