Group 16
DRAGONSCAPES

The project Dragonscapes is located in Debdale Outdoor Centre, Gorton Manchester. We are constructing a low maintenance, accessible and environmentally-friendly pollinator garden to be used by the Paddlers for Life Manchester Dragoneers to facilitate conversation, and have coffee and cakes. We will be designing a habitat for pollinators and a well-being enriched space for the local community in hopes of enhancing the surrounding green space and promoting sustainability throughout the wider area.

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Shu Yi Amanda L / Abbigayle Y / Jonathan Q / Anna G / Megan D

Atelier | Making
Skills | Revit, Photoshop, Illustrator, environmental design, model making
Hobbies | I love painting and drawing!
Fun fact! | I love nature and animals, and have rescued over 30 animals
Posted 12 Mar 2022 16:05
Atelier | &rchitecture
Skills | Photoshop, InDesign, Revit, CAD, design and technical skills, and can speak German
Hobbies | I am a crazy dog person and love going on walks with my dog. I also love to sit back with a beer (the German genes in me) and paint when I get the time.
Fun fact! | I have watched the TV series FRIENDS probably 10+ times and can recite quotes from most episodes.
Posted 12 Mar 2022 16:07
Atelier | Some Kind of Nature
Skills | SketchUp, Lumion, Photoshop, Illustrator, woodwork, sketching
Hobbies | 3D printing, playing the guitar, skateboarding, walks and architecture
Fun fact! | My fun fact is that I hate coming up with fun facts, however, "I love food, and the most exotic thing I've eaten is Kangaroo"
Posted 12 Mar 2022 16:09
Atelier | PRAXXIS
Skills | Revit, Enscape, Grasshopper, 3D modelling, drawing, infographics, visuals
Hobbies | Travelling, photography, walking, horse riding, and spending time with family and friends
Fun fact! | I have appeared on a TV programme
Posted 12 Mar 2022 16:12
Atelier | Some Kind of Nature
Skills | AutoCAD, SketchUp, Photoshop, InDesign, Blender3D, graphics, 3D modelling
Hobbies | I like to draw, sing and play my ukulele!
Fun fact! | I love watching horror gameplays but I am terrified of horror movies
Posted 12 Mar 2022 16:14
They are the Debdale Breast Cancer Dragonboating team, every Saturday morning they meet at the Debdale outdoor centre and paddle on the reservoir. Founded in 2012 under the Paddlers for Life banner, they enjoy weekly exercise where we don't need to talk or dwell on cancer, but look at what life has to offer and give each other emotional support. It's about having fun and reaching out for the normal after treatment. They often enjoy tea and coffee afterwards and get on well as a community.
Their activity is not only limited to dragon boating, as they often go on walks, sailing, kayaking and other social events. They are just one of over 200 dragonboat teams dedicated to supporting breast cancer survivors, as the exercise required for dragonboating is safe and therapeutic for those undergoing treatment
Posted 13 Mar 2022 19:19
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!
Posted 14 Mar 2022 21:35
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.
Posted 15 Mar 2022 07:15
The project will involve designing and constructing a nature friendly garden and seating area, as part of this, everyone will be involved in the design process using techniques such as hand sketching, collage, model making and more, culminating into a presentation to be delivered to the client before beginning construction. The construction on site will involve work with landscaping and planting, as well as building seating and painting a mural.
The key skills that will be developed are:
Adobe Suite skills
Architectural sketching, collage and modelling
Woodworking
Landscaping and Gardening
Teamwork
Posted 15 Mar 2022 13:04
Our first meeting with the team and the client took place out on the water! We were given the opportunity to join the Dragoneers on their dragonboats on Saturday morning. It was a lovely sunny day out on the lake, and we were able to see species like Canada geese and their goslings, coots and mallards up close from the boats. There was even a dragonboat race at the end! This was a great chance for the team to get to know the client over tea and cakes, and to see the site in person and learn about the brief.
Posted 14 May 2022 11:14
The schedule for Week 1 will be focusing on the designing and preparation phases of this project.
Posted 15 May 2022 20:43
Day 1 of MSA Live Dragonscapes begins!
With our project officially kicking off we started the day with a presentation of the site, clients and overview of the project, before setting off with concept sketching and discussions. Working as a group, we had plenty of ideas on ways to use the limited materials and budget available to us to upcycle and create a great garden area and mural. We finished the day by discussing our favourite ideas for how to use the site, ready to begin visualisation and masterplanning tomorrow!
Posted 16 May 2022 20:21
Day 2 of MSA Live Dragonscapes!
Today we began by splitting up into 4 groups, including a sketching team, masterplanning team, modelling team and a visuals team. Within our groups we created strong visual concepts which we will present to the client tomorrow afternoon. We finished the day with a group presentation so everyone got to see the work that was produced, ready for tomorrow!
Posted 17 May 2022 19:42
Site Analysis
Before we began to brainstorm concept designs, we conducted a site analysis to understand the opportunities and constraints that exist on the site.
Posted 18 May 2022 18:36
Day 3 of MSA Live Dragonscapes! Today we began exploring ideas concerning the materiality and physical construction of the garden. As well as creating a low-maintenance pollinator- friendly garden, we also plan to create a seating area where the Dragoneers can sit and relax. We plan to recycle materials (such as wood, tires, rope etc.) and use them as an integral part of the gardens construction. We plan to utilise these materials and create seating, dragon themed sculptures and bird boxes which will encourage the local species to thrive.

