HIGH DENSITY HOUSING | PEEL BASIN | GRIFFINTOWN

Junia-Elli Jorgji | Winter 2008

PROJECT PROGRAM | This project involves the urban and architectural design of medium to high density housing with mixed use (retail, commercial, and possibly light industrial).

INSPIRATION

The project was influenced by such structures as the Farine Five Roses, the conveyor belts bridging across the silos as well as the silos themselves.

KEYWORDS | MASSIVE STRUCTURES| STEEL TRUSSES| BRIDGING STRUCTURES

PART 1 | URBAN DESIGN

The initial urban proposal consists of removing the existing highway bridge and keeping its blueprint as green space. Following that would come the development of the various buildings leading down from University Street to the Peel Basin, with the sole purpose of bringing people and business to the Basin, populating and bringing life to an almost deserted area. Municipal and recreational buildings are placed close to the water and to the high density housing to create a sense of community which is lacking. The high density complex consists of the 4 individual buildings that can be seen connected by the bridging structure across the Basin piers.

SITE PLAN

The underlying intention of the design was to create a complex that challenges the existing geometry and layout of the site. Therefore the strong North-South axis is broken, while respected at the same time. Each of the four buildings are individual yet are pierced through with the elevated bridging building becoming a whole. The red building is the one developed in more depth, and the yellow and orange beams represent the cuts taken out of it to allow for lightways and views.

PART 2 | HOUSING

A volumetric massing of the site and the buildings, showing the horizontality and the industrial-like nature of the bridging building | The developed building. The building is elevated, leaving a plan libre on the 1st level, the units starting only about 4 meters above the ground.

PLANS | 1st floor | 3rd floor | 4th floor | 5th floor | 6th floor

The apartments are coded in grey, the common space in yellow, the commercial spaces in red and the green spaces in green. The commercial spaces are accessed from an exterior promenade, as opposed to the residential spaces that are accessed from the inside. The commercial space on the fourth floor consists of a restaurant and a terrace for both the inhabitants of the building as well as the employes of the commerces. On the top floors the connection between the bridging building and the actual building can be seen, as well as the circulation transition from one space to the other.

ELEVATIONS | West | East | South

The integration of the building in the site can be observed, as well as many other elements.

Perspective 1

Elements to note: Truss system supporting the bridge | Terrace space | Promenade around the building | Elevated building

Perspective 2

Elements to note: Stairs connecting to the bridging building at various points of the site, therefore access is not only possible through the four buildings themselves. Stairs also serve the structural purpose of reducing the spanning length of the elevated building.

GREEN SPACES | SUSTAINABILITY

Elements to note: Solar cell system on the glass in the main sitting / hallway area of the bridging building | Detail of the solar cells and Interior light penetration.

PART 3 | UNIT DESIGN

Analysis of the unit design on the bridging building:

4 types of apartments: 50 meters square | 100 meters square | 150 meters square [50 on the bottom floor and 100 on the top floor] | 150 meters square [100 on the bottom floor and 50 on the top floor].