Research: Secondary (Existing Indoor Beaches and Different types of beaches)

Existing Indoor beaches

 Looking in to Indoor beaches I have not yet found anything like this within the UK. I have however found similar concepts around the world.

One that has really taken my eye is the Tropical Islands in Germany. It is situated in the countryside within an old plane hanger. They aim to provide a fun place for people to spend the day whilst also providing hotels where people can stay for the whole week within the complex. 
The whole place is definitely a lot bigger compared to where I am planning on placing my building so having accommodation for me is probably not going to be an option. However, they provide many services of which I would like to try and incorporate within my design. Some of these include:

A beach with sea and sand

Places for people to relax / sun beds

Activities on the beach such as Volley ball

Flumes and other fun activities for children

A relaxation place separate from the main area / spa 

Another existing indoor beach that I came across was in China where they have built the worlds biggest building which holds a 14 screen IMAX cinema, two 5 star hotels, offices and an indoor beach and much more. Obviously this is also a lot bigger than the indoor beach that I am planning on designing.

In order to provide the same effect and services as these two existing indoor beaches, I am going to have to use some clever architecture to make the place feel bigger and also use the space appropriately in order not to lose any to pointless things.

Different types of beaches

If you are going abroad for a holiday you are likely to find your self sitting on a tropical beach with a clear blue sea and golden sands, along with high temperatures and lots of tourists. This is the type of atmosphere I would like to bring to my indoor beach however there are some beautiful seasides in England that I often visit at the weekend with my family. A pebbled beach however, may not provide the same feel as having a sandy beach so I will probably avoid this when it comes do designing my interior.

Going To The Beach

What going to the beach means to me?

I absolutely love going to the beach as for me it provides a different world for me to enter. Living within London with its busy atmosphere, people rushing around everywhere, cars zooming past and the constant noise of all this around us, being able to go the seaside gives me that feeling of escapism from the real world. 

Once at the beach there are many things that I love to do. For example, if its a hot sunny day, sun bathing is a must with a good swim in the sea which always makes you feel fresh and renewed. There are other things such as walking along the beach holding your shoes in one hand just paddling in and out the waves while you battle with the wind to keep your hair looking relatively normal, buying chips and ice creams and spending that little bit of quality time with your friends and family before you get back in the car to face reality once again.

Going to the beach isn't all about the sea and sand however, there are many other activities that happen all around us. For example, parents making sand castles with there children, sports activities like beach volley ball and Frisbee intertwined with groups of people of all ages gathering together all to have their own day at the beach doing what they themselves love to do.

Lastly I think for me, going to the beach always help to renew my health and well being. It manages to give you that time away, to be at one with ones self to reflect on any problems or worries you may be having within the real world whilst also managing to provide you with a great day out full of laughter, happiness and distractions with the people you are there with.

This experience that I get when going to the seaside is something that I want to bring to Dartford within the indoor beach. I want to provide that bit of escapism from reality whilst giving people a great day out with there family and friends. Something which I believe many people within this town probably do not get to experience very often.

First Initial Idea

Indoor beach

After doing research in to many different strange and unusual ideas that I could design for my location, the idea that had taken my interest the most is the idea of designing an indoor beach. 
Around the world there are a number of various different indoor beaches that already exist however none in the UK. 

Within the building I think it would be great to provide the local people of Dartford with the experience of going to the beach without leaving the town. Inside there could be a big beach with sand and sun loungers, a fish and chip shop and ice cream parlours. it could be a place  to provide excitement and fun at the same price as going to a normal swimming pool. 

As mentioned in previous posts, the idea of having a sense of well being is fair important to me so the idea of having a separate area where adults can go to relax, have spa treatments and improve there health would be great.

Overall, initially looking at this as a potential idea throws many ideas running through my head and I believe this could be a great idea for my Final Major project.

