Interior Design - Studio Portfolio : 3rd Year

Project details:

This project involved a complete redesign of an existing university building. Our objective was to base the design on cultural and social concepts, as well as area research, to create a compelling narrative that would inform the new design. I conducted research into the surrounding spaces and demographics, curated a narrative, and developed plans for my new design of the building. My research led me to focus on the concept of Affordable Sustainability.

The site is located on the campus of London Metropolitan University. The building, which is historically significant, is still in use as classrooms. The goal of the project is to create a modern and sustainable space that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

Given the high number of children and families living in poverty in Whitechapel, London, my Affordable Sustainability housing concept would be a promising project for potential investment from the government or the Tower Hamlets council. It could set a precedent for the future of affordable housing while utilizing the best-matched sustainable materials. This project would also serve to educate and enrich young minds, providing them with the knowledge and understanding of conscious living that they can carry with them throughout their lives.

We were to have a strong concept in which it clearly outlined what we were designing, who for and why; using current affairs to back it up.

A more precise mood board to further narrow down my design ideas and aesthetics.

My concept collage. I gathered precedents from designers with similar design ideas to me to inspire and push my thoughts further.

A poster I made using Photoshop to represent my views of society. This task was titled "Society Now. This was to help spark our narrative.

Sketches

Here I was sketching rough ideas of how the living area could look.

This is another experimental sketch of how a bedroom could look.

Technical Drawings

This is an elevation I drew of the facade of the building. I annotated it with its key features.

Here is a section I drew using AutoCAD, of the building our redesign project was based on.

Here is another section of the building in my project that include to scale figures to give scale.

Proposed Floor Plan

I proposed plans for a two-bedroom family apartment featuring an open living space and additional storage for bikes and buggies on the right-hand side of the building. My idea was to enhance the windows with better insulation and glazing to improve temperature control and ultimately save money on heating. By ensuring proper insulation and heating solutions, the apartment would not only be comfortable but also cost-effective in the long run.

I wanted to create a foundational space that a new family could personalize and grow into over time. My main goal was to design a home that would not extract money from the owner's pockets each year due to age and deterioration, but rather provide value through sustainability, environmental friendliness, and a genuine sense of home.

Results

I enjoyed the process of my final project and was very pleased with the results. I believe one of the strengths of this project is the consistency and depth of my narrative and concept, which guided my thought processes and influenced my decisions. However, a weakness was my lack of advanced skills in AutoCAD and Revit, which made it challenging to articulate my ideas using those programs. Nonetheless, I am confident in my abilities with traditional pen and paper, so I leveraged those skills in other ways.