A critical explanation of the design development and final design proposal.
Hi
Let me start off by introducing myself. My name is Philip and I’m a 27-year old Norwegian architect student, doing my second year at The University of Huddersfield. This year I will use this platform to record, organize and share my ideas as a new tool in digital communication. This is my first post on this platform, and with this post I will try to give an explanation to my design development for my very first major architect project.
The Video Games Art Museum Project
The major project we as first year students got in the second term was to design a Video Games Art Museum. The design process in my experience went through many stages. I started with some first initial ideas and sources of inspiration, I then moved over to the study of the site and area around, looking into what Huddersfield future blueprint wanted the area to transform into (a culture hub). Over time by looking into more specific precedents, material use and gallery exhibition spaces, I formed what I believe to be an interesting, well functioning and modern museum building that would benefit this area in Huddersfield.
From the assignment my class got, I understood that the placement of a Video Games Art Museum in the heart of Huddersfield could trigger a cultural and economic growth to the town. The museum building would be a place to exhibit the process of making video games, hence have exhibition spaces that would be able to showcase a wide range of works and materials both physical and digital.
The design development for the museum meant taking into account future vision, building criteria and functionality. I have listed the building criteria below, to better understand what we as students had to have in the back of our minds from the beginning of the design development.
List of criteria:
- An information/reception point
- A cloakroom
- A central void/atrium
- A flexible space that can be used for small presentations (maximum 48 people)
- Exhibition spaces/rooms which can also host small interactive installations
- A small shop
- Lavatories for all sexes and for those with ambulant disabilities
- A facility for baby changing
- A small cafeteria with panoramic views
- A roof garden
- A small office for 2/3 people (for administration)
- A lift and stairs/ramps (including fire escape).
The Design Development
Exterior Material
Early on I got inspired to use the corten steel/weathering steel material for the outer cladding of the building. The inspiration came from looking at materials and buildings around the site, where I noticed a lot of rusted steel elements. The research I did on exterior materials in the April/May led me to believe that the corten steel could be a good choice for the building. Because the weather and common rain in Huddersfield would have a benefitting effect on the material, where the corten steel would start to rust and make a thicker outer layer, which would make the material stronger, and in the long run leave you with a facade that wouldn’t need a lot of maintenance.
The use of this material on the exterior would also give the building a significant character that would make the museum stand as a landmark in town (I hope). Over time the colour of this material will change and go from a warm yellow/orange hue, to a more dark brown. I believe this choice of material will make the building stand out, without being in to large of a contrast to the surrounding building mass.
Green Wall
In the beginning I also had an idea of incorporating a green wall to the building. The vertical green wall covered with vegetation was an idea to help suck up some of the air pollution from the ring road near by, and as well work as a sound-absorbing wall.
Shape of the building
In the beginning of the project I got inspired to play with curved and/or round windows for the museum. This was combined with the idea to make the building more “organic”, by this I mean that I wanted the building to have curves/waves or seem to “move”. Over time I left this curved vision behind and ended up choosing rectangle and square windows, and a very static shape overall.
The process of designing a shape for the building took some time; I was inspired by the Bacconi University building in Milan, where they have large windows at ground level, from the outside looking in, you see the ceiling tilting, leading you to the floor below. Another large inspiration source was the Groningen building in Netherland. This building has tilted exterior walls that make the building look like it’s twisting. From studying this building I learned how to taper and slice pieces of ordinary geometric shapes to create new design opportunities.
The shape of the building is a result of wanting to incorporate large sloped walls, having in mind the weather and climate conditions, I did not want to cover the entire site areal with a flat roof, but instead lead the rainwater of the building on large sloped walls of glass. By tilting the walls on the east and south side of the building I also gain a lot of daylight streaming into the different museums floors.
Interior Space
For the interior space I was fixed on the idea of having large open floors hanging on top of each other giving you the chance to look into the floors below. The reason for having open floor plans is to give the museum and the curators who put up exhibitions to have the ability to put up walls and create spaces, as they want. By doing this I don’t force a set standard gallery space upon the museum, where there is no room for change later on. This was seen done in practice at the MoMA in New York, by watching their YouTube series “At the museum” (Recommend searching for this series if you are interested in museum and gallery interior spacing).
Planning of gallery space. 
The interior space is intended to feel exiting and interesting, a space you want to explore. From the “shielded” entrance you are lead into a large atrium where the info desk, the lockers, the toilets and elevators are located. There is an underground level split into two parts, one for the museum visitors where the museum shop and game arcade is located, and one where the museum archive and storage space is located. When entering the building you can glance down to the museum shop. In the middle of the building you can take the elevator or the stairs up to the floors above.
The first and second floor has large open gallery spaces, where as the third and forth floor has smaller gallery spaces to make room for the flexible room, the office and a room where you can show videos. The fifth and final floor contains the café and outdoor herb garden with views to the east, south and west.
Final Design Proposal
My final design proposal is a building that tries to evoke inspiration and excitement in exploring interior spaces. In my design I try to lead the visitor through the building in a spiral, in the way the staircases lead you through the floors and gallery spaces. The interior space is designed so that visitors can access the roof garden without buying a ticket to see the exhibition. This is done by having ticket scanners at each floor to separate exhibition space and walking passages. My design gives the museum the opportunity to create custom spaces for different exhibitions. Hopefully my design could give Huddersfield a new cultural hangout place, where local people and people from around the world would come to visit.
Bentzen Architecture Studio 
