Design Studio 1 - Leicester Aviary
Project Brief - Lightweight Materials
Leicestershire Aviary Project's goals were to achieve an understanding of design using lightweight materials, with an element of reuse in the site of choice. The site was a disused railway bridge alongside the river Soar through the heart of Leicester, with access to the river and an unused section of Bede Park, the project became a design working to support river based avian residents of Leicester, providing access for leisure, education and protection. Lightweight material was studied through the creation and flying of a kite, to provide design inspiration for the structures and materiality.
Project Masterplan
Project Concept
The concept for the design came from the creation of the kite, working with lightweight and thin structural features, in combination with a lightweight fabric spanning the voids between structures to capture air and provide lift for the kite. Through sketch and precedent study, ETFE (Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene) utilised on projects such as The Eden Project (Cornwall, UK - Grimshaw Architects, 2001) and the National Space Centre (Leicester, UK - Grimshaw Architects, 2001), became the aesthetic inspiration, working alongside a programme and organisation diagram, key spaces were designed to follow a nature walk along the top of the railway bridge leading to the aviary at Bede Park.
Reception Dome - Section
Kite Interior Structure
Dome Concept Sketches
Covered walk and Riverside Deck - Section
