Group 28
MERSEYWAY FACELIFT

Our task as designers is to come up with an intervention for the Merseyway Shopping Centre’s façade as a part of an ambitious, a larger strategy to improve Stockport. The aim is to increase footfall in a shopping centre which has become dispensable and unnecessary for a community, which has opted for the ease of online shopping. Our mission here as architects is to come up with a strategy not only for the façade but what goes on behind it; to re-think new purposes for the shopping centre and what kind of businesses would attract people to the space. The second part of the brief is to provide our client with ideas for an underused balcony, part of the shopping centre, which overlooks a main shopping street. We will be picturing all different characters and scenarios of people and designing for them. In terms of outputs, expect a lot of freedom, mostly collages, expressive, colourful, artistic showing people interacting with the building. Views from the city, i.e. from the train, in motion, rhythm.

Samuel L / Maria F / Yi F / Wenjingyu Z

Samuel L
Hey! I'm Sam and I am from Hong Kong.

I have lived in England, Hong Kong and Germany and speak English, Cantonese, Mandarin, and German.

Prior to moving to Manchester for my masters, I achieved my undergraduate degree at London Metropolitan University and completed my Part 1 experience at the award winning Rivington Street Studio in London.🏛️🎓

I am currently in Atelier PRAXXIS, and my hobbies include football and travelling!⚽️✈️

A fun fact about me is that I am a black belt in Taekwondo!🥋

Connect with me on Instagram @SVMUELLEE !
Posted 18 Feb 2024 15:53
Yi F
Hi ^^, I'm Yi, and you can also call me Elaine. I come from Hunan Province, the southern part of China.

This is my first year studying in the UK. In the past four years, I finished my undergraduate and Part 1 experience at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in China, located in a beautiful and historic city - Suzhou.🎓

I am now in Atelier &. During my free time, playing badminton and baking are the things I really enjoy. 🏸🍞

A fun fact about me is that I used to own a doughnut shop.🍩
Posted 18 Feb 2024 18:57
Maria F
Hi, this is Maria, born and raised in Portugal.

I completed my BA in Architecture at the MSA. During my year out I worked at OMA, Rotterdam in PR for 6 months followed by 6 months as an architecture intern at a studio in Santarém, Portugal: Nuno Piedade Alexandre, Matéria.

Currently, I am in Infrastructure Space atelier. My hobbies include yoga, surfing and anything artistic. 🧘🏽‍♀️🏝️🎼🎨

A fun fact about me is that the first musical instrument I learnt to play was the violin. 🎻

Looking forward to spending a few weeks doing lots of fun stuff together!
Posted 18 Feb 2024 21:40
Wenjingyu Z
Hello, my name is Wenjingyu and I come from China.

I finished my undergraduate studies and Part 1 experience at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. 🎓

I am in Atelier &rchitecture now. I love basketball, music and photography. 🏀🎵📷

A fun fact about me is that I really really hate coffee. 😵‍💫

Posted 19 Feb 2024 12:21
Samuel L
First meeting to kick start the project!

A quick meeting to get to know each other and to share our initial ideas, aims, and objectives for the Merseyway Shopping Centre project in Stockport.

In this session, we came together to develop and establish our group's ethos through the interests of each member. It was key to organise our action plan early, setting out tasks, mini-deadlines, and checkpoints to ensure the project stays on track.
Posted 19 Feb 2024 15:57
Samuel L
Exciting Developments & Next Steps..

After a productive first meeting with our supervisor, we are excited to share our next steps and the new roles for this week.

Action Plan Development:
This week Elaine & Wenjingyu are at the helm, drafting up the action plan for success!

Blog Catchup/Updates:
Maria will introduce and provide a project overview, as well as reflecting on our lessons learnt from the first tutorial. So stay tuned!

Treasurer & Ethics Application:
Being appointed budget holder, I will ensure our resources are managed wisely. Additionally, i'm starting on the Ethics Application, focusing on the Risk Assessment, Participant Information Sheet, & Consent Forms to uphold our commitment to ethical research.

There is some uncertainty around the Risk Assessment so we anticipate some guidance in our next tutorial later this week to clarify and strengthen our approach.

Although we have crit's approaching at the end of the week, we are still motivated to tackle these tasks head on! So, we invite you to follow our blog for detailed, updates, reflections, & progress we make!
Posted 26 Feb 2024 11:11
Maria F
Who is the client?

Our client is Stockport City Council.

What is the Project brief?

Our task as designers is to come up with an intervention for the Merseyway Shopping Centre’s façade as a part of an ambitious, larger strategy to improve Stockport. The aim is to increase footfall in a shopping centre which has become dispensable and unnecessary for a community which has opted for the ease of online shopping. Our mission here as architects is to come up with a strategy not only for the façade but what goes on behind it; to re-think new purposes for the shopping centre and what kind of businesses would attract people to the space.

The second part of the brief is to provide our client with ideas for an underused balcony, part of the shopping centre, which overlooks a main shopping street.

We will be picturing all different characters and scenarios of people and designing for them. For example, an 80-year-old person who wishes to purchase a CD. Where do they fit in to the scheme? Do they? What else could be placed along their journey so they spend time and money at the centre? A bakery? A grocery store? These are some of the questions we will be asking.

What are the outputs?

In terms of outputs, expect a lot of freedom, mostly collages, expressive, colourful, artistic showing people interacting with the building. Views from the city, i.e. from the train, in motion, rhythm.
Posted 9 Mar 2024 08:59