In-Situ team working is underpinned by an ethos of equal value and equal say. This allows for fluidity of leadership and roles as well as a responsive, collaborative, and open-minded approach.
The Pit Stop will work closely with In Situ to help re imagine the old signal box in Brierfield train station. The new signal box will include new event spaces that helps connect the locals and travellers along various modes of travel routes around the site. Through workshops aimed at generating and representing ideas, we will implement a primary intervention, developing alongside interested local community to ensure space use.
Collaborators
Here’s a little bit of information about our external partners! Our primary external partner Hive Projects strive to deliver expert, client-focused advise for property and construction projects. Hive have an innovative and sustainable approach to buildings to ensure that all projects optimise on their social value offerings. The NHS Improvements leads the National Health Service (NHS) in England. Manchester Film School are practical and hands-on school for those wishing to pursue a career in the Film & Television industry. Sheppard Robson is one of the UK’s most established architectural practices, with a reputation for thoughtful and responsible designs. Arup is a world class firm of designers, planners, engineers, architects, consultants and technical specialists, working across every aspect of today’s construction.
Welcome to Community Call!!
"Transforming the Future at North Manchester General Hospital
North Manchester General Hospital (NMGH) is at the heart of an exciting vision to improve health and wellbeing for local people over the next 10 to 15 years." -NHS
Skills: Autocad, Rhino, InDesign, Photoshop, Indesign, Ai
Interests: I am interested in hand-drawing to express my understanding of architecture or space and researching the impact of social phenomena on architecture.
I’m Syamin and I passionately believe in inclusivity and socially responsive architecture. Through Praxxis in MSA, I’ve learnt about ‘intersectionality’ and that feminism extends more than just fighting for women's right. I aspire to one day become an architect who values the community and diversity through her design. When I’m not in my working mode, I always find time to cook and my weekends are always spent trying new recipes. I also enjoy traveling, as I believe it helps broaden horizons and encourages positive feelings.
The Tib Street carpark roof transformation is an exciting project with many enthusiastic collaborators involved, all sharing the same goals to ultimately make Manchester a greener and more sustainable City.
The project is part of an Amity led programme called In Our Nature, which is lottery funded with the aim of bringing the community together to take action against climate change. They are collaborating with a subgroup from the Northern Quarter Action Group to achieve the community garden and inner-city green space. The NQAG is a cooperative partnership brought together under a bold vision for Manchester's Northern Quarter - one which is greener, builds the community, and enhances what’s special about the Northern Quarter.
Both bodies have funding available to support the projects, however the proposals we as a group put forward will be key in helping keep momentum for the project going and allow all the collaborators involved to envision what the space could be transformed into.
External collaborators to date include Manchester City Council who are supporting the NQAG and the Amity program and have already begun taking steps to make the idea a reality. Along with input from local and national charities and enterprises; A New Leaf MCR, Hubbub, Groundwork and Sow The City. Additionally Members from the National Trust are also onboard and are hoping the Tib Street carparks green transformation becomes a precedent for other urban cities to adopt.
The aims of this project are to promote awareness and tackle climate change within Manchester by creating a community garden and inner-city green space in the Northern Quarter. Through our external collaborator, In Our Nature, we aim to create a greener city with the community garden that will be used by the public and restaurants in the Northern Quarter, promoting local sourcing of foods within the city. As well as this, the aim is to create a new space for social interaction, through the addition of a skate park, outdoor cinema, or event space – you decide with your design!
The overarching goal of this project is to gain more funding from the National Lottery Fund for In Our Nature to help this project get built, so not only will you be designing a great project in the Northern Quarter, but it could also get built!
The skills that you will learn and develop within In Our Nature are centred around those gained in a real-life architecture project. To begin the first week, students will be taken to our site to analyse and document the space through sketching and photos. We will meet with members from In Our Nature to develop client-worker relationships, and from there we will work in small teams drawing, modelling, and collaging uses for the space on top of the Northern Quarter Car Park, with the first week leading to a presentation of our ideas to the external collaborators.
Our second week will be a development from our first, as we seek to create plans, elevations, atmospheric drawings and renders of the community garden space to present to the Manchester City Council. Through the help of the team and your peers, you will learn software’s like Photoshop, Indesign, Revit, Enscape, Sketchup, as well as sketching and collaging. You will work together to develop collaborative skills within teams and with the client, encouraging communication, team building and leadership qualities, whilst most importantly, having a good laugh!
