A Garden for Entertainments: Materials

Before finalising my ideas, I realise its important to think about the materials I am going to build with - this is because the materials - colours, textures, form, adaptability, durability, can influence the way a site looks. the client specified no gravel (due to glasses breaking and being unable to clean it up), but he also mentioned using recycled materials. For me this is very important due to my own values in sustainability.

I have therefore researched and looked into some materials I can use that fulfil the expectations.

I think I will keep the current paving (although I think it's ugly) as it means that all the time and money spent on putting the paving in will not be wasted.

In terms of recycled materials, there are many ways I can go - used car tyres, that would otherwise be burnt or sent to landfill, or bottles, or other scrap materials. Although this is a good way of recycling, I really do not like the look of them. I therefore think the best recycled material to use, that is durable and easy to work with, are old railway sleepers. You can get new ones, specifically for raised beds, and they are already used in the current Baa patio. I think they'll make good places to perch whilst having a drink and enjoying the garden.

Used railway sleepers - high enough to be used as a place to perch and enjoy the beer garden.

I am going to draw on a building project I was working on in China. I decided on using bamboo due to its incredible strength, and low impact on the environment. I am slightly dubious, as this is the UK and we cant grow the kind of bamboo used in construction here, however, its numerous other benefits and the fact that it comes from a sustainable source, more than outweigh this.

I would like decking and fencing made from bamboo and I have found various suppliers in the UK that make these products/

A Garden for Entertainments: Design Concepts

Over the semester I have been looking at different forms, using new materials and exploring processes.

Some of the forms and ideas I would like to take with me including the spiral-shell shape formed through my materials experiment and also the triangle/hexagon shapes in my most recent project.

I saw how the hexagons worked in my last design, but I feel like that design would be too exposed for the Baa - I want it to be more intimate and have more interest. I looked through a couple of books and found that you can use hexagons in many ways in garden design. However, because I would like to include the spiral in my design I think I will try incorporating the two. Below are some images from work I have created over the semester and also some images I have looked at for inspiration:

Garden for Entertainments: Design Brief

The design brief was made up of many factors:
1. What the client requires
2. Requirements for the assessment
3. My personal design philosophy

I have already decided on my own personal ethos for design, but I also need to make sure I use what I have discovered over the semester. I took many notes from the client's recommendations, and hopefully I will be able to fulfil them all. The design brief will therefore have general goals with each request hopefully being under one of them. The areas will be:

• Durability
• Safety
• Low maintenance
• Shelter
• Entertaining
• Different 'moods'
• Sustainability
• Access
• Interaction
• Strong design concept

Design Brief

The client requires a new design for the Baa garden to replace the existing bleak, exposed, uninviting patio area. The space should include land between the Baa and the stream. Currently there is a car-park for mini-buses in the centre, so a new car park should be found, or it should be incorporated into the design. The following design specifications should be followed:

• Durability: All materials and landscaping should be sturdy and be able to withstand heavy use. It should be drunk proof.
• Safety: There should not be any tripping hazards and the area should be well-lit. The car-park must be secure.
• Shelter: There should be areas for smokers to use outside, with a roof. 
• Entertaining: There must be space for a band to play and room for a marquee. Try to include a barbecue area. Up to 200 people using the space.
• Different 'moods': There should be at least 3 different spaces for different 'moods' (e.g. relaxed, party, formal, sociable).
• Sustainability: The site should use some recycled materials and be environmentally sustainable.
• Access: There should be at least 2 entry points in addition to the accesses to the building.
• Interaction: There should be a pleasant area by the brook for people to interact with nature
• Strong design concept: Design should be cohesive, a good legibility of form, access and circulation, good use of vistas, and good use of both hard and soft landscaping materials. Draw on ideas formulated from concept and site opportunities. Avoid monotony, increase interest.

Setting my own ethos

Before designing the new site, I wanted to make sure that I understood my own feelings towards sites and site design. I am sure my priorities and ethics will develop throughout my career, but for now, I want to determine my basic principals and ethos that will run through all the work that I do. I would like to draw on personal experience and bring in my own personality to ensure all my work is unique and meaningful.

