Clayburn Company Limited Brick Plant Park & Visitor Centre

This thesis explores the issues surrounding the ruins of the Clayburn Company Ltd. Since its demolition in 1930, the original source of pride and income for the company town has become more and more invisible except in the memories of some long-term residents. Now that the village is populated by...

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Main Author: Houwen, Susanna Clemas
Format: Others
Language:English
Published: 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2429/8152
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spelling ndltd-UBC-oai-circle.library.ubc.ca-2429-81522018-01-05T17:34:02Z Clayburn Company Limited Brick Plant Park & Visitor Centre Houwen, Susanna Clemas Clayburn Company Brickworks -- British Columbia -- Clayburn -- History Visitors’ centers -- British Columbia -- Designs and plans Clayburn (B.C.) -- History This thesis explores the issues surrounding the ruins of the Clayburn Company Ltd. Since its demolition in 1930, the original source of pride and income for the company town has become more and more invisible except in the memories of some long-term residents. Now that the village is populated by a new generation that wishes to rejuvenate and adopt the idealistic past of Clayburn Village, interest has turned to the overgrown lot where the factory once stood. For the rest of the village, the path to revitalizing Clayburn Village has been obvious. Many of the most important houses and three non-residential structures still stand and have been restored. However, only traces of the brick factory remain, leaving the options about how to pay homage more various and less obvious. This paper relates a history of Clayburn, then explores the construction of histories and the importance of artifacts to support those histories. In this case the artifacts in question are buildings. Current actions being taken to restore the built heritage of the village demonstrate the commitment on the part of residents to that means of preserving their history. Possible options are explored, from low to high levels of intervention, ranging from leaving the ruins to the attrition of time, until they finally dissolve, to building directly over the ruins with an obviously new building. The proposed plan for the site takes a stance between these two extremes. The program for the site includes a visitor's centre of modern design, that is not located where buildings previously existed, and landscape elements that mark the former locations of brick plant buildings. A careful weighing of several criteria, including the desire to impart as much information as possible, while not confusing the visitor as to antiquity or detracting from the future use of the site as a green space, resulted in the final design. The value of the experience of the ruins as a project in progress was also felt to be important. Applied Science, Faculty of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of Graduate 2009-05-25T20:20:30Z 2009-05-25T20:20:30Z 1998 1998-11 Text Thesis/Dissertation http://hdl.handle.net/2429/8152 eng For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. 19384874 bytes application/pdf
collection NDLTD
language English
format Others
sources NDLTD
topic Clayburn Company
Brickworks -- British Columbia -- Clayburn -- History
Visitors’ centers -- British Columbia -- Designs and plans
Clayburn (B.C.) -- History
spellingShingle Clayburn Company
Brickworks -- British Columbia -- Clayburn -- History
Visitors’ centers -- British Columbia -- Designs and plans
Clayburn (B.C.) -- History
Houwen, Susanna Clemas
Clayburn Company Limited Brick Plant Park & Visitor Centre
description This thesis explores the issues surrounding the ruins of the Clayburn Company Ltd. Since its demolition in 1930, the original source of pride and income for the company town has become more and more invisible except in the memories of some long-term residents. Now that the village is populated by a new generation that wishes to rejuvenate and adopt the idealistic past of Clayburn Village, interest has turned to the overgrown lot where the factory once stood. For the rest of the village, the path to revitalizing Clayburn Village has been obvious. Many of the most important houses and three non-residential structures still stand and have been restored. However, only traces of the brick factory remain, leaving the options about how to pay homage more various and less obvious. This paper relates a history of Clayburn, then explores the construction of histories and the importance of artifacts to support those histories. In this case the artifacts in question are buildings. Current actions being taken to restore the built heritage of the village demonstrate the commitment on the part of residents to that means of preserving their history. Possible options are explored, from low to high levels of intervention, ranging from leaving the ruins to the attrition of time, until they finally dissolve, to building directly over the ruins with an obviously new building. The proposed plan for the site takes a stance between these two extremes. The program for the site includes a visitor's centre of modern design, that is not located where buildings previously existed, and landscape elements that mark the former locations of brick plant buildings. A careful weighing of several criteria, including the desire to impart as much information as possible, while not confusing the visitor as to antiquity or detracting from the future use of the site as a green space, resulted in the final design. The value of the experience of the ruins as a project in progress was also felt to be important. === Applied Science, Faculty of === Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of === Graduate
author Houwen, Susanna Clemas
author_facet Houwen, Susanna Clemas
author_sort Houwen, Susanna Clemas
title Clayburn Company Limited Brick Plant Park & Visitor Centre
title_short Clayburn Company Limited Brick Plant Park & Visitor Centre
title_full Clayburn Company Limited Brick Plant Park & Visitor Centre
title_fullStr Clayburn Company Limited Brick Plant Park & Visitor Centre
title_full_unstemmed Clayburn Company Limited Brick Plant Park & Visitor Centre
title_sort clayburn company limited brick plant park & visitor centre
publishDate 2009
url http://hdl.handle.net/2429/8152
work_keys_str_mv AT houwensusannaclemas clayburncompanylimitedbrickplantparkvisitorcentre
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