DESIGN REPORT
CHAPTER 3 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT AND RESOLUTION
3.2 Final Design Proposal
3.2.2 Design Intervention .1 Natural Landscape
As discussed, the site has existing vegetation and slopes down towards the south of the site. The building is designed to sit within this natural landscape with trees and natural vegetation filtering in between the fragmented buildings. By allowing nature to filter in between the buildings it emphasizes the users contact with nature and allowing the calming effects of nature to be felt continuously as a person moves through the building. (Refer to figure 3.3)
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Figure 3-3 Plan indicating the natural landscape
3.2.2.2 Physical Landscape
The physical landscape refers to the built form, this consists of four distinct zones;
administration and community, therapy, classrooms and residential. (Refer to figure 3.4) The administration and community and therapy blocks respond directly to the street edge and provide an acoustic wall protecting the classrooms and residences from the traffic noises on the northern edge of the site. The quieter classroom blocks are of a smaller, more intimate scale. This allows children to feel comfortable and safe within the classrooms which encourages them to focus and learn. The classroom blocks are constructed of timber and glass, blending them into the natural landscape. Several of the classroom blocks are cut into the landscape with the landscape wrapping over the building, further integrating the building with nature.
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Figure 3-4 Plan indicating the physical, built landscape
3.2.2.3 Psychological Landscape
Two routes have been designed to run through the building. (Refer to figure 3.5) The first is the direct route which is clearly legible and runs through the centre of the building, with all functions being accessed directly off it. The orthogonality of the route suggests its direct nature. The route kinks in order to follow the contours of the natural landscape as well as eliminating the intimidation which a long straight walkway would create. Visual consistency is maintained along the route by the use of a continuous roof, flooring and columns. This visual consistency helps children to transition through the building.
The secondary route through the building is a sensory route which winds through the buildings, activating the spaces between the built forms. The route is broken down into areas for each of the senses and encourages children to explore, addresses their sensory issues and challenges their motor skills and co-ordination. A comprehensive list of the elements used in
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the sensory garden can be found in APPENDIX H. This sensory route becomes an outdoor therapy tool and further integrates the physical and natural landscapes.
Various nodes along the main route highlight important events along the route. These are nodes are expressed by built forms or materiality and assist children in way-finding, easily locating themselves along the main route. The nodes highlight the start and end of the main route, emphasize the change in direction of the main route and indicate the intersection between the main and secondary routes.
Figure 3-5 Plan indicating the psychological landscape of the two circulation routes
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3.2.3.1 Administration and Community Functions
The administration and community functions are located on the northern edge of the site responding to the street edge. The main entrance to the building is central to this block and is accessed of the street. The main entrance is emphasised by its verticality, with a canopy structure in front of the main entrance doors which reduces the scale of the entrance.
A public and staff parking area sits directly in front of the administration wing with a natural barrier of trees and shrubs shielding it from view from the street. This leaves the community wing and main entrance to become the public face of the building as opposed to the institutional administration block.
The community meeting hall's main entrance is also off the street, but at a smaller scale so as not to compete with the main entrance. This street entrance allows the hall to function after hours and be rented out to bring additional revenue to the school. A glass wall and secondary entrance allows views from the hall into the centre, connecting the public with the centre without interfering them with its functioning. This secondary entrance opens out onto a paved spill out area which opens out further onto an open grassed area. This open grassed area provides a simple open space for the children to enjoy, as well as providing an area where fetes and fundraising events can be held. The shape of the hall responds to its acoustic requirements, with the roof angled to reflect the sound to the audience area, away from the stage area. Additional acoustic panels are designed on the walls of the hall to reduce flutter echo and enhance the acoustic quality of the space.
3.2.3.2 Therapy Wings
The therapy block is split into two wings, the noisy therapy functions (occupational therapy, physical therapy and hydro therapy) and the quiet therapy functions (play therapy, speech therapy and sensory therapy) The quiet therapy functions are placed on the same side as the administration block because it is a similarly quiet function. The noisy therapy block is placed on the same side as the community block, responding to the more public community hall and spill out areas which are noisier functions.
The therapy wing is designed to stimulate the senses with the use of various smooth, reflective, textured, coloured, etc. surfaces. A handrail along the walkways ensures that a child can be in constant contact with the building as they move through the therapy wings.
