DESA1002 'Nine Quarter City' - Nicole Taylor

Abstract

My design aims to capture and recreate an innovative dining experience that reflects Venice’s passion for food. I wanted to create something that made an impact on the public that was aesthetically interesting as well as functional. It had to leave space for the public esplanade along the canal, but had to take advantage of the views, the canal and the central location. The design has a relatively small footprint in comparison to the size of the building. This caters for the dynamic flow and activity of people along the canal. The ground floor consists of the fresh food market, with multiple entrances and exits, garbage disposal, storage areas, staff toilets and stairs and elevators to the upper levels. The 1st level is the restaurant and bar. This area has an extended indoor dining and lounge space which cantilevers out over the canal. Outside, the projected terrace encompasses an outdoor dining area, as well as a beer garden which looks out over the main plaza. The indoor bar wraps around the centralised kitchen space, and there are stairs leading from the canal-side esplanade up to the restaurant. This allows people to move in and out of the restaurant without having to pass through the food market. The 2nd level is the multi-purpose function room, created as a means to provide the Venice with a fantastically located space for private functions. The large indoor space contains a kitchen and bathrooms and the large outdoor terrace looks out over the canal and the city. I have used a column and slab construction, with some internal load-bearing walls. This allows for large spans of uninterrupted glass cladding which is important for the design of the building. The building’s roof, which slopes down towards the canal is galvanized metal. This material is also used irregularly throughout the building’s opaque facades.