MSA Live 25

Name: Patrick Allan
Course: M.Arch
Atelier: Non-Standard Habitats
Skills: Blender, Modelling/Visualisation, Revit, Enscape, AutoCAD, VR, Animation

Hi, I’m Patrick! I’m from Wolverhampton, I studied my undergraduate in Liverpool, and after graduation worked in Birmingham for a year, and then Manchester for a year before starting my masters at MSA in 2024. In Birmingham I worked on small scale residential schemes, and in Manchester I’ve worked on a wide variety of healthcare projects, from refurbishments to new wards and entire hospitals. I’m a big advocate of digital design and digital efficiency, having helped develop BIM practices and standards across two firms, with lately a specific focus on the BIM approach to healthcare projects, especially considering the technical requirements of New Hospital Programme projects.

I really enjoy digital model making as a medium to not only produce finalised production images, but also as a medium for experimentation and development; I love making animations and alternate styles of visualisations to help illustrate ideas and concepts. I’m looking forward to working with everyone on the Portland Basin Museum Project, and hopefully developing all of our skills together.

Posted 3 Mar 2025 22:45

Name: Xueying Huang
Course: M.Arch
Atelier: Continuity
Skills: Sketching, Rhino, Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, AutoCAD, Enscape, Vray, and SketchUp.
Personality: ISFJ

Hi everyone!

I am Xueying, studying MArch and currently in the Atelier of Continuity. I completed my bachelor's degree in both Xi'an Jiaotong - Liverpool University in China and the University of Liverpool.

I am interested in the infinite possibilities of flexible architectural spaces and how people interact with them. It is my first time doing a Live project, and I'm looking forward to collaborating with you on the Portland Basin Museum project!

Posted 3 Mar 2025 23:37

Name: Ayaa Muhdar
Course: M.Arch
Atelier: &rchiteture
Skills: Rhino, AutoCAD, Sketchup, Vray, Adobe Suite
Personality: ENTJ-A

Hello everyone!

I’m Ayaa from London. I studied my undergraduate at the Bartlett, UCL, and after working for a year, I've started my Master's whilst continuing to work part-time at Populous. I work on large-scale projects across the UK, Europe and the Middle East, primarily within RIBA Stages 0–4. My role involves designing, modelling, and rendering interior spaces, creating visualisations supported by research to communicate concepts to clients.

I’m interested in theoretical narratives, community-focused design, and how architecture shapes perception and emotion. I enjoy digital model-making and rendering as tools to explore and express ideas. I am looking forward to collaborating on the Portland Basin Museum project and learning from each other, and most importantly, making a difference for the community!

Posted 4 Mar 2025 08:57

Xinyue M

Name: Xinyue Mao
Course: AR
Atelier: MA
Skills: Rhino, Photoshop, AutoCAD, Procreate, Lumion, Illustrator
Personality: ENFJ

Hi everyone!

I am Xinyue, I come from Sichuan Province, the southern part of China.

I am now in Architecture & Adaptive Reuse and this is my first year studying in the UK. I studied landscape architecture as an undergraduate. I studied urban forestry at University of British Columbia summer camp.

I am interested in interactive spaces and green spaces. I’m glad to have the opportunity to be able to work on the Portland Basin Museum project and expose to a lot of interesting industrial history.

Posted 6 Mar 2025 11:44

Name: Junfan Zhou
Course: Architecture and Adaptive Reuse
Skills: AutoCad, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Enscape, Lumion, D5, Rhino, Sketchup
Personality:INFJ

Hi, I am Junfan Zhou! I studied Landscape Architecture in my undergraduate life but my real passion always lies in architecture. I aspire to become an architect and adaptive reuse is what I am interested in. It is quite exciting for me to undertake a real life project in the UK and I am looking forward to the interesting experience I may have.

Posted 7 Mar 2025 23:15

Name: Muna Mohamud
Course: M.Arch
Atelier: &rchitecture
Skills: Revit, AutoCAD, Lumion, Enscape, SketchUp + Adobe Suite
Personality: INFJ-T

Hi everyone!

I’m Muna and I grew up in Manchester before starting my bachelors at MSA in 2019. I finished my undergraduate degree as part of PRAXXIS and graduated in 2022, before working in practice for two years. Currently, I work at Stride Treglown Architects in their Manchester office, where I've been able to work across multiple sectors, design teams and project development stages - mainly in the Higher Education, Healthcare and Student Residential sectors.

During my fifth year, I've continued exploring my interest in social sustainability and community-centred design through our research methods workshops and studio projects.

I’m excited to be a part of the Portland Basin Museum team and collaborate with you by re-imagining a flexible, innovative and inviting learning space for Ashton’s local community!

Posted 8 Mar 2025 18:14

Introducing Portland ThinkSpace!