The group came together in 2020 to rejuvenate the park and to make use of the abandoned bowling green which is now a community garden.
The vision of the garden is:
'To create a wildlife friendly space for the whole community to enjoy that is educational, safe and welcoming’.
FCSP's Values:
Kindness: We are empathetic, respectful and put local people at the heart of everything we do.
Trust: We trust in each other and are all accountable and reliable to your local community park and community garden.
Education: Provide a welcoming, positive and safe learning environment.
Environment: Leading by example to bring back and support a rich biodiversity.
Inclusion: We want everyone to feel safe and welcome.
Name: Baoxin Yang
Year: M.Arch1
Atelier: FLUX
BArch Architecture: JLJU
Part 1 Placement: Tianjin Meixin Architectural Design Co.
Interests & Skills: I really enjoy travelling and photography. Also, I enjoy the sport of archery because it allows me to practice staying focused on things. I use Revit, SU, AI, PS and ID.
What gardens mean to me: For me, it can be a memory of running through the grass with a kite as a child. It can also be a relief from the stress of a busy school day. With the increasing urbanization and population growth, parks are becoming more and more of a specimen of a scattered concrete forest.
Name: Meijun Liu
Year: M.Arch1
Atelier: &rchitecture
BA Architecture: XJTLU
Part 1 Placement: N/A
Interests & Skills: I’m interested in DIY and hand making. Also, I love to record the memory through film. I use Rhino, Photoshop and InDesign.
What gardens mean to me: For me, a garden means good mood. When I was little, I played in my garden with my best friends: it's one of the most accessible natural spaces for urban residents. I enjoy having a walk through the garden or along the water, it's a relaxing time for me where I can just focus on nothing but the fresh air and shade of the trees.
Name: Rachel Amy Price
Year: M.Arch1
Atelier: SKN
BA Architecture: MSA
Part 1 Placement: Leach Rhodes Walker
Interests & Skills: I am interested in photography, tennis, wild camping, whittling and guitar; I am also a qualified yoga teacher. My CAD skills include Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom, After Effects, plus AutoCAD and SketchUp. I also studied Foundation Art & Design at MMU.
What gardens mean to me: Gardens are a place for respite and reflection, exploration, relaxation, bird watching, connection with nature, connection with people, BBQs, and growing and cultivating fruit, vegetables and flowers.
Skills: Hand drawing, Model making, Rhino, Revit, Sketch up, Adobe suite, AutoCAD
Why I Chose In Our Nature: I chose In Our Nature as I believe the project will create a fantastic sustainable space which also has the potential to bring the community together. It will also provide a much needed green space in the very urban Northern Quarter.
Fun Fact: I once won an inflatable swimming pool on a night out.
The core social values aim to strengthen the co-existence between the public realm and the local ecosystems by creating enriched spaces that are designed to facilitate both collaborative and friendly interactions between people and the local environment.
The space will be a therapeutic haven for people and local wildlife, encouraging pollinators to group and flourish. The synergy between people and nature, where people can plant and invest into the garden, is a mood boosting atmosphere for both people and the wildlife that inhabit the space.
About: I study architecture at Liverpool when my bachelor’s degree. I have deep interesting in software which can be easy for my architecture project. In the daily life, I am a easy going person. I like to go for museum and gallery. I also enjoy nature which include all kinds of landscape and timing for the season.
Interest: Pedestrianism/ Landscape/ Arts/ Fashion/ Sample life.
About: I like buildings that have long history and memories, which make the building as a medium to create a rich visiting experience for people, and make the building more special. I had an internship in China for a year, and I am good at research, making and rendering models.
About: Easy going, I'd like to see imaginative projects and proposals that are driven by critical thinking and expression. I believe in achieving the greatest translation of ideas, and I believe in creators and gamechangers. Truth guides me, and faith leads me onwards.
Interest: I enjoy photography and highly recommend you get in touch with our mssaphotography club.
About: I like drawing illustrations for my projects and thinking about some unpractical ideas. During my internship in China, I gained some experience of rendering digital models. An architectural journal would help a lot with your design process.
Stephen first got involved in protecting green-space when Turn Moss was under threat from development by Gary Neville. Since then he quit his job at a call centre and have been part of many Extinction Rebellion actions. He has become all too aware of the environmental crises we face as a result of our ecological overshoot. With a degree in history he believes the key to sustainable living can be found by studying our own past and listening to the worlds indigenous peoples. He was made aware of the camp on Ryebank by friends in XR and have find continued inspiration from the community of people intent of protecting this precious land.
