Interstitial Laboratory

Rejuvenation of the Cam River through chalk stream integration

Site elevation collage showing public access to "Trout Ponds" — hover to reveal

Site elevation collage

Preexisting site section

The Site

Queen's College Cambridge

Site map illustration

Site photo

Site photo

1:200 Site Plan — 1:200 Site Plan showing points of access to fellows' court (in red)

OSMnx footpath analysis — OSMnx + NetworkX analysis of footpaths and entrances around Queens'

Sunpath diagram — Sunpath indicating heavy shading due to foliage at boundary

Zooming in...

Site photo — Brick wall separates site from President's garden, casting substantial north shadow

Site photo — Deep shadow cast by trees in President's garden

Footpath long exposure collage — Long-exposure collage showcasing high-traffic nature of path leading to the Cam

Site photo — Proximity to the Cam presents geological challenge in building foundations

Site photo — Periodic light beams in first court

Site photo — Pleasant tree grove close to the Cam and at site boundary

Site photo — Materiality: mostly 18th-century brick

Site photo — Riverside leisure space accessed through either footpath or lawn

The Program

[Placeholder — this write-up is still the Library As Bathhouse program copy on the live site and needs to be rewritten for Interstitial Lab.]

The Library is to integrate three novel spaces inspired by key rooms inside Roman baths:

I. Frigidarium: the social heart of the baths

II. Caldarium: a reflective bathing room

III. Tepidarium: the warm-up space

Sankey diagram — Sankey diagram showcasing average distribution of students inside the library

Program diagram — Program diagram showing spatial adjacency between study areas and key Roman-inspired rooms

Site-Induced Circulation Logic

Initially, the narrow site width (7m) inspired a straight 30m stepped walkway connecting rooms from the brick wall entrance to the Cam river.

Narrow descending circulation — "Narrow" descending circulation — initial sketches (hover to see change)

Wrapped central staircase — "Wrapped" central staircase allows access to all rooms on a floor from a single point

However, this created a long, congested circulation between rooms, so the walkway was twisted around itself to minimize travel distance between rooms by half.

Physical model — 1st physical model, used for internal layout testing and floorplan troubleshooting

Physical model detail — Testing study area with figurine showed inefficient circulation

Physical model detail

Physical model detail

Physical model detail

Physical model detail

Curating Light

Section after chimney

Construction Sequence

Construction sequence 1 — 1. Secant piles drilled into ground. Tension piles cast. Reinforcement cage installed.

Construction sequence 2 — 2. Base slab poured, followed by -2 and -1 reinforced concrete walls, then floor slabs.

Construction sequence 3 — 3. Waterproofing membrane, internal brick walls and stairs installed.

Construction sequence 4 — 4. Brick domes mounted.

Move on to The Experience →