Swansea
Print Workshop @
Kings
Lane Warehouse
now viewing: Kings Lane Warehouse / The New Building / Architect's Proposal / Building Organisation
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Building Organisation
The sectional organization of the new building is determined by several factors:
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the decision to retain the existing facades
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the decision to retain the west staircase and the floor levels attached to it
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the need to increase gross internal floor area
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the need to achieve level access from King’s Lane and to the east terrace
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the sill and head levels of existing windows
It was our aim to design a solution which dealt with all of the above whilst enhancing and exploiting the existing idiosyncrasies of each floor. This lead to the design of a split-level section, set off by the existing topography and repeated on each floor. The split section not only allows for the retention of the levels attached to the existing west stair, but also achieves level access to King’s Lane and the east roof terrace without compromising the generous heights existing on the ground floor. The section also allowed for the expansion of the print workshop amenity with the addition of a mezzanine and the expansion of the gallery [by locating gallery storage in a newly excavated basement. The split-level section gives each type of amenity its own level whilst generating interesting spatial relationships that create dramatic views between spaces and movement through the building.
We explored several options for distributing the accommodation floor by floor, but found that only one solution suited the brief and made best use of the site. We matched the particular qualities of each floor – regularity, size, position of existing openings; ceiling heights; spatial potential; security and privacy – to requirements set out in the room data sheets. Because the most regularised spaces were on the first and second floors and the unique and malleable were on the ground and roof, we decided to make the ground floor and roof public amenity space, sandwiching the private and semi-private uses of the building between them. The floor by floor distribution is outlined below.
Ground Floor
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low light conditions
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fairly generous ceiling heights
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level access to King’s Lane
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connection to Swansea Housing Association (SHA) roof terrace to the east
FACADES
The concepts underlying the design are most obviously articulated in the facades, where the existing and new building are juxtaposed, representing the history of the building as well as signifying its revitalization. We regard the facades as palimpsests, which relates them to the process of printmaking. We have layered and built up elements, scarring the surface to make a permanent impression.
The various conditions are outlined below:
Existing Openings Retained Without Alteration
Windows in these openings will be placed on the internal face of the
building, set far back into the existing opening. This strategy is
applied largely to the south façade where the majority of the existing
openings remain unaltered and deep external sills shade the openings.
The effect is the appearance of a raw and hollow external opening.
Existing Openings Expanded / New Openings In Existing Wall
Windows in these openings will be placed on the external face of the
stone façade. This strategy is applied to the east façade where the
building scars are greatest and bolder, more invasive alterations are
appropriate to enhance the idiosyncrasies. These windows are like
reflective objects on the façade, placed carefully on the rough
stonework, like a bandage over a wound.
Existing Openings Requiring Infill
There are a few situations where existing openings require enclosure.
This is where the new structure, the foreign object that has been placed
inside the existing shell, becomes visible. The timber rainscreen which
clads the interior object shows through these openings, deeply shadowed
behind the existing shell.