Becontree Urban Room Integrated Design Studies Report by zimmie.sutcliffe

AR7026 - Integrated Design Study IDS Report Zimmie Sutcliffe - 5th year - 18015382 Unit 14 - Pierre & Pereen Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Avoine

Contents Project Introduction: 2-4

Cultural Context: 5-15

Professional Context: 16-20

Environment & Sustainable Design: 21-27

Construction, Structures & Materials: 28-45

References: 46-47

Appendix: 48-53

Project introduction

Thesis project location 1:20,000 @ A3

Abstract The Becontree urban room & centenary festival A civic playground to mark 100 years of the Council Estate My thesis project responds to the issue of estate regeneration through a study of one of Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest & oldest; the Becontree estate in Barking & Dagenham. The centenary of this estate in 2021 allows us to take stock of the notion of mass housing, what it meant in 1921 & what it means today. Perhaps more importantly, it allows us to consider the role of infrastructure within mass housing; civic, transport, commercial. Set in the heart of the estate this project aims to deliver a space free for all to engage with and chart the development of their local area through a museum of urban planning, or â&#x20AC;&#x153;urban roomâ&#x20AC;? and to challenge the notion of a museum as a place of learning & history, but one also of play, noise, urban life. Working again in Barking & Dagenham, this year Unit 14 expanded its focus from the River Roding to the borough as a whole, with a theme of trade and exchange running through much of the work of the unit. Situated on the fringes of London, simultaneously part of the capital & part of Essex, or part of neither depending on whom you ask, the borough is in a huge state of flux. Having long been considered a London backwater & having experienced turbulent economic, social & political changes in the last 20 years, Barking & Dagenham is now a key London growth opportunity area, strategically located in the Thames Gateway with strong connection to both London & continental Europe. Add to this a proposal to build over 50,000 new homes and potentially increase the population by a third in the next 20 years and it is clear to see the only constant in Barking & Dagenham right now is change.

Borough Map of London Barking & Dagenham

This report charts a course through the development of my final proposal across the academic year, focusing on the four areas of cultural context, professional context, environmental design & structural design. My proposal, and work across the year, engages with these four areas in numerous ways. Semester 1 focused largely on the cultural & professional aspects of developing a proposal, with semester 2 concentrating on the development of an individual brief and subsequent project response that tackles the environmental & structural as well. Over the course of the year a wide range of local protagonists have been involved from Tamara Horbacka, Cultural Policy and Commissioning Manager at Barking & Dagenham Council, Karen Rushton, senior archivist at Valence House, and Pat Hayes, Managing Director of Be First. It has been a pleasure to work in the borough again & I hope you find this document enlightening. = Area of study over the year

= Masterplan area

N = Key walking route 2

= Urban room 3

Thesis proposal along Valence Avenue

Cultural Context & Communication

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The context in which my research and proposal sit is physically one of low rise suburban mass housing and a public realm left to decay over time. Culturally and socially this setting contrasts with the context of the wider borough which is changing rapidly. Barking & Dagenham is Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growth opportunity, with heavy private investment, a new development of 10,000 homes, new multi-million pound film studios in the pipeline and rapidly shifting demographics. Its location along the Thames Gateway contributes greatly to these growth opportunities, with the borough having key links to central London, and northern Europe via the Thames estuary. Whilst this all contributes to creating a fascinating place to conduct research, it is also a challenging one with many different protagonists. This is where the unit theme of trade & exchange attempts to provide a binding narrative round which to build sustainable homes, infrastructure, economies & communities. This report documents how my work across the year and final proposal aim to comment on this unique context.

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New / Existing site features

3 - Remodelled traffic junction

1 - Existing commercial centre

4 - New pedestrian only route

2 - Valence Avenue

5 - New retail units 6 - New community growing space

- New cycling lanes

7 - Becontree Urban Room & Planning Museum

- Green space - Water -Roads for redirected bus routes

Final Proposal

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My project consists of three main elements; an Urban Room for the Becontree Estate to document the history of the estate in its 100th year, and more importantly to provide a space accessible and free to all in which to engage with their local area and take a meaningful stake in its development in the future. Secondly, a cultural festival to mark the centenary of the Becontree Estate in 2021, and finally, a wider regeneration of a section the estate to enhance the public realm, improve porosity through the tightly packed terraced streets & increase provision of non-residential uses. The broad ambition of the project is to explore how regeneration of an estate or highly residential, semi suburban area can be achieved in a light touch, cost effective manner that resists issues such as displacement & gentrification. It also aims to highlight the problems with purely residential development, particularly low rise, low density examples such as Becontree and in doing so show the necessity for a variety of uses to sustain healthy communities. Finally, it aims to promote the adaptation and re use of existing publicly owned land as an effective strategy for regeneration with lower environmental and financial impact than extensive new private development. The project is located on the Becontree Estate in Barking & Dagenham, East London, once the largest council estate in Europe. The estate was built between 1921-1935 to house 100,000 people and hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t visibly changed a great deal over the last 100 years with the exception of Right to Buy legislation resulting in the private purchase of many homes and subsequent customisation of their facades, somewhat altering the uniform appearance of homes. However, the wider borough has experienced great changes over the same period, including a population increase of 48,000 (+30%) since 2001, significant demographic shifts & the closure of Fordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s car manufacturing plant which once employed 40,000 people from the local area.

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Working in Barking & Dagenham again

The Urban Room Concept

In many ways this year is a continuation of the work I produced last year, also as a member of Unit 14. The themes and approach of the unit have remained largely constant, with a slight change in focus geographically and in ambition. This year the area of investigation has expanded from the River Roding to the entirety of the borough of Barking & Dagenham, with a more precise focus on themes of exchange.

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Unit 14 is a largely research focused studio with a broad remit that touches not only on architecture but issues of the political, social, economic & cultural as well as anthropological and ethnographic research and this wide engagement allowed us to work with key local protagonists including Tamara Horbacka, Karen Rushden, Pat Hayes, David Harley, Joseph Henry, and many more.

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“Every town and city without an architecture and built environment centre should have an “urban room” where the past, present and future of that place can be inspected. Virtually every city in China has one, in Japan they are a mix of display and meeting places, and there are successful examples closer to home like the Cork Vision Centre. These “Place Spaces” should have a physical or virtual model, produced in collaboration with local technical colleges or universities, and they should be funded jointly by the public and private sector, not owned exclusively by one or the other. Urban rooms should be connected to and supported by the regional branches of the PLACE institutions and agencies and could be branded with the name of that place (“Place Space: Sheffield” or “Place Space: Reading”, for example).” Farrell Review, 2013

Urban Room concept

Urban Room in Sheffield

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A Internal Layout Plan 1:50

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The Urban Room @ River Mill Lofts

River Mill Lofts proposed layout, 1:50 @ A3 Internal Layout Plan 1:50

Courtesy of LBBD Council, namely Tamara Horbacka, we were lucky enough to be granted access to a new space in Barking, near Town Quay Wharf & Abbey Green. This space was used to display work from unit 14 last year, with more extensive plans for exhibiting work and hosting lectures this year. It is also intended that this space act as a base for unit 14 students in the borough to work from.

Exterior Elevation 1:50

River Mill Lofts elevation AA, 1:50 @ A3

In order to turn this vision into reality we had to survey the space as a group, draw it to scale & mount an exhibition of work from last years unit 14 students. This is an ongoing process, with the ultimate aim of River Mill Lofts becoming an Urban Room for Barking. All surveying, drawn and photographic, was carried out as a group.

The Urban Room concept was touched upon in the previous year through brief discussions with Peter Murray of the NLA but this year it very much became a focus, both for the unit, and myself particularly. The main unit theme for the year was “trade & exchange” and I wished to use the urban room concept to explore the idea of exchange as a communal act free of capital & goods. This process began with River Mill Lofts and culminated in my final proposal.

River Mill Lofts

River Roding

Abbey Green

Abbey curtain tower

East Street

Town Hall

Town Centre & train station

River Mill Lofts street facing facade

Surveying River Mill Lofts

Location plan, 1:5000 @ A3 6

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Ethnographic Investigations & Systematic Studies

Interviews with key protagonists on the Becontree Estate

An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris, Georges Perec

As part of wider reading around ethnography and methods of recording place we were encouraged to read An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris by Georges Perec. I found this text to be extremely engaging, funny and illuminating. I had never read a text so banal in many ways, yet arresting in its depiction of the every day - a topic not much covered, at least not in a truly ‘every day’ fashion.