Research: Primary (List of ideas and Bizarre buildings)

List of ideas and Research Pictures

• Sports arena
• Animal sanctuary
• Adventure playground
• Tropical forest
• Bridge to nowhere
• Wooden play area
• Adult adventure park
• Mazes/labyrinth
• Water park
• Theme park
• Technology Park
• Stadium
• Entertainment centre
• Competition centre
• Ski slopes
• Snow boarding centre
• Outdoor/indoor markets
• Moving buildings
• Manmade natural disasters
• Urban zoo
• Cycle park
• Tunnels
• Drive in cinema
• LandRover experience
• Wave/surfboarding centre
• Indoor/outdoor paint balling
• Island
• Big wheel
• Educational/youth centre
• Laser quest
• Go-karting track
• Indoor pool/beach
• Entertainment hub
• Dog park/dog walking
• Forest walks
• Ice skating rink
• Building with no purpose
• Illusions
• Slide park

A few years a go I had the chance to visit Barcelona, where I was able to visit some of Gaudi's amazing work from the Casa Mila to Park Guell. I find Gaudi inspirational as an architect as he was never afraid of challenging design. He would also prefer to make models and mouldings of his buildings instead of drawing detailed plans which I find motivational as I personally find that drawing is not my strong point and prefer to convey my ideas through 3D experimental models.

Whilst in Spain I was also able to visit some other bizarre buildings including Dali's museum and home. The Museum building was a spectacle to see, so unique and unusual within its location and the seemingly random floor layout of him home produced an interior like no other.

Research: Primary (Location)

Location

Located on the border of Kent, London and Essex, Dartford is an important commuter town situated in northern Kent, approximately 16 miles east of Central London. Dartford has excellent road communications, with the town being located approximately 1 mile west of Junction 1 of the M25 Motorway. The A2 and A20 Dual Carriageways lie to the south of Dartford, providing access to Central London to the north and access to the M2 and M20 Motorways to the south. 

Situation of the site:

The site occupies a central location in the town adjacent to the Copperfields Centre directly opposite the Friary Centre which is anchored by Sainsbury’s. Of irregular configuration the site has a ground floor area of just in excess of 1.25 acres (55,000 sq ft). Adjacent to the Westgate car park (500cps) the site is bounded on 3 separate sides by Spital Street, Orchard Street and Hythe Street respectively. 

Size and scale of the land:

This land is in the centre of Dartford town which is a fairly ordinary town with not a lot going on to make it different from anywhere else. For this reason, I plan on coming up with ideas and designs that you would not normally find in a town centre.

The more unusual the design and the more unusual function of the building the better.

Research: Secondary (Façadism)

Façadism

Façadism is an architectural and construction practice where the front/facade of the building was designed and constructed separately to the rest of the building. Now it is often used to refer to the facade of a building that is preserved with a new building erected behind or around it.

The location I have chosen to place my structure/design originally had a big three story building on the site which has now been pulled down. However the front facade of the building is listed and is still standing. 

I would like to use this within my design in order to keep some of the original architecture within the town and to make a feature of it.

Research: Primary (Health and Well being)

Health and Well being

After being to the Sensing Spaces exhibition, it got me thinking about how the design of our health care centres and new hospitals have changed dramatically over the years.

Looking back at victorian style hospitals, they were with out a doubt designed with the over riding principle that in order for people to get better they have to be in an environment that provides somewhere light and airy for patients to recover with the use of natural lighting and space.

Walking in to a hospital today, just about everyone will have a feeling of dread. Obviously no one wants to be ill and in hospital, however there is no reason why the health care service cannot provide a more inviting environment. 

As soon as you walk through the doors you are bombarded with artificial lighting glaring at you and are sent to sit in small, uncomfortable waiting rooms with a tiny tv on the wall. No wonder nobody likes these places! 

You are also faced with staff that have got the spend their whole day sitting in rooms with no windows and no fresh air who are barely provided with somewhere nice to go during there breaks.

All of these things add up to provide a service that has gone downhill! 

Why shouldn't the experience of sitting in a waiting room be a good one, influenced by the architecture, light, sound, smell and space?

