The virtual environment can be used as a design tool to explore how architecture engages the senses. Michael Olliff and Jason Lebidineuse discuss how their firm uses virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to visualize and experience architectural designs in a digital space. This allows them to test how designs incorporate light, sound, materials and spatial qualities before being built. They believe the virtual environment can help architects design spaces that more fully engage all the senses.

1. INTELLIGENT ARCHITECTURE ISSUE FIVE

2. ii

3. iii
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION:
ATMOSPHERE 1
PROFESSOR WAYNE FORSTER
PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE
WELSH SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
RETROSPECTIVE:
SERENNU CHILDREN’S CENTRE 3
STEPHEN QUIN
PROJECT DIRECTOR, CARDIFF
DESIGN PROCESS:
THE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT 7
MICHAEL OLLIFF & JASON LEBIDINEUSE
MANAGING DIRECTOR & PROJECT DIRECTOR, GUILDFORD
PURE RESEARCH 1:
HOW TO CREATE AN INTELLIGENT CITY 11
ANNA KULIK
ARCHITECT, LONDON
PURE RESEARCH 2:
VISION AND VISUALITY 13
KATRIONA PILLAY
ARCHITECTURAL ASSISTANT PART I, LONDON
INTERACTIVE DESIGN 17
ALEX BAKER
SENIOR URBAN DESIGNER, GUILDFORD
DETAIL:
THE FORCE MAP STAIR 21
ED HAYDEN
DIRECTOR, GUILDFORD
BUILDING STUDY:
VISTA CHELSEA BRIDGE
ARTWORK STRATEGY 27
RICHARD MCCARTHY & MARIO VIEIRA
GROUP BOARD DIRECTOR & ASSOCIATE, LONDON

4. 1
Introduction:
Atmosphere
‘On the whole, art should be not be
explained; it must be experienced.’
So wrote Steen Eiler Rasmussen in
‘Experiencing Architecture’ (1959), the first
book on the theories of Architecture that
Professor Wayne Forster read. Here he
explores the theory setting the theme of this
issue of iA – Architecture and the Senses.
Back in 1979 it was a pre-requisite for Year 1 studies at the
Welsh School of Architecture. Although written in such a way
that ‘it should be understood by interested teenagers’ I seem to
remember making heavy weather of it.
Around four weeks later as I stood in the Tannery at the
museum of Welsh Life, playing with the ingeniously detailed
passive ventilation system of slatted green oak boards to the
first floor curing room supported on beautifully crafted and
slender stone piloti with a bag full of expensive (and fragile)
environmental measuring devices the penny dropped – so this
is what that book was about!
‘It is not enough to see architecture; you must experience it.’
Rasmussen had insisted.
At the remarkable open air museum we were encouraged
to do just that, using buildings as laboratories, through a
combination of annotated sketches and the instrumentation we
were given but also correlated with the most accurate measure
of all – our senses.
This nascent experience has remained with me for I have
retained an interest in the point where architectural science and
phenomenology meet (prevent failure, promote delight) and this
has informed most of my design and research work.
The word ‘phenomenology’ arrived four years later in the
title of a recently acquired book by my studio colleague Neil
MacOmish entitled ‘Genius Loci: Towards a phenomenology of
Architecture’ (1980).
Architectural phenomenology, with its emphasis on architecture
as a human experience offered a counter-position to positivist
functionalism. Norberg Schulz provided readily accessible
explanations through words and images but how should this
actually be applied in design? Back then (this was the 1980s)
we could reference the work of Aldo Rossi and Vittorio Gregotti
but actually to design for human experience remained a tricky
business and raised questions about what comes first – theory
or practice?
Underlying the experiential in architecture is the philosophy
of phenomenology.
‘Atmosphere’ may be defined as the feeling that an event or
place gives. These feelings are unquantifiable – however the
things that make atmosphere like light or literally the air in a
room are and can be quantified, measured and controlled by
the architect. Zumthor explains architectural atmospheres as
“this singular density and mood, this feeling of presence, well-
being, harmony, beauty…under whose spell I experience what I
otherwise would not experience in precisely this way”.
Anyone who has been lucky enough to visit and enjoy the
Thermal Baths at Vals will testify to the engagement of all the
senses in that one building.
Atmosphere though, is hardly ever a requirement in project
briefs.
This issue courageously raises the increasingly difficult
question of how can architects imagine, define, design and
make everyday places that may move and touch its users.
Papers have been selected that explore and in some cases
attempt to exploit the connection between these qualitative
‘feelings’ and empirical measures through the use of a range
of techniques. It is interesting to note the foregrounding in
a number of these of the digital and virtual, both in design
technique, representation and experience.
This may be because, as Stephen Quin illustrates in Paper 2,
design briefs tend only to make explicit reference to the senses
and atmospheres if some particular stimulation or otherwise is
needed. Roused by the potential effect of the neglect of these
qualities Katriona Pillay in Paper 5 urges a refreshment of the
senses.
Do we have to wait for a brief for a Thermal Bath or a ‘special
needs facility’ for the architecture of the senses to be on the
‘workspace’? Pallasmaa thought not and that architecture itself
‘is the art of reconciliation between ourselves and the world,
and this mediation takes place through the senses’ (1996).
Discuss

5. 2
LEFT AND BELOW
Historic cultural gateway

6. 3
Retrospective:
Serennu Children’s Centre
‘The building should not be institutional.’
This was the opening and most important
statement made by the client team at the
beginning of our involvement in the project
– a project which began with a vision for
a different kind of healthcare building in
two very significant ways. Here, Stephen
Quin reflects on the designs of the sensory
rooms at Serennu Children’s Centre.
The increasingly prescriptive nature of clinical spaces is
understandable and justifiable to modern day Health Boards,
client bodies searching for ways to rationalise services, work
more efficiently, reduce costs, control hygiene and ‘package’
the process of patient treatment. But do the abundance of
Health Technical Memoranda and Health Building Notes
make any provision for the importance of architecture and its
relationship with the senses in the healing process or indeed
with the person? Did we allow our healthcare buildings during
the twentieth century to become environments which we fear
rather than those that assist recovery and comfort us or give us
hope? Have we allowed ourselves to become almost entirely
preoccupied with the architecture of the exterior and lost touch
with the importance of the interior? Just as the houses we grow
up in serve to inform our understanding of the various functions
of inhabiting, so our healthcare buildings have done the
opposite with our understanding of the process of healing, and
in this building we sought to undo or change that position.
The charitably funded network of Maggie’s Centre facilities
which have successfully grown through the UK in the last
decade, and community health centres such as AHMM’s at
Kentish Town in London, perhaps show we have entered a
period of change, they indicate an appreciation of design
beyond the clinical aspects, and a willingness to embrace a
kind of healthcare environment that is as far removed from the
institutional norm as is practical, but these projects have been,
and still are, exceptions to the rule. Serennu is one of those
exceptions.
We were approached to design a centre for special needs
children by the South Gwent Children’s Foundation, which later
evolved into the ‘Sparkle’ charity, which when translated into
Welsh lends its name to that of the building, ‘Serennu’. The client
was clear in their desire to ensure that those children visiting for
assessment or treatment were put at ease and that the building
would provide a welcoming rather than daunting experience.
The second significant design driver for the project was an
idea to bring together disparate elements of care provision for
children with special needs from across a county-wide area
— the existing system was broken. Children and their parents
had to visit several different geographically dispersed facilities
for their treatment, and added to that, they often found medical
records were not synchronised with those appointments,
sometimes resulting in abortive sessions or trips.
The brief sought to create a building which solved these
problems by including space for as wide a range of assessment
and treatment as possible, as well as support space for all the
agencies which contribute to a patient’s treatment and of course
their medical records — a truly multi-agency facility and one
which would be the first of its kind in the United Kingdom.
The client body had spent several years searching for a site
in the city which would satisfy their briefing needs while also
prove affordable. In the year 2000 an opportunity arose for a
site on the edge of the city of Newport, at that time outside the
development boundary, but earmarked for change.

