ArchShowcase 
Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination. Ideas on Edge in Parramatta, Australia by Tyrrell Studio with Daniel GriffinJuly 6th, 2011 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: Tyrrell Studio with Daniel Griffin Sydney based Tyrrell Studio has collaborated with Daniel Griffin to create a first prize winning entry to the 2011 international design competition Ideas on Edge Parramatta. The competition received over 150 entries, 40% international and the remainder from around Australia. There were 3 equal winners.  Drawing showing the natural processes of the river, it’s species diversity and how this is translated into an architecture which is ‘of’ the river. View over raingarden edge and into ‘The Birdshell’
Tyrrell and Griffin’s winning concept focuses upon blurring the physical and metaphysical boundaries between the local culture of Parramatta, and its local ecosystem, finding moments of architectural drama at their junction. The scheme recognises that the site is located at a brackish point of the river where the fresh water from the inland meets the salt water from the coast. This mixing of waters produces a highly diverse ecosystem at a local level. It is a place where species of fish meet, where salt and freshwater tolerant plant species are found and where hundreds of birds are attracted to the mix.  A view from the river into the proposal, showing the birdshell weaving beneath existing road/river infrastructure, further blurring the rivers edge Interestingly, the site also occurs at a key urban point where the busy urban spine of Church Street meets the river. Unfortunately, Parramatta has progressively turned its back on its river, which has become a forgotten drain rather than a living, changing natural focus for the city. The design breaks down a series of abrupt and divisive river edges by laying a generative grid over river and land. The grid resolves itself into a variety of functional built elements in the design but also acts as a conceptual tool to blur land and water.  View towards the innovation incubator, showing how new urban forms are clipped onto the dead edges of existing buildings. Also shows power generation grid overlaying the rivers edge Next, a series of ‘program intensifiers’ are layered on the design. Local culture is intensified through the creation of an urban incubator for innovation and ideas. This takes the form of small studio spaces, research labs, aged and childcare, performance spaces and university and corporate support shopfronts. Together, this small-scale urbanism plugs into the disused rear of shops and creates a humming cultural district which moves out over the river. The ecology of the site is intensified through a large sculptural building called ‘The Birdshell’. The building is a conference centre, but its façade accommodates and is designed around a celebration of urban birdlife. Hard concrete becomes a soft and living veil. From within the conference centre, birds create a shadow play on the walls. The form of the shell is designed to both amplify the varied birdcalls and to draw in and cool breezes from the river. It is an open aviary of an urban scale.  Physical and digital models of the scheme + plan and section drawings The site is allowed to flood regularly, and runoff is collected in a mosaic of raingardens that treat stormwater from the urban core of the design and release it clean to the river. Ultimately, the river has no edge in the final proposal; it is an urbanism ‘of ‘ a river rather than ‘beside’ a river.
Tags: Australia, Parramatta Category: Competitions |
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