Site Analysis
Alastair Cross
N0504803
Design Studio Project 3b
Initial Site Analysis
What
and
Understanding
does each envirnomental factor mean to design?
Sunpath Diagrams
The sun
Morning
path relating to a particular site will alter in the way different spaces within a design get the majority of light into the space.
light is the best for kitchen and bedroom spaces and then living room spaces are more approprate for evening light with both compensating
with artifitial lighting inbetween these times
(southfacing
for more direct sunlight).
Prevailing Wind
Prevailing
wind works with natural ventillation and the orientation of the building. being perpendicilar to the direction of the prevailing wind
allows cooling and heating of the building.
Histroial Site Research
Being
histoircally aware of some of the past events and buildings that have been located on and around the site give the design both some archi-
tectural direction aswell as respect for the history integrety of the site which is found in the design.
Roads
roads give an idea of the disturbance within the site aswell primary access from cars and bikes.
road noise expecially due to bedroom placement.
Greenery/
Within
Front
facing builindgs should be careful of
vegetation
a space, green spaces are very desiratble, not only due to views onto it but also if the distance to the green space is small.
Water
plaement
locations which inlcude water such as this current one can be utilised in many ways to make a design more desirable, facing water and using it
within a design is something that can become very creative and individual within a space.
Pedestrain Routes
Understanding
how and where pedestrians move throughout a space can effect many features of a deeign these being: where the front entrance to the
design is located and where windows and openings occur.
Topography (section)
Understanding
topography and using it to the advance to the design can create a wholesome concept which connects in a comprehgensive way to the
site and the wider context if the site has differing base heights.
Images
of site
Sunpath Diagrams
From
the orientation of the site the sun travels parral to the direction of the
canal allowing lots of of unterrupted full sunlight onto the canal facing build-
ings in both summer and winter however hindering sunlight for buildings behind them,
especiallu in winter.
From
the old site the buildings on the estern side of the
canal sufferer from low amounts of light into the street and front rooms due to the
height of the buildings and the disrances between them.
(1)
(2)
9am Morning
Shown
light in
Summer (1)
and
ecowho.
(2014). Using the Sun to your advantage when you orientate your
building. Available: http://www.ecowho.com/articles/6/The_importance_of_
building_orientation.html. Last accessed 1st Feb 2015.
Winter (2)
above are the morning shadows produced from the site on the old site
(in
(1)
summer), green spaces are vastly covered via shodows which make the space uninviting to approach, this is the same with evening light.
To
the right is the current site map of the site which includes all changes to the
layout of the site, this time however it demonstrates the shading of the site in
the evening
(in
summer)
5pm Evening
light in
Summer (1)
and
Winter (n/a)
Prevailing
wind
The
prevailing wind of england shows the prevailing wind to come from the south west.
From
the urban planning stage
the amount of open spaces has drastically inceared causing the wind speeds in that location to be increased.
When we think about the prevailing wind it can affected
es. Natural causes could include tree density, topography
by many different factors through natural and human caus-
changes, storms, month of the year etc but the design of a
place can also effect wind speeds especially these may include building density for example.
Historical Site Research
Mapping
The
most distant historical mapping of the current site shows the entire zone to
be covered by the
York Gardens,
with the west covered in dense vegetation and the
east being very grassy containing ntohing else
1880
1910
30
years on from teh current map shows the new lace factory development surrounded by factory
wokrers recendecnes. the comparision from current day maps show minor changes from this current layout, with the roads/ railway/ canal and a few residential spaces staying the same,
1960
Coming
down to the last
55
years there are minor changes to the general layout of the side with
the expansion of the lace factory, the connections however did improve with the introduction of the
road over the canal in the
1980
1970s.
Roads/ Pedestrian
routes and
Access
Key
Main Road (original)
Low Density Roads (slightly pedestrainised)
Mostly Pedestrianised (few cars/ if any)
Purely Pedestrainised (no cars)
The
old site contains a central road which
loops around the main residential space and
the private park. this then leads off to other varies residential spaces.
On
the eastern
side of the site there are small densely packed
small roads in which do not directly link with
the other spaces and also the canal. these are
wasted as if they were connected better, there
would be a much safer and pleasenat place for
local residences to interact with.
The
new design layout of the site includes a
more complete distribution of roads and residential spaces. the site works on a
tiered sys-
tem, with the orginal high traffic roads on the
outside with the roads getting more pedestrianised closer to the canal.
This
whole layout
is to make the frontage of the canal, one of
which is highly desirable and so increasing the
active frontage along this sretch of the site
making it a much safer and pleasant place to
be.
The
green route shown on the map is along
accessable via pedestrians and services only.
Green Spaces / Vegetation / Water Placement
Tree
placements on the original site are concentrated within
the larger green spaces and are not utilized on residential
streets as a way to improve the amount of greenery down a
street.
The
largest amounts of trees are within the central
zone of the residential department which are wasted due to
their extreme unaccessability.
Within
the whole zone, the sizable green spaces are sparsley pop-
ulated and mainly unuseable to pedestrain making it a very un-
flexable and uninviting for passers by, for the old layout. the
main water zones are the marina and the canal, although there is
a section in the middle of the image it is not accessable for the
public as it is private.
In
the new development there are many more open spaces for users
to walk through and discover. open wide spaces allow the noticability of green spaces much more availiable to pedestrians and car
drivers.
Although
there is no new water features the access to
the canal is greatly increased
Topography
The
site finds itself in a very positive en-
vironment where it is on a very flat turrain.
however around
50
meters further north there
is a significant rise in the topography in the
land, which enables it to be easy to constructed on near the canal while getting good views
of landmarks and key spaces on the edges of the
hills.
The
site is obiously located by the ca-
nal which again does not have a large drop to
the waters edge, this gives the area an extreme
availiably for construction right by the waters
edge.
topographic-map.
(2014). Nottingham. Available: http://
en-gb.topographic-map.com/places/Nottingham-78816/. Last
accessed 25th Jan 2015.
Topography (Site Sections)
W
E
Shown
above is the north/ south section.
In
this diagram we can
see the amount of physical barriers in the way of the canal from
the main road, we can see that from the first row of houses it
South
cuts through the private pond space before reaching a double row
to
of houses.
Shown
North
Site S
ectio
above is the east/west section of the site, the sections
shows the heighst of each of the buildings and the distances be-
tween each one, from this we can see how linear the construction
of the houses is with no real active frontage towards the canal.
East
to
West
Site
Secti
on
