The brief for this Vertical Studio (where first and second year students work together on a design project) was to create a collaborative model street, by combining individual buildings with different and specific functions, especially focusing on the idea of thresholds and context. The street was located on Womanby Street in Cardiff. We analysed this road, and more within Cardiff, in order to decide the function of our buildings and to provoke ideas about thresholds.
Collaborative Street Model
This image shows the street as a whole with the buildings on the plots and with the neighbours we were allocated. The buildings include a florist, a chocolate shop, a hairdressers and a clothes shop.
Timber and Card Chocolate Shop Model
The individual threshold that I designed and modelled was that of a chocolate shop. The concept for the form was partially driven by the idea of a chocolate fountain or a cake with tiers and protrusions filtering down, and partially from the threshold studies. The areas on the exterior that relate to a public interior space protrude out into the street as a welcoming gesture and offer lots of glazing to view in. Whereas the private spaces have threshold blurring features such as the slats of timber over the window and the alignment of the frames between public and private are adjusted.
Timber and Card Chocolate Shop Model
Upon closer observation the more intimate thresholds and use of materials can be seen. There are ideas of removing and protruding mass in ways to welcome people and to encourage them to stay a certain amount of time. This can be seen with the external counter and the interior balcony both encouraging people to linger but not encourage so much comfort that they stay too long. The bold use of black in the interior is reminiscent of Welsh Club which is the building that is situated on the current Womanby Street.
Collaborative Street Model
There was communication between neighbours about materials, heights and functions. The elements that the chocolate shop incorporated was a green roof to work with the florists and the black and timber palette displayed in the hairdressers.
