Group 39
[ESC]APISM

We will be working with Gorse Hill Studios Creative Community (GHS) to propose a safer, more accessible outdoor space for the young generation. Gorse Hill Studios is a youth arts charity organization located in Stretford, in the south of Manchester. They believe that young people have the right to social, emotional and cultural investment in the future. During COVID-19 lockdown, they saw opportunity in the garden space to contribute to the ongoing project of ‘Lost Safe Spaces’ that offered a safe escape for the young people in need. Our project aims to connect with the people from GHS community, especially the young people, to create the most ideal design for their outdoor space. We will be holding a site visit to engage with them during the action weeks and will be proposing both temporary and permanent options with small scale physical prototypes.

Download Final Report

Yuexuan M / Amelia S / Tak L / Magdeline DW / Qihao R

Yuexuan M
The first meeting between team members and collaborators

The cooperators state the design requirements and sketch the sites.

Project Introduction:
Gorse Hill Studios (GHS) is a Youth & Community arts Charity based in south Manchester, the building and the space is an important part of the organisation, and the collaborator's vision is to make the area more accessible and match the needs of the people they serve, the space for us to design is an open and flexible garden in front of the building. The collaborator seeks an approach to develop a functional outdoor space for artwork exhibitions surrounded by green elements.
Posted 7 Mar 2023 15:07
Yuexuan M
The first time of the site visit to the Gorse Hill Studio.

The garden in front of the building is small and faces many problems wait to be solved like side street noise and sunlight, etc. The narrow space also requires us to come up with a design approach to maximize the garden space area, try to design a furniture can satisfy the needs of both art exhibitions and feature of flexibility.

Our initial idea is to design a foldable furniture which can transform into a display board during the exhibition time and folded into a small block during the daily used to maximize the space area. At the meantime, we should also give this furniture a movable feature that can used to be a road guide for users.
Posted 7 Mar 2023 15:22
Tak L
Tak Yung Jacqueline Lau
Atelier // Infrastructure Space
Qualification // BA in Architecture at Manchester School of Architecture
Skills // Sketch up, AutoCAD, Adobes
Hobbies // Dance, Photography
Fun Fact // I'm fluent in three languages (kind of)
Posted 12 Mar 2023 18:52
Magdeline DW
Magdeline De Witt
Atelier // MAKING
Qualification // BDes from The University of Melbourne
Skills // Adobe Suite, Rhino, Grasshopper, Lumion, Enscape, Bluebeam, Autodesk (Revit, Navisworks)
Hobbies // Eating, really.
Fun Fact // I can order food in Korean :D
Posted 12 Mar 2023 19:08
Amelia S
Amelia Sarles
Atelier // Praxxis
Qualification // BA University of Sheffield
Skills // Adobe programmes, Revit
Hobbies // gym, life drawing
Fun fact // I’m left handed
Posted 13 Mar 2023 01:48
Yuexuan M
Yuexuan Meng
Atelier // CPU
Qualification // BEng from Beijing University of Civil Engineering And Architecture
Skills // Adobe, Rhino, Grasshopper, Python, Lumion, Sketch Up, Autodesk (Revit, CAD)
Hobbies // Model Making, badminton
Posted 13 Mar 2023 10:55
Qihao R
Qihao Ren
Atelier // CPU
Qualification // BA (Hons) from
University of Ningbo Nottingham China
Skills // Adobes, Rhino, Sketch up, AutoCAD, Enscape, Grasshopper
Hobbies // Billiards, Skiing.
Fun Fact // I can touch Mexican black king snake.
Posted 13 Mar 2023 11:51
Tak L
Action Plan -
To summarise our plan for the action weeks, we will be organising a site visit to engage with the young people from Gorse Hill Studios in the first week. We will be working with them on sketches/ collages to get an idea of what they imagine the garden space to be. Both the temporary and permanent proposals will be further developed after the site visit to adapt to their needs. We will then be working with computer softwares for general arrangement drawings and digital models. A physical model will also be built for the temporary prototype.
Posted 13 Mar 2023 15:41
Yuexuan M
As the initial idea of a temporary plan, one of the tasks of the first day of the intensive week is to discuss and deepen the existing plan with the students in BA1 and BA2, and explore more possibilities.
Posted 9 May 2023 22:15
Yuexuan M
Day 1 saw us meeting for the first time, and carrying out tasks outlined in our action plans.

We had an initial group discussion with self introductions and later split into two design discussion groups as per our project agendas - permanent and temporary structures.

With this we brainstormed in our groups and shared our design ideas as well as consolidating what we liked and what could be utilised as part of the site proposal. In addition, we also carried out some site analysis and 3D modelling for our proposed site.

