Vertical Studio [Bradford]

As an introduction to the M.Arch course the first project at NTU is vertical studio which is where a fifth year student works in conjunction with the fourth in the site investigation stage. Following this individual designs are completed for the chosen sites in Bradford. The two years went on a trip to Bradford to witness how the city works from an users experience.

The textile industry was the obvious missing link when I first started to think about what the city needed. I began to sketch a loom but during the process I realised that the textile industry may once have led to the economic success of the city but changes brought by this industry could actually be what led to a loss of atmosphere and emotion through Bradford. During the industrial revolution the river Beck became so polluted and overused it was supressed to the sub terrain of Bradford. Below is a diagram of my interpretation of the textile industries effect on the city.

Stanton Williams' Sainsbury Laboratory

One of my key inspirations for my final major project last year was Stanton Williams’ Sainsbury Laboratory which was a monolithic concrete form. The attentive detailing around grout intersections and the uniform consistency of the concrete mix led to the success of this piece of architecture. The purpose of such an elaborate building is to market the UK as a friendly and important place for scientists to work.  This has been achieve by using light interventions to create an spectacular quality of shadowless light within the research areas of the building.

Source: http://cdn.architecturelab.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/SW_Sainsbury_Laboratory_32.jpg?cda6c1

Blackrock Baths, Ireland

Title:Blackrock Baths

Source: The Irish Times "Blackrock Baths to be Demolished" 03 September, 2012

The architectural beauty and simplicity of the Blackrock baths was one of the inspirations for my final major project at Dunmore East as part of the MSc. Behind the graffiti and neglected structure is a forgotten community space that once overcame the separation between Blackrock and the sea caused by the train line. The baths fell into decline in the 1980’s which led to the once resolved separation returning and the dart line becoming the prominent feature of the Blackrock seafront.

Since the pools decline a major transformation has occurred as to why a pool like this may be required in Dublin. The original perception of this pool in the 1800’s was a place to enjoy the seaside and sunshine when it was available. The arrival of the package holiday and affordable flights eroded this function but recently there has been a revolution as to how we may use these seaside spaces. The health benefits of cold water swimming and the paradigm shift in our culture towards well-being means there are new incentives encourage people to swim. 

Health conscious people may lead the way but the second major culture change involves athletes and the growth of triathlon in Ireland. The national governing body for triathlon in Ireland stated that “Triathlon Ireland has grown from a small sport with 30 events and less than 600 members to 140 events and over 6000 members in just five years”. The result of this extraordinary growth is an increased demand for cold water 50m pools to train in without the danger of collision with marine traffic. The facility at Blackrock is the perfect safe solution to meeting this increasing demand in South Dublin while keeping its historical identity.

My proposal is that this site is made into an architectural competition to explore creative and economic methods to restore the pool beyond its former glory. An emphasis should be made in the brief to retain but soften the pools brutalism which may have been a contributing factor to its decline. Ireland has many creative designers and the decision to demolish this structure shows a serious lack of imagination and foresight to the public needs.     

Web Portfolio

For a more polished presentation of my recent work please visit www.colferarchitecture.com

Victorian Coach House Extension

Myself and fellow MSc student Joe Williams from http://joewilliamsarchitecture.blogspot.co.uk/ were approached by a senior member of staff at NTU to design a small extension at the back of his garden. We took the opportunity to get our first live project on our portfolio and to demonstrate first-hand experience of the planning application system in the UK.

The extension is a retirement cottage for the clients in-laws so it was decided that it would be designed around the lifetime home standard. The client required an extra bedroom which he originally assumed would be best in the new extension rather than the existing building. Our design proposed that the existing kitchen would be converted into the second bedroom and the new extension would house a kitchen, new entrance, toilet and living space.

A clear link between the interior and exterior environment is made with large south facing glazing and bi-fold doors. The reduce solar gain visors have been designed to support crawler plants which would grow from a green roof. Originally the roof form over the entrance was brought the entire way across the decking to connect to the existing building but it was decided that this was too intrusive.

Final Major Project Annimation and Expo stand

MA Expo Nottingham

After a excellent 5 days in London with a lot of interest in my project I'm now back in Nottingham for the MA Expo show in Arkright 111. I thought I would mark this occasion by posting the remainder of my work for the final major project. I now have the luxury of uploading on universtiy computers rather than internet cafes on brick lane.

The approach to the spa building uses the top of the sailing club as a base to exemplify the 19th century lighthouse at the other side of the harbour. The space left around the spa building is adaptable and can be used for markets, sailing events and general public activities. The floating planes of the spa viewing platform over the harbour give clear views of the marina the retention pond below.

This is the view along the viewing platform from the dinghy park entrance to the spa building. The storm wall and fishing section of the harbour can be seen in the distance and the gabians to the left supply dispirsed light to the reception area creating interesting shadow effects.



Plan drawings of both buildings at 1:200

This is a ariel view of the development taken from the Southeast Coastguard Helicopter (Rescue 117). The visual shows how the leisure and fisihing industries can coexist in Dunmore East and how leisure could drive the economic and social future of the village.

This is the technical detail of the attenuation system that increases the water flow into the harbour to reduce the build up of silt.

Final major project [Free range expo]

This week has been a seriously hectic one with the final visuals being created for the free range expo in the old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London. Below are the images I chose for the expo with brief descriptions of what they are communicating.

This is the overall master plan of the project with the sailing club, marina and retention slabs located on the west wharf of the project. The retention pool that divides the two buildings offers two functions to the harbor. It retains water to be slowly released onto the slabs located behind the marina and it also doubles as a public swimming space for the spa and sailing club buildings. The purpose of retaining the water is to architecturally reintroduce water flow to reduce the amount of silt build up under the marina. 

The shining light at the right of this photo is the sailing club viewing platform acting as a safety beacon to anyone caught out in this force 8 gale. The image also adds a greater idea of the site context and how a generally dark and unwelcoming harbor can be transformed into a calming place of shelter. 

This view has been taken from the existing lifeboat dock looking over the water towards the marina, sailing club and viewing platform for the spa in the foreground. The language from the rising slabs is continued into the building until it starts to fall into the background with the headlands. The end of the breakwater is also framed by the cantilevered building at many points along the south and east wharf's. 

This nighttime visual gives the viewer a sample of what it may be like arriving into Dunmore East after a long days sailing. One again the welcoming light of the bar and viewing platforms invite the sailor to enjoy the facilities. 

The interior space of the spa building is framed by a colonnade but 1.5m gaps are left open to allow the salt water pool to flood at high water. The fully enclosed parts of the building are the changing rooms, steam room, reception and the sauna which can be locked when not in use.   

link to my profile on the free range website http://www.free-range.org.uk/cgi-bin/portfolio.pl?yearID=17&exhibitionID=886&memberID=22224

First revision of sectional drawings

These drawings are first stage design sections cut through the entire development at Dunmore East. Fig. 1 is a plan view showing where the section cut lines are taken from. Fig. 2 shows the detail sections with
(a) at the top working down to (d).

These sections show clearly the different level changes that occur between the retention slabs (slabs that hold water for sustainable flow into the harbour) and the two buildings.These drawings are still in quite a raw stage and have yet to be annotated but I thought uploading them would give a quick update on how the final major project is progressing.

fig. 1

fig. 2

Falling tide diagram



The abstract images below represent the direction of the flow out of the harbour mouth during a falling tide. The purpose of these visuals are to try and show in a conceptual way the idea behind the project. The smoke effect is the direction silt will be removed around the breakwater as a result of the architectural manipulation of the tidal flow.