mark southcombe architecture

southcombe design

Landscape and Urban Environments, Sculpture, Installations, Exhibitions, Interiors and Furniture.

DESIGN

At a time of increasing disciplinary specialisation the ability to work tactically across disciplines is key. Mark Southcombe works between the University and associated professional realms, shifting between theory and practice, thinking and doing. Southcombe's work has included holistic design of Exhibitions, Installations, Furniture, Sculpture, Interiors, Landscape and Urban environments. It is most often design led or focused, and is interdisciplinary to achieve applied, integrated design outcomes with communities, colleagues and clients.

Creature,

and See Creature installations exhibited at the Kiwi Prefab 2013, and Lux 2015 lighting festival public exhibitions. Originally initiated in 2011 to demonstrate future potentials of Digital Fabrication linked with file to factory technologies for Prefabrication. located at Puke Ariki New Plymouth, and Opera House Lane, Wellington.

Creature Design Led Research

The design and construction of a digitally fabricated installation linking emerging digital, and file to factory technologies to demonstrate design implications for construction, and construction implications for design inherent within digital mechanical means of architectural production. We intended to illustrate the life like sinuous geometric aesthetic and formal potentials inherent in the linking of complex digital design and digital fabrication. These contrast with the common misconceptions of the prefab box

Kiwi Prefab Exhibition, Puke Ariki New Plymouth, 2013 — Kiwi Prefab Exhibition, Puke Ariki New Plymouth, 2013

www.kiwiprefab.co.nz Commissioned by Victoria University and Puke Ariki especially for the Kiwi Prefab: Cottage to Cutting Edge exhibition, the 'Creature' installation explores how computer-aided design and manufacture can enable complex shapes to be simply and economically made, assembled, and disassembled.

Core site installation team of Luke Southcombe, Jeremy Robinson, David Carlton and Mark Southcombe.

Pulsing Heartbeat and changing colour create illusion of movement and life

Whanganui Gateway,

landscape and Urban design reconnecting people to place. Major Civic Landscaping addressing Civic identity, and mitigation of effects of state highway infrastructure. Wanganui Southern Entry, City Entrance, with Civic Highway Sculpture, Roundabout, and Lighting.

Urban Design, Landscape, Sculpture, Lighting, Infrastructure

Place negotiates object and space, interior and exterior, landscape and architecture, all in relationship to people and culture over time. Working across disciplinary boundaries is often necessary to integrate design outcomes that are able to recognise, respect and actively enhance place qualities and key relationships.

Depth of Shadow,

design led research exemplar, Timber Design Innovation Award, Installation, Screens, and Lightbox.

Innovation Award winning research into applied architectural research by investigating qualities of shade

This research was motivated by observations regarding the relative lack of variation and depth of shade and shadow quality from typical architectural pergolas compared with the richness of shade through a tree canopy prompting the question ‘how might a thin architectural element be designed to provide a variation and depth of shade and shadow that approximated the variation of shade below a tree canopy?’ A design-led research methodology proceeded through several phases. Initial documentation of shade and design experiments occurred followed by a series of iterative screen designs to test their potential to create and filter shade and shadow. Digital simulations confirmed the year round sun shade performance. Scale models and a purpose designed light fitting were made to test the favoured options in terms of the variation in the qualities of shade produced. A full size prototype was constructed to calibrate the design performance against predictions. Research results were published as an academic conference paper, exhibited in the Kiwi Prefab national exhibition at Puke Ariki in 2013. The design became the basis for a simple prefabricated sunscreen system retrofitted to a west facing apartment block terrace in Wellington.

Original prototype sunscreens exhibited at the Kiwi Prefab exhibition Puke Ariki main gallery New Plymouth Nov 2012 - April 2013

Awards Submission 2015. Awarded the 2015 NZ Timber Design Innovation Award.

Lightbox light and shade projection experiments exhibited at the Kiwi Prefab exhibition.

Final Installation on Wellington Apartments.

Whanganui Rivers Edge

Ko au te Awa ko te Awa ko au, I am the River and the River is me.

Whanganui Awa, Wanganui Urban Renewal.

The Whanganui rivers edge experience recreated and reconnected to the city.

Ko au te Awa ko te Awa ko au, I am the River and the River is me. Privileged to have designed and led this catalyst project instrumental in changing Whanganui cities focus positively back to our river.

New Rivers Edge Boardwalk. Designed to work with the rivers moods and seasons. Its already been below water a few times. — New Rivers Edge Boardwalk. Designed to work with the rivers moods and seasons. Its already been below water a few times.

River fresh, and ideal for the rowing crew and ducks

New Zealand's Most Beautiful Street

Ridgway Street, Whanganui won the award for New Zealand’s Most Beautiful Street for 2019 in the ‘Keep New Zealand beautiful’ awards in Dunedin. The urban regeneration including redesigned street complete with the design of all planting, traffic calming and Ridgway Park. The Ridgway pocket park and the landscape played a major role in the award, setting the structure and the landscape to foreground a street of heritage and new buildings. The trees extend to both sides of the street creating the impression that you are driving through a park. A small pavilion is a focus and pivot commemorating the sites history, and linking it to a central carpark beyond.

The Park in the Spring 2019 with a spontaneous family picnic. It has become a local selfie spot where people come to celebrate springtime.

Initial Street Redesign including pocket park

Ramp to the Pavilion in Spring. The key trees are an Aotearoa NZ hybrid called Prunus Awanui

The pavilion with wisteria and recycled bricks

The Pocket Park extends both sides of the street. An impression of driving through a park is created. — The trees and grass from the Pocket Park extend to both sides of the street.

The park in 2000. It is designed to be seasonal and give an extended spring and Autumn through a carefully planned series of trees that flower and loose their leaves in an extended sequence over time.

Looking towards the north facing sunny mound to the lawn.

Spring 2019 looking towards Ridgway Street