Then we finished the day with a quick ice breaker and a debrief of the day.
Posted 9 May 2023 22:15
Yuexuan M
Day 2 encompassed us preparing collage materials for our site visit on Day 3. Each member collated images that were in relation to enhancing the use and aesthetics of the site. This was targeted for the users of the site (children-youths-adults ranging from 5-25 year olds), thus a wide range of collaging elements were prepared.

Other than that, we also prepared and printed off site photos for the collage activity as well.
Posted 10 May 2023 22:07
Yuexuan M
Day 3, we lead the students of BA1 and BA2 to visit the site. Verify and be familiar with the customer's needs and the site profile. At the same time, we had a collage activity prepared the day before with children aged 12-16, and each of the children contributed their own unique ideas, which played a key role in determining the direction of our subsequent design.
Posted 12 May 2023 00:28
Yuexuan M
Day 4 comprised a consolidation and brainstorming session from the site visit on the previous day. We split into two groups and developed two masterplan proposals as per the brief. After a brief presentation and discussion of ideas, likes and dislikes of the proposals, we carefully curated a single masterplan proposal that everyone was content with.

After this, we split the masterplan into parts, having two or three members working on their designated part of the proposal. This was inclusive of schematic designs through sketching and digital modelling.

Before the end of the day, the MArch 1 students met with the individual groups and discussed their thought processes as well as outcomes of their brief design session, this was done so to ensure a more cohesive output for the proposal.
Posted 14 May 2023 23:35
Amelia S
Monday, day 5, felt like the first day of summer, the weather was sunny and we were all ready and raring to go on the final push for our MSA live outputs. After a brief chat about how we all spent our weekends, studio work for the unfortunate BA2s, we began with a Rhino and Grasshopper tutorial. Yuexuan showed everyone how to do an environmental site analysis, including sun paths.

Then landscaping design began. We split off into smaller groups, designing different parts of the outdoor space. We used different software or hand-sketched depending on our individual abilities. For example, one pair were working on the playground area by handsketching, while others created quick models or used Autocad.

We also began to laser cut a site model which is to be used for further site explorations and sketch models. While also continuing to populate the indesign document with the work we have completed so far.

Feeling positive for the week ahead!
Posted 15 May 2023 16:33
Amelia S
Day 6 saw our group model making in B15. After laser cutting the model, we spray painted Gorse Hill Studios then assembled the pieces. The finished 1:200 scale model will serve as a base for the BA students to create their individual sections of the garden.

After spending the morning assembling the model, we made our way back to the studio spaces to further develop the sketch plan design for the outside space. Great development was made on the playground, as depicted in the blog image. Students were then asked to develop these sketch plans into 1:200 models to place on the laser cut model.

We also began to develop the digital model in Rhino which will be used for the 3D visuals for the final outputs. A plan in photoshop was also commenced which will help to depict the overall final landscape plan.
Posted 16 May 2023 15:53
Amelia S
Day 7 saw us wrapping up the design of the outdoor space. The photoshop masterplan was worked on by BA2 students, depicting the landscaping plan visually. Simultaneously, the 3D eye level renders were finalised. These communicate the spaces, such as the sound insulating performance and art hubs, on a more personable level. A presentation was developed which is to be presented to the collaborators at Gorse Hill Studios tomorrow. This will help them understand the process we have undergone and why we have come to our conclusions.

We ran a photoshop tutorial for BA1 students who had never used the programme before. This helped them to understand the basics of the programme, setting them up to create collages which feed into the process of our project.
Posted 17 May 2023 16:52
Amelia S
We spent day 8 making final changes to the photoshop plan and renders. We also prepared a document to present our findings and final outputs to the collaborators at Gorse Hill Studios.

In the afternoon, we had a zoom call with Lizzie, creative director at the youth centre. We showed her the work we have undertaken during the last few days. Her feedback was positive, with only a few small queries. Following the meeting, we made some changes to our publication and presentation, such as adding shade to the sound-insulating hubs at the front of the site.
Posted 19 May 2023 10:47
Amelia S
Day 9, the final day of the intensive weeks, was deadline day! Following the meeting with collaborators yesterday, we decided to get the physical model over to Gorse Hill Studios with a physical copy of the presentation so they could share with all the young people there. Another group were going to Gorse Hill Studios so agreed to take our model with them. We also emailed a recording of the zoom meeting along with the presentation to Lizzie as she wanted to present it to the staff and young people the next week.

After this we spent the day finalising and checking the publication and 10 image submission, ready to be uploaded before the deadline at 9pm. As well as this, the MArch students completed the 60 words max review on the BAs individual engagement and contribution.
Posted 19 May 2023 15:49