I started off with the location of Serenella in its context of Murano, and Murano's context within Venice
Next my masterplan process, describing the Venetian proportions and ratios I used to map out the masterplan block surrounding my site:
I then showed my final masterplan layout in the context of Serenella:
Once the context was shown, I used photographs of my models to describe my volumetric process. They describe my experiments in showing the appropriate size, shape and form of the building on site.
My final volumetric layout within the masterplan:
My final floor plans show the basic layout of the building, and helped me describe the positioning of certain room types:
I then did a 1:20 section showing the therapy room, because this is the most important room in the building. This room layout was designed to the specifications of a music therapist I consulted. The size of the room to the materiality to the positioning of tables and chairs met her specifications. The dark room with one-way mirror lets therapists, psychologists or psychiatrists observe sessions, or for video recording of sessions.
The dark room door closes flush so patients do not see that there is a room next door before they enter the therapy room. There is no window, so there is no distraction for the patients. Instrument storage has a room of its own so there is no clutter in the therapy room, other than the furniture and whatever small percussion is placed on the table.
I then did a render showing the group therapy room, which shows the materiality quite well:
I produced large images of two other important rooms within the building:
Firstly the rooftop terrace is a place where friends and family of patients can wait for the hour or so during the therapy session. The open space is roofed and gives people views out over the masterplan, and ultimately out to Venice:
The performance space is the most important room in the building when it comes to promoting the centre to the community. The room is open to the neighbouring courtyard so the public will be able to hear performances as they walk through my new masterplan. Sound baffles on the ceiling help reflect the sound out into this space and angled walls help control the room's reverb levels.
The section below (the elevation) shows the vertical baffles from a different angle:
These two images also show the materiality - the in-situ concrete construction with timber voids that help break up the concrete. The lack of windows is very apparent - therapy rooms are the primary function and they do not require windows. There is only one window on the south façade (section above) and this is for the staff training room.
The images also show the volumetric scale of the building compared to the surrounding context. The thermal massing of the concrete helps keep the temperature in the building from fluctuating too much, and assists in sound proofing up to about 60 decibels for my wall thickness.
The final image in my presentation was a 1 to 50 section showing how the spaces all line up. I spent a while inhabiting the rooms with appropriate people, to make the spaces more believable and understandable:
Feedback:
The main feedback from my critical review was that I needed more hand drawn images describing my masterplan process; and I need to describe the ways people use the building in diagram form, rather than written form. I plan to diagram the primary spaces in the building, showing for instance how therapy rooms are always located next door to waiting areas, how WCs are stacked above each other. I also need to show in more detail the link between the adjoining courtyard to the performance space, with perhaps a perspective view from the far end of the courtyard looking at the south façade.
