Group 15
CRAFT THE LOOP

Station South cafe in the heart of Levenshulme is located directly above the fallowfield cycle loop. Whilst offering cycle classes, a repair station in addition to planting beds for the community, there is not enough signage in place to inform passerby’s of these wonderful oppurtunities. Craft the Loop proposes a cohesive landscaping design, along with some innovative storage solutions, showcased with the creation of a physical final model.

Download Final Report

Luke S / Yihan S / Danni Y / Siheng L / Andrei G

Luke S
Hi, my names Luke Singleton.

Atelier: FLUX

Skills: Physical drawing / Physical Model-making / sketching / AutoCAD / SketchUp / Lumion / InDesign / Photoshop

Undergraduate: Leeds Beckett University

Personality: INTP, whatever that means.

Fact: I get all my ideas from talking to other people.
Posted 9 Mar 2024 14:41
Andrei G
Hi, my name is Andrei Grigore

Atelier: SKN

Skills: Physical Drawing / Adobe Suite / Rhino / Grasshopper

Undergraduate: University of Manchester

Personality: Lazy? Nah, just selectively energetic. Smart thinking beats hard lifting.

Fact: Tower of Pisa wasn't actually designed to lean.
Posted 9 Mar 2024 15:56
Danni Y
Hi, I'm Danni Yan, nice to meet you!

Atelier: SKN

Skills: Photoshop / Illustrator / Rhino / Photo/ Indesign/ Rendering

Undergraduate: Xi'an Jiaotong Liverpool University

Personality: Happy to make friends and enjoy every day. ENTP

Fact: I can escape from my nightmares.
Posted 9 Mar 2024 16:29
Yihan S
Hi! I am Yihan Su!

Atelier: SKN

Skills: Photoshop / Illustrator / Rhino / Vray / D5 / Indesign / AutoCAD

Undergraduate: Xi'an Jiaotong Liverpool University

Personality: ISTP. Focus on my own things and enjoy the beauty of the moment

Fact: The good old days are always in my mind.
Posted 9 Mar 2024 18:30
Yihan S
Site Visit —— Station South

On January 17, 2024, we met our collaborators at the site – Station South!

Station South cafe in the heart of Levenshulme. It is located directly above the fallow field cycle loop. Whilst offering cycle classes, a repair station in addition to planting beds are also provided for the community to promote a greener and healthier lifestyle.

Our group members were guided by our collaborators to visit the Station South. We started from the indoor bike repair station, where many kinds of bikes are placed there, such as adults’ bikes and very cute children's bikes. Then we went outside, where collaborators showed us the several points, including two bicycle warehouses, a children's learning playground, an allotment and some rest areas for visitors. Our collaborators also shared some landscape design ideas with us. They hope that this healthier lifestyle will be known to more people.

Later, we discussed our preliminary design goals, including overall landscape design for the site, bicycle storage facilities for visitors' convenience, and promotional efforts for the project. We were all looking forward to a series of interesting changes that will take place at this site!
Posted 10 Mar 2024 00:16
Siheng L
Hi, I'm Siheng Lyu ：）

Atelier: CPU

Skills: CAD/Rhino/sketchup/Grasshopper
/Photoshop/Indesign/V-ray

Undergraduate: Shandongjianzhu University

Personality: INTP, forever cooool, forever young！

Fact: Be the wind. Be the free and unfettered wind.
Posted 10 Mar 2024 23:22
Danni Y
Day 1 : Sunny Site Visit at Station South

Today we welcomed BA1, BA2, and MLA1 students to group 15. To get them engaged (and find some good food recommendations), we started with a discussion on everyone's favourite restaurants within Manchester. After everyone was feeling more comfortable , we introduced the brief and clients.

Our afternoon was spent in the sun at Station South. After cycling to the site, we began with a tour. We then asked students to sketch their initial discoveries. This led to a interesting discussion about what possible avenues to explore over the next two weeks.
Posted 7 May 2024 17:28
Luke S
Day 2: Case Studies and Sketching Concepts

This Morning, we challenged students to find some case studies they thought were similar to the brief. Each student presented their findings, then we had a discussion about what we liked and what could be improved upon.

