Group 14
RE-SHAPING MARPLE

Marple is a historic town in the Stockport Council region. It has a rich history and the residents are proud of their home, but it is missing that defining centre piece which really captures the sense of place. It has been determined the missing piece is a new community hub which will be built in the middle of the Marple Memorial Park. Our collaborator is hoping that this project will be a catalyst and create a 'ripple effect' for further development in Marple. The design should be modern and striking as the site has many opportunities for a building of this scale; stunning views over the hill, surrounded by greenery and adjacent to a canal, banked with listed housing. Whilst care and consideration should be taken for the site, students should feel they have the freedom to engulf anything worth demolishing and attempt to incorporate the uses into their scheme. The core brief is to design a new community hub (containing a pool, gym, spa etc.) with the additional options for a library and anything else that you feel would benefit Marple. This project will involve all of the fundamentals of architecture; building design, urban design, landscape design and so is an amazing opportunity for a holistic learning experience.

Download Final Report

Kefei Q / Dilan V / Juliet Sara T / Xiaoxuan Z / Keyan L / Jack R

Dilan V
Hi Everyone, I'm Dilan! Here's some information about me:

BA Studies: Manchester School of Architecture
Atelier: Infrastructure Space
Architectural Interests: Community Architecture, Public Buildings
Why I chose this group: Live project and a chance to have some real input. Touching upon all bases from building design to urban design
Hobbies: Football, Cricket, Golf
Posted 1 Mar 2021 15:05
Dilan V
Hi Everyone, I'm Juliet! Here's some information about me:

BA Studies: Manchester School of Architecture
Atelier: CiA
Architectural Interests: Socially driven projects with a focus on place-making, heritage design.
Why I chose this group: Opportunity to explore a community-based project with a strong social impact through the exploration of wider urban planning and community engagement.
Hobbies: Baking, Model-making, Sketching, Hiking
Posted 1 Mar 2021 15:08
Dilan V
Hi Everyone, I'm Keyan! Here's some information about me:

BA Studies: graduated from XJTLU in China
Atelier: USE
Architectural Interests: I'm really into Luis Barragan's design, also some projects reflecting culture and social conditions.
Why I chose this group: This group refers to a real project, which will give me more practical experience in the future career. And there is a valuable chance for me to communicate with GT3 architects.
Posted 1 Mar 2021 15:12
Dilan V
Hi Everyone, I'm Xiaoxuan! Here's some information about me:

BA Studies: Xi'an Jiaotong Liverpool University
Atelier: CPU
Architectural Interests: Public Buildings
Why I chose this group: interesting project for creating community in small scale urban design, thinking about the relations between locals, buildings and environment.
Hobbies: Sketching, Watching movies
Posted 1 Mar 2021 15:14
Dilan V
Hi Everyone, I'm Kefei! Here's some information about me:

BA Studies: XianJiaotong-liverpool University
Atelier: CPU
Architectural Interests: Cultural architecture, atmosphere and experience in architecture.
Why I chose this group: This is a real project with social value and combination with human life. Personally, I would like to explore how to interpret the impact of architecture in urban environment.
Hobbies: Painting, Modelling, Video-making, Traveling
Posted 1 Mar 2021 15:15
Dilan V
Hi Everyone, I'm Jack! Here's some information about me:

BA Studies: University of Nottingham
Atelier: Infrastructure Space
Architectural Interests: Buildings that benefit society and the environment. Projects which revolve around the people they’re designed for.
Why I chose this group: Exciting live project which will hugely benefit the local community once completed and the client seems like a real character we could work well with.
Posted 1 Mar 2021 15:16
Dilan V
Collaborator 1: Joe Jessop

Joe Jessop is the main collaborator for this project. He has been involved in the consultation process for the community hub with GT3 and other members of the Marple Community and Marple Civic Society, of which he is an active member. Joe was previously the Head of School at Manchester School of Architecture and so he is really keen to get involved!
Posted 1 Mar 2021 15:31
Dilan V
Collaborator 2: Judith Atkinson, GT3 Architects

Judith Atkinson is our collaborator from GT3 Architects. She joined GT3 in 2015, gaining valuable experience in a range of sectors, including master planning, commercial, leisure and private residential schemes. GT3 specialise in sport and leisure, among other fields, so were key candidates for this project. They were hired by Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council to organise feasibility work and create the initial brief for this mixed-use project in Marple’s Memorial Park which we as a team will be using as the basis of our project!
Posted 1 Mar 2021 15:32
Dilan V
This project provides an exciting opportunity to revitalise the historic community of Marple. The wider social implications of this mixed-use project are fundamental to its success. What will start off as an isolated project in the park could become the centre point of an urban design scheme. The community hub which we will be designing together has the potential to create a ‘ripple’ effect in the surrounding area, encouraging economic and social prosperity, without losing the 'sense of place' that the residents love.
Posted 1 Mar 2021 15:46
Dilan V
Skills & Activities:

The varied nature of our project means there is an opportunity to learn numerous different skills. This will include tips on building and urban design from professionals, software use and formatting/presentation skills. These skills will be taught through workshops, live consultations with community groups and our project partners as well as networking with others in the industry!

