Prominent Hill Habitat

Final Animation Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7lw-lAvoXY

This thesis proposes a new typology for the workforce and family of the pending Prominent Hill underground mine in outback South Australia. The problems associated with the 'fly-in fly-out' mining protocol that this thesis is responding to can be categorised as follows:

1. Social/physical health impact on miners

2. Impact on partner/family relationships

3. Impact on towns supporting mining villages

The architectural solution will endeavour to redefine the current lifestyle of the FIFO miner by providing a new type of semi-permanent living community on site, for both miners and their immediate family. The proposed brief will inject social, institutional, private, service and agricultural programme into the site to facilitate the growth of a new sustainable living habitat.

Prominent Hill Habitat

Final Model

Thesis

Programme

Site

Material system

Material system exploration

Moon Capital by Jonathon Long

Moon Capital Design

The site for this Moon Capital exists on the vertical cliff face of a meteor crater. Drilling architecture into the side of a crater ridge forms a horizontal relationship between internal and external, and evenly distributes this relationship across the entire programme.

The material system is based on the atomic accumulation of pod elements. These pods are organised into three vertical strips called 'cluster lanes' and are driven into a fracture in the side of a chosen ridge. Each pod has an internal and external component; the external pods are cantilevered out of the cliff face and act as an insulative shield against extreme environmental conditions.

The structure of the external pods is a light lattice frame with an infill of inflatable panels. The internal pod spaces are drilled out of the ridge and use arching to transfer vertical regolith loads. The external pods can be made on site as prefabricated units, and the height and width of each pod can vary to accommodate programme requirements. The material system allows flexibility for each pod to properly conform to the ridge surface, and to be easily replaced if damaged.