THE CORK - GARDEN STUDIO

Personal self designed and construction project, garden studio in Warwickshire completed in 2022, 16sqm, timber frame with cork clad construction.

The Cork was a response to the COVID pandemic, a place at home to work and rest separate from the family home. Across 12 months I build the studio with some helping hands for electrics, glazing and A/C. The brief was simple: space to rest, space to paint and space to work.

Construction

20mm cork cladding was chosen to finish the studio because of its good thermal performance and environmentally conscious properties. The silvery/brown weathering of the cork helps it sit within the trees and existing decking. Warm timber finishings inside create a robust working studio atmosphere. The project had a budget of £6k, total spending rose to £7k because of rising material costs and the need to contract window fitters after mistakes when I installed the glazing.

LEBEKKE SCHOOL - ARCHITECTURAL CASE STUDY

2nd year construction, technical and environmental case study.

This project allowed me to produce a comprehensive study of an existing elementary school in Lebekke, Belgium. This required analysis of the buildings structural typology, materiality and environmental strategies through technical drawings and diagrammatic illustrations. Analysis of the Lebekke school’s spatial arrangement led me to study contemporary school design in my 3rd year Dissertation project.

Ground Floor Plan 1:200

Re-Wilding Centre Sections

Hand Sketches

A collection of sketches from different projects.

Thinking through drawing is my primary design tool. Being able to work in plan, section, axonometric and perspective so intuitively means I can flesh out concepts quickly, resolving issues and developing the design narrative. These drawings are mostly done quickly, to capture a moment that I use to build the story of the project. I also use sketching extensively in understanding site context, dedicating hours to site visits to learn the feel of the area.

Sketching in plan is critical to how I design, I practice drawing different sizes and styles of furniture to help me build the atmosphere and circulation of the spaces.

This plan is of a garage conversion for assisted living, arranging a kitchen that flowed in to the sitting area without disturbing the through route was required by the client and resolved in plan.

Hand sketching was useful in The Medieval Wall Housing Project, (see page 29), to convey the detail of old brick and vegetation convincingly and make that the centre of the concept.