2013
Hand drawing on cartridge paper
Extracts from my thesis project ‘Life, Death & Time: The Life Cycle of Buildings’ questions the life spans of buildings and whether this is considered during the design process. It also explores the idea that a building should never be ‘complete’ upon construction, but merely begin its life, to grow and adapt with the times, to welcome and become more beautiful with the inevitable processes of weathering, and successfully support and absorb a variety of human activity, so to develop a patina of use, both physically and sensory, over time.
In this exploration I happened upon infrastructures and their ability to outlast buildings because they serve a greater and more specifi c purpose to society. I imagined primarily a water treatment plant in Limerick City with water storage towers and a rain water catchment system. The hand drawing is an initial sectional ‘working-out’ of the mechanics, flows and various processes involved in water treatment. Within these spaces I designed a public laundry, wash rooms, bathing and swimming facilities and an extension of an existing but under used public park. The axonometric shows these spaces operating functionally and spatially together.