Drone Racing and Virtual Reality Games in Studioshaw’s Winning Proposal for Dundee’s Waterfront Regeneration
London-based Studioshaw wins a competition, sponsored by the Dundee Institute of Architects (DIA) and the Scottish Enterprise, to generate a design idea for a public facility for children and youth at the Digital Media Park in Seabraes Yards, a waterfront area in Dundee, Scotland. Studioshaw’s winning proposal includes open-air spaces for racing drones and prototyping virtual-reality games. The project will be part of a £1billion regeneration plan for Dundee’s waterfront to match the city’s evolving digital media and cultural industries. It will be located in District 10, near Richard Murphy’s Dundee Contemporary Arts Center and Kengo Kuma’s V&A Dundee, still under construction.
Courtesy of Studioshaw
Studioshaw’s proposal will, also, include outdoor digital screens for local theater companies to display their productions. The architects explained the idea behind their proposal by saying: “We thought long and hard about how to capitalize on the city’s thriving creative industries and also create a fun and dynamic space to host activities such as drone racing and outdoor digital theatre.”
The outdoor activities will take place in a triangular courtyard six steps below ground level. The courtyard will be protected from above by a large roof, and from the sides by blinds, curtains, and shipping-container pavilions. The pavilions will be hosting various social activities, bars, and restaurants.
Courtesy of Studioshaw
The project will also include, besides the courtyard, a tower for offices and meeting spaces dedicated to workers in the field of technology. Stacked shipping containers will constitute the tower, which is to become a venue for the exchange of ideas and a landmark for the district, viewing the city center.
The jurors of the Seabraes Yards Sketch Design Contest commended the proposal for being highly imaginative and unique for the city. The DIA’s Ged Young explained, “Studioshaw’s proposal, also, recognized the way the site could be enhanced when related to adjacent proposed and completed architecture by continuing a plug and play approach to development.” He continued, “The architects’ hybrid solution of ‘pod’ built pavilion and delicately balanced gathering space was considered strong, industrial and without compromise and was our clear winner.”
