Galleface Pier

Liverpool John Moores University, Faculty of Media, Arts and Social Science Liverpool

Project idea

This thesis design project is derived from an urban design proposal implemented on slave island, Colombo, Sri Lanka. The submission demonstrates the research, origination, and resolution of the end part of this proposal in a gradual manner which manifests the development of a 400m long seaside pier running towards the western horizon of Colombo.

Project description

The embarkment point of the pier is the Galle face green area which is a current open recreational realm in a hectic city. The report explores and questions the architecture of piers through research and precedence while imagining new design possibilities. Colombo as a city is going through many urban issues. The disturbing gentrification projects established as High rise buildings are major ones to be considered. The dominating effect of these projects on city life is quite critical. A major Lack of response to an overall urban master plan is evident when investigating the allocation of these projects. For the past ten years, local urban dwellers are often threatened by these projects which forces them to move from their native context to another as commercial development is the only goal behind it. Many people half refuse it by leaving first and return with unauthorized and unorganized settlements in every corner of the city they may find as long as it is close to their area. In this scenario, the cultural and historical heritage of people and the existing buildings are often neglected and as a result, we see a chaotic and unpleasant urban fabric formed as the city of Colombo. Colombo does not need more of this vertical architecture rather it is craving for horizontal recreational spaces and platforms which would create meaningful connections between the places throughout the city. The city should be more permeable to the public and less hectic, chaotic, and insecure which are caused by the increased fragility of the urban fabric. This thesis project is a part of such a proposal which is planned to uplift the cultural and historical values of the city while providing a meaningful route that would start from the lotus tower premises and end at the west seaside of Colombo. The route indicated three main zones which provide peculiar solutions for urban issues in each passing sector. The wetland and the urban village in the Beira lake, the incremental housing in the slave island area were the first two and an enhanced recreational realm in Galle face green area that brought the seaside pier would be the third and the final part which is the beautiful west climax of the journey. With the introduction of this seaside pier, the urban necklace was completed providing a great extent of permeability and a meaningful journey to the urban dweller while catering to the well-identified urban issues.

Technical information

The environmental aspects of this thesis project are investigating the seaside pier as a whole and the selected main building on the pier which is the seafood restaurant. Primarily it was imperative to fully identify and understand the context of Colombo, Sri Lanka where the design is established.

The geographical location of Sri Lanka is just a few latitude degrees north of the equator. The sun movements are within close proximity to the zenith at noon causing high ambient temperatures throughout the year. In this case, avoiding direct sun and its effects should be a primary objective of an environmentally- sensitive design in the Sri Lankan context. Apart from this, the urban heat in a city like Colombo is also strongly evident due to the unorganized and compact building development. Nonetheless, excessive heat gain is not the only climatic overabundance confronting a city like Colombo. The monsoonal location and island status, and year-round high humidity are equally problematic. The only low-energy option to eliminate the heat plus excessive humidity is to ventilate the residence which is strongly used in the restaurant in the form of cross ventilation. It should be handled with care to ensure the ventilation comes from cooler and cleaner outdoor where in this case the context is in a coastal area where we get a good amount of sea breeze to fairly ventilate a building.

Furthermore, a certain degree of isolation between the hot and humid outside and a comfortable inside is also needed in the tropical context. In this scenario, the decisions made when choosing the building envelope specifically walls, floor, and roof are the keys. A permeable yet insulated building envelope helps to maintain a sufficient level of separation between indoors and outdoor. Even with all of the above-mentioned aspects, some level of energy expenditure for the need for thermal comfort indoors is unavoidable in a context like Colombo. An easy and direct option is to actively air condition the dwelling yet it cannot be considered a good option, both from an economic and a sustainable point of view.

The structural and constructional aspects of this thesis project are investigating the seaside pier as a whole and the selected main building on the pier which is the seafood restaurant and also an overview of the wedding hall. The pier is the base structure consisting of reinforced concrete ‘V’ Columns followed by reinforced concrete beams. The ‘V’ columns are stabilized on the concrete piles which is the ultimate foundation type for the pier. The restaurant was formed with the concrete ‘V’ columns jutting out through the slab level of the pier and gradually turning into a wooden column on the way to the tropical timber roof structure. The idea was to make the restaurant seem like a sole part of the pier rather than a mere object on it.