a competition entry for a cultural centre in northwich, england.
1 – common approach. 8:00am a jogger walks through the passage on her way to the river.
2 – clustered ground floor spaces support an informal atmosphere in contrast to the formally distinct auditorium and gallery volumes above.
3 – activities overlap. 10:00am people gather in the courtyard for a morning tai chi class.
5 – longitudinal section. the modular wood frame construction of the first floor programs flows below the more solid volumes of cultural space on the second and third floors. these volumes provide cultural identity at the scale the of the northwich cityscape, while the wood frame structure of the base architecture relates to vernacular life of the street.
for the northwich cultural centre baron’s quay our planning strategy was based upon defining the institutional boundaries of cultural experience. the boundaries we considered dealt with the physical, as well as the historical and social extents of the northwich cultural landscape.
this approach suggests that community based cultural institutions operate at variety of scales, from local user groups to regional and national levels of identity and administration.
an undeveloped site on the periphery of the northwich commercial center, the baron’s quay site suggests possibilities as an alternative resource for city life whilst serving as a threshold to the river and countryside beyond.
our proposal incorporates community activity that is already occurring on or near the baron’s quay site. the bank of the river weaver and leicester street are established boundaries that define an area of activity extending across the existing car park. the car park itself is already a cross-programmed plane supporting pedestrian and vehicle activities related to the marks and spencer department store. in this location we propose a new distribution of program. creating an organization of interior and exterior spaces that will encourage the flow of foot traffic from leicester street to the riverbank through the common spaces of the northwich cultural centre.
our program strategy considers four approaches to the organization of public spaces, performance spaces and support facilities. each of these strategies addresses a wide range of interests and local patterns of use in and around the centre: