Day 11, Developing our models

During today the team have been working on a variety of tasks.

The ‘people’ team have been working on planning our second community engagement event, taking place on the weekend of the 25/26th October.  They have been working up promotional materials and activities to use during the event.

The ‘heritage’ team spent today working on consolidating and formatting their information into a booklet so as to then help inform the rest of the team about their research and how it can influence our designs.

The ‘mapping’ team have been working on producing a 3D computer model (still in progress) of the immediate site and surrounding buildings.  This computer model will then be made into a large scale physical model which will used throughout our design development process as well as during community events.

Sam Diston

10.10.14

Day 10, Whole team meeting

This morning was the first time in a little while the whole team has come together at once to discuss the project so far as well as our next steps.  This meeting also included our university tutor John-Paul Walker who will be giving us guidance throughout the process.

By explaining to John-Paul what we have achieved so far it really helped us solidify in our minds the key issues we are dealing with; in terms of the research, design and team management.  A key discussion during this session revolved around the need to phase the scheme in a inventive way, to help engage the local community with the site, it’s buildings and history.

 

 Following the meeting we identified our key next steps.  Over the next week we will be consolidating all of our research into a more digestible format, preparing for further community events as well as beginning work on a model of the immediate site.

If you have anything you would like to contribute to our project, do not hesitate in letting us know!

Sam Diston

09.10.14

Day 9, Team branding

Today was a relatively quiet day, with lots of the team involved in other university commitments.

Lots of progress was made with the team branding, including the design of our very own logo.  This logo will be used throughout all of our work to bring a consistent format and identity.  This will be used alongside the logos of our partners such as the Dearne Valley Landscape partnership and the Friends of Hemingfield Colliery.

Further work was carried out on our historical and site research, including a 2m long panoramic photo taken by one of clients.  This panorama gives a great insight into the wider area and helps us get away from just looking at maps.

Sam Diston

08.10.14

Day 8, Back to Elsecar & model making

 Today was a very informative and interesting day.

First thing in the morning some of the team met with Christine, one of the directors of ‘The Friends of Hemingfield Colliery’ to discuss our initial brief and how we could craft it to get the most out of the project for everyone involved.  Christine is also a local historian and gave us a great insight into the history of the miners and their families.

Throughout the day various team members also spoke with visitors and businesses within the Heritage Centre.  Our two main questions revolved around whether people were aware of the colliery at all; and secondly whether there were any key facilities or attractions currently lacking nearby which would bring them to our site.

Back in Sheffield the ‘mapping’ team was working hard on getting our first model made.  This model shows the wider area of Elsecar, Hemingfield, Brampton and Hoyland and will be used in our future community events as another method of engaging people with visitors.

The model has been made by using a laser cutter to engrave a map of the area, more detail will then be added about local amenities, routes and landmarks.

Sam Diston

08.10.14

Day 7, Preparation for our first community investigations

 Another busy day in studio today.  The vast majority of the team’s time was spent preparing all our work for our visit to Elsecar tomorrow.  When there we will be speaking to local people as well as leaving suggestion boxes around the town to gather people’s thoughts on the site and what it could become.

 We have designed a series of ‘postcards’ to be used with the suggestion boxes.  These ‘postcards’ include a sketch of the site on the front, and encourage people to draw and annotate their own ideas on.  The back asks a few basic questions about who you are.

After speaking with a few local institutions we will be leaving suggestion boxes in a local pub, a nearby school and the Elsecar Heritage Centre.  We will leave these here for a couple of weeks so feel free to go along and fill one in!

Sam Diston

06.10.14