7. 4
Set alongside the M4 motorway, two mildly sloping fallow
fields were identified as an option, although they required the
purchase of two residential properties for demolition, to create a
suitable access to the site. A prolonged planning process won
on appeal, followed by slow fundraising meant the project only
progressed gradually.
Whilst the procurement was slow, the general arrangement
of the consented scheme was quickly resolved and clearly
defined, split into three distinct zones, both in plan and in
section. The three storey white coloured render-faced structure
was set in to the hillside deliberately to reduce the height of the
building on approach and help young children to relate better
to a more familiar and human scale. This device allowed level
access from both sides of the building to the two therapy floors,
while staff and medical records were located on the top floor.
In plan, the building was arranged with Louis Kahn
influenced servant/served zones either side of a circulation
spine which allowed light to flood from top to bottom of the
building. These elements themselves were bisected by a fully
glazed, full-height entrance space, connecting all levels, and
assisting with legibility of the building and penetration of light.
That penetration of light through linear roof glazing within the
section gave a variety to the experience in different levels of
the building which could not be replicated by artificial sources,
and avoided the homogeneous bright light that we see in so
many healthcare buildings today, wiping out our own sense and
appreciation of space.
The lower ground floor was planned to accommodate a
Hydrotherapy pool, a Medicinema, where children unable to visit
mainstream cinemas can watch the latest films, normally before
they go on general release to the big multiplex cinema chains.
This room doubles up as a conference room when not showing
films, so is not entirely disconnected from the outside. There is
also a black-box Audiology suite, Assisted Living Suite and a
Physiotherapy Gymnasium, which doubles up as a gait analysis
zone. This floor also includes orthotics and splinting workshop,
the former specialising in rectifying physical abnormalities in
babies feet. With the exception of the Audiology suite, all these
rooms were designed to be well lit, with good visibility of the
outside landscape, and a materiality familiar to the users, but
all of them significantly are designed to test hearing, touch and
smell, above the sense of sight.
The upper ground floor was designed to be open, friendly
and filled with daylight throughout, with its welcoming and
informal reception, and to ensure that the patient waiting spaces
were far removed from the typical hospital waiting environment.
Consultant rooms cluster around open play areas where sound
is celebrated rather than frowned upon, parents waiting and
information areas are provided, acknowledging and addressing
the strain that parents may be under and the release they may
need whilst children are being assessed or treated. The three
large flexible therapy spaces can be combined or sub divided
depending on the activity, even allowing activities such as
indoor basketball to take place.
LEFT
Triple height top-lit circulation
space, with constellation graphic
theme reinforcing the Serennu
and Sparkle names
BELOW
One of seven free-to-use
Medicinema facilities in the UK,
helping patients and their families
to enjoy genuine and immersive
cinema experience in a safe,
stimulating, relaxing and sociable
environment

8. 5
These open spaces where noise is accepted are in complete
contrast to the traditionally sterile sound-free healthcare
environment we have become accustomed to. Throughout, the
building is open to and expects to be challenged by sound.
The exception is the careful control needed for breakout sound
from the cinema, and the need for privacy in some limited areas
where bad news is sometimes broken to parents, or sensitive
issues are discussed by staff. Associated with this, was an
intent from the Architect to ensure that the building did not rely
on air conditioning, addressing sustainability issues, as well as
controlling thermal comfort, and maintaining connection with
the external environment through the use of manually openable
windows. This has allowed users to moderate their environment
in relation to what their bodies sense, and for their bodies
conversely not to be isolated from the conditions outside.
A second black-box room is found on this floor, where multi-
sensory equipment is used for assessment and therapy. As
with the Hydrotherapy Pool, complex audio-visual and lighting
systems are employed in the therapy process, as well as a
machine specific to this unit which circulates aromas to help
children recognise different kinds of smell to help with their
treatment. This is complemented by the sounds and smells of
flowering plants and herbs found in the formal gardens just a
few steps away in a less controlled natural environment, as well
as those generated by experimental cooking in the Assisted
Living Unit, but our specific briefing requirement asked for a
room without windows for this function. As with the Audiology
Suite, assessments can only be made by therapists without the
intrusion of daylight and the distraction of external movement,
and as such there was no scope for visual architectural
intervention, however these spaces and the activity that takes
place in them is immeasurably enhanced by the context of
the building itself. It is described as a building which patients,
parents and staff can enjoy. In contrast to previous facilities it is
a building which the children look forward to visiting and rather
than fearing their next appointment, relish the opportunity to
return, and in many instances, children will do all they can to
extend their time here.
The fit out of the building led to a collaboration with graphic
designers, and through extensive stakeholder engagement,
a theme was determined which connected with the name of
the building, using the constellations for naming of rooms, as
well as the display panels and lighting in circulation spaces.
Users of the building are compelled to touch the glossy surface
of the constellation graphics in contrast to the slate floor
and shadow-cast white painted walls, which include braille
language representations, while the other senses are engaged
in digesting the visual information en-route to their next
assessment.
Serennu was deliberately sited close to the top end of the
site, near existing houses, to maximise the opportunity to use
the beautiful setting as part of the transformational process.
All floors enjoy connections and views out over an area locally
known as ‘Little Switzerland,’ and the lower ground floor therapy
rooms open directly into formal garden space. The upper end
of the gardens were planned in conjunction with the Landscape
Architect to be formal play areas with a sensory gardens and
quieter spaces, interrupted only by the sound of the birch trees
swaying. The lower end of the site, nearer to the busy and
sometimes noisy motorway was designed to be a nature park,
encouraging wildlife and exploration by the children, and can be
accessed by wheelchairs following an electronic tape buried in
the trail route.
Our senses are continually challenged by our built environment
and the individual buildings, public realm and landscape which
stitch it all together, and in this project we sought to design a
facility which tested the senses and was a transformative vehicle
for all that were to use it. We live in a time where the hierarchy of
the senses is dominated by the eye, and whilst we did not seek
to reverse that, there are many reasons in this project why we
would not have wanted to, we have ensured at Serennu through
thoughtful design that all of the senses are given an opportunity
to be tested, to collaborate, and to make a successful healing
environment for those children that depend on it.
The client began by asking us to design a facility
which should not be institutional and would be capable of
accommodating various therapy functions. Despite having
to regard all the relevant healthcare facilities guidelines, the
outcome at Serennu is a building and integral landscape which
achieves those two things, that acts as a community hub,
attracts rather than repels and is having a transformative effect,
uplifting its users and constantly playing with all five of our
senses
…in this project we sought to design
a facility which tested the senses and
was a transformative vehicle for all that
were to use it.
‘
’