Social Impact
The project allows the local community to engage in their environment, it not only increases knowledge but gives them a chance to make and fight changes. The project creates a space where the community can share their thoughts and opinions.
Community
Our team will be designing and building an outdoor exhibition, that will hold information on the biodiversity of Ryebank fields and the importance of saving local wildlife and further exploring how this has an impact globally. “Think Globally , Act Locally”
Sustainability
The materials we will be using will be reused/recyclable materials such as wood pallets that the collaborator is able to access. This makes the exhibition space flexible to design as it also allows locals in the future to evolve and improve the design by the reusable materials if they wish.
Environment
When designing and making the exhibition we will be inspired by the environment of Ryebank fields and what the exhibition space can offer to the locals and the wildlife, by including elements such as garden beds and insect houses.
In the pursuit of knowledge, students will be able to learn by exploring various skills in regards to arts especially in designing the exhibition which is the main part of the project. Art-Griculture, sketching, model-making, and visual rendering workshops will be conducted to improve architectural students’ general standard of knowledge.
WHAT WILL WE DO?
Week 1
This is the phase of forming togetherness among the team members and learning software skills such as Photoshop, InDesign, SketchUp, and many more. Also, there will be a session with the collaborator in the process of get-to-know the site in depth.
Week 2
It's time to brush up on our wood-working skills. We will start to build the exhibition by reusing the materials provided by the collaborator and showcasing them to the wider community to bring awareness of the nature and wildlife of the site.
The Carlton Club is a non-religious, non-political Members' Club that strives to further the social interaction of its members and guests. The club serves local craft beers & cask ale alongside wines & spirits. There is a spacious main room with a stage where holds numerous live music & Club events as well as film showings, live comedy, art classes & spoken word evenings and more. There also have the stunning 'Green Room' where art exhibitions are hosted as well as more intimate gatherings. Venture outside and people will see the peaceful outdoor community garden where can enjoy a beer and chat with friends.
Undergraduate: Brighton School of Architecture and Design
Atelier: Infrastructure Space
Skills: Revit, Adobe Creative Cloud, AutoCAD, Vectorworks, Modelmaking, Knowledge of RIBA work stages 0-7
About Me: Within architecture I am predominantly interested in large scale residential projects and urban masterplanning. However, I also have a curiosity for smaller scale interventions like that of the Carlton Club 2032 project. The scheme is related to music and events, these are two things I am interested in outside of architecture and I am looking forward to working on a project that combines my work and hobbies. I am also a keen sportsman, and I am particularly interested in football and cycling. I would love to be able to help students with my software knowledge and design process skills.
Fun Fact: I reckon there are more wheels than doors
Undergraduate: Damascus University of Architectural Engineering
Atelier: Some Kind of Nature
Skills: Revit. Photoshop, InDesign, AutoCAD, 3D Modelling
About Me: I am interested in residential projects. The Carlton Club project appealed to me because I wanted to combine my architectural interests with my interest in music. I am excited to help the BA students feel welcome and will help in software programme knowledge. My hobbies include travelling, photography, walking and spending time with family and friends.
Fun fact: Lego used to make special bricks for Architects
Undergraduate: Sheffield Hallam University
Atelier: MAKING
Skills: AutoCAD, Revit, SketchUp, Photoshop, Drawing Express, Modelmaking
About Me: I am interested in conservation architecture and people-centred design. I chose the Carlton Club Project because I was intrigued by the idea of envisaging how the Carlton Club building could be repurposed or brought back to its former glory. I thought that my previous architectural experience of working on heritage projects and prior to that, working behind the bar at a pub, could bring a fresh perspective to the team, helping focus on ideas that would be liked by club members. My hobbies include playing weekly football for a local women’s team and I enjoy taking my dog Hugo for long walks in the mountains.
Fun Fact: I am originally from Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
Undergraduate: University of Salford
Atelier: Continuity in Architecture
Skills: Adobe Creative Cloud, Revit, Hand Sketching, Modelmaking
About Me: I am interested in a range of architectural typologies, from large residential schemes to small interventions in public spaces, and have a particular interest in contextualised design that responds to people and place. Outside of University I have a passion for music, walking, anything food related and a mix of sports. Carlton Club 2032 presents an exciting opportunity that combines a personal interest of music and events with a design project, and I’m excited to meet the team and see how ideas develop through collaboration.
