Meet the team: Ollie
Location: Manchester, UK
MArch Year 5
BArch: Manchester School of Architecture
Atelier: Continuity in Architecture

About Me: This is my second period of study at MSA having previously completed my BA here before spending a year in practice at OMI architects where I worked on a mixture of new build and heritage projects as a part1. My interests in architecture are for the study of buildings at the macro scale with strong passions for detailing, materiality and the crafting of spaces and forms - thankfully, all really fitting for the CiA Atelier I work within. Similarly to the other guys in the group, I can’t wait to see everyone else’s passions and how we can apply these to reimagine the archetype of city building on a vacant site in the historic city of Bradford.

Yesterday we launched PLOT-TWIST with a group introduction before joining the ‘Inspire Bradford (21)’ group in a virtual Tour and Q&A of Bradford City Centre by two of our collaborators, Kieran Thompson and Simon Cunningham. Our Ba students followed this by joining the Masters students in looking at how we may want to first map out the masterplan of the site over the following two weeks before presenting their initial interests in both types of pavilions and buildings of cultural significance. The afternoon was spent modelling these, both digitally and physically in a task which aims to try and capture the essence of these early precedents as a way of inspiring this masterplan and new cultural hub in the centre of Bradford. we can’t wait to see where the project ends up!

We followed up from yesterday afternoon’s initial sketch models by beginning to form groups in which the main cultural pavilions could be formed, with an aim to begin conversations on accommodation schedules, function requirements, cultural representation and plot position. The main tasks involved jumping into some quick digital designs as well continuing to refine some conceptual physical models to inspire the concepts that are evolving. The ideas are loose and expressive here and we’re loving the mixed media approach by all the guys involved!