This method of design development sur- prised the students. Studio projects had not prepared them to elaborate options for the client nor to develop a number of design strategies in parallel. By day five, the students no longer suspected that there was a secret design prepared in advance by the instruc- tors, and more importantly, they realized that the developing designs would be considered in terms of building performance evaluated by experiment and experience. From that point forward, the students became designer- builders sorting out details and working on sub-projects nested within the developing design framework. This framework evolved based on a set of pragmatic and aesthetic considerations. For example, it was important to ballast the struc- ture; so mass was added low, suspended from the structure but not touching the ground. In another example, the siting of the theatre was a subject of some debate. Explorations of the slide revealed a huge concrete foundation — plans to bring the slide to the theatre were discarded in favour of keeping the slide where it was and the theatre was located around it. The rain that filled the excavation became a way of levelling it. The crib work became its own scaffolding. The curvature in plan was based on the maximum the 1 x 3s would toler- ate — luckily they were still fairly green. The amazingly short ten-day building period generated real excitement in the community and strength of purpose in the architect/ builders. There is a sense of ownership by all. These indications of its success are based in the architecture, but also based in the fact that it’s a children’s theatre, located in a unique French-speaking town and part of a very significant festival. The theatre people are impressed by the acoustics and the way the building tempers the climate. They already planning night time musical shows and imagining various lighting effects. Many qualities of the theatre resulted from design decisions that synchronized the immediacy of construction, the mediation of climate and the reflection of local culture. The theatre awaits its first full-blown Suette, constantly heading to the northeast, travel- ing towards its second summer season. We will be up in Cheticamp next spring to repair the leaks and make it shipshape for the next theatre crew.
on |site 12
local architecture | in a global world
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