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PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

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SITE SECTION 1 : 500

SITE PLAN 1 : 500

NICOLA STEWART LAURSEN-SCHMIDT

front court yard cloister garden new northern court yard

COLLEGIATE STRUCTUREThe buildings are organised around court yards. The structure resembles that of a town, where interior and exterior spaces blur into a labyrinthian series of spaces.

ADDITIVE PRINCIPLENew buildings define a new outdoor space. This collegiate struc-ture defines a number of central courtyards.

PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC ONLYThe new access system means that there will be no cars on site. The school will be a safe pedestrian-only zone.

PLATFORM FOR INTERACTIONThe hall has a great potential as a new platform for interaction between the town and the school, if the public is invited to use the hall.

MASTERPLAN MATCHES CURRICULUMThe IBO encourages students to interact with the local and glob-al community. The hall helps to facilitate this interaction.

MASTERPLAN STRATEGIES SELECTED NEW OUTDOOR SPACES

REESTABLISH HISTORIC ACCESSA new connection from the west reestablishes the historic entry point through the College’s oldest buildings.

DEGREES OF PRIVACYThe access ways through the college divide the grounds in four districts. This helps to define the private ‘heart’ of the college.

DIFFERENTIATION OF OUTDOOR SPACESThe college’s outdoor spaces are defined with specific users in mind. This maintains the privacy of boarders and students.

HISTORIC BUILDINGSFour buildings are removed: two existing gym changing rooms, the sixth form social centre and the janitors’ offices.

NEW ENTRANCE SPACEThe historic entrance is reestablished. The courtyard is paved, creating the feeling of a public square connected to the footpath.

Stage for small outdoor perfor-mances or teaching sessions in connection with art and music blocks.

SENIOR LAWNThis outdoor space is designed with the senior students in mind: it is a space for social interaction, spontaneous lunchtime picnics and individ-ual study sessions.

The new stage addition is the ide-al location for smaller indoor and outdoor performances

The former gym is trans-formed into a social centre for senior students.

THE HALL AS NEW ATTRACTOR ON SITEThe new hall becomes a new focus points on the grounds. This is a points of attraction for both students and visitors.

public access

college use

boarding only2000 +1980-19901950-1970

to be removed18521850s1860-1900

1920-19401900-1910

SITE SECTION 1 : 500

new sports and performance space

junior courtyard

cloister garden

teachers’ garden

maths block

lower court yard

roding orchard

roding garden

senior lawn

pedestrian entrance

boarding court yard

social centre

new stage

science court yard

art square

music stagepedestrian entrance

thames court

thames lawn

thames garden

hockey pitch

spectators’ hill

football pitch

rugby pitch

tennis

tennis

volleyball

new site entrance

new parking house

bike parking

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new entrance court

exterior dining

northern court yard

new staff accommodation DUNMOW ROAD

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boarding garden

SUMMARY OF HERITAGE EVALUATION

1940s SIXTH FORM CENTREThis typical 1940s school/military standard shed is currently used to house a social and study centre for the senior students (sixth form). This is the only concrete frame building on site.

The building is in a very poor condition with issues of damp, suspected asbestos roof and single glazed metal windows.

1960s GYM CHANGING ROOMS + STAGEThis basic brick building forms a clumsy extension to St. Albans Hall. The building currently holds changing facilities and WCs.

The building will be made redundant once the new sports hall is built. While the gym itself has a beautifully lit interior space and facades, the changing rooms have few architectural qualities.

HIGH VALUE BUILDINGSThe architectural qualities of these buildings have informed the design and material choices of the new hall, as well as decisions on a masterplan level.

LOW VALUE BUILDINGSThese evaluations are based on the condition, functional use, historical and architectural value of the building. The evaluation has informed the masterplanning process.

FLEXIBLE SPORTS AND PERFORMANCE SPACE IN A HISTORIC CONTEXT

THE PROJECT

This thesis project addresses the development of a design proposal for a sports and performance hall, located on the grounds of Hockerill Anglo-European College in Bishop’s Stortford, UK.

The project raises the question of how to introduce a large building volume on a campus of limited size, featuring Tudor Gothic buildings dating back to 1852. Any extension to the cam-pus must take the existing building fabric and context into careful consideration. The new addition to the school shouldn’t take away focus from the existing architecture.

As the design proposal is placed within the context of a school, the project strives to deal with questions of how best to merge the school’s education philosophies and curriculum with the physical framework provided by the new architecture.

The historic buildings do not meet the current needs of the Col-lege. Hockerill was appointed a Specialist Music College in 2006, yet there is no adequate performance space available on cam-pus. There is a pressing need for a performance space to host the College’s ambitious performance programme.

Similarly, despite an increasing focus on Physical Education (PE), the College lacks suitable indoor sports facilities. The current gym does not fulfill the requirements of the curriculum.

With an increase in the total number of teaching facilities comes an automatic increase in the number of students allocated to the college by the state. Hence, the new building needs to provide ad-ditional ‘break-time’ social spaces, to fulfill the needs of a growing (and diverse) student population.

The project explores the themes of sustainability, materiality and context.

On a masterplan level the project seeks to improve the overall layout of the boarding school. The main goals are to improve the access system, ensure that the students have good and safe out-door spaces and to facilitate a greater interactions between the town and the school.

THE SCHOOL

Hockerill Anglo-European College was founded as a training college for school mistresses in 1852, and became a state board-ing school in 1980s. Today the College is ranked amongst the best schools in the country. Hockerill is the only state-maintained boarding school in England.

The College has approximately 800 students, forty percent of whom are boarders. Since 1998 the College has been a Specialist Language College and since 2006 also a Specialist Music College.Today 50-60% of senior boarders are German.

Students at Hockerill range in age from 11 to 18. The youngest students (years 7-11) are taught according to the UK educational program (key stage 3 + 4, leading to a GCSE exam). Physical Education (PE) lessons are mandatory.

Sixth form students (years 12-13) study the International Bacca-laureate Diploma (run by the worldwide organisation IBO). Sports Science is an elective subject, but all IB students must engage in at least 50 hours of physical activity as part of the Diploma. Thus, the new hall will be used by all the students.

Hockerill Hall

1852 LIBRARYThis building holds the original teaching spaces, dining hall and dor-mitories (1st floor) on site - designed by architect Joseph Clarke.

This is prime example of Tudor Gothic style with diaper patterned red brick walls with stone-dressed doors and windows. The Hamp-ton Court style brick chimneys are beautifully ornamented. The original entrance doorway is centrally placed under a traceried oriel, decorated with original latticework.

This building has both high architectural and historical value. Un-fortunately, today the entrance door is no longer in use, and the building has lost its role as ‘face’ of the College.

1852 ART BUILDINGThis is part of the original 1852 college’s practice rooms. Today the building houses art and design classrooms.

Double-height space in larger class room with exposed wooden beams. Large window on western gable. Red diaper patterned red brick walls. High architectural and historical value.

1850s OLD THAMES HOUSEThames House was originally built by the college’s first principal, Reverend John Menet, as his private residence. Today this is the senior boys’ boarding house.

Yellow/grey bricks with stone dressed doors and windows. Diaper patterned brick work. The building is beautifully located adjacent to Thames Lawn to the west: Stands as a proud solitary building; the only such on the grounds. High architectural value.

2000 MILLENNIUM SUITEThis is an example of a recent addition to the site. This timber, steel, brick and glass circulation extension provides access to classrooms on the first floor, while also creating a covered exterior walkway on ground floor level.

The stair access tower is a focus points in the northern court yard. There is no doubt about the tudor inspiration for the new building, but the exposed timber details make the extension stand out from the historic neighbouring buildings.

This is the immediate neighbour of the new sports and perfor-mance hall.

FLEXIBILITY STRATEGIESIt was an early ambition for the project to come up with a design proposal, which allowed the hall to be flexible.

The design should serve multiple purposes: teaching, recreational sports, community activities, performances and social events.

FLEXIBILITY CONSERVES ENERGYA combined sports and performance hall conserves resources, as only one building is required instead of two. The College’s func-tions and the public use means that the building will be in use 24/7.

