Commendation Winner: Nicola Dawson, The Thinking Path: Laboratory of Food Research (NTU)

Congratulations to Nicky Dawson for her project The Thinking Path: Laboratory of Food Research, a Commendation winner at the Annual Student Awards Symposium

Nicky Dawson us an overview of her commendation winning project at this years Student Award Symposium

Influenced by Charles Darwin’s ‘thinking path’ the scheme is arranged as a continuous walking route designed for exercising both mind and body. This takes researchers and visitors on a journey through the site where they can rest, work, read, learn, think, and observe whilst being connected to each other and nature.

The complexities of the food industry and humans’ relationship to food can be compared to the complexities of the Green’s Windmill site which has great topographical challenges, being drastically sloped up towards the north of the site, and boasts an abundance of mature trees. Whilst the steep topography is gradually revealed as one travels down the site, acting as a metaphor for revealing the truth about food and nutrition, the trees also play an instrumental role in determining the form and aesthetics of the design, using their canopies to create a journey through the site.

The library at the north of the site encircles an entrance courtyard with a deep facade that creates places to sit, rest, read, study, and observe.

The materiality of the design also acknowledges and respects the importance of the site through the use of timber; embodying the surroundings of mature trees; red brick, mirroring the structure of the windmill; copper, echoing the traditional red brick of the windmill; and glass, providing transparency and clarity of the surrounding views.

An inhabited wall meanders through the existing treetops arriving at the research centre.

The thinking path culminates at the centre of the laboratory building with a ramped cloister that wraps around the main courtyard leading to the rooftop botanic garden.

The wellness building to the south is arranged around a sweeping spiral staircase, allowing researchers to exercise both mind and body.