Circulation Exploration - Alney Island



Alney Island was a really interesting site because it had so many permutations, restrictions and also opportunities. All presented and guided by both exterior and interior site conditions. For me the main site constraints and site features that guided my design process were:

1. A430 - The A430 was a relatively road that split the site into two. Issues that derived from this consisted mainly of crossing over or under/linking the two sides. Also noise/visual pollution that makes its way through to the rest of the site. The A430 is also several meters higher than some of the surrounding land, level changes had to be considered.

2. Flooding - The site floods regularly as a result of the Severn Bore, high tides and also excessive rainfall. Water makes its way out of the Eastern channel and across the site, flooding the vast majority of the island with the exception of the car park, sub station and also the A430.

As a result of these two points circulation within the site became increasingly important, the sketch above displayed my initial basic thoughts around the idea. The two circles represent the furthest (Western and Eastern) destination points, Lower Parting and Gloucester Prison. I knew that I wanted a "main" path or major route going straight through the wetlands, this was inspired by the current footpath layout on site (The long straight path works well in the flat landscape), enabling all visitors to move straight through the wetlands. The other lines represent smaller footpaths and boardwalks that would weave their way across the landscape, connecting all access points. 

The paths were eventually designed around the flooding events that take place. The major route is elevated and therefore remains accessible despite high water levels, this allows access to a large proportion of the site which would otherwise be inaccessible.



 

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