WEST ELEVATION 1 : 200

AERIAL PERSPECTIVE

NICOLA STEWART LAURSEN-SCHMIDT

TEACHINGThe huge curtain is used to divide the hall in two: one group of stu-dents play basketball, while another group practices badminton. At the same time at dance class is taught on the upper level.

SMALL PERFORMANCE / ASSEMBLYThe hall is divided in two, so that the performance space is of a more intimate size.

PUBLIC + PRIVATE USEThe building is divided in two, as the underground passage is closed. This secures the privacy of the students, while opening the building up for public use.

LARGE PERFORMANCE / GRADUATIONA large stage is erected along the western wall. This becomes the focus point of the interior space. The lower courtyard serves as a secondary entry point.

sports storage

storage

stage

climbing wall

secondary entrancebackstage area

changing room

changing room

staffstaff

changing room

changing room

student lounge

lockers

vending machines

skylights

study zone

street basketball

outdoor study zone

access ramp

outdoor study zone

storage

fitness room

LOWER FLOOR PLAN 1 : 200

NICOLA STEWART LAURSEN-SCHMIDT - STUDIO SUSTAINABLE TRANSFORMATION

ATMOSPHERIC VISIONSThese illustrations have formed the basis for the development of the project’s interior spaces. The goal was to create a range of spaces: a large multi functional hall for sports and performance, intimate and darker changing rooms and a smaller dance/drama studio.

HERITAGE STRATEGIESWith the strong architectural heritage present on site, it is crucial that the new building relates to the existing architecture and also learns from the building methods of the past.

SPATIAL STRATEGIESThese strategies are based on the functional needs of the school as well as the needs expressed by the students during two user-participation workshops.

CASE STUDY STRATEGIESThe design phase was greatly influenced by the early study of three contemporary buildings: Prismen by Dorte Mandrup, Gammel Hellerup Gymnasium’s sports hall by BIG and Korsgadehallen by BBP Arkitekter.

FORM CONCEPTSThe form of the final design for the new sports and performance hall can be broken down into three basic principles:

WINDOW DETAILSNoteworthy in all the older buildings on site is the attention paid to the windows, both as functional and aesthetic elements.

This is particularly relevant with regards to how to take in daylight through thick exterior walls (neccesary for insulation purposes).

SECTIONPLAN

SHIFTING GABLESBy shifting the position of the gables, the scale of the interior space is broken down: You never experience the full vastness of the ceiling, only a selection of the triangular roof panels.

ARTICULATED TEACHING SPACEIn line with Hertzberger’s theories, the hall is designed to be an articulated space with multiple possible teaching zones. This en-courages differentiated teaching, enables small social situations and promotes an informal use of the space.

There is no reason why the largest sports court should define the shape and use of the space.

SPATIAL CONFIGURATION The most successful of the case studies break down the space of the main hall by adding unprogrammed niches or additional spaces.

Multiple levels adjacent to the main space help to let social and sports spaces overlap. This exemplifies Hertzberger’s theories.

FREE-STANDING VOLUMEAs the new building is designed as a free-standing volume (similar to the existing boarding houses), the building must define its own outdoor spaces in order to comply with the additive principle.

A ROW OF LONGHOUSES The existing college structure largely consists of long narrow buildings with pitched roofs (‘longhouses’).

The new sports hall essentially consists of 6 such buildings, pushed together in a row. The width of these 6 elements is con-sistent, while the lengh of the elements varies to create indoor and outdoor niches.

OVERLAPPING SPACES WITH OUTDOOR ACCESSSpaces and functions overlap to create varied spaces. This in-cludes fluid access to outdoor spaces.

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HIERACHYThe historic buildings on site should remain the most dominant. The new building shouldn’t take away anything from the existing architecture.

HALL AS THE CENTRAL SPACEThe hall is the centre of the building: All movement filters through this space

REUSING GABLE MOTIFThe exterior facade of the building reflects the school’s existing system of pitched roof gables.

This one of very few architectural elements shared by the diverse architectural building styles represented on site.

CONTEXT RELATION / BUILDING UNDERGROUNDThe strategy of building (partly) underground establishes a clear hierachy between new and existing architecture.

