Group 14
PICTURE THIS

Our site is Chorlton - the largest district centre in Manchester with pedestrian and retail activity restricted to two intersecting busy main roads. We will work with Chorlton Community Land Trust and Chorlton Vision. Our project will focus on the benefits of well-designed public space and how it can be physically applied to Chorlton High Street. Within the action weeks we will design a public space outside the former picture house to compliment redevelopment plans and promote social interaction through immersing community into a space for rest, play, conversation, and events.

Download Final Report

Xin S / Keating W / Yow Hue T / Aye Eindra L

OUR SITE: CHORLTON
Chorlton is the largest district centre in Manchester with pedestrian and retail activity restricted to two intersecting busy main roads. There is a lack of public space off the main highways where people can stop, rest, play, meet each other, enjoy events - spending more time in an attractive and human-scale environment. The idea is that we would like the students to research the benefits of well designed public space - "a public square" - and envisage how this concept can be physically applied to Chorlton centre.

Posted 13 Mar 2023 19:50

OUR COLLABORATOR:
CHORLTON COMMUNITY LAND TRUST & CHORLTON VISION
"Chorlton is a diverse and interesting place to live, with lots going on and a proud, independent outlook. We want it to stay that way – in fact we want it to be better! "
Both Chorlton CLT and Chorlton Vision devote themselves to make chorlton a more people-friendly town, and by working with residents and business, they had already drafted an initial Vision, based on their priorities and ideas, which can facilitate our design.

Posted 13 Mar 2023 20:01

SOCIAL IMPACT
The envisagement of "a public square" in chorlton can have many social impacts.
· Increasing people's wellbeing through having attractive, well designed, spaces, calming green areas included.
· Reducing loneliness by creating opportunities for people to meet and socialise.
· Encouraging more use of local shops and facilities thus benefiting the local economy including enhancing job opportunities.
· Reducing car use where people can see the benefit of walking through, or cycling to, attractive welcoming places, and reducing air pollution.
· Improving community safety as there would more people around with increased natural surveillance.
· Increasing a sense of pride of place in Chorlton thus increasing people's likelihood of volunteering and contributing to community resilience.
· Giving opportunities for a wider range of fresh and organic foodstuffs to be offered thus improving local health outcomes.

Posted 13 Mar 2023 20:17

MEET THE TEAM!
Name : Xin Shu (Silvia)
Atelier : FLUX
Undergrad : Wuhan University & University of Dundee
Skills : Sketchup, Enscape , Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator, Sketching, AutoCAD
Hobbies : Hiking, Traveling, Dancing, Badminton
Archi Interest : Urban design & Urban regeneration

Posted 13 Mar 2023 20:22

MEET THE TEAM!
Name : Aye Eindra Lin
Atelier : FLUX
Undergrad : Manchester school of architecture , (Hometown : Myanmar)
Skills : Revit , Enscape , Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator, Sketching, Sketchup
Experience : Worked in practice for a year under a company call Medical architecture Newcastle
Hobbies : Reading a book
Archi Interest : Sustainable architecture

Posted 13 Mar 2023 20:24

MEET THE TEAM!
Name : Keating Walters
Atelier : Infrastructure
Undergrad : Manchester school of architecture, (Hometown : Nottingham)
Skills : Revit, Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator, Lumion
Experience : Worked in Sheffield on my year out on education and industrial projects
Hobbies : Cooking/baking, plants and yoga
Archi Interest : Community engagement, Environmentalism

Posted 13 Mar 2023 20:28

MEET THE TEAM!
Name : Tan Yow Hue
Atelier : SKN
Undergraduate : Taylor's Lakeside University , Malaysia
Skills : AutoCAD, Sketchup , Lumion, Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign
Experience : Specialized in authority submission, Interior renovation design, worked in practice for a year
Hobbies : Fishing
Arch Interest : Loves green design

Posted 13 Mar 2023 20:29

MEET THE TEAM!
Name: Siddharth Tiwari
Atelier: MAKING
Undergraduate: Dr.D.Y.Patil school of Architecture, Pune, India.
Hometown: Pune, India.
Skills: AutoCAD, Revit, Rhino+Grasshopper, SketchUp, Photoshop, Lumion, Illustrator.
Worked in practise for a year to develop working drawings & creating conceptual iterations for multiple projects.
Hobbies: Football, hiking, Cooking, gaming.
Archi interest: minimalistic, modern contemporary, biophilic design.

