KH and as Initial Ideas for Witton Park for Email

8/6/2019 KH and as Initial Ideas for Witton Park for Email

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Initial Ideas. April 2011.

We have now delivered four sessions in school getting to

know some of the staff and students at Witton Park and

Newfields.

We have been briefed by the design team and the LEP. We always start with a theme around which ideas are

developed.

We have identified 6 possible themes and chosen one which

we have developed further.


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1. Navigation

Possible Questions

How can there be an element of exploration retained in a new schoolbuilding?

How can creativity enhance the way that a building is read, understood

and explored? How can navigating a school building link to navigation through life beyond

the perimeter fence?

Possible Answers

Working with colour , texture and sound to map the building.

Introducing meandering planting schemes,

Taking lines for a walk

Prototyping spaces

Using creative signposting approaches


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2.GrowthPossible Questions

How can we illustrate the notion of progression through an educationalsystem into the world beyond?

Can we see pupils as they arrive in the school as seedlings though to saplingsand then fully matured trees for harvesting fruits?

Can we link these notions to aspirations, to the world beyond school?

Possible Answers

Explore alumini and homespun talent, illustrate and include theirachievements in the fabric of the building. Create hall of fame.

Consider elements of actual growth, hydroponics, winter gardens, miniaturesuspended hanging gardens green perimeter fence.

Create a telescope to the future, a video installation? Incorporate a crystalball?

A student planting scheme, each tree engraved with a future wish. Signpost to the future.

Using seed, sapling , tree imagery as printed motifs and surface design.

Incorporate a future wish board


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3.Inside Out School

Possible Questions

How can we bring the school into the landscape and the landscape into

the school?

Possible Answers

By incorporating periscopes and telescopes from the landscape into the

school and vica versa.

By taking classrooms outside and incorporating the furniture as part of the

landscape.

By creating imaginative and ambitious indoor planting schemes and

framing vistas into the external landscape.

By considering communication between the indoors and the outside


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4.School As The 3rd Teacher

Possible Questions How can the design of the school directly incorporate learning?

Possible Answers

Externalise all environmental measures, show electrical meters etc.

Incorporate rulers and measurements around door frames and otherarchitectural features.

Seek out information about the materials, where have them come from howwhere they procured, who installed them, include details on etched labels.

Create pods with a variety of materials to help bring subjects to life, lensesand optics for science as well as panels of different materials.

Interview subject teachers to explore what really excites them about theirsubjeccts-develop answers into interventions.

Work with the community to explore what did they like most about school,what do they remeber learning the most-incorperate answres directly.

Create intersting dipslay areas at every oppoutunity to externalise as much ofthe teaching as possible.


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5. Society

Possible Questions

What does a code of conduct that would support a healthy community in

the school and beyond look like?

How can we promote respect?

Possible Answers

Can we build a wisdom exchange?

Can we incorporate ideas and answers through the building, possible as

anamorphic images.


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6.The School as Theatre

Possible Questions How can we frame the natural theatre of the school?

How can we make the staff and students into the art?

How can we celebrate the natural ecosystem of the school and the daily

life of a school?

How can we create opportunities for constant appropriation and changeso that the school can change with every new set of pupils?


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We propose that the entrance should promote a sense of arrival withinstaff , students and visitors.

We want to create a sense of having stepped onto a stage (metaphorically

speaking) and to create an atmosphere of importance as each individual

enters the building.

We also want to create something that is unique for Witton park, that hascharacter and charisma and sets the school apart from any other school or

corporate building.

1.Entrance


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Use of a strong colour for the entrance area to create a theatrical statement and a sense of

arrival. A deep red has been chosen for its intensity, boldness and to resonate with the colour of

theatre curtains and to suggest the concept of stepping up onto a stage.

The red could be achieved on the existing structure, or as a extended cube from the main

building. The glazing could use red vinyl or screen printing.

Entrance Colour


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Use of graduating colour to create a focal point and to help extend the

importance of the entrance to the of the building.

It helps to anticipate the sense of arrival and to build upon the theatrical

colour statement.

