Kings Lane Warehouse - The New Building


Despite our decision to retain the existing facades and salvage the internal structure, we do not regard the building as precious. Rather, we regard the idiosyncratic nature of its scarred shell as something to preserve and exploit. We liken this remaining shell to a palimpsest, a surface whose past layers and erasures are still largely visible.

The New Building

Vision
Swansea Print Workshop has a vision for the Kings Lane development which has been informed by nine years of continuous operation as a public access print workshop.

Client Brief
In the client’s brief, the new Swansea Print Workshop premises was envisioned as a public access building housing a range of events and full educational programme. The expansion of technical facilities and teaching and processing areas will enable them to realise this endeavour.

Research
Specialist Accommodation: The Print Workshop

For Swansea Print Workshop to succeed in providing first rate, sustainable facilities, it requires an efficient print room plan, one which understands and accommodates the range of printmaking processes and techniques used in the workshop.

An efficient print room layout has a significant positive effect on practice, health and safety, as well as the success or failure of prints. Extensive research was carried out which contributed to the design of the print room area of the building.

Role Models
A considerable amount of background research was undertaken by members of the workshop and by specialist consultants.

Research Visits to Print Workshops in UK and Eire: These have been undertaken by a combination of management committee members, staff, architects and marketing consultants. All participants have contributed to the reports. These visits have been invaluable in informing our decisions.

We are particularly grateful for the generosity of all our hosts on these visits and for sharing information, expertise and experience with us.

The Architects
In October 2006, following a competitive bid process, Sarah Wigglesworth Architects were commissioned to undertake a Feasibility Study which would propose a design for the new home of Swansea Print Workshop on the Kings Lane site. Find more information on the architects from their website at http://www.swarch.co.uk/

Architects Proposal
It has been expressed not only by the client but also planning officials and the Swansea Housing Association that retaining much of the building’s form is the preferred option. We strongly agree that retaining the building in some form or another is the appropriate way to move forward. Revitalised, it would give an iconic presence and unique address to the Swansea Print Workshop. It would also provide a facility that is well-matched to its building: an enduring and intricately layered craft housed in an enduring and intricately layered building.

Design concept
Despite our decision to retain the existing facades and salvage the internal structure, we do not regard the building as precious. Rather, we regard the idiosyncratic nature of its scarred shell as something to preserve and exploit. We liken this remaining shell to a palimpsest, a surface whose past layers and erasures are still largely visible. In turn, we view our intervention as simply another layer, another series of marks born of new demands, new logic, new functions.

Building Organisation
The sectional organization of the new building is determined by several factors:

the decision to retain the existing facades
the decision to retain the west staircase and the floor levels attached to it
the need to increase gross internal floor area
the need to achieve level access from King’s Lane and to the east terrace
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.

Sustainable design
Our sustainable approach to the renovation of the print workshop dictated that we salvage as much of the original structure as possible. This begins with the retention of the stone shell, and carries on to the re-use of the internal structure, which will be carefully removed and made good. There is an opportunity to use these materials in unusual and expressive ways that signify the overall revitalization of the building, which itself is no longer serving its original purpose, but another instead.

Architects drawings
Files of the Architects drawings are available as downloadable pdfs. Their use is in conjunction with our copyright statement

Structural Engineers Proposal

King Shaw Associates have been commissioned to support Sarah Wigglesworth Architects providing structural and building services concept advice in developing a scheme against which a budget can be estimated.

Outstanding Engineering Information:
Appraisal of Existing Structure
In Situ Items Requiring Substantial Remedial Action
Calculation Checks Carried Out

Energy efficiency
The philosophy of sustainability recommends the consideration of the whole life cost of a building, both in terms of economics and environmental impact. Thus with the print workshop buildings, the impacts of ownership and operation exceed those of any new construction or refurbishment.

The approach to the construction will be to maximise the efficiency of the building fabric and envelope where possible and the budgetary constraints allow, in order to conserve resources in operation.

Funding
Summary of potential funding sources

SWANSEA PRINT WORKSHOP