SOAR TREETOPS
Soar Treetops is a proposal for a sustainable, alternative housing island located on the River Soar in Leicester. The island will be completely independent from the 'mainland' and will be entirely self-sufficient and eco friendly
Currently most people under 30 struggle to own their own property or run their own business, this proposal addresses both those issues and allow groups of recent creative graduates from the nearby De Montfort University to build their own home and run their own business for less money than an average mortgage.
Soar Treetops will home 17 individuals who specialise in either fashion, crafts, music, or writing that will support the islands venue by supplying scripts, set designs, and costume designs, as well as selling individual pieces and helping run the islands other businesses.
The housing is located on stilts along the two long edges of the island and is connected by a series of walkways, creating a private community in the air. Due to its self-build nature each home is fully customizable and constructed with the future in mind, being fully recyclable and easily extended. The island produces its own food, power, clean water and even its own economy through a variety of businesses all run by the islands inhabitants.
The Master Plan
This proposal see's the island become an island of performance with a 150-200 seat venue (blue) and a large outdoor stage (blue), including a viewing platform with panoramic views over the whole of Leicester.
Directly opposite the venue, on the south-west edge of the island is an information cafe (orange) that acts as a secondary source of revenue for the island through the sale of food and drink as well as donations made towards to island within the museum section of the building.
Just north of the venue and cafe is the town square of the island. The square is enclosed by the islands workshops/popup shops (pink). And the islands greenhouses and centre piece of tiered allotments (pale green).
Behind the public square is a second square designed for the residents, it is where they will construct their homes before they are lifted onto the stilts by a crane. At the back of this square is a community building that the residents will to gather in large groups to socialise and dine together (cyan).
The northern third of the island will be maintained as natural woodland to allow the ecology of the island to continue to thrive. However one addition will be made in the form of a secret lookout (red). It is an elevated platform designed to be used as an alternative workspace that will lift the user into the canopy of the trees offering a unique atmosphere, accompanied by the sound provided by the running water of the weir below will help boost creativity among the islands residents.
The housing of the island will be along the two edges of the island (circled in red). A treetop community will be made in the air and each individual housing unit will be customised and extended in various modules.
Housing
The housing will be located on stilts around the two long edges of the island. The houses will be connected by a series of walkways that will create a private community in the air away from the public access through the island on the ground. This height will also offer great views in every direction. The houses will be self-built by residents and as such each house will be customised by the owner. There is no set floor plan, instead the occupants will initially be given a 6m x 6m x 6m space and they can decide where and what size each room could be, whether they want one or two floors or a mezzanine. As well as customisable floor plans the window placements and exterior cladding will be all be selected by the individuals. Initially the stilts will be erected, then the housing units will be constructed on the ground before being lifted into place by a crane.
Extensions of the homes will also be heavily encouraged and the panel system used to construct the houses will allow for walls to be lifted out of place and a prefabricated self-built extension to be attached in its place. This extendibility will allow for the houses to develop alongside their owner’s maturity. As the people living on the island will all be recent graduates the majority of them will be in their early twenties, and will move away from the island in their late twenties. Peoples circumstances and requirements are likely to change dramatically in these years and may find they need more space for work / hobbies, or they may get married or have children and as such will need to extend their house so that they have enough room for partner’s to move in or for children to happily grow up.
Sustainability
The Silo Conversion - Free Food and Free Water
Originally on the site was the remains of an old concrete factory, included in these remains were two old steel silos, instead of removing these two structure completely they were re-purposed as a series of tiered allotments. The old steel panels were replaced with ETFE panels which turned the two large structures into vertical greenhouses.
A further step was taken by implementing 'The Living Machine'. This environmentally friendly machine filters all the water used in the islands buildings through the allotments and creates an endless supply of clean non potable water. Between the two silo allotments and the two greenhouses, the entire island is supplied with fruit, veg and water all year round.
Power - Solar Panels
All of the power needed on the island will be generated using the series of solar panels located on the roofs of most of the buildings. This will generate all the electricity needed to light, power and heat all of the buildings, with the possibility to sell the excess to the National Grid.
Aaron Hodges - Proudly created with Wix.com