Thesis project First Prize in the Integrated Commu- nities: A Society for All Ages 2012 Competition

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Julia Elliott
5 years ago
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Edenderry Dublin Eighteenth century; market square with Palladian market house designed to support agricultural markets which fill the square with activity flowing through the open ground floor.

This project won First Prize in the Integrated Communities: A Society for All Ages 01 Competition organized in conjunction with the United Nations and the American Department of Economic and Social

1 Edenderry Dublin Eighteenth century; market square with Palladian market house designed to support agricultural markets which fill the square with activity flowing through the open ground floor. Civic activities would be carried out n Square; Nineteenth Century upstairs. Thesis project A multi-use community project in a medium sized Irish town (Edenderry). This project won First Prize in the Integrated Communities: A Society for All Ages 01 Competition organized in conjunction with the United Nations and the American Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). Edenderry has historically been an industrial market town and was the site of Ireland s first peat-fuelled power station. As the town evolves to be a post-industrial community it has experienced a surge in population and development, but little or no investment in public facilities. The intervention attempts to draw energy from the supermarkets, housing developments and workplaces on the outskirts back into the centre through improving pubic space and providing facilities currently missing in the area. It contains a crèche, old people s day centre, performance space, sport facilities, covered market area, ceremonial rooms and archive. The architectural challenge was to make the town s most important public space; the 19th century Market Square, with a Palladian Market house in its centre, into a vibrant area of exchange. The solution I proposed was a reinterpretation of the diagram of horizontal and vertical space by which the space traditionally worked (see diagrams to the right). This evolved into a downward extension of the market house. The roof of this extension forms a plinth which, contrasting with the site s natural slope, breaks up the large square into more usable spaces. The new building is accessed through deep gardens in the plinth which create a more elegant, taller elevation on the old building (page 5). Inside the Market house unsympathetic 1990 s modifications are removed and the form of the original plan is restored to make an open public market room at ground floor level and a suite of well-proportioned rooms upstairs where civic ceremonies are held (page 7). Currently the square is a car-park. The markets are gone, n Square; Currently the large volume of traffic and the sealing of the ground floor of the market house inhibit activity. Original diagram is critically reinterpreted; a plinth containing civic functions contrasts with the n Square; sloping Proposal site creating different spatial conditions, while preserving the old building as a signifier of civic activity.

2 Right: Market Square circa 1910, Far right: Market Square viewed from west, Above: Rendering of project from the same view. 3

3 Above: Site map showing parking area and new entrance to the north-west of the square, Left: Axonometric projection of square showing ventilation and drainage strategy, Top left: Model photographs.

Parking Cinema 5 1 3 Rendering of West Entrance Courtyard; deep patios reveal a taller, more

building above highlighted in red ) 1 Old Person s Day Centre Courtyard 3 Performance Space

4 Parking Cinema Rendering of West Entrance Courtyard; deep patios reveal a taller, more elegant facade on the old building 0m m 0m Plan at plinth level (Footprint of existing building above highlighted in red ) 1 Old Person s Day Centre Courtyard 3 Performance Space Sport Facilities (on the story below) 5 Crèche Right: Model photograph of east entrance courtyard 5

5 Dappled light and views through the plan; the sports Hall with views to the entrance terrace and swimming pool (above), Right: Section AA 0m 1m 10m 6

6 0m 1m 10m Attitude to conservation; Continuity rather than difference; the plan is restored to it s original form. Current plan of market house (Top) and proposed first floor plan (above). Above right; a rendering of the Market room, Right; different activities occur in the ceremonial rooms upstairs... 7

PROPOSED URBAN STRUCTURE

CHAPTER 3 PROPOSED URBAN STRUCTURE PLANNING PARTNERS: CENTURY CITY URBAN DESIGN FRAMEWORK October 2005 13 THE PROPOSED URBAN STRUCTURE The urban design rationale outlined in the previous chapter provides