Over two million people arrived and departed Plymouth Train Station during 2007 – 2008 (Delta Rail). Visitors have commented that “an incredibly poor sense of arrival” is created and that "at present, you come out of the station and you don't know where you are. You're immediately disorientated". The local council would like to increase passenger numbers within the near future, so the sense of arrival and direction to the City Center needs to be greatly improved.
My design addresses these issues by means of wayfinding techniques by guiding people from the Train Station to the City Center. From investigating into the heart, pulse and circulation system; I have designed a Public Navigation Filter which has the following key elements:
Light Navigation: Lights are inserted at intervals along the main route in the existing paving from the Train Station to the City Center. Pressure Pads titled with ‘CITY CENTER’ when stepped on activate the light directing the user to the next point. This process is repeated throughout the route. Electricity is supplied to the Lights through Solar Panels within the lights.
Filter Tunnels: Tunnels are located in places where there is a change in direction or where the user needs safe passage, for example over a road. There are four tunnels along the route in total. Constructed from a metal frame which supports a planar glazing inner skin and black PVC coated polyester fabric outer skin, the pulsating structure has been developed from investigation into the heart and the circulation system. The two skins represent the growth and redevelopment Plymouth has gone through; the older more fragile glass skin encased in the new fabric outer skin of the present.
History of Plymouth’s Redevelopment: As the user walks through the Navigation Filters they will walk though imagery of the redevelopment of the site around them. The journey takes the user through past imagery and then into present imagery of the site, finally emerging into reality. The imagery is projected at points in the tunnels, semi transparent enabling the user to see through the layers of imagery. This element of my design gives the visitors to the city an account of Plymouth’s history connecting them briefly to the City.