First and foremost my priorities focus on the environment including:

• Wildlife conservation
• Sustainable development
• Environmental protection

Secondly, I would like to help people connect with nature and encourage them to participate in outdoor activities.

I also hope that my design ideas will reflect experiences that I have had, places that I have been to and also been inspired by. Having traveled extensively to Asia, South America, Australasia and Europe and live in China for two years, I would like my design to bring in international styles and ideas.

Therefore, all my designs must be:

• Environmentally sustainable

• Able to protect and enhance biodiversity

• Aimed at encouraging social interaction with nature and the outdoor environment

• Inspired by personal experiences

• Developed through innovative processes to create a unique design

A Garden for Entertainments: Assessing the site

For this task, we have been asked to design a 'garden for entertainments' again, yet this time for the Baa (Writtle College Bar). We were able to visit the site with the client, take measurements, note down the current issues and take photos in order to come up with a design brief for the project. The photos below demonstrate how the site currently is:

View towards the Baa from the patio. To the left is the barbecue area. The main door that is used is the central one. the other two are fire escapes.

The barbecue in detail - smells of cigarettes, looks ugly, unnecessarily large.

A view looking across the patio. The paving slabs were placed last summer. 

On the right, another access point to the patio area.

Current planting scheme includes low maintenance grasses.  

Current planting scheme includes Betula  utilis

The current lighting system is insufficient. More lighting is needed.

The lawn. Seems awkward to use as it is raised - would not feel comfortable sitting on it in summer - seems more like a stage!

Just outside the grounds, tall grasses.

The access road down the side of the Baa for mini-busses

The car park behind the Baa beer garden.

Access to car park - secure.

A little waterfall along the brook at the end of the site.

A small decking area by the brook.

View looking back towards the carpark, the Baa is to the right.

I had never actually been to the beer garden, but I can understand why they would want a new design - the current feeling of the site is quite desolate, uninviting, exposed, bland, depressing.

Articulation

This weeks task was to design a 'garden for entertainment'. The site was described as an area of 30m by 30m belonging to a social club with a water feature spanning the southern boundary. The design had to include a garden room for 12-20 people.

I began by creating a model with the base, showing the change in levels over the whole site as there is a fall of about 1m:

Model showing the change in levels and the building along the top side of the site.

The design context was to follow on from the previous weeks creation of forms from the geometric shapes and the materials to be used in the design were limited to just two hard landscape materials (I chose stone and timber), as well as a selection of shrubs, ground cover plants and lawn. The forms should be used to form paving, walls and roof to the structure and seating.

The forms I felt would work were the triangle and the hexagon (made up using 6 of the triangles) as I felt the could create quite an interesting effect and allow many design possibilities.

I have, in the past been really interested in the structure of geo-domes due to their simple design, yet very strong structures, and they are, of course made up of hexagons locked together. There is an eco-camp in patagonia that uses geo-domes in a very tasteful and effective way:

The use of geodomes at an eco-camp in patagonia
http://tinyhouseswoon.com/category/geodesic-dome/aption

There is something very special about this structure, that I think has something to do with it being made up of all straight lines, yet it appears almost spherical - quite satisfying really! I experimented with drawing a geodome as it seemed like it would be quite tricky to draw by hand, especially trying to capture what it would be like made from timber.

I'm not sure if I could make a geodome using just timber - or at least I could, it would just be very dark. For these sketches I cheated slightly and imagined the roof to be made of hemp or ome other plant-based material to count as timber!

When coming up with the design, I found the hexagon to be quite harsh on the eye, and therefore found it best to put the hexagons within circles.

Geometric Shapes

Looking at my model I had found two main geometric shapes : the triangle and the diamond.  I had no idea really how these could become useful as blocks in their own right, so I just made some simple, cardboard replicas of them and made them three sheets deep (of the thick corrugated card). Amazingly once I had created just a small number of these blocks they really came to life.

The thickness made them versatile - I could stand them on end, put them upside down, the possibilities became endless and I spent a while forming stacks and patterns and taking photos of the different effects. In this case I did not glue them together I left them all as a 'kit' to build whatever I will need to in future projects.