The sloped site creates a number of opportunities and constraints. Building into the site, cutting into the land in order to create a ban-aid like development is an interesting concept.....but just an idea at this stage
I think the contours are something that I need to take forward and work with in this project. Something about the contours is really quite lovely, I think I can extract them and contort them to create an incision that actually adds to the sites natural beauty.
The Grand Egyptian Museum is one project that presents some similarities in terms of the approach to designing site specifically. It gives you an idea of what I hope to achieve in my design for the Paddington Central site.
The site for the Grand Egyptian Museum is located at the edge of the first desert plateau between the pyramids and Cairo. It is defined by a 50m level difference, created as the Nile carves its way through the desert to the Mediterranean, a geological condition that has shaped Egypt for over 3,000 years.
The design of the museum utilises the level difference to construct a new ‘edge’ to the plateau, a surface defined by a veil of translucent stone that transforms from day to night. The museum exists between the level of the Nile Valley and the plateau, never extending above the plateau.
References:
Heneghan-Peng Architects. (2012). The Grand Egyptian Museum. Retrieved 8th September 2012, from http://www.hparc.com/work/the-grand-egyptian-museum/