Writtle College - New Beginnings

In the summer of 2009 with the economic climate of the time and my need for intellectual stimulation I decided that I would leave the guys at Locam and move back into education. Not that I didn't find my job with them stimulating, but was in the position where I could not progress within the industry without degree level education. Rather than studying architecture, which don't get me wrong, I enjoy, I decided that I would perform better as a Landscape Architect. Since a young age I have always been interested in biological process and geography, and had always felt that I wanted to work in or with the outdoor environment.

So I trotted off to a couple of universities to look at their courses, none of which I really had the feeling that I would fit in with, and the fact the they were Bachelor of Art courses. Now theres nothing wrong with art or artists, I can appreciate a large chunk of their works, but I've always thought of my self as having a scientific approach to things. Writtle College offered a Bachelor of Science, which I thought would suit me better.

Well it did suit me better, as a design and agricultural college, I felt that it would give me a greater opportunity to communicate with conservationists and the good people of agricultural production. As well as the scope for interdisciplinary dialogue, I also love the countryside and Writtle offers plenty of that.

During my first year at Writtle I was given the chance to develop my own design concepts, scary, where are the rules and regulations that I was then so used to working with? Well this gave me the chance to really go  bit mental with the concepts behind my work, bringing in my love of science.

The above image is part of my second semester project, where I designed a Pavillion of Cosmic Contemplation, based upon the four fundamental forces of physics. This was the design project where I gained the highest marks, so I will deduce that weaving physics into design and ecology is a good idea. I hope over the next few years that I will be able to develop this kind of landscape theory and conception to bring a unique flavour to my work.

Where I came from.......

I started my journey into Landscape Architecture in May 2008 when I started working for Locam, a small architectural practice based in Norwich and Edinburgh. I worked as a general assistant, doing CAD drawings, researching and sourcing new materials, taking part in public consultations and liasing with contractors, local authorities and landscape architects.

I found that I was pretty good a physical modelling, and became the practices model maker, starting with the Barn Road Housing Association Scheme.

This was the final presentation model used to depict the new development at planning meetings, the area for the scheme was detachable, as the design needed updating after testing and changes to the client brief. During this project I used modelling as a testing process, which helped the rest of the studio to visualise different construction problems and constraints. So I was now not only Architects Assistant but also Master Model Maker!

While I was at Locam I had the good fortune to work on some great master planning jobs, including the one above for Colney, which introduced me to Sustainable Urban Drainage and working with a large team of land owners, contractors and other designers. It was also this project that introduced me to the work of Landscape Architects and the guys at Sheils Flynn, as their Landscape Character Assessments and ecological documents had to translated into the overall masterplan. 

I was also introduced to the concept of Homezones, which are a relatively new thing in the UK, and their implementation. Above is a model of a typical homezone. This model was used when discussing estate planning with local councils and land owners.

My favourite project at Locam was the Millenium Village South Lynn, which was a scheme offering an Enterprise Center with P.C.T facilities, nursery, gym suite, restuarant, office suites and breakout space and flexible Live/Work Units for start-up businesses which had to conform to Life Time Homes standards. This project really helped me to understand the complexities of the design process, design team management and of course the dreaded client brief!

During my employment at Locam I also had the opportunity to work in Edinburgh last summer, which was pretty amazing for the Lowestoft Lass. Not only did I experience working in another studio but was also there for Festival which was utterly brilliant, without Locam I would have never stood outside Edinburgh castle with a Jamaican blues guitarist singing a rather loud version of Jonny B Good!

Above is me, very drunk on my last night out in Edinburgh, in the Isobar in Leith. I think I got on a plane home about an hour and a half after this was taken, woops, at least I slept well on the plane!