Car Parking

Car Parking

Car parking is going to be vital to this building as it will draw more people from further afield to come and visit the indoor swimming pool. Above ground there is a small car park just to the side of the land where my building will be placed. However this 500 spaced car park will not be enough as it is already used by many people visiting the town centre.

In order to accommodate for all the people visiting I will have to incorporate a car park into my building design, however I do not want to use up to much of the limited space I have got for a car park.

I have got several options including a multi story car park or an under ground car park.

Although a multi story car park is practical and easily built and designed, I think that it will make the area look ugly and detract from the eye catching building I am planning to design. Therefore I am going to look into building an underground car park to accommodate for the visitors.

Geodesic Domes

Geodesic Domes

I wanted to look in the idea of having a geodesic roof for my building. 

A geodesic dome is a spherical or partially spherical shell structure based on a series of circles on the surface of the sphere. The geodesics intersect to form triangular elements that have local triangular rigidity and also distribute the stress across the structure.

The History:
Geodesic domes were designed by Buckminster Fuller. When Buckminster Fuller first thought the geodesic dome, he dreamed that it would house humanity. Constructed of a complex framework of self-bracing triangles, the geodesic dome is the strongest and most economical structure ever designed. No other form of enclosure covers so much area without internal supports. The larger it is, the stronger it becomes. Geodesic domes have proven durable in hurricanes that have flattened traditional homes. What's more, geodesic domes are so easy to assemble that an entire house can be built in a single day.

Some examples:

The Eden project: 
Like the steel grid in a skyscraper, the steel frame of the geodesic dome is incredibly strong relative to its weight. This weight is dispersed evenly throughout the entire structure so that the dome only needs support around its base, leaving lots of room for the plants inside. The edges of the dome rest on a sturdy foundation necklace, an underground concrete wall around the perimeter of the structure.

Designing these sorts of domes is a mind-boggling exercise in geometry. You have to figure out exactly which shapes to use and how to fit them all together to form a perfectly curved structure. Eden's designers figured everything out using computer software. The software generated precise 3-D computer models of the different domes, which the designers fed into an automated production-line computer. Using the 3-D models, the computer determined which pieces the construction crew would need and directed machines to cut steel beams to those exact specifications. When it came time to build the domes, the crew simply followed the instructions and put all of the pieces together.

Grand designs: 

Experiments:
Here are some models I made using cocktails sticks and jelly sweets to show the structures you can make using the geodesic concept.

Experimenting with Building Design

Experimenting with Building Design

After doing initial drawings in my sketchbook of potential building designs, I decided to start doing some experiments using cardboard to turn my ideas into 3D models that I could use to show my feedback group to get there opinions.

I used an aerial view picture of my location as a base which I then used to see what the buildings could look like in the area. My building show my ideas that were inspired by things you may find at the beach. These included sand castles, waves and beach balls.

I found doing these experiments very beneficial as I was able to visually see what some of my designs might look like and was also able to provide a visual representation of them to my crit group so I could get feedback on my project. Many of the people in my group said that the wave building did not look quite right within my location but all liked the beach ball building as they thought it would be eye catching and bring something unusual to the area.

In my opinion, I do not think that I will use any of these designs as my final structure as I believe that by doing my experiments I will be able to come up with a more unusual and unique design ideas.

I found doing the experiments very useful as I am not the best drawer and by making models I was able to express my ideas well.