Why can't your local GP surgery have a coffee shop?

Over all, this concept of providing people with an inviting space through the use of light and airiness can be applied to any form of design and is definitely something that I will take careful consideration into during my project.

Research: Primary (Sensing Spaces)

Sensing Spaces

Today I visited the Royal academy of the arts to see the exhibition, Sensing Spaces.

To start off the actual Royal academy building itself was amazing to see, the big high ceilings and the light that flooded them provided a great background for he main exhibition to be held in.

Once inside the openness of the exhibition showed as you were free to flow through any of the rooms as you pleased, making the experience more enjoyable to experience.

Pezo Von Ellrichshausen
A piece by Pezo Von Ellrichshausen whose massive installation stood floor to ceiling taking up half of the room with its structure. The four columns housed a series of spiral stairs allowing you to access the upper leave, much like a tree house. The materials that were used gave off a very distinct smell giving you the illusion of being connected to nature and the outside world from inside the building.

The sheer size and scale of the structure was fairly overwhelming when you walked in and you had to take a minute to take it all in.

The use of the spiral stairs within the columns showed that you do not have to just just columns for supporting your structures but make them a major part of the actual design. The fact you can't see what you are walking towards until you get to the very top makes the journey up the stairs even more exciting. I also loved the actual feel of the stairs from the use of material and how the central rotating point felt so smooth and you couldn't help but stroke the walls on your assent.

The designer had provided a ramp at the back of the design allowing disabled access to the installation which reminded my of a wooden adventure playground that I used to play on as a child. 

In my opinion, I found the use of materials and the light and airiness of this piece more inspiring than the actual structure itself as it provided me with ideas which I could use within my project. I did however like the way that people were able to interact with the structure and that it was accessible for everyone.

Kengo Kuma
Kengo Kuma's installation provided a whole new take on how light can effect the way you feel. Walking in to the dark room you were presented by this bamboo structure weaving all the way to the roof with spotlights lining the floor. The atmosphere within the room was a lot different compared to the that of the Pezo piece as the lighting within the room made you feel calm and quiet. The use of smell was also a big part of this installation, with the curator wanting to provide the Japanese smells he loved growing up as a child.

The impact of the way the bamboo was put together created interesting shapes that grew in size. As you walked around the structure, all the shapes mirrored themselves but it always looked different from the different angles you stood at.

In my opinion, the structure as a whole made me think about how simple materials such as bamboo can be used to create an amazing piece of art to look at and also give you an outline to a building that may be made in the future. however, this was not a place i felt entirely relaxed in. It was not somewhere I would want to sit and read a book for example but definitely made me think about how light and smell can effect a building, space and structure.

Diebedo Francis Kere
This installation provided the public with a chance of making there own impact of how the design looked. The honey combed walkway allowed the public to use the straws provided to add them in to the design and add there own little piece for everyone to see. 

As you walked through the structure you could see how one people had just quickly added there piece and left and how others had spent time making there piece unique to them.

I found this installation inspiring as it reminded me of all the time I have spent at Ravensbourne making little structures out of bits and pieces including straws in order to take inspiration from the shapes that evolved from just sticking random materials together. the scale of the piece and the way you have to make your way through the path without getting caught up in everyones little piece of design made the experience more exciting and interactive. 

Eduardo Souto de Moura
This piece was a lot more simple compared to the other pieces shown throughout the exhibition. It was showing the way that we are able to mirror the architecture of the past and use new and modern materials to have the same effect and detail.

The archway mirrored the one from the museum but was made out of concrete and iron.
The designers concept:
'For me, architecture requires continuity: We have to continue what others have done before us but using different materials and methods of construction'

In my opinion, I'm sure sure if I entirely agree which the concept of which the designer produced these archways. I understand that when producing a piece of architecture, looking back at past architecture can provide us with techniques and ideas that we can use to influence our own designs. However, I think to say that we must continue what others have done before us and simple use different materials and methods will severely limit new architecture in the future.

Li Xiaodong