Has the stress hit yet? 10.5

After the bulk of the design work has been done, it was time to start producing the final drawings. I experimented with the moment drawing of the exhibition space first to see how my group would like it. I looked at James Turrel's light sculpting as my inspiration for lighting the dark space. At this stage, we discussed the exhibition space in two states: a dark space for exhibiting through digital technologies; the disassembled exhibition space that is brightly lit which can be transformed into additional studying spaces or other uses.

HOME OFFICE - SHOPPING MALL TOWN HALL

I imagine the lit space would be synonymous of Home office's Shopping mall town hall. White artificial light will fill the space and the wall dividers will be removed to open up the space. The exhibition hall reuses ideas explored in the planar scheme that explores flexible spaces.

JAMES TURREL'S LIGHT SCULPTING

When the exhibition is in use, walls can be put up to divide the space. Following Turrel's light sculpting, the room will be lit similarly to enhance the experience of the dark space. The room is dimly light to emphasize on the exhibited works through technologies.

EXHIBITION SPACE TEST RENDER

I experimented with the lights and re-creating the atmosphere from Turrel's work before exporting the render into photoshop for textures to be applied. After my group was satisfied with the lighting and textures, I moved onto the final production.

3D MODEL OF THE FINAL EXHIBITION SPACE RENDER

I imagine the exhibition space when it's not in use would be a similar condition to the clay render, except without the exhibition screens and wall dividers. For the final render, I detailed the model and recessed the ceiling to create a more immersive exhibition setting.

FINAL EXHIBITION SPACE RENDER

STUDY PODS + RAMP ENTRANCE TO EXHIBITION SPACE MOMENT

For the next moment drawing, I was looking to corridors to the study pods and the ramp access way into the exhibition space. The sketch below shows the consideration for designing the handrails around the ramp. The materiality of the handrail will reflect the same steel material used for the tablet shelf and begins from the ground level of the study pods before being recessed into the walls entering the exhibition space. The recessed handrail will emit light similar to Turrel's work, introducing the exhibition space.

I thought about introducing opportunities for seating within the walls of the ramp, allowing people a casual seating option after picking up the tablets from the shelves.

I played around with the sequencing of the recessed seating, aiming to creating a pattern that does not reveal itself to the study pods. I wanted to keep the seating space hidden and only reveal the shelving units to the pods from the idea of surveillance.

CLAY RENDER OF THE RECESSED SEATING AND TABLET SHELF (FACADE) ABOVE

The tablet shelf above serves more as an ornament than a functional tablet shelf. The presence of the tablet shelf pays homage to the traditional libraries, study desks surrounded by bookshelves. In the digital library where bookshelves are no longer relevant, the decorations of the tablet shelf looks to remind the people of a familiar feeling.

The diagram below looks at the visual coverage from user's occupying the group study pods. For the effect of the surveillance to be successful, the shelving units needs to be spread accordingly.

BASE RENDER OF THE STUDY PODS + RAMP ENTRY TO THE EXHIBITION SPACE

The rendering method for this moment was quite different to the exhibition space. Whilst the exhibition space relied on artificial lighting, I had to carve a skylight to light up the interior space. The transparent group study pod doors also helped in admitting ambient light through the hallway.

We also discussed the materiality of the library. We decided on concrete but it would be dyed in the lighter warmer hue colours. The natural gray concrete finish might create a dingy underground space, so we looked to respond with a light sandblasted concrete finish from Chipperfield's Kanagawa Cemetery. The lighter tones would be more successful in reflecting light as well.

FINAL RENDER OF STUDY PODS HALLWAY + RAMP ACCESS TO EXHIBITION SPACE

GROUP STUDY + ISOLATED STUDY ROOMS

The study pods are each furnished with a window that admits sunlight throughout the day and frames towards nature. Group study pods have glass sliding doors whilst isolated study rooms have a pivoting steel door. The glass sliding door openings out a view to tablet shelf display on the walls, reminiscing the old traditional library typology. The isolated pod has a large steel door to separate the user from the rest of the library, disconnecting him/herself for a more focused study.