The Design Process- Model Making

For those that are familiar with my blog, you will know that for my most recent design project I was to design an ‘add on’ building, to join a part of Senate House Library in London.

As part of the design process, I was required to make three forms of model. The first was just the skin of the building in which I had designed, the second was a structural model, which shows us how the building would be formed and constructed, and the third is a model of the final design.

After making the structural model, I had realised that I had added too many beams in to my structure. This then had to be changed on my AutoCAD drawings.

The first two models I made just from paper, and the final model is made from foam board, with self adhesive ‘pretend’ wood and mirrored glass effect. The building is steel frame with timber clad. The clad alternates with mirrored panels to give the effect of it being see through in certain areas. I hope I have shown my idea well from the model.

Pictures of models are below: All models are at scale 1:50

1. The skin-

                   

2. The structure-

         

Final model-

Leaflet making

We have been introduced to a new module named ‘Shock of The New’. For my first task, I was to create a leaflet from one a3 piece of paper, explaining an interest I have within contemporary design/ technology/ or a contemporary movement.

My interest was the re-use of buildings, and the specific building I had chosen was the ‘Tropical Island’, which is a giant holiday resort that used to be an old aircraft hangar, in Berlin.

A link to my PDF leaflet is below 🙂

adaptive reuse of buildings leaflet

The Design Process Continued…

This week I have been busy developing my design ideas and research to support it. After putting some thought into it, I decided to proceed with the cube shaped idea. I worked out that if I had continued with the triangular shaped pods, there would not be much space inside. The area of my ‘add on’ must not exceed 12meters squared and 33 meters cubed. With the cube shaped ‘add on’ idea, there will be a decent amount of floor space required for its multifunctional use as an enquiry office, or quiet, individual study/reading area.

I have decided to keep with the idea of using a steel cable system, to suspend the ‘add on’ from the facade of Senate House. This works well as my add on is going to be placed on the 4th floor, where the top of the building is much lower than the rest of the tower (it will be suspended on a wing of Senate House).

After deciding to use a cube shaped structure, I did a bit more research on what I could do to make it a little less boring. That is when I remebered the Tree Hotel by Tham & Videgård Arkitekter, a mirrored glass box suspended round the trunk of a tree in Harads, northern Sweden.

This piece of architecture really stood out to me. It gives the impression that it isn’t there, or that its floating amongst the trees.

I have decided that I will use the same type of glass (mirrored) that is used here, so that it reflects the Senate house. I will not be covering my structure completely in mirrored glass. My structure is going to be a steel framed constuction with Western Red cedar timber cladding. The reson for this choice is that this type of clad is durable, it can be nailed and screwed easily without splitting. When it is left untreated, the colour fades to a silver grey colour. This wouldnt be a problem because the colour of Senate House is quite grey anyway.
A steel frame provides strength, but is still lightweight.

There will be windows using mirrored glass on each side of the cube, except the side that is attached to Senate House, the roof, and the floor.

I was also thinking about using solar panels on the roof.

Here are a few drawings of my plan and sections. They are hand drawn and are not my final drawings.

 

I will add more to this blog once I progress further.