Place of Connection

A music retreat and performance hall for ‘Sistema’ in Balloch, Scotland. A charity aiming to transform children’s lives through the means of music and playing an instrument in an orchestra.

The proposal builds a connection between Sistema and Balloch, drawing on the history of the place as a result of geography and how this relates to the present and future. Through these means, it aims to establish a link between the individual and the public. All to be experienced within the architecture through the articulation of music.
The qualities of spaces are defined by their function and Sistema’s ideas of belonging and faith. This is expressed by varying levels of timelessness and achieved through materiality, variations of durability, structure, flexibility and arrangement. The structure becomes one with the architecture, truly reflecting the program.

A music retreat and performance hall for ‘Sistema’ in Balloch, Scotland. A charity aiming to transform children’s lives through the means of music and playing an instrument in an orchestra.

The proposal builds a connection between Sistema and Balloch, drawing on the history of the place as a result of geography and how this relates to the present and future. Through these means, it aims to establish a link between the individual and the public. All to be experienced within the architecture through the articulation of music.
The qualities of spaces are defined by their function and Sistema’s ideas of belonging and faith. This is expressed by varying levels of timelessness and achieved through materiality, variations of durability, structure, flexibility and arrangement. The structure becomes one with the architecture, truly reflecting the program.

a place inbetween,
serving something bigger

Balloch marks the end of the boundary line between lowlands and highlands.
It’s culture has been defined by external forces due to its geographical location as an access point to the highlands, and it’s proximity to Glasgow. A place of transit in history as well as today, making Balloch part of a bigger cluster, a utility, serving something bigger.
Sistema introduces a wider range of interests in providing a service for society.

a place inbetween,
serving something bigger

Balloch marks the end of the boundary line between lowlands and highlands.
It’s culture has been defined by external forces due to its geographical location as an access point to the highlands, and it’s proximity to Glasgow. A place of transit in history as well as today, making Balloch part of a bigger cluster, a utility, serving something bigger.
Sistema introduces a wider range of interests in providing a service for society.

point of connection,
building up tension

The tension of this boundary peaks at the pier in Balloch, acting like a bridge between the low and highlands by connecting railways with steamboats.
The symbolic connection got lost by stripping back the rails, and breaking the directionality between low and highlands.

point of connection,
building up tension

The tension of this boundary peaks at the pier in Balloch, acting like a bridge between the low and highlands by connecting railways with steamboats.
The symbolic connection got lost by stripping back the rails, and breaking the directionality between low and highlands.

warm structural stone,
external timber frame

The quality of spaces are expressed through structural systems.
Warm, structural stone, has been used as an integral part of the more permanent spaces.
Less timeless spaces are being held up by an external timber frame, making the evolving rooms dependent on an additional independent component of the emerging space itself.

warm structural stone,
external timber frame

The quality of spaces are expressed through structural systems.
Warm, structural stone, has been used as an integral part of the more permanent spaces.
Less timeless spaces are being held up by an external timber frame, making the evolving rooms dependent on an additional independent component of the emerging space itself.

timelessness

Timelessness can on one hand be defined, when a thing becomes independent of contemporary customs and trends.

On the other hand, it can be manifested through materiality and structure, creating physical permanence.

timelessness

Timelessness can on one hand be defined, when a thing becomes independent of contemporary customs and trends.

On the other hand, it can be manifested through materiality and structure, creating physical permanence.

directional void

Highlighting the overarching significance of the site through voids.
This leaves the negative space of the former railway to contain the historical and geographical context of the site. Through the means of framing music, the path establishes a connection between history, present and future, Stistema with the village of Balloch as well as between the individual and the public.

directional void

Highlighting the overarching significance of the site through voids.
This leaves the negative space of the former railway to contain the historical and geographical context of the site. Through the means of framing music, the path establishes a connection between history, present and future, Stistema with the village of Balloch as well as between the individual and the public.

honesty

The goal is to incorporate the embodied energetic performance of the building fabric into the phenomenological experience of spaces.
This allows a throughout honest use of a building, eliminating purely aesthetic usages of materials and letting the building act as a teacher.