Fun Fact: The first oranges found were green
Undergraduate: SICAU in China
Atelier: Continuity in Architecture
Skills: AutoCAD, Rhino, SketchUp, Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Vary, Enscape, Twinmotion
About Me: I am interested in Adaptive Reuse and the Story narrative method through architecture. Carlton Club is a great historical building with lots of potential for re-use. It’s a good opportunity to transform this old house to promote local culture and attract more citizens. I am keen to share my skills in hand-sketching and software with all the students in the group! Outside the studio, I enjoy travelling, video games and drawing.
Fun Fact: I don’t like cheese
Sue Ball is a cultural producer who works in the context of social and spatial design and is Director of the creative regeneration practice Media and Arts Partnership (MAAP). She operates in the gaps between sectors and disciplines to generate new professional learning and interdisciplinary design processes for urban space and works to mobilise and strengthen value systems related to place and community.
Commissioned by Canal and River Trust since 2010, Sue has developed a ‘slow architecture’ methodology to re-occupy historic waterside sites across the UK. As of January 2020, Sue has been engaged with Ellesmere Yard in Shropshire, the original workshops and office of Thomas Telford’s Shropshire Canal Company in the early 1800’s. Applying this approach of ‘Slow Architecture’, Sue is working with the Canal & River Trust to coproduce its re-animation as a site for making, design and fabrication.
During the project you will have the opportunity to develop and learn skills visual communication through sketching & drawing, and a variety of digital software’s such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign and Rhino. We will use principles of adaptive reuse, socially productive space, and slow architecture to generate a considered response to this historic site.
We will be producing illustrative visuals, graphics, sketches, and drawings to help communicate ideas and potential opportunities to our collaborator and contribute to increased community interest in the site.
The project is to design and construct low-maintenance pollinator-friendly gardens and seating on a strip of land next to the Debdale Sports Centre. The Manchester Dragoneers would like to use this area for social events, including having refreshments after paddling, while being able to care for nature and the ecosystem. We also hope to paint a mural on the wall alongside the site.
The client will provide us with some resources to use in our design, including old boats that we can reuse for planting or seating!
This site is an historic canal maintenance yard dating back to 1806 with an adjacent field close to the market town of Ellesmere, and once the office and workshops of the former Ellesmere Canal Company set up by Thomas Telford, pioneer architect and engineer. It is still used as operational base for Canal & River Trust.
What you’ll be doing
Week 1
Following a presentation of the brief from our collaborator, we will explore the potential opportunities of the site, and later be divided into project groups, focusing on specific spaces within the site. We will develop design concepts and strategies for engagement and investment, with the week culminating in software tutorials to prepare for the following week.
Week 2
We will be further developing the design concepts from week 1 into illustrative and graphical representations of the spaces and defining how they are socially productive for the site. The week will conclude with a presentation to the collaborator of the developed design concepts.
I live just off Oakfield Rd and have been involved with Homebaked since the early days - 2011, when I arrived with the plan to make a home, to meet people and find a way to belong where I live. I am a founding member of the bakery cooperative and supported the early years of the development. I've worked within Homebaked CLT as an artist, directed the Anfield Home Tour, co-created the Thing on the Rec, hosted fantastic local artists and helped to keep creative processes part of our DNA. I also worked for the CLT for many years as the engagement person, co-developing the community-led design work we have been doing. I feel very proud that we have gotten this far and want to ensure that we have full community ownership of the land, making sure we continue to create the place we want to live in with all the security, comfort and love we need and deserve.
SKILLS:
This project involves a variety of skills and activities in which you can participate and we strive to explore the history of Islington Mill and Salford using graphical representations. We will use the following skills to create our digital resource:
CREATIVE MAPPING: Creative mapping techniques will be explored and through this we will celebrate the hidden stories of Islington mill. We encourage the use of alternative methods such as hand-drawing, fieldwork, collage, animation and more!
STORYTELLING: The built-environment has the capacity to tell a story about its history. Therefore, we will be creating a visual, spatial link between the past, present, and future of the area, telling the stories uncovered through our research in the form of a digital resource.
HISTORICAL RESEARCH: The site’s history will be researched through a variety of methods and resources to explore the social and architectural history of the area.
PHOTOSHOP & INDESIGN: We encourage and will assist with, alongside other creative methods, the use of Photoshop and InDesign to creatively map the history of Islington Mill.