9. 6
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP
Serennu as seen from the formal
external play area; Triple height
reception space, lower ground
floor used by Sparkle Foundation
as waiting area for Medicinema
and Hydrotherapy Pool users;
Sensory Assessment and Therapy
Room

10. 7
Design process:
The Virtual Environment
Here Managing Director Michael Olliff and
Project Director Jason Lebidineuse explore
the impact that Virtual Reality is having on
the design process.
According to Jean Baudrillard, what has happened in
postmodern culture is that society has become so reliant on
models and maps that we have lost all contact with the real
world that preceded the map. Reality itself has begun merely
to imitate the model, which now precedes and determines
the real world: “The territory no longer precedes the map, nor
does it survive it. It is nevertheless the map that precedes
the territory—precession of simulacra—that engenders the
territory”. To clarify his point, Baudrillard argues that there are
three “orders of simulacra”:
1 In the first order of simulacra, which he associates with the pre-
modern period, the image is a clear counterfeit of the real; the image is
recognised as an illusion, a place marker for the real;
2 In the second order of simulacra, which Baudrillard associates with
the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century, the distinctions
between the image and the representation begin to break down because
of mass production and the proliferation of copies. Such production
misrepresents and masks an underlying reality by imitating it so well,
thus threatening to replace it (e.g. in photography or ideology); however,
there is still a belief that, through critique or effective political action, one
can still access the hidden fact of the real;
3 In the third order of simulacra, which is associated with the postmodern
age, we are confronted with a precession of simulacra; that is, the
representation precedes and determines the real. There is no longer
any distinction between reality and its representation; there is only the
simulacrum.
Scott Brownrigg has long been fascinated with the role that
computing technology can play within the design process and
we are now testing this postmodern notion of the simulacrum.
In 1980 we were one of the pioneers of Computer Aided Design
and employed it on the new Heathrow Terminal 4 project.
Being early adopters of technology this interest developed
from 2D computer drafting into Building Information Modelling
(BIM) where 3D modelling was supplemented with meta data
that could be developed and shared with other members of
the design team and client end users. The advent of BIM is
transforming the industry and driving collaboration where
competition often dominates the process. Visualisations have
always been a key part of the design process whether they
are hand drawn sketches, perspective paintings or computer
generated visualisations. However, this paradigm of the
‘tableau’ is one of an author and reader relationship where the
design is carried out first, presented to the client for comment
and full understanding of the proposed design is often limited.
Roland Barthes in his essay Image – Music – Text defined the
tableau as a “a pure cut out segment with clearly defined edges,
irreversible and incorruptible; everything that surrounds it is
banished into nothingness, remains unnamed, while everything
that it admits within its field is promoted into essence, into light,
into view.” This definition accurately captures the advantages
and also the limitations of visualisations. The author is able to
focus solely on the content within the frame and in doing so
effectively controls and limits the reader’s experience.
The advent of ultra-high definition lightweight screens and
massive computing power is now radically altering the way we
interact with the world around us and heralds the third order
of simalcra, where the representation overlays reality with a
greater levels of information and meaning. Layering photorealist
real-time environments onto our observation of the real world is
the next big step in human perceptive evolution. Shortly we will
be able to walk out into the world and ‘see’ designs brought to
life, indistinguishably from reality, responding in real time to the
effects of the weather conditions and passage of the sun.
BELOW
The Cave – a virtual environment
created of the University of
Reading Malaysia scheme in
2012.
RIGHT
Blue Abyss – Still taken from the
Virtual Reality model

11. 8
Virtual Reality allows building users
to fully experience the emerging
design in a way that ensures a
deeper understanding of the spatial
environment.
‘
’
The capacity for clients, designers and stakeholders to interact
with, and ‘walk’ through virtual architectural environments
using nothing more than goggles and mobile phone is now a
reality; creating the opportunity to break the traditional roles of
author and reader and to involve clients much closer in to the
design process. Virtual Reality (VR) allows building users to
fully experience the emerging design in a way that ensures a
deeper understanding of the spatial environment. Bringing VR
further forward in the design process allows the client to fully
participate in the design process rather than just observing the
finished product. Visualisations now become a design tool and
the architect becomes a conductor, guiding the input of many
into a harmonious composition.
Scott Brownrigg’s first venture into VR came in 2012 on the
University of Reading Malaysia campus through a collaboration
with the School of Systems Engineering’s Visualisation and
Interactive Technology Centre using the CAVE (Collaborative
Automatic Virtual Environment), a virtual environment that allows
users to walk into a computer-generated world.
The CAVE is a physical room within a room, consisting three
walls and a floor, which are translucent projection screens. The
hardware uses four projectors outside the room to create a four
screen visualisation system (three walls and floor). The projector
screens form a room sized environment, so it is possible for
multiple users to stand within a full size scale recreation of BIM
and CAD models, enabling collaborative discussion, viewing
and navigation of a model in real-time. What sets the CAVE
apart from other VR platforms and what made the experience
exciting for Scott Brownrigg to use, was the ability to interact
with others within the virtual world.

12. 9

13. 10
Working closely with the school’s engineers we were able to
convert the project Revit model into a high-resolution 3D video
and audio environment. Then with the use of active stereo
glasses equipped with location sensors, multiple users could
walk into the building, experiencing the vastness of space,
the terraced landscape, the dynamic bridge links and ETFE
roof above. The realisation of the design became instantly
understandable as the client team were walked and talked
through the virtual spaces. As the user moves within the display
boundaries, the correct perspective is displayed in real-time
to achieve a fully immersive experience. Whilst the CAVE
is very successful in allowing users to experience and gain
better understanding of the spatial properties of the proposed
building, it still nevertheless places distance between the author
and reader.
Subsequent technological enhancements are helping to
transport our clients inside their buildings before a spade has
hit the ground, allowing a true understanding of scale and
space, an experience which was impossible until now. One
such project that is bringing the architect and client much
closer together in the design process is Blue Abyss. This new
astronaut training facility at the University of Essex will contain
the world’s largest and deepest indoor pool and includes a
50m deep shaft of water that will help simulate the microgravity
of outer space and deep sea environments. Supporters of the
Blue Abyss project include organisations such as NASA and the
European Space Agency as well as individuals including Major
Tim Peake, Britain’s newest astronaut, Helen Sharman, the first
Briton in space and the first woman to visit the Mir Space Station
in 1991.
Working with CityScapeVR the building is being modelled
in three dimensions using 3ds Max during workshop sessions
where the client and architect make design decisions whilst
wearing the new Occulus Rift DK2 VR goggles. This early
modelling is carried out using Unreal software developed for
the computer gaming industry that is very quick to create even
quite complex forms which can then be edited and refined by
architect and client directly. VR modelling then becomes an
integral part of the design process rather than a presentation
tool at the end.
This technology is empowering us to seamlessly guide our
clients, stakeholders and colleagues along the journey from
brief to reality, giving us the ability to stroll through our own
imaginations. In returning to Jean Baudrillard’s hypothesis
Scott Brownrigg can be seen to be working at the third order
of simulacra where the representation truly precedes and
determines the real
LEFT
Use of Occulus Rift googles and a
PlayStation controller enables the
user to move around the virtual
environment