Ella Hall Engagement Co-ordinator at The White House Interview date: 16.10.2019

Z.S: I’m an architecture student at The Cass and we are doing a project in barking & Dagenham this year so I just wanted to know a little bit about The White House and the role community organisations like this play in the borough E.H: Ok yeah, so The White House is a space set up by Create London that houses artists and provides work spaces for local artists. We also programme events and workshops for local residents in the community. We have two bedrooms up stairs for resident artists, a kitchen in the back as well as spaces for meetings, group workshops etc. Z.S: Is the White House open to the public or for artists and members of the community to use as a work space whenever they like? E.H: We have creative co-working on Wednesday afternoons for local people to use as a drop in studio or host private or group meetings, as well as our series of events, such as our poetry circle, which usually take place on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Beyond that we have resident artists, usually for a period of three months who live here and can use the space whenever they like. Z.S: Are the events you run specifically aimed at local residents or anyone who wants to come? E.H: Most of the people who come to our workshops, like our painting workshop, are very local, like a 5 to 10 minute walk away, but we also get people from across the borough coming along and even people from further afield, for example we have quite a lot of people coming to our events from Stratford, but mostly I would say it tends to be local people yes. A lot of the work we do is aimed at local artists and residents to give them opportunities that are accessible to them. Z.S: Do you have links to other community centres or similar initiatives in the borough, or do you work more independently? Also, are there attempts to connect up institutions like this across the borough to form a kind of network of community spaces?

What Perec notes in his days simply observing SaintSulpice Square in Paris is that most of the time not much of interest happens, hardly a riveting topic for a book. Yet, in posing the question ‘What happens when nothing happens’ Perec opens up a conversation not frequently discussed about the every day and our desire to find meaning in the normal or unremarkable. The excerpt to the bottom right highlights the very dry nature of Perec’s writing; it really is simply a documentation of everything that happens over one day in one place - and most of it is what you would expect. However, as the book goes on, Perec begins to embellish his observations, even against his desire to merely document, revealing a mild boredom or frustration at the lack of action. During the book, regular events such as buses passing begin to take on added significance due to their frequency and repetition. There is not much else to ponder so Perec and the reader start to focus in more detail on that which would almost certainly normally pass them by. I found this text quite remarkable and in the subsequent weeks I employed the ‘Perec method’ of simply sitting and observing - in many ways this was more effective for uncovering interesting nuggets of information than my more directed attempts at finding it. By letting a place simply be the every day takes on a new significance and you see a place for what it truly is, not merely the extremes of what it is. This text, and the way it was written in such a committed, systematic fashion really shaped the way I went about gathering data for my initial research.

Book cover: “An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris”

E.H: Yes, we work with local groups, we find that a lot of the people who are regulars at our events also are involved with other similar projects across the borough, for example we have a few people at our poetry circle meetings who volunteer at Kingsley Hall so we work with other places as it’s usually a good way to find people interested in our programme. Have you heard of Everyone, Everyday?...No, so they are an organisation that is involved in trying to improve community cohesion, they have 3 shops I think, there’s one on Martin’s Corner, just on the corner of the junction at the end of Valence Avenue before you turn left towards Kingsley Hall, you should go speak to them, they do really great work with local people helping them to initiate their own projects, develop their ideas for businesses, programming community events, things like that. Z.S: We are working as a group in my studio at university to investigate across the borough and have been attempting to speak to local people about life in the borough, what changes they would like to see, whether they engage with their community, do they work and shop in the borough etc and we’ve drawn up a small questionnaire to give to people we meet in the borough, do you think it would be worthwhile me giving you some copies of this survey for you to maybe give to people who come to your sessions? E.H: To be honest we’ve found people don’t particularly like it if you hand them a survey, they probably won’t fill it in, especially if they don’t know it’s there. I’d be more than happy to introduce you to some of the people who attend our workshops, if you have time to come along to one of our events? People are more than happy to talk about the borough and engage with you in conversation but it’s maybe better to do that more organically but we can help get that started. Z.S: Ok great, thanks. I was interested in coming along to one of your events anyway to see how they work and potentially speak to people there so that would be good. I have found people are not particularly responsive when I try and talk to them on the street, for example, I was just on Chitty’s Lane trying to find the blue plaque marking the first houses completed on the Becontree estate and I noticed an interesting entrance porch that I photographed, and a lady came out of her house and said “Can I help you?” in a slightly accusatory way. I explained why I was there and taking the photograph and she was quite chatty after that and filled in a survey actually, which was good, but I have noticed some resistance from people. Like I’ve seen a lot of “no leaflets” signs on letterboxes and CCTV warnings on people’s houses, suggesting they don’t really want to be bothered by strangers. Z.S: I read that you have this building for 25 years, is that correct? and how does the funding for this space and projects you run work? E.H: Yes, so this project was set up by Create London around 3 years ago and we have a 25 year lease on the property. We have a few sources of funding including Arts Council England and Barking & Dagenham Council. A lot of our support comes from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, but we are funded from a variety of sources.

Sample extract from “An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris”

Direction of travel

To better understand the character of my chosen study site along Valence Avenue I conducted a systematic photographing exercise inspired somewhat by the systematic observational method of Georges Perec in Attempting to Exhaust a Place in Paris. I undertook a walk from the beginning of Valence Avenue at its junction with Wood Lane and walked down its centre until the junction with Becontree Avenue. Every 20 strides (approximately 20 metres) I stopped and took a photograph facing forwards, then left, then backwards, then right. The left and right photographs have been compiled into collaged elevation studies separately. The forward and backward facing photographs from each point are documented in this booklet, giving a systematic and sequenced display of the first half of Valence Avenue. The method I used is explained below, with a red line indicating a stopping point every 20 metres, a thicker red line indicating every 100 metres and the red arrow showing the direction faced when taking the corresponding photograph. None of the images have been digitally enhance or modified, they appear how they appeared right after they were taken. This is to try and maintain a depiction as true to life as possible. Key Every 20 metres A

Every 100 metres Location of current photographs

A Direction of photographs A & B

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1:500 @ A3 10

B 11

Unused green space on Becontree estate

Map of all unused green spaces

A key initial observation from my visits to the Becontree Estate was the amount of small green spaces left unused, many left to grow unchecked & accumulate debris. I undertook an exercise in which I documented each space along the route I had walked extensively from Dagenham Heathway station up Parsloes Avenue then Valence Avenue, ending at Chadwell Heath station. Although each space was subtly different in size, form & state I noted three common conditions, documented below. The map opposite documents all of these spaces and further photos of them can be found in the appendix. After photographing them I wanted to explore their ownership status, combined area & reasons for their state to establish what was possible to revive them. This set me on a path of research into leftover civic space and the process of urban greening, which I expand on later in this document.

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Borough location map: 1:100,000 @ A3

Borough location map 1:100,000 @ A1

Condition 1: Railings to discourage â&#x20AC;&#x153;anti socialâ&#x20AC;? use

Condition 2: Ambiguous purpose & ownership status

Condition 3: Inaccessible due to traffic - central reservation on Valence Avenue 12

Behind Closed Doors: A miniature study of Becontree estate My response to these initial walks, photographs and conversations culminated in the miniature, shown in full on the opposite page. Below are the three key observations interrogated by the miniature; a conversation with a resident highlighting a disconnect between residents and their local community, the dis-empowering effect of the number of cars on streets, & the unseen pockets of culture hidden in this landscape of traffic & endless terraces. As a narrative drawing the miniature allowed me to explore a multitude of social and cultural conditions in one drawing, tying all my research into a concise narrative from which to generate a future proposal.

