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Bernard J. Zammit B. Arch. (Hons), Dip. Arch.
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Bernard received his architectural education at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Arts, between 2004 and 2010. He has specialised in algorithmic architecture involving non-linear forms and complex design, with study projects ranging from an urban housing complex, to two modern art galleries, and a cultural centre for his B. Arch. Studies. In Year 5, bernard was sponsored to visit Beijing for 5 weeks to perform contextual studies on a site within the historic cultural centre of the City. His design for a technologically advanced Chinese market formed the centrepiece of his thesis for the Diploma in Architecture.
Bernard has co-edited and produced two substantial books at the Mackintosh School. In 2009 he contributed most of the graphic design and several articles for the MACmag34, the official School student yearbook. This publication was submitted for a RIBA competition by the mackintosh School of Architecture. In 2010 he co-edited and produced a book entitled Six StudentsProjects in Beijing detailing the architectural context of the projects designed by the members of the group of students whom the MAC sponsored to visit The Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Besides his architectural work, Bernard has designed music art work for some of the UK's emerging musical talent. He has also produced many personal pieces which are inspired by music and fashion.
Bernard’s ambition after he completes his architectural training is to design aesthetically and environmentally sustainable buildings that make substantial contributions to urban landscapes.
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MacMag
Macmag magazine is a yearly retrospective that showcases the Mackintosh School of Architecture’s creative output. It will be distributed to all current and prospective students at the Mac as well as being sold at the degree show and in various outlets around the UK.
I was responsible for the general layout, graphic design and the editing of articles. This publication formed part of my dissertation for Diploma, which has received distinction and has also been short listed for the RIBA precedents medal.
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Six Student Projects in Beijing
In the summer of 2009, the Mackintosh School of Architecture received funding from the British Council to allow six Stage 5 students to undertake their final year thesis projects in Beijing, China. I was one of the lucky six selected from the year to embark on this incredible experience. We visited Beijing for five weeks in October - November 2009 where we explored in depth the possibilities and opportunities that this unique city had to offer for our projects.
Residence at the Central Academy of Fine Arts [CAFA] allowed us to interact with the Chinese tutors and students, where we gained an invaluable insight into the local culture and architectural context. Our area of focus was a neighbourhood of Gulou, which encompasses one of the last remaining examples of traditional hutong fabric in Beijing. We compiled this report recounting our five week adventure, highlighting out observations of this unique city. The information was collected, presented herein, has enabled us to design our chosen thesis projects on specific sites within the historic context of Gulou district.
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Glasgow Art Gallery
The proposed Museum of Modern Art sits on an extremely linear site in the dense urban context Ingram Street) in the centre of Glasgow. The Brief demanded an arrangement of gallery space that was to be as flexible as possible to house contemporary and modern art. Also included in the Brief was the inclusion of a lecture theatre, resource- and learning- suite, a shop and a cafe/bar. The main design concept of the gallery was to encourage the vertical movement through the building by introducing a large central void with escalators stacked inside it. This 3-storey high void space also provides a contained area for the exhibition of large hanging sculptures or installations that only a large commercial gallery would be able to mount. Travelling up through the void, visitors are able to appreciate the hanging sculptures or installations from the vantage points of both the escalators and mezzanines.
The north and east facing façades introduce a sculptural form to Glasgow's urban context, providing a focal point and a landmark for the attraction of visitors to the Gallery. The façade also makes references to the fragility and ever-changing landscape of Art.
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Govan, Glasgow Urban Housing
As part of the Honours course at the Mackintosh School of Architecture of the Glasgow School of Arts, I accepted the task of designing a high-density housing project in the rapidly developing area of Govan, on the south bank of the river Clyde across from the new Transport Museum, in Glasgow. In groups we designed masterplans that detailed new residential and commercial areas around Glasgow. In the Govan area we wanted to continue the deep traditions of street markets. The high-density housing that I designed was to integrate a number of stacked/layered typologies into a small footprint in Govan, introducing a new bus and tube station, a covered market, gym and super market. The residential part of the complex comprises of 3 different types of unit which cater for the specific demographics found in the Govan area. The internal courtyard also introduces spaces for several small start-up enterprises of the type that thrive in the Govan area.
