Ferne McGregor Architecture

Following a series of short research projects, Design Methods culminated in a paired design project based around a civic building designed for a speculative government agency. For my partner and I, the building provided a series of spaces for use by the “Ministry of Global Forced Labour Injustice” – an organisation which works to tackle issues of forced labour across the country, partnering with global organisations to address worldwide issues as well. Through research into the topic, we constructed a mission statement for the organisation, outlining their purpose, vision and mission – for example, some key aims were to research and document global cases of forced labour, support victims of forced labour, and improve the working conditions and quality of life of victims. From here, we began quickly sketching and modelling different ideas based on key words related to the organisation, such as “support” or “free”, and combined our ideas to create an initial design concept which embodied the idea of supporting and uplifting victims of forced labour. The site for our design was a long, narrow, sloping site along Suffolk Street Queensway in Birmingham, and our analysis of the site included climate data, topography, green space and parking availability, building heights, materials, functions, and shadow mapping analysis. These were used to determine our addressal of the site, for example by placing the building on the west side of the site which is least affected by shadows throughout the year.

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Through further research into precedent studies, we began to refine our design concept to address the structural and technical issues prevalent in our initial design concept, particularly regarding the connection of the dome shape to the rest of the structure. The concept of a broken chain was integrated into the design of the exterior pavilion-like plaza space, inspired by research into Pezo von Ellrichshausen’s Vara Pavilion, which featured a series of similarly overlapping circular structures. The original dome shifted to the roof of the building to act as a protective shelter to the rest of the building, and through a series of design decisions the elevation of the building came to represent an inverted anchor shape, a common symbol of hope and stability that aligned with the purpose of our government agency. Larger internal spaces were lined with large timber columns, creating a series of fan vaults across the ceiling, inspired by precedents such as the Nine Bridges Country Club by KACI International + Shigeru Ban Architects. These columns, alongside the circulation core, comprised the building’s main structural system, allowing for more freedom in the design of the building’s façade, and the use of large expanses of glass, linking to our concepts of honesty and freedom, which would have been much harder to achieve otherwise.

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For a collaborative project, I would consider our teamwork relatively successful as my partner and I took equal amounts of responsibility for various parts of the project – for example, my partner oversaw the collation of the portfolio and drew up the final floor plans, sections, and elevations, whilst I took responsibility for the main models, created the base site drawings, and led the technical investigation of our design. The concept for the project was based on plenty of research into the topic, allowing us to create a clear, strong mission for our agency of choice that spearheaded the project until the very end. Despite the challenges faced due to the pandemic and the resulting limited face-to-face time, we maintained contact throughout the project and were able to produce a series of outputs which I believe efficiently communicated our design ideas. My partner and I were able to combine our ideas into a final design which embraced both of our ideas, with no one designer overshadowing the other. In hindsight, there are certainly areas that could be improved were the project to be revisited in the future. The outdoor pavilion had a solid concept, however was not investigated in as much detail as it could have been, and may have been interesting to explore through more detailed plans and visuals. The final visuals were slightly lacking in detail or context, and could be refined further with more time. The technical aspects, such as structural axonometric and circulation diagrams, could be completed to a higher quality as I have since gained more understanding in these areas.