Visual Analysis of the Impact on Waterfronts Development - Assignment Example

? Visual Impact Analysis number Publish Executive Summary Visual impact assessment was carried out to gauge the visual effects of building a twenty seven storey hotel at 41 Wharf Street, Dunedin. The application of various visual methods and techniques led to the results that the proposed construction would add positive visual appeal to the area. In addition, assessment allowed a realisation that the proposed construction would increase the overall visual appeal of Dunedin by providing it with a contemporary visual symbol. The subject is introduced below along with the application of key visual methods and techniques. The roles of various team members for visual impact assessment are listed. Moreover, the group approach and its various shortcomings have been highlighted to allow for further research in the subject area. Introduction Developments along waterfronts bring the opportunity of enriching a facade while also posing several visual complications. Waterfront developments may provoke both praise and criticism, especially, in context of the local community. The current report concerns proposed waterfront development along the Otago Harbour that would impinge the existing visual arrangement. There is a growing body of knowledge that requires expert visual assessment in addition to other evaluations of development (Churchwood, 2013, p. 15) (Shepherd, 2002, p. 40). The contention is to assess the overall visual impact of the proposed development as an expert eyewitness and to see if the proposed development would add to or abrade the existing visual arrangement. Local developers are plying for the development of a twenty seven storey hotel, located at 41 Wharf Street, which lies along the waterfront in Dunedin (Porteous, 2013). The proposed location lies on one of the most visually critical areas of the harbour. The deepest portion of the local harbour ends in the location that the proposed hotel will be developed on. The erection of a visually prominent building in this location will mar the waterfront as well as the areas in front and behind the proposed location. There is a need to deeply investigate how the presence of a twenty seven storey hotel would affect the visual elements in the harbour and around it. The non commercial visual appeal of Dunedin would be affected by the presence of the new hotel and would add more contemporary tones to Dunedin’s visual appeal. This paper would look into the various visual elements and aspects of the proposed development but such an investigation would not be highly detailed at this stage. More research may be required later in order to substantiate or invalidate the findings of this research. Discussion of Group Issues The proposed twenty seven storey hotel at 41 Wharf Street in Dunedin is expected to add to the visual appeal of the adjoining areas. Overall, the construction of the hotel at the proposed location would leave a positive visual impact as it would provide a new perspective on defining Dunedin. At present, Dunedin does not have too many high rise buildings. In turn, this produces a small town outlook. The addition of a new high rise building to the town’s waterfront would allow the addition of a new visual symbol that would symbolise the potential for growth in Dunedin. The size of the proposed hotel would override any existing building in the immediate vicinity of the proposed location. There is little room for doubt that the proposed hotel would stick out in its surroundings and in the context of Dunedin. Support for the creation of the hotel stems from its undeniable visual appeal. On the other hand, arguments against the proposed development would also stem from the gigantic visual smear left by the development on Dunedin (The Southland Times, 2013). To understand how the proposed development would visually benefit Dunedin, it is necessary to investigate the location more. The figure below shows the waterfront of Dunedin with special emphasis on Wharf Street. Currently, Wharf Street houses smaller buildings that date from a few decades ago. Only a few recently constructed buildings line Wharf Street. As seen in the figure below, Wharf Street snakes through built up areas to its north and to its south. Any developments in these regions would be eclipsed by already existing buildings. However, the central portion of Wharf Street lies on the mouth of the harbour and provides for a location that gives a clear view of the proposed hotel from the shoreline. The important part to realise is the appeal of a high rise at night time as viewed from the water course leading to the harbour. The proposed hotel is expected to bring in new tourists who would be awestruck by a prominent visual symbol at the mouth of the harbour. This is complemented by the fact that tourists would land nearby, either at the heliport or at the jetty, both of which lie relatively close to the proposed location. Figure 1 - Wharf Street in relation to Dunedin's water lines sourced from (Google Maps, 2013) A more detailed view of the proposed site is provided in Figure 2 below. As can be seen in the figure, the proposed location lies at an arm’s length from the actual water line. Wharf Street separates the proposed hotel site and the water front, including the jetty to the south east of the proposed location. Moreover, there are no other high rise buildings in the immediate vicinity of the proposed location, whether to the north, south or the west. The image of a high rise hotel, surrounded by dwarfed buildings would present a post modern landscape. The proposed building and its surroundings are comparable to a tree in the grass. The hotel building would serve as the prominent tree while its surroundings would depict grass, in a post modern expression of urban life. Another interesting feature is the presence of numerous warehouses along