West Dean College Gardens Visitor’s Center – Structural Columns: Photographs of mock-ups

01/03/1995

Mock-up

Images of four columns mock-ups built out of cardboard for testing its shape and height, as well as shape and size of its capital. The last photo shows the column with the capital used in the building. .

Photographer:

Christopher Alexander/C.E.S., Near Chichester, West Sussex, U.K.

Source:

Digital

Characteristics:

Color

Content of

Construction Innovation

West Dean College Gardens Visitor's Center: Structural columns 1994

Construction System, Reinforced Concrete

Created by:

Christopher Alexander, John Hewitt

Columns to support the arches in the cross-walls; low columns with simple capitals resting on the thick walls. Arriving at the proper shape and size of the column capital was an arduous process, since the arches are low, with their ...

Contents

Photographs

SEE ALL Photographs

References

Scientific Research

Projects

West Dean College Gardens Visitor's Center 1994 to 1996

Near Chichester, West Sussex, U.K.

Civic, Realized , Construction completed in Nov. 1995

Client:

Edward James Foundation

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, John Hewitt, students from "The Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture", students from Portsmouth University

Contractor:

Center for Environmetal Structure, as Management Contractor and General Contractor of record, with John Hewitt as Project Manager

Project stages:

Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Use of full scale mock-ups Design Development and Building Permit drawings done after layout Direct construction management and on-site design decisions Budget and subcontractors under C.E.S. control Innovativ

The West Dean Center is a simple one-story masonry building with a large red-tiled roof and intricate brickwork for its thick walls. The building is surrounded by gardens, and its south facing wall has large arched windows overlooking the garden ...