The Canal Front Housing

Project idea

In addition to all the environmental concerned issues of housing in England, the availability, and affordability of modern housing especially for young adults is not a latter-day problem. The considered main occupants are this young group of people and citizens who are facing
issues due to unemployment and low income. The integrated philosophy behind this design is to uplift the quality of life of these occupants, through a timely and contextually appealing dense architecture. The scheme represents only single-story units planned for families and individual dwellers. As this caters to affordability, the aim was to create dense housing at the same time being compatible with the urban flow of the context.

The housing will provide 133 units each attach with semi-Indoor
spaces and most of them directly responding to the canal environment with roof gardens. Even though the outcome is to create urban housing in a tangible aspect, the concern to create livable places for the occupants gives life and spirit to the place. The spatial relationship is not only within the areas of the unit but also between the units, as well as the different blocks and which develops as one community.

This aspect of creating a sense of place through the spatial relationship was taken into account when planning the layout. The integrated circulation from different zones in the urban context, public to semi-public, and semi-public to private has been well considered and securely delivered through the design in order to give the sense of secureness and privacy to the occupants while creating a bond of harmony in the housing.

Project description

This project is to design spatially and contextually responsive large scale housing Since most of the English cities exhibit the difficulty in succeeding the dense urban housing. The objective is to design a livable, simple quality environment throughout the architectural design of this proposed urban housing. As dense urban housings construct and represent a significant amount of our built environment, it is mandatory to create an architectural landmark that has a positive impact on the overall image of the city as well as the community.

The Site is located on the east of the Leeds-Liverpool canal in the UK with an astonishing view towards the canal next to the Eldonian Way. The immediate context of the site consists of a considerable number of residential neighborhoods. The site has been already recognized
as a potential housing site by Liverpool City Council. Furthermore, the site shows its potential not only due to its own topographical qualities but also it is surrounded by continuous, widely spread, and easily accessible roadways. In the design, the natural 2-meter slop was
used to elevate the whole housing in order to get the maximum views towards the canal even from the ground floor without any obstructions.
In order to create a neighborhood that is well bonded with nature, the site act as a supportive element due to its topography which is sloping towards the canal giving the opportunity to recreate leisure spaces not only for the occupants but also for the locals in close-by neighborhoods. As it has mainly a residential neighborhood the context can cater to residents without any newfangled circumstances.

Technical information

key plans -

Master plan
Ground floor plan
First-floor plan
Third-floor plan
Unit plans
(All are labeled in the submission documents)

key sections -
section through the site
a perspective section in Block A (North block)
(All are labeled in the submission documents)

Detailed explanations -

Environmental study
Interior and light study
Structural and facade study

Visualizations -
(All are labeled in the submission documents)

Design Journal - Evidence of the design progression

Documentation

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