Day 1:
We started the first day of MSA live with Introductions to get to know the team, following this we introduced The Boiler house and the community workshops that they run. We presented an outline of the collaborators brief and the project outcomes for the next few weeks, and spent some time discussing areas of the project that each student would most like to be involved in, splitting ourselves into a design and build team for the external storage space and protected workspace, and a research and material specification document team, who will produce a document to help secure potential funding to upscale the boiler house’s current Mycelium growing workshop.
In the afternoon session we ran a collaborative sketch modelling workshop and had an informal group discussion of the designs we each produced. Following the discussions we agreed upon a general form, massing and scale for the built structure to be refined by the design and build team tomorrow.

It was a great start to the project- exciting things to follow!

Day 3: Research/ Mushroom team
We spend the day with Ladislav (Lad), the ‘Mushroom and Mycelium expert’ at the Boiler House, getting our hands dirty creating our very own Mushroom grow bags!! Lad taught us about the controlled and sterile conditions required to grow the mushrooms and showed us some mycelium insulation panels he had produced for our build project; it was so interesting to see the final formed Mycelium panels and to take part in the different stages involved in producing Mycelium- Also it was nice to get away from the computer screens and get stuck in! (We couldn’t leave all the fun to the build team!)

Day 4: Research/ Mushroom team
The final day of our Mushroom and Mycelium course at the boiler house involved yet more exciting hands-on work!
In the morning session Lad delivered a presentation, in which we learnt more about the different growing substrates and mediums in which you can grow mushrooms and mycelium, it was interesting to see the variety of Mycelium examples that Lad had produced himself, and his demonstration of the ways in which Mycelium can address the over reliance on plastic use in industry.
The afternoon session is where the ‘Boiler House Angels’ came into play, we really got stuck in with producing our own MSA:23 Shitake Mushroom log, we made full use of the boiler house workshop and learnt more about how Mycelium can be embedded into other organic materials to propagate further mushroom growth.
Big thanks to Lad for all his insight this week!

Day 5: Research/ Mushroom team
A slightly different setting today, we opted for a hybrid workspace and shared a home cooked team meal- which of course included Mushroom Pizza!! We began working more closely upon the Mycelium specification document that we are producing for The Boiler House, collating all that we have learnt from Lad in our Mushroom and Mycelium course last week, along with research into current industrial uses for Mycelium, and the forecast shift towards this ‘eco-alternative’ for a wide range of applications. The document we are producing hopes to encapsulate the benefits of using Mycelium as a sustainable alternative- specifically to secure funding to upscale The Boiler House’s own Mycelium production with the aim of one day insulating their building with Mycelium panels. Today was a great opportunity to continue getting to know the team members and be productive with full stomachs!!

Day 6: Research/ Mushroom team

The team spent the day working on the Mycelium specification document in Grosvenor East. Compiling and visualising all of the rich, hands-on content that we have been involved in last week at The Boiler House. The document that we are producing for The Boiler House will include information and statistics on the alternative uses for Mycelium and the sustainable benefits of its production. It will also compare data on the thermal capacity, embodied carbon and material lifespan of Mycelium with current industry equivalents. We hope this document will encourage potential investors to think GREEN and support The Boiler House’s aim to upscale the production of Mycelium as an eco-insulation.

Day 8: Research/ Mushroom team
Nearly done! The team spent the day finalizing the visualizations for the research we have completed, and compiling the Mycelium specification document for The Boiler House. It’s been great sharing different skills and knowledge surrounding graphic design and the various software that we’ve been using these past two weeks- we’ve all learnt something from each other, and we all know so much about Mushrooms too!!