GHS // AFTER EVENT
GOOD NEWS FROM GHS!

Last Friday we received good news from Caroline that Gorse Hill Studio had been successfully funded on the redevelopment of studios! Hurrah!

GHS // DAY 10
FINAL AFFORDABLE PROPOSAL OF VOCAL ROOM GROUP 1

Above is the finalised scheme of the vocal room that was designed by Damjan. Day 10 is our last day of the Event project, masters, year 1 and 2 students have been working hard together to produce the final presentation slides this morning. As mentioned before that four schemes (two affordable and two ideal schemes) have been produced, which these are the options for GHS people to choose from.

GHS // DAY 10
FINAL AFFORDABLE PROPOSAL OF LIVE ROOM GROUP 2

Day 10 is our last day of the Event project, masters, year 1 and 2 students have been working hard together to produce the final presentation slides this morning. As mentioned before that four schemes (two affordable and two ideal schemes) have been produced, which these are the options for GHS people to choose from. Above is the finalised affordable scheme of the live room that was designed by Zahra and Adriana.

GHS // DAY 9
FINAL PROPOSALS OF LIVE ROOM AND VOCAL ROOM FROM GROUP 2

An 'Minecraft' inspired scheme has been produced by the end of today's event. The students in group 2 have used a variety of bright colours (magenta, pink, green and grey) to present the fun and interesting side of Gorse Hill Studio. In this perspective, it shows that the students have considered the use of insulation materials and finishes materials according to their environmental research on existing GHS condition. Adriana and Jack from group 2 have created this excellent perspective ready for the final presentation to Caroline this Friday.

GHS // DAY 9
FINAL PROPOSALS OF CONTROL ROOM FROM GROUP 2

Towards the end of our event, two finalised schemes have been produced by our group 2 year 1, 2 and master students for GHS. We have used a series of green colours to represent Gorse Hill Studio for the overall patterns of the recording studio area (control room, live room and vocal rooms).

The 3D perspective drawing on the left is our ideal scheme, which is designed to have better acoustic quality but the disadvantage is that the use of material (acoustic panels etc.) increases the cost of the construction. Considering the funding situation of GHS, we have come up with another more affordable scheme (shown on the right), this scheme minimises the use of expensive material which means the cost of the project would be less.

GHS// DAY 7
VOCAL ROOM INTERIOR

Above is a exploded axonometric drawing of the vocal room from Jack our Year 1 student. His idea is to create a 'Tetris' look of the interior together with the used of GHS green colour scheme. This drawing has shown the build up of ceiling, walls and flooring with their texture and colours. Ceiling and all of the walls are fitted with acoustic absorbent and the hardwood flooring acts as an diffuser for the vocal room.

GHS// DAY 3
DEVELOPMENT

Above is one of the finalised layouts designed by the students under considerations of programme, wall thickness, user circulation, suitable area and others. Students draft plan digitally using software like AutoCAD which they could play with the furniture and walls easily. The plan still needs to be further developed but it has been a great progress since the start of our event.

GHS// DAY 3
DEVELOPMENT

Today we have moved forward with the sketch layouts from yesterday by start making physical models and drawing layouts using AutoCAD. Some of the students work on further research on acoustic technology and material while the rest work on finalising the plan of the GHS studio in a proper scale.

GHS// DAY 2
ZONING AND LAYOUT

We kick start our designing by zoning exercise. Our event team is divided into two big groups which each student develops his/her own idea during the first part of the afternoon session. Then pinning up to share ideas, students are able to get many feedback from their peers. We encourage them to be creative about our scheme but also be considering to the users in GHS. After that they finalise everything into a single scheme and at the end of the day we have two completely different and interesting layouts of the studio which we will further develop on.

GHS// DAY 2
GHS RECORDING STUDIO (OUR SITE)

At the end of the tour, we visit our scope to understand the current condition and layout. This includes a live room, a sound booth, a control room and some storage spaces. Students have taken photos and measurements (ceiling heights, door heights etc.) to prepare for their upcoming design exercises. Caroline explains to us that the studios have a history of 20 years and currently they are hoping to improve them for their future expansion.

GHS// DAY 1
FULL ANECHOIC CHAMBER

It was explained to us that anechoic chambers are all built as a room within a room, with the inner room completely floating and isolated form the outer shell. The idea is to isolate the chamber from any outside sounds and the inner room is designed to absorb all sounds. The inner room of the chamber is infact sitting on four springs within the outer shell. The wedged shapes you see here are in fact dense porous acoustic foam that is able to absorb all frequencies of sound waves. The pores of the material itself absorbs sounds of high frequencies, whereas the gaps between each wedge absorbs sounds of low frequencies. Each wedge is in fact 1m deep in order to achieve such soundproof quality. A few simple tests of clapping and speaking were performed for Group G students to experience the effects and differences. The difference between a semi-anechoic chamber and a full anechoic chamber is that semi-anechoic chamber has a normal hard floor whereas a full anechoic chamber is fully lined with wedged foams including the floor, with a trampoline mesh on top to ensure that sound is absorbed from all six surfaces of the room.

GHS// Promotion and Influences

As a very new charity in Trafford, Gorse Hill Studio has acknowledged that there is a need to promote their branding and programmes to the local people. At the start of collaborating with GHS, they have already shown enthusiasm in change to their environment and we hope that we can provide useful information for their future developments during this event and catalyse the relationship with professions and specialists. We are also aiming to promote GHS through different meetings and visits and to gain more recognition between the locals, students and other user groups.

GHS// Development

Our project is to help Gorse Hill Studio to idealise their future development and to summarise potential changes. From the many programmes of Gorse Hill Studio, we have picked to redesign the recording studio area; this includes two recording studios, corridor area and possible outdoor area and entrance. Redeveloping the recording studio area could potentially support the charity income of Gorse Hill Studio by introducing multi-functional areas that allow students or the public to use.

GHS// Collaborator

Meet Caroline, the friendly representative of Gorse Hill Studio. She will give the MSA students a tour of Gorse Hill Studio on the 26th March and also will participate in the discussion of design schemes on the 29th March with Mr. Stevenson (BDP acoustic director). Caroline is looking forward to see the final products from our students!

GHS // Final Poster

We have made our event more fun and interesting!

The Gorse Hill Studio（GHS）is an independent charity encouraging and supporting young people with additional needs and those struggling with mainstream education, which generates a wealth of positive impacts. By having an array of workshops including music, dance, drama, visual arts and digital arts, GHS offers opportunities for young people to learn, develop new skills, be creative, have fun and demonstrate to themselves and others that they have the skills, tools and social capital to be resilient and reach their full potential.

We have a great concern on specific demands of such social group, interested in creative art performance, and need your help to improve their learning environment!

Throughout the event session, innovative yet practical schemes of redesigning the recording studio for Gorse Hill Studios will be produced. These will be presented through a variety of forms and mediums, including but not limited to poster, physical models, video, sketches, and 3D representations.

Students will be inspired by site visits to the Gorse Hill Studios and The University of Salford Sound Lab, and will have direct discussions with our client, acoustic professionals, and architects from BDP in the form of critics.