Monday, September 22, 2014

Constellations Bar - Whitney Robinson

 
This courtyard bar in Liverpool, England, is an outdoor venue designed collaboratively by two brothers, British furniture designer Hugh Miller and architect Howard Miller. The space takes inspiration from the Victorian warehouses surrounding its location in the former industrial area, the Baltic Triangle, residing now as an arts district. The zigzagging profile mimics the gabled rooflines of the warehouses.

This space was designed and built in under three months as a pop up summer events venue for this past summer in Liverpool. The name of the site and the existing forms surrounding formed the triangle motif which became the basis of the structure and its components. Standard construction timbers were used to create a waffle like canopy to accommodate a bar and a DJ booth.
 
The space is unified with the repetition of the triangle form. Not only used as the main profile, but the construction method and even in the furniture. Consisting of multiple seating areas which are flexible and easily reconfigurable.
The canopy is held by ten A-frame supports which double as benches or tables. The supports and as well as the furniture is made from green oak, an unseasoned timber. Glue-laminated timber beams carry the support load and by being angled outwards allows simple rainwater drainage. All the components were prefabricated by the designers in their workshop and then put together on site in three days.
 
I found this project interesting because of the strength in form. Taking inspiration from a contextual form and letting it become not just a means of aesthetic but also the construction method combined with simplicity of materials. 

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