14. 11
Pure Research 1:
How to Create an Intelligent city
Here, Anna Kulik explains the concept of
a smart city and the use of big data within
a city environment on different scales. It
studies how a city can be defined and
understood with the use of emergent
technologies and techniques and critically
analyses and challenges whether there is
an opportunity to create an intelligent urban
environment on these bases.
Over the past decade, almost everything related to technology,
sensors, and the ‘smart’ prefix has become incredibly popular,
and by 2016 clusters of scientific and technological investigation
have formed across the world. Massive amounts of funding
and governmental support have gone toward smart cars,
smartphones, smart technologies, smart grids, and many, many
others.
The smart city concept, one of the largest in scale and
complexity, combines many of the smaller strategies described
above.
Due to the breadth of technologies that have been
implemented under the smart city label, it is difficult to distil
a precise definition of a smart city. There is, however, an
understanding that the major factor contributing to the concept
is the use of various electronic and digital technologies to
collect and analyse information.
The smart city can also be defined according to six main
clusters: smart economy, smart mobility, smart environment,
smart people, smart living, and smart governance. Each of
these forms a unique sector that collects only relevant sources
of data, analyses them, and, theoretically, uses them for self-
improvement and continuous evolution.
BELOW
Diagram to show the concept of
a smart city strategy; Graphic
sequence of smart city data
collection and use
RIGHT
Pie chart of the evolution in how
the IoT is used and activated in
various sectors of a smart city
IMPROVE
COLLECT
VISUALISE
ANALYSE

15. 12
BIG DATA
To implement the strategy described above, the city needs to
collect data. The concept of smart cities is closely intertwined
with the phenomenon called the Internet of Things (IoT), which
is the network of physical objects and devices embedded with
electronics and sensors that collect and exchange data.
The challenge for smart cities is to analyse and sort massive
amounts of information collected (big data) and visualise it,
analyse it, and actuate it to improve city performance on various
scales.
More and more things in ordinary life are being ‘smartened’
through the introduction of various electronics and sensors.
Nowadays, even teapots have ways to communicate.
A report from Gartner has stated that around 1.7 billion
things will be connected in 2016, an increase of 39 percent over
2015. Bettina Tratz-Ryan, VP of research at Gartner, has stated
that wireless standards will be embedded in more devices, and
homes will move from being interconnected and smart enabled
to being integrated service environments that will provide value
and individual ambience to their inhabitants (Hatcher, 2015).
Despite the fact that the collection of information no longer
seems to be a problem, how can people be sure information
collected is relevant and ready to be used, and how frequently
should data be collected?
Real-time data forms a major part of the smart city system,
but should data be collected every day, or every hour, or every
minute, and how should data be distilled, analysed, and sorted
into a comprehensive report that can be used? There is no
single answer to this question, as it depends on respective
clusters of data and their scales. For instance, for smart mobility
and transportation, which will be investigated further within this
paper, data collection can be as frequent as every minute, while
for smart environment ecological studies, hourly data might
suffice.
Analysing and sorting data is the next challenge. If compiled
and sorted correctly with regards to its scale and use, data
becomes an incredibly powerful tool that may drive major city
changes. This will be explained using the example of traffic
management systems within the smart mobility data cluster.
The ability to visualise traffic using various applications
(Google Maps, City Mapper, and others) is a result of
simultaneous analysis of real-time data. Traffic applications
use GPS to determine the locations of mobile phone users and
calculate the speed and amount of users along the road, then
translate this information into a coloured map. This way, the
collection of data from mobile devices transforms into a real-
time urban plan.
In general, the use of devices for smart mobility, particularly
for transportation, has progressed further than in other
sectors. Not only do devices collect and analyse data and
then transform it into a readable visual format, but some
applications also use imbedded evaluation tools. Yandex Maps,
a transportation application created for Moscow, analyses
daily and hourly data and creates a forecast based on weekly
statistics over time. Users can then understand where traffic
might emerge on specific days and at specific times. More
importantly, this information and these forecasts are never
constant or static. Information is continuously corrected on an
hourly/daily/weekly basis, taking into account newly generated
data. This can be compared to the self-awareness of an
organism within the cluster of an overall system.
SMART ENVIRONMENTS AND PERFORMATIVE
ARCHITECTURE
An interesting example of data collection and use on the
building scale is a project of Media-TIC, Barcelona, done by
Cloud 9.
The building’s southwest façade creates a comfortable
indoor environment with regard to its thermal atmosphere and
sun screening. The façade is clad in ETFE pillows that use a
lenticular solution wherein two layers of plastic are inflated and
filled with nitrogen. In this method, the air density of particles
creates a cloudlike solar filter.
The indoor environment is monitored by sensors which
analyse the temperature and the amount of natural daylight.
The average factor is extracted and is given as a command
to the system extracting the nitrogen. As such, the building
is constantly using real-time data, analysing it, and feeding
it back to the system in a loop, performing self-awareness
and adaptation to the outdoor environment similar to the
behaviour of a living organism. This allows the building to be
energy efficient and maintains an optimally comfortable indoor
environment.
There are various examples of data use on different scales
within the city environment – in infrastructure, in buildings,
in blocks, etc. Some perform very successfully, such as the
ones described above. However, they are still unique, and
unfortunately the majority of buildings and infrastructures in
contemporary urban environments are far from being able to
perform such behaviours as self-awareness and adaptation
or, as a result, having the cognitive ability to work as a system.
There are not enough examples of such cases even to form a
comprehensive cluster within one scale.
So is a much more complex urban environment possible
within a smart city system? Interaction of sensory data is
necessary, as is its continuous evaluation within clusters
and between clusters, in order to achieve any effect on the
complexity of urban environments
= Per minuite
= Per day
= Per week
= Per month
FREQUENCY OF DATA COLLECTION