The famous Becontree double entrance on Chitty’s Lane

Miniature depiction of the conversation I had at this front door

“Car city” - How “homes fit for heroes” became streets fit for parking

Cars streaming up and down Valence Avenue in my miniature

Vibrant community supper held by Everyone. Everyday

My visit to Valence House and the community activity hidden inside 14

Final “Behind closed doors” miniature 15

across the 3 Estates:

Professional Context

Gascoigne Phase 1

The Leys (Wellington)

Goresbrook

Althorne Way

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Original No

Although it has begun to experience an improvement economically and socially, the borough is still one of the most deprived in the entire country with above average levels of unemployment and crime. The borough also has the highest Index of Multiple Deprivation score in London. In terms of housing the borough has a mixed picture. It can claim to have the lowest median House price of any London borough at £318,000, and 3rd lowest average rents, whilst also ranking first for percentage of affordable homes with an impressive 77%. However, the borough only built 33% of its London Plan target for new homes in 2018 and has seen house prices increase 335% since 1999, only behind Newham, Waltham Forest, Lewisham, Redbridge & Hackney within London. In addition, the borough is ranked 17th across London for rates of home ownership, demonstrating the impact of Right to Buy and other factors in diminishing Council owned stock. The Becontree estate covers approximately 4 square miles and is almost exclusively residential in its makeup, with only a small number of shops, schools and civic buildings. The area does however have access to large open green spaces in the form of Parsloes Park and Valence Park, as well as being served by Becontree, Dagenham Heathway and Chadwell Heath underground stations. Over 50% of the existing housing stock around my site on Valence Avenue is now privately owned, making large scale regeneration politically challenging. Retaining existing areas of designated retail/commercial use is of importance to the borough as it seeks to meet its target for new homes whilst providing the services new and existing communities need to thrive, as set out in its Borough Wide Development Policies document. Other relevant documents for my project are the London Green Grid Area Framework for Thames Chase, Beam & Ingrebourne, the Mayor of London’s Green Infrastructure Report & the Barking Code, all of which provide strategy and guidance for public realm and green space provision.

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Extract from LBBD “Estate Renewal 730 No Moved 283 Council 144 document 275 28 Programme Decanting and6 wider letting impacts” 66 Still to Move 57 Nil 3 commenting on CPOs & tenant removal policy 1.8

The Housing Capital Investment Programme 2012 – 2017 report approved by Cabinet on 24 July 2012 agrees the provision of a rolling five year Housing Investment Programme for a number of identified Council New Build schemes and possible further additions to the Estate Renewal Programme. This report also agreed bring forward the additional phases of Gascoigne East but a further report to Cabinet will be presented to consider additional Estate Renewal Projects.

https://modgov.lbbd.gov.uk/Internet/documents/ s77643/Decant%20impact.pdf 3.

Decant Process

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Following the approval of the Estate Renewal Programme in November 2010, Officers worked with a Members Estate Renewal Project Board, which was chaired by the Portfolio Member for Housing. The Board reviewed and agreed a number of key policies, strategies and programmes for the Decant and Leaseholder buy backs. All Wards affected by the Estate Renewal Programme were represented on the Board.

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The Group formally agreed the following: • • • •

The Tenants Decant Charter The Leaseholder buy back Manual The split of visits between the Estates and the order of blocks Homeloss and compensation arrangements

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All Decant moves are co-ordinated by two specialist Decant Officers who visit the tenants in the first instance and then assist the tenants with all aspects of their move, all Decant cases bid for new accommodation via Choice Lettings system with the exception of those a small number who require a direct offer as they need a type of property not advertised e.g. disable adapted The Decant Charter allows for people to bid for up to 3 months before the scheduled end of the programme and after this time they are made direct offers of accommodation.

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The majority of Tenants have moved within the borough but a very small number have moved out of borough by either applying to another authority directly or bidding for an out of borough property advertised via Choice Homes.

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All tenants moved via Decant are entitled to a statutory homeloss payment of £4,700, this figure is set by Government and any secure tenant who has resided in their home for 12 months before the demolition notice is served is entitled to this payment. The Council deducts any money owed in rent, council tax or former tenant arrears before the payment is made. In addition a tenant may also claim

CPO process diagram

Council owned Property along Valence Avenue 1:2000 @ A3

1. Formulation

2.Resolution

3. Referencing

Number of Council owned properties between Wood Lane & Becontree Avenue (within a block adjacent to Valence Avenue): 111

Moat

Number of non Council owned properties between Wood Lane & Becontree Avenue (within a block adjacent to Valence Avenue): 262 Council owned land (including house, front/ back garden)

4. Making the Order

5. Notification & Publicity

My proposal centres on regenration of the Becontree Estate, using its centenary year as a catalyst for this. The wider issue of estate regenration is currently very relevant following decades of under provision of new council homes alongside failure to maintain in existing stock. On top of this, Right to Buy has decimated publicly owned housing across the country, and the Becontree Estate is no different. This makes my regeneration proposals politically very challenging, particularly with regards to home demolitions, re-housing of families and weighing up the rights of individuals against the benefits for the community as a whole. After much deliberation & research my proposal takes a strong position on house removals, arguing significant regeneration is not possible without some demolitions. However, this is not to take a heavy handed approach, with negotiation & flexibility key to my strategy.

6. Objections

7. Inquiry or Written Representations Procedure

Recognising the reduced council owned stock in the area, removing further publicly owned homes is not ideal. However, making strategic decisions to remove as few houses as possible for the most public realm benefit has allowed this to be mitigated somewhat. In addition, the houses to be removed are split between publicly and privately owned. This may require the use of CPO’s, though every effort will be made to achieve an agreement for sale first and any residents in coucnil homes will be assured of a new council owned home of equal or better standard within the borough, and compensation will be paid to all affected. Furthermore, the proposal provides a very generous public offering, making use of council owned land that currently sits empty. In an ideal world, the level of disruption would be minimal, but I feel that a balanced & realistic approach has been adopted that aims to mitigate and compensate any financial & social losses, whilst arguing the communal gains these losses allow far outweigh them and greatly benefit the estate as a whole.

8. Decision

9. Possession (GVD or Notice to Treat/Notice of Entry procedures)

10. Compensation

Planning & Environmental Policy The All London Green Grid Area Framework: Thames Chase, Beam & Ingrebourne

Masterplan All London Green Grid

“The All London Green Grid has been developed to provide a strategic interlinked network of high quality green infrastructure and open spaces that connect with town centre’s, public transport nodes, the countryside in the urban fringe, the Thames and major employment and residential areas.” (All London Green Grid). This document has been important in developing my understanding of green infrastructure and applying it to my site in Dagenham. The document contains several strategic maps of the area showing all existing green spaces, existing open space projects currently under way and planned works to connect them as well as individual profiles of each project. This catalogue of public green space in the borough has been extremely useful in identifying the types of public space currently under-provisioned around my site.

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Thames Chase, Beam & Ingrebourne Area framework

The first stage in the regeneration process is to identify the properties for demolition that will yield the most benefit, thus limiting the number of demolitions. The map below shows the new pedestrian links created following the removal of identified homes (shown in black). The removal of 28 homes allows 9 new East/West links to be created, connecting to Valence Avenue, plus one North/South link into Valence Park. In addition to 3 existing crossing points, this brings the total of access points up to 12, greatly increasing the visual and physical permeability. 6 of the new openings are on the East side of the road, with 3 on the West. In addition to existing links, this gives 7 access points from the East and 6 from the West. These links have been strategically identified to give an access point no more than every 100 metres, with the average distance between access points of 75 metres.

Homes to be removed: Council owned: 12 Privately owned: 16 Total: 28

Demolition of homes: £10,000 per home

Costs: Purchase of private homes: £350k per home Total: £5.6 million

Total costs: 5,600,000 640,000 280,000 £6.52 million

Total: £280,000

CPO costs: 10% compensation payment per home: £35,000 Legal costs: £5,000 per home Total: £560,000 + £80,000 = £640,000

London Environment Strategy M AY 2 0 1 8

All London Green Grid: Thames Chase, Beam & Ingrebourne

Mayor of London: London Environment Strategy

Moa t

Mayor of London: Green Infrastructure Report In 2018 the Mayor’s Office published its London Environment Strategy including a chapter on Green Infrastructure. Among a series of strategies put forward, one focused on improving access to London’s range of open green spaces through strategic placing of new connecting projects to form green corridors throughout the city. This is beneficial to both humans and wildlife in allowing them to move from one green space to another with ease. The maps opposite illustrate the deficiency in access to public open space across London as a whole and in Barking & Dagenham specifically. With this in mind I propose one of the elements of my scheme to incorporate new areas of public open space that connect to a wider network of such existing places.