After lunch, it was time for a sketching workshop. Students sketched their ideas based on relevant case studies, and implemented them onto the site through the use of perspective drawings. This was a great opportunity to visualise their design in context and led to some great discussions.
Posted 8 May 2024 16:02
Luke S
Day 3: Masterplanning the site model

After sketching some concepts in context yesterday, we started to think about how these ideas could come together in the form of a site model. This involved working on Rhino to model the existing site. This allowed us to play around with scale to figure out how big we want the physical model to be.

Posted 9 May 2024 15:52
Luke S
DAY 4: Modelmaking the Grid

Today, students furthered their designs by modelmaking their ideas onto the site. To allow everyone a chance to further their ideas together, the site was broken up into a grid, and everyone got to choose the site that worked best for them. Together they provide masterplan of intimate interventions.
Posted 10 May 2024 16:13
Luke S
DAY: 4 The Model
Posted 10 May 2024 16:16
Luke S
DAY 5: Final Model + Detailed Design

After masterplanning the site last week, we attempted to go further into detail by choosing three sites that we would focus on. These three sites would highlight three different designs: Signage to the front roadside; solutions to the cycle container; and landscaping to the allotments.

Alongside this, a separate group formed to begin work at B15 workshop on the final model. The base has been constructed with plans to start work on the landscaping and existing context tomorrow.
Posted 13 May 2024 16:45
Luke S
DAY 6: 3D modelling and detailed design

After looking into our 3 designs in more detail yesterday we began to model them in different groups. One group chose to focus on modelling through Sketchup, whilst the other two modelled their work through Rhino and Grasshopper. This allowed the students to have a go at learning both. This workshop will continue tomorrow, when students refine their work by creating renders and detailed drawings using the software.
Posted 14 May 2024 16:47
Yihan S
Day 6: Physical model making

After yesterday's preparations, today's site model has entered the process with more details. We thought about how to represent the key areas, how to represent the different materials, and refined the surroundings and the furniture of the site. Through model making, there was a deeper understanding of the site and clear planning.

In the afternoon, we held a online meeting with the client to present our current design and chat about the direction of further development. The customer also made valuable suggestions. We plan to complete the final model tomorrow and add our designs on the model.
Posted 14 May 2024 17:04
Yihan S
Day 7: Physical model making - finish the site model

Today we continue to improve the site model on the basis of yesterday's work. In order to make visitors coming to station south clearer about the spatial layout of the site, we made a distinction between the different areas of the site by using different model materials, such as wood chips that were added to the model to represent the natural landscape. In addition, some 1:200 model of people and cars are placed within the model. We ultimately chose not to fully connect the building of cafe to the rest of the model so that people can see the bridge and bike path below it. The three places we focus on can be picked up and then a QR code or text will be added to the bottom to further add model's interactivity.
Posted 15 May 2024 17:18
Luke S
DAY 8: Final Renders and Publication

Before our presentation at Station South tomorrow, the team has been working together on the 3 designs to create renders and finalise the publication. At the end of the day, we went through our presentation as a group to make sure everyone had a part to say ready for tomorrow.
Posted 16 May 2024 18:00
Danni Y
Day 9: Interactive model

We combine our proposal with the site model, so that people can know more about the site information and our design through interaction.
Posted 17 May 2024 13:58
Yihan S
Day 9 - Final presentation
 
Today is the last day of MSA Live Design Weeks. We integrated all the designs of these two weeks into a publication and a presentation document for the client. Before leaving for Station South, we had a rehearsal for the presentation. In the afternoon, we showed the final results of the team design with client from Station South, and every team member engages in presenting their works. Client expressed appreciation for our design while putting forward some practical suggestions, which will be very helpful to our future design. Overall, MSA Live is a very meaningful and fun group project. We really enjoy the group work experience!!!
Posted 17 May 2024 16:40