Good Morning all, today we'll be continuing the series on some of the past projects I've done. This week and indeed the next two parts will be on the major assessment of our second design unit. Being such a large project, it will be split up into three parts. The brief/site location, the commercial wing and the residential wing.
The site chosen was a 2014 m2 lot in Armadale, almost directly opposite the train station, at the corner of Green Ave and Tudor Rd. Earmarked under the Armadale Redevelopment area by the MRA,inside the 'City centre project area'. In essence, this area was to fall inline with the general requirement that the areas around train stations should see a push for higher density while also upholding the MRA's elevated standards of design and amenity.
The client brief was as follows,four retail spaces, four residences, two offices and a cafe. There was no provision for using underground parking, end of trip facilities were required for the commercial spaces, we could occupy a maximum 80% of the site with no setbacks on Green Av while a 3m setback on Tudor. Of note, one out of four residences were required to meet the 'liveable homes standards', essentially provided more space throughout the house for the elderly and those in a wheelchair.
Delving more specifically into the requirements for each part of the design. Each residence was a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, with one parking space either in the form of a garage or an external parking bay. Each retail space was to be a minimum of 60m2 gross, frontage to Green Ave being 'preferred', essentially just a shell with a small kitchenette with front and rear access. Each office was to be 200m2 or larger, having a kitchenette and not occupying the ground floor. The cafe was to seat 25 people,internal and external seating, prominent point of sale and with a decently sized kitchen. All of this tallied up to needing 14 parking bays and a loading bay.
As for the actual design of the site, we were limited to which road, parking could come off being Tudor Ave. As such, I've spread the ten normal parking bays for staff and the loading bay in the centre of the site, while providing enclosed garages for each residence.Spare space in the centre of the site was allocated for a playground of some form, to add to the amenity of the lot while also drawing more custom for the cafe.
Before we wrap up, I'll briefly touch on the sustainable requirements of the site. The commercial spaces required a proper end-of-trip facility, this entails bike racks, storage lockers and showers at a ratio dependant on the maximum number of workers combined. It is also encouraged to incorporate some form of solar system and/or sustainable recycling of green waste from the cafe.
Next week we'll jump right into the Commercial wing of my design.
