DEVELOPMENT

Now that I have made a decision on my design concept and function, the development is travelling relatively quickly. I have a good idea of how I would like the space to work but I am getting stuck on the structure and also on choosing a site. I wanted to locate the design in the Queen Victoria Park in the centre of the city due to its central location and vicinity to the constant action and activity of the city. I never noticed before that there is a giant carpark beneath this park. And as I have also been looking at the structure of the staircase and would like to create a cantilever structure, this will not work. I'm not sure structurally what the cantilever would require but I think the design I am working on would be best cast in concrete and post tensioned and would also require some sort of deep foundation system to counteract the moment created by the cantilever.

I have started a model to test out the overall shape and aesthetic which I would like to achieve in the design. I also uses it to test a variety of seating angles. It worked very effectively. I very quickly got an idea of how the different seating would affect the overall look and feel of the design which made the design very easy to make.

ACCESSIBILITY

It is important to me that the proposed space never closes. A parliament for the people should offer qa space which is always accessible and available. This will be possible for me to do as I would like to integrate it as part of the park, so that when it is not being used for a specific function, it is merely a part of the park for people to enjoy. It is also an important consideration to design a space which can be accessed by persons with disabilities also.

SITES

To effectively distribute this design across Australia I am proposing that each of the Capital cities host a Parliament stair. Upon looking at each of these cities and the planning it was relatively simple to pinpoint and suggest appropriate sites that met the following requirements:

• Located in the central activity hub of the city
• Located close to the parliament house of the city
• Located in an areas of public parkland/ green space with enough space to create sufficient circulation routes to from, and around the stair

The locations I am proposing for each of the cities are:

(The existing parliament house is shown as a dark square. The proposed parliament stair is shown as a green circle)

For this project, I will develop the Brisbane site further to work out the issues with access and circulation.The selected site in Brisbane is in the place of a current rose garden in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens. The main reasons I chose this site to house the Brisbane parliament stairs are:

• It is central in the CBD yet sheltered enough that traffic noise will not be an issue

• there is plenty of space to develop on this site.

• It is on the axis connecting public places in the city. This is significant as this design proposal is about creating a space FOR the people.

• There is excellent access to the site by all persons. It is accessed through one of the main entrances to the Botanical gardens, off Albert St. The circulation paths are wide and suitable for persons with a wheelchair also. There are no steep inclines to get to the site from the entrance. It is easily located and will be visible from Albert St.

• The existing rose garden is continually being replanted so it is proposed that this cycle of planting simply be relocated to another area in the gardens to retain the display of roses in the gardens.

These ebimap image shows the area along with the existing circulation routes clearly:

The photos show the condition of the site and the neighboring garden beds with flat grass:

DESIGN CONCEPT

The tutorial session on Friday was a very quick consultation but a very useful one. Cameron gave me 2 different directions to look into further which I have done and I am starting to get a clearer idea about my proposed solution.

Cameron suggested I look into an example of architecture that could be relevant to my investigations into landscaping seating and building in underneath. The example is an architecture that came about from the result of a competition for the redesign of the discount ticket booth for TKTS in New York.

TKTS

Completed:  2008
Designers: Perkins Eastman, Choi Ropiha, PKSB Architects

Function:

• new structure to provide purpose for their concession lease.

• Father Duffy who were interested in restoring Duffy’s presence.

• Gathering point Times Square’s economic and branding improvements

 This is a multifunctional architecture using tiered structure and building built in underneath..It includes an inclined public space (translucent red steps) where locals and visitors can pause, sit and experience the 'crossroads of the world'.

Images taken from http://www.dezeen.com

Cameron also gave me a further insight into my ideas about utilising parks, reminding me that the city Canberra was originally designed to follow the city beautiful movement which strived to create the ideals of a garden city. This has led me to revisit the planning of Canberra as a city designed for the parliament and to look closer at the way the ideals of the garden city have been incorporated into the planning.

This included looking at the green roof form of the parliament house, and this, together with the exploration into tiered seating or stairs have finally led me to my design concept.

I will take inspiration from the existing parliament house architecture and create a new space but one that is linked to the existing house. After all, I am not proposing a solution which aims to replace the existing Parliament house, but rather an extension which aims to bring the parliament to the people. I will take the green roof form as used in the existing parliament house and follow this form to create a giant staircase of sorts. This staircase will be integrated into the natural context of the park and have the ability to be used for the seating for an outdoor theatre/lecture space. I will then use the space underneath the staircase to design a space that can contribute to housing other parlimentary functions that are related to the people.