Development model

Daniel Norman

comment 0
Structural Design
Supervisors
Alastair McDonald, Howard Clarke, Professor David Richards

Canute’s Palace Restaurant
Canute’s Palace, Porters Lane, Southampton

A steel framed and timber clad building designed to partially sit within the footprint of Canute’s Palace.

The proposed structural design results from the consideration of the structure’s context (scale, proportion and massing), programmatic requirements, site characteristics, structural and material performance, and the construction process.

An evaluation of the site suggested that building solely within the footprint of the existing building would not support an economically sustainable restaurant and it was not possible to extend using the existing site levels. The floor level of the proposed building is raised (to retain public access to the archaeological remains) and ramped access utilises the existing masonry shell as the main entrance and to locate the kitchens and associated services. The dining area sits adjacent to the northern elevation of the existing structure and faces Town Quay Park. This arrangement results in the north wall of Canute’s Palace being encompassed within the proposed building, acting as a visual break between the front and back-of-house and emphasising the relationship between new and old.

The proposed building extends east towards High Street to achieve a street frontage, maximise park views towards the north, and form a visual boundary along the southern park boundary. A braced steel frame supports this long, relatively narrow form, a column grid and its cross bracing is left visible and proportioned to realise an efficient structure, span underground archaeology and coordinate with functional requirements. The structure is portilised below its ground floor to avoid visually detracting from the view of the enclosed historic wall. Removable screw pile foundations transmit the load to more competent strata and avoids placing load upon archaeological features.

This project has been developed and communicated using a range of design methods; sketching, technical drawing (Autodesk AutoCad), three dimensional computer modelling (Autodesk Revit), physical model making, hand calculation and computational analysis (LUSAS) to provide a fully resolved structural solution.

Leave a Reply