Posted 13 Mar 2023 20:30

DAY 1
It's whole group's first meeting today. We began the day by briefing the students on the project and the site. We then asked students to draw some conceptual sketchesof possible interventions to Chorlton’s public realm using what they have learned from the morning’s presentation and also with what public space means to them. Plans and tasks of the next day's site visit were also discussed at last.

Posted 9 May 2023 20:49

DAY 2
Today's focus was the selected site surrounding the public realm outside the former picture house and shopping precinct. We began the day with desk based research of the site, and collated information, analysis and precedents on a miro board to discuss as a group, and begin thinking about the area from a multitude of lenses. Despite the rainy weather, we attended a site visit in the afternoon, with Steve Goslyn from our collaborator CCLT as our guide to get to grips with the full scope of what public space could mean for the chosen area.

Posted 10 May 2023 16:59

DAY 3
Day 3 started off with the students collating information gathered from the previous day. Using cad drawings produced by digimaps, the BA students made informative site analysis diagrams to help them better understand the site. While this is ongoing, the 3D model team started drawing up a massings model of the site using Sketchup. By referring to pictures taken from site and Google Earth, the BA students are able to produce accurate massing models to be used for rendering later on. After lunch break, the whole group gathers to brainstorm ideas together. We used tracing paper to trace out proposed designs on the current site drawing and pinpoint potential sites to be redesigned while looking up precedents for more inspiration.

Posted 12 May 2023 00:41

MIRO BOARD
We set up a Miro board for everyone to collate ideas and information of our site.

Posted 15 May 2023 12:07

DAY 5
Based on the urban strategy of cycling formed last week, we continued working on 5 main strategies, designing interventions by sketches and massing.

Posted 15 May 2023 18:58

Day 6
Today, we began adding our interventions to the site massing model, as well as adding details to the surrounding context. The group divided the 3D modelling work according to the different areas of the site and began to pick up Revit and Sketch up skills. The afternoon was spent thinking about how we could create an active street front along the high street, with a group designing shop window graphics.

Posted 17 May 2023 14:46

Gathering ideas of public interventions for five main areas!

Posted 18 May 2023 11:51

DAY 7
Today we continued working on the 3D modelling of our public interventions. For the public courtyard, placing pavilions for rest and integrating the cycleway as well.

Posted 18 May 2023 11:59

DAY 7
Today we continued working on the 3D modelling of our public interventions. For the market space and pedestrian spaces beside Barlow Moor Road, placing pockets of green space, sheltered areas and seating, and integrating the cycleway as well.

Posted 18 May 2023 12:04

DAY 8
After integrating all the models of well-designed public interventions and our site, we began to render today. We chose proper perspectives for rendering and asked BA students to polish these renderings and add people in. In the meantime, we got down to work on putting together all the materials needed for the final presentation.

Posted 19 May 2023 11:03

DAY 4
Today we considered the key strategies to implement within our site, such as the design of courtyards/public squares in conjunction with cycling and pedestrian routes to encourage low-carbon and environmentally friendly transport options, while addressing traffic issues and ensuring safe movement and circulation of children and community within the area.

Posted 19 May 2023 12:57

MASTERPLAN

Posted 19 May 2023 13:48

1. NICHOLAS ROAD
The aim of this intervention is to reduce congestion along the street, which will in turn create places for residents and visitors to rest or play. This will be ideal for the environment surrounding the health centre and school.

Posted 19 May 2023 13:49

2. THE PICTURE HOUSE
Following future plans to create a food market within the old Picture House, our intervention aims to extend the spaces to the newly pedestrianised street to include places to eat, drink and host pop up events.

Posted 19 May 2023 13:49

3. ‘CHORLTON SQUARE’
The aim of this intervention is to provide an extension of the cycle network as well as providing a new central hub for the bike delieveries. This will also create a public green space within walking distance from a range of amenities.

Posted 19 May 2023 13:50

4. ACTIVE HIGH STREETS
This intervention aims to work with the existing plans of creating cycle lanes along Barlow Moor Road, and aims to accommodate cycling storage, planting as well as colourful shop windows.

Posted 19 May 2023 13:51

5. THE GATEWAY
The idea behind the gateway interventions is to create an entrance to the public square that is welcoming and an active part of the high street.

Posted 19 May 2023 13:51

DAY 9
It's the final presentation day with our collaborators, showcasing our final ideas, schemes and visualisation renders of the Chorlton area being revitalised. WRAP UP AFTER PRESENTATION.

Posted 19 May 2023 16:57

That's a wrap!
We'd like to extend our thanks to everyone who has worked with us within the action weeks and beyond, it's been an invaluable experience for all of the team.

Group 14

Posted 19 May 2023 17:16