16. 13
Pure Research 2:
Vision and Visuality
Architecture acts as our primal key
that unlocks a fundamental language,
bridging ourselves to both space and
time. A harmony between sensation and
concept, us and others, is truly what
makes our understanding of what we see
and perceive as visually beautiful. The
study of Phenomenology, a philosophy
based on the essence of our perception
and consciousness as defined by the
synesthetic properties experienced within a
space, has led to the inadvertent exposure
of the theory of ocularcentrism. Here,
Katriona Pillay further explains.
This term defines an established dominance of the visual and
an increasing suppression of the other senses over time. The
body is seen as a natural means of wholly explicating the way
in which architecture is experienced. However, there is an
imminent fear that the sensual qualities a building can exude
will eventually cease to exist in their entirety, as a consequence
of the continuous neglect of a sensory approach to design. It
is crucial to recognise the vitality that the senses carry over our
visuality and perception of space and self, and must, therefore,
use the power that the visual carries to embody a deeper
engagement with a more holistic sensory response.
Knowledge has forever been compared to clear vision.
This empirical notion, that sensation is the accumulation
of all knowledge out of determinate qualities that presents
objects with a certainty of meaning, is subtly applied within
our daily reality. Since knowledge is unconsciously followed
by impression, which in turn, forms sensations through a mere
thought or spoken word, it leads to the immediate dismissal
of all opportunity for comprehension through the actual
experience itself. Society has abstractedly become accustomed
to feeling without experiencing, and we have forgotten the
beauty that lies within the ideal sensory realm which Merleau-
Ponty interprets as his “field of perception (…), constantly filled
with a play of colours, noises and fleeting tactile sensations”.
Similarly, the overuse of our visual sense has come to deceive
our perceptions and distort our experiences of space in real
time, as illusion and memory increasingly dominate the mind
and extract us from all true sensibility.
It was only after the Renaissance era, that modernity firmly
maintained an occularcentric perspective, enabled specifically
by the scientific revolution, “from the paradigm of the camera
obscura, of a veridical vision of bipolar subject and object,
to the model of the body as producer of a nonveridical vision
relatively indifferent to worldly reference” (Hal Foster, Vision and
Visuality, 1988). Vision was, as Plato thought it to be, humanity’s
greatest gift, and likewise, Aristotle viewed sight as the most
noble of the senses as he communicates “the intellect most
closely by virtue of the relative immateriality of its knowing”.
However, one must argue that although the ubiquity of sight
is considered the pillar of senses, it does not determine its
hierarchical gravity in our conscious spatial awareness. Beset
by ocularcentrism, society has not only continued to place
Physical
Conscious

17. 14
emphasis on the historical and cultural sanctioning of sight,
but has further exaggerated its power, consequently leading
to the development of its negative inclinations. The speed at
which the high-tech industry is rapidly emerging makes the
realisation of a habitual overall sense experience impossible for
society to apply, and has, therefore, led to our total submittal
to the growing current towards the visual, as it is the only
sense that is fast enough to keep up. It is easy to dismiss
questioning our collective contribution and desire to heighten
the visual experience, but has this deliberate attempt led to the
unintentional camouflage of a trauma masking the irreversible
remains of a social and sensory imbalance?
Photography unveiled a new reach to visual representation
of space. Architecture has always been driven by the real
and the physical through the distinct qualities of a building
– its material, form, arrangement, substance and detail. But
becoming increasingly apparent through the eyes of the
common urbanite is the visual concentration that is brought
to the subject when discussed, illustrated and taught entirely
through its visual media representations. The need for a rapid
and immediate engagement appointed the photographic
medium to depict and exaggerate its essence through articles,
books and the online realm, and almost unconsciously, we
have given license to the visual to steer our primary response
to architecture. This in turn has had an imposed effect on
our understanding of architectural space, that has allowed
for the exploitation of the photograph’s aesthetic character
to popularise a fake architecture to the observer that is in no
way a natural representation of reality, leading to the crippled
distortion of a process that architects abstractedly proceed to
when designing a space. As Kester Rattenbury writes in This is
not Architecture: Media Constructions, 2002, “Architecture has
its own communicative qualities, but whether we prefer to think
of it as principally and essentially physical and principally and
essentially communicative, our understanding of what exactly
architecture is and what is good or interesting about it, seems
to be the outcome of a cumulative structure of mediations”.
Perhaps it is up to the architect to distance this process from
its external milieu, and aim towards conveying a physical
experience of perfect regularity to synesthetic perception, so
that the line bridging this holistic intersection never gets erased.
BELOW
Unconscious timeline
Pre-conscious
Sub-conscious
Unconscious

18. 15
Accepting that the visual sense portrays a crucial role in the
viewer’s perception of both, space and self, one must also
look to question the bigger scale of its impact and review
the clarity mirrored back to us within the image of our world
today. Can we agree with Alberto Pérez-Gómez, in defining
architecture as an embodiment of “a world that is not merely a
comfortable or practical shelter, but that offers the inhabitant
a formal order reflecting the depth of our human condition,
analogous in vision to the interiority communicated by
speech and poetry” (The Revelation of Order: Perspective and
Architectural Representation, 2002) The labyrinth, for example,
is the fundamental depiction of every architect’s dream, as it
symbolises the epitome of architectural space that integrates
both time and place with idea and experience. The intelligence
and simplicity that lies behind the ability to manipulate space
encapsulating the common peripatetic in order to challenge the
multisensory facilitation for the act of navigation and wandering,
is ultimately an uncommon practice that should be carried
through within the everyday design approach of architectural
space.
Triggering emotion solely using a physical architectural
language is impossible without the enabling use of the visual,
but as users become increasingly exposed to the bombardment
of visual media representations everywhere, there is a growing
expectation for an immediate emotional response, yet what is
in fact imminent, is the opposite. Emotional reality will begin to
fade along with the other senses and true visuality will become
a bias to our sense of truth. As designers, architects hold a
responsibility to nurture this truth and use it to narrate a journey
through spaces that fuses an amalgamation of senses to
generate the experience we all seek. Peter Zumthor emphasises
all the sensory aspects of the architectural experience, and
through his detailed attention to materiality, he evokes and
textures horizons of place via memory. The modernists of the
20th century, on the other hand, place a dominant emphasis
on the sense of vision that is then filtered within the borders
of the experience itself. Le Corbusier states that “I am an
impenitent visual – everything is in the visual”. Even though he
didn’t incorporate a sensory approach to his design, his own
sense of materiality, plasticity and gravity prevented his work
from turning into sensory reductivism. Mies Van der Rohe’s
work also brings a sense of visual order by placing a focus
on the frontal perspective, and as a result of his deviating
intentions driving his projects, evokes an emotional and sensory
participation of the architecture’s users. In an attempt to follow
in these footsteps, to what extent can the reality of a true sense
experience within today’s visually driven realm be sustained
and can we ensure a future that calls for visual technology
to augment the design of these spaces without running the
risk of dematerialisation and desensitisation of our conscious
perception of physical space?
RIGHT
Medical diagram Descarts ‘Vision
and Visual perception’

19. 16

20. 17
Interactive design:
Designing interactivity into the public
realm
Understanding how people use public
spaces and what people desire from
the urban fabric of a city should be
fundamental to the way we, as designers
and architects plan towns and city spaces
that might last the test of time. Designing
spaces to be flexible and capture public
interest can be a challenging prospect.
After all, the usefulness of a space can
easily go unnoticed, leaving only a
movement corridor devoid of purpose
or attention. Alex Baker, Senior Urban
Designer explores ways to adapt and
evolve public spaces, drawing from the very
distractions which cause a retreat to private
space.
RIGHT
Using the streets,
movement and
destinations