Moat

Barking & Dagenham

Areas of deficiency in access to local OR district public open spaces Areas of deficiency in access to both local AND district public open spaces

Mayor of London Green Infrastructure Report: Access to public open space map Area Strategy – Strategic Context Strategic Context This map illustrates the development context for Area 3 ALGG network. Information has been collected from the Unitary Development Plans of Area Strategic Context Havering andStrategy Redbridge,–the Open Space Strategy and landscape framework Strategic Contextof Barking and Dagenham. The Environment Agency’s recommendations This map illustrates the development contextfor forriver Area restoration arenetwork. also mapped. 3 ALGG Information has been collected from Within the Unitary Thames Chase, Beam and Development Plans of Ingrebourne and Redbridge,with the the OpenGreen SpaceArc Strategy area theHavering direct relationship Studyand landscape framework ofGrid Barking area, the South Essex Green andand theDagenham. extension The Environment Agency’s recommendations for river of the Thames Chase Community Forest into Essex restoration are also mapped. to the north and east reveals the potential to merge Within the Thames Chase, Beam and Ingrebourne the All London Green Grid projects with other ongoing area the direct relationship with the Green Arc Study initiatives. area, the South Essex Green Grid and the extension The map also identifies strategic andForest local connections of the Thames Chase Community into Essex across to the areareveals that will new links theframework north and east thecreate potential to merge between andGreen proposed open spaces. theexisting All London Grid projects with other ongoing

initiatives. The map also identifies strategic and local connections across the framework area that will create new links between existing and proposed open spaces.

Green Open Spaces Green Open Spaces Town Centres Town Centres

Strategic Employment Land

Strategic Housing Land Availability

Strategic (Regional) Walking Routes

LondonLondon Cycle Network - Existing Cycle Network - Existing

LondonLondon Cycle Network - Proposed Cycle Network - Proposed Map derived from GiGL datafrom 2011 - ©data Crown Copyright database right 2011. Survey 100032216. Map derived GiGL 2011 - © Crownand Copyright and database rightOrdnance 2011. Ordnance Survey 100032216.

Fig 243, Map showing green spaces, land use and connections

Fire & Access Strategy

Environment & Sustainable Design

Access to public open space map, 1:20,000 @ A3

Access to the building is provided at ground floor level from 5 designated fire access points, whilst the circulation strategy is kept very simple. As the building is only nominally 2 floors tall (3 including the zipline platform, though this will not always be in use), both lift and stair access is available to each level, with a lift and stairs at either end of the building. As there is no floor above 18m no protected lobby or corridor is required to stairs. On the first floor, as there are two means of escape, the maximum distance allowed is 45m, with no part of this floor exceeding 35m. On the ground floor, the 5 escape routes mean no part of the building is ever more than 12m from an exit point. In addition, each floor of the building is compartmentalised with 60 minute fire rated floor constructions. The steel structure is coated in intumescent paint to a rating of 90 minutes, and a sprinkler system is used throughout the building. Ventilation occurs naturally, with stack effect eliminating smoke through the 7 roof lights along the building.

My project aims to address environmental issues in several ways, predominantly by promoting walking, cycling and public transport and reduction of car use through a public realm scheme that redesigns Valence Avenue to prioritise the former over the latter. Embedded within this is the creation of a new open public space to serve the local community that encourages people to spend more time outdoors, with potential provision of leisure facilities and local growing spaces. Furthermore, the planting of new trees & plants can contribute to increased biodiversity, especially if green corridors linking to existing parks can be established.

The below map highlights areas in the borough of Barking & Dagenham with a deficiency in access to local and district public open spaces. Over 50% of the borough is deficient in access to either local or district public open space, if not both, with the worst access concentrated in the industrial areas just north of the Thames, and in Chadwell Heath to the north of the borough. The central part of the borough appears to fair better but this is primarily due to Parsloes Park alone as it covers a vast area right in the centre of the borough. Its quality of space and actual use is a different story and the picture above would likely look fairly different if this were to be factored in. The lack of other open spaces around the Becontree Estate means that even with the vast Parsloes Park close by much of the estate still has a deficiency of access, particularly the north half of Valence Avenue.

10.8m

28.6m

My project also aims to deliver regeneration with a light touch, focusing on landscape improvements as much as new buildings. This strategy reduces energy consumption associated with new construction and coupled with alteration of the existing built fabric allows for a more sustainable approach to enhancing existing communities. Aside from the Urban Room, which as a permanent, landmark building requires an element of robust permanence in its construction, new structures proposed in my scheme will be based on methods of lightweight construction, and temporary/meanwhile uses in places. This is in part driven by the centenary festival element of my proposal, which echoes Town show style events of the past with tents and stalls that can be packed up when the event is over. However, the nature of the site, with its long continuous stretches of terraced housing, expanses of paved roads, paths and driveways has pushed me towards a strategy that focuses on improving porosity onto Valence Avenue with visual and physical links across the estate.

12m

Areas of deficiency in access to local OR district public open spaces Areas of deficiency in access to both local AND district public open spaces

11.8m

9.8m

34m

7.6m

Ground Floor travel distances 20

First Floor travel distances 21

M En

Green Space Ownership & Maintenance Strategies One of the key issues in determining the success of public realm and green space initiatives is the proper planning of ownership, funding & maintenance. If this isn’t accounted for early in the process it is easy for spaces to fall into disrepair through lack of up keep. In the Mayor’s Green Infrastructure Report a number of ownership models currently in use by local authorities are described. This is not an exhaustive list but gives an insight into possible strategies for funding and maintaining open spaces. The first method, shown below, requires a formal Residents Association to be set up to take on responsibility for maintaining a specific open space/s. Islington Borough Council has formally devolved part of its Parks budget to Local Residents Associations and handed responsibility for the up keep of specific spaces to them. This is a fairly direct way of giving power to local residents and the positives would be that local residents theoretically would have specific knowledge of the space and what it requires as well as caring strongly about it as it affects their lives directly. However, the Council maintains ownership of the space and control over its budget so conflicts between Residents Associations and councils could occur, particularly over funding. The second method, shown overleaf is a less formal arrangement where local residents can get involved with their local parks with less commitment and responsibility. This lack of liability does limit their influence though. Residents can form a “Friends of Parks” group, less formally constituted than a Residents Association which allows them to assist the council in maintaining local parks through their time, skills and local knowledge. The local authority still controls all funding, decision making and is responsible for maintenance but can encourage local residents to play a part in their community through training, advice etc. This method is likely the easiest of the three to implement, requiring less commitment from residents and less risk on the part of the Council.

Local Authority

Council provides support such as training and advice to local groups

Council owns and funds maintenance of parks

Friends of Parks group

Finally, the third method, also shown overleaf, is similar to the first in that the local authority devolves power to a formally constituted organisation. However, in this instance the group isn’t a Residents Association but a Co-Operative or Social Enterprise. This means it is organised more like a business and can hire people with expertise but local residents get a say in operations through electing the board, AGM’s etc. It is easier for a social enterprise to procure additional funding, expertise & plan events as they have full time workers dedicated to this but as they are not for profit any additional revenue generated is fed back into the parks themselves. In this model the Council retains ownership of the parks and provides some capital funding but the day to day management of the parks and much decision making is devolved to the Co-Operative/social enterprise who act in the interests of local residents. These are just three of the potential methods of structuring the ownership, funding and management of local parks and green spaces and each has advantages and disadvantages. The next step is to take a strategic decision for Barking & Dagenham that works best in their context. I believe a Friends of Parks style system may work best in the short term, allowing residents to get involved with less commitment, with a view to potentially procuring a co-operative or social enterprise to take control of certain spaces in the long term.

Friends of Parks groups supplement work done by council maintenance teams

Model 2 - Islington/Devolved Parks Maintenance budgets Model 3 - Lambeth/Social Enterprises

Local Authority

Model 2 Parks M

Council maintains ownership of the park

Mode Enter

Local Authority Council devolves park maintenance budget directly to formally constituted local residents associations Council sources local social enterprises to take on management of parks

Council retains ownership of the park and provides capital funding

Social Enterprise/Co-Operative Most Co-Operatives have a board directly elected by local members

Local Residents Association Social enterprises, as not-for-profit businesses, can seek additional capital funding from a range of sources

Local Residents Association takes on responsibility for the maintenance of the park and other matters such as organising events

The social enterprise or co-operative is responsible for maintenance of the park, hiring people etc and any additional money is put back into the park, no profits are made

Urban greening strategy case study

Proposal 1 Unused grassy areas due in part to poor maintenance and intrusive railings

I conducted a study into an existing section of the neighbourhood to examine my strategy towards landscaping and public realm along the new links streets I propose to create. It is intended that each of these link streets would have its own function and layout within an overarching template of materials, plant species, street furniture and lighting. I have studied the one link street that is existing and is the first one you come to walking North along Valence Avenue, known as Groveway. The drawing below highlights the issues I have identified with the existing street setup that I feel could be improved upon. The main issue is a general lack of maintenance, both hard and soft landscaping and a profligacy of railings. A lack of clarity of function is also an issue in parts, mainly the dual use as vehicle and pedestrian route with no hard or soft division between the two.