INTRODUCTION TO THE SITE:
Islington Mill was built in 1823 and is a Grade II-listed, six-storey Georgian mill building located on James Street, in Ordsall, Salford. Islington Mill Arts Club today is home to over 100 artists and collectives and is currently undergoing renovation work to help restore the mill and reach its full potential as a community-centred arts hub.
“We are one of the longest standing mills of our kind, purpose-built in 1823 to spin imported cotton that was farmed and cultivated by enslaved people overseas, and then processed by exploited workers here in Salford. Islington Mill was part of the explosive industrialisation of England. In the following centuries as many types of British manufacturing were dismantled, the uses of the mill gradually changed from intense manufacturing to storage, retail, clerical and eventually into partial disuse. As with many abandoned buildings around the country, artists began to occupy the property, making and sharing their work and ideas. Over time, this process saw us galvanise into the dynamic arts organisation that we are today.” – Islington Mill Arts Club
Hidden Threads is collaborating with Islington Mill Arts Club and BB Heritage Studio to creatively map and document this extensive history.
Hometown/Country: Knutsford, Cheshire, United Kingdom
Atelier: &rchitecture
Undergraduate: Leicester School of Architecture
Practice Experience: 1 Year at WMSaunders, Leeds, in Residential & Education sectors. 2 Years at DAY Architectural, Manchester, in Healthcare, Commercial, & Residential sectors.
Skills: Revit, AutoCAD, SketchUp, Adobe Suite, being nutmegged at 5-a-side.
Hobbies: Football, Formula 1, Poker, Cooking, Travelling, Architecture, Phycology.
Fun Fact: I went solo-backpacking around Europe when I was 19!
We our working alongside Steve Goslyn of "Chorlton Community Land Trust" to transform Chorlton into a GREENER town. Community Land Trusts or CLT's are a group of people within the community that run to develop and manage homes as well as other assets important to that community. CLT's are formed to allow the people of the community to make their town's or area's a better place to live in and have more control over how this happens.
Chorlton Community Land Trust's aims and social impacts:
Provide a variety of housing types and tenures to meet local need.
Prioritise affordable housing, primarily for local people affected by rising house prices.
Create shared community spaces to foster neighbourliness, wellbeing and environmental awareness.
Invest in low/zero carbon technologies and building efficiency.
Protect and enhance the natural environment through habitat diversity, wildlife corridors and sustainable drainage.
Promote the use of car free areas, car sharing initiatives, electric vehicle charging points and cycle infrastructure.
Seek opportunities to engage with other community organisations and the wider community for mutual benefit.
Employ age-friendly design and management principles.
Retain land and property in permanent community ownership through a Community Land Trust (CLT).
Operate as a not-for-profit CLT accountable to its members.
In conjunction with our collaborators, we believe that young people should be able to live, learn, play, and grow in a space that inspires them. It is important for young people to develop a deep connection with the city from an early stage, therefore we, with other young creatives, are designing a creative space that will act as a platform for young people to have a visible presence in the city. The workshop facilitates a variety of artistic practices, so young people can experiment with different media in response to their experience of the city. The art produced will be displayed in a flexible exhibition space that is the mobile gallery. The art forms part of a showcase for the Manchester City Council initiative, ‘Our Year 2022’, to celebrate Manchester’s children and young people.
As part of this project, participants will be given the opportunity to explore various aspects of Lighting, Irrigation, Planting, Growing Frames, and "Furnitecture" design through sketching, basic software workshops, group discussions, visual rendering, and model making. There will be opportunities to gain a new understanding of how reusable material can be used to help future design projects and engage with the Prestwich community.
WHAT WILL WE DO?
Week 1
Based on the brief, participants will be divided into five groups, each tackling a specific area of the site, such as lighting, irrigation, planting, growing frames, and "Furnitecture" designs. At the end of week 1, we will be having numerous designs/models to be finalized during week 2.
Week 2
We will be preparing a small exhibition to showcase our designs at Barnfield Park/ City of Trees office in Week 2.
HERITAGE AND CONSERVATION: The digital resource we create will serve as a space where the community can engage with the heritage of Salford in a creative, enticing way. We are focusing on creating a foundation for its social history that can be built upon and shared by others, an educational resource that demonstrates the vitality that heritage projects can bring to communities.
PROMOTING EQUALITY: We recognise equality as a fundamental human right and will look to shine a light on voices that have been overlooked.