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Beijing Municipal Market
The site for the market is located in the Gulou district of Beijing, north of the Frobidden City. It is to the west of the square that lies between two landmarks of traditional Chinese architecture, the Gulou (Drum) and Zhonglou (Bell) Towers. The two Towers are situated at the northern end of the central axis of the Inner City, to the north of Di’anmen Street.
The square is surrounded by urban housing which used to be made up of very traditional courtyard housing. Therefore, this area is very important for the City both as an urban focus for local activity and social interaction, and also as a locus of intense tourist activity. It brings together a mixture of traditional and modern culture, and of two distinct social groups (locals and tourists) who, however, do not interact socially with each other.
The reason why it was considered that a market would be the most suitable building for this site is because markets have always traditionally been the focal points for communities, but are also major attractions for tourists for whom shopping, especially for local traditional goods, is a major activity.
The next consideration was how the market would interact with the Square. I considered that the market should be hermetic or self-contained, meaning that it should not detract either from the importance of the activities within the Square or from the iconic nature of the two Towers.
Beijing markets have both internal and external (street) attributes. In order to keep the external attributes separate from the activities within the square dominated by iconic traditional architecture I decided that it was important for the market to have its own external market space (or courtyard) facing away from the square, namely to the west of the covered, internal market.
However, there is easy through- traffic between the square and the open market through the main entrances on both the east and west façades of the covered market. This provides a covered route between the two main entrances and an important link between the activities occurring within the square (largely touristic) and those occurring in the external market space to the west of the covered space.
It was essential to ensure that the covered market provides the maximum possible floor area for trading because it is to be used by very large numbers of people. The internal layout of supporting columns has been planned to maximize the number of stalls that can be accommodated, by having a regular pattern that makes optimal use of the space available.
The positioning of the stalls around the supporting columns eliminates the effective ‘dead space’ and obstruction that roof supports normally present to the free flow of movement of people. The layout also provides versatility in the use of different groups of stalls such as may be required during different seasons, both in terms of the availability of produce (mostly of interest to the locals) and of the seasonal changes in tourist numbers.
The handling, storage and service area of the market also houses air-conditioning and heating plants, including the pumps associated with a borehole heat-exchanger network linked to a combined heat and power (CHP); between them they provide the energy requirements of both floors of the complex. The fact that these are below ground means that they are entirely unobtrusive at street level. Movement between the market trading floor and these service areas is through multiple staircases and lifts. Access for the traders and tradesmen to these areas is through ramps which travel along the west side of the site and make it possible for pedal-powered and electric-powered light vehicles to be used exclusively. This design makes a significant contribution towards the environmental sustainability of the project.
This is further optimised through the use of a borehole shallow-ground heat exchanger involving a network of tubes installed to a depth of 80m below the building. It is coupled to a combined heat and power unit to make optimal and efficient use of the biofuel used for the latter.
A major feature of the building will be a high-technology roof that meets several important criteria. The overall environmental sustainability of the building is safeguarded through the optimization of the use of natural light throughout the day and the seasons by computer-optimized positioning of the vertical glazed elements of the roof units which enable the best penetration of incident light into the interior of the covered market to every region of the internal space. The way that variations in the angles of the repeating units of the roof are designed throughout the structure takes into account changes in the height of the angle of the sun during the day and throughout the year. These features, which are designed to vary optimally throughout the profile of the roof, also provide natural shading by the angled opaque elements of the roof structure when the sun is at its highest and hottest. This combination of transparent vertical surfaces and angled opaque elements provides an optimal combination of maximal light penetration and minimal heat gain. In addition the roof structure provides the potential for ventilation over specific spaces within the market trading area depending on the prevailing external weather conditions.
The structure of the roof is supported by columns and a parallel layer made up of exposed struts and tensioned cables that combine to form sway frames for each repeating unit of four columns. This structure and the lightweight materials of the roof provide the possibility for the trading area to be maximized and leave it uncluttered, thus facilitating movement of the high density of people who frequent such markets in Beijing.
The external cladding of the roof is finished in anodised aluminium, and contributes to its heat-reflective properties, and resistance to other climatic conditions. After weathering, this material will provide a surface that, when seen either from ground level or overlooked by tourists from the top of the two Towers blends in with the prevalent colours of the roof tiles of the housing in its vicinity.
