Urban Regeneration: Middlehaven 4.0

Newcastle University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle upon Tyne

Project idea

A district in Middlesbrough, UK called Middlehaven, that was a centre of the steel industry in the 19th century. Recently, this district is an abandoned area which has potentials to be developed as a district that could be generating economy, particularly in Middlesbrough. In the last decade, this area was planned as new a district that addressed into "urban regeneration". This new masterplan study project is presenting a new paradigm of "industrial 4.0", taking part in future of industrial from the past as a green factory.

Project description

This urban regeneration is part of urban conservation, that is to preserve historical tangible and intangible artefacts from the industrial era in Middlehaven in the past. The green factory that mentioned above is providing job opportunities for millennials generation, particularly in digital and economy creative industry. Those industries will not produce carbon dioxide. Moreover, there is an opportunity to create green electrical energy that comes from a thousand solar panels which are installed above buildings. This masterplan also projected as an urban festival venue, that aimed to publish the creative products thru exhibition. It is also to support startup companies to get the first important positioning in customers by introducing their products invention. However, setting up of new buildings functions concept is totally contrasting indeed. Furthermore, it still encourages the existing artefacts (Vulcan Walls and Transporter bridge) as part of attractions in this urban regeneration concept. The museum was plotted in the masterplan aimed to represent the past period stories to connect the present idea and hope in the future.

Technical information

According to "green creative factory", the highlight feature is addressed to thousand solar panels. This feature to make sure that all the energy is sustainable and renewable, also all buildings are should to be activated in independently. To develop this masterplan, the team had been done a ground check survey. All existing data had been collect such as historical landmarks (story and photograph), building-landscape materials type (photo), street networking (typical and size of streets), topography (interval height), climate, ecology (vegetation and animal type) and also socio-economic fact (done by correspondent with local and online research). The result of the survey analysis was focused on urban timeline development. At this point, our Team target is to create an initial projection concept for the future, according to what will be needed and deserve to be provided at this area. In the designing process, the team were attaching the precedent approaching method to get relevant example and ideas. All evidence, especially photograph and size measurement, were analyzed carefully into diagrams and simulation scheme. After that, scale drawing using CAD software was made to guide team made initial vision. Also, the 3d drawing vision was created to describe the concept more clearly using SketchUp software, after visions manual sketch was granted by tutors and team. Furthermore, the team had been simulated the initial masterplan into the 3D physical model scale in 1:1000. Finally, there were three transformation designs and were improved many times, the final design was completed.

Co-authors

According to the course module, this project was done by two collaborative courses, there are an urban design student and two masters of architecture students.