GREENHOUSE ON A BARGE BOAT
School Project - Spring 2024, UCD Dublin
Based on oral history provided by Maureen Lynch, a member of the family living in the cottage, the cottage and the area around newcomen bridge was an idyllic haven before the bombings in 1941. There were flower gardens and vegetable patches surrounding the cottage, and people visiting the area would marvel upon discovering it. Bargemen would stop and hang out with the family and often spend their nights singing and drinking until wee hours.
Today Mud Island Community Garden does not do any gardening during winter season, Cloud Café is usually packed with people, Charleville Mall Library is quite small and does not have a lot of seating. These activities are all great but there are improvements/extensions that are necessary.
With both the oral history and the current situation as inspiration, this prototype is a Bargeboat. The boat itself works as an exstension of both Charleville Mall Library and Cloud Café whereas the roof is a greenhouse for Mud Island Community Garden to keep their gardening going all year around.
Siteplan
Sketching Oral History
I sketched the area around the Loch Keeper’s Cottage from different times in history to then brainstorm my initial ideas on top of the timelayers.
Red: Pre 1941
Green: The bombings in 1941
Blue: Today
Yellow: Initial project ideas
Green: The bombings in 1941
Blue: Today
Yellow: Initial project ideas
Sketch Puzzling with re-used windows/timber/mdf
Relevant quotes in Swedish: ”Some locally sourced timber”.
Sketch - Barge Boat Greenhouse as support structure
Initial sketch of how the barge boat greenhouse could act as a logical extension and support structure for already functioning activities in the area.
Greenhouse Method
Barge Boat
Find Barge for sale with good size for the Royal Canal. (Beam width: 3,7m / length: 18,3m) Edge for welding a base for the structure (O).
Salvage Windows / 3d-model
Look for windows in & around Dublin on Facebook Marketplace. Write Down measurements. 3D-model salvaged windows and sort by width.
Main Structure / Shapes / Start Puzzling to find main columns
Plan Barge
The bathroom and kitchen areas are kept, the kitchen is now a satellite version of the Cloud Café. The seating is combined with bookshelves in the front and on both sides of the bathroom. The idea with the space is that Charleville Mall Library can use the bookshelves for a temporary collection, audio collection, film collection etc. while also getting new necessary seating. Same goes for Cloud Café that is small and in need of more space.
Plan Greenhouse
The greenhouse is the main space of the area where Mud Island Community Garden gets four large ”bookshelves” making the space a library of plants. The shelves cover the sides and the room is divided by the plants hanging from the four horizontal beams. The single table is placed in the centre where both sides are left uncovered by plants to create a central room. The idea is that Mud Island Community Garden/Charleville Mall Library/Cloud Café can add extra tables in the case of events and happenings.
Section AA
Section BB