LGBTQ+ VISIBILITY: “Islington Mill as you know it is a product of Queer Love” – IMAC founder, Bill Campbell.
We are interested in mapping LGBTQ+ safe spaces in Salford as well as LGBTQ+ history, providing a resource that supports and celebrates the community and its history with Islington Mill.
REGENERATION: We believe in celebrating the re-use of buildings for the community. The digital resource will supplement the regeneration work of Islington Mill and ensure that the Mill remains a vital creative hub for artists and the wider community, preventing the gentrification and loss of creative space.
Ultimately, we believe in well-being for all and art for everyone.
UNDERGRADUATE: University of Liverpool/ Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
EXPERIENCE: During the first project of MAKING, I finished the reconstruction of an old barn in the countryside, keeping the timber construction in the renewed one. Then I started to be interested in reconstructing and renewing heritage buildings.
RESEARCH METHODS GROUP: Prefigurative Architecture
UNDERGRADUATE: University of the West of England (Bristol School of Architecture)
PART 1 EXPERIENCE: I spent a year freelancing as a designer and artist, then worked as a Part 1 Architectural Assistant in Chester specialising in heritage and conservation architecture.
SKILLS: Illustration, woodworking and ceramics, printmaking, digital modelling (Rhinoceros), rendering (V-Ray) and the Adobe Creative Suite.
RESEARCH METHODS GROUP: An Environmental History of Cement
UNDERGRADUATE: Sheffield Hallam University
PART 1 EXPERIENCE: Architectural Assistant, CZ Planning and Design Institute
SKILLS: SketchUp, Lumion, Photoshop, Illustrator, CAD, VRay, InDesign. In terms of architecture I am partial to modernism and fair-faced concrete. I look forward to working with you all on this interesting project.
RESEARCH METHODS GROUP: DEEP cutting EDGE: Deep Mapping of Manchester Edgelands
UNDERGRADUATE: BSc (Hons) Architecture: University of Salford
EXPERIENCE: I started my masters immediately after completing my undergraduate degree.
SKILLS: Adobe Creative Suite, Digital modelling on (REVIT, LELUX DAYLIGHT, LUMION), Fine Art, Graphic Design, Photography, Ceramics, 2D and 3D modelling, Textiles
Atelier: CPU [ai]
Part 1 education: University of Dundee
Done my undergraduate experience in interior & environmental design at the University of Dundee. I'm interested in mixed-use and social projects. Looking forward to completing this exciting project with you guys.
Atelier: Some Kind of Nature
Part 1 Education: Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
Part 1 Work Experience: Norlia Architect, Veritas Architects Sdn Bhd, GDP Architects Sdn Bhd, BIM Integrate Solution & Z&SR Architectural Ventures, Malaysia
Hello, I'm Zafeera! I had completed my architectural degree in Malaysia and I am currently in my first year of Master of Architecture, in Some Kind of Nature atelier where I truly enjoy learning about decentralizing humans and advocate for multiple species.
I am deeply passionate about sustainability and green wilderness to reduce environmental impact of the world. I am looking forward to collaborate with you on this interesting Station South Upcycle project along with other group members where we can explore about upcycling recyclable materials and learn step-by-step how to make multifunctional furniture for Station South CIC and their future visitors.
Atelier: &rchitecture
Part 1 education: Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
Part 1 work experience: Zigma Design Studio, Malaysia & Universiti Teknologi MARA (as a research assistant), Malaysia
Hello, I’m Dalila! :) a Malaysian who currently enjoys navigating life in Manchester. Having spent a year of my RIBA Part 1 in a small practice in Malaysia, I am now a 5th year in MSA, as a part of the &rch atelier. Throughout my studies, I have always enjoyed creating designs that will bring a positive impact on the community.
I feel like our MSA Live project, Upcycle is a really exciting project for us to potentially leave our mark on Station South, and a great opportunity to give back to the community! Alongside our friendly collaborators, we can’t wait to get started!
Atelier: Some Kind of Nature
Part 1 education: Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
Part 1 work experience: Z&SR Architectural Ventures, Malaysia and Urban Scale Architect, Malaysia.
Hello everyone! I am a passionate architecture student who loves volunteer work and enjoyed club activities. During my spare time, I played table tennis with my friends.
