Fountains Abbey Visitor Centre
STAGE 1
Fountains Abbey Visitor Centre was drawn by Edward Cullinan Architects in 1987 after desire from the National Trust which is responsible for the Fountains Abbey estates, the building was opened in 1992.
The Fountains Abbey Visitor Centre is located in the northern part of U.K, in a town called Yorkshire. It serves as a centre for people visiting the world heritage Fountains Abbey and households a restaurant.
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The location of the building.
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The building consists of four lengths, making a natural courtyard accessed from on of the corners (as you can see in the overview photo). The materials used is mainly wood, glass, steel and stone. Whilst drawing the building the architects had to think very carefully of the surroundings. Because of the heritage the building had to adjust to the surroundings, the Fountains Abbey monastery is all built in stone and therefore the visit centre has been influenced by this by making a stone wall around the building. Even though the architect had to pay close attention to the surroundings he wanted to make a statement. This you can clearly see in the roof construction. By tilting the roof on one side, in a steep slope, and construction the roof in a "wave-like" manner on the other side the building comes to life and becomes interesting.
From inside the building, you as a visitor have a view over the heritage with focus on the Abbey tower.
It is hard to put this building in one typical architectural style due to its variety, it all depends on how you look at it. In one perspective the building is very strict with its hard shaped sloped roof and the stonewall as a foundation. In another perspective the roof construction is really organic and flowing. From the outside the building appears to be very strict and clean, but when you enter the courtyard you find out that the motion of the roof is flowing towards the courtyard. Almost like you try hard to get over the sloped roof and then receives an award in the form of the wave shaped roof, leading you into the courtyard.
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The four lengths making the courtyard, entrance to the right.
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Part of the stone wall covering the building and also the sloped roof.
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The different shapes of the building combined as one unit
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The restaurant inside the building.
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The connection between the different roof shapes
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During the years, the building has received different awards;
- Europa Nostra Medal of Honour [1992]
- BCI Awards Special Commendation [1993]
- RIBA Award [1993]
- Civic Trust Award [1996]
These awards are a proof of the success Edwards Cullinan Arcitechts achieved by blending the new building with the already existing 11th century surroundings.
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The Fountains Abbey Monasteries in comparison to the Visitor Centre.
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References:
- http://www.edwardcullinanarchitects.com/projects/fab.html - (2013-01-23)
- https://maps.google.se/ - (2013-01-23)
- http://www.redbubble.com/people/lanas/works/6789883-fountains-abbey-i - (2013-01-23)
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/marksunderland/4037005948/ - (2013-01-23)
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/marksunderland/4036255019/ - (2013-01-23)
- http://www.jamdavbell.co.uk/jampel_fountains.html - (2013-01-23)
Model of the building
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| Made by Viktor Holgerson |
Sketch of the building
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| Made by Viktor Holgerson |
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| Original picture |
STAGE 2 (Computer-aided Drawing)
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The terrain of the surroundings
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Site plan
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STAGE 2 (Digital Visualization)
For the second stage in the project I started making a conceptual model of the building. The first step in making this model was to make the curve shaped roof which you can se on the picture above. I made this shape as an conceptual mass and loaded it into the the project. I created a roof from the conceptual form and then attached the building's surrounding walls to the roof to get the main shape of the building. After that I started making the four "external" buildings that has the sloped roof and attached them to each side of the building.
When the shape of the building was finished I rendered three different images showing the perspective and angles of the building;
After the shape of the building was finished I started modeling the 3D terrain of the surroundings. To understand the context of the building I then loaded in the 3D terrain inside the project to put the building in its urban context.
STAGE 3 (Computer-aided Drawing)
STAGE 3 (Digital Visualization)
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