Blank Canvas Building Part 1 Project 2024 Connor BlackMikołaj Kiestrzyń Robert Gordon University | UK "The challenge of this project was in finding balance between distinctly different brief requirements in one coherent project. Additionally, the co-design element of the brief called for a level of collaboration and professionalism, without compromising our own design ideas and architectural approaches.The Blank Canvas Building is a concept which aims to bring the community together through art and self-expression, offering large parts of the site and building as public “blank canvases” which anyone can come and paint on. It also aims to reintroduce a degree of reciprocal trust between the Local Authorities and residents of Torry, providing a sense of ownership over the building and built environment around them. Furthermore, the project looks to encourage visitors from wider areas of Aberdeen to visit exhibitions and take part in artist-led workshops.Visual connections from the street to the river are maintained in order to keep the ground floor ‘porous’ from south to north (road to river). Areas such as the rooftop gallery on the second floor can be temporarily closed to the public when exhibitions are being set up/not taking place. The gallery pavilion provides shelter from the harsh Scottish weather, and from exhaust heat of the CHP plants." Tutor(s)