It is clear to see through the variety of pictures that Austin Smith Lord have a keen eye for all types of designs for buildings, ranging from an extremely high tech design for disaster situations, to suggesting open sustainable designs for other colleges. In my experience on site, I was able to discover what the architects at Austin Smith Lord had been achieving, and the results were astonishing.
New Teaching and Learning Block - Trinity College, Camarthen
In one particular site, for an arts and design college in Camarthen, the building was literally set into 24 different units, and each of these units were carried by a truck, where a crane would lower down these units one by one, until the module was fully completed. I, fortunately, was given the opportunity to attend a meeting concerning this site, in which the catch was £1 million. The meeting was called to review the progress, and discuss any problems that had been seen, or were ongoing. The meeting was also held so all attending could have a look around the site and see how it was progressing, as the builders, and the units were on site and being offloaded. Personally, I have never seen such an individual system- the rooms had all been made a size to fit the truck, and then brought so they were touching the units. To give an idea of what this entails, one has to imagine their own house. The process would be much like having a separate block of room, i.e dining room, and this would join onto the kitchen via a crane lowering the kitchen down next to the dining room. The process was, to quote the client, much like watching "complex Lego" unfold.
New Teaching and Learning Block - Trinity College, Camarthen
In one particular site, for an arts and design college in Camarthen, the building was literally set into 24 different units, and each of these units were carried by a truck, where a crane would lower down these units one by one, until the module was fully completed. I, fortunately, was given the opportunity to attend a meeting concerning this site, in which the catch was £1 million. The meeting was called to review the progress, and discuss any problems that had been seen, or were ongoing. The meeting was also held so all attending could have a look around the site and see how it was progressing, as the builders, and the units were on site and being offloaded. Personally, I have never seen such an individual system- the rooms had all been made a size to fit the truck, and then brought so they were touching the units. To give an idea of what this entails, one has to imagine their own house. The process would be much like having a separate block of room, i.e dining room, and this would join onto the kitchen via a crane lowering the kitchen down next to the dining room. The process was, to quote the client, much like watching "complex Lego" unfold.
Here you can actually see the arts and design room as it begins to be lowered next to the toilets.
The current facility looks like this:
With more people joining, and more interest, it has become essential to get the resources and the space needed for such imaginative and creative pupils.
The client herself was extremely friendly and really made everyone attending the meeting to discuss the building feel relaxed, and it does not take someone who can pick up on emotions easily to see that the atmosphere in the room was not tense and volatile, but rather a successful, and organised meeting filled with the knowledge that both architect and client had a thriving working relationship. I am keen to point out here that the architects at Austin Smith Lord are extremely helpful to their clients, and are very generous in what they give, caring more about their clients than a potential chance to design simpler models which could also work and may take less time, but would not attend to the clients needs as well. It is extremely refreshing to know that the architects are so attentive to their clients, meeting their needs and providing as little stress as can be hoped for.
The Strategic Coordination Centre
Another site visited was one which the company had actually won- the brief was to design a place for the intelligence, and all applicable members to go, should there be a national disaster, i.e terrorism, a plane crashing, etc. The site itself was started last November, and aims to be completed by next April. With the building having the protection necessary for everyone else should such horrible things go wrong, it is essential the building itself has a very tight security, especially concerning "the Intelligence". The building has actually been designed so that these people can enter and exit the building without anybody knowing their identity, and so hand print recognition systems are currently being thought about, as well as materials for the glass- the glass must be frosted so that nobody can see these "secret agents". The building must also be quite large for all the people- the chief constable, the fire brigade, the intelligence... Such a building consists of three floors, with the third floor solely for the chief constable and his men, where an elevator and two sets of different staircases either side of the building is essential. Even as the building is being put together, problems are still arising- the black floor for the building protection is becoming damaged, and the measurements on the second floor are 50mm out, costing time and money for the architects. The centre has quite a short time to actually be built, and so it is essential that such problems are dealt with quickly, and from what I was able to see, the architect on site was sure to note these problems and think out different solutions. It was fascinating to see, and even more exciting to imagine- amazing to think that I was walking on the stairs Britain's most secretive would be in a few months time! The proposed Strategic Coordination Centre occupies a ground footprint of approximately 1400 sqm, and has a gross internal floor area of approximately 3176sqm. The floorspace is configured within a predominantly two storey building, rising to three storeys in part. The entrance is located on the frontage to the central hub, which contains the principle shared 'core' facilities. The wings house the principle accommodation for use in an emergency situation, and for training use for the majority of the time. The building also has a variety of sustainable factors, with mechanical ventilation that is provided in each main room from a central roof mounted air handling unit, and a rainwater harvesting system, where the rainwater collected from the roof will be stored , cleaned and used for water in toilets.
As we were near to the area, we stopped into the new Discovery Centre, built with Loyn & Co. This facility was extremely open, and was a key interest because it was sustainable- with the interest in the environment that many people are now gaining, it was a useful spot, in which I was able to see how the foundations had been built on stilts, and the area being extremely spread out to encourage views of the bird and deer. Lakes could be seen flowing through the site, with a lunch area in which people could record what they had seen. The actual site was of interest to Austin-Smith Lord for a university competition, and so it was important to take photos of this sustainable site for their own personal needs. The site was built recently, and has since received a lot of interest for school trips and family days out.
