Coal Loader Preliminary Concepts

Initial Ideas

I found this section by MASS Studies architects to be quite interesting. I wanted to create a design which integrated the voids of below with the spaces of above, to develop a complex section much like above. These spaces coexist, yet some of them are never aware of the others, while in other occasions, the spaces can only truly be explored in context of one another. I wanted this play of space and use of below ground in my designs, as my preliminary sketches show.

The tunnel begins as per usual, with four entrances...

 Then small voids open up and become interconnected with other tunnels...

 The ground plane is varied, and provides opportunity for people to not only look up, but to look down into the tunnels...

And finally, a section that is relatively divorced from the initial section, where the spaces have merged, and different moments can be experienced from different locations within the same overall space.

These sections explore the possibility of varying the tunnels course through its length, allowing it to deliver people at different points in a contoured landscape. Some spaces connect, while others have exclusive access to spaces that cantilever over and above others. The tunnel begins to provide more than just a path, but an opportunity to explore which was otherwise a fairly bland experience. Giving all due historical merit, not all four tunnels are required to show what one could. I also was interested in opening up the east wall (where the chambers were) to the sea, and allowing underground moments where the water was not only visible, but accessible. 

Secondary Concepts

I first wanted to understand the scale and concept of the Experimental Art Foundation that would be situated in the side of the existing Coal Loader. I jotted down my perception of what Experimental Art is, and the direction I would head in. I decided that my Experimental Arts would showcase the dependence on the senses.

I gave designation to the access of the Coal Loader, and decided that there should be more than the 2 existing access points, by integrating a third on the south side of the loader, both for entry and exit value. This creates a much more open circulation, where no one progression through the site is defined, giving the occupants much more ownership of their experience. 

I then moved onto overall concepts of form, creating many options from which I could compare and contrast their benefits and highlight their potential.

Concept 1 : Blades

I didn't realise until after research, but this was actually only a model made by RCR Architects on one of their projects. Although I assume the blades are just a representation of the landscape, I found it quite powerful how their was an interpreted dialogue, that the mind perceives two conflicting views; one of that of the blades structurally supporting the buildings above, and that of the landscape that one can interact with, walk on and through. So I drove that concept, exporing the options possible with these blade walls (not to confuse with Mies van der Rohe) becoming more than partitions, but moments to capture the circulation, draw the audience within and vary their path with intangible salient points. 

I wanted to give back the form of the landscape that was lost through the condemning of the Coal Loader, which was possible with these blade walls. These single walls, with continuity, would make a larger perspective that could be assumed as reliefs in a landscape. 

Such possibilities with this design are numbered; not only can you walk through, ontop and below, there is the implied voids though repeating blade walls that have deliberate perforations. 

 Concept 2 : Box Tunnel 

I wanted a modern reinvention of the Coal Loader tunnels, by rationalising geometric form as modern architecture does. A less traditional approach, to remove the concept of curves and arches from the existing tunnels and assess the space in between, which was analysed as almost perfect squares. These new forms running congruent to the existing tunnels would undulate and play with each other, providing moments of interaction at certain altitudes for crossing in circulation. Not always entirely enclosed, they would sometimes open with glazing or entirely roofless, open to the air. 

Concept 3 : Voids

The concrete walls set into the natural landscape in the headland was powerful, and the idea of only seeing your assumed path from above is beautiful. When inside, a labyrinth feel is forced upon you, with brief spaces of natural light flooding in, before you are delved ever deeper into the program.