2015
Site Background
Gillman Barracks was initially used to house British army troops. In 1990s, it was used mainly for commercial purposes and since 2012 it has been dedicated to support Singapore art scene. This specific building is the main building of Gillman Barracks, and currently housing art galleries.
selected site
Concept & Development
Used to be a resting place for soldiers after they struggle on the battlefield, it is indeed seen as a “reward” for them to be able to simply rest and be away from the battlefield. Therefore, the design carries out the journey of the struggle and finally reaching the "reward" in the end. The long journey of the ramp forces people to walk in such a pathway, before finally reaching the allocated spaces, and ultimately at the 3rd floor, there is a protruding hotel corridor that let people walk in a zigzag manner without actually know what awaits in front while enjoying the artists' studio experience.
Plan
3F Layout Plan
1F Layout Plan
2F Layout Plan
Visuals & Sections
Sectional Elevation E-E
Scale N.T.S
Sectional Elevation D-D
Scale N.T.S
PRELUDE | THE RAMP: The journey begins as visitors enter from the entrance at the middle of the building and start to walk along the ramp. The first part of the ramp is a write-up on the wall of welcome message, following by the history of this building itself. Here, the visitors are encouraged to read from the mirror, as the write up will be displayed in inverted manner. As they turn and enter the second part of the ramp, there are tilted screen displaying information of happenings in the building; such as gallery exhibition or special promotion for restaurant.
JOURNEY COUNTINUES.. | RECEPTION & WORKSHOP: Once the visitors reach the second level, they can choose to enter the hotel reception area, gallery, or workshop. In the reception area, the floor is being marked by black pebbles where it serves as an obstacle for people to walk by.
Sectional Elevation B-B
Scale N.T.S
LOBBY
Sectional Elevation A-A
CINEMA
GALLERY
WORKSHOP
GALLERY: In this particular event, the gallery is exhibiting the works of both costume and set designers. The whole idea is connecting these two elements where the whole journey is telling about the characters fly through and shrink to eventually fit into the set. The visitors walk pass layers of hanging fabrics as part of the introduction and continue to walk in between the characters. Afterwards there are lots of small mannequins displaying the prototypes of the design. At the end, the visitors will continue the journey whether towards the casual dining area or the cinema where people experience dining in the dark with movies rolling.
3F HOTEL ROOMS: Divided into two types, namely for the artist's residency and hotel guests.
Sectional Elevation Y-Y
Sectional Elevation X-X
Artist's Room Layout Plan
Sectional Elevation Z-Z
Guest's Room Layout Plan
ARTIST’S ROOM: It features the plenty of skylight with window for the visitors to experience the intimate moment with the artist by simply watching directly how the artist create the artwork.
GUEST’S ROOM: features skylight as well, along a small slit of the convertible roof, which allows rain to drop within the room, following the nylon strings that prevent the raindrops from splashing. This design detail acts as an “obstacle” and yet a functional structure.