21. 18
In the recent past urban design has become visually
unstimulating in the design of streets and the public realm,
both architecturally and artistically. This is not the fault of
urban design theory, but stems from a change in culture and
technology. An influx of technologies have moulded ideas of
social interaction and recreational time outdoors, resulting in a
change in public perception. Streets are viewed as vital areas of
transit and have a decreasing impact as spaces of themselves.
More and more groups of the population are finding greater
stimulation from digital and virtual media rather than what can
be found in their realities.
These next generation digital environments offer people new
and almost unlimited levels of interaction and choice, having
led to companies and digital worlds; among them ‘Secondlife’
and ‘Second Places’, where people can live in a virtual medium
whilst spending real money and real time. Growing numbers
of our population invest resources into digital environments,
rather than into the streets and cities painstakingly designed
by architects and urban designers. Perhaps the influx of these
technologies into our modern cultures and everyday life is
actually an overlooked tool begging to be integrated into those
very streets and cities.
A successful designer should draw people back outside,
bringing a faithful ‘age old’ recipe to the present. The pilot
scheme introducing ‘Singing benches’ to 2005 Cambridge was
one such early example; a lottery funded project developed
by the company ‘The Junction’ on the idea that interactive
technology would allow street furniture to respond to members
of the public. An understanding of the psychological elements
behind virtual attraction can be refocused to influence design
decisions for the public realm.
DIGITAL ELEMENTS DIGITAL EXAMPLES
Design Participation /
User created content
User created content with servers charging
land rent allows for worlds and spaces
to develop with public image, design and
community ideas at the forefront of the
scheme.
Community Involvement With digital worlds lacking sensory
experience, the virtual worlds make up for this
with community involvement, bringing groups
of people together with similar interests and
thoughts that create an atmosphere that bring
people back time and time again to enjoy.
Allowing Greater Options
and Interactivity
The fantasy world and stories merge with real
people, creating vibrant worlds with the ability
for individuals to create an ‘avatar’, a digital
representation of themselves where they can
fulfil dreams and passions that one does not
have access to or is physically unable to do
in the real world. Presenting feelings of self
development and achievement.
Additional Acceptance for
Disabled
An individual’s physical/mental state can
sometimes prevent an individual from having
normal social and physical activities, digital
worlds allow, in a way, social training and
allow the physically unable to explore and
attend activities in the comfort of their own
home.
Physical and Mental
Workout
With gaming becoming next generation with
consoles such as the ‘Wii’, gaming has now
crossed paths with physical activities, rather
just sitting on a sofa.
Physical Access to the
Urban Space
A broad band connection rather than a bus or
car journey into the city.
Time Occasionally due to boredom people ‘hook
up’, but people are able to make a living
spending time and money here.
DIGITAL ELEMENTS REAL-WORLD POSSIBILITIES
Design Participation /
User created content
Public created designs
Statues/ murals chosen by the public rather
than chosen for the public
Community Involvement Relaying a sense of community, Religion
Community displays
‘Ice-rinks, street festivals, Major of the city
involvement, etc,’
Farmer’s market, French market, market place
Allowing Greater Options
and Interactivity
Street features that capture people’s
imaginations
Bright visual displays
Experience of ‘Sound’
‘Touch’
‘Smell’
Features that allow interaction of other senses
(interesting and interactive features and
furniture)
Additional Acceptance for
Disabled
Use of other senses
(A Street to the blind is all about touch, sound
and smell)
Accessibility of surrounding environment for
the movement/physically impaired
Resting locations, benches and seats
Comfort/Safety
Physical and Mental
Workout
Physical apparatus
Water features within environment that allow
children
and adults to physically exert themselves and
interact
with the environment
On street games,
– Mental games/puzzles
– Boúles
‘Get Britain fit’
Physical Access to the
Urban Space
Access to urban environments VS virtual
worlds
BELOW
Table showing
psychological
elements that attract
people into virtual
worlds; Table showing
factors in which to
analyse real world
locations developed
from peoples digital
needs

22. 19
INTERACTIVE FUTURES
“The real significance of computing becomes its capacity to let
us take part in shared representations of space and actions”
(Laurel, 1989, cited in the work of Malcolm McCullough, 2004).
These thoughts have been floating around for some time now,
yet little has been shown in terms of a result. Representations
of work and play now become in effect, the software for places.
When information technology becomes part of the social
structure/infrastructure, it demands design consideration from a
broad range of disciplines and expertise. Social, psychological,
aesthetic and functional factors all must play a role in the design
process.
ATTRACTIONS OF VIRTUAL WORLDS
While the real world offers huge supply to people’s demands,
growing numbers of people are resorting to virtually rendered
environments. Some virtual elements must obviously exist to
satisfy the needs of so many which real world environments do
not manage to deliver.
Programmes such as ‘Second Life’ offer people an
opportunity of living an alternative lifestyle whilst remaining
in the safety of their own homes. This popular virtual reality
programme is an interactive game of sorts that play out what
appears to be a lavishly detailed three dimensional world. In
these virtual worlds and media, “you can get almost unlimited
information” (Bailenson, 2007), allowing people to become
immersed in information and details.
The comparison tables (overleaf) highlight digital factors
that draw people into the virtual world. Real world examples of
these factors have been shown, which architects and designers
should be achieving to create great spaces. The intention of
architecture can have a great influence on people, it reflects on
people, the mind and the physical.
DESIGNING FOR INCREASED INTERACTION
Virtual worlds establish strong community connections, driving
thousands of people to become members of online interactive
environments. Digital worlds sometimes supersede strong
sensory experiences, by instead over-establishing community
experiences and allowing their members to create their own
content and designs. Comparisons have shown that digital
worlds offer the foundations for creating positive psychological
connections which are often missing in urban environments.
Therefore, assessing a space should take on a framework
criteria to assess the existing qualities streets possess in an
attempt to enhance those qualities later, noting particularly their
effect on public interaction.
DIGITAL EVOLVED ELEMENTS No
QUALITY
4 3 2 1
Design Participation Public created design
Statues / murals chosen by
the public
Community Involvement Relaying a sense of
community
Religious displays
Market places
Greater Interactivity Imaginative displays
Experience of other senses
Accessibility of surrounding
spaces
Seating and comfort
Physical & Mental Workout Physical apparatus
Water & environment
On-street games
PHYSICAL ELEMENTS
Permeability Physical access through site
– people per minute
Visual access through site
Solar Access Natural lighting
Wind Wind Direction
Strength
Vegetation / landscape No
of trees
Level of shading
Cover Awnings
Umbrellas
Screens
Displays Audio
Visual
Sound Level of background noise
Street Furniture Seating
Shop displays
Dustbins
Stalls
Signage
Lighting
Overall space quality
PUBLICCREATEDDESIGN
STATUESCHOSEN
BY
PUBLIC
SENSE OF COMMUNITY
RELIGIOUS ELEMENTS
EXPERIENCEOFSENSES
PHYSICAL APPARATUS
WATER & ENVIRONMENT
GAMES
MARKETS
IMAGINATIVEDISPLAYS
ACCESSIBILTY
SEATING
&
COMFORT
LEFT
Data results from the
digital elements
BELOW
Urban criteria

