After our final presentation at St Mary’s RC Primary School, we discussed with Mr Usher, who was very enthusiastic about our scheme proposal, the possibilities of the project going forward. The School are in the process of securing funding for the project. We have encouraged Mr Usher to keep in contact with us as the scheme goes forward, as we would love the opportunity to help make the project a physical reality. We have also broached this to our undergraduate team, who are keen to be kept in the loop!
We have also spoken to Mr Usher about the idea of phasing the project, both to make it financially viable as well as being able to expand the scheme in future years. We believe that these measures will ensure the reality of the project in the coming months, and we hope to be able to update this blog at some point with a final built design! Watch this space!

So this is goodbye! We have had such an amazing two weeks with our undergraduate team, and we hope they’re had an excellent time too!
Over the two weeks we’ve worked on their software skills; from photoshops to SketchUp to indesign, as well as modelling skills; working In the workshop as well as with card, paper and tape, as well as presentation and communication skills.
This experience has been invaluable for us as well, as we’ve developed our planning and leadership skills, working through producing session plans and risk assessments. We are really proud of everything we’ve achieved with our undergraduates!

During our presentation on Thursday afternoon at St Mary’s RC Primary School, we brought the 1:50 and 1:200 models we have created to represent our scheme to show the children. Their response was amazing, and they instantly recognised the context of the school and how our proposal fits into it.
It was wonderful for the undergraduates to see how positively the children reacted to the models, as this reinforces how important of a tool they are for engaging clients, and helping them to understand the ideas we are proposing. We are hoping that by making models with the undergraduates, they are now more confident in their workshop skills, and will make more models in their future university projects!

On Thursday we went to give our final presentation at St.Marys Primary School. This was our chance to show all the work we had collated over that past two weeks with the undergraduate students. The presentation was directed at both the children of St.Marys and at the deputy head Mr. Usher.
We took them through each stage of our design process, explaining the principles of site surveying, site analysis. We also reflected on the workshops we undertook with the children so they could see how their ideas have come through in the final design.
We received very positive feedback from all the children and Mr. Usher and the next stage is for them to secure funding to make our design a reality. Check out the schools twitter page for further information on our work with the school.
https://twitter.com/St_Marys_Lev?lang=en-gb

Yesterday we managed to finish both our 1:50 and 1:200 models! We are beyond thrilled with how well the undergraduates have worked together to produce two stunning models, which we feel really showcase their design superbly.
Today we are photographing the models to put into our final document, which will then be given to St Mary’s RC Primary School on Friday. Photography models is a skill in itself, as sometimes even the most beautiful models, if not photographed well, fail to illustrate the design properly. It is important to consider what you are trying to convey about the scheme when photography a model, and whether an additional level of annotation of the photograph would be needed in a portfolio format.
Therefore we hope that by teaching the undergraduates basic photography skills now, it will serve to enhance their own work further into their degrees and careers.

We have decided to make two models to full showcase our proposed scheme. One will be a 1:200 model which shows the greater context of the school and some of the surrounding buildings, and the other will be a smaller 1:50 model which focuses on showcasing our scheme.
During Friday we started to work with the undergraduates to put together the AutoCad files to laser cut our 1:200 contextual model. We have decided to make the model out of MDF, with wire trees and our scheme shown in acrylic. The purpose of this model is to show how our proposal sits within the wider context, and relates to the school and larger school grounds.
With this model making process the undergraduates have learnt how to use the laser cutters in both workshops, including being able to set the files up in AutoCad. They have also further developed their model making skills. We can’t wait to see how these models work out!

Yesterday afternoon we undertook a further design development session with the undergraduates, working on the ideas we brainstormed on Monday. This time we asked them to be more practical and hands one, working their ideas into conceptual model form, which involved them considering the 3D form and physicality of the design would work. This expanded from looking at closed modular units to a more open rail-like form for the children to experience.
We were really impressed with the way the undergraduates tackled this design process, they immediately got stuck in and got involved with considering how light would work on the site and how it would interact with the structure. We can’t wait to see how they continue to develop these ideas!

The events driving force is to inform the children of St Mary’s school about sustainability and the impact of structures on the planet. As a forest school, the children of St. Mary’s will already have a basic understanding of sustainability and the impact we have on Earth.

We are finalising a presentation and workshop to lead with the BA students in the events team, to teach them the basics of sustainability and the application into structure and architecture. The workshop will lead into creating a teaching exercise for them to give to the children of St. Mary’s to kick start their enthusiasm into sustainability and the possibilities of the project and involve the St. Mary’s children in the design output.

For the outputs of our events project we will be developing two different scale models, one to show site context and a second exploring construction in more detail.
Alongside this we will produce a series of scale drawings, sketches and analysis work to present to the school , in order for them to potentially build the structure. This work will help undergraduate students develop their portfolio skills and refine their working style.
Providing valuable experience working with a live client.