Architecture Life

Final renders of the South elevation and East section of the curiosity shop. 

South section of curiosity shop showing a day and night render. This shows the perforations in the concrete walls within the design studio, allowing users to engage with the surrounding context and enjoy natural sunlight. 

Construction drawings showing details and proposed suit shop. Very rough but learnt allot from producing these CAD drawings.

Quick snapshop into the development of the floor plan and urban context, connecting the two disconnected districts present in the site. This produces an open programme which allows users to interact with the architecture, placing a landmark which can be seen from far and enjoyed up close. 

Mass model produced from concrete, showing fabric texture affect which represents and reflects the suit making from within the structure. 

Sketch development showing ideas and reasons behind the programme and form of the curiosity shop.

So at the beginning of this term a project was set to design a proposal for a curiosity shop in the town center of Poole. Initial proposals looked at model making to reflect angular architecture as a landmark statue, setting Poole back on the map as a go-to location. The store would become a bespoke suit outlet which would reflect its unique designs throughout the building, connecting programme with construction. 

After the summer break it was the beginning of second year. To practice our CAD skills so that we could benefit from them during the coming terms, an elevation of a local pub in Poole was briefed. An elevation of the Lord Wimborne did not exist previously, so a survey was required on site. To allow for a 1:1 elevation to be drawn in AutoCAD measurements were taken, with the length and height estimated through counting bricks. Due to the facade being symmetrical, each section could be drawn in half and then mirrored by using the appropriate program tools, this allowed the process to become more accurate and time efficient. 

Barry Berkus ( was such an inspiring man to listen to, his approach to architectural design was one I highly admire. How he turns those bubbles into architecture is just a magical thing to watch, you'll thank me later for posting this.

Just a few images from my first year trip to Barcelona. An amazing week in such an inspiring architectural country, would recommend to anyone, even got to watch the warm up for the Grand Prix with a great mugshot of Suzi Perry. 

The final proposal for the writers retreat. A distinct building which orientates towards the views, capturing the sites distinct and unique characteristics. This provides a peaceful and inspiring programme for where a writer can escape from there busy lifestyle and focus on their passion. A stone wall cuts through the building and splits the floor plan into two, blocking the private areas rooms from pedestrian flow to promote the users privacy. This was the second project undertaken in first year and helped influence further work, providing a focus towards designing around an urban context to improve user experience. 

A floor plan generation of the writers retreat. Produced in Photoshop. Stages 1-13.

Exploring timber construction methods for the writers retreat. 

A collection of images found of the study model which went through multiple stages of development. A great way to test scale and materials is through exploring with relevant modelling materials, a great technique picked up from my then first year tutor. This allowed the writers retreat to turn from a simple sketch to a three dimensional form, testing programme and urban context.

This units focus was on the designing of a small scale building within an existing site, Holton Lee. As a remote location which has a strong reputation for bird watching, the existing context was analysed through sun paths, site visits and on site sketches. This provided enough inspiration to begin the project, to begin developing a small scale writers retreat which would benefit from the wonderful views and peaceful environment. 

John Ruskin (1819-1900)

The entire unit explored the relationship between the making of physical places and in-habitation as a field of architectural thought and practice. Multiple medias were used to improve model and drawing techniques (analogue and digital) and placed a focus onto exploring the material and spatial qualities represented in the final proposal.