Architecture+Design Scotland

Show navigation

The Vine Trust Barge

The Vine Trust is an international, interdenominational, volunteering charity which seeks to enable volunteers to make a real and significant difference to some of the poorest children and communities in the world. The charity run children’s homes for vulnerable and abandoned children found on the streets of Lima, Peru providing them with a family environment and safe passage into adulthood.  Additionally, it has two refitted MOD vessels operating as floating medical centres, providing free health check and dental care to some of the poorest communities living along the Amazon river in South America.

In November 2008, the charity approached Archial to help them refit a third MOD fuel vessel, this time to be located in a permanent mooring in Leith, which, in addition to providing a fundraising centre and accommodation for their staff, would also act as an educational teaching base, connecting school children across Scotland with the plight of street children in Peru.

The ambitious project includes teaching areas, a cinema, exhibition space and a multipurpose outdoor performance stage, as well as office accommodation for the Trust. Thanks to the generosity of Forth Ports, the charity has secured free mooring in front of the historic Port Authority Building at Leith Docks for the next 25 years.

As this was a charitable project, Archial’s Glasgow Office (Project Architects were Neil Harper, Chris Collins and Colin McNeish) donated their services free of charge for the duration of the three year project and encouraged a number of other key consultants and material suppliers from the local area to do the same.

The project was completed in September 2011 and opened by HRH Princess Royal. On Friday evening (11/11/11) Archial was presented with a GIA Award for Education.

Meeting the Brief

The initial brief required space for 4-5 staff members, a reception area, a flexible meeting space and small teaching area complete with cinema presentation space. Beyond this, the client engaged the advice of Archial to design the remainder of the brief to best suit the charity.

An initial survey of the tired hull suggested that a two level solution could be accommodated but owing to restricted height in the centre of the lower deck, it was determined that teaching and office accommodation would be better located at either end where head room was enhanced.

The existing upper deck provided a challenge in that it tapered from a centre-line (running stern to bow) to the port and starboard sides, allowing water drainage. Longitudinally, it followed the section profile of the hull, making it unusable as a basis to form a new floor. Removal of this floor was not an option as it provided a structural integrity to the existing hull.

A design solution was proposed showing a new level access floor from the highest point on the rear of the vessel, with the space generated between the existing and new floor retained for servicing. This also allowed the ceiling profile of the lower deck to be kept to a minimum thus maintaining maximum ceiling height in the lower deck. Furthermore it was agreed early on with the client that the vessel should be fully accessible to all with the design including a platform lift for access to the lower deck.

Spatial Arrangement

The design shows a subtle delineation in the plan between public education and teaching areas aft of the reception area, and the private office based accommodation for the Trust’s staff to the stern. The simplicity of the circulation flow and the flexibility of both the indoor and outdoor areas maximise the use of space and learning opportunities that can be offered by the Trust. The arrangement of the vessel was designed to allow a natural flow of visitors from entrance on the upper deck down into the heart of the vessel where the cinema, and main education base are located.

The arrangement was designed around the access to light, with the centre of the vessel housing the darker cinema and storage areas. Six refurbished salvage portholes were installed to the side of the vessel allowing light to flood the open plan kitchen and illuminate the central corridor beyond.

Sections

Plans

The private staff areas to the rear (stern) were deliberately located to exploit the greater ceiling height in the existing section and the north facing aspect. The split level in the lower main office was introduced to work with the taper of the rear hull and maximise the space available. New panoramic window insertions to the rear and both sides of the hull flood the room with light and provide views to the neighbouring docks. Above, the conference room opens out onto the existing deck where the new and old levels meet.

At the front, bow area Archial proposed a sheltered outdoor stage area exploiting the sectional arrangement. Sliding concertina glass doors from the educational room in the lower deck allow visitors access to the small stage area, which can be viewed from both the lower deck and open-able upper exhibition area..

Combined with the upper deck exhibition space, the staged area will provide an additional potential income stream during the Edinburgh Summer Arts Festival for the Trust, as bespoke rentable space for performances, as well as an area for informal dining, and outdoor activities reaching beyond the extents of the classroom.

Materiality

The material palette proposed was deliberately restrained and chosen for a marine based building and explored variations of timber and glass offering a control on the levels of visual amenity to the social and private spaces within the vessel. The changing orientation and transparency of the timber material from the gallery at the front to the office cube to the rear relates to the change of activity beyond the outer walls.

The choice of western red cedar for the fins and open slatted cube to the rear provided soft warmth to the project and allowed a level of flexibility and refinement in the external fin frame design. Its resistance to warping allowed Archial to design the fins at minimal thickness along the length of the gallery edge whilst it’s inherent material properties eliminated the need for annual treatment and maintenance.

Realising the architectural vision agreed with the client was often challenged on site by the reality that the programme and project material palette would be affected by donations of materials and offers of site labour from contributors to the project. Through negotiations with contacts from previous jobs, Archial and the rest of the design team were able to encourage the help of other key material suppliers and design team members to help realise the project largely to its original design.

Unique design solutions were engineered between the design and site teams to allow standard off the shelf or used components to be ‘upcycled’, ensuring the project retained its intended level of quality in both design and workmanship. Ultimately this collaborative approach to the project between all members of the design and site team allowed the project to be completed to a high standard of design and finish much to the delight of the Vine Trust.

All images © Archial