Birnbeck Island

WESTON-SUPER-MARE, UK, RIBA / Urban Splash
1 Oct 2007



EN   IT


The project is born out of the existing piers and buildings. Like a naval vessel, a curved basement embraces the diverse elements of Birnbeck Island.


Eugenius Birch, Birnbeck Island, Weston-Super-Mare, 1866. Photography: 1890.

Eugenius Birch, Birnbeck Island, Weston-Super-Mare, 1866. Photography: 1890.


Antonino Cardillo, Birnbeck Island, [masterplan], Weston-Super-Mare, 2007.

Antonino Cardillo, Birnbeck Island, [masterplan], Weston-Super-Mare, 2007.



Constructed five metres beneath the main pier, the basement is accessible from a ramp near the gate of the island. Its sequence of spaces links all the buildings on the island from below. The vessel design counterpoints the new tall buildings, in plan oriented following the orthogonal reference system created through existing signs. Two different materials divide these building surfaces: concrete at the bottom and planking at the top. The method of occupying the void synthesises diverse schemes: tower, linear, cantilever and gate. In each of their narrow frontages, at the top, a big window marks the seascape creating a panorama like multitude of lighthouses.


Antonino Cardillo, Birnbeck Island, RIBA, Weston-Super-Mare, 2007. CGI: Antonino Cardillo.


Antonino Cardillo, Birnbeck Island, RIBA, Weston-Super-Mare, 2007. CGI: Antonino Cardillo.


Antonino Cardillo, Birnbeck Island, RIBA, Weston-Super-Mare, 2007. CGI: Antonino Cardillo.

Antonino Cardillo, Birnbeck Island , Weston-Super-Mare, RIBA, Urban Splash, 2007. CGI: Antonino Cardillo.






Data


Time: Oct 2007
Place: Birnbeck Island, Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset, UK






Credits


Clients: RIBA, Urban Splash
Architect: Antonino Cardillo
Computer-generated imagery: Antonino Cardillo
Text: Antonino Cardillo
English translator: Charles Searson






Bibliography


STEPHEN HODGE
The Masterplan, London: Sternberg Press, Sep 2012, fig. 13.

ANTONINO CARDILLO
build Das Architekten-Magazin, no. 4/10, interviewed by Ralf Broekman and Olaf Winkler, Wuppertal, Aug 2010, pp. 41.

XING RIHAN (ed.)
New Concept Architecture, vol. II, Hong Kong: Rihan, Jun 2010, pp. 230–233.

ANTONINO CARDILLO
Landscape Design, no. 33, interviewed by LD, Beijing, May 2009, pp. 96–99.

El Beit, Cairo, May 2008, p. 13.

ANTONINO CARDILLO
L’Arca, no. 235, Milan, Apr 2008, p. 99.

ANTONINO CARDILLO
Architectural Dialog 08, [exhibition], St-Petersburg, Artindex, Mar–Nov 2008.

ANTONINO CARDILLO
worldarchitecturenews.com, London, 22 Jan 2008.