This brief investigated the design of an earthquake museum on the Wellington waterfront. A major requirement of the brief was to create a some form of a journey that occurred throughout the museum that was informed by the architecture.
A requirement of the brief was that the structural elements of the architecture be realistic. Therefore the basic form of the building had to be run through a structural program RESIST to size all members and ensure the building had sufficient torsion resistance in an earthquake.
The structure and specifically the structural change within this museum is the main concept for the design. The compressive structural side utilises large steel moment frames that gradually change from a slightly arched form to a typical post and beam system. The centre of the building and entry space uses a combination of tension and compression structural members to support the roof and floor systems. Finally the tensile structure side uses cantilevered columns with tensile cables to support the roof and floor systems.
The narrative of the museum is this journey from one stuctural system to the other, showcasing the different ways that a built form can resist forces that occur in both lateral and gravity directions. Bracing systems are used in the structure to provide resistance for lateral loads from earthquakes and wind forces.
As the inhabitants move through the tension side of the structure the floor gradually raises and the cantilevered columns are tilted on more of an angle. This is to give the inhabitants a sense that they are being elevated by this tensile structure as they move through and adds a dynamic element to the architecture.
This uppermost tension suspended floor is the memorial space in the design looking back towards wellington city and the waterfront in the southern direction and looking back through the core of the built form in the northern direction so visitors can look back at the structural systems they passed on their journey through the museum space.
Interior view at memorial space, looking back down through the museum all the way to the architectural compression side.
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