2 Poorly defined obstruction bollards 3 Single surface road for both cars and pedestrians: no definition or separation - discourages walking 4 General lack of separation between public and private: driveways bleed into the pedestrianised areas 5 Dual carriageway encourages car use 6 Overgrown and underused central reservation - no clear function

1 New neighbourhood play space for children and seating area - aims to give definition to unused grassy areas and encourage use

The drawing below shows my proposal for this section of the neighbourhood, the majority of which can be replicated on other streets that connect to Valence Avenue. Broadly speaking my strategy revolves around the introduction of wild planting requiring low maintenance, the formalisation of existing green space to house new functions, and providing new lighting and seating to encourage people to use this space more frequently. I have divided the existing road into 3 sections of 2.5m; a traffic lane flanked by two footpaths. These will be paved differently to delineate the different functions. By doing this I give more space to pedestrians whilst allowing people to still use their cars and driveways under the existing one way system. New small street tress and catenary lights give rhythm and structure to the street, providing a sense of procession and care. This formality is offset by the wilder nature of planting, all of which is designed to be cheap, low maintenance and have a sense of “overgrown” accommodated in the design aesthetic as an acceptance of the difficulties and costs of high maintenance levels. Finally, the existing grassy areas are to be formalised into seating areas and a playground to encourage to stop and use the space, not merely pass through.

2 Existing single surface road re paved and divided into 3 sections of 2.5m. Different surfacing for the road and 2 footpaths will delineate car and pedestrian spaces. Allows people to still access their driveways and maintain current 1 way street whilst giving more priority to pedestrians 3 New wild planting, including in simple wooden planters, to add low maintenance greenery to the street, softening it and encouraging use 4 New planting of small trees such as “street parade crab apple” to add greenery and shading without being too intrusive. Also helps provide some privacy for residents on the street 5 New street lighting - catenary cable lights suspended between slender poles to provide soft overhead light and interact with new trees to create dappled patterns. These will be spaced alternately with trees to avoid lights becoming tangled in the branches 6 Positioning of trees and lighting - trees and lights will be spaced at 4m intervals and alternate (1 row of trees every 8m, 1 row of lights every 8m). They have also been configured to allow each house to maintain an accessible car parking space 2.5m wide. The positioning and spacing may need to be adjusted during detailed design to guarantee sufficient access

7 New Bikehangar cycle storage 8 Footpath narrowed from 5m to 2m to accommodate new cycle path

1 2

9 New 2m wide cycle path 10 Dual carriageway reduced to single carriageway

11 Central reservation widened to 17m with a row of London plane trees on either side

1 4

2 1

4 3

6 4

6 1

3 1

8 9

Axonometric of proposed neighbourhood street scene - 1:500 @ A3

Axonometric of existing neighbourhood street scene - 1:500 @ A3 24

Masterplan phase 1

Heating, Ventilation & Solar Performance

1:2000 @ A3

1:50 @ A3

The first phase of redeveloping Valence Avenue focuses on creating strategic new connections on to the street, highlighted with orange arrows, to increase visual and physical permeability. 9 new East/ West access points have been added; 6 on the Eastern side and 3 on the Western, in addition to 3 existing crossing points, bringing the total to 11, plus one new North/ South access route into Valence Park.

The diagram below outlines the key components of my heating, ventilation and solar performance strategy, with passive strategies being employed as much as possible. The form of the building plays an environmental role, with a shallow plan enabling cross ventilation and natural daylighting across the full width of the building. In addition, the inverted funnel shaped roofs (both curved and straight tapered forms) encourage stack ventilation, with a larger footprint at ground level increasing intake of warm air and double/triple height spaces allowing this air to rise as it cools and be funnelled to one of 7 roof lights along the length of the plan. The two large end roof lights have vents that are automatically operated by the building system, whereas the 5 smaller ones are manually operated as they sit directly above smaller rooms.

Secondly, the removal of two lanes of traffic; one on either side has allowed a new 2000mm wide cycle lane to be implemented on both sides of the road. This North/South cycleway joins up with the existing network at the junction with Wood Lane. The condensing and simplifying of travel lanes has allowed a nearly 17m wide continuous stretch of public space to be created in the centre, the design of which will be phase 2. Bus stops and road crossings have been re designed, taking inspiration from highly effective systems used in the Netherlands, a world leader in cycle use and traffic integration design. “Floating” bus stops separate traffic from cycle lanes and reduce conflict between pedestrians and cyclists without creating unnecessarily complex cycle path layouts, and the same principle applies to “floating” crossing islands for pedestrians at junctions to allow separation of vehicles and cycles whilst maintaining a simple hierarchy and legibility for all users. This system allows pedestrians and cyclists to cross at the same point and gives them precedence above vehicles, vastly increasing safety.

9 5

1 Narrow plan allows natural cross ventilation

2 Outward opening, top hung window panel for natural ventilation. Manually operated

3 Evenly spaced underfloor heating on levels 0 & 01

Whilst the building features large expanses of glass, the solar gain effects of this are mitigated in a number of ways. Firstly, much of this glazing is not south facing and vertical louvres act as external shading. Internally, there are also solar control blinds in key areas to further reduce solar gain. Thermal mass from the concrete deck and ceramic tiles of the ground floor, along with manually operable high level windows on each floor give an element of further environmental control to users of the building.

4 Thermal mass at ground floor from concrete ground slab & ceramic floor tiles. Helps regulate internal temperature naturally.

9 2

5 Low (inlets) & high (outlets) level trickle vents to aid natural cross & stack ventilation

6 The form of the building in section aids stack ventilation, with intakes at low level and outlets at high level in the form of trickle vents and operable roof lights 7 A shallow plan and large expanses of glazing allow winter sun to penetrate deep into the plan, reducing the need for mechanical heating & lighting

8 Vertical facade louvres help protect against intense summer sun. All glazing units behind are also thermochromic to further mitigate against solar gain

9 Internal dynamic solar control blinds. Respond automatically to light levels & controlled by smart building system

1 2 7

1 2 3

New dedicated cycle lane New pedestrian link formed by removal of existing dwellings 1

Re designed junction with “Dutch style” cycle lane layout

New cycle & pedestrian shared crossing

New bus stop N

2 1

Construction, Structures & Materials As my wider regeneration plan focuses on increasing porosity and pedestrian links through residential areas, it seemed appropriate to reflect this in the architecture of new structures. Kiosks & stalls or units with transparent ground floor construction are proposed for temporary pavilions & to provide new commercial and civic spaces whilst retaining the new porous nature of the wider context. The nature of the site, over 750 metres long and only 45m wide, lends itself to thin buildings with a shallow plan and ample opportunity for cross ventilation, large public spaces and minimal ground floor structure.

Aside from the use of colour throughout the scheme, namely millenial pink (RAL 3015) & French blue (RAL 5014), material choices for the scheme were heavily informed by the local context. The decision to use pink metal cladding was inspired in part by the subtle tone changes covering hues of pink, red, orange & brown found in the brick terraces of the area, and the way metal can reflect light to achieve these variations of colour throughout the day. I also wanted to use colour as a marker to differentiate my proposal from the sometimes drab, grey, concrete environment it sits in.

Primary Structural Strategy

Furthermore, the decision to clad the roof with multi coloured tiles in pastel shades was heavily inofrmed by Assemble’s Yard House project and the desire to reflect the tiled roofs of the becontree, that in their subtle variations of scale, height & colour give some visual variety to an otherwise monotomous ladnscape. Manifesting these aesthetic choices in a concrete material strategy led me to research materials that incorporate recycled waste, particularly that from construction, so I could recycle some of the waste from the house demolitions in my masterplan. From this I discovered the work of Kenoteq in producing bricks made from 90% recycled construction waste in a variety of colours that creates only 10% of the carbon emissions than a regular brick. Also, the work of Assemble in their ceramic range made from recycled construction & manufacturing waste, and Eco Blocks and Tiles, who create roof tiles from recycled plastic waste. All of the tiles in my scheme will be made from recycled content, with the intention to incorporate construction waste if possible.