This is a really good chance to focus and fine-tune skills that will be so valuable in the future!
Posted 1 Mar 2021 18:24
Kefei Q
15/03/2021. 11:00am. Meeting with our collaborator, Joe.




This morning we had our second meeting with our main collaborator Joe Jessop. This was organised to catch up and discuss the session plan that we have been working on. Joe gave his input and we discussed the option of a live site visit to really capture the sense of place. This will encourage the team to learn by looking, by exploring, by experiencing the space, something that is difficult to do online.




We then continued to discuss the complexity of the brief and outputs. Joe gave us some workshop ideas that will help to determine the brief and programme for the community hub. This meeting was particularly helpful with the submission date of our session plan fast approaching. Stay tuned for further updates!
Posted 15 Mar 2021 18:08
Juliet Sara T
19/03/2021. Guest Announcement!


We are delighted to announce that members from the Marple Civic Society will be giving a presentation during MSA Live!

Who are they and what do they do?

Marple Civic Society is a registered charity and was started by four architects who lived in Marple. They focus on Marple, the surrounding villages and the countryside within Marple north and south wards and aim to make the area a better place to live, work and visit.


Why have we invited them?

The members from the Marple Civic Society know what Marple is all about, what it needs and what they want! This will provide a better ‘sense of place,’ something that Joe, our collaborator has reiterated the importance of.

We look forward to welcoming them!
Posted 19 Mar 2021 14:29
Xiaoxuan Z
18/03/2021. 03:00pm. Meeting with Scott and Saul from B.15 Modelmaking Workshop, UOM.


First we discussed how to organize the model making exercise in order to generate concept ideas. Scott and Saul suggested that we provide an example model and explain the detail requirement and expectations, as well as suggesting the materials and tools that will be needed so that students can produce the model quickly. This exercise will be great for a quick exchanges of ideas early on.
Posted 20 Mar 2021 10:33
Kefei Q
Posted 9 May 2021 17:04
Dilan V
Here is the Week 1 schedule. Lots of exciting talks and activities planned!

Look forward to meeting the team tomorrow!
Posted 9 May 2021 19:00
Kefei Q
DAY 1 !
Posted 10 May 2021 10:01
Kefei Q
DAY 1 - Morning:
Following a friendly introduction, Juliet and Dilan introduced the project, taking the team on a virtual site visit using maps and images, compensating for the lack of site visit. This helped the team understand and orientate the site before our collaborator, Joe presented later in the morning.
Posted 10 May 2021 13:35
Keyan L
Day 1 - Meeting our collaborator


Our collaborator, Joe, from the Marple Civic Society gave the team a presentation on the significance and history of Marple including the development of Hollins Mill and the surrounding road networks. This helped ground the project and reiterated the social values which we hope to enhance!
Posted 10 May 2021 16:44
Kefei Q
Day 1 - In the afternoon, Joe returned and talked about creating a ‘sense of place’ using psychological foundations and the work of Urban Planner, Kevin Lynch. A valuable starting point for our project which opens up further questions... is the park a node? Could the park become a landmark?
Posted 10 May 2021 17:55
Kefei Q
DAY 2!
Posted 11 May 2021 08:25
Juliet Sara T
Day 2 - Reviewing mapping tasks

In the morning, we reviewed student’s responses to a short task we set on day 1. They had the choice of creating a mental map of their hometown/Manchester or they could map the paths, landmarks, edges, nodes, and domains onto a map of our site, Marple’s Memorial Park, as inspired by Kevin Lynch’s book ‘The Image of the City'.

The first exercise allowed students to recognise how they mentally picture areas that are familiar to them. Which, in turn, would help them understand how residents of Marple might feel about our Community building project and what would be important to them.

