W o o d S t r e e t, L i v e r p o o l
When the merchants vacated their warehouses in the early 19th century on Wood Street the first resident of this site was an electrician. Liverpool has a series of firsts in relation to electricity including the worlds first electric overhead railway and the impact of electric lighting on people lives and the workings of a city was obviously huge. So proposed for the site was a exhibition space dedicated to the impact of electricity on Liverpool.
Form inspired by the natural creation of electricity in lightning. The circulation through the exhibition would occur through the existing fabric of the warehouse which consisted of two facing masses. Circulation would occur in opposite directions in each mass to represent the opposing charges in storm clouds. A void in the centre would separate the existing masses and the 'jumping' roof structure would represent the electrical charge generated by the polarity difference in the charged masses on each side.
The roof's angles would be used to track sunlight throughout the seasons as well as each day to direct natural light into the most central space symbolising the gift of light the original light bulb would have given to an internal space with no source of natural light.
