A series of pavilions with Solar Sail canopies that filter light in a kaleidoscopic manner.
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We were asked to design an “Innovation Hub” at the centre of the diverse operational dimensions of the Gracefield Innovation Quarter. It needed to operate as a catalyst for innovation with spaces for discovery, education, exhibitions and events focused on science, high-value engineering and manufacturing. A venue to celebrate the potentials of new innovation initiatives, to connect, support and nurture innovation start-ups and the commercialisation of organisations within the innovation eco-system. A place where great ideas could be turned into commercially viable products, services, and experiences.
We imagined the project as a sequence of spaces like a cascading series of river terraces where ideas can be explored (discovered), exploded (worked out), and exploited (prototyped, tested and developed). Three separate yet inter-connected pavilions step down the slope in a series of terraces in shifting atmospheres to house each critical stage of the innovation cycle or “flow”.
- explore pavilion; provide venues for discovery, exploration and education (event theatre, display and exhibition facilities, restaurant/cafe)
- explode pavilion; enable startups and incubator companies to develop their innovations in ‘explosive’ spirit (resource library, audio visual/ meeting facilities, lounge cafe)
- exploit pavilion; utilise the science, engineering and business expertise of Callaghan to ‘exploit’ innovation potentials (incubator lounges, bar and prototype workshops provide testing and development facilities).
North-South in cross-section the building connects incubator studios (south) to support facilities (north) via large open atria spaces to catalyse synergy between people of different ages, fields, cultures and backgrounds.
A multitude of cross-links throughout the Hub encourage interaction between collegues moving between facilities. Each pavilion is covered with its own Solar Sail canopy, concieved as a kaliedoscopic filter or ‘sky connector’. Each canopy is clad in photovoltaic array’s to provide energy, admit carefully filtered sunlight and provide shelter from extreme solar radiation and winter weather.