Hi everyone, I'm Max.
I’m currently in my first year of March and in the Continuity Atelier. Before this, I completed my BArch at the University of Newcastle. After that, I spent …More
Posted 10 Mar 2025 15:12
THE COLLABORATOR

What if? is a fast moving and grass roots urban consultancy firm. Their interest lye in taking in disused council buildings on the basis of generating ideas about …More
Posted 10 Mar 2025 15:36
Transferring Procreate Brush Library

To enhance the skills and resources of BA1 and BA2 students, I shared my extensive Procreate Brush Library, comprising over 1,000 brushes organised …More
Posted 15 May 2025 13:54
Illustrator skills tutorial

After speaking with our BA1 and BA2 students, it became clear that they wanted some tutorials on software. Following a democratic vote the day before, …More
Posted 15 May 2025 14:19
Sketch up 1 on 1’s

Following the success of the Illustrator session, feedback indicated that some students lacked any experience in 3D digital modelling. To address this skills …More
Posted 15 May 2025 14:20
Three groups - Landscape - Beacon – wider site connections

In the afternoon we split our team into three groups to come up with initial ideas to show our collaborators on Wednesday. …More
Posted 15 May 2025 14:45
Site Neighbourhood Walk

We took a very long route to the site from Stockport train station. Along the way, we stopped off at Castle Street, which is Edgley’s high street, Hollywood …More
Posted 16 May 2025 10:37
Teaching LiDAR Scanning

Following discussions with BA1 and BA2 students, we discover that two thirds of the group all owned iPads, however none had used a LiDAR scanning. To address …More
Posted 16 May 2025 10:39
Engaging with Collaborators

Once again, we split into three groups focusing on Landscape, Beacon, and Wider Site Connections. There were six collaborators in total, and they rotated …More
Posted 16 May 2025 10:44
Group Crit

After extensive discussions with our collaborators, we pinned up all three groups’ work to demonstrate our current position within the design process. This informal …More
Posted 16 May 2025 10:48
Landscaping in Plan

Following the last meeting with our collaborators, we started to explore landscaping changes to the current car park, in front of the What If site. The team …More
Posted 19 May 2025 10:44
Beacon development

The ambiguity of the brief for the beacon was widely narrowed by the chat with the collaborates on the previous day. However many from the team were still wrapped …More
Posted 19 May 2025 10:46
Signage

A group worked on creating new signage at two separate entrances to the What If site, following discussions with collaborators on the previous day. Tools used included Illustrator …More
Posted 19 May 2025 10:58
Local Plants Research

In the first half of the morning, part of the landscaping team researched local crops, scented flowers, and herbs with multiple uses. Strawberries, blueberries, …More
Posted 19 May 2025 14:55
Digital modeling the planters

Following Tuesdays sketch up 1on 1’s Tom (who had never used sketch up before this week) was able to create a 3D model of the planters, whilst correlating …More
Posted 19 May 2025 14:58
Landscaping in 3D

To develop the landscaping further, collages were created on photoshop and procreate to display our ideas in 3D.
Posted 19 May 2025 15:00
Beacon model making in the park

Friday morning was spent physically modeling (at 1:20) an initial design of a beacon, following Wednesday’s discussions with the collaborators. …More
Posted 19 May 2025 15:01
Beacon development + group crit

After the physical model was complete a crit was done by the landscaping team, we found that there may be some practical measures that include simplifying …More
Posted 19 May 2025 15:03
Modelling the Beacon in Rhino + Rhino Tutorial Session

Once we reached a solid position, we shifted our focus to physically understanding the beacon, exploring how we could refine …More
Posted 21 May 2025 13:56
Scissor Gate

One of the interventions specified by What if? was for a removable gate to prevent children from leaving the play space, which could also be moved out of the way when …More
Posted 21 May 2025 13:57
Group Design Session on Beacon

Is the iterating process ever-ending? This session focused on resolving the beacon, and we discovered there was always something to refine. But I suppose …More
Posted 21 May 2025 13:58
Orthographic Drawings for Planter

A set of measured orthographic drawings for the planter were created so that collaborators can produce them after the project has concluded.

Posted 21 May 2025 14:02
Local Motif Making and placing

To stay connected to the local symbolism of the area, six motifs were designed with assistance from What if?, focusing on local symbols. These were …More
Posted 21 May 2025 14:04
Materials and construction research and development

After completing the beacon, a small team began investigating the construction process and the materials that would be used for the beacon.
Posted 21 May 2025 14:13
Final Physical Model of Beacon

To finalise our ideas around the beacon, a final physical model was made at a scale of 1:20. Although we had already produced three other physical …More
Posted 21 May 2025 14:14
Beacon Views in Context + Tutorial on CAD Mapper + Enscape

The team working on the 3D Rhino model of the beacon were shown how to download context using the free software CAD Mapper. …More
Posted 21 May 2025 14:15
Finishing off and photographing our final model

In preparation for our meeting later with our client, Pauline, we finished off the final bits and pieces of our model and began photographing it.
Posted 22 May 2025 15:08
Masterplanning

The masterplan looks at What If’s presence with a longer-term vision, exploring how the site can engage with the local area over an extended time span. Crucially, …More
Posted 22 May 2025 15:10
Final presentation to what If

As the project came to a close, we presented our amazing work to Pauline, who heads What If, in order to get feedback. Pauline was incredibly happy …More
Posted 22 May 2025 15:11
13GB Architecture resources file transfer as a thank you for hard work

As a thank you to the BA1 and BA2 students, I transferred over 6,000 architectural resources to them. This …More
Posted 22 May 2025 15:12
Developing master plans

Master plans where developed further to ingrate our studies on local icons and symbols into the our drawings
Posted 23 May 2025 11:35
Orthographic drawing for beacon

After receiving feed back from our collaborator Pauline we created a set of measured drawings for the beacon so she can construct it on site!
Posted 23 May 2025 11:37
Follow up email from our collaborator

Really nice for the team and BA students to see the how much our collaborators appreciated
Posted 23 May 2025 11:38
Finishing off the publication and outputs

One the last day we let the BA students take the day off, allowing the MArch students to focus on the final documents for this project!
Posted 23 May 2025 11:42
Student Feed Back on MArch Students
Posted 23 May 2025 13:09
Student Feed Back on MArch Students
Posted 23 May 2025 13:23