CIVIL DEFENSE TRAINING FACILITY

Bahçeşehir Cyprus University

Project idea

The project was aimed at creating a training facility mainly to help the locals during natural disasters such as wild fires, floods and earthquakes.

Project description

Our project this semester was to design a civil protection training area where people both local and not so local would come and learn about how to survive during natural disasters that include earthquakes, floods, fires, which might occur when one is inside a built structure.

My approach for this project was to first identify how we used to protect ourselves during calamities in the past as there is so much we can learn from the past. During this research on my way home I saw a snail shell on the walkway and this peaked my interest because this tiny creature was hiding in its shell to protect itself from natural disasters (us stepping on it). I wanted to borrow the idea of the shell and implement it in this project for nothing suited it more than this did .
The fine lines of the shell gave the shell its shape and a feel of motion and connection as it made the shell feel like one unit but the case was it wasn’t one unit but rather a collection of different shells .
This got interesting to me as our project was to be sited in a long rectangular shaped site and was to have different units that required different functions some which were closely related to each other and some had absolutely nothing to do with each other.
How do we fix this problem?
My solution was simple , connect it in three ways ; the roof, the the car movements(parking and roads) and finally the pathways .
The first step was to place the buildings across the site in consideration for the programs that were closely related to each other and also considering the process required from registering to undertaking of the program.
This resulted to the placement of the administrative building first , the dormitory followed , cafeteria, resource center and training facilities both indoor and outdoor and last but not least the outdoor simulation training .

The car movement was considered in the concept as it entered the site the parking area was designed from the abstract of a top view of the a snail shell where cars came through from here , circled a monument , and had a drop off at this point . Cars that had the need to circle the site to reach a certain point followed this path and came through here . The reasoning was to allow the visitors to also get to see the whole thing before they decided they actually wanted to undertake the program.
I mentioned the project being influenced by the shell motion through the walkways . This was a challenge at first but as I made the roof sit on the buildings, I made a walkway that followed the roof pattern with a few branching off to connect to the main axis walkway .
That was the first part of the presentation as I want to now walk you through the buildings and explain the functions within them and explain each.

From the drop off point we are greeted by the administration building that contains a reception area, 2 offices , a meeting room that has its own archive and a kitchenette for coffee during breaks . This building was oriented this was as it respects the wind path and the calm midday sun heading by offering a garden where users can come to sit and relax during breaks or after meetings.
As we move from the administrative building we move to the dormitory building which I wanted to foster inclusiveness and also communal harmony by incorporating a courtyard with seating outside the rooms for when the nights are cold and bonfire can be a practical option .

The dormitory building is close in proximity with the cafeteria . The cafeteria floor design is inspired by the scale pattern of creatures that actually use shells for example this was inspired by the tortoise scale
The cafeteria is distinct in seating in that one part in the middle is raised for accommodating more than two people dining and the others are meant for two people but with room for more . The cafeteria also enjoys views of the outdoor scenery as people train and practice. Saying that , I am inclined to mention that its placement is advantageous to those who are training and require a quick bite before they go to the resource center to shower.

The resource center , this facility is to hold a garage area for fire trucks and ambulance, a first aid station , an office and a meeting room meant for brief discussions. It also contains a showering area for the ones coming from the activity areas .

These facilities are all connected through a courtyard where they can easily move to and from different places within the main activity zones.it connects the cafeteria, resource center, outdoor training facility and also the indoor training facility.

The indoor training facility is comprised of classes and a multipurpose hall and also an extension of it is an auditorium area.
The auditorium area contains a foyer whose floor design is similar in inspiration to the cafeteria. The auditorium also has an escape route for the disabled and for the able that is from down here . It also has an outdoor sunken small amphitheater that is directly connected to the outdoor simulation area.

Technical information

The construction of the building is made up of local stone which is then on the outer part covered with a mesh facade. This was intended to give the impression of protection.
The roof is made with different layers as the top part having a concrete plaster while the lower end is characterised by a wooden ceiling to give warmth to those walking below it.