By designing our garden with recycled resources from local garages and second-hand furniture stores, we are able to reduce material waste in the local area, whilst lowering our project’s carbon footprint.
Posted 18 May 2022 19:12
During action week, as a team, we drew up some mood boards as initial ideas in response to our client’s needs; these helped us form visuals.
Posted 19 May 2022 16:43
The team came up with several concepts for seating and gardens using recycled materials. Benches and planters would be constructed using wood planks, cinder blocks and tires sourced from various facilities. The old boats on site would be recycled into seating, planters or ponds.
Posted 20 May 2022 15:31
Day 5 of Dragonscapes had us create and send a presentation to the client and managers of the Debdale outdoor centre to receive their agreement and any alterations to the design before we begin construction on Week 2. The proposal covers all the work we have done in the previous week, from concept to masterplan. Following approval and alterations, we will begin construction of the seating and garden area on site to create a starting point for the dragoneers to build on in future.
Posted 20 May 2022 16:02
Day 6 of MSA Live Dragonscapes! The design team met on sight to collaborate their ideas and began construction.
Posted 23 May 2022 15:02
The Dragonscapes team spent the morning collecting materials for the proposed project. We collected the wood and pallets from a local wood supply to reuse them within our garden.
Posted 23 May 2022 22:37
Day 6 of Dragonscapes! The team have begun to bring our proposal to life! The day began with preparing the site for construction and ended with a creative day of making and experimentation of ideas.
Posted 23 May 2022 22:41
Day 7 of Dragonscapes! The group divided into sub-teams which involved a construction, mural and gardening team. A lot of progress was made by each group, and by the end of the day, a bench was built, the final outline for the dragon head was drawn, and lots of seeds were planted.
Posted 24 May 2022 19:24
Day 8 of Dragonscapes! Today started off raining on site, but after a coffee and a quick warm, the team continued completing the mural. We began creating seating out of old or damaged boats from Debdale Outdoor Centre, which was a great success. Today the Dragonscapes team made the pond boat, tomorrow, we aim to decorate this further with additional paints and perhaps some pond plants! We are excited for tomorrow with our final day of construction with finishing touches on Friday, ready for the final outputs!
Posted 25 May 2022 18:18
Another rainy day but the group still managed to do quite a bit of work! Today we focused on turning the old boat into seating and a planter, while others worked on completing the benches for the site. Second last day of MSALive... Look forward to the project finale tomorrow!
Posted 26 May 2022 18:48
Day 10 of Dragonscapes! Today was the final push. Where the team finished up constructing the benches, varnishing, painting, last minute touches to the mural and additional planting. To ensure our design maintained a low carbon footprint. We made all of our structures from recycled and waste materials found lying around on site and from materials we re-used from second hand furniture stores.
Posted 27 May 2022 18:16
Posted 27 May 2022 18:36
Today marks the final day of Dragonscapes! Thank you so much to our team over the past two weeks for all your hard work. Everyone has put in some amazing effort to make this garden possible! Well done everyone! You have been such a fun team to work with!
Posted 27 May 2022 18:42