The primary structural system for both the circular & linear parts of the building is comprised of steel, for its high strength to weight ratio and programme flexibility. Steel has a high embodied energy which can’t be denied but the use of standardised members and recycled steel help to mitigate against this. Longevity is key to the environmental & cultural strategy of the scheme, as is the ethos of a building & landscape strategy that aims to encourage more environmentally beneficial behaviours in the local community. Structurally the project is ambitious and combines a number of systems. The linear section of the scheme is a simple steel frame on a 3m grid that pursues structural efficiency over ingenuity and aesthetic appeal. The curved funnel-like sections of the scheme combine this steel frame of 250mm x 250mm elements with 2 secondary bracing structures. Firstly, arched steel beams act as bracing to columns whilst diffusing the heavy roof load over a wider area, whilst a steel lattice frame sits atop the roof beams, again to diffuse the load over a wide area. My research into hyperboloid structures was fundamental to this philosophy, with the ingenuity of this system allowing such an expansive roof design.

Powder coated exposed steel structure in main exhibition space

Envelope Strategy The strategy for my envelope design evolved as a result of structural and aesthetic considerations, namely a desire to convey the exposed steel structure externally, and use its pink colour as a key design feature. Exposing steel externally causes extensive problems with thermal bridging so after much research I decided to use profiled aluminium rain-screen cladding to mimic the effect of externally exposed steel. The inspiration for this came largely from Duggan Morris’ R7 offices in King’s Cross that is clad in pink aluminium. This allowed me to insulate the internal steelwork effectively with high performance thermal break pads separating internal steel and external cladding in areas at particular risk of thermal bridging. This creates the illusion that steel is exposed on the facade, when in reality the cladding performs no structural function, whilst maintaining aesthetic continuity between internal and external. Between structural members the same pink aluminium cladding is used but in a simpler panel form where there is no need to express a structural reality behind. This philosophy continues into the solar shading strategy, with pink aluminium louvres maintaining the heavily vertical, consistent rhythm of the facade along the linear middle portion of the building. Finally, glass is used extensively in the middle portion of the building to maintain views across Valence Avenue to maintain the porosity of the new landscape design, and neighbourly scale of the existing estate. The strategies for mitigating solar gain from this glazing is discussed previously.

The pointilism style effect of hand made ceramic tiles - Assemble, Yard House, 2015

Hyperboloid roof structure with bracing ring beams & curved roof beams 28

Typology study: Marquee/town show tent

Typology study: Cooling tower/hyperboloid

A study of form, construction, function in tented structures

A study of form, structural & ventilation design

With my proposal to stage a centenary festival partly inspired by similar historic civic events in the borough, such as Dagenham Town Show (1952-2012), I wanted to reference the physical appearance of these events in some way through my proposal. As such I looked extensively into tent structures, including marquees & tensile roofs. One of the obvious issues with these structures is their temporality; they are designed for short periods of use. Thus, my proposal seeks to reference, not replicate them, in a permanent state. The inverted funnel form of these spaces and their large, uninterrupted spans inspired me; I wanted to replicate this sense of a large communal gathering space with high ceilings and openness to the external. This left me with an issue in terms of replicating this form through other structural means to meet environmental & performance requirements for a permanent building whilst using materials in a “truthful”, not referential way.

Following on from this research I began to look into cooling towers & their similar “inverted funnel” form. I discovered this form is in fact a hyperboloid, & cooling towers assume this form for functional reasons; namely minimal material usage for large spans & enhanced stack or natural draft ventilation. This was a crucial discovery as it opened up a path for me to achieve the form & aesthetic I wanted without it being merely “a nice shape”. There are still issues with the spatial efficiency of this form but as it is only to be used for the main public space in my scheme I decided the positives of structural efficiency, environmental performance & beauty outweighed these concerns. Developed by Vladimir Shukov, the hyperboloid is generally a lattice construction of tapered straight lines whose end points are rotated around a circle, resulting in the famous “inverted funnel” form. Diagram showing a hyperboloid is all straight lines, simply rotated

Tents & marquees are often seen at town shows, such as above at Dagenham Town Show

Usually a concrete hyperboloid, the towers above also use a steel lattice

Cooling tower concept - Frei Otto/Atelier Warmbronn, 1974

Steel poles hold the canvas in tension & achieve large spans

Frei Otto pioneered tensile structures, like Munich Olympic Stadium, above

Frei Otto, Diplomatic Club/Tuwaiq Palace, 1980, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Cooling towers are often hyperboloids to maximise natural draft ventilation

Vladimir Shukhov’s first ever hyperboloid - water tower, 1896

Key precedent: Fullwell Cross Library

Key precedent: Woolwich Rotunda

Public library by Sir Fredrick Gibberd, 1968, Barkingside, Ilford

Temporary events space/war museum by John Nash, 1814, Carlton house & later Woolwich common

An important project in developing my approach to form, Fullwell Cross Library is situated in a suburban East London context, much like my scheme. It is also a generous civic offering like my proposal, though its position in a town centre differentiates it. The arched clerestory windows and tent like copper roof echoed my intention for the urban room portion of my scheme almost perfectly, providing a concrete example of how I might realise this concept structurally & spatially.

Similarly to Gibberd’s library, Woolwich rotunda is a lesser known example of the work of a historically prominent & significant architect, in this case John Nash. Studying this building, particularly through the brilliant “Cones, not domes” paper by Jonathan Clarke, made me realise the form I envisaged in my head was structurally achievable, particularly if it had been realised in 1814 without the advances in structural technology available today. It also offered an alternative to the hyperboloid lattice structural system, using a system of radial trusses & load bearing double outer wall to support a very heavy lead roof & achieve a span of over 20m with only one central column. The fact this form is achieved with timber and not concrete, unlike Fullwell Cross or Niemeyer’s Brasilia Cathedral, is remarkable.

Whilst the spatial efficiency of forms like this are debatable, their beauty is undeniable; ambitious & geometrically skilful. Whilst I am using a steel structure, not concrete, I am attempting to produce a similarly ambitious form with a relatively heavy roof cladding so understanding the structural logic, size & spacing of members in this project was extremely useful.

The striking form of the rotunda with lead roof

Library entrance showing ribbed copper roof

Internally, a central free stone enables a large column-free span

In section the use of divided tie-beam trusses is clear

Arched clerestory windows draw light into reading spaces

Furniture, including bookcases, are integrated into the circular plan

The large roof span is enabled by deep concrete ribs

These ribs radiate outwards and integrate with the arched facade motif

A load bearing double outer wall requires strong cross bracing

Each opposing pair of half ribs meet in the middle, with their upright timbers forming the king post

Materiality & colour: Tiles Exploring aesthetic & environmental uses The decision to use tiles in one form in my project was one I made early on, wishing to reference both the predominant masonry/ceramic materiality of the surrounding context and the subtle variations of colour along Valence Avenue that are hardly noticeable from a distance but provide one of the few forms of variation across the estate when up close. Assemble’s Yard House project has been the key precedent throughout with the aesthetic effect of its coloured ceramic tiles forming the exact effect I wished to create. However, I also looked at a series of other examples for alternative materials, patterns and environmental performance, including the People’s Pavilion (below) and Woodland Place at Hackney City Farm (opposite). I volunteered on the latter scheme so am familiar with the rationale behind its use of roof tiles in particular. Bricks made from 90% recycled waste - Kenoteq

People’s Pavilion, Bureau SLA & Overtreders W, Eindhoven, 2017

All three projects feature diamond shaped tiles in an overlapping pattern as a waterproof cladding but all three are made from different materials. Yard House uses hand made ceramic tiles, the People’s Pavilion features tiles made from recycled household plastic waste, & Woodland Place’s tiles are made from recycled tetrapak cartons. After studying these projects I decided to follow the recycled materials route but as both Woodland Place and People’s Pavilion are temporary projects, I decided to use Assemble’s route of ceramic tiles for their durability and weather proofing performance. As a result, the tiles in my project will be made from recycled ceramic and construction waste, including some from the demolitions in my masterplan. Assemble themselves have developed a series of ceramic products made from recycled construction waste and there are a series of masonry building products made from recycled construction waste, showing it is indeed feasible.