23. 20
Such a framework is not designed to work on a blank canvas,
but an overlay for spaces that need revitalising and recapturing
the interest of people. Streets are spaces for all people; any
location can be designed / redesigned to draw in the people,
through well worked urban design and good wayfinding. All
spaces are part of a simple system, either as a destination point
or a movement node. Although a typical street is fundamentally
a location intended for movement, the need remains to maintain
a level of public participation and involvement. Streets have
often become cluttered, busy and disinteresting; where retailers
introducing signage, poor frontage/facade design, lack of
maintenance or the general perception of the public to the area
are all at fault. By assessing a location, one should understand
the foundations of that space or street.
OVERCOMING URBAN SHORTFALLS
Exploring ways of improving spaces that lack psychological
or physical elements is key to their successful integration to
the urban fabric. This will inevitably begin to happen when
physical and digital boundaries are dissolved. If done well, a
scheme would connect new and old parts of cities / towns by
creating unique public spaces that provides the public with an
imaginative and interactive space to share and enjoy.
A new culture of ‘pop up’ facilities has demonstrated a
recent effort to make such changes, creating a hive of activity
and interest. They play on natural curiosity, creating nodes
of spontaneous activity. These start as temporary solutions,
testing ideas with the potential of becoming permanent in
the future. This provides a space where people respond to
their environment, but perhaps there are ways of having the
environment respond to people.
Utilising the potential offered by responsive technology,
programming and lighting, designers can create new
environments and experiences at different times of the day;
creating new ambience which can attract diverse groups of
people and activities to otherwise stale locations. Street design
should be considered an art, used to grab people’s attention
and bring people together.
Elements of urban design, including the use of light, image
projection and elemental use (water, earth, fire) can create art
– using the urban fabric as a canvas, enhancing the physical
aspect of the environment, and also offering people the space
to display their own art, images, films and work. A space then
can make a person feel proud of the things they achieve and
make, and can furthermore develop a sense of community,
ownership and respect.
Such spaces need to be ever flexible, changing with the
evolving needs of the population. Light and protection from
the elements are just two examples of components that
can respond to people or the weather when necessary. The
examples shown highlight reactive designs, knowing when to
offer protection from the weather or when to offer increased
illumination around people. This creates an environment that
emphasises its purpose, and the people using it.
The aim is to draw people out back into public spaces,
maximising a space’s intended purpose. Virtual worlds like
‘SecondLife’ have much to offer people, but cities and towns,
streets and spaces have much more to offer as an experience.
“What we design, designs us back” (Jason Silva), when people
walk into a space that is designed well, it reflects back on them
FROM TOP
Active art / canopy
shading – A digital
representation of
adaptive awnings that
can create shelter
from the elements, or
project images / art;
Examples of reactive
/ passive lighting –
zaragoza media digital

24. 21
Detail:
The Force Map Stair
Director, Ed Hayden talks about the future
of virtual prototyping using his concept for a
feature stair as an example.
DIGITAL MODELLING AND MANUFACTURING
The rapid acceleration of computational techniques and
processing power during the last 20 years has facilitated new
methods of sophisticated virtual prototyping. Where designs
are being pushed to their limits, conventional engineering
assumptions are no longer enough. The advances in
computational modelling allows architects and engineers
to engage in the rapid testing of the dynamics of material
properties and construction geometries within a simulated
environment, it is now possible to explore solutions which could
not have been imagined before. Scott Brownrigg and Ramboll
Engineering have been collaborating in this field with a research
project nicknamed ‘The Force Map Stair’.
CONCEPT
The concept brief was to create a feature stair where the
structural components had been analysed to minimise the
material content, whilst exploiting this material to its maximum
structural advantage. The stair would then demonstrate this
digital engineering as its key visible feature, an example of
digital craftsmanship. The perforated pattern can be developed
using the stress mapping, cutting out the elements we do
not need. The remainder represents the physical form of the
stresses and forces, and are applied to the plate by cantilevered
treads and tension paths produced by tying the plates back
to the main structure. The structural poetry can then be seen
instead of being concealed. This perforated structure is a
method inspired by the solutions found in nature, leaves and
bones which gain strength with optimised geometry, distributing
minimal material to maximum advantage. Perforation ensures
lightness is achieved, creating highly-efficient and responsive
structures with minimum weight and minimum wastage.

25. 22
RIGHT CLOCKWISE
Stair SketchUp Model;
Leaf structure; Force
Map Concept

26. 23
.800 m
.620 m
KEY
1 Spine wall lifted in and
connected to main column
2 Flight 1 lifted in as one piece
with on-site fillet welds to
spine wall
3 Landing lifted in with on-site
connection to spine wall
4 Flight 2 lifted in as one piece
with on-site fillet welds to
spine wall
5 Vertical tapered fins aligned
with each thread
6 Central spine wall. 50mm thick
solid steel plate
7 Radially arranged tapered
vertical fins to support
cantilevered landing
8 Timber steps
9 Central spine wall. 50mm thick
solid steel plate (availability to
be confirmed by contractor).
Potential to include laser cut
openings to be discussed with
architect
10 Steel plate cassette – refer to
Detail 1
11 Fully welded steel plate
cassette flight. Vertical tapered
fins under each thread. Steel
plate 6mm thick
12 Detail 1: Steel plate cassette
formed of 6mm steel plate
13 Detail 1: Plates fully welded to
form cassette
14 Detail 1: Wedge shaped timber
thread
15 Detail 1: Vertical members
tapered
16 Detail 2: Timber cladding
17 Detail 2: Concrete tread
18 Lateral restraint provided at
first and second floor levels
19 In this option, the centre point
of the triangle is kept constant
regardless of the size of the
triangle
20 In this option, the outside point
of the triangle is kept constant
regardless of the size of the
triangle, creating solid space
inside the pattern
21 Spacing of pattern centres
(same in both options)
22 Size of triangle varies linearly
according to stress pattern,
with min. 205mm and max.
100mm. In this sketch, only
four different sizes are shown
for simplicity. (Same in both
options)
LEFT
Design development of the
concept; Stair perforations
showing topology optimisation to
resulting perforations
RIGHT
Options 1 and 2 showing feature
stair perforation arrangement
5
2
6
11
8
9
10
7
3
4
12
13
14
15
16
17
1
18

27. 24
EXPLORATION
The concept has been developed collaboratively between the
visual and architectural requirements of creating a practical
stair, and the structural necessities of the materials.
This analysis is used to create a heat-map of the forces
which run through the structure. A heat map is data visualization
which uses colour to represent data values in a two-dimensional
image, in this case the stresses which run through the structure
of the stair.
The design has been developed through research and
experiment in digital modelling, digital analysis, and digital
fabrication tools, using Rhinoceros united with Grasshopper
and, combined with Revit. The design process has proven
intuitive, iterative and analytical.
The primary structural element is the central vertical spine
which supports the cantilevered plate which in turn supports the
treads. Topological analysis and optimisation was run for the
central spine with the applied loadings, this resulted in the truss
pattern as shown in the image above.
The topology optimised pattern has been converted into
patterns of triangular perforations through the plate using the
parametric modelling software Rhinoceros and Grasshopper.
The perforation density and sizing is tested within the
software with ‘spinners’ allowing adjustment for visual
preference. The resultant lightweight stair will span three storeys
using a single sheet material of 50mm thickness.
The developed stair design utilises the structural perforation
pattern to remove unnecessary material from the central spine
according to the structural necessity of each element.
ABOVE
Perforations are developed to
minimise material use; Heat-
map of stair panel showing the
structural forces acting on the
structure
19 20
21 22 21 22
200 200