The sensory room and pods are the main accentuation of the sensory considerations. Four enclosed pods deal individually with the senses of sight, sound, touch and smell. Each pod is
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designed to clearly indicate externally the sense it encapsulates internally. For example, the sight pod has LED lights which change colour according to the occupants activities within the pod, whereas the touch pod has a rough textured external finish.
The therapy block is fragmented allowing views through between the different therapy centres, visually defining each centre. Transition spaces are created in front of each centre with calming water and garden features. These areas allow a child to prepare themselves for their therapy sessions. The fragmented therapy block is an intermediary between the rigid built form of the administration block and the scattered more organic placement of the classrooms. Despite the therapy blocks fragmentation a continuous roof runs over the entire therapy section, unifying the individual blocks and creating its own architectural character.
3.2.3.3 Classroom Blocks
The classroom blocks are at a small scale, creating feelings of safety and intimacy.
This comfortable atmosphere is more conducive for children with ASD, encouraging them to focus and learn. Access to the classrooms is via an outdoor transition zone, which doubles up as an outdoor teaching space. These transition zones allow children views into the classroom before they enter into it, easing their transition from the outdoors to indoors.
The classrooms are designed with several key areas which are clearly defined using the furniture and carpets to visually demarcate them. (Refer to figure 3.6) For example, the group activity area is defined by a different shade of carpet to the rest of the classroom and is bordered by shelving units.
All areas in the classroom are fixed so as to retain an element of surety and consistency which is calming to children with ASD.
A service block provides kitchen and toilet facilities for each classroom. This allows for both the encouragement of independence and the ability to monitor the children during
Figure 3-6 Plan of typical classroom indicating design considerations
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these activities. The teacher's office is designed to have views of the classroom, the outdoor transitional zone and the playgrounds, ensuring that the teacher can have constant visual surveillance of the children.
The classrooms are designed to have minimal stimuli, allowing for stimuli to be added and removed as is necessary for the specific children in that class. The classrooms have clear high level windows and sandblasted lower level windows, allowing for high levels of natural light within the classrooms, but without the distracting views. Acoustic walls and ceilings as well as carpeted floors create a quiet interior, with no distracting reflected noise. Paint with no odour is to be used, and the toilet blocks are to be well ventilated to eliminate any toilet odours. All surfaces within the classrooms are smooth and soft, creating a minimal stimulating tactile environment.
The classroom blocks are designed to surround the playgrounds, allowing for that constant surveillance from the teacher's offices and classrooms. It also ensures a direct connection between the classrooms and playgrounds. The seemingly awkward spaces in the playgrounds, which are created by the formation of the classroom blocks, present themselves as opportunities to create retreat spaces within the playground. These small, sheltered spaces provide a retreat for children who become overwhelmed by the stimuli of the playground.
The playground encourages exploration and skill development. A climbing structure encourages physical movement and development while slides, rockeries and sand pits introduce tactile components.
The playgrounds are fenced for security purposes, however, they relate directly to the main circulation route. This adds additional surveillance to the playgrounds as well assisting with a child's transition into the classroom. They have visual links into the playground before they enter, the playgrounds leads off to the transitional spaces of the classrooms, which ends up leading into the classrooms themselves.
3.2.3.4 Residential Component
The residential component of the site is placed on the south east edge of the site, this provides privacy for the residential blocks from the rest of the Centre. Nettleton road provides private vehicular access for the staff accommodation. This ensures that the functioning of the Centre and the staff residential units remains separate. Two single bed units and three two bed units provide space for staff and their families to stay.
The residential blocks are orientated towards north and follow the contours of the site. The spaces defined between the blocks forms the outdoor play spaces for the children's
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residential units. Unlike the classrooms, it is important for the residential blocks to have views of an outdoor area which the children know they can access whenever they want to.
This encourages them to explore and develop an independence in their 'home' environment.
The children's residential unit has six bedroom areas, the defined bedroom spaces allow each children to have their own space which they can personalize and retreat to if need be. A staff residential unit allows a staff member to be constantly present to monitor the children. The staff unit is designed to ensure that the staff member can easily monitor the children from within.
3.2.3.5 Sports Facility
The sports facility is a part of the public park, however it belongs to the Autism Life Learning Centre. A pathway connects the centre with the sports facility, allowing the facility to become a larger extension to the physical therapy centre. The sports facility has a booking office which allows the field to be hired out to the public, bringing additional revenue to the centre.
3.3Environmental Response Strategies