Radial roof system of timber trusses

Woodland Place by Studio Wic, Hackney City Farm, 2018

The pavilion is incredibly simple but the roof stands out

Close up of roof tiles made from recycled tetrapak’s

The cladding system is relatively simple, using wooden batens

The project features a similar cladding of coloured tiles

The varied texture of each tile creates a bespoke feeling

Structural design: Exposed steel Exploring structural form, material properties & spatial function Deciding on a structural approach to my scheme was a challenge, with my aesthetic preferences sometimes conflicting with structural or environmental performance. Following my research into hyperboloid lattices I moved towards steel as my primary structural material, as is the case in many of these lattices, and marquee tents. However, my desire to express the structural frame both internally and externally raised a serious issue of thermal bridging. As the examples on this page demonstrate, this can be achieved but requires either cladding of the steel externally in an aesthetically similar material such as an insulated aluminium panel in the offices below, or to introduce thermal breaks between the internal & external envelope, as well as between floors. This raises questions of truth to materials but I believe it is the best solution to have intumescent coated exposed steel internally & to use insulated cladding panels externally to replicate the effect aesthetically.

Acoustic Strategy

Services Strategy

Public spaces are generally housed at ground floor level, with more cellular, administrative spaces on the first floor, mainly to separate functions, but also with acoustics in mind. In addition, offices, study spaces etc. are located centrally in the building, with the louder, more public spaces at either end. Acoustic ceiling tiles (perforated timber) will be used throughout the ground floor to dampen sound transfer between floors and a stair core separates the loudest space (the climbing wall) from quieter spaces. In addition, exhibition spaces are housed far away from the main rotunda and it is this compartmentalising of functions that provides the greatest acoustic separation. Folding walls within the main exhibition hall also allow even further seperation.

The services strategy for my scheme involves running services aloud the perimeter of the ground floor, housed in a duct within the edge of the floor construction, with access gained via a removable metal grate. The aim is to provide service provision discreetly whilst incorporating it into the aesthetic of the building. A raised access first floor with removable durable carpet tiles allows services for this level to be housed in the floor construction. Mechanical heating, lighting and ventilation will be required in some areas of the scheme, but envelope design and shallow plan mean passive methods can be used predominantly. Dedicated mechanical ventilation will be required in the kitchen, housed in a dropped ceiling in this area specifically.

Exposed steel facade - IBM offices, Hopkins Architects, 1992

Perforated timber acoustic roof tiles - to be used throughout the ground floor to insulate against noise from above

Pink steel facade - R7 offices, Duggan Morris, 2017, London

Loud public space Facade detail showing metal cladding over structure behind

Cladding the steel reduces thermal bridging but retains the effect

Removable metal grilles provide access to services recessed within the floor construction. This allows the services to be part of the material design, not simply hidden away.

Acoustic buffer zone

Whitby Abbey Visitor Centre, Stanton Williams, 2002

Quiet public space 37

Urban Room - Hyperboloid structure exploded isometric

Urban Room - Linear structure exploded isometric

1:200 @ A3

10m 14

N Hyperboloid structure second floor & roof 7 - 250x250mm pink powder coated outer steel ring beam 8 - Vertically ascending 250x125mm pink powder coated inner steel ring beam bracing

Linear structure second floor & roof 22 - 250x250mm pink powder coated curved steel I beams (under rooflights)

9 - 250x250mm pink powder coated curved steel I beams that taper to 250x125mm at top

23 - 250x125mm pink powder coated steel I beams sitting stop curved beams 12

10 - Secondary steel structure to support roof formed of 50x50mm steel diamond sections arranged in a hyperboloid pattern

24 - Secondary steel structure to support roof formed of 50x50mm steel diamond sections arranged in a hyperboloid pattern

Other

11 - 150mm thick reinforced concrete lift shaft walls. Lift shaft provides additional lateral stability 10

12 - 250mm deep steel mesh floor deck viewing platform 24

13 - 250x250mm pink powder coated roof support steel I beams on 3m grid at 60 degree slope

18 - 250mm deep intermediate composite floor deck with

19 - 250x250mm pink powder coated steel I columns on 3m grid

Linear structure first floor

14 - 250x250mm pink powder coated curved steel I beams

20 - 250x250mm pink powder coated steel I beams on 3m grid 21 - 250x250mm pink powder coated roof support steel I beams at 60 degree slope

Hyperboloid structure first floor

5 - 250mm deep intermediate composite floor deck with 250mm deep steel mesh floor deck insert in middle

6 - Outer structural ring formed of 250x250mm pink powder coated steel I columns with 250x250mm pink powder coated steel bracing arches between

Linear structure ground floor

15 - 400mm reinforced concrete ground slab 16 - 250x250mm pink powder coated steel I columns on 3m grid 17 - 250x250mm pink powder coated steel I beams on 3m grid

Hyperboloid structure ground floor

1 - 400mm reinforced concrete ground slab 2 - Outer structural ring formed of 250x250mm pink powder coated steel I columns with 250x250mm pink powder coated steel bracing arches between

3 - Inner structural ring formed of 250x125 mm pink powder coated steel I columns with 250x125mm pink powder coated steel bracing arches between 4 - Ring beam formed of: 0m 2m - 250x250mm pink powder coated outer steel ring beam - 250x125mm pink powder coated inner steel ring beam - 250x250mm pink powder coated tapered steel I beams in radial grid with 1/3 cantilever

10m

Urban Room - Primary structure isometrics

Urban Room - Technical section AA

1:200 @ A3

1:50 @ A3

10m

Roof build up 1 - Thermally broken Velfac 200 aluminium faced composite window frame - Velfac 24mm double glazing unit

500mm 1m

2 - 12mm thick lapped ceramic roof tiles - 50 x 25mm treated horizontal fixing batens at 500mm centres - 50 x 25mm treated vertical fixing batens at 500mm centres within air cavity - Breathable DPM - 125mm rigid insulation - 25mm PPC coated rigid insulation panel to provide thermal break on top of steel structure - Vapour barrier - 50mm steel lattice secondary structure (shown behind steel structure) - 12mm plywood acoustic diamond roof tiles housed within secondary frame (shown behind steel structure)

Level 03 Roof Top 13900

4 1

Isometric 1 - looking from South East

Wall build up 3 - 25mm thick pink powder coated aluminium cladding fin - 50 x 25mm treated horizontal fixing batens at 500mm centres - 50 x 25mm treated vertical fixing batens at 500mm centres within air cavity - Breathable DPM - 25mm PPC coated rigid insulation panel to provide thermal break outside steel structure - 250mm rigid insulation between columns and fitted either side of column - 25mm PPC coated rigid insulation panel to provide thermal break inside steel structure - Smartply propassive 12mm OSB as vapour barrier - 50 x 25mm treated horizontal fixing batens at 500mm centres - 12mm plasterboard fixed to batens

4 - Thermally broken Velfac 200 aluminium faced composite window frame - Velfac 24mm double glazing unit - 25mm thick pink powder coated aluminium vertical louvres

Isometric 2 - looking from South West

Intermediate floors

Level 02 FFL 7250

Level 01 FFL 4600

5 - 25mm thick galvanised steel mesh removable floor finish panels with 10 x 10mm holes - 200mm thick galvanised steel mesh structural floor slab with 50 x 50mm holes - 25mm thick galvanised steel mesh removable ceiling finis panels with 10 x 10mm holes 6 - 500 x 500 x 12mm suspended floor tiles in wipe clean vinyl finish laid in diamond pattern - Raised access floor pedestals - 12mm plywood sheathing - 150m pre cast concrete floor slab with 200mm up stand at edge - 12mm plywood acoustic diamond roof tiles - 25mm PPC coated rigid insulation panel on edge to provide thermal break outside steel structure - 25mm thick pink powder coated aluminium cladding profile

Ground floor substructure & foundations

Level 00 0

8 - 25mm steel column base plate - 225mm closed cell insulated bearing block provides thermal break to concrete foundation, with 25mm grout either side - 1000mm x 750mm concrete pad foundation

7 - 25mm ceramic tile floor finish - 75mm screed with underfloor heating pipes - 150mm reinforced concrete ground slab - Vapour barrier - 150mm rigid insulation below slab - DPM - 50mm sand layer - 150mm concrete blinding

Urban Room - Technical section BB

1:50 @ A3 0

500mm 1m

Level 03 Roof Top 13900

9 - 12mm thick lapped ceramic roof tiles - 50 x 25mm treated horizontal fixing batens at 500mm centres - 50 x 25mm treated vertical fixing batens at 500mm centres within air cavity - Breathable DPM - 125mm rigid insulation - 25mm PPC coated rigid insulation panel to provide thermal break on top of steel structure - Vapour barrier - 50mm steel lattice secondary structure (shown behind steel structure) - 12mm plywood acoustic diamond roof tiles housed within secondary frame (shown behind steel structure) - 12mm thick lapped ceramic roof tiles - 50 x 25mm treated horizontal fixing batens at 500mm centres - 50 x 25mm treated vertical fixing batens at 500mm centres within air cavity - Breathable DPM - 150mm rigid insulation - 25mm plywood sheathing - 25mm PPC coated rigid insulation panel to provide thermal break on top of steel structure - Vapour barrier - 12mm plywood acoustic diamond roof tiles (shown behind steel structure)

