Our Site: Carlton Club

The Carlton Club is located in the M16 area and hosts a range of events, from live performances and club nights to art classes and gardening activities. It is a place 'where good people meet, and friendships, old and new, are formed over drinks, music, and social shindigs.'

The Carlton Club boasts an expansive outdoor green space, one of the largest within the area. Local members, along with visiting members, come together to form a vibrant community.

As part of the project, our collaborators aim to create a more inclusive environment with improved access.

Diana Cernooka
MArch Year 1
Atelier: Infrastructure Space

I completed my Undergraduate studies at MSA and participated in MSA Live in 2022, which I really enjoyed. Within architecture I am predominantly interested in small scale residential projects and interventions like that of the Carlton Club. My enthusiasm lies in creating drawings, collages and sketch models manually.

Skills: Hand-drawing, Photoshop, Illustrator, SketchUp, InDesign, AutoCAD, Lumion, Fusion 360, 3D Printing

Carlton Club Live: A weekend Visit

This past weekend, our team revisited the Carlton Club to witness its lively atmosphere.

Employing a serial vision methodology, we meticulously documented the journey from the Club's exterior to interior, with a specific focus on the process of access.

During our observation, we had the unique opportunity to immerse ourselves in the casual setting and truly feel part of the community that thrives within the walls of Carlton Club!

Action Week: Preparation

After laying the groundwork with our Action Plan, we've now embarked on crafting the essential components for Action Plan week in May!

We're excited to share a sneak peek into our progress: a digital model showcasing the remarkable three-quarter turn staircase element at Carlton Club.

Week 01 Day 01

On the first day, we got to know each other and briefly discussed experiences about accessibility in architectural design. We presented relevant information about the Carlton Club and its accessibility challenges. We then began familiarising ourselves with the site through digital and physical modelmaking.

Week 01 Day 02

Today we have briefly introduced students to regulations and looked at the possible design solutions in relation to accessibility. After getting familiar with the client’s brief, everyone was separated into a mix of different year groups and began to generate their design ideas through sketching, tracing and modelmaking.

Week 01 Day 03

Students have continued developing their initial ideas into proposals for the upcoming review in Carlton Club. We gave some useful tips and tutorials on laying out the presentation pages and creating an interactive presentation with buttons to layer their design outputs. We are all looking forward to the presentation on Friday, where their hard work and creative access solutions will be shared with Carton Club members!

Week 01 Day 04

Today was Presentations Day with our collaborators! It was an exciting opportunity for us to share their initial accessibility proposals and receive valuable feedback for improvement. Throughout the process, we and the participants engaged in dialogues on accessibility and inclusivity, highlighting a collective dedication to innovation and equitable design principles.

Site Visit

During the site visit, everyone had an opportunity to fully experience the vibrant community of the Carlton Club and its unique challenges of accessibility and inclusivity. This encounter allowed us to understand the users' day-to-day realities and the dynamics of the club operations. By observing the club’s members in action and engaging with the surrounding environment, we gained a better understanding of the Carton Club’s circulation journeys and reflected on their initial proposals.

Week 02 Day 01

We continued to develop our proposals based on the feedback from the Carlton Club participants. In groups, students delved into the intricate dimensions of accessibility, learning how to work according to building standards using the regulations checklist we provided. In addition, we delivered an informative presentation showcasing planning resolved application drawings and engaged in thoughtful discussions regarding our experiences in architectural practice.

Week 02 Day 02

Today, we explored innovative approaches to enhance the students’ accessibility proposals by considering the visual impact of their designs. By examining the provided precedents, students began to gain an understanding of a range of ways accessibility devices can be integrated in a way that is sympathetic towards the heritage and landscape. Subsequently, students initiated their analysis of the Carlton Club heritage and landscape elements through sketches, collages, and annotations. The overall process aims to inspire us to create access routes that are both functional and aesthetically appealing, focusing on the user’s experience and inclusivity.

Week 02 Day 03

At the beginning of today’s session, everyone began to plan and create visuals of their final accessibility proposals in groups. We guided the students through this process, exploring various 3D visualisation methods together. Given the students’ keen interest in learning rendering techniques, we conducted a rendering software tutorial in the Computer Room this afternoon. In the meantime, we also began organising the students’ Week 1 proposal development work in the report.

Week 02 Day 04

We are making significant progress on the final visuals for our accessibility proposals. As a group, we are very excited about bringing our proposals to life, as we aim for the visuals to demonstrate how our ideas integrate with the existing environment and members of Carlton Club, enhancing its inclusivity.

Week 02 Day 05

On our final action day, we dedicated ourselves to finalising our proposals and refining the details before the hand-in. As a group, we reflected on the past two action weeks which were an insightful journey of learning about accessibility in architectural design. This experience has broadened our knowledge about inclusivity and highlighted the social impact our proposals can make within the Carlton Club. We are looking forward to publishing our work and sharing it with our collaborators!