SOCIAL INTERCHANGE

The Sheffield Interchange, an existing under-utilised piece of infrastructure in the Sheffield city centre, is in need of modernisation. The aim was to develop ideas on how to enliven public spaces within the Sheffield Interchange and encourage social interaction, giving the building another purpose to grow financially.

In addition to the bus services in the Sheffield Interchange, my approach was to preserve the historical character of the building whilst incorporating another relevant usage which would help people and businesses to grow, ensuring a renewed sense of exhilaration.

Whilst analysing the potential of existing structure and interactions, my technique was to incorporate flexible, temporary spaces, which young professionals could utilise as a venue to showcase and develop their skills. This would allow people and businesses to grow and interested parties to support and congregate. My design would not only ensure a positive impact on the environment and encourage an inviting feeling towards the public, but would also allow access to what happens around the city centre. The idea was to give the users a reason to stay longer and enjoy using the bus services.

This would provide a sense of community as the level of social interaction would increase due to people engaging with the site, helping the building to regain its presence in the city, whilst generating a safer environment.

CONCEPT

Physical structure is used in everyday environments and can portray meaning in a space. During my study of the Sheffield Interchange I noticed a sequence of people using different types of structure as seating such as walls, stairs and rails, instead of the available seating facilities. Structure is typically used as support, safety and dividing space; however in the Sheffield interchange, it is surprisingly chosen as a comfort and seating opportunity, unlike the facilities shaped for these utilities.

In my project I would like to explore how structure can be made multifunctional and find ways to encourage users to associate the structure as a physical comfort mechanism as well as a support system for the space. This would involve thinking of ways to determine comfort within structure, fixtures or fittings whilst allowing for original usages. My concept reflects using affordances. Affordances can be occasions which suggest a possible action that can be identified by a user. There are 6 types of affordances including explicit, hidden, pattern, metaphorical, negative and false affordances that imply how an object can be used. However my project will explore explicit affordances which encourage certain interactions through physical appearances.