10 - 25mm thick galvanised steel mesh removable floor finish panels with 10 x 10mm holes - 300mm thick galvanised steel mesh structural floor slab with 50 x 50mm holes - 25mm thick galvanised steel mesh removable ceiling finis panels with 10 x 10mm holes

Level 02 FFL 7250

11 - 25mm steel column base plate - 225mm closed cell insulated bearing block provides thermal break to concrete foundation, with 25mm grout either side - 500mm x 750mm concrete pad foundation

Level 01 FFL 4600

Level 00 0

Rotunda wall detail plan 1:10 @ A3

1 25mm thick pink powder coated aluminium cladding profile 29

2 25mm PPC coated rigid insulation panel to provide thermal break outside steel structure

Glazing detail HH

Aluminium cladding detail II

1:10 @ A3

3 250x250mm pink powder coated steel I beam

4 Thermally broken Velfac 200 aluminium faced composite window frame

5 25mm thick pink powder coated aluminium cladding fin 6 Velfac 24mm double glazing unit 7 250x250mm pink powder coated steel I column 8 50mm thick concrete pavers 9 100mm rigid insulation with DPM outside and lapped up to meet glazing frame

16 1 2 3

17 18

4 2

10 150mm reinforced concrete ground slab 17

11 25mm steel column base plate

12 100mm concrete blinding to outside of floor slab 13 225mm closed cell insulated bearing block 16

14 500mm x 750mm concrete pad foundation 15 12mm thick lapped ceramic roof tiles

16 50 x 25mm treated horizontal fixing batens at 500mm centres 17 50 x 25mm treated vertical fixing batens at 500mm centres within air cavity

18 125mm rigid insulation

19 Aluminium guttiering 20 50 x 50mm treated fascia board

21 350x250mm pink powder coated steel I beam

22 125mm rigid insulation fitted inbetween column web and flange

23 Climbing wall

24 25mm ceramic tile floor finish

25 75mm screed with underfloor heating pipes 26 12.5mm plywood sheathing 27 150mm rigid insulation below slab

5 23

28 25mm grout

22 2 35

29 100mm gravel drainage strip to outside edge of floor slab

30 250mm rigid insulation

9 10

31 12.5mm plywood sheathing 32 12.5mm x 250mm vertical plasterboard panels

6 44

10 26 26 27

11 12

33 100mm wide metal floor grate above services void 34 500x250mm pink powder coated steel I column

24 25 9

35 25mm thick composite concrete siding boards 14

14 45

Bibliography Books:

Websites:

- Bacon, E. (1975), Design of Cities, London : Thames and Hudson

- Adam Kahn Architects. www.adamkhan.co.uk

- Cullen, G. (1994), The Concise Townscape, London : Butterworth Architecture

- Archdaily. www.archdaily.com

- Grubbauer, M/ Shaw, K (2018), Across Theory and Practice. Thinking Through Urban Research, Berlin: Jovis

- Architects Journal. www.architectsjournal.co.uk - Architectural Review. www.architectural-review.com

- Jacobs, A. (1993), Great Streets, Cambridge, Massachusetts : MIT Press - Assemble. www.assemblestudio.co.uk - Jarman, D. (!995), Derek Jarman’s Garden, London : Thames & Hudson - BD Online. www.bdonline.co.uk - Lynch, K. (1960), The Image of the City, Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press - Britain from above. www.britainfromabove.org.uk - Nairn, I. (2002), Nairn’s London, Pleasantville, N.Y. : Akadine Press - Dehlin Brattgard. www.dehlinbrattgard.se - Perec, G. (2010), An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris, Cambridge: Wakefield Press

- Detail magazine online. www.detail-online.com

- Perec, G. (1997), Species of Spaces and Other Pieces, London: Penguin Books

- Dezeen. www.dezeen.com

- Scolari, M. (2015), Oblique Drawing: A History of Anti-Perspective, Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press

- DK-CM. www.dk-cm.com - Friends of the Earth. www.friendsoftheearth.uk

Publications/papers: - Hopkins Architects. www.hopkins.co.uk - Clarke, J. (2006), Cones, not domes, The Construction History Society - Jan Kattein Architects. www.jankattein.com - Clossick, J. (2014), Where is Tottenham’s Economy?, CASS Cities, London Metropolitan University - Farrell, T. (2014), The Farrell Review, Farrells/Department for Culture, Media & Sport

- LBBD Council. www.lbbd.gov.uk - Leku Studio. www.lekustudio.com - Lillitt Bollinger. www.lilittbollinger.ch

- Keefe, V-J. (2018), Everyday Futures: Volumes 1-3 - Maich Swift. www.maichswift.com - London Energy Transformation Initiative. (2020), LETI Climate Emergency Design Guide

- Mayor of London. www.london.gov.uk

- London Energy Transformation Initiative. (2020), LETI Embodied Carbon Primer

- MUF. www.muf.co.uk

- Mayor of London. (2013), All London Green Grid

- Valence House. valencehousecollections.co.uk

- Mayor of London, (2018), London Environment Strategy

- Verity Jane Keefe. www.verityjanekeefe.co.uk

- Muf Art & Architecture. (2009), The Barking Code, London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Appendix: - Urban Room plans - p.48-49 - Urban Room elevations - p.50-51 - Urban Room sections - p.52-53

Urban Room - Ground floor plan 1:200 @ A3 2m

Urban Room - First floor plan

Urban Room - Second floor plan

Urban Room - Roof plan

1:200 @ A3

10m

2400

1 - Entrance foyer

2 - Becontree timeline exhibition part 1 (1921-1941)

3000

2400

3000

3 - Becontree timeline exhibition part 2 (1942-1961) A

4 - Cafe seating

6 - Reception desk B

7 - 1:5000 interactive site model

8 - Kitchen

3000

5 - Cafe servery

9 - Cold food store 10 - Bin store

3000

11 - Staff changing room (lockers, shower, W.C)

3000

12 - Female W.C. D

13 - Male W.C

3000

14 - Accessible W.C. 15 - Store

15 E

16 - Shop

3000

18 - Climbing wall

3000

17 - Main exhibition hall/community roomsdividable into 3 separate spaces to house temporary exhibitions & community functions)

3000

19 - Becontree timeline exhibition part 3 (1962-1981) 20 - Becontree timeline exhibition part 4 (1982-2001)

3000

21 - Becontree timeline exhibition part 5 (2002-2021)

3000

22 - Becontree timeline exhibition part 6 (2022 onwards) 23 - Viewing deck/seating H

3000

24 - Plant room

25 - Meeting room

3000

26 - Office I

3000

27 - Breakout space

29 -Learning space

30 - Youth zone (Group games, video games, group discussion space)

3000

31 3000

3000

28 - Library/archive room 28

31 - Roof light

32 - Viewing platform

3000

33 - Zipline platform 16

3000

31 26

3000

31 3000

3000

11 24 R

R 5 6

12 W V

U V

T 14

21 9

10 T

W 12

7 12

5 6

6 7

R 5

3000

T 14

Urban Room - Elevations 1:200 @ A3 0

10m

T S

Level 03 Roof Top 13900

Level 02 FFL 7250

Level 01 FFL 4600

Level 00 FFL 0

1 - East elevation in context

Level 03 Roof Top 13900

Level 02 FFL 7250

Level 01 FFL 4600

Level 00 FFL 0

2 - South elevation in context

4 - North elevation in context

S T

Level 03 Roof Top 13900

Level 02 FFL 7250

Level 01 FFL 4600

Level 00 FFL 0

3 - West elevation in context

Urban Room - Sections 1:200 @ A3 0

N 5m

10m

S T

Level 03 Roof Top 13900

Level 02 FFL 7250

Level 01 FFL 4600

Level 00 FFL 0

Long section AA looking East in context

Level 03 Roof Top 13900

Level 02 FFL 7250

Level 01 FFL 4600

Level 00 FFL 0

Cross section BB looking North in context

Cross section DD looking South in context

T S

Level 03 Roof Top 13900

Level 02 FFL 7250

Level 01 FFL 4600

Level 00 FFL 0

Long section CC looking West in context