Detailed Design
The following examples represent structural and technical design from personal projects.
These include my thesis design project which focused on DIY, low tech structures and found materials, as well as the structural design in my design synthesis project and technology projects.
MArch 2 Thesis Design: ‘Roma Burning: Punk Architecture’
For this project, I focused on a structural design that could be assembled by small teams of unskilled residents, in keeping with the DIY approach of Punk. Alongside this, the structure needed to be easily adaptable to a wide variety of forms and scales, and to be readily reconfigured to suit the changing needs or personal preferences of residents, in line with the idea of democratised design. This should be created with widely available materials, especially those that can be recycled, both to minimise embodied carbon and reduce the cost and complexity of creating the structure.
This led to the development of a structure based upon scaffolding, as an easy to assemble, widely available and adaptable means of creating a structural form. This can act both as the total structure, used for elevated walkways across the site, or as a supporting structure for a timber framed secondary structure that both acts as a carrier for cladding and insulation, a means of creating internal partitions, and a means of providing additional support for roofing. This secondary structure also provided a means to create fire rated partitions for the purposes of compartmentation, allowing for the design of the internal space to meet Part B of the Building Regulations.
MArch 1 Design Synthesis: Somerstown Regeneration
For this project, a conventional structure was chosen, using a timber frame with brickwork outer leaf.
The intention was that this would enable rapid offsite manufacturing of the structural frames, whilst enabling conventional masonry construction methods to be used to reduce the need for specialist contractors or training.
MArch 1 Technology: Individual Work
For this project, students were required to explain the technological and structural design of one of their designs and provide examples of how this structure could be improved. Using a project from my professional experience, I explained the structural systems and reasoning behind their choice through a series of diagrams, alongside the technical sections and details I had already drawn.