The second exercise enabled a deeper understanding of the site. It helped to identify areas of importance and key areas of weakness on the site, which would come to inform our opportunities and constraints diagram, which we produced together afterwards.
Posted 11 May 2021 18:34
Xiaoxuan Z
Day 2 - Group Discussion

To bring together the work of GT3 and Joe’s findings, we as a group produced an opportunities and constraints diagram. This would help us place any interventions that we make. Next task was the begin developing the program!
Posted 11 May 2021 21:08
Keyan L
Day 2 - Small group works on Programme

In the afternoon, we split into 3 smaller groups, developing the program for our interventions in the following sub-categories: sports & leisure, redeveloping the Hollins and a new community building. The smaller groups produced adjacency diagrams and began exploring precedents... to be further developed tomorrow!
Posted 11 May 2021 21:14
Kefei Q
DAY 3!
Posted 12 May 2021 09:02
Dilan V
Day 3 - Guest Presentation

We welcome Eamonn Canniffe for a guest presentation today on Urban Design Principles in the hope that our interventions will sit nicely in Marple and enhance the area. This will be interesting for the entire team as it is not something we have explored previously! Eamonn is currently the head of the MA Architecture & Urbanism course at the Manchester School of Architecture and with his experienced background in teaching, and some publications on the topic of Urbanism, this will be particularly valuable!
Posted 12 May 2021 09:38
Kefei Q
Day 3 - Presentation from Eamonn




Eamonn gave the team a presentation regarding the key principles of Urban Design, using examples from his students who are on the Architecture + Urbanism course. Eamonn explained the following principles: Patterns, Narratives, Monuments and Spaces. Each of these had a strong correlation to the work we had already done as a group including the exploration of Marple using Noli maps, the importance of the history of Marple in creating a narrative and more. And so, the following questions were raised: Can the redevelopment of Marple Memorial Park reinstate the productive nature of Marple? Can the new community hub become a monument through a striking design or aesthetic? These questions will be explored in the remaining days of MSA Live in the hope to produce an exciting, yet sensitive output.
Posted 12 May 2021 14:43
Kefei Q
DAY 4!
Posted 13 May 2021 09:20
Juliet Sara T
Day 4 - Model-making workshop

In the morning, Juliet led a model-making workshop, to help generate ideas for the concept and form of the new buildings on the site. She gave a short presentation about how, why, what, when, and where models are used before showing an example she made specifically for the project. Students were asked to create similar sketch models in groups, subdivided according to the three key buildings on the site; the community space, leisure centre and library. They were encouraged to use recycled materials and consider how their model was photographed, through their lighting and position.

The resulting sketch models, created by the BA students, demonstrate a broad range of approaches which explore different materials, from the use of cardboard and polystyrene to paper and foamboard. This exercise helped us to identify key points of interest from each student’s model, which could be combined to inform the final form of the buildings.
Posted 13 May 2021 17:36
Kefei Q
Day 4 - With our site being located in a park, there are numerous boundaries and edges. Ian Fisher, a landscape architect and staff member at the Manchester School of Architecture, talked us through each constraint and offered suggestions on how to better them and our initial proposal. This included providing more spaces for reflection, engagement and activity. These urban design elements will be the teams focus in Week 2 and so it was really useful to have them introduced now!
Posted 13 May 2021 17:45
Kefei Q
DAY 5!
Posted 14 May 2021 09:28
Jack R
Day 5 - Project Progress Update
This morning we split into our smaller groups to work on the separate buildings on the site and finalise the presentations for the afternoon. We collated the small group work together and presented our work so far to Joe Jessop and Judith from GT3 architects in the afternoon. They gave us feedback on our work so far with improvements mainly focusing on consideration of the park and the 'narrative' we want to convey within our designs. After that, we discussed the next steps which will be to develop a whole site strategy and better consider the landscaping between buildings to enhance their relationship with each other and with the park.
Posted 14 May 2021 17:13
Kefei Q
Day 5 - This week we had created the basic idea from the background introduction and the presentation of 'sense of place' from Joe. Then as group, we produced an opportunities and constraints diagram and the programme drawing respectively. After that, we got the lectures from Eamonn about the key principles of urban design and a talk from Ian about the suggestions on how to manage the landscape design for the memorial park. Also the model making workshop is really successful that everyone had produced their models based on their concepts. On the last day this week, we presented all the works in small group to Joe and Judith, who comes from GT3 Architect. Joe and Judith provided very helpful feedback on the point of 'urban design' and gave the working direction for next week. To concluded, this is a real valuable week!
Posted 14 May 2021 18:59
Kefei Q
Week 2 schedule is coming! In week 2 we will continue the work based on feedback from the 1st week. Have a good 'Journey' !
Posted 16 May 2021 12:01
Kefei Q
DAY 6!
Posted 17 May 2021 09:45
Dilan V
Day 6 - Community Engagement

In order to further understand the significance of the project and to get more of an insight into Marple, we spoke to 4 members of Marple Civic Society, who are also residents of Marple. Interestingly, the issues raised by them were elements that we had already considered and so we were able to have a discussion over possible remedies. This session was particularly useful for all students as we do not get the opportunity for community engagement often. Their feedback will be used as we continue to refine our project.
Posted 17 May 2021 18:12
Kefei Q
Day 6 - Refining the Landscape
The afternoon session was dedicated to explore landscaping options within our masterplan in order to present a convincing narrative. This will help to create new connections to the rest of Marple and expand the usability of the park. In smaller groups, we focused on different parts including the most public entrance to the park and a new, more pedestrian friendly entrance to the west. Making the park more accessible will help it become the heart of Marple and a real focal point, something the residents in the morning desired strongly. We will continue refining these ideas over the next couple of days!
Posted 17 May 2021 18:17
Kefei Q
DAY 7!
Posted 18 May 2021 09:39
Juliet Sara T
Day 7 – 2nd Tutorial with Ian Fisher

