Coogee Community Centre Design Studio 4 2008 - Concept Model #1

My first concept model for the proposed Community Centre.

The plan reveals the negative space that runs through the building.

I have shown existing landscaping to the north but this, as well as existing seating, will be reconsidered

There is a monumental, possibly stonework or sandstone, facade to Brook Street - cut away to the north to reveal the inside of the building. This would be a suitable location for the cafe as it connects out to the intersection of Brook Street, tennis centre and beyond.

To the east a two storey transparent glass/steel/timber facade is revealed, angled in towards the central corridor of the building.

Some parts of the building could be double storey, whilst others could be double height.

The transparency along the corridor is to increase visual connection between the different users of the centre. It also creates centralised entry & circulation in and out of the centre and oval.

The Brook Street facade wraps around to the south - this facade would have entry to the changerooms and possibly street access to the garage.

Coogee Community Centre Design Studio 4 2008 - Concept Box

This 'Concept Box' is a way of representing the 5 categories as how they can be explored in my design and provides a conceptual framework for my concept model. Hopefully it can also be a reference point for me further along the design process too. All in one easy-to-transport package!

Materiality - This model is made from rubbings of textures from the site - timber, sandstone, bitumen, concrete.

It shows how the different materials can inform the design - such as brick forming an arch and timber a post/frame construction.

Also, I will like to explore creating a more formal entrance to the site.

Threshold - This investigates different ways I can treat the edges of my building where the threshold lies between the building and the landscape. Also, I would like to create a building that moves/transforms somehow when used by different groups of people at different times. Methods may include pivoting doors, louvres, screens. Also, I want areas to be transparent to encourage interaction between groups of people to benefit the community - currently the site and its users are somewhat segregated.

Reciprocity - I may choose to challenge the traditional architecture/landscape relationship by creating part of my building under the landscape or creating a path through it, rather than over it. This is beginning to touch on the idea of creating the metaphorical 'river' that passes through the site as a connection from the wider context of the site, through the site and down to the ocean. Also, rivers (or water sources) are often the focal points for the development of urban areas and the coming together of people.

Insertion - The form may not be 'monumental' but can insert itself in the landscape and reveal layers of the past. It may create a trace of the past across the site.

Infrastructure - I have used the Tramways Map from 1892 to map the old links into Coogee and contrast them to the existing site and it's reliance on the car. My design could possibly consider access in and out of the site and around Coogee Oval rather than just accepting/ignoring the site's current situation eg. by making Brook Street a pedestrian way? Also, Coogee is a public transport hub (as well as a social hub for travellers, entertaiment etc.) so this idea should be explored further as it is also encouraged by Randwick Council's City Plan.

Coogee Community Centre Design Studio 4 2008 - Submission 1

Page 1 of Submission 1:

1. Site Sections & Contour Map

2. Threshold - describes the site in terms of built forms as opposed to landscape. The building on the site are monolithic and do not connect to the exterior. The vegetation still screens the site in some way but has a less definite edge. In elevation, the relationship between the two seems quite unconsidered.

3. Materiality - records the different materials across a section of the site. There is a distinct division between 'hard' built surfaces and 'soft' landscaping.

4. Tracing Site Circulation - traces the paths of people through the site over a typical Saturday. Rugby players cross Brook St. from the club and enter through the building to play on the oval. Spectators enter through the gate and proceed to the seating (more the external seats than the grandstand, which seems detached from the field). Players go around the grandstand to use the changerooms.

Page 2 - These drawings examine:

1. Infrastructure - the contrast between the areas dedicated to cars as opposed to pedestrians and how this dictates movement around the site and its surround.

2. Insertion - how the 'insertion' of the river (now a graphic insertion) through the site reveals some of the site's history and how it once had a more obvious connection to Coogee Beach.

3. Reciprocity - attempts to emphasise the existing site's dichotomy between architecture and landscape.

4. Shadow Diagrams - illustrates the sun's movement across the site. The site receives considerable sun during the morning and early afternoon but by 3pm it is nearly completely overshadowed by the adjacent building along Brook Street. This will need to be addressed in the design.

Coogee Community Centre Design Studio 4 2008 - Site Images

Site West Elevation Along Brook Street.

The site has no real formal entry, rather just the void between two building.

Adjacent Building Along Brook Street.

The Randwick Rugby Club overshadow the site and issues of viewsharing will need to be addressed when determining the height of the new community centre. It would be beneficial to re-configure parking along Brook Street so it fits in more with the new design.

South West Elevation from corner of Brook & Alfreda Sts.

The grandstand dominates the existing site.

View North along Brook Street.

Extensive vegetation along the back of the low seating area screens the oval from the street.

Coogee Oval Northern Elevation.

North East corner of Coogee Oval.

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Southern Elevation of Site.

Coogee Community Centre Design Studio 4 2008 - Historical Maps and Images of Coogee

Bemi, P.L., 'Village of Great Coogee' 1847.

Cartographic image from State Library of NSW Online Images 'Maps of Sydney'.

Many of the existing streets of the area are present already but the is the most notable feature is the river running through the site to Coogee Beach. I would like to reference this past connection to Coogee Beach which intersected the site and bypassed the artificial grid of roads that divides the site's surrounds.

Gibbs, Shallard & Co., Printers & Publishers, 'Map of Sydney & Suburbs showing Tramway Lines & Stopping Places' 1892.

Cartographic material from State Library of NSW Online Images 'Maps of Sydney'.

Illustrates the extensive network of tramways that ran through Coogee and the eastern suburbs.

The tramlines (in red) trace a path into Coogee that is no longer the main route into the area, now replaced by cars and buses along Arden Street.

'The Beach and Promenade at Coogee' July 1910, City of Sydney Archives.

The contours of the area are much more pronounced without multi-storey developments.

'Coogee Bay' c.1900, City of Sydney Archives.

'A picturesque and popular seaside resort, reached by tram in about 30 minutes' - taken from a souvenir book of Sydney titled '36 Views of Sydney, Descriptive & Illustrative: with panorama.'