In Between Spaces

A single building can satisfy the activities specifically prescribed in the brief in terms of programme and use, but not those incidental to it that are in our opinion at least as important to the ultimate success of the scheme. A single building can be confrontational. There is an inside and an outside. Boundaries are created.

The fascination one experiences in a city comes as much from the spaces between the buildings as from the buildings themselves. It is the 'in-between spaces' where the expanded possibilities of interaction and experience are made manifest. The ‘in-between’ spaces create connections. These connections frame activity. The ‘in-between’ spaces are less fixed in their function so they are adaptable, approachable, and open to interpretation. The 'in-between’ spaces are democratic and welcoming to all, they do not judge.

The complex requirements arising from diverse issues of programme, community life, cultural considerations, and human interaction are addressed in our proposals in a composition of simple individual elements that so combined create the template for a multi-layered and rich range of potential experiences. The building elements created are intended to facilitate rather than prescribe, they promote the possible rather than define the specific.

The fabric of the scheme grows out of the ground in a series of parallel walls, each made from the same earth they are from. The walls create and define spaces, enclosures, shade, views, privacy and openness. The programme of the brief exists between the walls where roofs span across. Courtyards, paths and ramps link these spaces together through a series of informal routes. The user will experience visiting the building as a varied journey which will change from moment to moment in the relationship between inside and outside, the scale of the spaces, the degree of enclosure, and the relationship to the countryside around.

The design is not prescriptive in the organisation of the spaces but facilitates a whole series of possibilities of use and therefore interaction. We hope that the visitor will come to the building for a variety of different purposes which may involve using the building itself, but not necessarily.

With the majority of the building comprising outdoor space the scheme spreads over a large part of the site. In the upper part it is buried and the walls then appear from the ground and extend into the lower part of the site where they begin to fracture and create the ‘in-between’ courtyard spaces and openings facing the cliffs opposite. When viewed from a distance the form of the series of overlapping walls will cause it to blend harmoniously into the landscape. In our opinion the surrounding scenery is so unusually beautiful and has so much meaning that the building itself should not try to compete.

The design is deferential to the wider context and community. It is without ego, but is nevertheless has character due to the purity of the individual elements. It creates a backdrop for the users to inhabit and shape as they will.

The limits are lost.