Where Wildflowers Bloom

View of original Warehouses  The Docks - Gloucestershire Crime History Heritage plays a vital role in Gloucester's identity and the city's strategy for regeneration and tourism. With nearly 2000 years of history as a significant settlement, Gloucester has heritage sites spanning from Roman foundations and medieval development to the Georgian/ Victoria Gloucester Docks - a key area of recent regeneration adjacent to Alney Island.  The Docks have become a cultural hub in recent years, drawing visitors as an attractive amenity area. Due to the proximity, the Docks directly influence my design motives for Alney Island. During 19th-century industrialisation, the island transformed from farmland to support shipping. It housed timber yards, warehouses, a flour mill and railway sidings serving the docks, built 1811-1816.  At its 1850s peak, the docks saw 500 ships and 100,000 tons of goods annually. Original warehouses still stand in The Docks, providing an important physical lin...

For Weekly Task 2 of ST3 we were challenged with finding five uses of concrete in the local landscape. Two in-situ, meaning poured and cast on site and three pre-cast. This was an interesting task, there is lots of concrete around, although I didn't find many colourful variations! I will keep an eye out, now that I am tuned into the world of hardscaping. 

Alney Island - Digital Collage  Alney Island and Context 1:5000 - Digital Collage The digital collage in my previous post was produced from the information gathered during the desktop survey. This collage serves as my interpretation of the site after the initial site visit.  Nestled next to the City of Gloucester, Alney Island is a nature reserve surrounded by two branches of the River Severn. Water plays a key role on site, serving as a floodplain with connections to the historical docks. The noticeable features are native woodland, scrub and alluvial meadow. However, amid this natural, ecological abundance, is a striking contrast in the form of industrial eyesores - electricity pylons, motorways, old railway tracks and a power station to name a few.  The overall feeling of the island during my visit was bleak and isolated, a feeling likely influenced by the gloomy weather on the day of exploration. There were few visitors spotted and the central walk felt somewhat monot...

To advance with our project of St Aidan's, we recognised the importance of finalising our design this week. Allowing ample time to concentrate on the deliverables.  During this week's group work session we used various tools to measure and grasp the dimensions of the areas we plan to propose. We then revisited the site to understand whether our current design works within the space and to gain a secondary opinion in light of our progress.  It was super helpful to see the site again, it is bigger than it looks/ feels! With a better understanding after our return to the site, we were able to finalise the plan and prepare a CAD base for the development of our model and visualisations.  Design Development - Overlay, final ideas (not to scale) AutoCAD base 

Brick bonding refers to the arrangement and pattern in which bricks are laid in a structure, such as a wall. It plays a crucial role in the structural stability and the aesthetic appeal of the brick work. There are multiple brick bonds, variations and combinations of patterns, leading to a wide range of possibilities.  The above poster was created for Weekly Task 1: to correclty identify five different brick bonds during a walk in the local area.

The above image is a digital collage capturing the essence of Alney Island, Gloucester. This composition was created prior to visiting the site, drawing from information and insights gathered through desktop research.  My primary focus in this artwork is the element of water. As the land between two branches of the Severn River, Alney Island is a place intimately bound by water. It also serves as a vital flood zone for the city and shares its borders with the docklands. Water plays a pivotal role in the island's history and sustains the flora and fauna that reside there. The collage's foundation consists of a blend of images depicting floodplains, alluvial meadows, and native grasslands. These layers are interwoven with visuals of the docklands and meadow flowers, all meticulously crafted to emphasise the interplay of reflections and ripples on the surface of the water (River Severn). While the image may hint at a surfer in the docks, it rather playfully pays tribute to the ann...

Our initial group meeting for the site of St Aidan's was productive. As a group we have lots of creative ideas that respond to the brief. Overlay, overlay, overlay!!!!!! Our first response is much like that of a bubble diagram with an understanding of the functions and features of each designated area. Prior to our first response deadline on 12th October, team mate Meg worked on a clear, neat visual representation of our ideas, I mind-mapped our conceptual ideas in relation to Christianity and the Monastic faith and the rest of the group added to our shared Pinterest mood board!!

To commence Semester 1, we are working on an exciting short project for ST3. A real-life proposal for the people of West Cheltenham. St Aidan & St Silas Church sits off of Coronation Square on Queen Elizabeth Way. The site is where the chapel once stood, since demolished and currently resting as an under-utilised, fenced-off, grassed area. Still owned by the Church, the client would like the space to be open to the wider community with gentle but significant symbolism relating to the Christian monastic faith. Our aim is to design a community centred garden inspired by the concept of the Seven Sacred Spaces, a place for worship, peace, play, education and to harvest vegetables for the local food banks. As like any new project, we began with a desktop survey and an initial site visit to understand the site and the client's intentions/ expectations - this was such a great opportunity, and an exciting, new experience for us all. Below are my notes from the  site visit - an iPad is ...

  As I embark on my third year at University, I've come to realise that change is not just a choice but a necessity for personal growth. People are often categorised as either thinkers or doers and during my first two years of study, I discovered that I find myself firmly planted in the thinkers category, which can be a challenge when tasks demand action. However, I've also learned that part of the design process involves embracing imperfections, exploring numerous ideas rapidly, and expressing creativity through visual representations that evolve and inspire throughout the journey. In our latest design endeavor, Design Project 3, we are turning our attention to Alney Island, a fascinating site located between two branches of the River Severn as it flows through Gloucester. Alney Island boasts a rich history, but today it is carefully managed as an 80 hectare wetland Nature Reserve, thanks to the collaborative efforts of Gloucestershire County Council and the Friends of Alney I...