detail study

#01 Structural stone, Basalt rock, Dumbuckhill quarry (550mm) Geomaterials Reference K10854/1
#02 copper sheet cladding (5mm)
#03 Gutex Multitherm moisture resistant woodfibre insulation board (200mm)
#04 breather membrane
#05 ventilation gap (30mm)
#06 Rockwool Rockfloor insulation (100mm)
#07 separation layer (vapour control layer)
#08 steel reinforcement (raft foundation)
#09 DPM, damp proof membrane
#10 EPS thermal insulation (200mm)
#11 concrete, raft foundation (>250mm)
#12 bituminous sheeting
#13 Gutex Multitherm, tapered (>300mm)
#14 VCL, vapour control layer
#15 VELFAC 200 Energy, window
#16 timber floor, Scottish Larch (30mm)
#17 timber panel, Scottish Larch (30mm)
#18 timber battens (40x20mm)
#19 secondary timber beams (80x50mm)
#20 steel angle supporting structure, cladding
#21 copper flashing, drainage
#22 Glulam beam (225x100mm)
#22 Glulam beam (80x100mm)

honesty

The goal is to incorporate the embodied energetic performance of the building fabric into the phenomenological experience of spaces.
This allows a throughout honest use of a building, eliminating purely aesthetic usages of materials and letting the building act as a teacher.

#01 Structural stone, Basalt rock, Dumbuckhill quarry (550mm) Geomaterials Reference K10854/1
#02 copper sheet cladding (5mm)
#03 Gutex Multitherm moisture resistant woodfibre insulation board (200mm)
#04 breather membrane
#05 ventilation gap (30mm)
#06 Rockwool Rockfloor insulation (100mm)
#07 separation layer (vapour control layer)
#08 steel reinforcement (raft foundation)
#09 DPM, damp proof membrane
#10 EPS thermal insulation (200mm)
#11 concrete, raft foundation (>250mm)
#12 bituminous sheeting
#13 Gutex Multitherm, tapered (>300mm)
#14 VCL, vapour control layer
#15 VELFAC 200 Energy, window
#16 timber floor, Scottish Larch (30mm)
#17 timber panel, Scottish Larch (30mm)
#18 timber battens (40x20mm)
#19 secondary timber beams (80x50mm)
#20 steel angle supporting structure, cladding
#21 copper flashing, drainage
#22 Glulam beam (225x100mm)
#22 Glulam beam (80x100mm)

Basalt Rock

Reusable materials like Basalt Rock with similar bearing capacities to concrete from the nearest quarry in use, (Dumbuckhill quarry) let the building act as a material bank. (becoming an additional investment, next to location and type of building)

Basalt Rock

Reusable materials like Basalt Rock with similar bearing capacities to concrete from the nearest quarry in use, (Dumbuckhill quarry) let the building act as a material bank. (becoming an additional investment, next to location and type of building)

‘The presence of others who see what we see and hear what we hear assures us of the reality of the world and ourselves’
-Hannah Arendt

sensitive and expressive
qualities

The practice spaces communicate highly sensitive and expressive qualities of the practitioner through sound, a language to be understood by everyone.
They connect the individual with the immediate community and wider public by reflecting sound into the communal spaces of the retreat as well as onto the public path.

sensitive and expressive
qualities

The practice spaces communicate highly sensitive and expressive qualities of the practitioner through sound, a language to be understood by everyone.
They connect the individual with the immediate community and wider public by reflecting sound into the communal spaces of the retreat as well as onto the public path.

‘The presence of others who see what we see and hear what we hear assures us of the reality of the world and ourselves’ -Hannah Arendt

framing music within
communal spaces

Music as a tool to help children express themselves and in turn develop their identity. It is the entity bringing the community of Sistema together.

framing music within
communal spaces

Music as a tool to help children express themselves and in turn develop their identity. It is the entity bringing the community of Sistema together.

formal connection

The individual becomes part of something bigger, the orchestra. Through the means of music, the orchestra produces a common good and connects with the public. The performance hall provides a space for a formal connection between the public with children and the retreat next door.

formal connection

The individual becomes part of something bigger, the orchestra. Through the means of music, the orchestra produces a common good and connects with the public. The performance hall provides a space for a formal connection between the public with children and the retreat next door.

music, history
and the individual

The physical behaviour of soundwaves never changes and therefore makes music and the spaces related to it the most prominent constant throughout time within Sistema’s program. The historic context of the site becomes another permanent factor.

Contrarily, the accommodation is something purely based on the individual and therefore more open for adaptation to different people and ways of living over time.

music, history
and the individual

The physical behaviour of soundwaves never changes and therefore makes music and the spaces related to it the most prominent constant throughout time within Sistema’s program. The historic context of the site becomes another permanent factor.

Contrarily, the accommodation is something purely based on the individual and therefore more open for adaptation to different people and ways of living over time.