Group 18
[UN]LISTED

Community centres are valuable spaces that bring together people from different walks of life. Their regular maintenance and upkeep are vital to address the changing needs of the communities they serve. This project aims to support the Birch Community Centre, which has been providing educational, recreational and leisure opportunities for the community to enjoy. Our focus is on providing modifications that can enable the Centre to remain financially sustainable by reaching out to a wider range of users. This project provides the perfect opportunity to explore and develop new skills across a broad range of media, all leading to viable outcomes that the Centre can use to attain grants for its refurbishment before looking into granting a Listed status.

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Janhavi N / Christopher B / Alisa W / Lihong X / Jiawen L

Janhavi N
NAME: Alisa Wang

ATELIER: Praxxis

UNDERGRADUATE: The University of Edinburgh

ARCHITECTURAL INTERESTS: Intersection of architecture and social sciences, humanitarian architecture, …More
Posted 13 Mar 2023 14:37
Janhavi N
NAME: Janhavi Narayanaswamy

ATELIER: FLUX

UNDERGRADUATE: The University of Melbourne, Australia

ARCHITECTURAL INTERESTS: Humanitarian architecture, community-centred design, …More
Posted 13 Mar 2023 14:38
Janhavi N
NAME: Chris Brierley

ATELIER: Some Kind of Nature

UNDERGRADUATE: Oxford Brooks University

ARCHITECTURAL INTERESTS: Sustainable design, physical model making, and social design …More
Posted 13 Mar 2023 14:39
Janhavi N
NAME: Jiawen Li

ATELIER: Infrastructure Space

UNDERGRADUATE: China Academy of Art

ARCHITECTURAL INTERESTS: observing the city on foot to capture the lifestyles of people in …More
Posted 13 Mar 2023 14:40
Janhavi N
NAME: Lihong Xing

ATELIER: &rchitecture

UNDERGRADUATE: Wenzhou Kean University

ARCHITECTURAL INTERESTS: In-between spaces between indoors and outdoors, hierarchical sense of …More
Posted 13 Mar 2023 14:41
Janhavi N
Previously designed as a Parish hall by local architect James Medland Taylor in 1897, Birch Community Centre is an unlisted building that serves the community by providing educational, …More
Posted 13 Mar 2023 14:42
Janhavi N
The project directly supports the local community by upgrading the space which would further facilitate social interactions. By enriching its appeal for commercial hire, the Centre …More
Posted 13 Mar 2023 14:44
Janhavi N
This project provides a great opportunity to engage with a myriad of skills critical to aspiring architects. Workshops and collaboration sessions will be held to either learn new or …More
Posted 13 Mar 2023 14:47
Alisa W
Day 1: Introductions

After introducing ourselves, the Birch Community Centre building, and the expectations for project outcomes, our group embarked on a short icebreaker activity. …More
Posted 9 May 2023 22:38
Christopher B
Day 2: Site Introduction & Sketch survey

Today we began on-site with a talk from Jonathan Hodgkinson, chair of the trustees for Birch Community Centre. Jonathan took the BA students …More
Posted 11 May 2023 12:35
Janhavi N
Day 3: Digital Workshops

Today, the BA students from Groups B and C participated in digital workshops conducted by the M.Arch students to better understand 3D modelling and rendering.

Starting …More
Posted 11 May 2023 22:05
Christopher B
Day 3 + 4: Material Experimentation + CAD preparations

Group A developed interior and exterior elevations based off the surveys undergone on site on day 2. This led towards production …More
Posted 15 May 2023 18:42
Alisa W
Day 4: Brainstorming

Group B and C worked in our assigned room in the Grosvenor East building and started brainstorming ideas for both lighting and circulation options. We introduced …More
Posted 16 May 2023 15:17
Jiawen L
Day 5: Truss & Laser cut & Material research

Group A cut their first truss and laser cut based on the laser cut files on Day 5. At the same time they did some model material research, …More
Posted 16 May 2023 19:02
Lihong X
Day 5: Developing Ideas

Today, BA students tried out the school computers in the CAD lab to start individual group tasks.
Team A cut their first truss and laser cut today in B15.
Team …More
Posted 17 May 2023 11:27
Christopher B
Day 6: Client Presentation & truss assembly

Group A began the day with an early start to get onto the laser cutter, cutting 3 more sheets for the exterior façade of Birch community …More
Posted 17 May 2023 19:18
Janhavi N
Day 6: Group Feedback Round

We are back on site again! This provided us with an opportunity to check in with the other groups as well as update our collaborators on our progress. …More
Posted 17 May 2023 20:53
Lihong X
Day 7: Finalising outputs

The main task for Team B and Team C today was to determine the final output.

Team B has found the optimal result for each grouping after yesterday's …More
Posted 17 May 2023 21:35
Jiawen L
Day 7: Painting truss & windows & doors

Group A began painting and gluing the cut Truss today in preparation for the roof section the next day. At the same time, according to the …More
Posted 18 May 2023 11:02
Alisa W
Day 8: Refining & Collating Outcomes

On Day 8, the MAs gathered the outcomes of BA1 and BA2 students, meticulously preparing them for handover to our collaborators. This involved …More
Posted 19 May 2023 14:44
Alisa W
Day 9: Final Outcomes - Team B

Team B successfully finalized the lighting scheme document on our last MSA Live day! It features four diverse lighting options, each accompanied by …More
Posted 19 May 2023 15:08
Christopher B
Day 9: Team A

On our final day of MSA live we looked to begin assembly of the model, on the previous day we had cut pieced for the concealed structure to shape. All internal and …More
Posted 19 May 2023 19:09