After thinking about the diurnal programme of the building and the key connections between the spaces, I started thinking about how exactly the spaces would be used. Just having a room labelled 'creche' doesn't necessarily make it suitable to be one. The same was for the 'event space'. By breaking by building into zones - Cafe, Crèche and Community - I was able to think in more detail of each space.
I though about what kind of spaces would make up a creche; what do small children need. I was reminded of the nursery at my old primary school and how there were spaces to paint and other spaces to play in the sandpit and another again to play with toys or read. In the same way a building has different rooms for different purposes, a creche should have different spaces for different activities. By breaking up this part of my building, it becomes more than just a large room.
I did a similar exercise with the community space. Rather than having one large space, having a large space and some smaller rooms mean that a variety of community events can take place. As a bit of an after thought, I also decided to incorporate a prayer room into my design. Cheetham Hill is an area with a diverse population and in order to engage with the whole community, I felt that it was necessary, particularly if the building is to be used at all times of the day and most, if not all, days of the year.
Before I can start working on the model, I needed to decide how big each space would be. This of course determined by the activities in the room and the capacity.
My next step is to start designing and formally arranging my building using a model.
I went to site for the first time the day after studio to get a feel for the area and maybe gather some ideas.
I started by taking the bus to Victoria Station and then I planned to walk the remainder of the way up to Cheetham Hill. I briefly looked at the map before I left and saw that Cheetham Hill Road started near the train station so it was pretty straightforward to get there. However, so does Great Ducie Street and this was the one I started up in an attempt to get to Cheetham Hill. Luckily I realised my mistake before I had gone too far and found a route to Cheetham Hill Road with as fewer turns as possible.
My route took me straight around the Strangeways Prison perimeter. I had already walked past the prison en route but it was one thing to walk past along a main road and another to walk past along quiet back roads. There were no cars, except those parked outside the brick warehouses and I passed only a couple of people. The high walls of the prison were unsurprisingly intimidating and the quietness of the surrounding streets really made me want to move on as quickly as possible to Cheetham Hill Road. There was very little activity along the surrounding roads and there was not much sign that they buildings were inhabited, particularly on the side facing the prison.
Despite being late morning, when I reached Cheetham Hill Road, there was very little pedestrian activity on the street although there was plenty of traffic in the way of buses, cars and lorries. The activity seemed to increase as I approached The Manchester Fort and headed further into Cheetham Hill. The section of the road I walked along before I reached The Fort seemed to be more of a transitory space rather than part of the Cheetham Hill territory, a bit of a no-man's land between the city centre and Cheetham Hill.
The amount of activity increased further as I headed up the road. Along with houses, there were more shops, restaurants and community buildings such as mosques and job centres. There were more people out and about in the streets, many of them shopping. There were lots of small supermarkets that spilled out onto the pavement creating small markets.
Once I reached the library, I turned around and headed back to the city. This time I managed to stay on the right road!
