May 12th (Morning)

This morning we split into our subgroups and began working on the presentation materials. Some of the group headed over to the B.15 workshop to begin modelling the focal Chorlton Cross Shopping Centre precinct site and surrounding context. The model making team received machine and equipment tutorials and learnt how to plot and laser-cut! The rest of the group were busy working in the MTC, drafting the presentation slides for next Thursday and completing the Precinct plans on AutoCAD (to scale), based on the data collected from survey.

May 12th (Plan for 13th-14th Weekend)

As part of our research output we are filling our Miro board with precedents on 'Meanwhile Use' and concepts for how to implement these within the vacant sites we identified on our site visit. Over the weekend we will be developing this mind map of ideas, detailing our selected precedents with research and intervention sketches so we can crack on with the interventions themselves from the get-go next week. This board has been a great way to connect and share when people have been working remotely!

May 12th (Afternoon)

A productive close to the week! The B.15 team have used scrap materials and low-cost mdf to create a really smart model. We are so excited to create sketch interventions to fill the model with...roll on next week!

Presentation slides are coming together nicely and the survey is now complete, ready to be used as a location for our interventions. Our vacant sites map is also taking shape, illustrating just how pressing meanwhile use is for Chorlton where many high-street stores are shuttered in the day or closed altogether.

Wishing everyone a relaxing weekend and refuel ready for our second action week!

May 16th (Morning)

We have drawn up the measured survey of the precinct, looking at CAD line weights, hatching and page-boarding formatting for those not too familiar with the software. The existing plan has been used to confirm our interventions and where they will be located in the precinct, a 'proposed' populated plan will be created to sit alongside this when interventions have been modelled and finalised.

May 16th (Morning continued)

Transporting the model from B.15 to studio, we began exploring methods of mapping our interventions with colour-coded string and circular stick-ons. Concept visuals are almost complete, populating them with people and landscaping gives a good indication of how our proposals could be utilised and enjoyed by locals. Let's get all this great work into the presentation slides ready to wow on Thursday!

Output: Measured survey

This scaled plan is based on our onsite survey of the precinct from the beginning of the action weeks. We have used it to show how all the design proposals, located within the precinct, could interact with each other and the existing structure. We’ve used this to explore the process of taking abstract conceptual designs and sketches into a measured and realistic drawing.