The Portland ThinkSpace project aims to introduce improved lighting design, smart storage solutions, and flexible design, to reimagine the space for learners of all ages. Through this revitalisation, the museum will enhance visitor experiences, reinforcing its role as a thriving centre for learning, creativity, and connection in Tameside.

We will explore innovative possibilities through a series of creative workshops during the action weeks. We hope with our visuals and design, we can improve the user experience for Ashton’s local community!

Posted 9 Mar 2025 00:56

Meet The Collaborator!

Portland Basin Museum, located at the historic junction of three canals in Ashton-under-Lyne, has been a central part of the community for many years, preserving and showcasing the rich social and industrial history of Tameside. Housed within the restored nineteenth-century Ashton Canal Warehouse, the museum has long been a key cultural resource, welcoming over 100,000 visitors annually and offering workshops, craft activities, and heritage programs. Portland Basin Museum cares for thousands of objects that were made in Tameside or used by people who lived or worked in Tameside. Many objects are on display and the museum regularly change their special exhibition to showcase different collections.

Together we can continue to celebrate the local community assets by redesigning new spaces for the people of Tameside!

Posted 9 Mar 2025 13:55

Site Visit: Portland Basin Museum

On 29/01/2025 we visited the site for the first time, not only to experience the site but to interact with and meet in person with our collaborator, Rachel Cornes.

We had a quick tour of the museum and its current exhibits and displays, before being shown the project space, and having an initial discussion about its current issues and the potential for its future. We had also prepared an initial presentation, with our first ideas and images, to help push forward the discussion and start to develop ideas with Rachel.

After this we were free to look around and take photos and inspect the space, to fully understand the potential and the limitations. We were also able to get some drone photography, to help understand the context of the museum, especially considering its unique location at the intersection of 3 canals.

Posted 9 Mar 2025 19:10

Initial Digital Modelling: The Learning Space

In order to prepare for the collaboration weeks, considering the requirement of visuals and spatial proposals for our collaborator, we have begun to model the existing space and its surrounding rooms.

We have currently modelled all of the walls and physical features of the space, however we've left the exhibit stands and display cases out, so that there will be greater flexibility for model making and developing when the time comes.

Posted 9 Mar 2025 19:15

Action Plan: Overview

Presented here is our plan for the two action weeks. Within the first week we've planned for introductions, both to each other, and to the project and collabroator; following this we'll engage through workshops and tutorials to develop and practice skills, such as modelling, visualisation, and presentation.

It is our intention that the first week will provide a solid basis to work on into the second week, developing the final designs visuals and presentations to show to the collaborator.

Following this, we'll celebrate with pizzas and drinks, and present our work to each other - Pizza Presentation!

Posted 9 Mar 2025 19:45

Detailed action plan for week 1

Posted 9 May 2025 16:28

Initial Concept Presentation

To prepare for next week's activities, we have created an initial presentation that introduces Portland Basin Museum and explores potential design styles for the current learning space.

The BA 1 and 2 students can use this presentation as a foundation when drafting sketches and creating collages. After our site visit, they will be able to begin developing their flexible design solutions for Ashton's local community!

Posted 10 May 2025 20:45

Day 1: Icebreakers and Initial Ideas

We started off the day with some icebreaker activities to get to know each other better, following this we had some quick presentations from the M.Arch/MA.AR team to familiarise the BA's with our experience.

After lunch we broke off to research some precedents and sketch some initial ideas in-line with our collaborator's aspiration.

Pictured: Icebreaker Bingo!

Posted 12 May 2025 23:23

Day 1: Initial Presentations

We re-capped the M.Arch/MA.AR team's work with the collaborator to establish initial concept ideas.

We also presented our practice/university experience to help familiarise the BA's with the skills we can help them develop.

Pictured: M.Arch/MA.AR work expose!

Posted 12 May 2025 23:26

Xinyue M

Day2: Interior SWOT Analysis and Collage Image

In the morning, Ayaa led us in analyzing the SWOT of the site on Miro and invited everyone to discuss together. After then, we shared our visual images on Miro and described the strengths and weaknesses. Everyone also wrote down their opinions of others' visual images on Miro.

After lunch, Patrick provided a detailed introduction to the Modeling workshop and rendered the site visualizations. Subsequently, everyone proceeded to create collage visuals based on their preliminary ideas from the yesterday.

Pictured: Discussing and sharing moments!

Posted 13 May 2025 19:57

Day 3: Site Visit

Scan of the sheep exhibit from our visit to the museum today, check out the scan here:

https://poly.cam/capture/B206F9D9-7B8D-436D-B6AF-7C996664E718

Posted 14 May 2025 19:11

Day 3: Site Visit

We visited the Portland Basin Museum for a site visit. We examined the workshop space while discussing our design ideas. Later, we explored the museum to understand its context. There were many engaging exhibits, models, films, and displays showing what life was like in Tameside during the 1920s.

