Interior Design Students Jessica Brook, Matt Keedy, Jackie Stephens and Sarah Ross have submitted their MA thesis.
Jessica Brook has designed a Well Being Spa within the confines of a Warwickshire ruin. Guy’s Cliffe, the remains of a Palladian house sits atop a sandstone cliff overlooking the Warwickshire countryside and the River Avon. This Grade II listed site presented a comprehensive challenge for Jessica and she was determined to revitalize the site and sensitively support the ruin by inserting the new build elements. Guy’s Cliffe is quipped with a saline spring, a hermits cave and a rich spiritual history. Jessica has designed the interior to create a progression towards a feeling of sanctuary and the true meaning of well being. Materials, light levels and décor have all been chosen to engender the feeling of a protected womblike environment that promotes complete relaxation.
Matt Keedy investigated the new trend in ‘Capsule Hotels’ questioning the ideas and strategies needed to get these innovative spaces to work. The idea of ‘A Room Without a View’ is an intriguing challenge to our usual impression of hotel space. What exactly is required to create a homelike atmosphere within a space that by its very nature has a ‘cookie cutter’ feel and will be occupied for a very short span of time? Matt questioned the hospitality industries leaders on the subject comparing and contrasting the different ideas and outcomes and the attitudes to prospective sites and markets for this new trend.
Sarah Ross dissected the circulation problems in educational buildings looking at the behavioral issues from a design standpoint. Looking at updated and refurbished secondary school design Sarah investigated how buildings make us behave. The formative educational years are crucial in the understanding of how the world works. The experience of educational buildings at this time in a child’s life is perhaps the first institutional space they will encounter. Through interview, survey and observation Sarah notes the effect of décor, scale and condition on the school population.
Jackie Stephens explores the latest digital design developments as this revolution continues to change the design world. Looking at the architectural professions response to digital technology Jackie investigates the subject through the work of Frank Gehry, case studies of Lars Spuybroeks work at NOX, and involvement with Smart Geometry Group, with whom she worked and presented her findings in a seminar at The British Museum. The change in the understanding of what constitutes design drawing and the scope for combinations of programs to create and explore ever more complex design issues underpins this investigation into what digital architecture will mean as it heads towards a more mainstream role.
Results will be ratified in July.