This allows the existing buildings to shine above ground, while the new architecture can flourish in the underground interior.

DAYLIGHT STUDIESDaylight considerations have been an important parameter in the design process. The daylight inside the sports hall should be diffused and direct sunlight on the main sports courts should be avoided.

The primary source of daylight in the central space are the triangu-lar skylights in the roof. These spread the light evenly in the central part of the building.

main hall

STUDY I - large openings

STUDY II - many small openings

STUDY III - subdivided large openingsunderground changing rooms

dance / drama studio

SOUTH ELEVATION 1 : 200

GROUND FLOOR PLAN 1 : 200

entrance lobby

study lounge

auditorium steps (360 seats)

skylights to changing rooms

A

D

C

B

entrance lobby

theory room

dance / drama studio

informal teaching space

outdoor study zone

new trees

delivery zone

refectory dining

refectory dining

skylights

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B

C

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new main entrance

cloister garden

teachers’ garden

climbing wall on chimney

outdoor climbing wall

outdoor table tennis

hockey pitch

secondary entrance court

NICOLA STEWART LAURSEN-SCHMIDT

+ + + + +

existing trees

The skylight designs were tested in a 1:50 scale model.

EAST ELEVATION 1 : 200

SECTION D-D 1 : 200

SECTION C-C 1 : 200

SECTION B-B 1 : 200

SECTION A-A 1 : 200

NICOLA STEWART LAURSEN-SCHMIDT

MAIN HALL UPPER LEVEL BALCONY

LOWER LEVEL PLATFORM

1000mm 1250mm500mm

DETAIL, SOUTH FACADE 1 : 200

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PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

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SKETCH PROPOSAL: CONSTRUCTION DETAILS

PREFABRICATED TIMBER WALL PANEL01 - concrete02 - copper-plated steel, 10mm solid panel / copper-plated expanded metal mesh (see elevations)03 - wind/water membrane04 - insulation, 300mm05 - installation wall + insulation, 45mm06 - plywood panel, birch, 25mm (acoustic panels as required)07 - metal flashing, hidden behind copper panels

PREFABRICATED TIMBER ROOF PANEL08 - sealed roof membrane09 - insulation, 500mm10 - plywood panel, birch, 25mm (acoustic panels where required)11 - primary beam, glue laminated timber, 400 x 1200mm12 - secondary beam, glue laminated timber, 200 x 400mm

SPORTS FLOOR13 - expansion joint14 - timber flooring (with painted court markings)15 - flexible sports floor with underfloor heating

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BUILDING HIERACHYThe building is composed of three elements: The outer shell, the inner structure and the heavy base.

The shell is clad in copper-plated steel, the main structure is in glue-laminated timber and heavy base consists of a concrete ‘pit’.

ASPHALT + COPPER-COLOURED STEELReference: Nicolai Kulturcenter, Kolding. Kristine Jensens Tegnestue

EXPANDED METAL + SOLID PANELSReference: Hackney Marshes Centre, Hackney. Stanton Williams

PLYWOOD INTERIOR WALL PANELSReference: Baunebo,. Rubow Arkitekter (Moelven)

CONCRETEReference: SEB bank, interior. Lundgaard + Tranberg

DETAIL SECTION 1:50

NORTH ELEVATION 1 : 200

EXPLODED AXONOMETRIC VIEW

Unexposed 6 months 2 years 7 years 10 years 15-30 years

COPPER WEATHERING OVER TIMEThe copper-clad steel facades are exposed to the elements and will age over time from a shiny orange to a matte light green. The changing colour adds detail to the facade, and allows the building to age gracefully, in a similar way to the existing brick buildings.

FACADE SYSTEMThe outer shell of the building is clad in copper-plated steel panels. The pattern on the facade is made up of panels of varying widths: 500mm, 1000mm and 1250mm.

The panels on the facade alternative between 10mm solid pan-els and 10mm expanded metal mesh. The mesh is 65% open, making it appears as a translucent layer. In select locations, the mesh covers the windows.

NICOLA STEWART LAURSEN-SCHMIDT