Structural Designer
Price & Myers
Client Name
Urban Splash
Location
Bradford, UK
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
A unique 100m long line of two-storey penthouse on the top of an 1873 former fabric mill. The curved and looping form of the pods evokes the yarns once woven in the mill and were digitally fabricated in plywood and steel.
Judge's comment: The Velvet Mill extension project is an exemplary combination of timber, efficient structural typology and building re-use. The project demonstrates a strong collaboration between different structural engineering firms in order to fully understand the existing building’s capacity from the ground up. The successful adaptation of the building to incorporate new lightweight rooftop residential ‘pods’ on financial constraints, was only possible thanks to a proactive structural engineering approach. In addition, the structural engineers’ design decision to incorporate primary and façade structures into one system minimised material usage, through the digital generation of pre-fabrication cassettes and modular construction techniques. The timber shell-like housing units portray an efficient use of material and structural typology fit for purpose. The reuse of the existing structures for new purposes in this project demonstrates the suitability of sustainable approaches to ‘upcycle’ existing stocks of buildings.
Judge's comment:
The Velvet Mill extension project is an exemplary combination of timber, efficient structural typology and building re-use. The project demonstrates a strong collaboration between different structural engineering firms in order to fully understand the existing building’s capacity from the ground up. The successful adaptation of the building to incorporate new lightweight rooftop residential ‘pods’ on financial constraints, was only possible thanks to a proactive structural engineering approach.
In addition, the structural engineers’ design decision to incorporate primary and façade structures into one system minimised material usage, through the digital generation of pre-fabrication cassettes and modular construction techniques. The timber shell-like housing units portray an efficient use of material and structural typology fit for purpose. The reuse of the existing structures for new purposes in this project demonstrates the suitability of sustainable approaches to ‘upcycle’ existing stocks of buildings.