UpCycle Station South CIC piques my interest because it incorporates all of the community projects, and having a repurposed train station transformed into a bike café is unique! It will also educate us on how to collaborate with clients and work as a team. Plus, this project will be completed shortly, and we will be able to visit this location frequently in the next years to watch how it is progressing! What more could I ask for than to see people appreciating our work?
The new HOME for City of Trees will be a hub for community engagement and training for jobs in forestry. We will be regenerating the site to new spaces for a headquarters that facilitates education and engages trees as a topic. You will participate in the designing of a masterplan that can introduce people to new initiatives and experiences and optimising the holistic benefits of working with plants and nature.
SUSTAINABLE BUILDING DESIGN
This project also gives us the opportunity to work with an existing building while reusing materials on site to preserve the heritage and character of the site. The site used to be a horticulture centre. Currently, there is a mix of 1970’s single story building, which is attached to a glass and steel section of interconnecting glass houses. There are also existing polycarbonate frames that could be refitted into useful spaces throughout the site, for events and local enterprises. The original growing beds with existing irrigation system are still there and our collaborator would like to turn this into a tree nursey too!
ENVIRONMENT SUSTAINABILITY
Adaptive reuse is a great way to tackle climate change ! Your challenge will be to come up with designs through reusing and recycling existing structures, and turning them into functionable work and training spaces for the City of Trees including offices, studios, workshops and a tree nursery!
During this event, participants will be able to explore various aspects of furniture design through sketching, a series of basic software workshops, group discussions, visual rendering, and model making. There will be opportunities to engage with the wider community, and to further understand human ergonomics which can be applied in future design projects.
WHAT WILL WE DO?
In Week 1, participants will be divided into three groups to explore ideas for furniture designs based on the brief given. At the end of week 1, we will be having a session with our collaborators to choose the furniture design that best suits Station South.
In Week 2, we will be building these ideas! The product will be handed over to Station South at the end of the week.
This project gives us the opportunity to give back to the people. Station South will be where the local populace, made up of a diverse range of backgrounds, can come together and interact amongst themselves, and with the day-trippers that happen to stop by.
Community
With the community in mind, our team aims to design furniture that is practical to be used in many ways while encouraging interactions and chance encounters, which is important in fostering a strong community. Our collaboration and cooperation with the community and with each other will enhance social skills.
Sustainability
We will be exploring reused and recycled materials for the furniture and placemaking elements. The end product would be actual furniture along with its manual for making, enabling the community to recycle materials and build ones of their own.
Environment
In the making of the furniture, we will be considering the context and environmental aims of Station South. We will also be exploring placemaking elements to complement the scheme, and make the place more lively – perfect for social activities!
Station South is a passionate, creative and abundantly social Community Interest Company set up by Abigail, Mark, and Pauline with their shared aim to restore a building to run a great cycle café, bar, and a permaculture inspired garden that is based in the heart of an urban village along the A6 in Levenshulme, on the UK’s longest urban cycleway (The Fallowfield Loop) in a re-imagined Victorian railway station.
Their plan is to convert Levenshulme Station South into a warm and welcoming space and set up a business that will sustain its long-term future as an independent, environmentally friendly active travel hub, to support Levenshulme and neighbors intrinsically and benefit the wider cycling community of Manchester, Stockport and beyond. In line with this, they are working to connect more local people back to nature in the bustling city, while encouraging cycling and giving back to the community.
Station South is imagined to be an open, creative, ethical, low-carbon and socially-minded venture that people really want to visit, with or without bikes.
Find out more about Station South through their website and social media links,
The sensory gardens will support improved physical fitness, health, mood and cognition. Gardening and plant care will help children develop gross and fine motor skills. Time outdoors, breathing fresh air, and being exposed to sunlight are extremely beneficial to the children’s overall physical health.
Sensory gardens have many therapeutic benefits. They help children develop important life skills including emotional regulation and self-reliance.
Sensory gardens are particularly beneficial to children with sensory processing issues, such as autism and other disabilities. It has also been shown to help with anxiety, fidgeting and attention disorders such as ADHD. Research shows that sensory gardens teach non-verbal children how to participate in a cooperative effort and it helps develop their non-verbal communication skills.
Skills: AutoCAD, Adobe ,Sketch up, Enscape, Vray, Hand drawing.
Why I chose In Our Nature: The creation of a green garden on top of the car park is fantastic, balancing the relationship between people and nature and in line with the need for sustainability
Fun Fact: I especially love watching pandas eat bamboo and can often spend a day at the zoo.