Ceremony Space
The brief was to create a non-denominational space for weddings and funerals which interacts with Ralph Allen's Sham Castle folly. The space must be able to cater for a minimum of 150 people with a kitchen and a restaurant. The space should utilise the view of the Bath city skyline and consider the mood created by the Architecture of the chapel space.
The plan of the design as dictated by the needs for public and private use. A large public atrium creates both protection from the elements and a wonderful view over the city of Bath. The tree-like columns help in creating the sense of being outside when inside and diffuse lighting can be hidden within the structure
In order to separate the public and private sections of the building a grand staircase sits in the centre of the building as a diving line. Through this staircase is the ceremony space which affords views to Sham castle sat behind it. Going up the staircase is a restaurant and bar able to accommodate 150 people, with a kitchen sat on the East side providing food for wedding receptions, funeral wakes and any other catering needs.
The design process followed a form follows function approach. Whilst I would hesitate to follow this process again, it was interesting to see how a different approach leads to a very different design. This process whilst alleviating certain pressures earlier on in the project created complex problems later on with detailing and roof design.
Ceremony Space
Due to the proximity of the Castle Folly and low light pollution in the area it was important that the building was not intrusive. The wooden material palette and vertically hung cladding helps to conceal the building within the tree-line. The curved roof helps to soften the building in order to further conceal the Ceremony Space against the hillside. Mounted RidgeBlade turbines harness the funnelled wind power to produce electricity for the building.