Entrance Colour


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We initially considered the use of a strong spotlight to suggest a sense of

stepping up onto a stage.

Entrance Spotlight


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Realising that a spotlight was mainly dependant on the school being used

at night-time we replaced the idea of a spotlight with a large arrow.

This is based on the idea of making the entrance legible but it is also a play

on the notion of

Options for realising this include screen printed on the glass behind,

chandelier behind the glazed elevation or a suspended sculpture form the

soffit.

Entrance Arrow


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Entrance Arrow


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Entrance Interior Colour


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Functional Seating Platforms

It would make a unique contribution to the building to design and installindividual seating/play/storage conglomerates.

These could be equally as robust as individual items but provide a much

more and interactive solution to seating , working and storage.

We envisage these platforms as miniature stage sets. Platforms on which

the natural theatre of the school will unfold.


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3. Pods

We would like to propose that each pod becomes an interactivestorage/display area .

This would ensure that they are constantly changing and can be

personalised by ever changing groups of students.


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Art Pod The art pod would be an ever changing gallery and seating area


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Stem Pod, lenses, optics, glass vessels

Incorporating the use of

lenses or other optics to

animate the wall and allow

glimpses of the internal

activity.


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The Fresnel Lens.

Used to frame distorted views between

The main circulation and science hub.

Prisms.A series of prisms used as a screen to

The hub interior.


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4.Mirrors

Mirrors are interactive and fun.

They are always well received by students and they are forever changing

with the activity of the building and the time of day.

They would make a relatively cheap intervention within one or more

corridor spaces and may be useful for darker spots.


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5.Signposts

Signposts could also make for intriguing and interactive interventions thatcould be detailed with the staff and students.


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6. Message Board

We propose that a simple LED display could be used to greet staff and

students a happy birthday or to celebrate achievements.


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7.Living Painting

Is there a way to collect information about the day and turn it into aconstantly changing living painting?

Information of interest....how the students grade the interest if a lesson,

how the staff grade effort, how concentration corresponds to time of the

day and the time of the week and term?

Whether anybody has had an inspirational thought that day?

Whether there is a new romance in the air?

The information could be plotted on a constantly evolving screen with

great care and detail given to the presentation of the information.

The log could also be analysed as a visual way of understanding what is

happening in school.


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8. External

We would like to work collaboratively on numerous external elements .

Again these elements would all have a focus on framing and supporting

the natural activity of the students and staff .

We would like to affect the way that they move though the landscape

introducing as much adventure and exploration as possible. We would also like to impact the opportunity for stopping within the

landscape, for socializing and for playing.

We would hope to further this by working really collaboratively with Fira

to jointly agree planting schemes etc.


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Earth Topography We would like to explore where the opportunities for introducing gentle

banks and small valleys into the landscape. We imagine that some of these may be liner and other in circular

formation to create natural seating and gathering areas.

They will also be appropriated by the students for play.


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Other Landscape Formations

Similarly we would like to work collaboratively on the formation of other

landscaped areas for instance the gabions which we propose could be

castellated on the top to create a more interactive intervention that can

be used for seating.


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Meeting Points

It would be nice to include meeting points in the landscape, these could

simply be signposted areas that are developed with the students. Areascould be given characters, the secret area, the forbidden area, the quiet

area, the inspirational area.


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Empty Plinths

A series of empty plinths in the landscape that can be used to showcases

students standing and sitting on them.

These could be realised at various heights and footprints.

It is anticipated that these would also be used for games but they could be

used for teaching as well, as an impromptu exhibition space, if they

included some threaded bar from the concrete they would have the

opportunity of exhibiting work as a longer term option.


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Seating Again we would like to work collaboratively on thoughts around seating,

with particular focus on the front lawn opposite the entrance area.


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External Platforms

We would like to propose external versions of the interior stage

set/multifunctional platforms.


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9. Perimeter Fence

Shape Tables

Growing

Football posts

Allotments

Avenue of trees


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Options ,yes..... No..... possible

Next steps


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Documents

KH and as Initial Ideas for Witton Park for Email