Day 6 - Research and Design 3

Day 6 focused to further refinement of the instalments, as well as refining the output ready for the document submission.

Day 7 was all about making. We gathered the last of the materials then got to work piecing them all together.

Sourcing the materials was as a challenge as we wanted to reuse as much existing material as possible to keep the project sustainable and costs low.

There were different strategies for the insulation. We experimented with using foam, linen and even cardboard to help thicken the linings. Ultimately, we cut the various fabrics into squares which created a unified sheet.

We learnt how to use the sewing machines for the first time, for some of us it was challenging but by the end of the day we were well on our way to completion.

Day 8 - Making 2

We made another trip to NIAMOS to inspect our showroom and rearrange our exhibition for our client. It was made apparent that the budget required to do all the installations was outside of the client’s scope, so at the last minute the team had to make some adjustments. Luckily, we had the foresight to procure and source as much material for free, but we sourced some material from NIAMOS itself and from an unexpected source. For the green wall, it became apparent most of the expensive cost would be the planting. However, outside the Chatham Building, there’s some planting and shrubs being thrown away. The groundskeepers kindly let us have as much we could and we arranged it on to the crate as a pseudo showpiece for the client. We provided it in the document to the client about how they could actually build it if they were inclined in the future.

Overall, it was a successful and productive day.

Day 9- Assembly on Site

Day nine was the day of assembly on site. We started the morning running through the extra pieces of content needed for the document. Document sections were split between students to be completed for Friday.
After lunch we purchased nails and other d.i.y equipment from the shops before heading to the site. We met with the builder who provided the tools needed to complete the works.
They curtains were hung, fabric panel attached the wall, draft excluders in place, window sealed, and the green wall was nailed into place. The students worked as a team to help each other bring the room to life.
By the end of the day the designs that had been sketched two weeks ago had been put in place. Feedback from the students was that it was great to do something from concept to completion and learn new skills in the process. A successful day!

Day 10. Thank you.

Today was the final push! The room has been completed so the day was spent compiling all the work completed over the two weeks into a document and later submitted.

To conclude the project, we would like to give a big thank to all the undergraduate students that committed to the vision we had despite have additional deadlines and commitments. It’s been great to see you develop new skills, confidence and get hands on with turning concepts into physical outputs. We hope that the skills learnt will help you with your future studies.

The fifth years are happy with the outcome and hope you’ve enjoyed yourselves during MSAlive. Please feel free to contact any of us in the future and don’t be a stranger!

We’d also like to thank Byyshe and Maria at Niamos for being so welcoming and giving us the freedom to explore and install our creative ideas.