Out with the Old...

Confronted with the SSEF design competition, I initially did not know what I wanted to design. Participating in it previously did not seem to give any advantage other than the expectations of the quality of work that the jury looks for. The notion of 'recycling' steel and using biomimicry as a structural driver was a change to the design requirements, creating a structure first was important.

Some sort of shelter or emergency evacuation station was a consideration. The structure would be portable and collapsible for transportation and implementation to disaster sites or anywhere needed. If needed the structure could expand its footprint by linking multiple units together. An idea of mimicking spider legs to hold the structure up was the initial idea. However the program of a shelter is very minimal and mundane, and with no specific set site for the shelter it was lacking the architectural program needed; no Home depot sheds for SSEF. :/

While brainstorming more on biomimic methods with spider and ant legs, even bat wings and how they deploy I remembered a microscopic form I’ve used before for design inspiration: diatoms. These microscopic algae found in marine water have some very inspiring structure that could be applied architecturally and they come in various forms.

With that I set out to find something more of interest to me for a design motive. A site I pass almost daily by commute, one of the most scenic yet underutilized and aging (possibly outdated) places. It’s a station and it’s old by name:

Old Mill station: half underground, half above ground over a park right beside Humber River, it is a scenic experience passing through the station and an interesting site to share with the Old Mill hotel.

The structure I would be focusing on is the almost 45 year old station, the part that protrudes from the hill over the park. Right now it is a simple steel structural frame supported from the exterior steel framed walls spanning across the station platforms and tracks topped with steel corrugated roofing. The base of the station is of concrete construction similar to a typical highway overpass. The station platform is completely disconnected from the park and river with no direct access from the far East end of the station platform; a dead space.

I would propose a new replacement structure to the existing canopy with an updated steel structure using biomimicry, specifically a cross between diatoms formation and spider leg/ bat wing structure. The new structure would accommodate direct access to the park, retain the scenic views from the station platform as well have add dynamic component.

What that dynamic component would do is alleviate the amount of air pressure that occurs when trains enter and exit stations; a sort of air dampening system that would be a part of the structure where it would move and allow an opening for air to enter or escape. The forces acting would be a piston effect, and the idea is that when a train enters the station the force would hit the walls causing it to expand creating an opening to allow pressure to escape. It would create a ripple effect visible outside the station and on the platform.

The design is still early in its stages, member forms have not been fully figured out, but it would be a series of steel members emerging from the ground spanning up and across the platforms and tracks. Spaced between would be some form a material, solid or a fabric. The air escape opening might be in the middle of the roof or on the sides of the walls (some respiratory research might direct this).

Will be looking at the site today and tomorrow while looking further into the structural member formation and the actual air dampening system.