site un-adjustment

April 3rd, 2011 | Richard Almond

The issue of site has continued to crop up since I decided to move piers a few months back. Most recently in my penultimate review, critics felt unanimously that my site should be the more westerly pier on which I originally chose to work. Many of the reasons for which I decided to switch to Ingólfsgarður have proven to become somewhat redundant as the project has progressed, and therefore I am deciding to re-adjust back to my previous site.

Of course the beauty of a floating building is that it can simply be towed across the water, the move itself will require only minimal redesigning of the building and so will still be feasible at this late stage. The issue of access to the site across a public square will have to be considered, yet I do feel the problem could be solved elegantly. For a project aiming to extend the public realm into the water, it seems logical for its siting just off a public square, and completely illogical for it to be hidden away behind the most prominent building in Reykjavik. The issue of access to open water for the boats will be aided through cutting back Ingólfsgarður to a size more akin to the planned smaller marina piers along the southern edge of the harbour. All in all this is the correct decision and one I feel very confident about.