LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTLANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

robnorris101@yahoo.com(+47) 97 16 76 72

I believe in sustainability. I believe in design. I believe in context.

I want to create beauty and function in our environment. I think about landscape architecture mostly on a human scale, how pedestrians and cyclists might interact with a place, but I like to design spaces that interact, respond and respect the wider context they stand in.

This portfolio contains work from both my Masters and Bachelor degrees. You can also find my Masters Thesis “SUDS in the City: Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) and their Role in the Dense Urban Realm” here.

East BirminghamMA Final Diploma Project

The brief, written and developed by myself, was to design and develop a 655 acre Centre for Urban Ecology (CUE). This includes wide scale implementation of sustainable practices along with smaller scale experimental and developmental areas for new ideas and a visitor centre to demonstrate how the site as a whole works.

The site currently is a sea of industrial warehouses and transport arteries that divides North and East Birmingham. It is the first impression a lot of people have of Birmingham, an impression that does nothing to dispel the negative impression many people have of Birmingham.

The site revolves around the CUE research and educational faculties that provide a testing and knowledge base for the implementation of practices that can operate at a city scale. It also incorporates as many elements of a city into its operation as possible (such as residences, schools, retail and recreation) as well as providing as many resources as possible (such as food, building materials and fresh, grey and waste water processing).

Its aims were to improve the City of Birmingham, the local surrounding areas and the site itself from the inside, out. It was intended to develop and showcase how sustainability can improve a city.

East BirminghamMA Final Diploma Project

This final diploma project took place over the entire school year and involved taking the project from the city scale masterplanning and its overriding concepts all the way down, through various stages, to detail planting and hard landscape design.

Clouds

1:200contours: 1m

Approach to the Clouds

Three platforms of the Clouds

Footpath to summit

Site Plan

Location Map

1:5

Showing the upright 4mm brushed stainless steel, plateseach individually shaped and then welded together to form the grid. Each piece follows the curve and profile of its perpendicular cross piece counterpart.

CloudsMA Critical Design module 2

The brief was to design a viewpoint on a remote peninsular in South Wales. It needed to be a landmark and a tourist attraction. I chose to do something that would stand out but not interfere or disrupt the natural habitat.

It is a series of raised platforms that sit on the side of the hill over looking an estuary and the South Welsh coast. The legs use the earthy natural (and local) colours of corten steel and minimise contact with the ground itself, contrasting with the brushed steel of the platforms, reflecting the cold grey of the clouds above.

1:5Step Section

1:5Step Plan

Each Cloud rests into the adjacent one, allowing a 1.2 m space and access for three steps, 300mm tred and 173mm riser to take you up into the next Cloud

1:200contours: 1m

Approach to the Clouds

Three platforms of the Clouds

Footpath to summit

Site Plan

Location Map

1:50

The legs are drilled and secured directly into bedrock beneath the top layer in order to avoid disturbing the natural environment as much as possible. such as is seen in Sohlbergplassen lookout.

The structure is tapered from front to back in order to allow weight distribution and mo-ment around the larger supporting post at the back. allowing for a more slender post at the front, giving it a lighter feel.

Sohlberplassen lookout, Norway.

1. The main central spine is intended to provide a backrest for the long benches and divide the two seating areas.All other upright planes are mainly above eye level only when seat- ing. Even when seating they are quite open so you have a light screen to allow separation but not blindness from the surroundings.Prospect and refuge are strong principles of the arrangement of the seating areas.

2. The east sitting area is linked directly to the Library amphitheatre, with the wall aligned with the edges of it. The screen on the north dips to reveal the library, whereas the wall on the south stays high to screen the road. It is configured around the step so they face the amphitheatre and collect the morning sun

3. The west seating area is cosier, with the beds wrapping around it and trees standing in it and providing protection, combined with the screen on the south to screen it from the road. Its main aspect is on the open area outside the ICC and will collect all the afternoon and evening sun.

4. Both the north and south ends are intended as “a touch of para- dise” where people brush past or under, stop for a moment under the shade and linger next to the lush flower beds. The beds are arranged to subtly separate the passers by from the people sitting. It allows the occupiers of the seating areas to easily judge whether approaching pedestrians are coming into the area or passing by. This will increase the feeling of security while enjoying your lunch time sandwiches.

5. The trees form a 7m x 7m grid lancing out from the north side. The trees stop on the east side so they don’t provide too much shade and darkness in the winter and late afternoon

Centenary SquareMA Critical Design module 1

In the brief we were asked to design a small spot of ‘paradise’ of restricted size in the centre of Birmingham. I chose some words of wisdom from William H. Whytes 1980 documentary “The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces” to initially guide me :

He states that all spaces should have “Sitting spaces, close links to the street, trees and food”, and that “ [for] Sitting: The best kind of space is slightly elevated”

So I have tried to create a space on a slightly elevated existing plinth that, through the choice of planting, separates and protects you from the busy-ness of the area but the lightness and ethereality of the plants still keep you connected and in tune with it.

EastsideBA Final Design Project

The aim was to produce a masterplan for a large area of derelict land in the Centre of Birmingham. On the site were many protected buildings that could not be removed as well one or two brand new developments, most significantly, Millennium Point, a large science and education centre. Within the plan were several minimal requirements for the provision of buildings for residential, commercial and educational purposes.

My design intended to open up the edges of the site, which had become closed off by major roads, development backing on to the site and a raised railway running along one side. I wanted to draw people in from the city centre along a large formal avenue, link to the university campus along the north edge, facilitate integration of the community in the largely forgotten low income residential area to the east and send connections into Digbeth, an old industrial area under renovation.

With in the site are a series of overlapping zones that link together through the park including a large formal plaza, a small intimate garden close to the city centre, a romantically landscaped park and an arts and community centre.

EastsideBA Final Design Project

I received the John Knight Award for Best Undergraduate Project 2010 from the Landscape Institute (Midland Branch) for this Project.

robnorris101@yahoo.com(+47) 97 16 76 72