Ayesha Javed
Passionate about designing inclusive spaces that focus on user well-being, Ayesha, for her Thesis project designed a community education centre for immigrants. Through research-based design and investigation, Ayesha was inspired to create a space that brings people from around the world together to help eliminate some of the struggles that come with being an immigrant.
Project Overview
Traverse is a community education centre for immigrants specializing in business and IT-related professions. Many immigrants immigrate to Canada and struggle financially due to their educational qualifications not being accepted in Canada which leads to mental and physical health issues. For many countries community is very important, the loss of that can feel very lonely. Therefore, Traverse is designed to provide users with a welcoming experience and a sense of community for all immigrants while providing them with employment and career requalification resources through socialization improving their overall well-being aiming to make their transition into the Canadian workforce a good experience.
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Conceptual Parti Diagrams
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Design Process - Floor plan development process and library form experimentation.
Concept/Design Process
The concept is to create a space that encourages connections and interactions between users. which will provide opportunities to network for potential jobs and career advice while eliminating feelings of financial stress as well as loneliness overall improving user wellbeing. The parti diagrams are elements incorporated in the design to encourage socialization. Research showed that the circular form encourages people to connect with each other to share their knowledge and resources. Circles create a sense of inclusion because In a circle everyone interconnected. They provide a safe space in which people can learn and friendships can start.
Site Plan/Floor Plan(s)
It has two main points of entry: the one on the left is from the parking lot for people who came by car and the one on the bottom is the sidewalk entrance for people who came by public transportation. The reception desk is in the middle of both entries and there is also a café in the corner too. The main focal point is the circular form of the library in the middle. It has 3 openings to create that boundary while also not closing off the library space. There is an overlapping wall on the side of the library where there is recessed seating.
There is a coworking social area with the staircase seating as well as a coworking lounge space where you can do focused group work. Then there is the kid's zone and the washrooms in a central spot so it is accessible to all. Having the kids zone in the back near the lounge space also creates opportunities for people to connect through their kids. The more focused enclosed spaces are separate from the open community spaces with a circular seating area in the center which can be used by users to talk to their peers before/after class.
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Floor Plan
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North Elevation - Showing the stair seating and the slat wall separating the computers with the projector screen. The circles on the wall are recessed LED panels.
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East Elevation - Showing the other side of the stair seating wall. In the middle is the curved recessed seating and the co-working lounge space on the right.
Sections/Elevations
The two elevations provide a good understanding of the connections between all the community co-working spaces..
3D Views
These Renderings provide a good understanding of the different types of spaces the centre has to fit the needs of all users of the space. The library space is made up of four curved shelves that create a circle with a biophilic element tree in the middle right under the skylight where people can sit around and connect with others. The curved overlapping wall with the recessed seating is visible in the back of the library rendering. The community collaboration space can be used as a social area which can also be used as an event space when needed you can just pull down the projector screen. The coworking lounge space is for more focused group work with sofa seating and a custom curved table in front of digital interactive touch screens.
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Inside view of the library
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Community Collaboration Space
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Co-working Lounge
Video/Poster
The walkthrough video provides a good 3D visual of the overall design of the community education centre. The walkthrough video highlights the connection between all the spaces within Traverse.
