The design process was fuelled by our desire to make the piece fit in with the Granville Island surroundings. There were several developement characters (see
Site Information) that were specifically relevant to our design.
- Building activities should be visually accessible to the public, day and night.
- Ground floor uses should encourage public interaction.
- Less public uses such as offices should be on second or third floors.
- Recycled and new buildings should reflect the industrial qualities of Granville Island through the use of metal or stucco siding, heavy timber, large doors, multi-paned industrial windows, and skylights.
We kept in mind the
sunlight and its direction of travel from east to west. We wanted the building to have lots of natural ligth but without having extremes in temperature during the morning or afternoon.
The
patterns of flow of people both inside and outside the structure were important. We have to able to accomodate students, staff, and visitors as well as the community.
We attempted to make
different areas feel separate without disjointing them as a whole. There are three types of people to cater too: public, students, and staff. Each of them will be using different areas but will be travelling through all of them. During the day, users might change from type to type.
We used the underside of the
bridge as a focal point for the library area. The industrial look of the wheathered steel will be in contrast to the sky.
The general
interior feeling of the building should be one of innovation, while the surrounding structure portrays an industrial attitude. We decided to implement non-permanent spaces with zones (see diagram in
Relationship Form/Content/Context/Time). We also remembered that windows will have to be shuttered discretely to allow for dark projection space.
The
materials we will be concentrating on will include corrugated metal and cement with wood accents for a hint of organic color. There will be greenery to surround the area and give it a peaceful feeling as well as break-up the industrial feel.