BOILER PLANT RENOVATION PROJECT (THESIS WORK)

"RENOVATION OF THE TES-1 BOILER PLANT TERRITORY IN VLADIVOSTOK"

Bachelor's thesis project

Finally! The time has come to reveal the last job I've done in bachelor's shoes. The one that I've struggled with the most, the one that grounded me, and the one I'm very proud of, even though it didn't turn out completely the way I wanted it to.

This is mostly an urban design project, a portion of which is dedicated specifically to renovation of a Boiler plant complex and it's architecture. So there are two main objectives of this work: 1) To envision a new coastal district of the city, in a scenario, where industrial uses would be neglected, and 2) To design a concept of an Energetics scientific cluster instead of a plant.

The territory i've picked is located in the very center of  Vladivosok, right next to the Sports harbor, and spans for 28,39 hectares. So, by the mere situation, this is a very valuable piece of land. But due to the historical conditions, it hosts an industrial zone with a boiler plant, which used to be a first major electric power station of Vladivostok, back in the beginning of 20-th century.

By the look at the map you can clearly see a change in urban density occuring in this area. Sitting right next to the dense historical quarters, 1 km away from the main square, this industrial zone is the only one remaining in such close proximity to the city center.

Due to a rough terrain and a busy railway line passing by, the coastal half of the territory is practically cut off from the rest of the city. The area is locked up by the plant and can't be used by public, restricting access to the seashore for everyone. The other half of the site resembles a chaotic mess of car services, storage and engineering facilities. Neither parts are welcoming, nor they are representative of the city's center character.

The diagrams show clearly the lack of tansport connectivity in this part of the city, the unpopularity of the place and heavy amount of restrictions. Moreover, the territory is under risk of being flooded in case of sea level increase.

The main problem of this site is the Plant, it's engineering infrastructure, including railways and pipelines, and restrictions around them, making it impossible to develop. In reality, even if things were to change, the Plant would stay there, because no matter how disrupting it is for the growth of the city, and how unfortunate the location is, it's just a piece of vital infrastructure that can not be shut down.

But the aim of this work is purely conceptual, so I decided to invent a context, in which the city could give up the plant. This context is a total shift to renewable energy and to a different, more efficient system of decentralized heating, based on future technologies ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ If only things were that easy...

URBAN PLANNING SOLUTION:

INSTITUTE OF ENERGETICS x MUSEUM COMPLEX:

The whole idea of this project is based around Energy transitions. This is the process of change in energy sources, that's been happening since industrialization. Right now we are witnessing a fourth energy transition, which means rapid increase in renewable energy usage, and consequently a decrease in fossil fuels. Conceptually this new era of energetics is a dramatic turn in comparison to the previous history, because it's all about using our science and high technology to burn less resources, do less damage and still supply the humanity with energy we need. It is a drastically different, more conscious and humane approach to energetics.

Meanwhile, my subject, TES-1, has gone through every stage of energy transitioning except the last one in its long history. And since the fourth energy transition is so extraordinary, the renovation of the plant also took a radical turn. In the new era of energetics the plant will no longer serve as a heat producer, but will become a producer of intelligence. TES-1 will become a scientific institute of energetics, thus still remaining in the same field, but driving it in a completely different capacity. The first historic powerhouse of 1912 and the main building of a boiler plant will be considered relics of the past, and will be turned into museums, displaying the whole history of energetics in one place.

The concept is visually conveyed through architecture. I intentionally designed this ensemble as a mixture of different styles, to contrast them. Basically, buildings are divided by time period - the historical ones, the contemporary ones and the future ones, and architecture is meant to tell us something about the energetics of each period, or maybe even about the society in general.

Archaic building is the original 1912 powerhouse. It represents the might of  early industry and conveys the feelings of pride and certainty.

Contemporary buildings are the boiler plant, the Stack and the reservoirs. They're designed to give off the feeling of unrest. Something is fundamentally wrong with this state of industry. A century has passed, and we have turned from being brave conquerors of nature into it's oppressors. Everything is giant and unnatural, human is absolutely dwarfed by it's creation.

Futuristic buildings are those belonging to the Institute. They're meant to reflect a more mature version of society, that has achieved sustainability in energetics (and in everything else). The human is no longer suppressed. The architecture utilizes grids and rhythms to reflect harmony. Randomness is comforting to humans, and meant to resemble patterns of nature, although conforming to the same rule of grid.

All rights reserved. If my work is of interest to you, and you want to use it in any capacity, you must ask my permission to do so. Otherwise, any distribution, copying, modifying or any kind of commercial use is prohibited.