Apparat
« A large multi-purpose complex in a modern neoclassical style »
Arriving at a harmonious classical composition out of the tangle of disparate volumes the brief demanded.
Set on the outskirts of Mandalay, Myanmar, this project began with a client who wanted to turn an unused plot on a strategic road corridor into an events complex suited above all to the holding and celebration of weddings. The client wanted a multi-purpose complex where the couple and their families could meet every need: a photo and video studio for shoots, three ballrooms that can be joined into one for a total capacity of 1,200 guests, a café to rest between activities or simply enjoy the place, hotel rooms, a restaurant and a sky bar for smaller, more informal gatherings — along with all the back-of-house functions such a complex requires. The difficulty lay in organising flows and functions on a long but narrow plot.
The plot's modest relative dimensions led to stacking the functions one above another. Optimising vertical and horizontal circulation, and meeting fire-safety requirements, dictated many of the organisational choices. After several iterations the client called for a neoclassical aesthetic, in keeping with Burmese taste in the matter. From then on the task was to propose a composition classical in spirit but modern in its details, under one strong constraint: to clothe the sometimes bare masses of the programme's functions.
II.01
Mandalay region, Myanmar — locating the project site
This first map locates the project at the scale of Myanmar's northern provinces.
II.02
Land-use map and project site
This second map shows how the site sits within its urban setting, on land immediately adjacent to farmland. It clearly identifies the road corridor south of the plot as strategic, linking the site to the heart of Mandalay and to the surrounding provinces. Beyond the fields, the land is largely residential.
II.03
Diagrammatic master plan
This diagrammatic master plan shows at a glance how the project sits on its plot, in relation to the main circulation routes and the path of the sun. A first constraint was to connect the road entrance to the car park at the far end of the plot while taking up as little buildable ground as possible — yet still fitting in two well-made drop-offs.
III.01
Basement plan
The basement is in fact only half buried, to limit costs and, in passing, to raise the ballrooms above it — for a more theatrical arrival from the road. It holds all the back-of-house functions. To the north, a long corridor handles deliveries from the loading platform. The eastern part takes the kitchens used by caterers during weddings and the spaces the hotel needs to operate; the western part, reached by two grand staircases, holds the washrooms.
III.02
Ground-floor plan, northern part
Because the southern part of the complex is raised half a level, the ground floor is split in two. The northern part sits at road level. From north to south it holds the photo studio, arranged as three rooms around a central garden; on the garden's south side, the café, reached from the crescent-shaped drop-off. That same circular drop-off also serves the 400 m² video studio and, further south, the hotel lobby.
III.03
Ground-floor plan, southern part
The southern part of the ground floor is raised above the road. Two facing staircases lead to the covered walkway serving the reception halls. Two grand spiral stairs, with a glazed lift at their centre, provide a visual anchor and at the same time separate the three rooms of differing capacity. By swinging large track-mounted panels back against the walls, the space is freed for a single-room configuration seating 1,200 guests. Alcoves allow stages to be set up, while the three rooms are served by a service corridor whose access points are deliberately concealed.
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First-floor plan
The first floor, a kind of mezzanine suspended above the reception halls, lets the couple and their families change between the moments of the day. It also holds the technical control rooms, with a commanding view over the hall and the stage.
III.05
Second-floor plan
The second-floor slab is carried by a set of structural grids with deep beams, spanning the 27 m of the ballrooms below. Around a large planted central patio sit the hotel rooms — premium and standard — training spaces for the wedding trades, and a high-end restaurant with its kitchen.
III.06
Third-floor plan
The third floor holds the sky bar, completing the dining offer of the level below. It is reached from the restaurant by a grand curved staircase set behind a tall double-height window overlooking the patio. Fully glazed, the sky bar opens magnificent views of Mandalay and the surrounding mountains on all four sides.
IV.01
Proposal for the main façade elevation
This coloured sketch, drawn on a graphics tablet, marks the shift of architectural intent toward a resolutely classical, Renaissance-inflected language. The task was a hard one: to arrive at a harmonious classical composition out of the tangle of disparate volumes the brief demanded.
IV.02
A complex visual balance demanded by the brief
View of the complex from the north-west. In the foreground, the circular drop-off and its hanging planted terraces, surmounted by the large volume of the video studio, 13 m high, above which the premium hotel rooms and their Renaissance-inspired loggia come to a peak.
IV.03
The complex seen from the south-west corner
This view from the south-west corner shows the southern façade, which faces the road. The whole challenge was to clothe an essentially blank elevation. The upper arcades correspond to the restaurant and the sky bar. On the left rises the mass of the canopy sheltering the drop-off, flanked by the two lateral projections that mark the position of the stairs.
IV.04
The main drop-off and its grand entrance
This close, eye-level view shows the relationship of masses between the canopy and the projecting volumes of the stairs. To contrast with the alabaster whiteness of the rendered walls, we chose a heavier brick base, recalling that central element of Burmese architecture.
IV.05
Illustrated aerial view of the complex from the north-west
This aerial view from the north-west corner makes the assembly of masses and functions clearer. From the north, on the car-park side, moving south: the vast Renaissance-style photo studio, the café with its green roof, the cubic mass of the video studio, then the volume holding the ballrooms and reception halls — with the canopy visible on the right — and finally the highest floor, that of the sky bar.