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The Stacks

Part 1 Project 2022
Maya Ruth
University of Dundee | UK
The proposal articulates the two themes; permanence and temporary nature of working spaces through the tactility of internal use of timber and concrete.

The site is preserved under a wider protected heritage boundary. Historically the buildings in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, were of a farmhouse typology as the lands surrounding the campus were for agriculture. This connection between the domesticity of the farm and the town is referred to throughout the design process, particularly through understanding levels and expressing a datum.

The mediaeval burgage plots of Old Aberdeen permitted the existing church to accommodate the juxtaposing form of the extension. This area of the building hosts public services and is a dynamic public attraction with a lecture theatre and cafe connected to the working private spaces in the bookshop for the building to reach out to the wider area.

External moments around the building such as the glass reliefs, skylights and sloped roofscape facilitate light in penetrating both into the plan and out to the public gardens. Set integrated into the landscape, the scheme borrows a lot of its geometry and facing brick material from its surrounding context to provide sound proofing for interiors and to create a sense of belonging.


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2022
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