the waterfront in the vicinity of the proposed location. The entire area, including the proposed location, provides the look of an industrial area. This provides the developer the opportunity to bring out various aspects of Dunedin in a visual manner. The proposed hotel would represent the newly emerging Dunedin while the industrial buildings in the vicinity would represent the old and maturing Dunedin. Figure 2 - Close up of the proposed location, 41 Wharf Street, Dunedin sourced from (Dunedin Stadium, 2013) In addition, the twenty seven storey hotel would allow the visitors to enjoy many of the area’s landscaped attractions from the hotel. The height of the hotel would allow the visitors to enjoy views from the Dunedin Chinese Garden and the Queens Garden. On another note, the proposed location is shaped in the form of a yacht. The figure shown below elucidates the shape and the dimensions of the plot. Figure 3 - Plot plan of the proposed location, 41 Wharf Street, Dunedin sourced from (QV, 2013) This provides the opportunity to develop the entire property shaped as a yacht to provide a boating based theme. In addition, a boating marina (sample shown in Appendix A) in front of the proposed hotel would add to the overall visual appeal of the proposed hotel. This would not only provide a positive visual impact but would also significantly improve the current visual properties of the proposed location’s vicinity. The development of the hotel provides a momentous chance to change the area’s visual outlook from an industrial backwater to a commercial success symbolizing the best of what Dunedin has to offer. Detailed Discussion of Roles The visual impact assessment was carried out by a team of four people headed by the author in the role of an expert witness. The other members of the team were part of civil society as well as students. As the expert witness, the author was responsible for investigating various options that could emerge from the construction of a twenty seven storey hotel at 41, Wharf Street, Dunedin. Other members of the team were tasked by the author to carry out some of the primary research and secondary research in order to decipher the visual impacts of the proposed construction. The author visited the site repeatedly from both the roads and the waterfront in order to gauge the visual impact of a high rise construction at the proposed location. A number of visits were carried out at night in order to realise how the waterfront would be affected at night, especially from the water course approach. A number of photographs of the site from various angles were obtained and already built buildings were superimposed on these in order to see the complete visual impact of the said construction. Critical Review of Group Approach The group approach for the current visual impact assessment can be seen as an initial undertaking in a much larger requirement for evaluation. The group’s efforts in this visual impact assessment were aimed at identifying major visual changes using only primitive methods and tools. While this produced significant findings, there is still need for more work to be done, especially in regard to photomontages. It is felt that more detailed photomontages are required from various angles around the proposed site in order to decipher how the area would be visually impacted in detail. Conclusion The visual impact assessment carried out above provides that a twenty seven storey hotel at the proposed location would add positively to the visual appeal of the immediate vicinity and to the Dunedin area as a whole. The current study has remained focused on the visual appeal and visual impacts using the roads leading to Wharf Street and the water course leading to the proposed location. More efforts would be required to pursue aerial surveys of the location and to evaluate how the proposed area would be affected when viewed from the air. Also, the idea that the development should be shaped as a yacht needs to be evaluated along with the possibility of a boat marina at the south eastern waterfront near the proposed location. The current visual impact assessment positively espouses the construction of a twenty seven storey hotel at 41 Wharf Street, Dunedin since it adds positively to the visual appeal of the entire area. The developer should be allowed to select designs and proceed with construction at the earliest to allow Dunedin to join the contemporary world in terms of visual settings. Bibliography Churchwood, C. (2013). Evaluation of Methodologies for Visual Impact Assessments. Washington, D. C.: Transportation Research Board. Dunedin Stadium. (2013, August 27). 41 Wharf Street — DCC ends debacle. Retrieved October 30, 2013, from Dunedin Stadium: http://dunedinstadium.wordpress.com/tag/41-wharf-street-dunedin/ Google Maps. (2013). Dunedin. Retrieved October 31, 2013, from Google Maps: https://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&channel=rcs&q=dunedin+new+zealand&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0xa82be4e00f5f513d:0x500ef8684799941,Dunedin,+New+Zealand&gl=pk&ei=B1RyUufHCInM0QX17YDADQ&ved=0CJIBELYD Porteous, D. (2013, August 27). Apology, payout to developer. Retrieved October 30, 2013, from ODT: http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/270489/apology-payout-developer QV. (2013). 41 Wharf Street, Dunedin Central, Dunedin. Retrieved October 31, 2013, from QV: http://www.qv.co.nz/property/property-details/41-wharf-street/1407780 Shepherd, A. (2002). Careers Working Outdoors. New York: Kogan Page. The Southland Times. (2013, April 19). Wharf Street Hotel: time for some answers . Retrieved October 31, 2013, from Stuff: http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/opinion/8572138/Wharf-Street-Hotel-time-for-some-answers Wyatt, A. (2010). Mornington Safe Harbour: Expert Visual Statement. Mornington: ERM. Appendices Appendix A – Sample Boating Marina Read More