Before moving on to further brainstorming, everyone shared their initial concepts with our client, Rachel. To encourage collaboration, B.A. students were asked to team up with others who had similar design ideas. M.Arch and MA.AR students listened to the presentations and offered helpful feedback.

Also, Patrick 3D-scanned the sheepfold and the sheep model inside, creating a complete digital version. Rachel mentioned that the sheep is a favourite among visitors. Patrick also brought a drone to capture aerial photos of the museum, which was a great addition to the visit.

The day ended with a group discussion. B.A. students were given the task of developing their design proposals further.

Pictured: Group photos taken by the drone!

Posted 15 May 2025 11:28

Day 4: Precedent visit and start modelling

We started the day with a short precedent visit to the Manchester Museum. Then, we gathered the photos on the Miro board that each of us found valuable to learn from for a group discussion. After that, Patrick gave a presentation on the essentials of visualisation, explaining how to use online furniture assets to create a scene and highlighting some key points to pay attention to during rendering.

In the afternoon, the focus shifted to a modelling workshop on human scales, where we officially began translating our design ideas into digital models within the existing site model.

Posted 15 May 2025 16:56

Day 5: 3D Modelling and Rendering

Today marked an exciting milestone as we began testing our designs through 3D modelling! It was great to see such a diverse range of software choices—Blender, Rhino, and Shapr3D were among the favourites. Some students also experimented with rendering tools like D5 Render and Blender. It turned out great!

It was an intensive day filled with focused, independent work from the B. A students, while the M. Arch students were on hand and ready to support whenever needed.

By the end of the day, everyone uploaded their drawings to Miro and gave individual presentations. It was a real pleasure to see the amazing work produced.

We're clearly heading in the right direction—well done and keep up, everyone!

Posted 16 May 2025 17:39

Detailed action plan for week 2
Intensive Week!!!!!

Posted 16 May 2025 22:11

Xinyue M

Day 6: Design Development

Continuing with our design output from last week, today we carried on developing the design while doing the digital modelling. According to our final output plans, our group split into four sections based on the final output: lighting, furniture, partitioning and mural design. In the afternoon, we had a short summary of today's outputs and a presentation of tomorrow's plans.

Pictured: We are wokring hard!!!

Posted 19 May 2025 16:36

Day 7: Further Design Development and Illustrator Workshop

Today was a productive day focused on advancing our design work. In the morning, a specific solution was proposed to address the lighting issues. Additionally, the wall of the workshop space was reimagined with a creative concept inspired by the iconic canal beside the Portland Museum. We also have two design schemes for modular furniture now.

In the afternoon, we started to try to make some visuals. Aillustrator—a widely used and powerful software among architecture students—was the obvious choice. As a lot of students had never used it yet, an Aillustrator workshop was held, covering essential skills such as converting models into clear line drawings, organising layers, and adjusting line weights and colours.

Pictured: Illustrator Workshop in action!

Posted 20 May 2025 22:22

Day 8: Intensive working day before presentation day

As we approached the final presentation day, today was all about creating final visuals and putting them together in one formal presentation slide. The teams are deep in final preparations: doing digital collages of mural design, finishing final renders, creating diagrams to showcase their ideas of modular furniture, modifying GA drawings, etc.

We’re nearly there and can’t wait to share the full outcome with our collaborator tomorrow!

Pictured: working progress of our final presentation!

Posted 22 May 2025 17:38

Day 9: Presentation Day

Today is the final day of our MSA Live project. We presented our outcomes to our collaborators.

In the morning, we worked together to complete and finalise our outputs and held a pizza party! In the afternoon, we moved to our site and presented our work to our collaborator, Rachel and the museum curator.

They were impressed by the creativity and clarity of our presentation, and our outcome effectively communicated our concept and design intentions. The feedback we received was overwhelmingly positive, and it felt rewarding to see our hard work recognised.

Pictured: Us doing the presentation!

Posted 22 May 2025 18:16

Pictured: Some photos from our food parties!

Posted 22 May 2025 18:25

Pictured: Group photo with our collaborator after the final presentation!

Posted 23 May 2025 11:26

Pictured: We ended the project where it all began — with a group photo at the entrance of the Portland Basin Museum.

Posted 23 May 2025 11:27

Visuals from one of the proposals - a combination of several students' ideas. Representation of curtains on rails to create semi-permeable flexible spaces.

Posted 23 May 2025 11:40

Visual of the Learning Space, separated with a semi-transparent curtain system to create a defined but permeable space.

Posted 23 May 2025 12:10

Day 10: The Final Push

Masters team finalising the final submission and accompanying documents.

Posted 23 May 2025 12:13