28. 25
EXECUTION
Three-dimensional geometries are built up from connected
surfaces, allowing efficient computer aided cutting from a flat
steel sheet material. The cut profiles are reassembled to create
the final three-dimensional form. Material cutting using digitally
controlled high pressure water jet was tested on 40mm steel
samples to prove viability, 40mm steel plate test cut using a
water jet demonstrating perforation pattern.
The large scale model of the force mapped stair can be
laser cut into plywood to test the physical manifestation of the
concept.
CONCLUSION
The use of integrated, computer-based systems, comprising
of three-dimensional (3D) visualization, simulation, analytics
and collaboration tools to create product and manufacturing
process definitions simultaneously, will facilitate a new era of
Digital Craftsmanship. This era will see products and buildings
designed / crafted in a digital environment, directly manifest in
to reality. Using automated manufacturing techniques including
laser and water-jet cutting and 3D printing the expertise of the
craftsman will emerge unfiltered into reality. This new era will
allow creativity and creation to become a single unified flow
from concept to delivery
ABOVE
40mm steel plate test cut using
a water jet demonstrating
perforation pattern; Model image,
digitally laser cut from the force
mapped design
RIGHT
The Force Stair Map

29. 26

30. 27
Building Study:
Vista Chelsea Bridge artwork strategy
Culture has a key part to play in creating
successful new places and the Vista
public art programme and artwork strategy
builds upon the rich cultural heritage of
this important area of London. It ensures
that the new development will have an
intrinsic sense of place and identity, whilst
also providing valuable spaces which will
enhance the experience for all those who
live and work in the vicinity. Here, Group
Director, Richard McCarthy and Associate,
Mario Veira, provide the details.
THE BRIEF
Berkeley Homes commissioned Up Projects to create a Cultural
Strategy for the landmark Vista development in Battersea. As
the architects and Lead Designers for the development, Scott
Brownrigg worked closely with Up Projects from the outset. The
practice provided a clear brief to ensure the cultural strategy
that was developed worked in harmony with Scott Brownrigg’s
conceptual design for the scheme.
The proposals for Vista Chelsea Bridge presented a
particular opportunity for a large-scale art commission
integrated into the development as part of the façade cladding.
Scott Brownrigg’s original design submitted for planning
included a feature cladding panel inspired by an artistic
interpretation of the lake within Battersea Park. This was
then developed by the artist and integrated into Up Projects’
proposed cultural strategy. The artwork was brought to life by
a collaborative team involving the artist, Scott Brownrigg and a
cladding subcontractor and fabricator.
THE SITE AND THE VISTA DEVELOPMENT
Vista Chelsea Bridge comprises of two contemporary buildings
of 6–16 storeys in height which provide 456 residential units.
Situated in Queenstown Road opposite Battersea Park, this
exciting new scheme is the key stepping stone linking the main
Nine Elms development area with the park via a pedestrian
route through the site. The innovative design approach
responds to the views across the park, embracing them and
incorporating soft landscape wherever possible within the
design. The unique design ensures that with increased height
the buildings step back to create an organic and curvilinear built
form, sensitive in scale and massing to the setting.
The architectural masterplan and the landscape design
visually extend the park into the development through the use of
mature tree planting and the creation of attractive public spaces
and visually stimulating recreational space. When completed,
the development and artwork will act as a contemporary
landmark against the backdrop of the Grade II listed Battersea
Power Station and its key position ensures that it will attract a
wide range of public attention.
.
THE SOLUTION
Scott Brownrigg worked with artist Nick Hirst to develop the
artwork strategy for Vista Chelsea Bridge. Together, they
worked on creating visually arresting artworks on the buildings
by integrating feature cladding panels, inspired by an artistic
interpretation of the surrounding landscape. All integrated works
are designed to be robust, durable and in keeping with the
character of the development within its contextual surroundings.
THE SPECIFICATION
The artwork was created for the cladding, which is a glass rain
screen system, specified as screen-printed ceramic frit to the
back of the glass, before being bonded to the panel forming the
rain screen.
ABOVE
Elevation of artwork concept on
the building

31. 28
The Scott Brownrigg team agreed with Nicky that the artwork
was to be made up of 12 panels that span across two floors as
the maximum area for a single design. Sections would then be
repeated and reconfigured across the elevations.
The design uses three specified RAL colours which
complement the colour scheme of the overall development;
a light base colour and two colours informed by the natural
environment. The screen-printed ceramic frit also has a dot
matrix variation of colour intensity.
As specified by Scott Brownrigg, the visual hierarchy of the
elevations are: the horizontal white bands of the balconies,
followed by the vertical glazing (windows) and glass cladding
and vertical champagne coloured (warm brown bronze) of the
cladding for the down pipes.
THE CONCEPT
Given the location directly opposite Battersea Park and the
sympathetic, layered and contoured nature of the buildings,
the natural impulse for artist Nicky Hirst was to reference the
surrounding trees. Her initial research revealed the importance
of the original London Plane trees; London’s most commonly
planted tree which is found growing in city parks and streets.
The smooth outer bark is brown, grey, yellow, and greenish in
colour, with large scaly plates that peel off to reveal a creamy
bark beneath. The peeling bark comes off in large irregular
flakes, similar to fingerprints or snowflakes.
Nicky traced the surface shapes of the bark from a
photograph and, in order to distance the bark pattern from a
camouflage design, she concentrated on the fluid lines of the
drawing instead of the shapes. These allude to the pathways
winding around Battersea Park, as seen in this engraving
(below) from 1845, but are also inspired by the reflections on the
water of the River Thames nearby.
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE
Artwork by Nicky Hirst; Final
building graphic by Scott
Brownrigg; Artists concept – bark,
map, line drawing
THE PROCESS: FROM ARTWORK TO CLADDING
The bark drawing was sectioned into 12 panels, which were
overlaid to create depth and interest. Fixings were hidden in the
design to ensure the artwork runs from panel to panel to create
a continuous, flawless appearance.
The final artwork was created using a brush with black ink on
paper. The Scott Brownrigg team scanned this and employed
a number of Photoshop processes to change the artwork to a
dot matrix pattern. For greater clarity, the team first tidied up the
background and then applied one of the two colours selected.
A number of attempts were required to ensure that the variation
and subtlety created by the brush strokes were retained and the

32. 29
colours appeared correctly. Once this was finalised, several one
sq m sized samples were ordered to test the design.
Following several visits to Spain and extensive further testing
of various samples, the team were delighted to achieve the
quality of the line and the colours which captured the essence
of the original artwork.
The next steps involved setting out the panels across the
elevations to ensure the artwork ran seamlessly. This involved
a successful, collaborative approach where the mark-ups
were created by the Scott Brownrigg team, which were then
translated into CAD drawings and schedules by the cladding
contractor. The panels are currently being installed on the first
two cores, with the development due to complete next year.
WIDER VISTA CULTURAL STRATEGY
The façade artwork is only one strand of the overall Cultural
Strategy. The development offers many further locations for
artwork across different areas that will engage and appeal
to a wide spectrum of people. To date, two other artists have
also been commissioned at Vista who will be working within
the landscape. Artist Matthew Darbyshire will be creating a
children’s playspace as a modern sculpture garden, which is
inspired by the open air sculpture exhibition in Battersea Park
in 1951. In addition, Mark Grubb will be creating wayfinding
interventions in the Vista landscape, which are inspired by the
site’s heritage and memories from the local community

33. 30
ABOVE
Street view incorporating
façade artwork
RIGHT FROM TOP
Aerial view; Original glass
graphics concept at planning

34. A Scott Brownrigg Design Research Unit publication
May 2016
scottbrownrigg.com