School as ‘Micro-city’ for the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Pupil

As architects and designers we have a responsibility to provide an inclusive built environment. For the person with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) however, the built environment can be a frightening and confusing place, difficult to negotiate and tolerate. The challenge of integrating more fully into society is denied by both having difficulty in communication and in an alienating built environment. The following paper therefore firstly outlines the challenge when designing for those with ASD. It then illustrates, by critically examining the school as a 'micro-city' (Hertzberger 2008) that a voice can be given to those with ASD. It then goes onto highlight, through two case studies in an Irish context, some of the lessons that can be learnt from pupils with ASD that are applicable to the city beyond. Finally in conclusion it suggests some of the benefits for an enriched built environment for all, when listening to the pupil with ASD. The objective is twofold; firstly to gain a better understanding of the needs of those with ASD and secondly, to ascertain what can be learnt from those with ASD that can challenge our perception of not just school, but also of the city.

‘”Like an Old Cathedral City”: Belfast Welcomes Queen Victoria, August 1849’,

Belfast, with its history of communal violence, is normally seen as lying outside the mainstream of nineteenth-century British urban development. The visit of Queen Victoria in 1849 suggests a more complex, less linear picture. What emerges is an urban identity in transition, in which aspirations to conform to an ideal of civic harmony temporarily overrode acute sectarian and political divisions, where pride in recent economic achievement sat uneasily alongside an awareness of the town’s newcomer status, and where an emerging sense of regional difference competed with a continuing assumption of Irish identity.

Church of St George and St Thomas

Abstract: A vibrant inner city parish needed space for meetings, language classes, children’s play and other support accommodation as well as a clearer link between the interior of the listed church and the space outside.

The project builds itself about the entrance to the church. The form is manipulated such that the intervention recedes from those entering the church, drawing them into the plan before becoming readable as an addition. The resultant poché between this entrance sequence and the fabric of the church is hollowed out to provide the required accommodation. These rooms are insulated and lined in cork to allow for their use separate to the main body of the church. With budget at a premium the construction methodology was developed from an analysis of traditional Irish boat building techniques, which allowed the use of the solid timber to act as the primary structure with no additional material support.

Constructed in solid walnut the intervention reads with the existing brick interior and yet is clearly identifiable as a contemporary addition.

Aims / Objectives Questions

1 To accommodate new space inside an existing protected structure.
2 To form a new threshold between interior and exterior.
3 To develop an affordable means of construction that would be durable and rapid to erect.
4 To make a contemporary addition in sympathy with the qualities of the existing protect structure, in line with best conservation practice and research.
5 Traditional forms of construction as a model for contemporary technologies.