Not sure if this belongs here, in the Pre-Design or in the Hypothetical.

A non-profit organisation in Auckland runs a performing arts centre for children with disabilities and found it to be an amazing success. It gives children with disabilities the opportunity to participate in and release their creative 'spark'.

This is their web-page: http://www.starjam.org

They needed a concept design to include in their business plan and fund-raiser stuff...and came to us.

I used (at their request) the form of their star logo to determine the building form, and then went to town to try and make the building as vibrant and uplifting as possible - remembering that the building is ultimately for children, and the aim is to inspire and excite them.

Site: unknown, but in Auckland, New Zealand.
Cost: unknown
Program: To included a main auditorium (~1000 seats) with support spaces
Training rooms etc around a central hub for the betterment of the children
Include other 'modules' or 'pods' for further stages.

View 2 showing the basic layout of the complex. I made the surrounding context undulating to create a bit more interest - even though there is no site at the moment.

Closer view of the entry.

Met with the clients today and they absolutely loved it. Got them very excited indeed.

Time to date (incl. concept, modelling & photoshop) - 10.75 hours.

Not sure if this belongs here, in the Pre-Design or in the Hypothetical.
Thread moved. It is not hypothetical since you have real clients with budget.

Met with the clients today and they absolutely loved it. Got them very excited indeed.


My personal observations (fwiw) I can see the the concept & bold colours to be appealing but I wonder about the childrens' reaction (forget the adult client) .. my hesitation is over the leaning sloping walls & I wonder how children would respond to this in real life. ie whether they would be disturbed by its non conformity.
I think it very worthwhile if you do a walk around / walkthrough to gauge their response & reaction. If they accept this I think you are onto a winner. :clap: :clap:

Appreciate the comment. The clients are the people who founded and run the centre and have been for the last three years. They know the children quite well and indicated that they would like it.

But - they are not going to bypass the process of getting input from them...so we'll see how that turns out.

Bruce I appreciate your response to the children in your approach. I think the colors give it lots of life and it is a very "playful" form. I take it from your statements that they are just looking for some concepts for PR for the future to gain some excitement for raising money? Nothing too in-depth?

What I would maybe challenge you on is why so campy with the concept... yes I see the star and that resonates from there name and from images I saw on there webpage but I think you have taken an easy way out and given something that is way to simplified and not thought out... From an architectural view, not very sophisticated. I screams of Robert Venturi and designing gas stations as ducks. You know what I mean? Its too much...

I do understand it is for children but its too Disney land for my tastes, heck more Barny-ish... anyone else agree? or am off way off the boat on this one?

As an example of what I am getting at... Scogins Elam & Bray architects (bray not with them anymore) designed a daycare in Corning NY. They designed a building for kids and its treatments of scale - small doors for the scale of a small child to fit in, windows lower for kids to be able to see through and use, and other features designed around a childs size and scale make this building work. There is some sophistication to the forms and yet it is also very playful as well... here are two examples of the project...

I'm not very sure about this aproach. I checked the website and I saw that it's catered for pre adolescents who are into music and it speaks about "boyfriends and girlfriends" and rock festivals.
Maybe the building is has a very naïve look for them. Maybe something more like gehry's rock museum or something like that would be more appropiate

another example of a window accessible to the children to play and interact with... I know you are developing some sketchy ideas but this is just food for thought... of course I haven't heard anything from your client and don't know their intents so maybe my responce is way off... anyhow... good luck with it...

Have you seen Will Alsop's Childrens Centre in North West London. - Really interesting scheme down on a (relatively) small budget.

It was shortlisted for last years Stirling Prize. I think it's one of Alsop's best works to date.....and the kids love it.

http://www.channel4.com/4homes/microsites/S/stirling_prize/fawood_gallery.html

And a pic of the place at night....

Thanks all for your responses.

As the project is gratis at the moment and is just for their business plan / fundraising brochures I can't really spend too much time developing it. But I think you've got good points, and I'll definitely see if I can bring a bit more sophistication into the design when given the chance.

:clap: