Friday, 7 September 2012

Honours project - more ideas

I want the Water Tower to be something different, something that people will travel to to visit. A place to meet friends or family or somewhere you would visit often.
To do this it needs to be something that Ormskirk doesn't already have, something a bit different. It must be designed in a way that makes it a pleasant and comfortable place to visit, making you want to come again. The activities put on, or whatever i plan to use the site as, must be enjoyable and affordable to make people want to use it more often.

So, the building has five floors, with the top one being the tank. I plan to have the staircase on the outside of the building creating more room inside. Some ideas are;
  • Floor five- (the tank) CINEMA ROOM/CAMERA OBSCURA. This room is completely dark and so would make a great cinema room. It would only house between 15 and 20 chairs so would only be very small. The screen would be on one of the shorter walls. This would be suitable for school visits; they could either use the screen to watch films, plays or educational videos. Otherwise it could be used for the children to come and learn about the tower, its history and the area.                        
          Alternatively, The tank could house a camera obscura. There is one of these in Edinburgh.   You can see live moving images of Edinburgh projected onto a viewing table through a giant periscope. The images are fantastic and you can see for miles. This would also be another way for people ( visitors and school pupils) to learn about the area and also have an unforgettable unique experience! It would also be a good way of bringing larger groups to the tower.

The view on the dish at camera obscura Edinburgh.

  • Floor Four- a 'classroom' or room to benefit the room above. I think if the camera obscura was to be used for educational student visits it would benefit from an additional room below with tables and chairs for example, more info on  the area, maybe like a mini exhibition as the camera obscura room would only be used in pitch black so couldnt house information in there.
  • Floor three- 'CLASSES' ROOM. Ormskirk has several gyms which hold a number of classes each week but there are some classes that are less common, these could be held here. This would be a great way of gaining regular visitors and and also giving jobs to people who want to hold classes. Some ideas for classes are;
  1. Baby music classes. These classes are loved by babies and toddlers. They get to play with other children and join in with percussion instruments. It also gives parents a chance to meet on another.
  2. Art and craft classes. Possibly a new project each week, this would allow art lovers to meet up and share their hobby.
  3. Language classes. Quite self explanatory really! Once or twice weekly courses in certain languages.
  4. cookery classes. Get professional tutorials in one off recipes to recreate a special dining in experience. The only problem is this would require a kitchen. An alternative would be cake decorating.
  5. Music lessons.
  6. New and/or unique fitness classes for men and women. The likes of zumba, aerial yoga, kickboxing, spinning or mixed martial arts.


baby music classes

Aerial Yoga
    Aerial yoga
  • Floor two.....ideas to come! still none...
  • Floor one- SHOP. This will be a shop selling local produce only. Locally grown or made food. Works of local artists or things made in classes...
  • Ground floor- possibly a CAFE. As i mentioned in a previous blog post there is space for a glass extension outside. This would provide the cafe with a larger seating area and would bring the outside surroundings in. Depending on available space, there could be a small gardening area. Locals or school children could help out with the maintenance of the garden and plants could be planted in memory of others, which might be nice with it being close to the hospital. Going back to the water theme, another idea is to have toys or activities outside that when played with, produced a water flow over the glass extension. It is just a small reminder of the building's history.
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perhaps something like this which is wound up to produce the flow of water
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Or something more fun like this!
More to follow!...

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