In the morning, we had another tutorial with Ian Fisher, who is a Landscape Architect. We presented the progress we had made on the master plan of the site, in which we focussed on the landscaping around our new building proposals and the main entrance to the park. We also talked about our strategy towards the canal edge, in terms of adding bridges and pathways through, as well as our approach towards the busy Station road to the north of the park, which involved widening the pavement.

He gave us lots of detailed feedback and tips about landscape design. He encouraged us to place an invisible grid on the masterplan of our site, Marple’s Memorial park, and use that to guide the landscaping features as our current masterplan lacks structure. Ian also talked about the importance of the hierarchy of spaces and reducing our focus on the vehicle and its associated car parks. Overall, it was a highly valuable session that gave a great introductory insight into landscape design.
Posted 18 May 2021 17:56
Kefei Q
The collection of people's ideas about landscape design today, lots of works with sketches and digital model!
Posted 18 May 2021 18:58
Kefei Q
DAY 8!
Posted 19 May 2021 09:36
Dilan V
We are pleased to welcome David Rudlin for a guest lecture on urban design principles. David is Principal and a director of URBED (Urbanism Environment and Design), Chair of the Academy of Urbanism and an Honorary Professor at Manchester University. URBED (Urbanism, Environment and Design) Ltd is an award-winning design and research consultancy based in Manchester who believe in building sustainable towns and cities and enabling good design. David's enthusiasm and experience in the field of urban design will provide a great insight into our project as we come to the closing stages!
Posted 19 May 2021 09:50
Juliet Sara T
Day 8 – Presentation from David Rudlin

David Rudlin gave an introductory presentation on urban design principles. This was important for helping towards the development of our master plan within Marple. In his talk, he highlighted the difference between architectural and urban design, suggesting that unlike buildings urban spaces are designed from outside to inside. While architecture considers the practical dimensions of humans to ensure ergonomic spaces, urban design focusses more on people as a collective and the activities they do as a community.

David mentioned some key readings including The Image of the City by Kevin Lynch, The Concise Townscape by Gordon Cullen and The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs. He then divided the urban landscape into three key areas: spaces (areas between buildings), places (identity of an area) and life (human activities within that area). After exploring some key urban case studies from all over the world, David laid out the 9 key points from the National Model Design Code. Overall, this provided a practical framework which we could apply to our site. Notably, this included exploring the hierarchy of spaces and streets around the park, reducing the focus on parking and ensuring an appropriate level of urban density within the park.
Posted 19 May 2021 18:33
Kefei Q
DAY 9!
Posted 20 May 2021 10:29
Dilan V
Day 9 - Final Review

Joe Jessop and Judith (GT3) returned to review the work we had done in the last week and in relation to their feedback from the review last Friday. This was largely to focus on the park itself and to integrate our building proposals better so that they display the same architectural language. Using the serial visions we had produced as a team, Jack put them alongside the corresponding existing site images to show how our proposals would better the park and Marple. This was followed by a skim through our publication document. Both guests were very complimentary about the final outputs and the standard of work, particularly during Covid times. This is a testament to the hard work of the team over the last 2 weeks.

Joe finished by saying:

‘...I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and thanks to you all. I thought you did very well in absolute terms and brilliantly well given the circumstances.  By way of congratulations I would buy you all a pint if it weren’t for Covid.’
Posted 20 May 2021 18:16
Kefei Q
DAY 10!

Great thanks to everyone!
Posted 21 May 2021 10:21
Juliet Sara T
Day 10 – Completing the serial vision perspectives and master plan

In the morning, we completed the rendered master plan and final serial vision sketches which are to form the output of this urban design scheme. Every BA student contributed a sketch and each one injects the individual style of the student into the final compilation. Some were completely hand drawn while others incorporated the SketchUp model which we used as the basis of the images. The final 9 drawings include views from the new entrance of Marple Memorial Park, the new community building, the Hollins house building and extension, the new leisure centre as well as connections across the canal and traffic routes including Station Road.

MArch students added colour to the sketches to make the green spaces stand out and bring the images to life. We are very happy with everyone's contribution and are pleased with the final outcome.
Posted 21 May 2021 14:01
Kefei Q
Day 10 - The last day!

Very happy experience with all of team members over the two weeks, thanks to everyone's efforts!
Posted 21 May 2021 17:15
Download Final Report